William Orbit
William Mark Wainwright (born 15 December 1956),[1] known professionally as William Orbit, is an English musician and record producer who has sold 200 million recordings worldwide of his own work, his production and song-writing work.[2][3] He is a recipient of multiple Grammy Awards, Ivor Novello Awards and other music industry awards.
William Orbit
William Mark Wainwright
15 December 1956
Palmers Green, Enfield, London, England
- Composer
- record producer
- artist
1982–present
Early life[edit]
Orbit (Wainwright) was raised in Palmers Green, a suburb of London.[1] His parents were both schoolteachers; he was the elder of two sons.[1] He left school at the age of 16, and subsisted for a number of years in various low-paying jobs, while seeking an outlet for his creativity.[1] Around this time, while rooming with a friend who was trying to start a recording studio, Orbit found his musical calling.[1]
Torch Song and Bassomatic[edit]
In 1980, Orbit teamed up with electronic musician Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert to form the electronic/synth group Torch Song.[4] They initially self-released recordings in an audio cassette series, generated from their home-built studio in a squatted disused school, nicknamed the Centro Iberico, located in Notting Hill Gate, in London, alongside the Grand Union Canal.[4] Richard Law, who was A&R for IRS Records, was a follower of their music and aesthetic; in 1981, Law took it to Miles Copeland, who had discovered and managed the Police and the Bangles. When Copeland signed them to the label, the deal enabled them to build their ideal studio. There they recorded two albums and four singles,[5] the most successful being the dance chart hit "Prepare to Energize",[6] which was featured in the film Bachelor Party.[7] Orbit and Mayer also composed the soundtrack to the ice hockey movie Youngblood,[8] starring Rob Lowe and Patrick Swayze, and recorded "White Night", written by colleague Rico Conning, which was used in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2.[9] The band reunited briefly when Orbit worked with Laurie Mayer and Rico Conning. They released their final album, Toward the Unknown Region in 1995.
This first incarnation of Guerilla Studios had a Trident 80B mixing desk and Otari MTR90 MKII 24 track (2 inch tape) multitrack housed in a back garden on the canals of Little Venice[10] in Paddington, and they also ran it as a commercial enterprise.
Bassomatic was another of Orbit's group projects. The band recorded house music in the 1990s. The band included vocalist Sharon Musgrave and rapper Steve Roberts, also known as MC Inna Onestep amongst others.[11] For the second album, singer Sindy Finn replaced Musgrave on vocals.[11] Both albums were released by Guerilla Studios, founded by Orbit with Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert.
Bassomatic's first album was 1990's Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bass, the title track derived from Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun".[11] This album was re-released in 1997. A subsequent album, Science and Melody, was released in 1991.[11]
Bassomatic's biggest hit single was "Fascinating Rhythm" in 1990, which reached No. 9 on the UK Singles Chart, and performed well on the UK Dance Chart.
Around this time, Orbit's studio chiefly consisted of a pair of Akai S1000 samplers and a Roland Juno-106 synthesiser.[12][13]
Live performance/media/DJ work[edit]
In the early '90s, Orbit briefly developed a new label which he called N'Gram. During the N'Gram period, he co-directed a showcase of the label at Queen Elizabeth Hall[21] on London's Southbank. The acts included The Electric Chamber (which performed the Pieces album), Strange Cargo, and Torch Song.
In 2001, he took part in the Stockhausen Electronic Festival[22] at the Barbican Theatre.
In 2013, he took part in the London Electronic Arts Festival.[23]
He participated in the Liberatum International Cultural Festival[24] in Russia, during which he performed DJ sets in Moscow and Novosibirsk, Siberia.
He performed in 2015 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and at a gala at Banqueting House in London's Whitehall for the charity Together for Short Lives, a group that sponsors and supports children with terminal illnesses and their families.[25] Orbit has deejayed at various clubs in London and Ibiza, and at Buckingham Palace for Her Majesty The Queen's annual staff and family Christmas party, in 2015.[26]
Orbit joined Hawkwind on stage on 29 September 2023 at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Space Ritual album.[27][28]