Doug Grean
Encyclopedia
Doug Grean is an American
record producer
, audio engineer
, and guitarist
based in Los Angeles. He has worked with many major artists, including Sheryl Crow
, Ricki Lee Jones, Glen Campbell
, Scott Weiland
, Slash
, Velvet Revolver
, Stone Temple Pilots
, The Crystal Method
, Tim McGraw
, Cyndi Lauper
, Annabella Lwin
(Bow Wow Wow
), Corey Glover
(Living Color
), Camp Freddy
, DJ Hurricane
, and John Taylor, (Duran Duran
). In 2005, Grean appeared on the 47th annual Grammy awards with Velvet Revolver as keyboardist, performing "All Across the Universe" with Stevie Wonder
, Norah Jones
, Bono
, Steven Tyler
, Brian Wilson
, and Alison Krauss
.
Grean's latest project is the culmination of his ten-year creative partnership with Stone Temple Pilots/Velvet Revolver frontman, Scott Weiland
. Together, Grean and Weiland collaborated on nearly every aspect of Weiland's newest solo album, Happy in Galoshes.
One of the first songs Grean and Weiland wrote together in 1998 is "Big Black Monster." This track appears on Happy in Galoshes, and is one of 16 songs on the album that Grean co-wrote, co-produced, engineered, and mixed. Grean is also a talented multi-instrumentalist; he plays guitar, bass, lap steel, banjo, and keyboards on the album. On the road, he's not only a member in Weiland's solo band, but he also acts as musical director. Grean's television appearances with Weiland include: VH1 Legends
, Last Call with Carson Daly
, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Grean and Weiland are also partners in the independent label Softdrive Records, where Grean has produced and engineered five of the six albums for Softdrive artists. Also, the two own Lavish recording studio in Burbank.
Grean's distinctive sound utilizes musical instruments that might be considered "out of context" in a mainstream rock n' roll project: banjo, hammer dulcimer, horns. Beyond producing diverse and textured results, his reverence for each instrument's unique musicality is readily apparent. Grean spent his twenties in New Orleans, where he studied the local styles of jazz, blues, and funk, and honed his guitar chops playing four sets a night in some of the city's grittiest blues clubs. As a guitarist, morphing electric guitar sounds is another of his musical hallmarks. "I’m constantly trying to wring new and exciting voices from the sometimes-mundane electric guitar,” Grean explains. “Results are unique and highly stylized. Some end up sounding very ambient, but others sound like synthesizers, or like string sections.”
Grean was born April 12, 1966, in Portchester, New York. He discovered guitar and mandolin at age 13, and quickly formed a band with his friends which developed into a popular Grateful Dead
-influenced jam band. The band, Crimson Rose, drew standing-room-only crowds throughout the Tri-State area…at clubs where the band members were officially too young to enter. “At that point in my life,” Grean muses, “my biggest goal was to pass the license test so I could drive myself to the gig.”
At the age of 18, Grean moved to New Orleans to study music at Tulane University
. Within a year he had dropped out, and was instead playing the club scene around town. That’s when he became a devoted student of New Orleans’ stylized brand of jazz, blues and funk. He proceeded to hone his guitar chops by performing extensively, as many as four sets a night, in the city’s most authentic venues. During that period, he jammed alongside George Porter Jr. (The Meters
), Ivan Neville
, Willie Green
(The Neville Brothers
), and Russell Batiste.
Grean ultimately moved to Los Angeles in 1992, where he immediately found work in studios and playing in local bands. Working as an assistant engineer at the Clubhouse studios (Burbank, CA) and Artisan studios (Hollywood, CA) led to Grean’s becoming a First Engineer. He eventually built his own studio in his home in Culver City, CA.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, audio engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, and guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
based in Los Angeles. He has worked with many major artists, including Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
, Ricki Lee Jones, Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell
Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
, Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
, Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
, Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver
Velvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
, Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots
Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
, The Crystal Method
The Crystal Method
The Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo that was created in Los Angeles, California by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. The Crystal Method's music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, video games, and advertisements. The most prominent is the US television...
, Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts with total album sales in excess of 40 million units in the US, making him the eighth best-selling artist, and the third best-selling country singer, in the...
, Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, Annabella Lwin
Annabella Lwin
Annabella Lwin is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow.-Biography:Lwin was born to a Burmese father and an English mother in Rangoon, Burma .Medina, Maximillian Mark; ChopBlock.com Her birth name in Burmese translates to "High,...
(Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow were an English 1980s New Wave band created by Malcolm McLaren to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood's New Romantic fashion lines.The group's music is described as having an "African-derived drum sound".-History:...
), Corey Glover
Corey Glover
Corey Glover is an American singer, guitarist and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of the hard rock band Living Colour.-Career:...
(Living Color
Living color
Living color could refer to at least two things:* In Living Color, a sketch comedy television series that was produced in the early 1990s* Living Colour, a band...
), Camp Freddy
Camp Freddy
Camp Freddy is a group of established musicians who play rock and roll covers at various shows around America. The band is composed of core members Dave Navarro , Billy Morrison , Matt Sorum , Donovan Leitch, Jr. and Chris Chaney...
, DJ Hurricane
DJ Hurricane
DJ Hurricane is a hip hop DJ, producer and rapper. He is known for his work as the Beastie Boys' DJ...
, and John Taylor, (Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
). In 2005, Grean appeared on the 47th annual Grammy awards with Velvet Revolver as keyboardist, performing "All Across the Universe" with Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
, Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
, Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler
Steven Tyler is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the frontman and lead singer of the Boston-based rock band Aerosmith, in which he also plays the harmonica, and occasional piano and percussion. He is known as the "Demon of Screamin'", due to his high screams...
, Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
, and Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
.
Grean's latest project is the culmination of his ten-year creative partnership with Stone Temple Pilots/Velvet Revolver frontman, Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
. Together, Grean and Weiland collaborated on nearly every aspect of Weiland's newest solo album, Happy in Galoshes.
One of the first songs Grean and Weiland wrote together in 1998 is "Big Black Monster." This track appears on Happy in Galoshes, and is one of 16 songs on the album that Grean co-wrote, co-produced, engineered, and mixed. Grean is also a talented multi-instrumentalist; he plays guitar, bass, lap steel, banjo, and keyboards on the album. On the road, he's not only a member in Weiland's solo band, but he also acts as musical director. Grean's television appearances with Weiland include: VH1 Legends
VH1's Legends
Legends is a music biography television series on VH1. Originally sponsored by AT&T, this series documents those artists who have made a significant contribution to music history to be profiled on the show .The show goes in-depth...
, Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly
Last Call with Carson Daly is an American late night talk show that is broadcast on NBC. The show is hosted by Carson Daly, the half-hour show featuring celebrity interviews, documentary-style coverage of a topic, and musical performances. Last Call airs weeknights at 1:35 a.m. Eastern / 12:35 a.m....
, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Grean and Weiland are also partners in the independent label Softdrive Records, where Grean has produced and engineered five of the six albums for Softdrive artists. Also, the two own Lavish recording studio in Burbank.
Grean's distinctive sound utilizes musical instruments that might be considered "out of context" in a mainstream rock n' roll project: banjo, hammer dulcimer, horns. Beyond producing diverse and textured results, his reverence for each instrument's unique musicality is readily apparent. Grean spent his twenties in New Orleans, where he studied the local styles of jazz, blues, and funk, and honed his guitar chops playing four sets a night in some of the city's grittiest blues clubs. As a guitarist, morphing electric guitar sounds is another of his musical hallmarks. "I’m constantly trying to wring new and exciting voices from the sometimes-mundane electric guitar,” Grean explains. “Results are unique and highly stylized. Some end up sounding very ambient, but others sound like synthesizers, or like string sections.”
Grean was born April 12, 1966, in Portchester, New York. He discovered guitar and mandolin at age 13, and quickly formed a band with his friends which developed into a popular Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
-influenced jam band. The band, Crimson Rose, drew standing-room-only crowds throughout the Tri-State area…at clubs where the band members were officially too young to enter. “At that point in my life,” Grean muses, “my biggest goal was to pass the license test so I could drive myself to the gig.”
At the age of 18, Grean moved to New Orleans to study music at Tulane University
Tulane University
Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...
. Within a year he had dropped out, and was instead playing the club scene around town. That’s when he became a devoted student of New Orleans’ stylized brand of jazz, blues and funk. He proceeded to hone his guitar chops by performing extensively, as many as four sets a night, in the city’s most authentic venues. During that period, he jammed alongside George Porter Jr. (The Meters
The Meters
The Meters are an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Meters performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977...
), Ivan Neville
Ivan Neville
Ivan Neville is a multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers....
, Willie Green
Willie Green
Willie J. Green is an American professional basketball player who last played for the New Orleans Hornets in the NBA. He was selected in the second round of the 2003 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics and later acquired by Philadelphia from Seattle in a draft-night trade for the draft rights...
(The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers
The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in New Orleans, Louisiana.-History:The group notion started in 1976, when the four brothers of the Neville family, Art , Charles , Aaron , and Cyril The Neville Brothers, an American R&B and soul group, was formed in 1977 in...
), and Russell Batiste.
Grean ultimately moved to Los Angeles in 1992, where he immediately found work in studios and playing in local bands. Working as an assistant engineer at the Clubhouse studios (Burbank, CA) and Artisan studios (Hollywood, CA) led to Grean’s becoming a First Engineer. He eventually built his own studio in his home in Culver City, CA.
Discography
- Scott WeilandScott WeilandScott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
- It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (2011) Softdrive/Rhino - Scott WeilandScott WeilandScott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
- A Compilation of SW Covers (2011) Softdrive - The Other Side OF Morning - Letter's from your Love the Mad Man (2011)
- Stone Temple PilotsStone Temple PilotsStone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
- Stone Temple Pilots (2010) Atlantic - The Color TurningThe Color TurningThe Color Turning is an American indie rock band from Los Angeles, California, signed to Scott Weiland's Softdrive Records. The current lineup consists of Steve Scavo , David Del Fonzo , Jason Abraham , and Garet Powell . They've released three EP's to date, "Our Currency Is Time" , "Antidote" ,...
- Good Hands Bad Blood (2009) Softdrive/Sony - Something To Burn - Transitions (2008) Softdrive/Sony
- Scott WeilandScott WeilandScott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
- Happy In Galoshes (2008) Softdrive/Sony - Craig GoreCraig GoreCraig Gore is a property developer, from Queensland, Australia. He is the son of property developer Mike Gore.-Business affairs:He is the former owner of the Australian financial planning chain "WPS", property development company "Consolidated Construction", luxury home builder "Consolidated...
- Ten Year Sleep (2007) Independent - The ActualThe ActualThe Actual may refer to* The Actual , an American pop rock group* The Actual , a novel by Saul Bellow...
- In Stitches (2007) Softdrive/Sony - Velvet RevolverVelvet RevolverVelvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
- Libertad (2007) RCA - Scott WeilandScott WeilandScott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
- BugBug (2006 film)Bug is a 2006 American horror/thriller directed by William Friedkin, and starring Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon and Harry Connick, Jr..The film is based on the play of the same name written by Tracy Letts.-Plot:...
motion picture soundtrack (2007) Lionsgate - Last of the Believers - Paper ships Under a Burning Bridge (2007) LOTB Inc.
- Camp FreddyCamp FreddyCamp Freddy is a group of established musicians who play rock and roll covers at various shows around America. The band is composed of core members Dave Navarro , Billy Morrison , Matt Sorum , Donovan Leitch, Jr. and Chris Chaney...
- Employee of the Month motion picture soundtrack (2006) Lionsgate - Kevin MaxKevin MaxKevin Max Smith is an American singer, songwriter, and poet. He is best known for being a member of the Christian pop group dc Talk...
- Between the Fence and the Universe (2005) Infinity - The ActualThe ActualThe Actual may refer to* The Actual , an American pop rock group* The Actual , a novel by Saul Bellow...
- Bewitched motion picture soundtrack (2005) Sony - King Straggler - King Straggler (2005) Independent
- Velvet RevolverVelvet RevolverVelvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
- Live Bonus DVD (2004) RCA - Velvet RevolverVelvet RevolverVelvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
- Fantastic Four motion picture soundtrack (2004) Windup - Velvet RevolverVelvet RevolverVelvet Revolver is an American hard rock supergroup consisting of former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, alongside Dave Kushner formerly of punk band Wasted Youth. Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland was Velvet Revolver's lead singer from their formation until...
- Contraband (2004) RCA - Sheryl CrowSheryl CrowSheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
- C'mon C'mon (2002) Interscope - The Crystal MethodThe Crystal MethodThe Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo that was created in Los Angeles, California by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. The Crystal Method's music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, video games, and advertisements. The most prominent is the US television...
- Community Service (2002) Geffen - The Crystal MethodThe Crystal MethodThe Crystal Method is an American electronic music duo that was created in Los Angeles, California by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in the early 1990s. The Crystal Method's music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, video games, and advertisements. The most prominent is the US television...
- Tweekend (2001) Geffen - Scott WeilandScott WeilandScott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
- Not Another Teen Movie motion picture soundtrack (2001) Maverick - Scott WeilandScott WeilandScott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
- Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me motion picture soundtrack (2000) Warner Bros. - Scott WeilandScott WeilandScott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
- Ready To Rumble motion picture soundtrack (2000) Atlantic - Stone Temple PilotsStone Temple PilotsStone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
- Shangri-La Dee DaShangri-La Dee Da-Personnel:*Scott Weiland - vocals, keyboards *Dean DeLeo - guitars*Robert DeLeo - bass, percussion , guitar , acoustic guitar , keyboards , piano , autoharp , electric sitar *Eric Kretz - drums, percussion , keyboards , banjo -Additional personnel:*Brendan...
(2000) Atlantic - Stone Temple PilotsStone Temple PilotsStone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....
- The Stoned Immaculate: A Tribute To The Doors (2000) Elektra