About

About Michael Simpsonelli

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I am an award-winning music educator, session musician, composer, producer, audio engineer, and videographer with over 25 years of experience. I work fluently across guitar, bass, and drums, and also play keys, percussion, and sing. My studio work blends live performance with electronic and hybrid production, using MIDI instruments and virtual sound design alongside acoustic sources.

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As a musician and collaborator, I have worked with a wide range of acclaimed artists, including Grammy Award winner Terry Townson (Ray Charles, The Temptations, Buddy Guy), as well as Juno Award winners George Leach, Shad K (Netflix’s Hip Hop Evolution), and Raven Kanatakta (Digging Roots). I work with Juno nominees Burnstick, and have worked extensively with Beau Wheeler, recently recording at Bryan Adams’ Warehouse Studio.

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I am a key technical collaborator with Jon Mikl Thor, recently engineering his contributions to the Cleopatra Records project Nuclear Messiah. This project featured our work on  a recording with icons such as Chris Poland (Megadeth), Bob Daisley (Ozzy Osbourne), and Glen Drover(Megadeth, King Diamond), appearing on a project that included William Shatner, Sebastian Bach(Skid Row), and Rick Wakeman(Yes).

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My history of collaboration extends into the avant-garde and alternative/ punk and industrial/metal scenes, working extensively with multi-disciplinary artist C.R. Avery, as well as Simon Kendall (Colin James), Steven Nikleva (Sarah McLachlan),  Guenter Schulz (KMFDM), and Ken Fleming(SNFU). Additionally, I have collaborated extensively with multi-Jessie Award-winning composer Joelysa Pankanea. My work on her acclaimed productions, which have garnered multiple Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards for Outstanding Original Composition, involved designing and engineering complex, live soundscapes and immersive SFX, as well as musical performance and collaboration.

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As a composer, I have written and produced original music for film, documentary, and media projects, including Network Entertainment’s I Am Chris Farley, Shenpenn Khymsar’s Lhasa Blues, and Perspective Films’ VR360 Aurora Borealis experience. Additional work includes a 20-minute tango suite for Limb for Love by Fallen Hero Productions and solo drum compositions for Derek Kwan’s documentary Taste of Identity. Film scoring remains a central creative focus in my work.

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Alongside composition and performance, I specialize in professional studio recording and music-focused video production. My work emphasizes clarity, feel, and strong creative direction, whether capturing live performances, producing in-studio sessions, or creating polished music videos.

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I am at the forefront of the intersection between music, technology, and visual storytelling, specializing in interactive and immersive media. Following advanced training with Circuit Stream in Unity, C#, and XR development, I have transitioned my decades of studio expertise into the spatial realm. My work focuses on agentic AI workflows and spatial audio architecture, creating 3D and XR experiences that allow music to exist as an interactive, living environment rather than a static recording.

From developing VR360 experiences to building custom AI-integrated spatial audio tools, I combine high-level C# logic with a Juno-level ear for sound design. My current practice involves pioneering the use of Model Context Protocol (MCP) to bridge the gap between creative direction and real-time game engine development, ensuring that the future of immersive media maintains the emotional integrity of world-class studio production.

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Across sound, video, and education, my work is rooted in thoughtful craft, creative integrity, and meaningful collaboration. Simpsonelli Productions and East Van Music Lab operate as connected parts of the same creative practice, with studio and media work informing how I teach, and education shaping how I approach production.

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My formal studies include the Contemporary Music Diploma program at Vancouver Community College, Recording Arts at Columbia Academy, and Music Composition for Multimedia at Vancouver Film School.