Tom Wilson
Research Project
2012 – Present
Supervisor: Mr. Brian Lock
My project will examine what happens when pop songwriting values come into contact with ideas from other musical disciplines. While the term ‘pop’ is used to describe myriad genres, from techno to reggae, for me it represents a songwriting tradition – characterised by extreme brevity and tunefulness – that came of age in the 1960s, and which thrives on curiosity. From the Beatles’ long-standing interest in Indian art music, to Elvis Costello’s collaboration with the Brodsky Quartet, its best proponents always look outwards.
For my PhD I aim to create a portfolio of compositions that expand upon this, setting up encounters between pop songwriting and other forms of contemporary music, particularly the more experimental strands of modern day electronica, jazz and classical composition. I am fascinated by the way in which concepts from divergent musical worlds (such as remixing, improvisation and chance procedures) might interact, and my project will highlight the potential of pooling compositional resources in this manner.
My research will be directed through the use of recorded media in different settings, from site-specific headphone compositions to concert works featuring the live manipulation of pre-recorded material. I have chosen this approach partly in recognition of the crucial role recording technology has played in both the development of the pop song and the breakdown of distinctions between different genres of music. Yet I am also interested in the changing status of recorded music in an era where increased consumption of digital audio files has coincided with a marked decline in physical record sales.
The portfolio will be submitted on CD, and will consist of a series of project folders, each containing an audio recording and additional material, such as videos, liner notes and scores. The works included will range from short songs of around three minutes to an album-length work containing both sung and instrumental passages.
Biography
I am a vocational composer and performer driven by the desire to create music that doesn’t exist but should. I am a graduate of the University of Southampton, where I worked with the composers Andrew Fisher, Michael Finnissy and Matthew Scott. Much of my recent compositional focus has been the project Freeze Puppy, which combines my love of classic pop songwriting (Lennon and McCartney, Ray Davies, Burt Bacharach), with an attitude of sonic experimentation. In this guise I have written and recorded four albums, and have toured extensively, appearing at venues such as the Whitechapel Gallery, the Arnolfini in Bristol, and the Colchester Arts Centre.
I have also written pieces for many other musicians, including a percussion concerto for members of the Bristol ensemble, and several works for groups operating under the CoMA (Contemporary Music for All) scheme.
E-mail address
tomocwilson@gmail.com
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