While infamous industry folk like Sean "Diddy" Combs were in the forefront of developing legendary acts such as Mary J. Blige, a somewhat hidden genius lay in the cut quietly drumming out some of the craziest sounds heard round the world. Introduced to the music business through Diddy himself, this multifaceted Mt. Vernon, NY native went on to compose, arrange, mix, engineer and produce for over two decades. Working on countless songs and remixes alongside the Bad Boy founder, Dofat composed and produced hit tracks and remixes for some of the top recording artist's in the industry [to name a few] Heavy D, Mary J. Blige, Queen Latifah, Will Smith, Black Rob, Method Man, Jodeci, Tina Turner, Notorious BIG and MTV's Da Band. Highly respected for his command of the recording studio and for his creative vision, Dofat was regularly called upon by the industry's leading icons including Andre Harrell, Diddy and Heavy D to consult on artist development and musical direction. Having produced, remixed, and composed over 170 compositions in his song catalog, 15 of his releases charted on Billboard as Top Ten albums/singles and 42 of his projects have been certified either gold or platinum by RIAA, he is without a doubt a powerhouse in his own right. Working under the tutelage of Diddy at Bad Boy since its inception, Dofat was a member of the crucial production unit, The Hit Men. After years behind-the-scenes in the lab, this visionary connected his persona to his respected reputation when he was assigned to the #1 reality show, MTV's Making the Band 2 and 4, as the band's primary music producer, appointed by Diddy himself. Credited as Associate executive producer, record producer, musician, writer, and mix engineer, Dofat created "Da Band's" album, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard R&B charts and #2 on Billboard Top 200 chart. This Bad Boy release, "Too hot for TV" sold over 500,000 units within the first week and was certified Gold by RIAA including the two lead singles "Badboy This, Badboy That" and "Tonight". In 2010 and after being active for over 20 years in the music industry, Dofat was called upon to deliver workshops and lectures at various colleges and Universities including SAE Institute and Berklee College of Music in Boston. It was then when Dofat realized that teaching and academia was a hidden passion so he decided to pursue yet another career in music as Associate Professor. In 2015, Dofat was appointed Associate Professor in Media Arts at Long Island University. In June 2016, Dofat created and coordinated a worldwide tour and book signing for Colleges, Universities, and libraries. Launched in his hometown of Mount Vernon, N.Y. Mayor Richard Thomas attended and delivered an astounding introduction for the Mount Vernon native. Dofat was in high demand to travel and lecture around the world for Masterclasses and book signings for aspiring music students and fans. During his Masterclass tour, he was also hired to teach classes at the SAE World Headquarters in Oxford, United Kingdom on Songwriting and Music Theory. Some of the cities which he toured included Glasgow, Liverpool, Oxford, London, Amsterdam, Milan, Ljubljana, Miami, NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles. On October 13th, 2016, The Mount Vernon Public Library Foundation honored Professor Dofat at their annual Gala held at the VIP Country Club in New Rochelle, NY where he also received proclamations from the City of Mount Vernon, the County legislator Lyndon Williams, and a citation from the state of New York proclaiming October 19th will be declared The Official Tony Dofat Day in Westchester County, New York. Dofat is currently authoring his fourth book on Sound & Audio Engineering, which is close to completion and slated for a mid 2017 release.
