New York producer/songwriter/artist Doug Simpson is a self-contained entity. By trade, he is a Graphic and Web Professional who has done work for the National Basketball Association, Rodale Books, and The Dance Theatre of Harlem. It wasn't until 1997 that he decided to try his hand at urban music. I was dabbling a bit, going to friends studios and just sitting in and learning. The Bronx-bred producer finally put together a demo and was invited by engineer Eric Lynch to a recording session. Producer Easy Mo Bee was putting finishing touches on a couple of songs on The Notorious B.I.G.s posthumous album Life After Death. "Listening to and watching the process of hit record making was and still is exciting." During the down time Eric would then play Doug's tracks for Easy Mo Bee. Mo was amazed. This was just enough validation to fuel Doug's newfound passion in music production. By 2000, Doug was off and running.
In 2001, Doug continued to produce but started to write as well. "Many A&Rs I came across would like the tracks and would then ask so do you have a concept behind this or so how does the hook go? I had difficulties, in the beginning, getting folks to demo things up. Besides, when an idea strikes you at three in the morning, who are you calling to do that?" Again, Eric would put Doug in a situation to showcase his work. "Eric called me and said, Im working with Desiree Coleman-Jackson and she needs a rap verse on this song. Can you do it? I said, sure, and headed out to Jersey to record it." The track "I Know that He Loves Me" ended up on Dez's debut LP Sing for Me. It was during this recording that he would meet and eventually work with Alicia Keys music director, Onree Gill, who was the producer on the Dez track.
Doug started a production company, DonProductions, and would start working on projects with alternative Hip-Hop group Euphon and rap artist Xtra Large. In the spring of 2001, Wu-Tang Productions would then approach Doug with an offer. I opted out of the deal. I love the work they had put out, but I really felt like it was limiting in terms of where I could take the music. Dougs production catalog continued to grow until everything came to a grind halt. I got a call from a friend that told me that my daughters godfather ran into Tower 1 to help evacuate folks. But he never came back out. On September 11, 2001, Dougs long time friend and New York City firefighter, Shawn Powell, would be lost to the 9/11 disaster like so many others. He was one of my biggest supporters and a truly great friend. Doug would take the rest of 2001 off.
In 2002, Doug picked up the reigns and recorded a song titled "Superbaby", recruiting Euphon and Xtra Large to join him. The song was just intended for buzz. The song ended up on MTVs Area 2 Tour hosted by Moby and eventually led to remix projects over at Sony Music including songs by Glenn Lewis, Jhene and Ginuwine.
Doug would later write for and co-produce Euphon's debut album Euphonics in 2003 which lead to an invitation from the Zulu nation to perform for the organizations 30th and 31st Anniversary celebrations. It was truly an honor to be invited, let alone be allowed to perform. Doug continued to record and pen songs for Mary Mary, Generell, Royal Flush, Hood SuperStar, Pretty Boy Gavin and Lynda Carter, whose song, "Satisfaction", prompted another sit down with Sony Music.
In 2005, Doug would again work with Euphon to re-release their EP and turn it into a full length LP, Euphonics: Redefined, followed by their latest album A Brief History Of The Future.
Doug's body of work helped him land a music licensing deal with network giant Viacom. MTV would use and continues to use Doug's work in shows like Run's House, Fake I.D. Club, Pimp my Ride, the Sucker Free Series, My Super Sweet Sixteen, Made, and a host of other shows on MTV, MTV2, BET, Comedy Central and VH1. The Bravo Network would soon follow, signing Doug to a music licensing deal for series shows and special programming.
Doug's newest venture, Vintage 75 Music, has Doug's sites set on publishing. "Given the opportunity, I feel I can compose the next great sets of music."
