Mark Moffatt, the Australian-born guitarist, producer and engineer who worked for major bands from The Saints to Keith Urban, Tim Finn, Yothu Yindi and more, died on Friday record work. He is 74 years old.
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Few Australian creatives can top what Moffat achieved in the studio. Moffat produced more tracks than any other solo producer on the APRA Australia Top 30, a list released in 2001 to celebrate PRO’s 75th anniversary. He also produced 15 distinguished ARIA Hall of Fame members.
Originally from Maryborough, Queensland, he moved to Brisbane and then the UK, where he worked in Denmark Street, London, for several years. When Moffat returned to Brisbane in 1976, he worked on The Saints’ “(I’m) Stranded” from behind a desk, the song that ignited the punk scene’s powder keg.
In 1980 Moffat held production roles at EMI and TCS Studios in Melbourne before moving to Sydney to join Festival Records as an in-house producer, working for some of the biggest names in Australian music for over a decade.
ARIA’s statement read that it was Moffat who backed a young Keith Urban and produced Yothu Yindi’s hit “Treaty”, leaving “a legacy of success in Australia and on the global stage.” and incredible legacy”. “Mark gave life to a sound that defined generations.”
Moffatt moved to Nashville in 1996 and served as APRA AMCOS’s inaugural Nashville Member Relations Representative from 2014 until his retirement in June 2024.
APRA AMCOS wrote in a statement that the late musician was “without a doubt a legend in our industry and, more importantly, a kind and wonderful human being”.
At the time of his death, Moffat was putting the finishing touches on an album by KILO, his band with Australian rocker John “Swanee” Swan.
“As much as Moffat loved his music, his first love was his family,” a statement on his social media page read. He is survived by his wife Lindsey, stepdaughter Dana and two granddaughters, son Geordie and extended family in Australia.
Plans are underway to celebrate his life and details will be provided in due course.
