Music
Press
“Gods of the New Economy is a rough-hewn, unvarnished piece of work ... It’s raw, and almost painful to listen to - a lonely voice ranting in a deserted conference room.” - Netslaves.com
"Gods of the New Economy" really rang true. I'm sitting here in my cubicle with my headphones on, laughing my ass off, sending it to my friends. Great job, guys. - Laid Off Amazon Employee
Heard the tune for the first time yesterday, and was stunned! These people really understand! The tune is catchy, and the lyrics capture the true soul of the Intel beast! (Also extremely funny!) - Listener review on Amazon.com
Doug Hamilton does the niche thing better than just about anyone I know. His songs about the way we relate to computers are clever and intelligent, and he's funny as hell. Definitely pick up his disk, Cubicle Life.
One of my favorite songs was "I Hate E-mail," because not only is it funny, but it's a great song all around, making you want to snap and sing along. There's an oddball ode to acronyms, which he says is "the lingua franca of the nerds." And the humor especially resonates when he plays off old standards, like on "Old MacDonald Had a Form."
Hamilton knows how to craft a catchy a tune. The refrain "M-S-Dos" rings in your head long after "GUI? Phooey!" is over. "Stuck in a Meeting" has some cool organ work. And "Gods of the New Economy" captures just the right mood. It isn't so much comic as it is tragic, telling the tale of Silicon Valley taking a dive during the dot-com bust, taking the economy with it.
This unpretentious, homemade little number was created by Hamilton in every way and published on his Cube Dweller Records label. "Cubicle Life" was recorded at Geektone Studios, "above the garage at Doug's house (careful not to trip over the snowblower)," as the back cover states. I always enjoy seeing him in concert (you must hear "My Father's Underwear," not on this album), and hope we get a chance to see him play out more often. - Madison Songwriters Group
Discography
Cubicle Life, full length CD, Cube Dweller Records
Virtual Christmas, EP, Cube Dweller Records
Live Radio: Wisconsin Public Radio's Higher Ground
Airplay: Dr. Demento, Into Tomorrow, various conventional and Internet radio stations in USA, New Zealand, the Netherlands.
Hamilton once received over 16,000 plays on MP3.com in a fluky, never-to-be-repeated four week period.
On multiple occasions Doug Hamilton has had five or more songs in the Comedy Top 50 on both MP3.com and Amazon downloads.
Photos
Bio
One bleak weekend afternoon, after way too many hours of programming in his lonely cubicle at a remote univeristy in Scotland, Doug Hamilton took down his guitar. He’d spent many years writing and singing about world peace, environmentalism, and unrequited love — the usual singer-songwriter stuff.
But for some reason today was different. Unexpectedly, out came a song about graphical user interfaces.
There followed in short order new songs about the hard lives of servers, workin’ on the help desk, and babyhood in the wired millennium. He had happened upon a rich and almost untouched vein of song material – what’s funny and not-so-funny about cubicle life.
A few years later, after an exhilarating but un-remunerative ride on the dotcom roller-coaster, Doug is once again toiling anonymously in a cube. But in the wee hours, day job and family in momentary abeyance, he secretly pursues his true calling.
On the Internet, and unbeknownst to his co-workers and neighbors, Doug has thousands of listeners and a growing reputation for songs that crystallize the feelings of cube dwellers everywhere. His Internet “hit,” Virtual Christmas, received over 16,000 listens in just four weeks on MP3.com. Doug's songs have been featured on the syndicated radio programs Dr. Demento and Into Tomorrow, and have been awarded a top prize in the Loudenergy.com songwriting contest.
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