Richard D. James: A Pioneering Musician and Producer

1. Richard D. James

2. Also known as:

3. Vital Information • Born on August 18, 1971 in Limerick, Ireland. • Raised in Cornwall, England • Has two older sisters and an older brother of the same name who died at birth • Earned a National Diploma in Engineering from Cornwall College • Has released 41 albums, extended plays and singles to date, starting in 1991 • Currently resides in Stoke Newington, England

4. Richard on his early years: "I used to play with the piano, and do things with the strings inside, rather than play tunes on the keyboard" "A bit later, when I was nine or ten, I bought loads of tapes and tape recorders, anything I could get for next to nothing. I bought a synth when I was 12, thought it was a load of shit, took it apart and starting pissing about with it. I got really into making things with electronics. I learned about it in school until I was quite competent and could build my own circuits from scratch. I started off modifying analogue synths and junk that I bought, and got addicted to making noises. That was the buzz for me.” "I'm just some irritating, lying, ginger kid from Cornwall who should have been locked up in some youth detention centre. I just managed to escape and blag it into music."

5. Gaining A Following In his teens, Richard starts working as a DJ in the Cornwall area. He starts creating original music for the locally popular Acid House scene. In 1989, Richard meets Grant Wilson-Claridge, whom with he co-founds Rephlex Records in 1991. His first EP release, Analogue Bubblebath, gains attention in the UK music scene by getting airplay on the popular Kiss FM station. Richard moves to London to start an electronics course at Kingston Polytechnic, but quit after a year to pursue his career interest in music. While staying in London, he rents and lives in a disused bank, ideal for his habit of making loud music at all hours and angering his neighbors.

6. First Studio Releases Selected Ambient Works 85-92 Surfing on Sine Waves Released in February 1992, this album was a self-selection of Richard's work from 1985 (when he was 13 or 14 years old) to present. The album receives high ratings and critical praise, and places #93 in NME's 100 Best Albums poll in 2003. This album was released in 1993 on Warp Records, who offered Richard a contract after hearing his earlier works. It was released under the alias Polygon Window, and features many of Richard's home-made and modified synthesizers.

7. Analog to Digital Conversion After recording further albums Selected Ambient Works II and ....I Care Because You Do using his hardware-based production methods, Richard becomes more interested in computer-based production methods. He was known to use Steinberg's Cubase software around the time of his 1995 release Hangable Auto Bulb. His music starts to include complex computer-arranged rhythm sequences, as well as digitally manipulated samples. These techniques become a theme for his later releases. His next album, Richard D. James Album, was a more personal mixture of his new computer-based approach with his childhood experiments and love of analog sounds.

8. "Come To Daddy" Released in 1997, Come To Daddy (Pappy Mix) is one of Richards best-known songs, peaking at #36 on the UK Singles charts. The accompanying music video was directed by Chris Cunningham, and was not allowed to be shown on television during the daytime due its disturbing imagery.

9. Experimenting With drukqs After taking a two-year break from releasing music, Richard came back to release his double-album drukqs in 2001. Many of the tracks were experiments in “prepared piano” techniques, influenced by avant-gard composers Eric Satie and John Cage. In contrast, other songs in the album were intricate digital works of furious break-beat rhythms and complex melody.

10. Analord From January to July 2005, Richard released a series of 11 Extended Play vinyls titled Analord 1-11. They were a revisiting of the classic Acid House style and vintage analog synth sounds, and also feature his new computerized drum sequencing techniques. These are his most current recordings to date, though he has said in interviews he continues to work on music and planning upcoming releases.

11. Discography Ventolin, 1995 Donkey Rhubarb, 1995 Hangable Auto Bulb I, 1995 (as AFX) Hangable Auto Bulb II, 1995 (as AFX) Bradley's Beat, 1995 (as Bradley Strider) Richard D. James Album, 1996 Girl/Boy, 1996 Bradley's Robot, 1996 (as Bradley Strider) Come To Daddy, 1997 Analogue Bubblebath Vol. 3.1, 1997 (as AFX) Windowlicker, 1999 Drukqs, 2001 2 Remixes By AFX, 2001 (as AFX) 26 Mixes For Cash, 2003 Smojphace EP, 2003 (as AFX) Analord Series 1-11, 2005 (as AFX) AFX/LFO, 2005 (as AFX) Analogue Bubblebath Vol. 1, 1991 (as AFX) Analogue Bubblebath Vol. 2, 1991 (as AFX) Pac-Man, 1991 (as Power-Pill) Digeridoo, 1992 Selected Ambient Works 85-92, 1992 Xylem Tube, 1992 Joyrex J4 EP, 1992 (as Caustic Window) Joyrex J5 EP, 1992 (as Caustic Window) Surfing on Sine Waves, 1993 (as Polygon Window) On, 1993 Analogue Bubblebath Vol. 3, 1993 (as AFX) Quoth, 1993 (as Polygon Window) Joyrex J9i, 1993 (as Caustic Window) Joyrex J9ii, 1993 (as Caustic Window) Gak, 1994 (as GAK) Analogue Bubblebath Vol. 4, 1994 (as AFX) Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II, 1994 ...I Care Because You Do, 1995

12. He owns a surplus Ferret Mark 3 Armoured Scout Car, which he occasionally drives around the countryside near his parent's house in Cornwall. When asked to DJ at a club called Disobey, he dropped a record needle on sandpaper, then put a microphone into a food mixer. They paid him to do the stunt in the US, and confused New Yorkers still danced to it. Despite being very involved in technology, Richard has no known online presence, and does not communicate with fans. Random Facts • He has recorded remixes for: • Beck, Jesus Jones, Meat Beat • Manifesto, Nine Inch Nails, Seafeel, • St. Etienne and many others. The Lemonheads commissioned Richard to remix a song, which he forgot to do and quickly sent off an old original track of his instead. No one noticed. Madonna contacted Richard for a remix. He originally had a list of animal impressions for her to record, but later turned down the offer instead.

13. Song Selections: “Windowlicker”, 1999 #16 UK Singles charts NME's Single of the Year “Bucephalus Bouncing Ball”, 1997 Released on Come To Daddy EP Used in the 1998 film Pi soundtrack Has been arranged for orchestra and performed by Bell Orchestre “4”, 1996 First track on the Richard D. James album. Used in the US for an anti-drug advertisement Has been arranged for orchestra and performed by “Alarm Will Sound”

14. “Windowlicker”(Disclaimer: The intro to this video has a record-setting amount of profanity and racial slurs, it is a parody on Rap videos of the time. Skip to 4:00 to get directly to the music. Sexual and disturbing imagery exist throughout the whole video.) This song features multilayered vocal samples, frantic break beat drums, and a driving funk movement that emulates the current R&B and Rap, much like the video. The distorted outro (4:57) is the best known section of the song, and has been used in TV and movies. The end of the song contains a the “spiral mural”, an image converted into sound that is only visible by visualizing the song on a spectrograph.

15. The Spiral Mural in “Windowlicker”

16. Bucephalus Bouncing Ball 0:00 – Ratchet-sounding samples, Jungle-style rhythm building. 1:36 – First melody section, addition of synth pads and harmonies in C Major. 3:07 - “Bouncing ball” section; Richard uses a sample of a ball bearing bouncing for the basis of the rhythm. 4:40 – The bouncing ball effect continues as the main rhythm. More sounds are added sporadically and everything is broken-up and chaotic.

17. 4 This song is an example of “furniture music”, or music made to be a persistent element of an environment, like a statue. It uses a pleasant strings and synthesizer combination and it consists of three repeating parts with minor variations: 0:00 – First section: An upbeat string quartet and synth combination play an ascending major line, while drums play a rapid break-beat, a theme for the entire song. 0:23 – Second section: The drums back off a little while the strings get higher and play a pleasant descending melody. The synths are a bit more rhythmic and follow the descending pattern. 0:46 – Third section: This is a more driving section, where the synths play quicker notes around the ascending melody. The drums are stronger and dramatic, until cutting out at the last repetition to let the strings and synths resolve into each other.

18. Richard has said his influences to include: Tangerine Dream Kraftwerk John Cage Tod Dockstader Karlheinz Stockhausen Can Iannis Xenakis Erik Satie

19. Bibliography “Aphex Twin” Biography by John Bushhttp://www.aphextwin.nu/learn/98129177063674.shtml "Richard D. James Discography” Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_D._James_discography “Richard D. James” by Rene Passet and Joost de Lyser http://www.aphextwin.org/reading/bassicg.htm "An Introduction to the Music of Aphex Twin” by Brian Lackey, 2001 http://www.aphextwin.nu/learn/98770881649888.shtml "The Official Unofficial Aphex Twin FAQ” collected by Screwtape http://www.aphextwin.org/reading/afxfaq.txt “Aphex Twin: Mad Musician or Investment Banker?” by “spaceagebachelor”, 1997 http://www.space-age-bachelor.com/archives/aphex-twin “Simon Reynolds Talks To Richard D. James”, Simon Reynolds, 1993 http://thequietus.com/articles/04483-simon-reynolds-interview-with-aphex-twin-melody-maker-1993-warp