John Fischbach ’63 is a sound engineer and music producer whose career has partnered him with legendary artists, including Carol King, James Taylor, and Stevie Wonder.
What was your experience at Riverdale like?
I really had two different kinds of experiences. It was a different time, and, as it turns out, I needed to learn in a different way. My academic time at Riverdale was stressful, but eventually I made it through. I won an art prize, I was head of committees, so the social part of Riverdale was great, and I still have many friends. It was an important part of my life.
Did you always plan to have a career in music?
My mother, Marilyn Fischbach, was an important gallery owner, and I grew up around artists. I actually thought I was going to be a museum curator. It was just a series of incidents, though, that brought me to music. I went to the University of Denver, and then I went to San Francisco and Boston. From there, I was in LA. In LA, I had a group of friends, and they turned out to be Carol King and James Taylor, and that’s how it started.
I produced the first Carol King album, which was called Writer: Carol King.
I became friends with Stevie Wonder. I had a recording studio, a big studio in LA. One day, I got a call, and Stevie asked me if he could have time at the studio. I figured he needed to do something for one night because he asked me if I could do the session. It was more like two and a half years!
So that became his album, Songs in the Key of Life. This year is the 50th anniversary of that album.
How did you go from being a producer to a successful sound engineer?
My partner and I owned what became a famous recording studio. We worked with everybody: Carole King, Jackson Brown, James Taylor, The Jackson 5, a lot of Motown acts.
My partner was the audio engineer, and I realized I didn’t really know what to say to him about how to do the things that I had in my brain. So I thought, maybe I ought to learn how to become an engineer, so I’ll have knowledge of what to say. I set out to do that, and it turns out I was pretty good at it. I ended up working in Australia and Japan. I’ve worked in London. I just turned 81, and I still work.
What advice do you give those looking to get into your field?
Get a great education and then do music as an avocation. If you pursue it, have something to fall back on. I tell younger people, the reality of the situation is that your chances of making it are slim. But if you’re determined to do it, go do it and give it your best shot.