Neal H Pogue

Neal H Pogue is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing work on Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2004)[1] – which won the Album of the Year category, and his audio mixing work on Tyler, The Creator's Igor & Call Me If You Get Lost – which both records won the Best Rap Album category respectively in 2020 & 2022. Pogue has also produced for artists such as M.I.A, Nelly Furtado, Earth, Wind & Fire and has mixed for artists such as TLC, Pink, Nicki Minaj, Janelle Monáe, Tyler, the Creator,[2] and Steve Lacy. Having engineered and mixed TLC's Grammy nominated 11-time platinum single "Waterfalls", Pogue also arranged the horns on "Waterfalls" under the pseudonym "Shock". Pogue has gone on to work with many prominent names in music.

Neal H Pogue
Born (1963-12-27) December 27, 1963
Roselle, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupations
Years active1984–present

Life and career

Pogue was born on December 27, 1963, in Roselle, New Jersey, the son of social worker Joan Ford and artist Arthur Pogue. At a young age, his interest in music started with the drums, when his mom gave him his first drum set. In 1984, he took his dreams of becoming a tour drummer to Los Angeles, California in 1984. After numerous attempts of breaking into the industry as a musician, Pogue enrolled at Sound Master Recording, a local school for audio engineering.[3] [4] By experimenting with instruments by recording them on a four-track recorder, he began to appreciate the craft of engineering. After school through a mutual friend, Pogue interned at a studio owned by Michael Jackson's younger brother Randy Jackson. He was then awarded with the opportunity to be an assistant engineer on Jackson's Randy & The Gypsys album. Pogue assisted there for a year. During Pogue's internship, he met Larrabee Sound Studios owner Kevin Mills and interned under him for 1 year due to Mills' encouragement that Pogue should go out on his own. In 1990, while doing various recording and mixing gigs in LA, he came in contact with Bobby Brown through Louil Silas Jr., who was an MCA Records Executive A&R at the time. Brown, who was living in Atlanta at the time, suggested that Pogue work there with him on his self-titled album. While working in Atlanta, Pogue fell in love with the city and decided to move him and his family there in 1992. While in Atlanta, through recording artist Pebbles, Pogue met the newly formed production company Organized Noize whom at the time had the LaFace Records bound unsigned hip hop duo Outkast. Through his relationship with LaFace he came in contact and worked with Toni Braxton, Goodie Mob, TLC, and Outkast, who he would go on to engineer multiple successful albums for. Pogue went on to start his own production company, Fulton Yard Unlimited, with partner Walter McKennie, with whom he has worked with M.I.A., Nelly Furtado, En Vogue, and Earth Wind & Fire.

Pogue currently resides in Los Angeles where he has continued a prolific mixing career including working on albums for R&B/hip hop duo THEY., Swedish artist Robyn's #1 charted album Honey, "Tonya" for Brockhampton's Iridescence, and Macy Gray for whom he mixed her album Ruby.

Career highlights

Working with Outkast

In 1993, Pogue began working on Outkast's initial effort Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.[5] After Outkast's initial effort released in 1994, Pogue mixed two songs from TLC's 1995 album Crazy Sexy Cool, one being the smash hit "Waterfalls" which followed by Pogue mixing the hit single "Elevators" on Outkast's second studio album ATLiens in 1996, then mixing Aquemini in 1998. In 2000, Pogue mixed hit singles "Ms. Jackson" and "B.O.B" from the album Stankonia.[6] In 2002, Andre 3000 came to Pogue with new music for what was soon to be Outkast's Grammy Award-winning album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, Andre played Pogue a demo version of "Hey Ya". Pogue convinced Andre 3000 to choose "Hey Ya" as Speakerboxxx/The Love Below's lead single.[7] The genre-bending song went on to become one of the most iconic songs of the 2000s appearing on multiple charts including Billboard's Adult Top 40, US Alternative Songs Chart, and Hot 100 where it sat at #1 for nine weeks.[8] While working in collaboration with Outkast, Pogue mixed tracks such as "She Lives in My Lap", "She's Alive", "Prototype", "Take Off Your Cool" featuring Grammy Award-winner Norah Jones, "Spread" and "Vibrate".[9]

Working with Earth, Wind & Fire

In 2012, Pogue worked on the production, mixing, instrumentation and composing of Earth, Wind & Fire's 20th studio album Now, Then & Forever that was released on September 13, 2013.[10] Pogue co-wrote on the song "Sign On". Pogue sent a track to Academy Award-nominated and Grammy-winning songwriter Siedah Garrett, which would become the lead single "My Promise". Pogue recorded the demo with Garrett, then sent it to Earth, Wind & Fire. The album charted as number 11 on the US Billboard 200, and charted as number 6 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.[11][12][13]

Discography

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Grammy Awards
Year Category Work Result
2002 Record of the Year "Ms. Jackson" Nominated
Album of the Year Stankonia Nominated
2004 Speakerboxxx/The Love Below Won
Record of the Year "Hey Ya!" Nominated
2010 Best Rap Album Universal Mind Control Nominated
2015 Best R&B Album Lift Your Spirit Nominated
2018 Best Rap Album Flower Boy Nominated
2020 Igor Won
2021 Best Dance/Electronic Album BUBBA Won
Best Dance Recording "10%" Won
2022 Album of the Year Planet Her Nominated
Best Rap Album Call Me If You Get Lost Won
Best Engineered Album Cinema Nominated
2023 Record of the Year "Bad Habit" Nominated
Song of the Year Nominated
Best Pop Solo Performance Nominated
Best Progressive R&B Album Gemini Rights Won

References
  1. "Neal H. Pogue". GRAMMY.com. May 22, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  2. Weiss, David (September 18, 2017). "Neal H Pogue: Instinctual Mixing for Tyler the Creator". sonicscoop.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  3. "Producer Profile". studioexpresso. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  4. "Biography". Nealhpogue.
  5. "Release Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik by Outkast - MusicBrainz". musicbrainz.org. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  6. Carmichael, Rodney. "The Making of Outkast's Aquemini". Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  7. JOPSON, NIGEL. "Neil Pogue" (PDF). Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  8. "The Secret History of Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below: the Last Truly Great Double Album". Okayplayer. September 22, 2018. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  9. "Norah Jones Discog". Discogs. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  10. Williams, Brennan (August 19, 2013). "Earth, Wind & Fire Now, Then & Forever: Verdine White Talks New Album, Premieres "Night of My Life"". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  11. Gallo, Anthony. "Pogue Mixes EWF with AGA". ProSound Network. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  12. PRWEB. "Fulton Yard Unlimited Helps Bring Earth, Wind & Fire Back to the Charts". PRWEB. Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  13. PRNewswire (September 18, 2013). "Earth, Wind & Fire's New Studio Album, Now, Then & Forever, Debuts at No. 11 on Billboard 200 And No. 5 on the Top R&B Charts". Retrieved April 12, 2014.
  14. Williams, Brennan (August 19, 2013). "Earth, Wind & Fire 'Now, Then & Forever': Verdine White Talks New Album, Premieres 'Night Of My Life'". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
  15. "Neal Pogue Mixes The Electric Lady". Tingen. March 28, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
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