David Arkenstone - Biography
David Arkenstone’s cinematic new age music has made him one of the genre’s best-selling artists. His debut, Valley of the Clouds (1987, Narada) was an instant hit, marked by a relaxed combination of world, new age, and progressive rock. Arkenstone’s cinematic approach to new age music has won him a large fan-base and led to a successful career scoring music for films and television. He has also composed music for video games including Lands of Lore 2, Lands of Lore 3 and Blade Runner. When he’s not on tour as a solo artist, he composes and records with the progressive rock band, Troika.
Arkenstone was born in Chicago in 1952, but his family moved to Santa Barbara, California when he was still a boy. His father played guitar and his mother was an amateur pianist. He was surrounded by music from an early age, everything from the classical sounds of Sibelius, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Aaron Copland, and Stravinsky to Celtic folk and rock. In his youth, Arkenstone was especially drawn to the sonic palette of Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite.” He got his first electric guitar when he was 10-years-old, and he went on to play in surf bands during high school before graduating to rock bands in college. He was also an active sportsman and played baseball throughout his school career. He studied composition in college and started a prog-rock band called Arkenstone that toured extensively, although the band never made an album.
In 1985, after hearing the music of Kitaro and Steven Halpern, he quit the band and decided to pursue a solo career. He was a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy and other fantasy and science fiction writers, and likens his music to the soundtrack for imaginary inner journeys. He wrote the original music his progressive band played and put several pieces together into a suite. The first round of demos that he sent out were received well—he received several offers, but he ended up signing with Narada.
The cinematic sound of Valley of the Clouds (1987 Narada) made the label debut a hit in the new age genre, with subtle electronic soundscapes that set the mind adrift. On Island (1989 Narada) Arkenstone explored some breezier Caribbean rhythms with the help of guitarist Andrew White. The next year, Citizen of Time (1990 Narada) incorporated Asian and Native American textures and became Arkenstone’s first album to reach #1 on the New Age chart. In the Wake of the Wind (1991 Narada), the soundtrack for one of Arkenstone’s short stories, was an expansive, cinematic work. It went to #1 on the New Age charts and was awarded a Grammy Nomination for Best New Age Album.
The Spirit of Olympia (Narada) was inspired by the 1992 Olympic games and contained a bit more of a pop element that Arkenstone’s previous works. Olympia featured new age stars David Lantz on guitar and Kostia on keyboards, and oscillated between beautiful imaginings and awakenings. Another Star in the Sky (1994 Narada), the first new age album recorded in Dolby Surround Sound, was written after the death of Arkenstone’s mother and is one of his most meditative suites. Quest of the Dream Warrior (1994 Narada) is the soundtrack to a story co-written by Arkenstone and fantasy writer Mercedes Lackey, while Spirit Wind (1994 Windham Hill)—the soundtrack to the Discovery Channel film Legend of the Spirit Dog—has hints of progressive rock as it moves smoothly between Hip-Hop, Native American and world music rhythms.
In the late ’90s, Arkenstone started collaborating with the mysterious prog-rock/world music band Troika, which may be just an interesting side project since details about the band’s personnel are sketchy. Arkenstone composed all the music for their albums Goddess (1996 Narada), Troika II: Dream Palace (1997 Narada), Faeries: A Realm of Magic and Enchantment (1999 Narada), Kingdom of the Sun (2003 Enso) and Neverforever (2005 3D.)
True to its title, the Celtic Book of Days (1998 Windham Hill) explored the Irish music Arkenstone loved as a boy. Citizen of the World (1999 Windham Hill) added more world music rhythms to the mix, leading to Caravan of Light (2000 Narada) with its strong African, Arab and Asian influences. It was given a Best New Age Recording Award by New Age Voice magazine.
In 2001, Arkenstone released Frontier (Paras) the soundtrack for NBC’s series about the settling of the American West. Sketches from an American Journey (2002 Paras) featured the Recording Arts Orchestra of Salt Lake City and signaled a return to his softer rock sound. Sketches got critical raves and is considered one of Arkenstone’s best records.
In 2001, Arkenstone and his wife Diane created their own label, Neo Pacifica, to release their music. Diane Arkenstone’s Celtic-influenced new age music has made her a popular artist in the genre. They collaborated on the label’s first release, Music Inspired by Middle Earth (2001 Neo Pacifica.) Arkenstone then released two world-flavored sets for the label, Spirit of Ireland (2003 Neo Pacifica/Green Hill) and Spirit of Tibet (2003 Neo Pacifica/Green Hill), before dropping another best-seller in 2004, Atlantis: A Symphonic Journey (Narada.)
Arkenstone continues to turn out an impressive body of work in the new millennium including Caribbean Dreams (2004 Village Square)—which features the sounds of steel drums, and Healing Waters (2006 Green Hill), an album that contains a blend of ambient keyboards and the burbling, soothing flow of rivers, streams and waterfalls. In 2006, he released Gentle Rain (Green Hill), which mixes the sound of spring showers and gentle synth textures, followed by Echoes of Light and Shadow (2008 Gemini Sun), a dark cinematic masterpiece. Celtic Romance (2006 Green Hill) featured Arkenstone’s creative arrangements of Irish folk strewn with pop standards including, “Harry’s Game,” “Carrickfergas,” and “Scarborough Fair.”
In 2009, Arkenstone released Chillout Lounge (CMD).
