Michael Simpson, also known as "E.Z. Mike", is an American
record producer
A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
. Along with
John King, he makes up one-half of the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
-based producing duo the
Dust Brothers
The Dust Brothers are a pair of songwriters and producers consisting of E.Z. Mike ( Michael Simpson) and King Gizmo ( John King). They are famous for the sample-based music they produced in the 1980s and 1990s, and specifically for their work on ...
,
who co-wrote and produced many critically acclaimed records including the
Beastie Boys' ''
Paul's Boutique
''Paul's Boutique'' is the second studio album by American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released on July 25, 1989, by Capitol Records. Produced by the Dust Brothers, the album is composed almost entirely from samples, and was recorded over two ...
'' and
Beck's ''
Odelay
''Odelay'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including " Where It's At", " Devils Haircut", and " The New Pollution", and peaked at numbe ...
''. He won a Grammy Award for his song writing & production on
Santana's ''
Supernatural'' album in 1999. He has also done producing on his own - most notable is his work with the
Eels
Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
.
Simpson went on to compose the scores for the films ''
Road Trip'', ''
Saving Silverman
''Saving Silverman'' (internationally titled ''Evil Woman'') is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn, Jack Black and Amanda Peet. Neil Diamond has a cameo role playing himself. In the film, Da ...
'', ''
Freddy Got Fingered
''Freddy Got Fingered'' is a 2001 American surreal absurdist screwball black comedy film directed by Tom Green in his feature film directorial debut and written by Green and Derek Harvie. Green stars in the film as a childish slacker who wishes ...
'' and ''
Stick It
Stick or the stick may refer to:
Thin elongated objects
* Twig
* The weapon used in stick fighting
* Walking stick, a device to facilitate balancing while walking
* Shepherd's crook
* Swagger stick
* Digging stick
* Swizzle stick, used to stir ...
'', where in addition to composing the original score, he teamed up with rapper
Talib Kweli
Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...
to produce and perform the song "Abra Cadabra". He has also contributed original music and songs to such films as ''
Zoolander
''Zoolander'' is a 2001 American comedy film directed by and starring Ben Stiller. The film contains elements from a pair of short films directed by Russell Bates and written by Drake Sather and Stiller for the '' VH1 Fashion Awards'' television ...
'', ''
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' is a 2004 American live-action/animated adventure comedy film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. The film was directed, co-written, and produced by series creat ...
'' and ''
Shrek Forever After
''Shrek Forever After'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy film loosely based on the 1990 picture book '' Shrek!'' by William Steig, produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The sequel to '' Shrek the T ...
''.
Simpson was the musical director and frequent guest of ''
Tom Green Live
''Tom Green's House Tonight'' (formerly known as ''Tom Green Live!'') is a talk show hosted by Tom Green. In addition to its primary Internet broadcast on ''TomGreen.com'', the show has been syndicated on television stations throughout North Ame ...
'',
Tom Green
Michael Thomas Green (born July 30, 1971) is a Canadian-American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted ''The Tom Green Show'', which a ...
's live Internet show. In addition, E.Z. Mike and Tom Green created the Keepin' It Real Crew who recorded the album ''
Prepare for Impact'' released by Sony Records in 2006.
More recent projects include the score to the film ''
The Power of Few'' (2013) and music (including opening theme) for
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...
's TV series ''
Tosh.0'' (2011 - 2014).
References
External links
*
Sitefor ''
Tom Green Live
''Tom Green's House Tonight'' (formerly known as ''Tom Green Live!'') is a talk show hosted by Tom Green. In addition to its primary Internet broadcast on ''TomGreen.com'', the show has been syndicated on television stations throughout North Ame ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Michael
Record producers from California
Pitzer College alumni
Eels (band) members
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)