Audio engineer recalls Grammy victory with Aretha Franklin

(CBS DETROIT) – The Grammys are this Sunday, and it goes without saying, that Detroit knows music.

Mark Pastoria has been making music just about his entire life. From his time as a keyboard and songwriter in the band DC Drive to his time now as an audio engineer for StartupNation in Birmingham, Michigan.

He shares that title with modesty though, because before his title as an audio engineer comes two key words: “Grammy-winning.”

“I had no idea, I thought it was a joke,” Pastoria says when recalling his 2005 Grammy win. He won it alongside music producer Arif Mardin and a name you may recognize, Aretha Franklin.

“I found out weeks later. The Grammy office called the studio and they said that I won the award. To share it with [Aretha Franklin] and Arif Mardin,” Pastoria said.

The award was for the “Best R&B Vocal Performance” of “A House is Not a Home.”

“It’s pretty surreal, you know. You never work towards that. You just do your work and just do the best work you can do, and I guess when it’s the most unexpected, that’s when things happen,” says Pastoria.

He says he knew Franklin was nominated for the award, but didn’t know he was included on the 2005 nomination until after he received the call. 

Pastoria says the opportunities to work with the “Queen of Soul,” and even bring home a Grammy, created memories that he’ll take with him for life.