Engineer-producer Dave Jerden, best known for his work with Jane’s Addiction and Alice in Chains, died peacefully in his sleep yesterday (2/5) in his native Los Angeles, according to a Facebook post by his son, Bryan David Jerden. He was 75. No cause of death was given.

After studying at Reseda High School and Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley, Jerden headed to Hollywood, where he honed his engineering and mixing chops at Eldorado Recording Studios,. During the early- and mid-'80s he engineered and mixed records by acts including Talking Heads, David Byrne & Brian Eno, Frank Zappa, Herbie Hancock, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mick Jagger and The Rolling Stones.

His career took off in the late 1980s and early '90s when he produced, engineered and mixed Jane’s Addiction’s Nothing’s Shocking and Ritual de lo Habitual as well as Alice in Chains’ Facelift and Dirt, each of which played a part in shifting mainstream rock from hair metal to alternative and grunge.

“I never made records for the audience,” the no-nonsense Jerden told interviewer Joe Bosso in 2013. “I only tried to please one person—me.” During the same conversation, Jerden said that he disliked being referred to as a producer. “Makes me sound like a dilettante,” he explained, adding, “My father was a musician, so I used to go to sessions with him. I watched the engineer, and I thought he was the most important guy in the room. He was the guy making the record, not the producer. The engineer was always working. He knew what all the knobs and equipment did—he was like a rocket scientist."

Jerden’s discography also includes albums with Fishbone, Anthrax, The Offspring, Social Distortion and Burning Sensations.

“He was larger than life and was deeply passionate about so many things, from history to science, but above all he was a music maker,” Bryan Jerden wrote. “He worked with so many great artists, and together they forged some very interesting and memorable musical pathways of which I am very proud.

“We will miss his smile, his uncontrollable laughter, his mind-bending stories and great conversations. The memories will live on forever. The music will live on, and so will our love.”

Jerden is also survived by his daughter, Michelle Forrest.