Automatic Gainsay

Marc Doty started writing music at the age of 9. Shortly after that, he decided he was to be a synthesizer player. After getting his first synthesizer at 17 (a Roland Juno-106), he played in a lot of high school bands. He majored in both music education and composition in college. After college, he decided to pursue his recording career. He was picked up by an L.A. manager. He changed his name to "terpsichore," and recorded an album of techno-industrial-pop. The album was well-received, and generated interest from labels like Interscope and Geffen, but failed to generate a recording contract. In 2003, after playing in a number of bands, Marc Doty started Automatic Gainsay in a school band room. Seeking a They Might Be Giants-esque sound, and wanting to use the resource of a band room, Marc recorded a number of songs. These songs were finally used in 2004 when Automatic Gainsay became the house band for The Scrimshaw Show, a Minneapolis sketch comedy/improv show starring Minneapolis comedy mainstays Joshua and Joseph Scrimshaw. As time passed, Marc depended increasingly on vintage synths, acoustic guitar, and single-mic recorded drums. Automatic Gainsay moved away from a quirky and comedic sound and moved towards a sort of retro/indie/powerpop sound. In 2005, Automatic Gainsay started performing frequently in Spokane, Washington. After a half-joking application to play in a bar in Bath, England, Automatic Gainsay was invited to play in a bar in Bath, England. This bar welcomed Marc back three more times after that. This attention caused a swell of support on the Automatic Gainsay MySpace page. In 2006, MySpace was dying, and Facebook was totally inappropriate for bands. Automatic Gainsay turned to the then-new YouTube to upload videos that were used in the Scrimshaw Show performances as a marketing tool. Due to Marc's avid interest in vintage synthesizers, he became an outspoken vintage synthesizer enthusiast and historian on a variety of internet forums. This led to him being interviewed by the long-time synthesizer website Sonic State when he would visit England to perform. When Sonic State decided to do a feature on the Minimoog, they asked Marc to make some videos about his experience of the synth. Marc decided to post the Minimoog videos on his YouTube site, in order to help people who had never heard a Minimoog in the flesh make decisions about whether it was a synth they wanted to purchase on the internet. Suddenly, Marc's largely-unvisited band channel became an oft-visited synthesizer demonstration channel. Automatic Gainsay as a band became the backup band for the synth demonstration channel, and only performed very rarely. The music became increasingly popular as people enjoyed it at the beginning and end of synthesizer demonstrations. Marc has over 400 videos, and over 8.25 million views. He demonstrates vintage synthesizers, and modern synthesizers for companies such as Moog, Korg, and Arturia. Today, Marc Doty is largely associated with synthesizer demonstration, and the name "Automatic Gainsay" is synonymous with analog synths. However, there is a lot of music that is the origin of the synth usage and the name, and it will be presented here.

Saint Paul, MN