Dave Kaplan | |
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Born | |
Occupation(s) | executive, record producer |
Years active | 1981−present |
Dave Kaplan is an American music industry executive. [1] [2] He has managed numerous musical artists, including UB40, Glen Campbell, Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, Brian Setzer, [3] Sublime, [4] and Butthole Surfers. [5] He founded and is the CEO of the independent music label Surfdog Records. [2] Kaplan's producing credits include albums for Dave Stewart, [2] Glen Campbell, Brian Setzer, Stray Cats, Dan Hicks, SuperHeavy, and Gary Hoey. [6]
Kaplan was born in Phoenix, Arizona. [2] He graduated from UC Santa Barbara, [2] [3] and later became a certified public accountant. [1] [3]
Kaplan joined the accounting firm Ernst & Whinney in California as an auditor in 1981, but left in 1983 because he disliked the firm's rigid work culture. [1]
In 1985, he founded Dave Kaplan Management (DKM) to manage musicians. [2] DKM's first client was the reggae band UB40. [2] [7]
Kaplan became the manager for Brian Setzer in 1992, [1] and as of 2021, Kaplan had also produced or co-produced more than a dozen albums involving Setzer. [6]
Kaplan founded Surfdog Records in the early 1990s. [2] [8]
In 1999, Kaplan became the manager for Butthole Surfers, and signed the act to a joint recording deal with Surfdog and Hollywood Records. [5]
Kaplan signed recording deals with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, led by Dan Hicks, in 2000 [9] [8] and British soul singer Joss Stone in 2011 to co-produce her album LP1. [10] He produced or was the executive producer for six of Hicks' albums between 2000 and 2017, and was the executive producer for Stone's LP1 album. [6]
In 2012, Kaplan became co-manager of country singer Glen Campbell, who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and was the executive producer of his final album Ghost on the Canvas. [11] Kaplan was also the producer of Campbell's penultimate studio album, See You There. [6]
In 2013, Kaplan signed Eric Clapton to Surfdog Records and distributed his new album, Old Sock, in North America. [2] [3]
Kaplan is also the manager of the band Sublime. [4] In 2019, Kaplan was a co-producer of a documentary about the band Sublime, which was titled Sublime. [12]
Kaplan served on the board of directors for an environmental non-profit called the Surfrider Foundation. [13] From 1996 through 1999, he also produced or co-produced three ocean-themed music albums to benefit the foundation, which included contributions from bands such as The Beach Boys, The Beastie Boys, and Pearl Jam. [14] [15] [13] [16] [6]
Kaplan and his family live in southern California. [2] [1] He is a surfing enthusiast. [13] [2] [1]