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Biography
BLP sources|date=March 2011Infobox musical artist| name = William Orbit| image =| caption =| image_size =| background = non_vocal_instrumentalist| birth_name = William Mark Wainwright| alias = William Orbit| birth_date = birth date and age|1956|12|15|df=y| death_date =| origin = Shoreditch , London Borough of Hackney|Hackney , East London| instrument = Keyboard (instrument)|Keyboards , guitar | genre = Electronic music , house music , ambient music , downtempo | occupation = Composer , record producer | years_active = circa 1982present| label = IRS Records|IRS , EMI , Virgin Records|Virgin , N-GRAM, Maverick Records|Maverick , Sanctuary Records|Sanctuary , Kobalt, Decca Records|Decca | associated_acts = Torch Song , Bassomatic | website = http://www.williamorbit.com William Orbit (born William Mark Wainwright , 15 December 1956) is an England|English musician , composer and record producer , perhaps best known to most for his work on Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna 's album Ray of Light . He has won three Grammy Awards for his work with Madonna. He produced 13 (Blur album)|13 by Blur (band)|Blur and remixed some of the songs on the album.
Biography
19561980: Early life & first work
William Orbit was born William Wainwright in London's East End in 1956. His mother, of Italian and Swedish descent, and his father, from Yorkshire, were both schoolteachers.
He does not have a formal education, having left school at 15 and being entirely self taught. Aged 16, and living in a squat in Norwich and working as a strawberry picker in the summer, he started to devote himself to guitar playing.
Living in squats around Europe and working at various jobs, hotel kitchen worker, motorbike messenger, at a ladies shoes factory, as an accounts clerk (in the days before computers), a night shift worker at the old Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam, junior draftsman at a North Sea oil rig design company (he was 'creative' with his CV') and so on.
In these early years he was creatively frustrated, with no means to bring his ideas to life. But an opportunity to work as an assistant at Basing Street Studios just off the Portobello Road in West London gave him a first glimpse into the world of recording.
Aged 23, he met Laurie Mayer (composer)|Laurie Mayer who had just moved into his squat in an abandoned primary school in Paddington. This semi-derelict Victorian edifice was the perfect environment for live music to flourish, with bands such as Throbbing Gristle frequently performing there. Laurie and William held mini-festivals in the deserted classrooms and workshops of the old school. The building was also home to the Spanish Anarchist collective Centro Iberico .
It was around that time, in 1980, that William was asked to model clothes for the designer Takeo Kikuchi in Tokyo and this experience opened his eyes to the world of fashion and the visual arts. On that same trip was also the young Hamish Bowles , now International Editor at Large for Vogue magazine .
19811993: Torch Song, production & remix work
Laurie Mayer and William Orbit formed the band Torch Song . An experiment in audio cassette soundscapes that also included the graphic designer Neville Brody . Laurie and William have been close friends and creative collaborators ever since, with Laurie this year writing the melodic top line for Madonna's track "Falling Free" from the album ' MDNA (album)|MDNA '.
Encouraged by Laurie's creative zeal, he went on to build a commercially viable recording studio in Little Venice called Guerilla Studios (later situated in Crouch End, North London) A variety of clients booked the facility, including: The Cocteau Twins , Colour Box, Stewart Copeland , Belinda Carlisle , Etienne Daho , Howard Devoto , Erasure , The Fall (band)|The Fall , The Frank Chickens , Goldie and Metalheadz, Martin Gore , Kemistry and Storm, Laibach (band)|Laibach , Lords of the New Church, disambiguation needed|Daniel Miller|date=May 2012, S'Express , Gary Numan , Renegade Soundwave , Les Rita Mitsouko , Sting (musician)|Sting , The Swans , 23 Skidoo (band)|23 Skidoo , The Waterboys , Jah Wobble , World Party / Karl Wallinger
He began to create remixes for a long list of artists. At first for free, then later on, as word spread, for considerable sums. Remixed artists include: Prince , The Cure , Seal (musician)|Seal , Nitzer Ebb , Peter Gabriel , Depeche Mode , Seal (musician)|Seal & The Human League
William founded Guerilla Records at the beginning of the 90s, releasing vinyl discs from artists such as Leftfield , Underworld , Felix Da Housecat and DJ Pierre in the then-new genre of ' Progressive House ', and hosting illegal rave parties in disused warehouses in Central London, before forming the band Bassomatic , Fascinating Rhythm being their biggest hit.
1993 onwards: Strange Cargo III & Madonna
He then moved to California, living in the surfer haven of Hermosa Beach, and had a radio program on the Southern Californian radio station KCRW (he had always had a fascination for radio in all its forms) and in this pioneering station he found a true voice)
He also began recording his album Strange Cargo III , from which the track 'Water From A Vine Leaf', written with his ex-girlfriend Beth Orton , became an underground classic.
After traveling the world, and encountering different cultures and worldviews, he met Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna in New York in 1997 and they recorded the multi Grammy Award winning album 'Ray of Light'. The two have remained friends since, and created tracks such as ' Beautiful Stranger ' (circa 2000) and this year William co-wrote and co-produced six tracks for her album ' MDNA (album)|MDNA '.
He has said on many occasions that he remains truly grateful to Madonna for seeing what nobody else saw at the time, and giving him a global platform for his work.
Since then he has written and recorded with a wide range of artists, from Andreas Scholl in the classical world, to Beck , Pink , The Cure , Kraftwerk (a project with Ralf Hόtter), Blur (band)|Blur (the album '13'), All Saints ('Pure Shores' 'Black Coffee' and other songs), Katie Melua , Robbie Williams , Sugababes , Ricky Martin and the late Malcolm Mclaren .
He lived at the Leonard Hotel just behind Oxford Street in London for three years where he recorded most of Bono's vocals for 'Electrical Storm'. A track that he produced and performed on for U2
He has created a series of classical renditions ' Pieces in a Modern Style ', from which came the club classic ' Adagio For Strings , Ferry Corsten mix'
In 2007 Orbit composed an orchestral suite for full orchestra. and choir. In nine movements. It debuted on 8 July 2007 with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.
DJ & Radio
William deejays occasionally, with a hardcore techno set, in various locations around the world such as Paris, Tokyo, Thailand and Novosibirsk, Siberia, He has described his mission as 'to get everyone on their feet, despite what they usually listen to'.
He also conducts lectures and masterclasses. And appears on BBC Radio and the BBC Worldservice discussing his work and guest editing music and arts programmes.
Recent work
After a recent first-time trip to Hong Kong, as part of a cultural festival with his friend Sir V S Naipaul, Pharrell Williams and screenwriter Paul Shrader, he is currently in discussions about a regular club event in Hong Kong
He has recently been in the studio, writing and producing with Kid Cudi, Mika, St. Vincent, Kreayshawn, Roger Taylor from Queen & Anoushka Shankar
And has recently co-written and co-produced a track with Chris Brown, 'Don't Wake Me Up', for his forthcoming album 'Fortune'.
He has just completed the fifth album in the 'Strange Cargo' series, which is due for release later in 2012.
He is currently half way through his first (autobiographical) book
Location & Interests
He primarily records in London, Los Angeles and at The Palms Casino's in-house studio in Las Vegas.
Orbit now lives in North London and Los Angeles and has his office and studio at Hoxton Square, London.
His interests in addition to composing and producing music are: photography and design, Cinema and the dramatic arts, Collecting rare books, Performance art and audio visual installations, Radio controlled helicopters, Unorthodox deejay events.
Discography
Infobox artist discography|Artist = William Orbit |Image = |Caption = |Studio = 15 |Live = |Compilation = 3 |Video = |Tribute = |EP = |Singles = 9 |Miscellaneous= 8 |Music videos = |B-sides = |Soundtrack = |References = More details and information about his discography can be found when exploring William Orbit#External links|external links
A Note|note_a1 The original 1995 release was credited to the Orbit alias 'The Electric Chamber', but was withdrawn from sale almost immediately. Re-released in 2000 with additional tracks taking the place of un-cleared tracks from the first release.
B Note|note_b1 CD release has 4 additional tracks which are not available as a digital download
C Note|note_c1 Released on single CD and double CD including notable remixes, and a digital version with a bonus track
;Compilation albums
The Best of Strange Cargos (1996, I.R.S.) A compilation from Orbit's first three Strange Cargo albums, highlighted by two versions of "Water From A Vine Leaf", another collaboration with Beth Orton
Strange Cargo Vol.1-3 (2000, EMI Records ) 3 CD Box Set
William / Orbit (2002, Universal) U.S. two-disc publishing CD set to support William Orbit's publishing catalogue http://www.discogs.com/release/597698 Discogs.com
He often DJs at various locations. Additional information concerning the dates and places of his live performances appearscite web|url= http://www.williamorbit.com/blog/? p=6233 |title=FA-18 Hornet breaking sound barrier - from Wikipedia& #93; |publisher=williamorbit.com |date= |accessdate=2012-04-18 on his http://www.williamorbit.com webpage.
William Orbit Odysseycite web|url= http://www.williamorbit.com/blog/? p=5724 |title=Ministry of Sound Odyssey |publisher=williamorbit.com |date=2010-01-18 |accessdate=2012-04-18 by Ministry of Sound
Odyssey is a compilation of 42 tracks, including some of William Orbits own exclusives. The album was released in January 2010 and is divided into 3 discs; Discs 1 and 2 are unmixed, with many tracks reinterpreted to a greater or lesser extent, while Disc 3 is a continuous DJ mix by William Orbit.
Orbit has recently enabled an internet radio (streamcast) which allow listeners to hear more than 10 hours of his music, completely for free. In the playlist are variations of his well-known tracks, as well as released material. In addition, and what's more appreciated by fans, unreleased and rare material can also be found in this streamcast. http://www.orbitstreamcast.com Orbitstreamcast.com
Latest productions
He produced Katie Melua 's fourth album, called The House (album)|The House . It was released on 24 May 2010 and had a remarkable chart performance (Gold in Germanycite certification|region=Germany|artist=William Orbit and United Kingdom , http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx as well as Platinum in Poland cite web|url= http://zpav.pl/rankingi/wyroznienia/platynowe/index.php? lang=2 |title=Bestseller charts and awards :: Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry |publisher=Zpav.pl |date= |accessdate=2012-04-18).
He also produced a track on Nadine Coyle 's debut solo album " Insatiable (album)|Insatiable " released on 8 November 2010.
In September 2011 it was confirmed that Orbit will collaborate on Madonna's 12th studio album MDNA (album)|MDNA . On 3 February 2012 Orbit confirmed on his Twitter account that he produced six tracks - "Gang Bang", "Some Girls", "I'm a Sinner", " Masterpiece (Madonna song)|Masterpiece ", "Falling Free" and "Love Spent".Citation needed|date=February 2012
Solo career
In August 2010 Orbit released Pieces in a Modern Style 2 , on Decca, which is follow-up a to the successful Pieces in a Modern Style . The two CD version containing some notable remixes of interpretations of Vaughan Williams Violin Concerto - Lark Ascending.
Orbit is working as part of the art collective Luxor, with former English National Ballet dancer Anna-Mi Fredriksson and the artist Pauline Amos .
Miscellaneous
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, 6 February 2000
XFM 2003 30 minute CDR of UK XFM Radio 'Superchunk', a mix/mashup collection of special rare and unreleased material, 17 August 2003
XFM 2006 30 minute CDR of UK XFM Radio 'Superchunk', another mix/mashup collection, 12 March 2006
World Odyssey Mix 25 minute CDR of UK BBC AsiaNetwork Radio 'Pathaans Musical Rickshaw', a diversified mix/mashup collection, 17 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 - 2 July 2009
In 2010, some of the rare tracks were made public on www.orbitstreamcast.com. http://www.orbitstreamcast.com Orbitstreamcast.com link
References
Reflist|2
External links
http://www.williamorbit.com/home.html Official website
Persondata | NAME =Orbit, William | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =15 December 1956 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Orbit, William Category:1956 births Category:Maverick Records artists Category:Living people Category:Ableton Live users Category:English electronic musicians Category:English record producers Category:Grammy Award winners
