Oliver John Wisdom (8 March 1958 – 23 August 2021) was a British

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

and psy trance musician, and clothing producer, who lived in London. From the 1990s he recorded under the name Space Tribe.

Early life and education

Olli Wisdom was the eldest son of Anthony Wisdom and his wife Charlotte (''née'' Hartstein) and grew up in London and in

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

, Wales. He went to school in London and at Hereford Cathedral School in

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...

Career in music

In the early 1980s Wisdom was the singer in the theatrical glam and

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

rock group

Specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

, and co-founded and ran The Batcave, London's weekly goth club-night at the Gargoyle Club. Before forming Specimen and opening the Batcave, Wisdom was the

frontman The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

for the punk band The Unwanted. Their most popular song was a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of Nancy Sinatra's " These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". After the Unwanted, Wisdom joined Metroz for a few months. Wisdom was a pioneer of

psychedelic trance Psychedelic Trance, Psytrance or Psy is a subgenre of trance music characterized by arrangements of rhythms and layered melodies created by high tempo riffs. The genre offers variety in terms of mood, tempo, and style. Some examples include full ...

for many years. After Specimen split up, in 1986 he went travelling in Asia and in 1989 he came to

Ko Pha-ngan Ko Pha-ngan ( th, เกาะพะงัน, , ) is an island in the Gulf of Thailand in Surat Thani Province of southern Thailand. Ko Pha-ngan is best known for its Full Moon Party at Hat Rin, Hat Rin Beach. Ko Pha-ngan has two sister isla ...

in Thailand, where he first encountered the electro-driven wild psychedelic parties on the beach. He stayed there for two years DJing and set up a small studio to make tracks for the parties before moving to

, India. Over the next four years, Wisdom spent his time mostly in Goa, but started to travel elsewhere, DJing at parties in Japan, Switzerland, the UK and the United States. In 1993, with his brother Miki, and Richmond, he started Space Tribe clothing in

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

. In 1995, the first Space Tribe tracks were hatched in the studio with Simon Posford (Hallucinogen/ Shpongle). Wisdom moved to the rainforest in Byron Bay in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and set up the Rainforest Space Base studio. Space Tribe released its first album, ''Sonic Mandala'', on Spirit Zone in 1996. In 2004 Space Tribe Music was set up as a record label, providing an outlet for Space Tribe releases and compilation albums. Space Tribe also made many tracks in collaboration with other artists such as Sirius Isness, X-Dream,

GMS GMS may refer to: Education * Gates Millennium Scholars Program, higher education scholarship program in the United States * Glen Mills Schools, in Thornbury Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States * Governor Morehead School, in Ra ...

, Menog,

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

, Psywalker and especially

Electric Universe Electric Universe is a psychedelic trance project from Germany formed by Boris Blenn and Michael Dressler in 1991. Their first EP release, ''Solar Energy'', was an instant hit with the underground trance scene and is often credited with putting the ...

, working under the name ESP.

Personal life

Wisdom had one daughter, born in 1996. He died on 23 August 2021, at the age of 63, and was buried at

Islington and St Pancras Cemetery St Pancras and Islington Cemetery is a cemetery in East Finchley, North London. Although it is situated in the London Borough of Barnet, it is run as two cemeteries, owned by two other London Boroughs, Camden (formerly St Pancras) and Islin ...

on 13 September.

Discography

Specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository ...

* ''Batastrophe'' ( Sire Records, 1983) * ''Azoic'' ( Jungle Records, 1997) * ''Electric Ballroom'' (

Metropolis Records Metropolis Records is a record label founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993 by the late Dave Heckman. The label's all-electronic format closely tracked with European contemporaries, such as Off Beat, and, since 1995, has been instrumenta ...

, 2007) * ''Alive at the Batcave'' (Eyes Wide Shut Recordings, 2008) * ''Wake the Dead'' (Batcave Music, 2013)

Space Tribe

*''Sonic Mandala'' (

Spirit Zone Records Spirit Zone Recordings was an independent record label releasing Goa trance, psychedelic trance, progressive trance and ambient music. Founded in 1994 by Wolfgang Ahrens (a.k.a. DJ Antaro), the label has been defunct since July 2005. Some of the a ...

, 1996) *''The Ultraviolet Catastrophe'' (Spirit Zone Records, 1997) *''The Future's Right Now'' (Spirit Zone Records, 1998) *''2000 O.D.'' (Spirit Zone Records, 1999) *''Religious Experience'' (Spirit Zone Records, 2000) *''Shapeshifter'' (Spirit Zone Records, 2001) *''Heart Beat'' (Spirit Zone Records, 2002) *''Time S-T-R-E-T-C-H'' (Spirit Zone Records, 2004) *''Collaborations'' (Space Tribe Music, 2004) *''Thru the Looking Glass'' (Space Tribe Music, 2005) *''Electro Convulsive Therapy'' (Space Tribe Music, 2008) *''Continuum Vol.1'' (Space Tribe Music, 2011) *''Continuum Vol.2'' (Space Tribe Music, 2011) *''Peak Experience'' (Space Tribe Music, 2011) *''Space between Atoms'' (Space Tribe Music, 2021)

ESP

*''Electric Space Phenomenon'' (Space Tribe Music, 2006) *''Sensory Overload'' (Space Tribe Music, 2007)

Alien Jesus

*''Open Your Eyes'' (Space Tribe Music, 2010) *''Time Machine'' (Space Tribe Music, 2012) (EP)

Mad Tribe

*''Spaced Out'' (TIP Records, 2015) *''Amazing Tales from Outer Space'' (TIP Records, 2017)

References

External links

Official Space Tribe websiteSpace Tribe discography @ Discogs
*
AllMusic listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wisdom, Olli 1958 births 2021 deaths 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians British psychedelic trance musicians Burials at St Pancras and Islington Cemetery DJs from London Electronic dance music musicians English male singers English people of Austrian-Jewish descent English punk rock singers English trance musicians Goa trance musicians Gothic rock musicians Metropolis Records artists Musicians from London People educated at Hereford Cathedral School Singers from London Sire Records artists