Mastermind

Joel Johnson was known as THE MASTERMIND and earned his name working in the most demanding studio and live sound environments in California's Bay Area from the 90s-00s for some of the most influential touring and studio acts of all time.

Known for promoting concerts and events in both traditional media and pre social networking the entire idea to have a music page that allowed fans to socialize about events came from his mind and team existing decades before MySpace and Facebook were an after thought on your list of what to do today.

Supporting bands like Presence and Faktion - Joel created sustainable fan bases and mailing lists for major artists before being a critical part of their major labels network of trusted studios to have master and mix major records. Mastermind was directly involved with integrating sites like Soundcloud, Purevolume, iSound, Myspace Music and Facebook Music to freely share content and post to Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for artists from one toolbar.

As music evolved he helped indie and major labels prepare for the era of digital distribution and is credited with creating the idea that spawned distribution services like TuneCore which allow bands to upload songs that then can be streamed on Spotify, YouTube or bought on Amazon or iTunes. IN sound engineering Mastermind earned his name. He now goes by his real name Joe Johnson.

The term Glass Mastering refers to a song being radio ready and commercially sellable. It's the point at which you FEEL rather than HEAR music. Mastermind is named such because his skill on an audio console and recording hardware allow his mixes to achieve sonic perfection and retain musical imperfections that make his legendary mixes stand alone in music. But his friends and fans know him as Joel.

Starting in 2002 joel was the lead guitarist of Bay Area metal group Tragic Fayth who inspired bands like Lacuna Coil and Evanescence to mix male and female vocals with heavy metal. Later the band underwent two name changes and got the dutchess of a European nation to front the band as lead singer. Her vocals graced his first solo album Souls which had its debut in 2006 and was released in 2014.

Former bands Butcher, Shattered, Shattered Dreams, All Star Certified, WTF the band and even rap labels have counted on Joel as the Mastermind to build studios, create promo plans, get fans involved in discussing album production and show ideas, and help launch careers of many successful artists today.

He has appeared on albums with Wiz Khalifa, DJ Drama, Lil Wayne, YMCMB, 2 Chainz, Corey Gunz, MeekMill, Gucci Mane, Omega Raw, Dj Khaled and was interviewed in Coast 2 Coast magazine volume 1. He helped launch the career of Natalia Damini, and even mastered songs for Warner Bros. Records.

Fans of rock music remember Mastermind Productions as Johnson Smith Productions who ran the official forum and website for Curb records artist Presence and Roadrunner Records artist Faktion who he later signed to a short term recording contract producing the songs "Burn" and "Save Me."

With MMP he supported recording for many artists on independent and major labels alike from IMDB mixing credits for Sundance winning film Blinders featuring a song he recorded and engineered for Omega Raw "Shadows."

As Mastermind, Joel used to be the head engineer of a major label from Las Vegas and San Francisco. Aknowledged world wide for his musicianship on multi instrumental works including being a master Drummer starting at four years old and guitar player beginning at 12 he has also played bass on countless recordings, DJed for tons of groups, played keys and composed classical symphonies for his own albums, and vocalized with pop, rnb, rap and hip hop groups including touring with Atlanta hip hop platinum artist the Ying Yang Twins who inspired him to Dj at 10.

Early photos of Joel show a child in a leopard print cutoff vest with a broom and he never lost the passion to rock. Working with youth who have disabilities allied joel with Sonoma County camps and youth programs as he discovered later in life that he was battling a serious illness.

IN 2012 2014 2017 and 2018 Joel survived organ failure and began a journey to find the source of his ongoing degenerating health. He found inspiration through music and natural medicine among meditation.

Mastermind was Born in 1988 Joel Johnson and was moved to California by his adoptive family and raised by parents - a health provider for seniors and internationally acclaimed wine label designer / illustrator his father who he presently works for as a graphic artist. Together the father son team turned out 40 major wine brands reaching billions in sales for Northern California and French, Australian even Italian wineries.

Having the resources to meet major music producers and managers in the Bay Area he received formal drum lessons from Peter Erskine, Jason Bodlovich and Michael Arogon, guitar from Pros and even met his hero Kerry King of slayer.

Joel is the only engineer in the world Ultimate Ears ever worked with hand in hand to create a set of personal monitors the UE 11 Pro for studio and has credits on countless recordings totaling over 3500 works.

The artist is presently back in the north bay recording and dealing with health challenges following separating from a label he was signed to from 2011-2016 as a UMG sub contractor.