Tony Wakeford

Anthony Charles "Tony" Wakeford (born 1959-05-02 in Woking, Surrey) is an English folk and neoclassical musician who primarily records under the name Sol Invictus.Wakeford lives in London and is married to Sol Invictus and L'Orchestre Noir violinist Renée Rosen.

Musical Work

Pre-Sol Invictus Work

Wakeford was the bassist for the English political punk band Crisis from 1977 until the band's termination in 1980. Crisis played many concerts for Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League reflecting his then membership of The Socialist Workers Party. He was briefly a member of The Runners From 84, a band started by Patrick Leagas. He then formed Death In June with Crisis guitarist Douglas Pearce and Patrick Leagas. This collaboration came to end due to musical differences and because of his membership at the time of the British National Front. Wakeford was asked to leave Death In June after recording the Burial album in 1984. After Wakeford's involvement in Death In June, he then formed Above The Ruins. Above the Ruins recorded one album, "Songs of the Wolf'.Wakeford has had no connection or interest in such ideas for 20 or more years and describes his membership as probably the worst decision he ever made."A message from Tony" by Tony Wakeford, dated 14 February, 2007, from the official Tursa Records website. [http://www.tursa.com/message.html] ] Wakeford has remained on good terms with Pearce and Leagas, appearing on stage with them much later.

ol Invictus

:"For information relating to Tony Wakeford's primary group, see Sol Invictus".

Tursa

Wakeford formed his own label, Tursa, to release his material and the music of other artists. This material was previously distributed worldwide by the World Serpent Distribution company. Tursa is now distributed in Europe by Dark Vinyl, and in North America by Strange Fortune and in the UK by Cold Spring. In July 2007 the label was relaunched as a partnership with Israeli/USA producer and musician Reeve Malka. The labels roster includes Sol Invictus, Orchestra Noir, The Triple Tree, Zunroyz, The Wardrobe, Tony Wakeford, Andrew King and Autumn Grieve.

econdary Musical Projects

Wakeford has always been the primary force in Sol Invictus. He has also composed Classical music whilst recording outside the framework of Sol Invictus. He has subsequently brought transformative concepts into the familiar terrain of his principle group. He formed L'Orchestre Noir in the mid-1990s to explore classical and soundtrack composition. In 2006 Wakeford changed the line up, and the name, to Orchestra Noir. His early 90's collaborative work with Steven Stapleton also produced exceedingly experimental recordings that are radically different from Sol Invictus material. He also played bass, guitar and keyboards on a number of studio albums by Current 93 as well as playing with them live. This more experimental side to his work can also be seen in the two albums (Cups in Cupboard and A Sandwich Short) that he made in collaboration with Andrew Liles of Nurse With Wound, recording under the name The Wardrobe.

Neofolk

Although he generally refers to his own work as Sol Invictus as "folk noir", Wakeford has long been influential in the neofolk scenes that continue to flourish throughout Europe, contributing to their development not only through musical influence, print media ("ON - The World And Everything In It" [http://www.fluxeuropa.com/on-review.htm] (1996)) and releasing material on his Tursa label but also by playing live with various acts he has influenced through Sol Invictus or his previous work with Death In June at shows.

Collaborations, Guest Performances, and Solo Releases

(Besides Sol Invictus)

References

External links

Official

* [http://www.tursa.com/ Tursa Records, Wakeford's label]
* [http://www.myspace.com/tursa Tursa Records on My Space]
* [http://strangefortune.com/ Strange Fortune, North American distributor]

Unofficial

* [http://www.brainwashed.com/nww/people/twakeford.html List of Tony Wakeford collaborations]
* [http://www.compulsiononline.com/sol.htm Tony Wakeford Interview]
* [http://www.obskure.com/fr/inter_model_en.php3?num_inter=103 Tony Wakeford Interview]