William Orbit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
William Orbit
Birth name William Mark Wainwright
Also known as William Orbit
Born 15 December 1956 (1956-12-15) (age 52)
Origin Shoreditch, Hackney, East London
Occupation(s) Electronic musician and composer
Website http://www.williamorbit.com

William Orbit (born William Mark Wainwright, 15 December 1956, Shoreditch, Hackney) is an English musician, composer and record producer, perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna's album Ray of Light, which received four Grammy Awards, sold 4 million copies in the U.S.[1], and sold 16 million copies worldwide. He has also co-produced several unreleased Madonna songs originally recorded for other albums that were never used. In addition, he produced 13 by Blur, and remixed some of the songs on the album. More recently he has turned to orchestral compositions. He has three Grammy Awards.

Contents

[edit] Biography

In addition to being a producer, Orbit is also a composer and multi-instrumentalist who has specialised in keyboard electronica and much of his work also features accomplished guitar and bass guitar playing. [? Cite some!] He has also recorded several largely instrumental solo albums on I.R.S. No Speak under the name Strange Cargo which features vocals by Beth Orton, Laurie Mayer and Joe Frank, among others. "Water from a Vine Leaf" was a chart success from the album Strange Cargo 3.

Prior to that he formed the group Torch Song, with Laurie Mayer, in the 1980s. At that time the band first developed Guerilla Studios in an abandoned school on the Harrow Road. They shared the premises with a group of Spanish anarchists and it became known as El Centro Iberico. They were later joined by a third member, Rico Conning.

Orbit was the musical force behind Bassomatic in the early 1990s. Their hit in 1990 was "Fascinating Rhythm".

He has also produced and remixed songs by numerous other artists, such as French pop star Étienne Daho. Along with producer Rico Conning they produced the Pop Satori album, Scottish act One Dove, and Seal. He also remixed Prince's #1 hit song movie tie-in, "Batdance", from Batman in 1989. Orbit's remixes carry his signature electronic sounds and techniques, making them sought after by fans of his solo work.

Orbit also produced a version of Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings" (the original version of which was memorably used as the main theme of the soundtrack to Platoon). Adagio was lifted from the successful album Pieces in a Modern Style which was a compilation of classical re-workings. Orbit's version of the track was itself remixed in 1999 by Ferry Corsten and became a big club music hit as well as reaching #4 in the UK Singles Chart.[2]

He has worked with girl groups All Saints ("Pure Shores", "Black Coffee") and Sugababes ("Spiral") and Pink ("Feel Good Time" from Charlie's Angels 2). He produced "Dice" for Finley Quaye in collaboration with Beth Orton; Quaye also played guitar and sang on Orbit's tracks including the unreleased 'Arioso' featuring Madonna. Some of Orbit's remixes include the song "Electrical Storm" by U2 in the album The Best of 1990-2000. His remix is called "Electrical Storm (William Orbit Mix)."

He founded Guerilla Records in 1989.

Orbit has also created several radio shows. In the late 1990s, he had a series on Los Angeles-based KCRW, called Stereo Odyssey. Orbit's song, "Time To Get Wise" was used in the 2004 film What the Bleep Do We Know!?, and the song's title was used as a tag line for the film.

In 2006, Orbit's album, Hello Waveforms was released on the Sanctuary label. Subsequently he produced two tracks — "Louise" and "Summertime" — for Robbie Williams' 2006 album, Rudebox. At this time, he also mixed several tracks on Laurie Mayer's most recent album, Black Lining.

In the fall of 2006, "Purdy," a track Orbit co-composed with Laurie Mayer and Rico Conning, was used as the soundtrack in a television ad campaign for H&M which starred Madonna and was directed by her and Dan Cadan. In 2007, Orbit composed his first orchestral suite for a full orchestra. The composition was performed for the first time on 8 July 2007, by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra in the Bridgewater Hall at the Manchester International Festival.

2009 saw Orbit return with a new album on a new label. The album, entitled My Oracle Lives Uptown was released on May 4, 2009.

He sometimes deejays at Circus at the Soho Revue Bar in Central London. Orbit lives in North London and Los Angeles and has his office and studio in Hoxton Square, London.

[edit] Discography

More complete discographies can be found when exploring external links.

[edit] Torch Song

  • Wish Thing
  • Ecstasy
  • Exhibit A
  • Toward the Unknown Region
  • Cellcloud (working title) - to be released late 2009/early 2010

[edit] Bassomatic

  • Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass
  • Science & Melody

[edit] Solo

[edit] Misc

  • Stereo Odyssey
    • 4-CDR set of KCRW radio show William produced circa 1996
  • Rare Orbit Vol.1
    • A 3-CDR collection of rare & unreleased material & productions. 2008, source unknown. Contained unreleased sessions with Madonna, and some new material.
  • Essential Mix
    • 2-CDR set of UK BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, 6th February 2000
  • XFM 2003
    • 30 minute CDR of UK XFM Radio 'Superchunk', a mix/mashup collection of special rare and unreleased material, 17th August 2003
  • XFM 2006
    • 30 minute CDR of UK XFM Radio 'Superchunk', another mix/mashup collection, 12th March 2006
  • World Odyssey Mix
    • 25 minute CDR of UK BBC Asia Network Radio 'Pathaans Musical Rickshaw', a diversified mix/mashup collection, 17th May 2009
  • KCRW 2009
    • 40 minute CDR of Los Angeles KCRW Radio Station show 'Morning Becomes Eclectic', a two piece live session with Laurie Mayer and interviews with Jason Bentley - 2nd July 2009

[edit] References

  1. ^ William Orbit
  2. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 409. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. 

[edit] External links

Recent Interview Links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Orbit"
Personal tools