Bruce Vanderveer
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Bruce Vanderveer, professionally known as Automatic, is a
Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
-nominated American record producer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is currently signed to
Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing LLC (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is an American music publisher. Responsible for publishing the largest quantity of music, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021, it is part of Sony ...
and is the CEO/co-founder of the entertainment company InRage Entertainment. On his first production job, Automatic worked directly with
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
. Automatic has worked with artists such as
Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...
,
Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a neo-burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the troupe mainst ...
,
Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Scherzinger ( ; ; born June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls between 2003 and 2010. With ...
,
Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...
,
Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...
,
Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...
,
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
and Raven Simone. In 2009, Automatic produced the #2 song on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales Chart, Cradle to the Grave, recorded by American Idol's Bettina Bush. His latest K-Pop record, "Rock The World", was recorded by K-Pop sensation JYJ's Kim Junsu ( Xia). Featuring
The Quiett Shin Dong-gab (; born January 29, 1985), better known by his stage name The Quiett (), is a South Korean rapper, composer, lyricist and record producer. He is widely known within the South Korean hip hop community for founding several major hip ...
and Automatic himself, the record was released on May 30, 2016 as the lead single from Xia's fourth studio album,
Xignature ''Xignature'' is the fourth studio album by South Korean singer Kim Junsu, released under his stage name XIA on May 30, 2016. The album contains thirteen tracks including double lead single "Rock The World" and "Sweet Melody". The album also featu ...
, which peaked at number 14 on
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
's World Albums chart. The Grammy-nominated producer also co-wrote the song "I'm Gonna Be a Star" alongside Ebony Rae Vanderveer, Park Jinyoung and
Olltii Jung Woo-sung (, born January 2, 1996), better known by his stage name Olltii (), is a South Korean rapper. He was a contestant on '' Show Me the Money 3''. He released his first album, ''Graduation'', on February 24, 2015. Discography Studio ...
. The South Korean girl group
Twice Twice (; Japanese language, Japanese: トゥワイス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Tuwaisu''; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon ...
recorded the song which served as the theme song for the 2015 reality girl group survival show
Sixteen Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number) *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen * ''Sixteen'' (20 ...
. Automatic also produced Xia's 2012 hit single "
Uncommitted Uncommitted, may refer to: * Uncommitted (song), recorded by South Korean singer XIA *Uncommitted (voting option) "Uncommitted" is a voting option in some United States presidential primaries. This option is listed along with the names of individ ...
" which peaked at number 1 on South Korea's Gaon albums chart and number 19 on
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
's Korea K-Pop Hot 100 chart.


Early life

Automatic was born in Bushwick,
Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
; raised in Flatbush and Red Hook,
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
to a 16-year-old mother and raised by one of the most infamous drug dealers of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He never met his biological father. Of Black-American and Japanese descent, Automatic was taught in the traditions of
Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
from a young age. While many of his peers were involved in illegal activities, Automatic's attraction to music kept him from the dangers of the rough city streets of his neighborhood. His first encounter with a guitar lent to his name, Automatic. There was a little boy who lived next door to Automatic that played the guitar every day. Automatic asked the little boy to play guitar every day, but the little boy would not share. One day, after being so frustrated that his neighbor would not share, he shoved the little boy down and took his guitar from him. The little boy ran upstairs to tell his mother and Automatic started plucking the old, 4-stringed guitar. He intuitively began to play a melody on the guitar. Having no prior instrumental or musical lessons, his mother was stunned that her son was playing a tune on the spot. Thus, she nicknamed him, "Automatic". From that day on, Automatic showed he had a natural ability to learn how to play instruments. In junior high, he joined the concert band at Roy H. Mann Junior High School in Brooklyn. He chose to play the trombone. Each week he would ask his classmates if he could borrow their instruments to take home so that he could learn how to play them. He eventually taught himself how to play 13 instruments. Automatic also used his nickname as his stage name when he would rap and dance. Growing up in hip-hop, he was part of the early, crucial moments in hip-hop that would later define and popularize the genre. Automatic befriended and battled with who would become hip-hop icons
Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...
,
LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...
, Nice and Smooth and
Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American Rapping, rapper, producer and actor who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influe ...
. Automatic's popularity as a hip-hop artist grew. When he was 13 years old, he was invited to participate in a PBS special on hip-hop where he break danced. His appearance in the special led to him appearing as a dancer in
Krush Groove ''Krush Groove'' is a 1985 American musical comedy-drama film distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures that was written by Ralph Farquhar and directed by Michael Schultz (who also produced the movie, along with George Jackson and Doug McHenry). ...
, starring
Run DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as ...
,
LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...
and
Sheila E Sheila Cecilia Escovedo (born December 12, 1957), known under the stage name Sheila E., is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians of her generation; she is known for skills as a multi-instrumental ...
. He also danced in Beat Street. In addition to music and dancing, Automatic focused on martial arts with his sensei who taught him Yip Man's Wing Chun kung-fu. He began practicing Bruce Lee's style of Jeet Kune Do. He competed in and won multiple underground fights as a teenager and became well-respected in the martial arts community.


Crisis leads to record deal

When he was 15 years old, Automatic left home to escape the abuse and negative lifestyle of his step-father. As a result of leaving home, he became homeless, living on the streets of Brooklyn for four months. He was on track to be the valedictorian of South Shore High School and was the most popular kid in high school, but all of this turmoil in his life caused him to drop out of school. He worked at the Palladium, Mels Diner and a microfilm company for money until he could afford his own apartment. He convinced a landlord in
Sunset Park, Brooklyn Sunset Park is a neighborhoods of Brooklyn, neighborhood in the western part of the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, bounded by Park Slope and Green-Wood Cemetery to the north, Borough Park, Brooklyn, Borough Park t ...
to rent an apartment to him at the age of 16. Automatic formed a band, Auto and Cherokee. The band played
CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...
's, the Cat Club, the Palladium and other clubs in the Village and Manhattan. The band soon caught the eye of J.J. French, bass player of the rock band,
Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...
. French signed on to manage the group. The band moved together to Red Hook, Brooklyn and shared a factory-style loft. They auditioned for multiple record companies and were turned down many times. Grammy Award-winning producer,
David Kershenbaum David Kershenbaum is an American record producer and entrepreneur, born in Springfield, Missouri. He has worked with many artists including Duran Duran, Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson, Laura Branigan, Bryan Adams, Supertramp, Cat Stevens, Elkie Broo ...
, heard about the group and came to Red Hook to hear the band who performed a showcase in their loft for him. He immediately signed them to Morgan Creek/ Polygram Records. In 1993, the first professional release was Auto and Cherokee, "Naked Music", written, composed and produced by Automatic, Keith Cohen and Carmen Rizzo. The album was a fusion of hip-hop, R&B and Prince-infused vibes. The album featured Dave Coz and members of the group Fishbone. The single from the album "Taste" is featured in the movie The Crush starring Alicia Silverstone and in "Stay Tuned" starring John Ritter. While on Morgan Creek, Automatic was managed by Rob Kehane and Mark Schimmel.


From producing and songwriting in the 1990s

In 1994–1995, Automatic began to develop musical groups under his production company Apple Children Productions. The first group that he put together was Forever Yours, later named Brownstone. He also discovered a young Australian boy on Venice Beach, Wade Robson, whom he taught hip hop and rap and developed vocally. He later became a member of the duo Quo. Both acts later became signed to Michael Jackson's record label, MJJ Records/Sony. Wade Robson went on to become a world-famous choreographer working with acts like ‘Nsync and Britney Spears. In 1994, he became the youngest producer to sign a double production deal with to A&M/Perspective records. He worked directly with legendary producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. They produced acts including four songs on Raja-Neé’s album Hot and Ready. He produced "How Long" by Sweet Sable for the Above the Rim soundtrack and produced a remix of James Brown's "How Long." From 1995 to 1998, he worked for the
WB Television Network The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on br ...
producing songs for
The Jamie Foxx Show ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Jamie Foxx and Bentley Kyle Evans for The WB. It premiered on August 28, 1996, and ended on January 14, 2001, with a total of 100 episodes over the course of five seasons. A ...
, Sister Sister and
Cleghorne! ''Cleghorne!'' is an American sitcom television series starring comedian Ellen Cleghorne that aired on The WB from September 10 to December 17, 1995. Garrett Morris and Alaina Reed Hall costarred as Ellen's character's parents, Sidney and Lena, w ...
. He wrote and produced the
American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...
theme song. In 1999, he was signed to Sony Music as a writer/producer by Erica Greyson and Jim Vellutato. He began working with A-list writers with Sony and worked with artists like
Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...
, India Irie,
Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...
,
Pussycat Dolls The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a neo-burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the troupe mainst ...
, Raven Simone,
Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Scherzinger ( ; ; born June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She was a member of the girl group and dance ensemble the Pussycat Dolls between 2003 and 2010. With ...
,
Kurupt Ricardo Emmanuel Brown (born November 23, 1972), better known by his stage name Kurupt, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in Philadelphia, he formed Tha Dogg Pound in 1992 along with Daz Dillinger; the rap duo has releas ...
and
Fabolous John David Jackson (born November 18, 1977), known professionally as Fabolous, is an American rapper. Raised in Brooklyn, he first gained recognition for his ability upon performing live on DJ Clue's WQHT, Hot 97 radio show. Jackson then signed ...
. In addition to producing, he worked on the mixing side of production with Dave Pensado and Manny Marroquin. In 2009, Automatic produced "Cradle to the Grave" and "She Is" for Bettina Bush which reached #2 and #4 on the Billboard Hot Single Sales Chart, respectively. In Summer 2012, Automatic produced the hit single, "Uncommitted" for K-Pop sensation, Kim Junsu ( Xia) of superstar pop group JYJ. The video for "Uncommitted" debuted at #1 in Korea and China. It has reached #1 on China's YinYueTai Chart, #1 on Peruvian Radio Charts, and #1 on Korea's Hanteo chart. At Kim Junsu's recent concert in LA, Korean news site TV Daily reported: "the song produced together with Sony music producer AUTOMATIC, Uncommitted, is a chic urban pop song that attracted great attention." Furthermore, the popular Canadian YouTube duo EatYourKimchi, well known for introducing K-Pop to foreigners, also reviewed Uncommitted: "From start to finish, the song is consistently solid and we’re totally digging it." Also Kim Junsu described his recording experience with Automatic in his August 2012 Cyworld Music Interview: I also felt that I had a lot of freedom while recording my worldwide album. Because the composer respects the artist and the artist's feeling 120%, the recording was so pleasant. This time I choked and coughed a bit when I was singing, but the composer Automatic treated me so nicely, by telling me that I could rest as much as I want to or have a cup of warm tea and try again, that I didn't know what to do. It was pleasant to work with them." Automatic also performs as lead vocalist in the group Asphalt Messiah.


InRage Entertainment

With his experience as a music producer, Automatic was exposed to a range of multiple music genres that included rock, country, pop, and R&B. The constant pressure from the industry wanting him to focus on one genre, sparked Automatic’s interest to develop his own label. Automatic partnered with corporate attorney, Roger Doumanian founder of Fresh Element, to create an entertainment company focused on music diversity. In 2016, InRage Entertainment was re-born, when Automatic partnered with his wife, Ebony Rae Vanderveer, to expand the model of the entertainment company. The label is currently based in Los Angeles, California and functions as a record label, artist development company and music, film and television production company.


Production and engineering


Film and television credits


Branding


Companies


Singer/Musician


References


External links


Automatic interview with Asia Pacific Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanderveer, Bruce Record producers from New York (state) Living people People from Bushwick, Brooklyn Singers from New York (state) Songwriters from New York (state) People from Flatbush, Brooklyn People from Red Hook, Brooklyn Year of birth missing (living people)