Gabe McDonough

Gabe McDonough is a senior producer of music and integration for DDB Worldwide.

Early Life

Gabe McDonough is a senior producer of music and integration for DDB Worldwide. McDonough joined DDB in 2004 as a print project manager. He soon parlayed his love and deep knowledge of music into a post where he mines rare music tracks and creates award-winning sounds for commercials.

Career

Formerly the promotions director for Chicago’s legendary live music venue, The Empty Bottle, McDonough’s collaborative style and strong artist-producer relationships have established him in both the advertising industry and independent music communities at the national level. In 2009, Adweek recognized McDonough’s use of Os Mutantes song “A Minha Menina” in a McDonald’s commercial as being one of the five best ad songs of all time[1]. By including song “Lights Out” in Bud Light Lime commercials, music artist Santigold was catapulted to fame.

McDonough has written for many publications, including Billboard [2], Paste Magazine [3], Brandweek [4] and is a frequent contributor to Time Out Chicago. He participates in many industry events, including Advertising Age’s 2009 Idea Conference[5], where he brought recording artists Kid Sister and Atrak to the stage. Through all this, McDonough continues to play bass in the Chicago Stone Lightning Band, a group who’s music has been featured on the TV series Sons of Anarchy and Californication.

A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, McDonough resides in Chicago with his wife, Rebecca Anderson.