Howard Benson




























Howard Benson
Born
Havertown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres


  • Rock

  • heavy metal

  • pop

  • pop rock

  • glam metal

  • punk rock

  • post-grunge

  • hard rock

  • country


Occupation(s) Record producer
Instruments Piano, synthesizer, organ
Years active 1986–present

Howard Benson is an American music producer and multi-instrumentalist.[1] Benson was nominated for the Producer of the Year Grammy Award in 2007 and 2008.




Contents






  • 1 Early life and education


  • 2 Career


  • 3 Awards


    • 3.1 Grammy Awards




  • 4 Discography


  • 5 References





Early life and education


Benson began playing keyboards in rock bands at the age of 13.[1] He attended college at Drexel University and studied engineering. During his years at Drexel, Benson took a year off and studied composition at the Philadelphia College for Performing Arts. Benson graduated from Drexel with a degree in materials engineering. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles and worked for Garrett AiResearch, where he worked on aircraft such as C-5s and F-18s.[2]


He returned to Drexel in 2010 to create and teach the advanced production class at Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.[3] In 2011, he established the Howard and Monica Benson Endowed Scholarship Fund for students enrolled at the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design.[4]


At the time of his graduation, he regularly played with his band in small Hollywood clubs, and when his band finally went into the studio with a producer, Benson was inspired to become a record producer.[5]



Career


His first works as producer were two albums for hardcore punk band T.S.O.L. (Revenge (1986) and Hit and Run (1987)), and the first record he produced for a major record label was Bang Tango's Psycho Café in 1989.[6] Benson states that discovering Pro Tools in 1998 while working with Sepultura was a major turning point in his career. He was asked to produce P.O.D.'s The Fundamental Elements of Southtown album in 1999, which became a platinum-selling record.[7] In 2000, Benson produced P.O.D.'s multi-platinum-selling Satellite at Bay 7 Studios, and continued to record numerous albums at that location. Over the next few years, Benson produced records from acts like Cold, Crazy Town, P.O.D.'s Payable on Death, and Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge from My Chemical Romance. He later produced numerous multi-platinum records such as The All-American Rejects, Hoobastank, Flyleaf, Daughtry, Seether, Third Day, Theory of a Deadman, Three Days Grace, Skillet, Santana, Adam Lambert, Kelly Clarkson and Caleb Johnson.


He now produces exclusively at West Valley Recording Studios, in Woodland Hills.[8]


Benson stated that he utilizes Auto-Tune in the studio and that those who don't are "nuts".[9] Benson prefers to record in what he calls a "parallel system," in which musicians will record their parts in isolated rooms.[5] After the recording of an album, Benson typically brings the track to his home studio, Sparky Dark Studios, where he personally adds to the arrangement.


Benson has worked as an A&R consultant at Giant Records, Elektra Records, and Warner Bros. Records.[1]


Benson produced and appears in Attack of Life: The Bang Tango Movie, which is a 2016 documentary film directed by Drew Fortier about 80's hard rock band Bang Tango for whom Benson had produced two albums for.[10]



Awards



Grammy Awards

























Year
Nominee/work
Award
Result

2007
Himself

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical[11]
Nominated

2008
Himself

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical[12]
Nominated


Discography




References





  1. ^ abc "Interview, HitQuarters Jan 2006". Hitquarters.com. Retrieved November 3, 2012..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}


  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 29, 2007. Retrieved January 29, 2007.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Crusher Magazine, November 2004


  3. ^ "ALUMNUS HOWARD BENSON '80 RECEIVES HONORARY DEGREE". Drexel.


  4. ^ "HOWARD M. BENSON '80, HON. '15". Drexel University.


  5. ^ ab Grammy-Nominated Producer Turns Tracks Into Gold Archived June 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Mix Online, February 1, 2007


  6. ^ Feature "Howard Benson: Producer" Archived January 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Crusher Magazine; November 2004


  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Ultimate-Guitar.com, May 4, 2011


  8. ^ "Gear: Howard Benson's Round-the-Clock Rock". Billboard Magazine. June 1, 2013.


  9. ^ "Producing Hit Records". google.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.


  10. ^ ""Attack of Life – The Bang Tango Movie"". Metal Sludge. Retrieved May 23, 2018.


  11. ^ Staff, Variety. "49th annual Grammy nominations list – part 2". Variety. Retrieved April 12, 2016.


  12. ^ "The Complete List of Grammy Nominees". The New York Times. December 6, 2007. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 12, 2016.










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