Sebastian Arocha Morton is a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

-nominated American record producer and composer based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Throughout his career as a record producer and songwriter, Morton has worked with many notable artists, including Seal,

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

Santana Santana may refer to: Transportation * Volkswagen Santana, an automobile * Santana Cycles, manufacturer of tandem bicycles * Santana Motors, a former Spanish automobile manufacturer Boats * Santana 20, an American sailboat design by W. D. Sch ...

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

, Fischerspooner,

Vikter Duplaix Vikter Duplaix (born October 14, 1969), is an American singer-songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ. Duplaix has traditional soul singer's beginnings – being raised in both Philadelphia and Augusta, Georgia singing in church ch ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

, and

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...

. Morton was also a composer and producer for the films ''

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road film and the feature film directorial debut of the husband–wife team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The screenplay was written by first-time writer Michael Arndt. The film sta ...

'', '' Iron Man 2'', ''

Houdini Harry Houdini (, born Erik Weisz; March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was a Hungarian-American escape artist, magic man, and stunt performer, noted for his escape acts. His pseudonym is a reference to his spiritual master, French magician ...

'', ''

RoboCop ''RoboCop'' is a 1987 American science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner. The film stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O'Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, and Miguel Ferre ...

'', '' The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water'', '' League of Gods'', ''

Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression and dissociative ...

'', and '' Young Sheldon''. Morton composes and fuses a wide variety of musical genres, ranging from

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

to hip hop,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

, among various other genres. His approach to film scoring bridges the worlds of modern electronic production and more traditional melodic orchestral composing.

Education and career

Morton graduated from the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, where he studied film scoring and production/engineering. Afterwards, he moved to

to pursue a career in the film and music industries as a staff writer for

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, Dutch law. UMG's cor ...

. 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. As ROCAsound, he has remixed and produced tracks for the soundtrack to '' Iron Man 2'', as well as songs and remixes for

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

, Seal, The Dandy Warhols,

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and artist,USA Today (February 16, 1996), Best Bets: Albums Jody Watley Greatest Hits, "Few singers fired up the disco like Jody Watley who set trends ...

The Killers The Killers are an American rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingd ...

, Kaskade, Ricky Martin, Yuridia, and Fischerspooner, among various other artists. After much success as ROCAsound, Morton discovered and signed Billboard #1 electronic artist Samantha James, and went on to write and produce the albums '' Subconscious'' and ''

Rise Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a video ...

'' for San Francisco label OM Records. Morton later worked on

's final studio album ''

Crayons A crayon (or wax pastel) is a stick of pigmented wax used for writing or drawing. Wax crayons differ from pastels, in which the pigment is mixed with a dry binder such as gum arabic, and from oil pastels, where the binder is a mixture of wax a ...

'', where he was credited among producers such as Greg Kurstin and

J.R. Rotem Jonathan Reuven Rotem is a South African-born record producer, songwriter and music publisher. Biography Early life Rotem was born in South Africa to Jewish Israeli people, Israeli immigrant parents. He moved to Canada at the age of two an ...

. The first single for that record, "

I'm a Fire "I'm a Fire" is the first single from Donna Summer's seventeenth studio album, ''Crayons''. The song was released on March 11, 2008 by Burgundy Records. It was written by Summer, Sebastian Morton and Al Kasha and produced by Morton. The club si ...

" (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 and Bruce Sudano. Other collaborations include: *"One of These Days" (with

and Ozomatli) *"Never Coming Home" for the '' Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'' soundtrack (with

) *"Not in Love" (with

Enrique Iglesias Enrique Miguel Iglesias Preysler (; (born 8 May 1975) is a Spanish singer and songwriter. He started his recording career in the mid-1990s on the Mexican indie label Fonovisa and became the bestselling Spanish-language act of the decade. By the ...

and Floetry) *"Scent of Magnolia" (with David Sylvian and Ryuichi Sakamoto) *'' Alex Cross'' (film collaboration with composer John Debney) *Disney Parks: World of Color and Iron Man Experience (collaboration with composer John Debney) *"Whenever I Say Your Name" (BBC Radio version) with

feat.

*"Superfreak" (ROCAsound Revamp) with Rick James

Discography

Filmography

Selected awards

Some of Morton's

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations include: *2006 Grammy nominee: ''

'' (Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media) *2007 Grammy nominee (with

): "Make A Baby" (Best Urban/Alternative Category) Billboard #1 Singles and Albums include: *2004 Billboard Electronic Albums Chart: '' Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'' soundtrack (''Never Coming Home'' feat.

) *2005 Dance Singles Chart:

- " Looking for a New Love" (remixes) *2007 Dance Singles Chart: Samantha James - "

" *2008 Dance Singles Chart:

- "

" *2009 Latin Albums Chart:

Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer, often referred to as ''El Sol de México'' (The Sun of Mexico), which is the nickname his mother gave him as a child—"mi sol". Luis Miguel has sung in mu ...

- ''

No Culpes a La Noche ''No Culpes a La Noche - The Club Remixes'' is a remix album from Mexican singer Luis Miguel Luis Miguel Gallego Basteri (born 19 April 1970) is a Puerto Rican-born Mexican singer, often referred to as ''El Sol de México'' (The Sun of Mexi ...

References

External links

ROCAsound official websiteDiscogs profileInstagram profileAllMusic profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Sebastian Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American film score composers Berklee College of Music alumni Record producers from Los Angeles