Suketo “Kato” Khandwala, who worked with The Pretty Reckless, Paramore and My Chemical Romance as a producer, engineer, mixer and songwriter, died April 25 following a motorcycle accident in North Hollywood, Calif. He was 47.
Among the other acts Khandwala worked with were Pop Evil, Pierce the Veil, Breaking Benjamin and Blondie. He reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 2014 with The Pretty Reckless’ “Heaven Knows” as well as this March with “Waking Lions” by Pop Evil.
Khandwala also held an A&R position at Razor & Tie Records and was signed as a songwriter to Green & Bloom/BMG.
“Kato had a passion for music and a gift for bringing out the best in all of the artists with whom he worked,” said Khandwala’s manager, Andrew Brightman, in a statement.
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A 1998 graduate of Berklee School of Music, Khandwala worked at the Hit Factory in New York, as well as toured with Kool and the Gang and acted as their musical director in the early 2000s. He then found success as an indie record producer after working with producer David Bendeth as House of Loud Studios in New Jersey. Khandwala relocated to Los Angeles in 2014, following the sudden death of his wife in 2013. In addition to working out of Sphere Studios in North Hollywood, he worked on a number of international projects, including at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne, Sound Farm Studios in Jamaica, and Na Cena Studios in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Survivors include his mother and his two daughters, who are 26 and 15, and his partner, Shannon “Gunz” Turner. The family is asking for donations to provide support for his children through Go Fund Me.