Sebastian Arocha Morton is a Grammy-nominated American record producer and composer based in Los Angeles, California. Throughout his career as a record producer and songwriter, Morton has worked with many notable artists, including Seal, Sting, Santana, Donna Summer,[1] Fischerspooner, Vikter Duplaix, Common, and Mary J. Blige. Morton was also a composer and producer for the films Little Miss Sunshine, Iron Man 2, Houdini,[2] RoboCop, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, League of Gods, Mr. Robot, and Young Sheldon.
Sebastian Arocha Morton (Sebastian Morton) | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | United States |
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| Years active | 2000s–present |
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| Website | www |
Morton composes and fuses a wide variety of musical genres, ranging from dance to hip hop, soul and ambient, among various other genres.[3] His approach to film scoring bridges the worlds of modern electronic production and more traditional melodic orchestral composing.[4]
Education and career
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Morton graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied film scoring and production/engineering.[5][6] Afterwards, he moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in the film and music industries as a staff writer for Universal Music.[7]
Morton then began producing electronic music in the early 2000s under the artist name ROCAsound. After several Billboard #1 singles and platinum albums, he started his own production company and opened a recording facility under the same name.[8] As ROCAsound, he has remixed and produced tracks for the soundtrack to Iron Man 2, as well as songs and remixes for Donna Summer,[9] Sting, Chaka Khan, Seal, The Dandy Warhols, Counting Crows, Jody Watley, The Killers, Kaskade, Ricky Martin, Yuridia, and Fischerspooner, among various other artists.[5][3]
After much success as ROCAsound, Morton discovered and signed Billboard #1 electronic artist Samantha James,[10][11][12] and went on to write and produce the albums Subconscious and Rise for San Francisco label OM Records.[13][14] Morton later worked on Donna Summer's final studio album Crayons, where he was credited among producers such as Greg Kurstin and J.R. Rotem.[15][16][17] The first single for that record, "I'm a Fire" (produced and co-written by Morton), went to #1 on the charts and set a record for her as the only female artist in history with a #1 Billboard dance hit in every decade since the 1970s. Also, as a songwriter, Morton has worked closely with hit writers Claudia Brant[18] and Bruce Sudano.[19]
Other collaborations include:[3]
- "One of These Days" (with Santana and Ozomatli)
- "Never Coming Home" for the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy soundtrack (with Sting)[20]
- "Not in Love" (with Enrique Iglesias and Floetry)
- "Scent of Magnolia" (with David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto)
- Alex Cross (film collaboration with composer John Debney)[21][22]
- Disney Parks: World of Color and Iron Man Experience (collaboration with composer John Debney)[21][22]
- "Whenever I Say Your Name" (BBC Radio version) with Sting feat. Mary J. Blige
- "Superfreak" (ROCAsound Revamp) with Rick James
Discography
editFilmography
editSelected awards
editSome of Morton's Grammy Award nominations include:
- 2006 Grammy nominee: Little Miss Sunshine (Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media)
- 2007 Grammy nominee (with Vikter Duplaix): "Make A Baby" (Best Urban/Alternative Category)[23]
Billboard #1 Singles and Albums include:
- 2004 Billboard Electronic Albums Chart: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy soundtrack (Never Coming Home feat. Sting)
- 2005 Dance Singles Chart: Jody Watley - "Looking for a New Love" (remixes)
- 2007 Dance Singles Chart: Samantha James - "Rise"
- 2008 Dance Singles Chart: Donna Summer - "I'm a Fire"
- 2009 Latin Albums Chart: Luis Miguel - No Culpes a La Noche[24]
References
edit- ^ "ROCAsound". Soul Interviews. August 26, 2013. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Con, Eduardo (17 August 2014). "Houdini Volume 1 & 2, Detalles". Asturscore. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ a b c "Sebastian Arocha Morton: Composer, Producer, Remixer". Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Rychner, Lorenz (May 2009). "Sebastian Arocha Morton: From songwriter to producer to remixer" (PDF). Recording Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ a b "Sebastian Arocha Morton". Sequential. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Kaiser, Uli. "Sebastian Arocha Morton". IMDb. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "Roca steady" (PDF). Audiopro International Magazine. June 2010. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "Press". ROCAsound. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "The Queen Is Back" (PDF). Club World Magazine. 2008. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Matthew, Terry (January 13, 2011). "Samantha James: The 5 Magazine Interview". 5Mag. Chicago. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "Dance-PopDivas" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. August 2007. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Rychner, Lorenz (March 2011). "An Interview with Sebastian Arocha Morton" (PDF). Recording Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "Interview with Samantha James" (PDF). About.com. October 2007. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Guerrero, Ivan (August 18, 2010). "Get 'Subconscious' with Samantha James". Male Model Music Project. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Wilkane, Christian John (14 July 2008). "Donna Summer: Crayons". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "Exciting News! Donna's final studio album, 'CRAYONS', is to be reissued by Driven By The Music/Crimson". The Donna Summer fan club. April 1, 2016. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Slomowicz, Ron (April 28, 2019). "Top Dance Songs of 2009". LiveAbout. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame: Claudia Brant". d.baron. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ Wikane, Christian John (28 Sep 2010). "Sudano 360: An Interview with Bruce Sudano". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "Pushing Audio to the Extreme". Pro Sound News. June 2007. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ a b Schweiger, Daniel (February 4, 2015). "Interview with John Debney". Film Music Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ a b "104 original songs in 2012 OSCAR race". Hollywood News. Dec 10, 2012. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "National GRAMMY Career Day". Grammy Awards. Dec 2, 2014. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- ^ "The Singer and The Song: Going for the Perfect Match" (PDF). Recording Magazine (NAMM Edition 2012). 2012. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
