Renowned Billboard-Charting Producer Marty Bak
Story by Michael Seguin
Photography by Gene Schilling
Just like the many concerned parent’s groups of the past millennium, Billboard-charting producer Marty Bak blames Metallica.
“My brother and my cousin first got me into Metallica,” Marty recalls. “I got really obsessed with them—learning all their songs on drums and guitar. Then when I was around eighteen, I went to one of their concerts at The Palace of Auburn Hills. And the night before, my brother and I made a sign that read: LARS LET ME PLAY YOUR DRUM KIT. I remember us laughing about it, thinking there was no way that would work.”
Imagine their surprise when—during the final song of the performance—Marty was pulled on stage.
“I was able to close off the night with Metallica on drums in front of 30 thousand people!” Marty states. “It was unreal! I was shaking for three days afterwards.”
To Marty, this event was more than a fun story. At the time, deep in his bones he already knew that he wanted to be a music producer. However, after high school, he’d been pressured into enrolling in St. Clair College’s Mechanical Engineering program. However, despite initially capitulating to his parent’s wishes and pursuing a “safe” career, this night with Metallica felt like a sign.
“A few days later, I dropped everything,” Marty explains. “I started pursuing music full-time.”
And now, almost twenty years later, Marty Bak has made good on that promise to himself. He’s currently a Billboard-charting producer, mixer and songwriter. He’s worked with record labels such as Universal Music Group, BMG, Better Noise Music, Republic, EMI, Warner, Sony, Interscope, Nettwerk Music Group and many more. His productions have been heard on top 40 Billboard charts, countless TV Networks, high-profile video games and now totalling a billion streams worldwide. Martin also owns and operates SLR Studios, a state-of-the-art recording facility located right here in Windsor.
And as a producer and mixer, Marty’s job requires him to be a nimble problem-solver.
“There’s always a lot of pre-production,” Marty states. “It also depends on the artist! If it’s a local musician and they just want to record some vocals, we can do that very easily as one of our engineers can take on that session and take it to the finish line for them. But if they want a full-blown, world-class product that sounds like it came straight out of Hollywood, then that’s where we up the ante and really monitor and critique every detail to ensure we come out with a top-notch song and a competitive production”
This process will involve both substantial demoing and writing. And once they’ve created a song that they feel is strong enough, then Marty and his team take it to full production in the studio.
“We’ll start laying down tracks,” Marty explains. “We’ll either rebuild the demo and add drums, guitars, piano, effects, vocals, or whatever else it might need. Once it’s all recorded and edited—usually my assistant will prep everything for me—I’ll sit down and mix the whole production. And sometimes there could be anywhere from fifty to three hundred layers in one Pro Tools session!”
From there, once the band approves the track, Marty will master it and deliver the file right into their hands which they can then either upload directly or deliver to their own distributors.
This can be a particularly demanding process for Marty. But even twenty years into his career, the whole ordeal is still a labor of love for him.
“There’s nothing quite like proudly listening to a song that you’ve put all your blood, sweat, and tears into,” Marty states. “However, getting it to that point can be quite self-sabotaging at times. ‘This is the worst thing ever.’ ‘This tone sucks!’ ‘Let’s redo the whole thing!’ We’re constantly trying to prefect the craft.”
Despite how hard Marty can be on himself, his prowess in the studio is unquestioned. And thanks to his reputation, he’s been able to collaborate with a range of artists, including The Tea Party, Adam Gontier (of Three Days Grace), Billy Raffoul, Mother Mother, Trevor McNevan (of Thousand Foot Krutch) Autumn Kings, USS, No Resolve, Sick Puppies, The S’Aints, Eva Under Fire, Ghosts of August, Classified (with a JUNO nomination) and more.
But despite his substantial list of accomplishments, Marty stresses the importance of leading with sheer excellence for every project.
“You never know who’s listening,” Marty stresses. “Some of the songs we’ve composed for TV/FILM projects have over ten thousand licensing agreements with places like Netflix or the NFL. So having that gold standard for quality means that people will notice you and you’ll get bigger deals. Some people might think, ‘Oh, I’ll be great once I work with major record labels.’ Or even: ‘I’ll be great once I put two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand dollars into a world-class studio.’ But that’s not the case! There’s no excuses in this industry. You have to be great right off of a freaking laptop.”
Marty takes a moment to appreciate those closest to him for embarking on this career with him.
“God bless my wife and kids,” Marty laughs. “This can all be very draining. Because at the end of the day, you have to be obsessed just to stand out. Finishing a song is not like an oil change. It’s an art! I’ll work on a song for a week or even a month sometimes. Only to then come back and decide it wasn’t good enough and start the whole thing over. It’s sometimes a never-ending process. My wife has been with me long enough that she can tell if I’m chewing on something just from how hard I’m breathing!”
And now, at the end of our interview, when asked what his proudest career accomplishment is, Marty instead returns to those people awaiting him beyond the studio.
“I’d like to thank all of the artists, record labels, managers for trusting me with their music, but most importantly, I’d like to thank my family for being on this journey with me,” Marty states. “And for tolerating this dream and this passion that I have. My wife Gosia and I have been together for almost twenty years now—and never once has she questioned or doubted my pursuit of music. She’s always supported me and given me a fresh perspective all while being an incredible mother to our two beautiful children, Maximilian and Victoria. I couldn’t do this without them.”
Published in the Holiday 2025 Edition.
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