Brian Dougans (born 1968) is a British musician, and a member of the British electronic duo,

the Future Sound of London The Future Sound of London (often abbreviated FSOL) is a British electronic music duo composed of Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans. They have been described as a "boundary-pushing" electronic act, covering techno, ambient, house music, trip ho ...

(FSOL). He is the more technical member of FSOL, doing most of the programming, circuit bending et cetera and creating electronic instruments at his home studio in Glastonbury, Somerset. He is currently head of FSOLdigital (FSOL's record label) and co designer of the FSOL:Digitana SX-1 Synthesiser. Dougans' first releases were as "Humanoid", releasing the

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

single "

Stakker Humanoid "Stakker Humanoid" is an 1988 track by Humanoid released in 1988 on the London-based label Westside Records. It is described by ''The Guardian'' as "the first truly credible UK acid techno record to break into the mainstream." History The projec ...

", which reached number 17 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1988, and also charted in 1992 and 2001. "Stakker Humanoid" was No.1 for five weeks in the UK Dance Chart (December 1988) and has been cited as a major influence on early Aphex Twin releases. Dougans music as Humanoid is also part of the MOMA NY collection via Stakker Eurotechno. Dougans has always been the quiet, technical workhorse of FSOL whilst Garry Cobain brings in his melody and softness to balance Dougans' technical wizardry.

Music

Humanoid

Brian Dougans first releases were as "Humanoid", releasing the

single "

". The track was a hit not just at influential clubs like

Shoom Shoom was a weekly all-nighter dance music event held at four nightclubs in London, England, between September 1987 and early 1990. It is widely credited with initiating the acid house movement in the UK. Shoom was founded by Danny Rampling, wh ...

in London, but was championed by mainstream stalwarts like Radio DJ Bruno Brookes and Kylie and Jason producer Pete Waterman. After the single reached No. 17 in the

in November 1988, leading to Dougans' appearance on Top of the Pops on 1 December 1988. Subsequent re-issues also charted in 1992 and 2001. Stakker Humanoid was No.1 for five weeks in the UK Dance Chart (December 1988) and has been cited as a major influence on early Aphex Twin releases. Dougans music as Humanoid is also part of the MOMA NY collection via Stakker Eurotechno. Stakker was also used as the name of the collaboration between Dougans and video artists Colin Scott and Mark McLean. ''

Eurotechno ''Eurotechno'' refers to the musical soundtrack by English group Stakker for their 1989 experimental short film of the same name. The original film was an avant-garde experiment and features rapidly shifting colourful computer graphics, reflec ...

'', the soundtrack to a visual installation by the group, was originally released in 1989.

Future Sound of London

Dougans met

Garry Cobain Garry Cobain (sometimes styled as Gaz Cobain) (born 16 May 1967) is a British electronic musician, and one half of the Future Sound of London. Background Cobain was born on 16 May 1967 in Bedford. He left Bedford for Manchester in his late teens ...

in 1985 when he was at Salford College of Technology in Manchester studying Music Recording Technology. After Dougans left college he set up his own studio in London where Cobain joined him and they began to release a plethora of singles under various aliases, some of which would end up on their first compilation album (as FSOL) '' Earthbeat'' in 1992. Whereas the sound of Amorphous Androgynous is Cobain's vehicle, FSOL's more "mechanical" sound is Dougan's.The Future Sound Of London Interview
. Barcodezine.com. Retrieved on 2017-06-15.Future Sound of London : Music News Feature
Clash Music (2009-10-17). Retrieved on 2017-06-15.

Synthesizers

Dougans has co-designed two synthesizers with English electronics company Digitana; the SX-1 analogue synthesizer and the Halia (stand alone digital sampler synth). The SX-1 has been received with critical acclaim and has been used in '' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse'', '' The Innocents'' and ''

One Strange Rock ''One Strange Rock'' is an American television documentary series, produced by Nutopia in conjunction with Darren Aronofsky, which premiered on National Geographic on March 26, 2018. On July 25, 2018, National Geographic renewed the series for a ...

''.

Guinness World Records

Dougans received (along with his musical partner Cobain) three retrospective awards from the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. *Most notably, the first internet music download on 22 June 1994, distributed via the New York based internet bulletin board Sonicnet. *The first band to tour the world without leaving their studio *The first band to tour the world down telephone wires

Discography

All as Humanoid unless indicated (please see also The Future Sound of London).

Albums

Compilation albums

EPs

Singles

References

External links

*
Humanoid biography and discography

John Peel Session 1995
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougans, Brian 1968 births Living people Musicians from Glasgow British dance musicians British electronic musicians New-age musicians Intelligent dance musicians Remixers Breakbeat musicians Braindance musicians