Biography
New Jersey native Roger Moutenot pursued an unusual path as a Nashville-based producer and engineer who deliberately steered clear of country sessions. After accumulating ten years of experience in Manhattan facilities alongside both commercial and experimental artists, he gradually assembled a roster of unconventional rock acts such as Sleater-Kinney while cultivating an enduring partnership with the indie veterans Yo La Tengo.
Growing up in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, where the Manhattan skyline was visible from his home, Moutenot constructed a basement recording space for his own group and soon began capturing bands from adjacent communities. After completing high school in 1975, he enrolled at the Institute of Audio Research in New York and secured an entry-level position at Skyline Studios by posing as a carpenter. He advanced through successive roles as tape operator and assistant before becoming the facility’s chief engineer by the late 1980s, during which time he collaborated with Laurie Anderson, They Might Be Giants, and 10,000 Maniacs.
Once Chic’s Nile Rodgers arranged one of his recurring six-month residencies at the studio, Moutenot transitioned to freelance work. He contributed to projects for Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys at the Chung King House of Metal and handled engineering duties for leading figures in the downtown avant-garde community, among them jazz artists John Zorn and Don Byron. In 1993 he produced Painful, Yo La Tengo’s sixth album, initiating a productive association that has yielded roughly seven full-length releases, among them the group’s most commercially successful and widely praised efforts: 1997’s I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One and 2000’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out.
Moutenot moved to Nashville in 1994 and continued to reject country assignments, initially encountering difficulty attracting earlier collaborators to Tennessee. An unplanned partnership with singer, songwriter, and producer Paula Cole yielded the double-platinum, Grammy-nominated 1996 album This Fire. While sustaining his work with Yo La Tengo at Alex the Great studios—equipped with an extensive array of vintage organs—he expanded his roster to encompass Joseph Arthur, Nashville indie mainstays Lambchop, pop outfit Beulah, and more mainstream artists such as songwriter Josh Rouse, in addition to a Grammy-nominated project by Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. His discography further includes credits with Lou Reed, Rosanne Cash, and John Cale. In the early 2000s he established his own Haptown studio in Nashville.
Growing up in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, where the Manhattan skyline was visible from his home, Moutenot constructed a basement recording space for his own group and soon began capturing bands from adjacent communities. After completing high school in 1975, he enrolled at the Institute of Audio Research in New York and secured an entry-level position at Skyline Studios by posing as a carpenter. He advanced through successive roles as tape operator and assistant before becoming the facility’s chief engineer by the late 1980s, during which time he collaborated with Laurie Anderson, They Might Be Giants, and 10,000 Maniacs.
Once Chic’s Nile Rodgers arranged one of his recurring six-month residencies at the studio, Moutenot transitioned to freelance work. He contributed to projects for Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys at the Chung King House of Metal and handled engineering duties for leading figures in the downtown avant-garde community, among them jazz artists John Zorn and Don Byron. In 1993 he produced Painful, Yo La Tengo’s sixth album, initiating a productive association that has yielded roughly seven full-length releases, among them the group’s most commercially successful and widely praised efforts: 1997’s I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One and 2000’s And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out.
Moutenot moved to Nashville in 1994 and continued to reject country assignments, initially encountering difficulty attracting earlier collaborators to Tennessee. An unplanned partnership with singer, songwriter, and producer Paula Cole yielded the double-platinum, Grammy-nominated 1996 album This Fire. While sustaining his work with Yo La Tengo at Alex the Great studios—equipped with an extensive array of vintage organs—he expanded his roster to encompass Joseph Arthur, Nashville indie mainstays Lambchop, pop outfit Beulah, and more mainstream artists such as songwriter Josh Rouse, in addition to a Grammy-nominated project by Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna guitarist Jorma Kaukonen. His discography further includes credits with Lou Reed, Rosanne Cash, and John Cale. In the early 2000s he established his own Haptown studio in Nashville.
Albums