Paul Moak (born July 8, 1979) is an American producer, engineer, mixer, and multi-instrumentalist currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee.[1]

Paul Moak
Paul Moak at Wacken Open Air 2022
Paul Moak at Wacken Open Air 2022
Background information
Birth namePaul Greer Moak, III
Born (1979-07-08) July 8, 1979 (age 44)
OriginJackson, Mississippi, U.S.
GenresRock, pop, indie, R&B, soul, CCM, country
Occupation(s)Record producer
Years active1998–present
Websitepaulmoakmusic.com

Biography edit

Paul Greer Moak, III was born in Jackson, MS on July 8, 1979. He learned music at a young age and began touring and recording with artists soon after, primarily as a session guitarist but performing on other instruments as well.[2]

Over the years, Paul began to transition to the roles of producer, engineer, and mixer.[3] He moved to Nashville, TN in 1998, where he had his first private studio.

In early 2004, Paul opened "The Smoakstack" in Nashville with Will Sayles, a 1,760 square-foot recording facility consisting of three tracking rooms and a control room, as well as a lounge, kitchen, and bathroom. The studio used Pro Tools HD 7, with twenty-four inputs/outputs and API/Neve sidecars. Outboard gear consisted of Telefunken, Altec, Neve, dbx and Ampex equipment.

In 2009, Paul moved his studio to the former Platinum Labs facility in Nashville, re-opening it under the name, "The Smoakstack".

Paul has produced, engineered, performed on, and written songs that have been featured on TV shows such as One Tree Hill,[4] Private Practice,[5] and Pretty Little Liars.[6]

Some of Paul's credits include Mat Kearney, Third Day, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Martha Wainwright, Monroe/Dabbs, Lovedrug, Jennifer Knapp, Matthew Mayfield and Griffin House.

On October 19, 2010, multi-platinum recording artists Third Day (Provident/Sony) released their tenth studio album, Move, which Paul produced. This album debuted at No 9 on the Billboard 200 and No. 3 on Billboard's Rock Albums chart, marking Paul's highest-charting production work to date.[7] As of August 31, 2011, Move had sold more than 250,000 physical copies.

Paul earned his first GRAMMY nomination at the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards for his work producing, engineering, and co-mixing Leeland's album, The Great Awakening, which was released on September 20, 2011.[1]

The Smoakstack edit

Relocating his studio to the Berry Hill area of Nashville in 2009, Moak re-opened The Smoakstack at the former Platinum Labs facility, a 3,000 square-foot recording facility designed by recording engineer and studio designer Chris Huston. The control room monitoring was designed and tuned by Carl Tatz using his Phantom Focus System.

The Smoakstack comprises a live room (25 by 30 feet (7.6 m × 9.1 m) with 20 feet (6.1 m) ceilings), Control Room (22 by 20 feet or 6.7 m × 6.1 m), four isolation booths and a piano room.

The console used is an SSL 4056G+ with Ultimation and Total Recall, with recording capabilities via Pro Tools 8 HD3 40 Input/56 Output, UAD-2 Quad card with all UAD Plug-ins, MCI JH24 16-track machine, Alesis Masterlink, and Tascam CDR.[8]

Selected discography edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "GRAMMY.com – The Official Site of Music's Biggest Night". The GRAMMYs. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
  2. ^ Discogs.com. Album credits for Paul Moak as a session musician.. 2002–present.
  3. ^ AlbumCredits.com. AlbumCredits.com Page for Paul Moak. 2002–present.
  4. ^ One Tree Hill Music. Season 7, Episode 5 – "Your Cheatin' Heart". Original Air Date – December 10, 2009.
  5. ^ Private Practice – Music Lounge – ABC.com. Episode 401: "Take Two" Archived January 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Original Air Date – September 23, 2010.
  6. ^ Pretty Little Liars – ABC Family Sound Booth. Episode 121: "Monsters in the End". Original Air Date – 3/14/11.
  7. ^ Billboard.com. "Move – Third Day (Album Info)".
  8. ^ "Gear". Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2011.

External links edit