Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer,
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 ...
and
audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the
alternative rock
Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band
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-instru ...
. During his career Guthrie has performed guitar, bass guitar,
keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to
programming,
sampling and
sound processing.
Career
Following the break-up of Cocteau Twins in 1998, Guthrie released his first solo record, ''Imperial'', in 2003 on
Bella Union Records. Guthrie's next release, which was co-written with
Harold Budd
Harold Montgomory Budd (May 24, 1936December 8, 2020) was an American composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles and raised in the Mojave Desert, he became a respected composer in the minimalist and avant-garde scene of Southern California in the l ...
, was the
film score
Score or scorer may refer to:
*Test score, the result of an exam or test
Business
* Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio
* Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company
* Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
for
Gregg Araki
Gregg Araki (born December 17, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is noted for his heavy involvement with the New Queer Cinema movement. His film ''Kaboom'' (2010) was the first winner of the Cannes Film Festival Queer Palm.
Early life and ...
's ''
Mysterious Skin
''Mysterious Skin'' is a 2004 coming-of-age film written and directed by Gregg Araki, adapted from Scott Heim's 1995 novel of the same name. The film tells the story of two pre-adolescent boys who both experienced sexual abuse as children, and h ...
''.
The soundtrack was released in May 2005 by Commotion and consists of 15 complete songs based on the short pieces used in the film.
In 2006, Guthrie signed a four-album solo deal with
Darla Records
Darla Records is an independent record label founded by James Agren in October 1993 while he was in New York. Darla's first release was a 7-inch by Grifters, an indie rock/lo-fi band from Memphis.
Background
The music of the artists on the la ...
, the first product of which was the
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''Continental''. In February 2007, American
webzine
An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to being online only was the computer maga ...
''
Somewhere Cold'' voted ''Continental'' best album of 2006, on their ''2006 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame'', and ranked Guthrie ''Artist of the Year''. He subsequently released two four-track
EPs, ''Everlasting'' and ''Waiting for Dawn''.
Two more collaborations with Harold Budd (who had previously announced his musical retirement) were released simultaneously in 2007. ''
After the Night Falls
''After The Night Falls'' is a 2007 collaborative album from Robin Guthrie, formerly of the Cocteau Twins and ambient artist Harold Budd. It was released, as a matched CD, on the same day as ''Before the Day Breaks
''Before the Day Break ...
'' and ''
Before the Day Breaks
''Before the Day Breaks'' is a 2007 collaborative album from Robin Guthrie, formerly of the Cocteau Twins, and ambient artist Harold Budd. It was released, as a matched CD, on the same day as '' After the Night Falls'', also by Guthrie and B ...
'' were both co-composed, co-produced and played with Budd. Like the soundtrack to ''Mysterious Skin'', both albums are slow, drifting pieces primarily utilising treated guitar and piano.
Guthrie has also collaborated with singer
Siobhan de Maré
Siobhan de Maré is a singer, mostly known from lending her voice to the album ''Formica Blues'' by the UK band Mono in 1997. In 2000, she joined Robin Guthrie (formerly of Cocteau Twins) to form Violet Indiana, which varies from shimmery wall of ...
(formerly of
Mono) as the band Violet Indiana. Their first full-length album, ''Roulette'', was released in 2001. A second album, ''Russian Doll'', followed in 2004. In March 2006 Guthrie reported on his weblog that the group had started work again on new material.
In May 2009, ''Mirrorball'', an album-length collaboration between Guthrie and
John Foxx
John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on a ...
was released on
Metamatic Records
John Foxx (born Dennis Leigh; 26 September 1948) is an English singer, musician, artist, photographer, graphic designer, writer, teacher and lecturer. He was the original lead singer of the new wave band Ultravox, before leaving to embark on ...
.
A new solo album, ''Carousel'', was released via
Rocket Girl in Europe on 1 September 2009 and Darla Records on 15 September 2009. Additionally, Guthrie issued the ''Angel Falls EP'' in early 2009, and the ''Songs to Help My Children Sleep EP'' in October 2009. A further EP ''Sunflower Stories'' was released in March 2010
Guthrie's most recent releases are ''Emeralds'' (2011) and two collaboration albums with Harold Budd, ''Bordeaux'' and ''Winter Garden'' (with
Eraldo Bernocchi) (both 2011).
He played guitar on the
Telefon Tel Aviv
Telefon Tel Aviv is a New Orleans–derived, Chicago-based American electronic music act, formerly comprising Charles Cooper and Joshua Eustis. Since Cooper's accidental death in 2009, Telefon Tel Aviv has continued with Eustis as the sole officia ...
track "The Sky Is Black", from ''The Birds'' EP (2012). Guthrie released ''Fortune'', his newest full-length album on 26 November 2012.
In 2015, Guthrie and friend Mark Gardener of Ride wrote, performed and recorded an album ''Universal Road'' together.
Guthrie currently tours live under the name "The Robin Guthrie Trio" consisting of himself, Steve Wheeler (on bass) & Antti Mäkinen (on drums). He works and lives in France with his wife Florence.
Recording and production work
In 1986, Robin Guthrie produced
Felt
Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or w ...
's fourth studio album, ''
Ignite the Seven Cannons'', and the following year, he produced
The Gun Club
The Gun Club were an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. It was formed and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce.
History Early days (1979–1980)
The Gun Club ...
's fourth studio album, ''
Mother Juno'' in Berlin. In 1990 he produced
Lush's second EP ''
Mad Love'' and a few other songs scattered on various compilation albums. He went on to produce their 1992 debut album ''
Spooky'' and ''
Black Spring EP'' (1991).
In 2005 Guthrie mixed
Amber Smith's third studio album entitled ''
RePRINT
A reprint is a re-publication of material that has already been previously published. The term ''reprint'' is used with slightly different meanings in several fields.
Academic publishing
In academic publishing, offprints, sometimes also known a ...
'' which brought the band an international breakthrough.
Discography
;Studio albums (mainly solo)
*''Imperial'' (2003)
*''Continental'' (2006)
*''3:19 - Bande Originale Du Film'' (2008)
*''Carousel'' (2009)
*''Emeralds'' (2011)
*''Fortune'' (2012)
*''Pearldiving'' (2021)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guthrie, Robin
1962 births
20th-century Scottish male musicians
21st-century Scottish male musicians
4AD artists
Alternative rock bass guitarists
Alternative rock drummers
Alternative rock guitarists
Alternative rock keyboardists
Ambient musicians
British film score composers
British male film score composers
Cocteau Twins members
Fontana Records artists
Gothic rock musicians
Living people
People from Grangemouth
British post-punk musicians
Scottish audio engineers
Scottish bass guitarists
Scottish drummers
British male drummers
Scottish keyboardists
Scottish multi-instrumentalists
Scottish record producers
Scottish rock guitarists
Male bass guitarists
Scottish songwriters
Rocket Girl artists
Darla Records artists