Astrid Williamson | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 28 November 1968 Shetland, Scotland |
| Genres | Pop, rock |
| Occupation | 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]
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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 of cancer 3 September 2023 aged 54.
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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.
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