Astrid Williamson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 28 November 1968 Shetland, Scotland |
| Genres | Pop, rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Years active | 1994–present |
| Labels | Incarnation, One Little Independent Records |
| Website | astridwilliamson |
Astrid Williamson (born 28 November 1968) is a Scottish musician, composer, and songwriter.
Growing up in Shetland, she enjoyed playing the piano from an early age and The Shetland Folk Festival provided early experience both of local music tradition and stagecraft. [1] She went on to graduate from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) as a classically trained pianist, [2] where she also studied under composer Judith Weir. [3]
Astrid formed the band Goya Dress in the 1990s with Terry de Castro & Simon Pearson, releasing EPs & only one album, Rooms (produced by The Velvet Underground's John Cale) in 1996 before disbanding in 1998. [4] Since then she has released seven albums to date via her own label, Incarnation Records, Universal \ BMG and One Little Indian.
During her career she has collaborated with other artists including the legendary DJ / producer, Arthur Baker, Oskar, The Bilderberg Group, Milk & Honey Band, Canadian singer songwriter, Tara Maclean as well as adding vocals to releases from The Hope Blister and British indie supergroup, Electronic. She has toured with Brendan Perry, providing keyboards and backing vocals on his 2010 Ark tour. Guitarist & Brian Eno collaborator Leo Abrahams produced her fifth album Pulse in 2011.[ citation needed ]
Astrid recorded backing vocals for the track 'I Stopped My Car To Fill Up' on 'Performance & Cocktails' by Welsh indie band, The Stereophonics
Astrid reunited with Goya Dress producer, John Cale, for a live performance of his mixed media piece, 'Dead Agents' at the ICA, London in 1999 [5]
The song 'If I Loved You from her debut solo album Boy For You was covered by Abra Moore, retitled 'Someone Else's Mess' and featured in the film 'Serving Sara' [6]
Her first large-scale classical composition, Requiem & Gallipoli , was first performed at Hessle All Saints' Church as part of a 2015 D-Day remembrance event, which raised funds for a local Hull veterans' charity and aimed to make people aware of Operation Warrior Wellness, a programme addressing veterans' post-traumatic stress disorder using transcendental meditation. [3]
Following her involvement as part of Dead Can Dance's 2012-3 touring band she collaborated with the band's Lisa Gerrard, co-writing 'Seven Seas' & 'Neptune' with her and 'Estelita' with Gerrard & Daniel Johns of Silverchair The resulting 2014 album 'Twilight Kingdom' also featured a cover of 'Too Far Gone' penned by Russell Crowe & Alan Doyle which was arranged and performed by Williamson & Gerrard. [7]
Her musical style is subtle, evocative and original and has been compared to Carole King and Joni Mitchell. [2] [8]
Christa Päffgen, known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. She had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini's La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls (1966). Reviewer Richard Goldstein describes Nico as "half goddess, half icicle" and writes that her distinctive voice "sounds something like a cello getting up in the morning."
Polly Jean Harvey is an English singer-songwriter. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments.
John Davies Cale is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, drone, classical, avant-garde and electronic music.
Lisa Germaine Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer and composer and member of the music group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique (glossolalia). She has a dramatic contralto voice and has a vocal range of three octaves.
Shawn Colvin is an American singer-songwriter. While she has been a solo recording artist for decades, she is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home".
Amy Denio is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental composer of soundtracks for modern dance, film and theater, as well as a songwriter and music improviser. Her inspirations include world music, and is mainly known as a vocalist, accordionist and saxophone-player. Among her current musical involvements are The Tiptons Sax Quartet and Die Resonanz Stanonczi, a radical folk group based in Salzburg, Austria. She has also collaborated repeatedly with the Pat Graney Dance Company, David Dorfman Dance Company, Victoria Marks, and with many other choreographers.
Shirley Elizabeth Collins MBE is an English folk singer who was a significant contributor to the English Folk Revival of the 1960s and 1970s. She often performed and recorded with her sister Dolly, whose accompaniment on piano and portative organ created unique settings for Shirley's plain, austere singing style.
Chelsea Girl is the debut solo album and second studio album by German singer Nico. It was released in October 1967 by Verve Records and was recorded following Nico's collaboration with the Velvet Underground on their 1967 debut studio album. It was produced by Tom Wilson, who added string and flute arrangements against the wishes of Nico. The title is a reference to Andy Warhol's 1966 film Chelsea Girls, in which Nico starred.
Miranda Cordelia Susan Josephine Wiggs, simply known as Josephine Wiggs, is an English multi-instrumentalist rock musician, best known for her work as bassist in the alternative rock bands The Breeders and The Perfect Disaster. She has also formed multiple side-projects, including her own bands Honey Tongue, The Josephine Wiggs Experience, and Dusty Trails.
Laurie Alexis Lewis is an American singer, musician, and songwriter in the genre of bluegrass music.
Lou Rhodes is an English singer and songwriter from Manchester, now living in Wiltshire. In addition to providing vocals and lyrics for the band Lamb, Rhodes has released four solo albums: Beloved One, Bloom and One Good Thing and theyesandeye. Rhodes has collaborated with 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald, Funkstörung, Pale 3, Sugizo, Plump DJs, Sheila Chandra, Eliza Carthy, Art of Noise, and The Cinematic Orchestra on Ma Fleur and the soundtrack to The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos. In 2023 Rhodes formed new project Kiiōtō with Rohan Heath. The band's debut album, As Dust We Rise will be released in July 2024 on Nude Records.
Goya Dress was a Scottish alternative rock band, founded by singer/keyboardist/guitarist Astrid Williamson, bass player Terry de Castro and drummer Simon Pearson. Their first EP Bedroom Cinema was released in 1995. Next release was also EP called Ruby and in 1996, the band released their first full-length album Rooms. It was produced by Welsh musician and former The Velvet Underground member John Cale. The group disbanded shortly after the album was released. After the band broke up, Williamson had a successful solo career. De Castro and Pearson subsequently played with Cinerama and The Wedding Present. De Castro also had a spell with Animals That Swim and released a solo album, A Casa Verde, in 2009. Simon Pearson died from cancer 3 September 2023 aged 54.
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. It originally comprised singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. In 1965, MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker, who played on most of the band's recordings. Though their integration of rock and the avant-garde resulted in little commercial success, they became one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. Their provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and nihilistic attitude was also instrumental in the development of punk rock, new wave and several other genres.
Jenny Hval is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, record producer, and novelist. She has released eight solo albums, two under the alias Rockettothesky and six under her own name.
Pulse is the fifth album from the Shetland-born singer-songwriter and musician Astrid Williamson. The album was produced by Leo Abrahams.
Boy for You is the first solo album recorded by Astrid Williamson and her Goya Dress colleagues Terry de Castro & Simon Pearson on bass & drums but following record company pressure, Goya Dress broke up and the album released under the name 'Astrid' in 1998.
Carnation is the second album from the singer songwriter Astrid Williamson released on her own label, Incarnation Records, in 2002. It was reissued under the title Astrid Williamson in 2003, adding 4 acoustic demos to the track listing. In comparison to her debut, Boy For You, it was "a decidedly more stripped down affair, based mostly on acoustic guitar or piano". Both producer Robert White & musician Terry Bickers were members of the psyche rock band, Levitation plus Robert's Milk & Honey Band recruited Astrid to play with them for live dates in the 2000s.
Requiem & Gallipoli is the seventh album by Astrid Williamson and contains her first full classic composition.
Rooms is the only album released by Goya Dress, the Scottish band fronted by Astrid Williamson released on Nude Records in 1996. The album was produced by John Cale, musician and former member of The Velvet Underground.
Into the Mountain is the eighth studio album by Astrid Williamson, released on 18 February 2022 on Incarnation Records. Williamson created the album's songs from a cache of poetry sand writing she discovered on a computer hard drive.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
