I was born in the Bronx on November 29, 1966 (coincidentally the same day that the Beatles were recording "Strawberry Fields Forever") into a musical family. At the age of ten, my grandfather bought me my first set of drums. I practiced diligently, and soon enough I was having full scale jam sessions in my bedroom (much to my neighbors dismay!)
In 1977, I attended
a summer camp that had one rather unique activity in addition to swimming,
baseball and so forth... a radio station. I started engineering
lunchtime radio shows that were broadcast around the camp, and there was
no turning back.
By my mid teens I had become a proficient drummer and also began learning
the basics of guitar and keyboards as well. It was around that time
when I had my first exposure to multitrack recording when my friend got
a 4 track. My first recording experience featured Kamal Ahmed (Jerky
Boys) on bass and vocals, Zach Throne (Susanna Hoffs, The Heights) on
guitar and me on drums. I still have a copy of it... somewhere (blackmail
material!). It wasn't long before I had a 4 track of my own.
In 1987, I graduated from The Center For The Media Arts: Recording Arts Program,
with a dean's letter of recommendation.
In 1988 I began my engineering career as an intern at Greene Street Recording
in Soho. There, I was involved in sessions for (then upcoming) artists like
Blues Traveller, Lenny Kravitz and Spin Doctors. Not a bad start!
My first assistant engineer gig came later that year. The studio that I
worked in (RVI) specialized in recording music for karaoke CD's. There,
I had an opportunity to work with and learn from, many of New York's
top engineers and studio musicians. Learning to faithfully re-create classic
Rock, R&B and Broadway show recordings was great training for me. At
a time when many records where made exclusively with synthesizers, I had an opportunity
to work with real live musicians every day - including huge string and horn sections.
Not many engineers starting out at that time have had that kind of experience.
I was fortunate.
In 1990 I was hired as an assistant engineer by Sid Woloshin. Sid has been one of the most successful jingle producers in the industry for over 30 years! He was responsible for classic jingles like: "You Deserve A Break Today" (McDonalds), "Nobody Cares For Eyes More Than Pearle" (Pearle Vision) and "Like A Good Neighbor, State Farm Is There" (State Farm Insurance). Thanks to Sid's encouragement, I quickly ascended to staff engineer. I honed my skills at Sid's studio (Avalon Recording) for five years. While I still enjoy a successful jingle career, my dream had always been to work on records. Opportunity soon knocked.
1995 brought many exciting changes for me, I married my wife Stacy and joined Grammy award winning producer Ric Wake's engineering staff. While working for Ric, I worked on records for Taylor Dayne, Grover Washington, Jr., Billy Porter and many others.
After a year of working for Ric, I found myself torn between my staff obligations and increasing free-lance opportunities. So I left in 1996 and Jonathan Appell Productions was born.
I soon began a close working relationship with super-producer Keith Diamond (Mick Jagger, Billy Ocean, Donna Summer...). Together we worked on projects for numerous artists. It was Keith, who encouraged me to seek out more projects as a producer. In 1997, Keith passed away suddenly from a heart attack. He was only 46.
In recent years I've had the good fortune to work with a number of artists that I've admired since childhood, including, Carole King, Bette Midler, Omar Hakim and Trevor Horn. I also continue to work on many jingles, movie and TV projects. Perhaps your project will be next???
Thanks for visiting!,
Jonathan
November, 2002