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Steve Fontano
Producer
Steve
Fontano at Prairie Sun Studios
History:
Fontano's
work can be summed up in one word. Versatile. As a songwriter/arranger, Fontano
brings a special touch to the control room whether he's working with
country, R&B, heavy metal, hip hop, rock, jazz, alternative and pop genres
artists: Grateful Dead,
Jimmy Cliff, Count Basie, Rod Stewart.
Fontano mixed "The Calling" with Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana
which won a Grammy in 2000 for best rock instrumental. He also recorded "Put
Your Lights" featuring Evelast which also won a Grammy for best rock
performance by a duo or group. As a songwriter, Fontano has written and arranged
songs in wide range of musical styles for Cher, Wasp, Martie Freidman (Megadeath),
Lenny Williams of Tower Of Power and Ice-T.
You might say that Steve knows a little bit about recording the electric guitar in addition to his work as mixer and producer with artists such as David Bowie, INXS, Sly Stone, Tower Of power, Jason Becker, and Gregg Bissonette, to name a few. He's also recorded with shredders such as Greg Howe, Marty Friedman, Allan Holdsworth, Richie Kotzen , Jeff Watson, Rick Derringer and Pat Travers over the past several years.
"I've been fortunate enough to work with many forms of popular music. Being a songwriter myself I thoroughly enjoy the process of transforming thoughts into songs and helping the artist create and capture a signature sound and performance," says Fontano.
Steve began his engineering career as a staffer at various legendary studios - Record Plant, Automatt, Fantasy and Cherokee. Later he held management position at A&R dept. of Motown Records where he worked with Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder and many R&B greats. He moved to Bay Area where he recorded and mixed numerous records for Mike Varney's Shrapnel and Blues Bureau Records. He has also worked with many legendary jazz artists on Fantasy and Concord labels.
Current Credits: Most recently Fontano co-wrote the title track to Ice-T's movie "Rhapsody" featuring Ice-T and Freda Payne. He's always developing new artists while writing and producing more established acts. Fontano has become a mainstay engineer for Carlos Santana. In addition to working on Santana' hugely successful Supernatural (Grammy winner for Album of the year and Best Rock Album in 2000), Fontano has also been recording the guitarist for guest appearances on new material.
"Steve, you have a wonderful spirit. Your energy and confidence is wlecomed. When you come into the session its always up and positive. I am grateful to have you working with us." -- Carlos Santana
Contact:
818-990-3031
copyright
2003 studioexpresso