Thom Russo

Thom Russo was born in Cleveland, Ohio.^[5][6] He studied composition, music theory, and electronic music at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.^[4] He lives and works in Los Angeles.^[7]

Russo began his professional career as a musician^[4][7] but developed an interest in music production, composition, engineering, and recording while studying at the Northwestern University Conservatory of Music.^[4] He first worked at River North Studios in Chicago, where he was mentored by composers and arrangers in the advertising industry. He later moved to Larrabee Sound Studios in Los Angeles and subsequently worked independently under Nettwerk Producer Management.^[4]

One of his earliest projects at Larrabee was producing vocals for Michael Jackson's album Dangerous.^[4] He also contributed to Bobby Brown's Bobby, Cher's Greatest Hits: 1965–1992, Diana Ross's Take Me Higher, and Paula Abdul's Head Over Heels.^[3][8]

This early work provided the foundation for Russo's later career. Over the years, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including:

• Alejandro Sanz (El Tren de los Momentos)
• Aterciopelados (Oye)
• Audioslave (Audioslave, Like a Stone, Doesn't Remind Me, Out of Exile)
• Babyface (For the Cool in You, The Day, A Collection of His Greatest Hits)
• Bird York (The Velvet Hour, Wicked Little High)
• Don Tetto
• Enrique Iglesias (Enrique Iglesias)
• Eric Clapton (Change the World)
• Faith Evans (A Faithful Christmas, Keep the Faith)
• Huecco (Assalto, Huecco)
• Jay-Z (99 Problems)
• Jermaine Dupri (12 Soulful Nights of Christmas)
• Jesse & Joy (Electricidad)
• Johnny Cash (American IV: The Man Comes Around)
• Juanes (Fíjate Bien, Un Día Normal, Mi Sangre, La Vida... Es Un Ratico)
• Lili Haydn (Place Between Places)
• Libido (Pop*Porn)
• Love Star (Espectro)
• Macy Gray (The Id, The Trouble with Being Myself, The Very Best of Macy Gray)
• Maná (Amar es Combatir, Drama y Luz)
• Michael Jackson (King of Pop)
• Pedro Suárez-Vértiz (Amazonas)
• Toto (Kingdom of Desire)
• Los Claxons (Un Día de Sol)
• Alan Munro (Ojalá)

Full listings are available in music databases.^[3][8]

Since 2000, Russo has increasingly worked in Latin rock and pop music, collaborating with Juanes, Maná, and other artists from Latin America, Central America, and Spain.^[3]

Russo's mixing techniques include the use of audio filtering with different microphones and equalizers, dynamic range compression, sound fading, and other unconventional approaches.^[9] He adapts these methods to highlight distinctive features in the music he records,^[9] citing record producer Rick Rubin as one of his main professional influences.^[7]

In 2016, Russo was a featured guest at Kingvention, an annual convention in London celebrating the life and career of Michael Jackson.^[10]

Russo has received 12 platinum record awards, along with two Grammy Awards and 12 Latin Grammy Awards.