Onondaga Community College Alum's Journey to the Top of the Music Charts

Matt Forger is an Onondaga Community College Alumnus who has mastered the technical side of making music. His credits include the top selling album of all-time, Michael Jackson's Thriller. So how did he go from Central New York to becoming a world-class music producer, mixer, engineer, sound designer, and production supervisor? "I don't know what it is about the universe that put me where I am. I tell people I've just listened to that little voice in my heart and pursued things I've wanted to and explored areas I've wanted to."

Forger graduated from Liverpool High School in 1969 and came to OCC planning to major in Mechanical Technology. "I loved all things mechanical and electrical and audio and music. My dad taught me how to use tools and how to work on my car. I could do a lot of that kind of stuff."

While working with his father, he also learned a phrase that would become his north star. "When I would go to my dad and I would want to build something, or I would take something apart like a lawnmower and I wasn't sure how to put it back together, his answer was always the same. He would say, 'Figure it out.' It literally became a mantra in my life. My whole life, that's what I was doing. I was figuring it out. Whenever I encountered a challenge, I had to figure it out."

During his 2-and-a-half years at OCC, Forger kept figuring things out. When he realized Mechanical Technology didn't have the creativity he craved, he switched to Art. He needed to build his portfolio so he transferred to Syracuse University, then SUNY Oswego, and ultimately SUNY Buffalo where he completed a bachelor's degree in Art. "It took me 6 years to earn a four-year degree but I did it on my own terms. I worked enough during summers to put myself through college. The little voice in me said 'make yourself happy.' What made me happy was pursuing creative stuff."

Throughout his time as an OCC student, Forger worked with local bands mixing live music. Once he got his Art degree, he decided to make music his career path. He studied detailed specifications for top of the line sound systems, reverse engineered them, and built his own. "In my mind I had the world's biggest stereo system and every night I got to mix the sound the way I wanted to hear it. It was so satisfying to hear the sound coming out of speakers and know I built the sound system and was mixing the sound."

The local band he worked most with was Alecstar, a staple of Syracuse's 1970s and 80s live music scene. He would do carpentry and home remodeling by day, and mix music at night. He remembers regularly listening to vinyl records with band members and how certain songs would stand out. One in particular resonated with him, "Runnin' with the Devil" by Van Halen which was on the band's debut album in 1978. "I could tell they had fun recording it. There was an emotional vibe you could feel. I said, 'that's what I want to do, that's where I want to be.' The music represented that emotion. If I have to have a job, this is the path I want."

One year later, Forger packed up his possessions and his dreams and headed to Los Angeles. A friend got him an interview at Westlake Recording Studio, one of the most popular in the area, and Forger was hired as an entry-level Technician Trainee. He had mastered the art of mixing live music. Now he wanted to figure out how to do the same in a recording studio. "I wanted to start at the bottom and understand how the equipment was designed and built and how the studio was built, learn it from the ground up so when I got the opportunity to be in the room working as an engineer I would totally understand the nature of how the studio worked, the design philosophy of the acoustics of the rooms, how the studio monitors were functioning so the sound coming out of them was what you were capturing, and the nature of what it would take to make great sounding albums."

In the early 1980s, Westlake Studio became the place where Michael Jackson would record Thriller, which more than 40 years later is still the top-selling album of all time. The project was led by two legendary figures in the recording industry, producer Quincy Jones and recording engineer Bruce Swedien. Forger was part of their team, and one night would see his past and present come together.

Two songs on the album would skyrocket to number one on the charts, Billie Jean and Beat It. Michael Jackson had written Beat It with a rock music-style guitar solo in it, but it wasn't clear initially who the guitarist would be. Quincy Jones knew of Forger's history working with rock musicians and one night put him in charge of recording the solo. "Quincy said to me, 'we've got the guy who's going to do the guitar solo in Beat It. It's going to be Eddie Van Halen." This was the same Eddie Van Halen Forger had heard years earlier in the song Runnin' with the Devil and seen perform live in Syracuse. Quincy said to me 'Matt, you can go to the studio across the hall and work with those rock and roll guys.'"

Forger ran the recording session which lasted less than 30 minutes. Once it was over Jones and Swedien came in and listened. "Eddie Van Halen's guitar came screaming out of the speakers. They were blown away by what they heard. I knew what a good rock solo was and had been working in the studio long enough to catch the vibe. Once the solo was recorded, it elevated the whole song."

Decades later, Forger has more than 150 credits to his name including several Michael Jackson albums. He's never been star struck, and is proud he's always acted professionally. "Fortune and fame were never my motivation. It was always about the music. It was doing that thing that was part of the process."

Even though he left OCC in the early 1970s, his experiences figuring things out here played a significant role in his development. "At OCC I was allowed to start in one direction and explore it. As I learned more about myself, I realized I wanted to go in another direction, and then go in still another direction and make it my life's work."