Eclectic, comedic, dramatic, ernest, whimsical, cool, and dorky all at the same time; Cocky most of all, and total Pop, I call it Avant-Pop. Cocky-Pop is familiar and yet totally fresh, the kind of positive music that needs to be heard in these troubled times.  James Schmitz, Director, Inner City Media

"Doug is more than just a drummer.  His music moves fluidly around the other musicians like an orchestral conductor connecting every part and breathing life into the composition."  Eric Williams, Funk'n Jazz Bassist

For over 20+ years, I have known and worked with Doug in every aspect of music production. As a session player, writer/arranger, his talents will no-doubt increase the quality of your project.  Jeff Cowan, Owner, Goldmine Recording Studios, Ventura, CA

Mr. Johnson has the unique ability to groove to a click track.  We ran into him while making a record that formed the basis of "The Santa Barbara Music Scene".  If you need somebody that can groove to a click Mr. Johnson is your man!  Ian A. Stewart, President & CEO, The Music Channel, Inc.

A music lover out of the womb, Doug learned to operate the family stereo by the time he was 1-1/2-years-old.  His childhood years were spent hanging out with a large extended family, doing homework, playing sports, and running through the local lemon groves with his clever neighborhood buddies.

At age 13, Doug's world changed.  An older sister's boyfriend gave him a Gordon Smith surfboard, and his parents enrolled him in snare drum lessons.  He was hooked on these new pursuits and gave up organized sports to surf and practice his snare lessons on his practice pad.  On his 14th birthday, after proving his dedication to his drumming, Doug's parents bought him a drum set.  From then on, he spent all of his spare time practicing his drums and surfing in and around his hometown, Ventura, California.  He began playing drums professionally at age 15.

Upon graduating from high school, Doug decided that being a drummer was not enough...he wanted to be a musician!  He enrolled in music courses at the local community college and had the privilege of studying with master composer, conductor, and music theorist Burns Taft.  Doug's music studies would take him to Cal State Long Beach, where he studied classical percussion and to world-renowned Berklee College of Music, where he studied Jazz drums and theory. 

Doug's 30 + years of diligent efforts to hone his drumming skills have allowed him to play just about every style of music, shaping him into a seasoned recording drummer along the way.  While his rhythmic vocabulary is expansive, he has proven his ability to say just the right things with the right feel.  He is as adept at the art of improvisation as he is at hypnotically playing a groove over and over.

Doug has become a sharp arranger, praised for his rhythm section and vocal arrangements.  He is an avid composer, who artistically writes anywhere on the board he is inspired to write.  Heavily influenced by what he calls the most positively impacting and profoundly changing experience of his life, a three-year "journey through the dark night of the soul" that culminated in his complete healing from a long-term problem with depression, his lyrics are full of the revelations and insights that made the higher purpose of his depression realized. 

Over the last decade Doug has been blessed with a son.  While constantly honing his “Fathering chops” he’s also been honing his engineering and vocal skills.  At long last his vocal skills are at a level he’s happy with and he is now embarking on the recording and production of “FALL”, the first of three full-length albums under his Avant Pop project “CockyPop” chronicling his journey through the dark night of the soul.

Doug has been teaching drums privately for over 25 years, and has experience teaching music in the public school system.