Ian Alec Harvey Dench (born 7 August 1964) is an English songwriter and musician. He was the guitarist and principal songwriter for
EMF, who scored a major international hit reaching number 1 in the United States with "
Unbelievable" in 1991. It was voted one of
BBC Radio 2's 'Greatest Guitar Riffs'.
Early life
Ian Alec Harvey Dench was born in Cheltenham, on 7 August 1964, to Harold and Jackie Dench. He has two siblings, Alan and Paul.
Dench’s father, Harold Dench, taught Ian
classical guitar.
Ian attended
The Crypt School in Gloucester from 1975, where one year at Prizegiving, his chosen prize of "100 Greatest Rock Licks" was somewhat frowned upon, compared to the preferred academic tomes of others.
Ian began his music career playing in a Gloucester City
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band called Curse. He then formed the
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
-based band Apple Mosaic who were signed to
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...
and released the single "Honey If".
EMF
In 1989, Dench met the other members of
EMF, and within a few months of playing together, they were signed to a major label. Their debut hit, Unbelievable, was written by Dench although credited as EMF, and reached number three in the UK chart. Six months later, the song reached #1 in America.
In an interview with ''Spin'' in September 1991, Dench commented on the dynamics within the band, stating that: "I'm the musical director, but I couldn't do it without them. They provide so much attitude. Derry's the least active in a musical sense, but he's so involved. I take a tune in and he says turn it up or make it more manic. They're simple observations but they're important because I get a bit wrapped up in the writing."
The band split in 1997 due to musical differences.
Post EMF and songwriting career
After leaving EMF, he found independent success with the band
Whistler, signed to Wiiija Records. Whistler released two albums, ''Whistler'' and ''Faith in the Morning''.
In 2007, Dench wrote the duet ''
Beautiful Liar
"Beautiful Liar" is a song by American singer Beyoncé and Colombian singer Shakira. It was written by Beyoncé, Amanda Ghost, Ian Dench, and Stargate members Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, and produced by Stargate and Beyoncé for th ...
'' for
Beyoncé and
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is n ...
, and "
Tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...
" for
American Idol
''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
winner
Jordin Sparks
Jordin Sparks-Thomas (born December 22, 1989) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame in 2007 after winning the sixth season of ''American Idol'' at age 17, becoming the youngest winner in the series' history. Her self-titled debu ...
with
Amanda Ghost with whom he had worked since 1995 when they wrote for Ghost's ''Ghost Stories'' album.
Beyoncé's 2008 album ''
I Am Sasha Fierce'' saw a further three Dench and Ghost collaborations: ''Disappear'', ''Ave Maria'', and ''Satellites''.
Dench co-wrote ''Colours'' on the Prodigy's 2009 album, ''
Invaders Must Die'', and "Red" a top 5 hit for
Daniel Merriweather
Daniel Paul Merriweather (born 17 February 1982) is an Australian R&B recording artist. Merriweather's debut solo album, '' Love & War'', was released in June 2009. It entered the UK Albums Chart at number two. It was preceded by two sing ...
in the UK in May 2009. ''Gypsy'', another collaboration with Amanda Ghost, was the third single from the album, ''
She Wolf
''She Wolf'' ( es, Loba, link=no) is the eighth studio album and third English-language album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira. It was released on 9 October 2009, by Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. As executive producers, Shakira and Am ...
'' by Shakira.
From March 2009 until November 2010, Dench was Vice President of
A&R at
Epic Records in
New York, where he A&R'd albums by
Alice Smith
Alice Smith (born 30 November 1977) is an American singer and songwriter, her style anchored in rock, R&B, blues, jazz and soul.
Life and career
Raised between Washington, D.C. and a farm in Georgia, she sang in ''Moomtez'' and ''Black Roc ...
and
Augustana and signed the acts Progress in Color and HeyHiHello.
In 2011, Dench collaborated in the writing of ''Bedroom Hymns'' from
Florence and the Machine's ''
Ceremonials'' album, and her collaboration with
ASAP Rocky
Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...
, ''I Come Apart''.
In 2013, Dench collaborated on the
Sub Focus track ''
Endorphins'', reaching No 10 in the UK charts, ''
The Conversation
''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Robe ...
'' by
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
and ''Astronaut'' and ''Run'' by
Joel Compass
Joel Compass is British R&B and soul singer/producer. He is best known for his debut EP ''Astronaut'', his debut single "Run", and the singles Forgive Me" and Girlfriends.
Post release, Compass dived into production working with the likes o ...
.
The singer-songwriter
Jamie Cullum
Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He has recorded nine stu ...
sang two Dench-penned songs in the
ITV series ''
The Halcyon
''The Halcyon'' is a British television period drama broadcast on ITV which began airing on 2 January 2017. It was created and written by Charlotte Jones. The series focused on examining World War II London from 'a new perspective', and was s ...
'' in 2016.
Dench worked as a mentor for ''The Songwriting Academy''.
In 2017 it was announced that Dench was heading up a new record label, LGM Records, with former
Goldheart Assembly
Goldheart Assembly were an England, English indie pop/rock band from London, England.
History
Goldheart Assembly formed in 2007, naming themselves after a Guided by Voices, Guided By Voices song, The Goldheart Mountaintop Queen Directory. The ...
frontman James Dale, where the two developed and signed indie pop band Friedberg. The label was featured in
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
and other publications before founding a digital advertising agency called SINE Digital.
In 2018 Dench worked with Amanda Ghost and Marius DeVries on the song 'The Wonder' for the musical King Kong on Broadway.
Awards
Dench won an
Ivor Novello Award
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...
for ''Beautiful Liar'' in the Best Selling British Song Category in 2008. In 2009, he was nominated for a Golden Globe as co-writer of ''Once in a Lifetime'', sung by Beyonce for the film, ''
Cadillac Records
''Cadillac Records'' is a 2008 American biographical drama film written and directed by Darnell Martin. The film explores the musical era from the early 1940s to the late 1960s, chronicling the life of the influential Chicago-based record-compan ...
''. He was nominated for two
Grammy Awards in 2010, one as co-producer of two tracks on Beyoncé's album ''
I Am... Sasha Fierce'', which was nominated as Album of the Year and the other for ''Once in a Lifetime''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dench, Ian
1966 births
Living people
English songwriters
English rock guitarists
Ivor Novello Award winners
People from Cheltenham
Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art
Musicians from Gloucestershire