Interview With Doug Johnson
Courtesy of Cheryl D.
Doug Johnson's keyboard chops were a mainstay of rock radio in the 80's, and his distinctive keyboard approach can still be heard on many classic rock radio stations. What you may not know is that Doug is currently creating music for TV and radio, from commercials to soundtracks.
As the original keyboardist for Loverboy, his signature sounds and ideas were an important element that contributed to the unique Loverboy sound. Along with guitarist Paul Dean, singer Mike Reno, bassist Scott Smith and drummer Matt Frenette, Doug Johnson helped to set the standard for what a successful Canadian band could do, selling millions of records to legions of fans around the world.
Doug was already an accomplished pianist, having earned his ARCT before he'd finished high school. After graduation, he decided to get out of Vancouver and see the world. The way things worked out though, he ended up working in Calgary. It was there in 1979 that he met Paul and Mike, while they were forming a new band. Doug had just finished a stint with Foster Child. The band relocated to Vancouver, and after 27 rejections from various record labels, Jeff Burns from CBS caught their act and signed them up. The rest, as the saying goes, is history. The band's first album sold millions, and mainstream radio embraced the band's polished sound.
It can be a challenge for a keyboardist to fit into a hard rock format, especially if they're not content to play only organ and piano sounds. Doug's creative use of synth sounds was one of the defining elements of the Loverboy sound.
DJ: "Having been raised on a nice diet of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, and Yes, Gentle Giant, all those kinds of art rock bands of the 70's, I had a real vision of what a keyboard player should do within a rock band. I think at that time there were also bands at like the Cars and Led Zeppelin that were incorporating keyboards fairly heavily into their sound. It was OK to do so. I think that's one of the reasons we went with that format, to have that interesting blend of guitar and keyboards as much as possible. It's funny how things have changed. There's not a lot of that kind of keyboard in today's hot music."
R: "You have to go into the dance/techno scene..."
DJ: "Well that's it, you've got Prodigy, Chemical Bros, and all that stuff. That's programmed stuff, not a lot of performance. I never sequenced anything when I played, it was always live. I'd even been drafting up the patches on the fly, too, because that was in the days back before there were presets. You'd have to start from scratch and build the sound. You'd have a little segue of 15 seconds between songs to come up with the next patch!"
R: "Patch memory was a big invention!"
DJ: "You could press a button, and there it was. Wow! I feel like a dinosaur but I've seen a lot of changes in the technology."
Those changes are reflected in Doug's current equipment list, which still features lots of old instruments together with the newer stuff.
DJ: "On the last Loverboy reunion tour I had two Roland JD-800's on the road with me, and they were just the cat's meow, because first of all, they've got the analogue sounds covered. I had all the Loverboy sounds. In fact, I improved on some of them, plus with the onboard processing it was just a soundman's dream come true. Those are great. I use them a lot in the studio as well, for some of the analogue components of the music that I'm working on. For an old analogue programmer like myself to have all the various sliders, faders and knobs immediately accessible on the control panel; I much prefer that over having to scroll through endless windows of parameters to arrive at the editing window.
I use a Roland DEP-5 effects unit, and I use the MKS-20 piano module still. It's got a real good piano sound." And Doug is just getting acquainted with his newest piece of Roland gear, the JV-1080, with an Orchestral expansion board installed.
Today, Loverboy is touring once again, only now without Doug Johnson behind the keys. Their American fans, in particular, still turn out in droves to get a dose of their classic hard rock sound Doug left in December of '96, when the band headed into the studio to record their new album, "VI".
DJ: "We had been working on a record. We were split; Paul and Mike had their ideas and I had my ideas. I sort of wanted to see more growth. I wanted to see more incorporation of 90's sounds and I just wasn't hearing that in what they were doing. With all due respect, they have their schtick and they're comfortable with it, but it just wasn't providing me with anything that interesting, warranting me to remain a member."
This wasn't the first time Doug had been pulled in another direction from the band. When Loverboy got a chance to provide a song for the "Top Gun" soundtrack, Doug decided not to participate.
DJ: "It was a personal decision I made. I viewed the trailer of the movie, and in my opinion the movie was a bit of a glorification of war. I decided that my involvement in that would be hypocritical of things that I stood for, personally. It was a difficult decision. I discussed it with the band members and the management. They definitely could see my point of view, but they weren't too pleased with my decision. That created a bit of dissension. I really considered my point and talked to people about it. I just decided that there are certain things in your life that you have to be consistent about, and that was one of them.
I'm a fan of adventure movies, like anybody else. I actually saw the movie, and it's a technically remarkable picture. But just the whole attitude about the Russians, the great evil empire and all that kind of thing; it just offended my whole sense of what is real. For that reason I just elected not to be a part of it. That's really all there is to say about that. I don't regret having done it, in fact I feel like I made the right decision at that time."
These days, Doug is busy writing and recording music for TV, radio, and films. He also gets out and performs now and then ("a lounge lizard"), playing standards with a vocalist.
DJ: "I'm doing all kinds of stuff. I've done some stuff for Electronic Arts. The last contract I did was quite interesting. I did 42 national anthems, orchestrated, for their Fifa game! I've been doing quite a bit of work out of a company downtown called Griffiths Gibson & Ramsay Productions (GGRP). They do everything from TV series to television commercials to radio spots. So I've been writing a few radio spots and I've been writing for TV commercials and stuff. I've also been doing a TV series on the World Women's Television network called "You, Me and the Kids". I did the music for that. I just did a one hour special called "Sitting on a Story" that was aired on Vancouver television about 3 weeks ago. I also did "Chained Heat II", which starred Brigitte Nielsen."
So Doug's writing and playing really is ubiquitous; whether you're listening to the radio or watching TV, chances are you'll be hearing Doug's talent on a regular basis.