A Musical Childhood
douglas started playing keyboards shortly after he was born to an amazing family in cupertino, california. he was fascinated by keyboards, organs and pianos from an early age. riding his bike down to the local organ/piano store, he quickly made a pest of himself by playing every single instrument in the store. the annoyed (and charmed, no doubt) employees quickly realized that douglas wasn't going away. after numerous calls to his parents, they finally broke down and purchased his first organ, the thomas californian. he then proceeded to serenade his family and the neighbors with non-stop organ playing, his renditions of santana, gershwin and the beatles were enjoyed (and tolerated) throughout his otherwise quiet middle class cupertino suburb. he was a demo artist for thomas organs appearing in santa cruz and monterey during his childhood. attending school in cupertino and victoria, bc, he played in bands through his teen years then later migrated back to santa cruz, california.
douglas’s albums feature guests from multiple genres: windham hill guitar virtuoso alex degrassi, santana bassist benny rietveld and many more.
Morton Jones collaboration
meeting russ jones through a mutual friend in 2019, douglas and russ set up a jam at douglas’s house in park city, utah. after chatting a bit, they plugged in and an immediate magical and musical flow occurred. fortunately, the record button was hit and the entire two hour session was recorded. upon later listens, they realized how strong the connection is between them. morton’s cinematic orchestral pads provide an ocean of texture for jone’s soaring flute lines creating sonic images allowing the listeners imagination to run wild and free. morton jones albums are not layered and built, they’re all played live in the studio enabling them to empathize musically and psychically.
music for aquariums
douglas creates music for three aquariums in the western usa that feature exhibits, films and vr/ar attractions to millions of guests each year.
on a scuba diving trip off the coast of southern california in the 1990s, douglas had a revelatory experience: “descending on my first dive, looking at all the life, currents, kelp and light, i suddenly realized i was looking at and hearing an entire orchestra! schools of fish became flutes, pinnacles were bass tones, swaying kelp the tempo, and so much more. i was newly inspired and realized the profound connection between art and nature!” morton shared this sonic vision that struck a chord with his dive mates, some of which worked with the monterey bay aquarium(mba). a year later, douglas was scoring special exhibits for mba. since 1999, he’s scored award-winning exhibits for mba; mysteries of the deep, jellies; living art, sharks; myth or mystery? mission to the deep, the secret lives of seahorses, the outer bay and most recently, the score for mba’s newest exhibition: into the deep, exploring our undiscovered oceans which opened in april of 2022. his work with the living planet aquarium in utah includes scoring u2s former traveling stage, “the claw” from their 360 tour. san francisco’s aquarium of the bay features morton’s music throughout their exhibits.
virtual instrument design
douglas has sound designed instruments used by u2, pink floyd, prince, tangerine dream, peter gabriel, david arkenstone, louis bell, deuter and the cure. his sounds have been heard in film/tv: the patriot, portlandia, the sheltering sky, x-files and more.
