Michael Begg (born 8 June 1966) is a Scottish composer, sound artist, and musician.

Early life

Michael Begg was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, and was raised in the suburb of Currie. He attended Currie High School from 1978 to 1983 before enrolling in Chelsea College of Arts in London in 1984. Begg returned to Scotland in 1989 because of debt. In Edinburgh, he became involved in theatre production as co-artistic director of Cerberus Theatre Company, and taught creative writing, music and theatre skills to various mental health groups.

Music career

In 2000, making use of new affordable computer technologies, he began to experiment in computer mediated composition. Along with long time collaborator Deryk Thomas, he produced a series of recordings intended for use in theatre which became the first Human Greed album, ''Consolation''. ''Consolation'' was released in 2001 on

Steven Severin Steven Severin (born Steven John Bailey; 25 September 1955) is an English songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He is best known as the bassist of the rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees which he co-founded in 1976. He took th ...

's short lived RE: Records label. The name Human Greed arose from the title of a play for which Begg intended the music to inhabit. Begg and Thomas have to date released four further albums under the group name Human Greed. Their most recent album, ''World Fair'', was warmly received in 2014, making the end of year "best-of" lists, including the influential USA based ''Brainwashed'' list. He began contributing to

Clodagh Simonds Clodagh Simonds ( ; born 16 May 1953) is an Irish musician, songwriter and singer. She was born in Banbridge, County Down, Northern Ireland and raised and educated in Killiney, County Dublin. Biography At the age of eleven, she formed her fi ...

Fovea Hex Fovea Hex is an Irish experimental band, formed in 2005 by Clodagh Simonds. As a performing unit, Fovea Hex usually consists of Clodagh Simonds, Laura Sheeran, Cora Venus Lunny, Michael Begg and Colin Potter, with either Julia Kent, Kate Ellis ...

project in 2007 with an appearance on the track "Long Distance" on the EP ''Allure'', the third part of the ''Neither Speak Nor Remain Silent'' trilogy. He has since appeared on every subsequent Fovea Hex recording, and is a core member of the performing iteration of the ensemble. In 2009, Begg was commissioned by Edinburgh City Council and Unique Events to produce a soundscape work to be performed in the city's

St. Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral ( gd, Cathair-eaglais Naomh Giles), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended ...

. This was undertaken as a collaboration with Colin Potter. The resulting work, ''Fragile Pitches'', was described by the '' Glasgow Herald'' as "In turns eerie, contemplative and majestically other-worldly… magnificently put the avant-garde into a populist arena without ever labouring the point." Begg has released a number of recordings in his own name, working more progressively towards a territory comprising site specific thematic work,

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

, and studio experimenting. In 2016, he was commissioned by Public Art promoters Artichoke to provide music for the BBC broadcast of London 1666. The programme documented the floating and subsequent burning of sculptor David Best's floating model of the city of London on the river Thames. In 2017, he was commissioned by Glasgow Cryptic to compose a new electronic work for Sonica 2017. The work was situated in the wheelhouse of the

Titan Clydebank Titan Clydebank, more commonly known as the Titan Crane is a cantilever crane at Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It was designed to be used in the lifting of heavy equipment, such as engines and boilers, during the fitting-out of ...

. The work received praise from the national press and earned Begg a New Music Scotland Award 2018. In 2018, Begg formed and became artistic director for the Black Glass Ensemble, a combination of chamber players and electronic experimentalists. He continues to provide composition and sound design for Moscow based blackSKYwhite theatre company, and writes about music for publications including ''The Quietus'', ''Sound on Sound'', ''Audio Media International'', and ''Total Theatre''.

Personal life

Begg lives in

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

with his wife and two sons.

Selected discography

Solo * ''A Moon That Lights Itself'', 2016 * ''Titan: A Crane Is A Bridge'', Omnempathy, 2017 With Human Greed * ''Consolation'', RE Records, 2001 * ''Pilgrim: New World Homestead'', Omnempathy, 2006 * ''Black Hill: Midnight At The Blighted Star'', Lumberton Trading Co. 2007 * ''Fortress Longing'', Omnempathy/ICR, 2011 * ''World Fair'', Omnempathy, 2014 Other albums * Fovea Hex – ''Here Is Where We Used To Sing'', Janet Records, 2012 * Michael Begg & Chris Connelly – ''New Town Nocturnes'', 2016 *

– ''The Salt Garden 2'', Headphone Dust/Die Stadt, June 2017

References

External links

Omnempathy Website

Musicbrainz

BBC Music

10 Questions
interview by

Andrew_Liles Andrew Liles (born 11 March 1969) is a British sound artist and multi-instrumentalist. He has a vast output of recordings that he has released since the mid-1980s, covering a variety of styles as experimental music, dark ambient music, progr ...

2016
Clot magazine interview, 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Begg, Michael 1966 births Living people Musicians from Edinburgh Scottish experimental musicians