Doug McBride is a music producer, mixer, mastering engineer, multi-instrumentalist and owner of Gravity Studios in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. His career began as an artist who garnered interest from Atlantic Records before his fledgling production career pulled him in a different direction. He cut his teeth while working his way through the ranks at the Chicago Recording Company from 1990- 1993. While at CRC, Doug worked his way up to first chair working on three and four month long album projects such as Cheap Trick’s “Budokan II”, and even co-writing a song during their “Woke Up with a Monster” album. He also received a rare education engineering for many famous producers, culminating in Izzy Stradlin’s first solo record. In 1992, his work with Dog’s Eye View led to a major label deal for the band. Feeling limited by the large percentage of engineering work, he started his own humble studio in order to focus on developing local bands as a producer.
As luck would have it, the first band Doug met in his new neighborhood was Veruca Salt, who he met through friends before they’d played their first show. Doug identified the song “Seether” as the song they should focus on. The first three days of Gravity Studios’ existence were spent meticulously producing the original version of that popular song, which became huge on Chicago’s Q101, and propelled the band to its deal with Geffen.
That success led to deal landing recordings of a slew of local bands including Cupcakes, Verbow, Loud Lucy, Dovetail Joint and Jamie Blake. The Smashing Pumpkins spent two weeks with Doug, which contributed to the creation of their album “Pisces Iscariot.”
By the late 1990’s, Doug and Gravity were hired primarily by artists on major labels, such as the critically acclaimed “Safe Ride Home” album by indie rock band Frogpond (Columbia). By the mid 2000’s, Doug’s reputation was drawing artists from all over the country. Ben Kweller, Johnny Rzenik, and European artists such as Badly Drawn Boy and Tahiti 80 traveled to Chicago to work with Doug.
Over the past few years, he has produced key tracks for Racheal Yamagata, Fall Out Boy, Jack’s Mannequin, and the legendary Buddy Guy, while Gravity hosted top national producers and engineers who brought in legacy artists like Rod Stewart and Bon Jovi.
In 2005, Doug opened a second studio, Gravity Mastering, where he continues to focus on mastering for other producers and engineers. He also contributes to the larger recording community as the Chairman of the Grammy’s Chicago Chapter Producer’s Craft Committee and by speaking at conferences and colleges around the country, even teaching a few recording classes for the Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy.
In keeping with his straight shooter personality, Doug insists on keeping his services within reach of independent artists, and has weathered the changes in the recording industry. Speaking with him today, you might hear him speak enthusiastically about any number of local artists likely to include Filligar, Anna Fermin, or his American Idol winning client Lee DeWyze.