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Garth Richardson (born ), known professionally as GGGarth, is a Canadian record producer and sound engineer. He is the son of music producer Jack Richardson.
He has worked with such musical acts as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crüe, Nickelback, Rage Against the Machine, L7, Mudvayne, Melvins, Biffy Clyro, Kittie, Shihad, 54-40, Hedley, Rise Against, and Spineshank.
He co-founded the Nimbus School of Recording Arts in Vancouver with producer Bob Ezrin and established his personal recording studio, the Farm, in Gibsons, British Columbia. He and five partners opened Fader Mountain Sound, a sound studio and rehearsal space that took over the space formerly occupied by the famed Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver. Richardson also created the Bandwagon, a portable recording studio used for music therapy by patients at British Columbia Children's Hospital and other facilities in the Lower Mainland of BC that cater to teens and adults.
He has been nominated for a Grammy Awards, a Mercury Prize, and three Juno Awards, winning the Juno Award for Producer of the Year in 1997.
From the age of five, Richardson would visit his father at his Toronto studio, Nimbus 9, and was inspired to follow in his footsteps. He started working as the studio's janitor at the age of 14. At 15 years of age, he worked as a Tape op on Seger's "Night Moves", which was produced by his father.
Richardson was athletic as a child, participating in hockey, football, and skiing. He attended Georges Vanier Secondary School and would work at Nimbus 9 at night. He later enrolled in Fanshawe College's Music Industry Arts program but chose to leave before completing his diploma, preferring the hands-on experience at his father's studio. His first production credit came in 1979 with Ad Up, an album by Numbers, a short-lived Toronto-based band.
Richardson was an assistant engineer on the 1987 White Lion album, Pride, produced by Wagener. His first big break was engineering the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Mother's Milk (1989). He was credited as "GGGarthatron" on the album and initially planned to use the name for his next project with a band called the Power Trio from Hell. However, the band believed it would bring bad luck and instead opted for "GGGarth", a name they considered to be lucky due to its seven-letter composition. Richardson adopted the moniker, in reference to his stutter, and continued to use "GGGarth" as his professional credit on several subsequent projects.
He produced Rage Against the Machine's 1992 self-titled debut studio album, which earned him a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical at the 36th Annual Grammy Awards.
He mixed and produced several tracks on the Melvins' 1993 album, Houdini, co-produced their 1994 release Stoner Witch, and served as engineer and mixer on tracks from their 1996 album, Stag. Richardson also produced the 1996 album Shot by the Jesus Lizard, and the following year, he was awarded the Juno Award for Producer of the Year for his work on the singles "Bar-X-the Rocking M" from Stag and "Mailman" from Shot.
The band L7 chose Richardson to co-produce their 1994 album, Hungry for Stink, because of his work with the guitar sound on albums by Melvins and Rage Against the Machine. He mixed the Tommy Lee single "Planet Boom" from the Mötley Crüe EP Quaternary (1994) as well as the acoustic version of Nickelback's "Leader of Men", which was appeared on their 1998 album, The State.
Richardson produced 54-40's 1998 album, Since When. Both the album and its title track were the highest-charting album and single in the band's history. Since When peaked at No. 19 on the RPM Top 100 Albums chart, and the single peaked at No. 2 on RPMs Alternative 30 chart and No. 11 on their 100 Hit Tracks chart. Richardson also produced three tracks on the band's 2018 album, Keep On Walking.
He produced Kittie's debut album, Spit (1998), and Shihad's The General Electric (1999).
In 2000, Richardson co-produced Mudvayne's debut album, L.D. 50.
In 2003, he received a Juno nomination for Producer of the Year for his work on the songs "Family System" and "The Red" from Chevelle's Wonder What's Next. The prize had been renamed the Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award in 2002 in honour of his father.
Richardson produced Siren Song of the Counter Culture (2004) by Rise Against, the band's first album on a major record label.
He received his third Juno nomination for Producer of the Year in 2006, for his work on the singles "Gunnin'" and "Villain" by Hedley, from their self-titled debut album.
Richardson has produced three albums by the Scottish rock band Biffy Clyro: Puzzle (2007), Only Revolutions (2009), and Opposites (2013). In 2010, he was nominated for a Mercury Prize for his work on Only Revolutions.
The recording studio was designed in collaboration with Ron Obvious, who also contributed to the design of Bryan Adams' Warehouse Studio and Armoury Studios in Vancouver. Additionally, Richardson installed cables into the woods of his property, enabling musicians to record outdoors.
The school provided diploma programs in audio engineering, live sound mixing and recording, and advanced studio production. Students who completed one year of training were also eligible to apply to Capilano University to pursue a degree.
The school closed in 2023. Richardson told the Vancouver Sun, "It was a perfect storm of COVID-19, student visa trouble and increased property taxes that forced us to close."
Richardson was inspired to create the Bandwagon after spending time with his daughter at BC Children's Hospital, where he witnessed firsthand the positive impact of the hospital's music therapy program on patients. The mobile studio enables patients to record their own music with the support of on-site music therapists and is equipped with professional-grade microphones, keyboards, and guitars.
Richardson left Fader Mountain Sound in 2016, moving his equipment back to the Farm Studios.
Richardson remarried in 2007.
He received an Honorary degree Doctor of Letters from Capilano University in 2025.
Richardson was nominated for the Grammy Award along with Andy Wallace and Stan Katayama.
Career
Production work
In the 1980s Richardson landed a job at Phase One Studios in Toronto. Three years in, he was invited by producer Michael Wagener to work with him in Los Angeles for six months. Richardson left for LA in 1984 and stayed there for 12 years.
The Farm Studios
In 2002, Richardson began developing his own personal recording facility on a seven-acre property in Gibsons, a town situated on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, approximately 45 kilometers from Vancouver. He lives on the property, which also includes accommodations for artists recording on-site.
Nimbus School of Recording Arts
In 2008, Richardson co-founded the Nimbus School of Recording Arts alongside producers Bob Ezrin and Kevin Williams. The school was named after Nimbus 9, the Toronto studio operated by Richardson's father. Ezrin had apprenticed under the elder Richardson during the 1970s.
Bandwagon
In collaboration with the Music Therapy Ride—an annual motorcycle charity event that raises funds for music therapy services in British Columbia—Richardson developed a mobile recording studio known as the Bandwagon, designed to be brought directly to a patient's hospital bedside. Initially conceived in 2010, the first Bandwagon was installed at BC Children's Hospital in 2012. A second unit was created in 2013, serving multiple facilities across the Lower Mainland that support long-term care patients, individuals with dementia, and hospitalized teenagers.
Fader Mountain Sound
In 2012, Richardson launched Fader Mountain Sound studios in partnership with Ben Kaplan, Shawn Cole, Kevin Kowai, Daniel Byrne, and Paul Boechler. Kaplan previously collaborated with Richardson at both the Farm and the Nimbus School of Recording Arts. Fader Mountain Sound was founded in the former premises of Little Mountain Sound Studios, a legendary facility closely linked to iconic producers Bruce Fairbairn and Bob Rock.
Personal life
Richardson has two brothers and two sisters. While still living in Los Angeles, he met his first wife during a six-month trip to Montreal, where he was working with Dead Brain Cells. The couple settled in Los Angeles and had two daughters. They relocated to Vancouver after one of their daughters faced a serious health issue that wasn't covered by their insurance. Richardson chose Vancouver over Toronto, believing the city offered better opportunities in the music industry at the time.
Selected production credits
1988 Sword Sweet Dreams Co-produced with Jack Richardson 1991 The Scream Man in the Moon Co-produced with Eddie Kramer 1992 Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine 1993 Melvins Houdini Co-produced with Melvins and Kurt Cobain 1994 L7 Hungry for Stink Surgery Shimmer Testament Low 1995 Ugly Kid Joe Menace to Sobriety Voodoo Glow Skulls Firme 1996 Melvins Stag Co-produced with Melvins and Joe Barresi The Jesus Lizard Shot Skunk Anansie Stoosh 1997 Kerbdog On the Turn Sick of It All Built to Last 1998 The Urge Master of Styles 1999 Shihad The General Electric The O.C. Supertones Chase the Sun Kittie Spit 2000 Project 86 Drawing Black Lines Mudvayne L.D. 50 Spineshank The Height of Callousness 2001 Kittie Oracle 40 Below Summer Invitation to the Dance Puya Union 2002 Chevelle Wonder What's Next Downthesun Downthesun Trapt Trapt 2003 Beloved Failure On Spineshank Self-Destructive Pattern Spoken A Moment of Imperfect Clarity From Autumn to Ashes The Fiction We Live 2004 Atreyu The Curse Rise Against Siren Song of the Counter Culture 2005 From Autumn to Ashes Abandon Your Friends Shihad Love Is the New Hate Bloodsimple A Cruel World Still Remains Of Love and Lunacy Haste the Day When Everything Falls Project 86 ...And the Rest Will Follow Hedley Hedley Co-produced with Brian Howes 2006 GrimSkunk Fires Under the Road It Dies Today Sirens Ten Second Epic Count Yourself In 2007 Haste the Day Pressure the Hinges Life in Your Way Waking Giants Biffy Clyro Puzzle Autovein Bullets and Bruises 2008 Trapt Only Through the Pain Blessed by a Broken Heart Pedal to the Metal 2009 Ten Second Epic Hometown Biffy Clyro Only Revolutions Dead and Divine The Machines We Are Gallows Grey Britain 2011 Japanese Voyeurs Yolk You Me at Six Sinners Never Sleep 2012 All the Young Welcome Home The Washboard Union The Washboard Union 2013 Head of the Herd By This Time Tomorrow Biffy Clyro Opposites 2015 The ReAktion Selknam 2016 The Empty Page Unfolding 2017 Big Wreck Grace Street 2018 GrimSkunk Unreason in the Age of Madness 2019 Danko Jones A Rock Supreme Kensington Time Hanggai Big Brass Band 2022 Devin Townsend Lightwork Co-produced with Devin Townsend
Awards and nominations
1994 Grammy Award Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical* Rage Against the Machine by Rage Against the Machine 1997 Juno Award Producer of the Year "Bar-X-the Rocking M" from Stag by Melvins and "Mailman" from Shot by the Jesus Lizard 2003 Juno Award Jack Richardson Producer of the Year "Family Stem" and "The Red" from Wonder What's Next by Chevelle 2006 Juno Award Jack Richardson Producer of the Year "Gunnin'", "Villain" by Hedley from Hedley 2010 Mercury Prize Album of the Year Only Revolutions by Biffy Clyro
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