Dave Sturt (born 1960,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, England) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

bassist and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Musical career

Sturt began playing

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and recording at the age of 17. In 1982 he moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and soon broke into the session scene working alongside film composer

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, and session musician. Biography Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born ...

, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, Roxy Music drummer Andy Newmark, and David Bowie sideman

Earl Slick Earl Slick (born Frank Madeloni in Brooklyn, New York, October 1, 1952) is a guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. He has also worked with other artists including John Waite, Tim ...

amongst others. In 1987 Sturt joined Jade Warrior, recording three albums as bass player, composer and co-producer alongside Tom Newman (

Tubular Bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

). He went on to compose themes and incidental music for film and television as well as playing sessions for Pol Brennan (

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

), BeatsystemUK (on Myspace) and

Theo Travis Theo Travis (born 7 July 1964 in Birmingham, England) is a British saxophonist, flautist and composer. He is best known for being a member of Soft Machine which he joined in 2006 while the group was still using the "Legacy" suffix and for being ...

. Live work developed with Cuban/American guitarist

Isaac Guillory Isaac Guillory (February 27, 1947 – December 31, 2000) was an American folk guitarist. Career Guillory first began performing in 1965, while still attending St. Johns River State College where he became a member of The Illusions, eventually ...

, Thee na Shee, The Fraser Sisters, Andy Sheppard, Bosco D’Olivera and

Bill Nelson Clarence William Nelson II (born September 29, 1942) is an American politician and attorney serving as the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Nelson previously served as a United States Senator from Flo ...

. Sturt performed for many years with Theo Travis in Cipher, producing three

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

s and several scores to

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

s. Prior to Cipher, the pair had worked together in the four-piece jazz fusion band The Other Side, releasing the album Dangerous Days in 1994. During 2009 and 2010, Sturt toured Europe playing bass for both

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

and Steve Hillage. In 2011 he played bass with

on the Classic Rock Legends live DVD. 2012 has seen Sturt composing soundtracks for 'Ben Rushgrove - a documentary' for Channel 4 and for 'Past Lives' - (along with Theo Travis) - a touring live performance with archive footage from The Media Archive for Central England. He is also touring Europe, the UK and Japan with

2013 saw more live work with Gong in Brazil and the development of the Past Lives Project - a cinefilm and music project funded by Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund. There were more performances with Gong in 2014 in Brazil, France and the UK and also the Gong album ‘I See You’ was released - with Sturt as bass player, co-composer and co-producer. Sturt's first solo album 'Dreams & Absurdities' was released in 2015 featuring guest appearances from

Daevid Allen Christopher David Allen (13 January 1938 – 13 March 2015), known professionally as Daevid Allen, sometimes credited as Divided Alien, was an Australian musician. He was co-founder of the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (in the UK, 1966) ...

, Jon Field,

Fabio Golfetti Fabio Golfetti (born April 10, 1960) is a Brazilian musician and record producer, famous for his work with progressive/ psychedelic rock band Violeta de Outono. He is also the guitarist of Franco-British rock band Gong since 2012. Biography Fab ...

, Steve Hillage,

Bill Nelson (musician) William Nelson (born 18 December 1948) is an English singer, guitarist, songwriter, producer, painter, video artist, writer and experimental musician. He rose to prominence as the chief songwriter, vocalist and guitarist of the rock group Be-Bo ...

Kavus Torabi Kavus Torabi ( fa, كاووس تورابى; born 5 December 1971) is a British-Iranian musician and composer, record label owner and broadcaster. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his work in the psychedelic, avant-garde rock field (prima ...

and

. It was engineered and mixed by Sturt and mastered by Andy Jackson. In 2015-16 he again toured with Gong around the UK and in Norway and began work on composing the first Gong album since Daevid Allen's death. The album ''

Rejoice! I'm Dead! ''Rejoice! I'm Dead!'' is the fourteenth studio album by Gong and the eleventh album by the Daevid Allen version of the group. It was released on . Overview ''Rejoice! I'm Dead!'' is the first Gong album to be released since the deaths of co-fou ...

'' was released in 2016 - with Sturt as bass player, co-composer and 'overseer and gatekeeper'. He is an endorsee of Vigier basses and Markbass amplification.

Discography

Albums

* ''Weightless'' mini-album (2012) limited, self-made edition of 30 copies * (2015) Esoteric/Antenna

Collaboration albums

*''Breathing the Storm'' (1992) [] * (1993) [] *''Dangerous Days'' (1994) [The Other Side] * (1996) [] *''Stereo'' (1996) [] Chronoscope Records * (1999) [] * (1997) [] Triskell *''Strange Horse'' (1999) [] *''Obvious'' (2000) bvious Tube *''Going Around'' (2001) [] No Masters * (2002) ipherGliss * (2005) ipher *''Nottingham Songs'' (2006) [] *''NOW (Jade Warrior album), NOW'' (2008) [] *''I See You (Gong album), I See You'' (2014) [] Madfish *''

'' (2016) [] Madfish

Collaboration albums as mix engineer

*''Discretion'' (2014) [] Panegyric

Tracks on collaboration albums

*"This World" on ''The Dream Academy'' (1985) [] uncredited

Collaboration singles

*"Easy" / "Holding Out" (1981) [Moulin Rouge] Teesbeat Records *"Goodbye Scarlet" 12" (1987) [Sara Davis] September *"Walk on the Wild Side" (1988) eatsystem4th & Broadway

Collaboration DVDs

*'' '' (2011) [] ITV Studios Home Entertainment

Tracks on compilation albums

*"White Cloud, Blue Sky" ipherand "Boundless Sky" hee-na-Sheeon ''The Sky Goes All the Way Home'' (1999) ariousVoiceprint * ipherexclusive track plus "No Ordinary Man" ipheron (2000) arious * ipheron (2004) heo Travis

References

External links

Dave Sturt official websiteGong official websiteJade Warrior official websiteCipher
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sturt, Dave Alumni of Middlesex University Ambient musicians English bass guitarists English male guitarists English record producers Male bass guitarists Living people 1960 births Gong (band) members Progressive rock bass guitarists