Meet Doug Organ | Musician, recording engineer, composer.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Doug Organ and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Doug, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve been entirely self-employed since my late teens, so in a sense I started my own business a couple decades ago! It’s really appealing to me to work long hours for myself vs. normal hours for someone else. This also allows me a huge variety in the kinds of work I do – today I’m a performing keyboardist, tomorrow I’m producing an artist’s album, the day after I’m composing for TV or film or teaching music & production. I’ve been extremely fortunate that there’s a market for my skills and interests, and I’d take the freedom that comes with it over the relative financial certainty of a more traditional career any day.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work sits at the intersection of music production, performance, and composition. I think my strength lies in finding the balance between organic and electronic elements, creating music that feels human while still being sonically interesting. Whether I’m producing for another artist, composing for media, or performing live, I’m always chasing that balance of polish and raw energy.
I come from the furthest North city in Canada, so geography & weather helped shape my musical journey by providing opportunity to focus intensely. There was a piano in the house growing up, and one parent had played music semi-professionally, so the idea of gigging wasn’t too foreign. As soon as I got my first vintage keyboard (a Fender Rhodes) in the ‘90s, I was off!
Getting to this point wasn’t easy. The music industry is notoriously unpredictable, and being self-employed means there will be instability. My hometown had little music business infrastructure, and I think that encouraged a D.I.Y. attitude, as well as my autodidact streak and a generalist approach. The latter made me employable in a few ways instead of just one or two; if the phone rang and the client wanted a string quartet arrangement, a dance band for their wedding, an engineer with experience recording punk rock, or a jazz piano song for their advertisement, I could help them out. This hasn’t always been an advantage in Los Angeles, which in my experience is a city of specialists. But an upside of this generalist approach is that whenever there’s (inevitably) creative burnout, collabs that just don’t click, or projects that don’t pay off the way I hoped, there’s another outlet for me so I’m not just banging my head against a wall.
What I’m most proud of is the fact that I’ve built a career doing what I love on my own terms. I’ve had the privilege of working with some incredible artists and seeing projects come to life in ways I couldn’t have imagined at the start. One big lesson I’ve learned is how important consistency and adaptability are. Raw talent is great but showing up, being open to new ideas, and being fun & friendly enough to do 15 hour drives with in the tour van are even better.
I think I’m an indication that people still want to listen to recorded music made by humans, still want to go to shows to see live music, and still appreciate things done the hard way (by putting in the work and knowing your stuff).

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I’m taking my best friend out in LA, it’s going to get nerdy. You can’t go inside, but just by cruising down Sunset you can get a look at quite a few historical and world class recording studios, like EastWest (Beach Boys), United (Beck, Radiohead), Sunset Sound (Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Prince), Sound Factory (Elton John, Neil Young), Capitol (Sinatra, Dylan), and Henson (where George Harrison had an office at one time). Speaking of music, we’re going to see live jazz at Sam First (right by the airport, so either schedule it first thing or last!), or something more rocking at Lodge Room, Zebulon, or Permanent Records Roadhouse (where there is also sometimes comedy). On that note, we’ll have to drop in on Better Half Comedy at Bandini on Wednesdays, Peacock at Club Tee Gee on Thursdays, and GH Comedy at Stories on Saturdays. Anyone who’s friends with me likely wants to check out the cool vintage instruments at Caveman Music (Lincoln Heights). Also, a couple of really fun and really bizarre attractions are the Time Travel Mart in Echo Park and the Bhagavad-gita Diorama-Museum in Culver City.

Anyone visiting LA really has to do at least one architecture tour with Laura at https://www.architecturetoursla.com/. She knows everything about architecture and LA. Of course, we’re going to get hungry, so we’ll get Korean fried chicken and fruit at Gol Tong Chicken (my current obsession), authentic Sichuan from Sichuan Impression in Alhambra, Canter’s Deli (24 hours, baby!), all of Grand Central Market but especially Sarita’s Pupuseria, sandwiches from Bub & Grandma’s, and schmaltzy potatoes from Kismet.

To work off those calories, I’ll take my friend on a hike around Fern Dell trail or around the Hollywood Reservoir. Hard to believe these two oases are right in the middle of the second biggest city in the country.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I sure wouldn’t be in the music industry (much less in Los Angeles) without the encouragement, guidance, and investment of my parents. It’s an inconsistent business but they consistently have good advice, ethics, and a sense of humor! I also credit my family for my interest in music in the first place; there was always a cool record being played when I was growing up.

One of my heroes and mentors was the late Steve Albini, who I credit with reinforcing my music engineering skills (he knew literally everything about recording audio) and my sense of doing what’s right – right for the artist, what’s ethical, what’s practical, and what’s objectively correct.

Website: https://www.dougorgan.com

Instagram: @doug_organ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DougOrganMusic

Other: Bluesky: @dougorgan.bsky.social

Image Credits
Santiago Guzman, Amelia Aspen, Kelli Rothwell Piccini, Doug Organ