Jerry Finn

Jerry Finn (March 31, 1969 – August 21, 2008) was an American record producer. He worked with numerous punk rock and pop-punk bands, such as Blink-182, Morrissey, AFI, Bad Religion, Alkaline Trio, MxPx, Rancid, Green Day, Sum 41, and The Offspring.

Finn was instrumental in developing the polished sound of pop-punk in its second wave of popularity during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Alternative Press wrote that Finn often "helped rough punk bands refine their sound, and helped them discover the power of a good vocal hook." Finn was behind the boards for many popular and acclaimed recordings in his lifetime; he mixed Green Day's Dookie (1994) and produced Blink-182's Enema of the State (1999), MxPx's The Ever Passing Moment (2000), Sum 41's All Killer, No Filler (2001) and AFI's Sing the Sorrow (2003).

Life and career

Finn attended Dick Grove School of Music. He became an assistant at The Music Grinder in the early 1990s, and was later hired as a second engineer. Finn then moved to Devonshire, where he met Rob Cavallo. He became a "right-hand man" to Cavallo, who at the time was producing Green Day's major-label debut, Dookie (1994). When the band declared themselves dissatisfied with the original mix, Finn and Cavallo set to work again and came up with a brighter mix. "Anyone who heard Green Day's first two records knew the breakout potential was there, but it took Cavallo and Finn to draw it out," wrote Alternative Press. Finn began a fruitful association with Epitaph Records in 1995, and he co-produced Pennywise's About Time alongside the label's founder, Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Finn's first solo production endeavor, Rancid's …And Out Come the Wolves, came the same year. He also produced the "landmark punk album" Dear You by Jawbreaker in 1995, and also mixed The Suicide Machines' Destruction by Definition (1996), described as "a watershed moment for ska-punk."