Paul Heck

Early career

Heck was raised in Bridgewater, New Jersey (his childhood photo appears on the No Alternative CD insert). Heck was named HS All-American in Boys Lacrosse in his senior year at Bridgewater-Raritan High School. In 1985, he attended Brown University, majoring in Art History and Economics. In 1991, Heck channeled his passion for music into a fight to raise awareness and funds to combat the AIDS epidemic. In this endeavor, Heck pursued the idea of an AIDS benefit alternative rock compilation. He partnered with fellow Brown alumni Chris Mundy (a Rolling Stone Senior Writer) and Jessica Kowal (a freelance writer for Newsday) to produce the album No Alternative, the third album in the Red Hot Organization's (RHO) AIDS Benefit Music series.

The Red Hot Organization

No Alternative, released on Arista Records in October 1993 featured original tracks and covers from bands that went on to define the alternative rock scene of the 90s, including: Goo Goo Dolls, Pavement, Smashing Pumpkins, The Verlaines, Buffalo Tom, Matthew Sweet, Sarah McLachlan, Patti Smith, Bob Mould, American Music Club, Nirvana, Urge Overkill, Soul Asylum, Soundgarden, Straightjacket Fits, The Breeders Beastie Boys and Uncle Tupelo. This album received an A+ review in Entertainment Weekly. A No Alternative MTV special and VHS featured a mix of live performances by Smashing Pumpkins and Goo Goo Dolls, music videos, short films by directors like Hal Hartley, Tamra Davis, Michael Stipe and Jim McKay and Matt Mahurin as well as information about AIDS for an audience otherwise untargeted by other AIDS organizations. No Alternative raised over $1 million dollars and the proceeds were donated to AIDS relief organizations across the US.

Following the commercial and critical success of No Alternative. Heck has been involved producing nearly a dozen Red Hot albums that have raised over $10 million dollars for AIDS relief, including: Red Hot + Bothered, Offbeat, Red Hot + RIO, Red Hot + Rhapsody, Red Hot + Indigo, Red Hot + RIOT, Red Hot + RIO2, Red Hot + FELA and Red Hot + Bach.

Heck co-produced Dark Was The Night (2009), a Red Hot album that raised over $1 million dollars and featured artists like The National, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, My Morning Jacket, Jose Gonzalez and many others.

In 2004, Heck was honored by Brown University as the recipient of the John Hope Award for Career Public Service in recognition of his ongoing work with The Red Hot Organization.

In 2013 Heck produced a 20th Anniversary reissue of No Alternative on vinyl (Sony Legacy) for Record Store Day.

Music and Film Credits

Heck served as Original Score Composer and Music Supervisor on the film "East of Havana"(2007) a film about 3 young rap artists in Cuba and their struggle for survival and self-expression. The film was produced by Charlize Theron and D+D Films and released by SonyBMG Films.

Heck co-produced The National's second album " Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers" (with Nick Lloyd and Peter Katis - Brassland, 2003)

Heck was a part of the Red Hot team that provided Music Supervsion for "How To Survive A Plague", (2012) an Academy Award nominated documentary film directed by David France about the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and the efforts of ACT UP and TAG. Heck introduced the idea of using the music of Arthur Russell in the film. Russell was an avant garde gay songwriter and performer who was living in downtown Manhattan during the time frame covered by the film who died of AIDS-related causes in 1992.

Heck worked as an A&R for Arista Records and Warner Bros. Records in the mid 1990s

Heck was produced compilation albums that have helped introduce or reintroduce cult artists from around the world to new audiences, like: