Mindspawn
Mindspawn is a soundscape, dark ambient, post industrial act formed and fronted by Gene Williams (né Doyle Eugene Williams; born 1964).
Mindspawn | |
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 Mindspawn, 2014 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Ozark Mountains, Missouri, U.S. |
| Genres | Dark ambient |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Dark Seeds |
| Associated acts | Erotomechaniks |
| Website | www |
| Members | Gene Williams |
Career
Williams was raised on a farm in the remote area of the Ozark Mountains in Missouri. In his late teens, Williams left his homeland and lived in a variety of places both in the United States and abroad, doing a variety of things, including graphic art, construction work, bull-riding, archaeology, spelunking, and more. Around 1980 Williams began to experiment in music, playing in a few small bands, but eventually becoming enthralled with multitrack tape and field recordings. Over the next decade he gathered sounds from various caves, wells, cisterns, archaeological sites, and more, as well as continuing to hone his musical abilities with several instruments. During the bulk of this era he was largely a solitary experimentalist and he had no public releases.
In the early 1990s, Williams relocated to the Boston area. At that time, he first began to perform under the guise of Mindspawn. Eventually, Williams started his own record label, Dark Seeds, and began releasing his material and that of other similar minded artists. The first Mindspawn release was the album Conversing With Zardoz, in 1999. Darkness Weaves was released a year later in 2000 and Null Infinite was released in 2001. Mindspawn "singles" also appear on several compilations. From 2001 to 2004, Mindspawn's sounds found their way onto documentaries like "America's Most Haunted Town," various video games, and a wide variety of other artist releases. In 2005, Mindspawn and Coph Nia collaborated on the post industrial dark ambient album, Erotomechaniks, which enjoyed critical success and was widely well received. Between 2000 and 2008, Williams continued to perform and compose as Mindspawn, while operating a recording/sound design studio in Boston, MA. During this period, Williams engineered and produced a variety of artists and projects ranging from EDM to video games and film. In 2006-2007 Williams and Steve Smith (house music vocalist) of Dirty Vegas composed and produced the theme for the "Standoff (TV series)" and scored the cult film "The Boys & Girls Guide to Getting Down" by Paul Sapiano. The "Standoff" theme song was nominated for an Emmy for Best Theme Song in 2007. Between 2008-2011 the Mindspawn project was on hiatus while Williams explored other interests and recovered from health issues. In late 2011, Williams once again began performing live and releasing sounds and music under the Mindspawn name. In September 2014, the Mindspawn album Parasite Theory was released. 2016 saw Mindspawn reunite with Coph Nia on the collaboration album, Erotomechaniks II. Mindspawn/Gene Williams continues to produce, compose, and perform live.
The Mindspawn name was chosen as an ambiguous play on words, the two "meanings" being Mind's Pawn and Mind Spawn. Beyond the obvious no further meaning has ever been intended. The sound composed/created by Mindspawn varies from soundscapes and industrial ambience to dark ambient, including claustrophobic film music and sound categorized as space music. Mindspawn sound has been aptly referred to as sound sculptures or sonic tapestries.
Discography
- Erotomechaniks II - RAUB-047 - 2016
- Parasite Theory - DSD888 - 2014
- Erotomechaniks - with Coph Nia, Punch Records - PP009, CD (limited to 500 copies), 2005
- Null Infinite - IGR001 - Inner Gravity Records - 2001
- Darkness Weaves - DSMP04 - Dark Seeds - 2000
- Conversing With Zardoz - DSMP01 - Dark Seeds - 1999
Compilation appearances
- the sowing - DSCS001 - Dark Seeds - 2001
- Definitive 1 - Twisted volume one - 42 Records - 2001
- Deprogramming Music volume one - Sacred Music - 2001
External links and references
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