David Wright

http://www.davidwrightmusic.com/

David Wright is the UK based keyboard player and composer who founded the electronic music label AD Music in 1989. He is also co-founder of the ambient/electronic rock band Code Indigo and the electronic music duo Callisto. His music is characterised as melodic and emotive, with atmospheric, ambient and ethereal traits. His gently rhythmic style is also laced with classical, rock, jazz and cultural influences making his albums as diverse as they are original.

His first solo release 'Reflections' was signed by Klaus Schulze's manager KD Mueller, who published David's output until 1995. Since 'Reflections', David Wright has released many instrumental albums as a solo performer, establishing a strong reputation in Europe and the USA.

His music has been likened to Kitaro, Vangelis, Mike Oldfield and Yanni. An established live performer, he has appeared with, amongst others, Jonn Serrie and Klaus Schulze. His music has featured on Sky, British TV and numerous international CD compilations.

Hello. Thanks very much for taking the time out to have a chat with Camel Audio. Could you introduce yourself?

Well, primarily I'm a composer, producer and solo recording artist. But I'm also founder member of the Ambient Electronic band Code Indigo and the electronic music duo Callisto. I own the new electronic music label AD Music (est 1988) and FX Media Publishing, run a small commercial studio and do selective production work. I've released 18 solo recordings since 1988, six Code Indigo albums and one as Callisto. My music has featured on various Film and TV soundtrack compilations, on Sky and British and Australian TV, and was used for many years at The London Planetarium. I also do Library work for Noting Hill Music.

How did you get into writing space and ambient music?

Wow - that's a hard one - where do I start? Ok, I guess it stemmed from my love of electronic music in the early 70's. I was very into the music of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, but I also liked a lot of progressive rock. I wrote a lot of unpublished stuff in the 80's but it wasn't until 1988 that I got K.D. Mueller's attention. I consider myself lucky to have been a part of the healthy UK electronic music scene in the early 90's, and to have had such close links with KDM. I've also kept a strong hold of the business side of things - establishing a modestly successful record label and a good publishing deal with a major Publisher (I moved to Notting Hill Music in 1995 and have been with them ever since). I think my solo work has developed and changed over the years, but the one constant that remains is 'melody and emotion'. The feel and direction of a piece of music is so dependant on those two elements. I hate pigeon holing music, but my music covers electronic space music, ambient atmospheric, new age with cultural influences - my albums are all quite different.

On your web site, you mentioned you worked with Klaus Schulze and Jonn Serrie. How was that for you, and how did that come about?

I met Jonn Serrie in the early 90's at a UK EMMA festival - he needed the use of a JD800 as I recall, so he borrowed mine. A year or so later I was approached by The London Planetarium, who were using my music at the time in the daily Planetarium show, to perform two concerts there. The organiser was also a Jonn Serrie fan and Jonn was touring in Europe at the time, so basically, i gave him a call and it was great - a real contrast in styles too. Jonn played really laid back, romantic spaced out sets and I did more rhythmic ones, which came out on CD in 1996 (Live at the London Planetarium). I really enjoyed the time we spent during the 3 days of the 2 shows - fond memories!

I had contact with Klaus Schulze in the 70's as fan.........so it was a great thrill for me to be associated with him though my early Publishing deal with KDM and POEM Musikverlag. In 1996 AD Music put on a major UK electronic music festival at which my band Code Indigo performed - and I was in a position to negotiate for Klaus Schulze to headline the event. A year later Code Indigo was invited to perform in Duisburg, Germany, where Klaus Schulze was the headline, so we were able to meet up again.

What projects have you used Camel Audio software on?

I've used it on my solo recordings 'Continuum' and 'Deeper', plus my band Code Indigo's 'Timecode' and forthcoming 'Chill' albums, plus Callisto's 'Signal to the Stars'.

What do you like most about Cameleon 5000?

Well, firstly it has great sounds - a huge selection of pre-sets come with it and they're excellent quality, plus there are a huge selection of additional high quality commercial banks available. The overall sound is quite distinctive and quite unique. Whether you're looking for sounds that can be layered to add great textures or great' stand out' sounds that are totally different to anything else, then the Cameleon is ideal. I also think the interface is pretty cool and quite intuitive. I recently started to program the Cameleon a lot more too, which was great - I'd tended to be a bit lazy and was just tweaking sounds because what was there was so good.

What do you like most about Camel Space and Camel Phat?

I'm a very recent convert to these, so my experience of them is somewhat limited. However, Camel Space immediately struck me as a very versatile and intuitive piece of software with amazing potential and possibilities. I've literally just started using it on music (trying to find some more interesting and "different"sequencer styles and sounds) for an up and coming concert in Germany.

What are your plans for the next year?

I've just finished working on the Code Indigo album "Chill", set for release in May and we're doing some UK and European concerts. Actually, the Cameleon feature quite a lot on Chill!!

After that there are plans for a second 'Callisto' album, but I'm concentrating mainly on solo work. I have several concerts in the UK and Germany in 2006, one coming up in April at Boccum planetarium, and we are currently planning a long overdue USA mini tour in 2007. Discussing potential gigs in Oregon,Chicago and LA.; early stages yet but I'm determined it will happen.