Emancipator (musician)
| Emancipator | |
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Emancipator in Istanbul. (October 26, 2013)
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Douglas Appling |
| Also known as | Emancipator |
| Born |
May 27, 1987 Virginia, United States |
| Origin | Portland, Oregon, U.S. |
| Genres | Electronica, trip hop, downtempo, ambient, chill-out |
| Occupation(s) | Producer, DJ |
| Instruments | Drums, violin, guitar, keyboard |
| Years active | 2006-present |
| Labels | Loci Records, Emancipator Music, Hydeout Productions, 1320 Records |
| Website |
emancipatormusic |
Douglas "Doug" Appling (born May 27, 1987), better known by his stage name Emancipator, is an American producer and DJ based in Portland, Oregon. He launched his music career by self-releasing his debut album Soon It Will Be Cold Enough in 2006 while he was still a college student. He has subsequently released six albums, founded his own record label, and formed a live band, the Emancipator Ensemble, whose sold-out shows have been called by one critic "an unforgettable experience".
Doug Appling was born and raised in Virginia, where he studied violin from ages 4 to 12, progressing to electric guitar, drums, and bass as a teenager. He cites his father's "eclectic music collection" as sparking his interest in electronic music, while his mother "who’d volunteered in the Peace Corps, exposed him to African thumb pianos and sounds from beyond the Western palette". He played drums in a post-punk group in high school that won their prom's "battle of the bands" competition. On how he got his start producing, Appling states "I got hooked on [producing electronic music] when I started chopping up loops in Acid Pro for fun in high school". After high school, Doug attended the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, completing an undergraduate degree in psychology. While there, he took a number of classes in music theory which influenced him as an artist. He self-released his first solo album, Soon It Will Be Cold Enough, under the name Emancipator in 2006. Distribution was limited since he burned the CDs at home, sold them via his MySpace channel and "hand-delivered them to the post office every week.”
In late 2007, Emancipator came to the attention of Nujabes' Japanese label, Hydeout Productions, who re-released Soon It Will Be Cold Enough in April 2008. Moving to his current home of Portland, Oregon in 2009, he played his first live U.S. show as the opening act for Bonobo, who Appling admits is "one of [his] favorite producers." This, together with a tour of Japan in 2008-2009, helped to provide exposure to larger audiences both at home and abroad. During this time frame, he switched from using Acid Pro and Reason to using Ableton Live as his music sequencer and digital audio workstation software for all of his productions. His second album, Safe In the Steep Cliffs, was released in January 2010 on the Hydeout label to some acclaim.Remixes, an album of reworked versions of Emancipator tracks by Blockhead, Big Gigantic, Tor, and others, was self-released in 2011. Around this time, Doug began touring live with violinist, Ilya Goldberg; the duo drew positive critical attention. In 2012, Appling founded his own label, Loci Records, and released the album Drum Therapy by Tor as the label's debut album.
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