I am back from my family vacation and the first thing to comment on is unfortunately very sad: we lost Douglass Fake of Intrada.
Here is the Variety obituary, the Intrada obituary, and a very lovely personal reminiscence by Joe Sikoryak.
A video tribute by Chris Malone:
So what can I add to this...?
Doug was somebody I knew a long time. I met him when I was a teenager publishing Film Score Monthly. He was always supportive. First he carried my magazine in his store on Vallejo Street. Later we collaborated on numerous album projects. He was certainly an influential person in my life and career, and a mentor-from-afar.
I remember, upon seeing his pics, that he looked like an intimidating presence—he kind of resembled Hulk Hogan with his old moustache! But he was a teddy bear, and so sweet.
He once told me on the phone, in his familiar “aw shucks” manner, that he foresaw I would produce hundreds of film music CDs—back at a time (late 1990s) when I was just trying to do my first titles. This was very encouraging and I remember it to this day. (He was right!)
Doug gave his heart, mind and soul to film music—and what I can say is he had a lot of heart, a lot of soul, and a very good mind! He loved this stuff beyond words, he curated it with endless passion and enthusiasm, and he accomplished more than I think anybody could imagine.
He was also technically and musically knowledgeable in a way that you rarely find in a “fan turned professional.” He knew the orchestra well, and could speak with great specifics and detail about orchestration and composition, engineering and so forth.
I was also impressed by his recall and his ability to articulate, with musical precision, what made something work on the screen or in a recording. I would always read his “Doug’s Corner” columns at the Intrada site, as he would pepper news updates with very astute insights into some of our favorite scores and composers.
Maybe the best compliment I can give is that whenever I got an Intrada CD, I knew it was mixed, mastered and produced to perfection. That was as well as that score would ever sound, and be presented with love and care. That’s the standard I aspired to at FSM, and that I know Doug aspired to at Intrada—we never discussed that, but I just know it’s true.
Here’s a photo from a 2009 event in L.A. I did at Private Island Trax, L-R: Joe Sikoryak, Craig Spaulding (SAE), me, Roger Feigelson (Intrada), Doug, and Jeff Bond (FSM).
He also graciously had me over several times at his store and house when I visited the Bay Area. Needless to say, he had one heck of a collection, and a world-class home theater setup.
I am not in the right headspace for me to try to say anything else—I am back in the office and scrambling to catch up, and fear I won’t be doing Doug justice.
So let me just say how much I admired him, and how much I benefited from his life and work, in every way—personally, professionally, and as a lover of movie music, like everybody else who has fallen in love with this art form.
Thank you, Doug.
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