Chiarelli was born in Newton, Massachusetts, and raised in Waltham, Massachusetts. He started playing the drums when he was ten years old. By junior high school, he was performing in school bands and participating in the Massachusetts All-State Jazz Ensemble and the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra. By age 17, he had received the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award (twice) and numerous awards from the International Association of Jazz Educators (formerly the National Association for Jazz Education, NAJE). Chiarelli graduated from Waltham High School in 1981 and attended the University of Miami School of Music on a scholarship, where he studied under the direction of Don Coffman, Fred Wickstrom and Vince Maggio. He formed his own band Inferno which recorded with producer Gary Vandy and included members Tim Mitchell (guitar), Dag Kolsrud (keyboards), Rick Margitza (sax), Mike Mangini (drums), Ed Calle (sax), Mike Lambert (trumpet) and Jeff Miller (keyboards)[4]
Career
After moving to Los Angeles, California in 1989, Chiarelli joined Paramount Recording Studios[5] as an assistant engineer and quickly worked his way up to a first chair recording and mix engineer. His professional breakthrough came with legendary producer Jay King while working with the Grammy-winning R&B group Club Nouveau. Impressed with Chiarelli's work, King asked him to mix the entire Nouveau album, which reached #12 on the Billboard R&B Charts. While working on Club Nouveau at Aire LA Studios in Glendale, California, Chiarelli met mix engineer/mentor Craig Burbidge and worked on numerous hit records from artists such as Calloway, Chuckii Booker and Teddy Pendergrass.[6]
In 1991 Chiarelli founded Final Mix, Inc., a music production company specializing in contemporary music and artist development. Chiarelli was also CEO of Metro Beat Records, a joint venture with Semaphore Records from 1993 until 1996. In 1997, Chiarelli formed 3.6 Records, a joint venture record label distributed by BMG/Red Ant and located in West Hollywood, CA.[5][6]
In 2008, Chiarelli co-founded Gauge Precision Instruments, Inc. (originally Gauge, Inc.), a manufacturer of audio electronics and accessories for professional and consumer markets. In 2013, Final Mix, Inc. expanded to include music software development.[7][8]
In 2009, Chiarelli's first book The Electric Bass Bible: Volume 1 Dexterity Exercises was published by Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc., a division of Hal Leonard.[12]
1996: Dream Walk by Keiko Matsui - Drum Programming
1996: Mouse House: Disney's Dance Mixes by Disney - Programming, Arranger, Mixing, Engineer, Producer for "Colors of the Wind," "So This Is Love," and "Under the Sea"
1996: Most Requested Songs by Benny Mardones - Mixing, Drum Programming
