Steve Fallone got hooked on music and recording at a very young age, listening to his mother’s Beatles records and recording music on open-reel tape recorders. He is also an avid audiophile and record collector. Naturally, he wished to become involved in the process of making great-sounding records. Steve set out for himself a goal of working at Sterling Sound because he noticed that most of his favorite-sounding records were mastered there.

After finishing the audio engineering program at the Institute of Audio Research, his journey began when he landed his first gig at PolyGram’s mastering studio, where he learned the art of compact disc mastering and worked on many CD re-mastering projects, such as Moody Blues, Scorpions, Richie Blackmore’s Rainbow, James Brown, Eric Burdon and the Animals, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong.

In 1996, Steve moved to Masterdisk Studios to apprentice with Greg Calbi. During his time there, he also learned the art of disk-cutting/mastering vinyl. In 1998, Steve moved with Greg to Sterling Sound in New York City and has worked there ever since. In 2018, Sterling Sound moved to Edgewater, NJ, where Steve currently works. Steve divides his time between collaborating with Greg and mastering his own projects.

Steve’s credits are both impressive and diverse, including projects for TV On The Radio, Okkervil River, The Strokes, Die Antwoord, Alvvays, Bob Mould, Joan Baez, Carrie Newcomer, Sonic Youth, A Fragile Tomorrow, Yo La Tengo, and Jay Farrar. He has also mastered projects for many jazz artists, such as Eliane Elias, Norah Jones, Lionel Loueke, Avishai Cohen, Stefon Harris, Dave Douglas, Jerome Sabbagh, Henry Threadgill, Jacky Terrasson, Leni Stern, David Sanborn, Charlie Parker, Wes Montgomery, Ella Fitzgerald and many more.

Steve has worked on several GRAMMY-nominated albums throughout the last several years. In 2013, he was GRAMMY-nominated for Best Historical Album for his work on Call It Art by the New York Art Quartet. Five years later, he was GRAMMY-nominated for Album of the Year for Kacey Musgraves’s Golden Hour, in which he won at the 61st Annual GRAMMY Awards. Clients who have worked with Steve appreciate his ability to understand their music and work carefully with them on the type of sound they’d like to achieve on their master.

Top Song