Joseph Incagnoli (1959–2019), better known as Joe Harvard, was an American musician, record producer, and writer, who played a key role in developing the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

scene in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts, in the 1980s. He founded

Fort Apache Studios Fort Apache Studios is a New England recording studio focusing on alternative rock sessions produced there since 1986. It is currently located in New Hampshire. History The studio was initially built by a collective begun in 1985 by musician/p ...

, along with

Sean Slade Sean Slade (born 14 November 1957) is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer. On many of his productions he worked in partnership with Paul Q. Kolderie. Career Slade was born in Lansing, Michigan, United States. He graduated from Ya ...

, Paul Q. Kolderie, and Jim Fitting. Joseph Alia Incagnoli, Jr. grew up in the Jeffries Point neighborhood of

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, which was annexed by the city of Boston in 1836. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Massachusetts, Winthrop, Revere, Mas ...

. He earned a scholarship to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, which became the source of his alias while working in a

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, record store. Varying accounts from musicians Claudia Gonson and Rich Gilbert are also visible in a history of

the Pixies The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim Deal (bass, vocals) and David Lovering (drums). The Pi ...

. Gonson held that Incagnoli gave himself the nickname to emphasize in a self-deprecating way that he was a true local (she noted his broad Boston accent). Gilbert said that friends gave it to Incagnoli as a playful dig at his working-class roots. Incagnoli studied Archaeological Anthropology and graduated cum laude. He worked as assistant to the director of the Peabody Museum and took part in a comprehensive survey of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. However, he decided that his true calling lay in playing and recording music. Joe played with Ava Electris in a band called "Ava and the Teazers", but decided to leave the band and taking the drummer Rich Maddalo and bassist Bob Salvi with him. Dave Pederson joined Joe and the band "the Bones" was formed in 1979/1980. By establishing Fort Apache in the mid-1980s (he later briefly became sole owner), he helped lay the foundation for the success of bands such as

the Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tours as an indep ...

, Dinosaur Jr.,

Morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

Buffalo Tom Buffalo Tom is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986. Its principal members are guitarist Bill Janovitz who also sings the majority of lead vocals, bassist and singer Chris Colbourn, and drummer Tom Maginn ...

, and

Throwing Muses Throwing Muses are an American alternative rock band formed in 1981 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States, that toured and recorded extensively until 1997, when its members began concentrating more on other projects. The group was original ...

. He won the WFNX/

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...

Best Local Producer award in 1989. As co-founder of Helldorado Productions, he was also instrumental in bringing live rock music to

The Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

nightclub in Cambridge. Incagnoli moved to

Asbury Park, New Jersey Asbury Park () is a beachfront city located on the Jersey Shore in Monmouth County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 15,188, a decr ...

, in 2001 and became an important part of the town's cultural scene and revival. In 2004, he authored the book ''

The Velvet Underground & Nico ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' is the debut studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and the German singer Nico. Released by Verve Records in March 1967, the album underperformed in sales and polarized critics upon releas ...

'' for the

33⅓ ' (''Thirty-Three and a Third'') is a series of books, each about a single music album. The series title refers to the rotation speed of a vinyl LP, RPM. History Originally published by Continuum, the series was founded by editor David Ba ...

series focusing on seminal albums. Incagnoli began to build an encyclopedic website, ''Rock in Boston'', in 1996. It contained a trove of information on and photographs of Boston bands, in particular from the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and

new wave music New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop music, pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of Punk subculture, punk culture". It was originally used as a catch-all fo ...

scenes. The site came down in 2004 but was relaunched in 2014 as ''Boston Rock Storybook''. Although Incagnoli was not able to rebuild it fully before his death from liver cancer on March 24, 2019, the original is still accessible.

References

External links

How Boston’s Fort Apache Studios Captured the Sound of an Era (''Consequence of Sound'', July 11, 2016)Rock in Boston – courtesy of archive.orgBoston Rock StorybookJoe Harvard – Musical Credits – Allmusic.comJoe Harvard's full catalog of 38 albums on Bandcamp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvard, Joe 1959 births 2019 deaths American record producers American rock musicians Harvard University alumni Musicians from Asbury Park, New Jersey People from East Boston