He is a Berklee College of Music graduate and is the son of the Turkish American producer Arif Mardin.
[3] Mardin was a co-composer for "Caught in the Act" on Chaka Khan's I Feel For You album.
[4] He produced the documentary The Greatest Ears in Town: The Arif Mardin Story which is about the career of his father.
[5][6][7] He works with Paul Waaktaar-Savoy playing drums in the songs "Ancient Arches" and "Sequoia has Fallen" on Waaktaar & Zoe's album, World of Trouble.
[8] Joe Mardin later performed the drums on the song "Goodbye Thompson" on the Cast in Steel album by A-ha.