About
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Luke F. Walton is the founder and CEO of Surmado. He writes philosophy and fiction and hosts the Love Music More podcast. Scoobert Doobert is Luke F. Walton's primary music project, an indie pop solo project. He is also half of FEiN, an alternative duo with Brandon Woodward. He is based in San Diego.
Work
He founded Surmado, which builds managed AI systems for small businesses. Surmado Scout, an agent for the work most owners do not have time for, is on the App Store and Google Play.
He is Senior Marketing Manager at Amazon (June 2024–present), on global paid media for seller-facing programs. From 2018 to 2024 he worked at NAMM, ending as Associate Director of Marketing. The Associate Director years included international marketing for Asia Pacific, with an emphasis on Japan. The fuller corporate record and earlier appointments are on the CV.
Research
Walton's current research focuses on authorship and answerability in automated systems. “The Decision No One Authored: The Answerability Gap in Generative AI” (2026), “The Captured Oracle”, and “Pay Me What You Owe Me” (October 2026) are available as preprints under Research. Publication status for these and his other papers is on the CV.
Music
Luke F. Walton has been commercially releasing music since 2007. His most notable works are released by Scoobert Doobert, his primary music project, and FEiN, his duo with Brandon Woodward. FEiN started in 2014. He founded Scoobert Doobert in 2017 and owns it and its masters. In 2014 and 2015 he played guitar for Lara Johnston on tours supporting The Doobie Brothers and Gregg Allman. On Spotify and YouTube, Walton's music has more than 50 million plays.
On February 13, 2016, FEiN’s “#Grownupz” hit #4 on Spotify’s US Viral 50. “LOVED” has more than 9 million Spotify streams. For Scoobert Doobert he has written, recorded, arranged, produced, and mixed more than 250 songs. “I’m an Idiot” was on Spotify’s global New Music Friday on September 3, 2021, where MANA and KANA of CHAI discovered him. He produced CHAI’s “WHOLE,” the theme for the NHK drama Koisenu Futari, and 「だれかおるやろ feat. CHAI」 for Shingo Murakami of SUPER EIGHT. He co-wrote and co-produced bed’s “Kare Wa 3.0,” the opening theme for the Fuji TV drama Heart Attack, and mixed OKAME’s 2026 debut album. The records are on Music.
Writing
The Signatories, a novel by Luke F. Walton and Jonathan Gillie, is a 2026 Page Turner Fiction Book Award Finalist. Essays are on Writing.
Love Music More
Walton hosts Love Music More, a weekly podcast and occasional newsletter on the craft, philosophy, and history of music. New episodes come out on Tuesdays. Spotify for Creators ranked it in the top 10% of all podcasts on Spotify in 2025. Guests have included Andrew Scheps (Adele, U2, Hozier), Craig Bauer (Janet Jackson, Lupe Fiasco, Destiny’s Child), and Jay Jay French (Twisted Sister).
Education
Walton studied in the inaugural class of USC Thornton’s Popular Music Program and holds an MBA from San Diego State University (2021). He has professional working proficiency in Japanese.