After graduating from college, Barresi moved to Los Angeles and began working his way up the ladder by working at numerous local studios—a move that helped him gain an understanding of the different consoles, rooms and clientele at the various studios.[5] His first big break came when he engineered a demo for producer GGGarth Richardson. He went on to work with a number of well-respected producers including David Kahne, Michael Beinhorn, Rob Cavallo and Sylvia Massy.
Eventually Barresi gained enough experience and insight that he began producing records. He has produced or co-produced tracks for Clutch, Buckcherry, Fu Manchu, Loudmouth, The Melvins, L7 and others. He also produced the debut album by Queens of the Stone Age which, at the time, did not have a record deal.[7] That album was eventually released by indie label Loose Groove. The self-titled album garnered attention from press, and the band soon landed a deal with Interscope Records. Barresi then engineered and mixed the Tool album 10,000 Days,[8] a job he received after a recommendation from Buzz Osborne of The Melvins[9] In 2011, he worked with the band Stam1na in Finland. Barresi engineered and mixed Tool's 2019 album Fear Inoculum[10][11][12][13]
Today Joe Barresi has his own home studio JHOC (Joe's House of Compression) and is famous for developing certain recording techniques.[14]
