Sebastian Arocha Morton
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 (miniseries),[2] Robocop, SpongeBob, League of Gods, Mr. Robot, and Young Sheldon.
Sebastian Arocha Morton (Sebastian Morton) | |
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Background information | |
Born | United States |
Genres |
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Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 2000s–present |
Labels | ROCAsound, OM Records, Universal |
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
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
Filmography
Some of the most notable films and television series for which Morton has been a composer and sound producer:
- 2006: Little Miss Sunshine
- 2010: Iron Man 2
- 2014: Draft Day
- 2014: Houdini (miniseries)[23][24]
- 2014: Robocop[25]
- 2015: SpongeBob: Sponge Out of Water
- 2016: League of Gods
- 2016: Mr. Robot
- 2017: Young Sheldon
- 2018: Madden 19: Longshot 2 Homecoming
- 2019: The Orville
Full list of Film and TV credits:
Year | Title | Director(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1999 | Los Beltrán | Mike Milligan | Composer |
2000 | Los Beltrán (Season 2) | Carlos Bermudez | Theme Song |
2001 | The Score | Frank Oz | Song: “The Hacker” |
La Segunda Noche | Alejandro Gamboa | Executive Music Producer | |
2002 | Boomtown | Graham Yost | With W.G. Snuffy Walden |
Anna's Dream | Colin Bickley | Songwriter | |
2003 | Elysium | Jae-Woong Kwon | Composer |
Knock First | David Collins | Composer | |
Miss Match | Darren Star | Music Producer, Songwriter | |
2005 | Americano | Kevin Noland | Composer |
Cold Case | Jerry Bruckheimer | Music Programmer, Sound Designer | |
Queer Eye for the Straight Girl | David Collins | Composer | |
2006 | Dr. Dolittle 3 | Rich Thorne | Musical Director, Producer |
Windfall | Laurie McCarthy | Main Theme Composer | |
What About Brian | Dana Stevens | Music Programmer, Sound Designer | |
Peaceful Warrior | Victor Salva | Additional Music with composer Bennett Salvay | |
Little Miss Sunshine | Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris | Music Producer, Remixer | |
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy | David Collins | Composer | |
Starting Over | Alex Miltsch | Guest Music Producer | |
2007 | The Air I Breathe | Jieho Lee | with composer Marcelo Zarvos |
The Unit | David Mamet | Score Producer | |
CSI: New York | Ann Donahue | Electronic Music Producer | |
2008 | What Just Happened | Barry Levinson | with composer Marcelo Zarvos |
CSI: Miami | Carol Mendelsohn | Source Music | |
Life with Derek | Daphne Ballon | Songwriter | |
Shark | Ian Biederman | Songwriter | |
2010 | Iron Man 2 | Jon Favreau | Electronic Music Programmer, Sound Designer |
Terriers | Ted Griffin | with Robert Duncan | |
The Cutting Edge: Fire and Ice | Stephen Herek | Music Programmer, Sound Designer | |
2011 | Carjacked | John Bonito | with Bennett Salvay |
Disney World of Color | Disney Parks | with John Debney | |
2012 | Bachelorette | Leslye Headland | Music Producer |
Alex Cross | Rob Cohen | with John Debney | |
Mario Frangoulis: Live with the Boston Pops | Matt Askem | Composer: “Rojo Violento” | |
Cybergeddon | Anthony E. Zuiker | Music Programmer, Sound Designer | |
Fringe | J.J. Abrams | Song: “Angel Love” | |
2013 | King John | Ted Wass | Composer |
2014 | RoboCop | Jose Padilha | with Pedro Bromfman |
Draft Day | Ivan Reitman | with John Debney | |
Houdini | Uli Edel | Composer | |
Matador | Jay Beattie | Soundtrack Producer | |
Partners | Robert Horn | Music Programmer | |
The After | Chris Carter | Composer | |
2015 | The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water | Paul Tibbitt | with John Debney |
Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero | Sam Levine | Music Remixer | |
American Odyssey | Nora Kay Foster | Composer | |
Minions: Paradise | Miriam Wilson | Video Game | |
2016 | League of Gods | Koan Hui | Co-Composer with John Debney, Soundtrack Producer |
Fuller House | Jeff Franklin | Electronic Music Producer | |
Game of Silence | David Hudgins | Composer | |
Mr. Robot | Sam Esmail | with Bennet Salvay | |
The Grand Tour | Phil Churchward | Composer | |
2017 | Deep | Julio Soto Gurpide | Music Producer |
Young Sheldon | Chuck Lorre | Composer, Additional Music | |
Linda from HR | Jeff Barbanell | Composer | |
2018 | Augie | James Keach | Composer |
Evidence of Innocence | Robert Ivkovic | Composer | |
Reasonable Doubt | Rob Rosen | Songwriter | |
The Orville (Season 1) | Seth MacFarlane | Music Producer, Additional Music | |
2019 | The Orville (Season 2) | Seth MacFarlane | Music Producer, Additional Music |
Madden NFL 19 | Mike Young | with John Debney | |
Marvel Land: Summer of Superheroes | Disney Imagineering | Music Producer, Additional Music |
Selected awards
Some 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)[26]
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[27]
References
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- Schweiger, Daniel (February 4, 2015). "Interview with John Debney". Film Music Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- "104 original songs in 2012 OSCAR race". Hollywood News. Dec 10, 2012. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- "'Houdini' Soundtrack Details". Film Music Reporter. August 14, 2014. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- "Houdini: Volume 1 Score Review". ENT Junkie. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2019-10-15.
- Rosenbloom, Etan (February 14, 2014). "Film Music Friday: Pedro Bromfman on RoboCop". We Create Music. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. 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.