Ivo Watts-Russell (born 1954) is a British music producer and record label executive. He was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the indie record label 4AD. He has produced several records, although he prefers to use the term "musical director".

Early years

Watts-Russell was born in Edinburgh, the youngest of eight children of Major David Watts-Russell and Gina Spinola (née Baker); he "never related emotionally" to either of his parents, and grew up "on a dilapidated Northamptonshire estate in an atmosphere of almost Victorian froideur". His paternal grandfather, Captain Arthur Egerton Birch, of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the monarchy; due to this, it often participates in state ceremonia ...

(son of the colonial administrator Sir Arthur Nonus Birch), took his mother's surname at the age of 21, she being of the Watts-Russell gentry family formerly of

Ilam Hall Ilam Park is a country park situated in Ilam, on both banks of the River Manifold five miles (8 km) north west of Ashbourne, England, and in the ownership of the National Trust. The property is managed as part of the Trust's White Peak E ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

.Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 2, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1969, pp. 543-544 Captain Arthur Egerton Watts-Russell married Sylvia Grenfell, of the family of the Barons Grenfell, through whom Ivo Watts-Russell is a cousin of the war poet

Julian Grenfell Julian Henry Francis Grenfell (30 March 1888 – 26 May 1915) was a British soldier and a war poet of World War I. Early life Julian Grenfell was born at 4 St James's Square, London, the eldest son of William Grenfell, later Baron Desborough ...

. In 1977, he joined

Beggars Banquet Records Beggars Banquet Records is a British independent record label. Beggars Banquet started as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin and is part of the Beggars Group of labels. History In 1977, spurred by the prevailing DI ...

as they were starting their label.

Career

One of his better-known productions is the

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins was a Scottish rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981 and replacing Heggie with multi-instrum ...

' debut '' Garlands''. (He is the namesake of "Ivo", the lead track of Cocteau Twins' 1984 album, ''

Treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

''.) He also led

This Mortal Coil This Mortal Coil were a British music collective led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotating ...

, writing and selecting songs; choosing the personnel for each song; and occasionally playing keyboards. A few years after the release of This Mortal Coil's final studio album, he founded and produced a band called

The Hope Blister The Hope Blister were an ambient band that were active from 1997 to 1999. History The band was directed by 4AD Records founder Ivo Watts-Russell, with the music played by singer Louise Rutkowski, bass player Laurence O'Keefe and string arran ...

. which released two albums: '' ...smile's OK'' (1998) and ''Underarms'' (1999). Although 4AD first released ''Underarms'' as a limited edition CD, the label reissued it in 2005 as '' Underarms and Sideways'', the second disc of which has seven remixes by Markus Guentner.

Later years

He had a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

in 1994 and sold his half of 4AD to

Martin Mills Martin Mills (born 12 May 1949) is the founder and chairman of the Beggars Group. Early life Mills grew up near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and comes from an "upper-middle-class English family". His father was a civil servant and his mother was as ...

in 1999. He moved to Santa Fe in the US where he still lives.

References

External links

Official 4AD website
* * * * Living people 4AD People from Northamptonshire 1954 births English record producers People from Santa Fe, New Mexico This Mortal Coil members {{music-producer-stub