Chris Watson - Biography
Chris Watson’s career arc has been far from average. As a founding member of legendary electro art-rock pioneers Cabaret Voltaire Watson redrew the notions of the “rock band” and ushered in the use of electronics and samplers in pop music. Cabaret Voltaire’s music continues to hold vast influence over underground music, from post-punk to techno. Watson also co-founded the electroacoustic drone group The Hafler Trio before concentrating on field recording and sound engineering for the BBC as well as releasing his own innovative albums. It’s this later solo music that deserves the most distinction.
Born in Sheffield, England, Watson attended Stannington College there before becoming involved in the local music scene. Cabaret Voltaire formed around 1973 and immediately begins to explore a throbbing, live-wire industrial proto-punk sound. The trio of Watson, Stephen Mallinder, and Richard H. Kick signed to Rough Trade in 1978. Between 1978 and 1983 the group released a series of now legendary records that merged dark synth-pop with experimental noise and electronic minimalism. Records like The Voice of America (1980) and Red Mecca (1981) are still extremely influential. Watson left the group in 1983 to found The Hafler Trio with Andrew M. McKenzie.
Watson didn’t stay with The Hafler Trio long. He was soon focused on field recording and sound engineer work for the BBC. Taking a keen interest in natural phenomena like the sounds of weather and wildlife, and the special atmospheres specific to discreet locations, Watson began to travel the world as a professional sound recordist. From 1981 to 1984 he worked for Tyne Tees Television, from 1987 to 1985 for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, from 1987 to 1993 he was freelance, and from 1994 to the present he is an employee of Hoi Polloi Film and Video. His field recordings and sound design have appeared in many television and radio programs and documentaries.
In the 90s Watson teamed up with the peerless Touch label to release his first solo album, the stunning Stepping Into the Dark. Released in ’96, the record captures the ambiences and atmospheres of twelve locations in England, Kenya, Germany, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Scotland. The recordings are presented with stark clarity, accentuating the hypnotic vibrations of the natural world. By turns serene and abrasive, Watson’s microphones capture the complex sounds of flies, bats, wind, leaves, moths, and all manner of natural phenomena. The results are highly listenable and infinitely rewarding.
Two years, and one assumes a lot of traveling, later, Watson released his second collection titled Outside the Circle of Fire. Across twenty-two tracks of raw recordings with titles like “Adult Cheetah,” “Insect, Hidden,” “Elephants,” and “Lioness Threatens Male,” Watson presents a rich sonic tapestry of time and place, flora and fauna. The results are simply astounding, offering a wealth of joyful sonic detail that makes for an ecstatic listening experience. Watson’s unique tactics, like placing two mics inside a zebra carcass to record the feeding vultures in stereo, elevate field recording to a true art form. The resulting sounds are so richly detailed that much of this record sounds like contemporary electronica created in a studio.
Watson took a full five years to release a follow-up to Outside the Circle of Fire. 2003’s Weather Report was well worth the wait. This time Watson uses cross fades and subtle edits to create snapshots of time and place over three longer tracks. We go from a Kenyan savannah to the Scottish highlands to the top of a glacier near Iceland. All three pieces are exquisite, but it’s the third track, “Vatnajokull,” that’s truly remarkable. The creaks and moans of the glacier seem absolutely otherworldly, augmented by a cold wind and occasional seagull call to remind you that we’re still earthbound. Overall, Weather Report is a magical, truly transportive listening experience.
Watson has also collaborated with a who’s who of current experimental musicians including K.K. Null and BJ Nilsen. His work with Nilsen resulted in the excellent album Storm from 2007. That same year also brought a 7” titled Oceanus Pacificus and in 2008 Watson released his fourth full-length Cima Verde.
