Anthony Charles "Tony" Wakeford (born 2 May 1959) is an English

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumenta ...

and neoclassical musician, who primarily records under the name

Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (, "Unconquered Sun"), sometimes simply known as Helios, was long considered to be the official sun god of the later Roman Empire. In recent years, however, the scholarly community has become divided on Sol between traditionalists a ...

. Wakeford lives in London and is married to Sol Invictus violinist Renée Rosen.

Musical work

Pre-Sol Invictus work

Wakeford was the bassist for the English political

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

Crisis A crisis ( : crises; : critical) is either any event or period that will (or might) lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affair ...

from 1977 until the band's termination in 1980. Crisis played many concerts for

Rock Against Racism Rock Against Racism (RAR) was a political and cultural movement which emerged in 1976 in reaction to a rise in racist attacks on the streets of the United Kingdom and increasing support for the far-right National Front at the ballot box. Betwe ...

and the

Anti-Nazi League The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups i ...

reflecting Wakeford's then membership of the Socialist Workers Party. He was briefly a member of The Runners From 84, a band started by Patrick Leagas. He then formed

Death in June Death in June are a neofolk group led by English musician Douglas P. (Douglas Pearce). The band was originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the gro ...

with Crisis guitarist

Douglas Pearce Douglas Pearce, known professionally as Douglas P (born 27 April 1956), is an English folk musician, record label owner, photographer and actor who is best known for his neofolk project Death in June. Pearce was born in Sheerwater in Woking, Surr ...

and Leagas. This collaboration came to end both due to musical differences and because of Wakeford's membership at the time of the

British National Front The National Front (NF) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Tony Martin. As a minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gaine ...

. Wakeford was asked to leave Death in June in early 1984, with the album

Burial Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

documenting his last contributions. He then formed the controversial

post punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

act

Above The Ruins Above the Ruins were an English post-punk band. They were controversial for their association with the National Front (UK). Although the band's membership was unknown at the time, it was later discovered that it had been formed by Tony Wakeford, ...

who recorded one album, ''Songs of the Wolf''. After disbanding Above The Ruins, Wakeford formed Sol Invictus in 1987. This period also marked in his own words his departure from right-wing politics. In 2007 Wakeford stated that he has had no connection or interest in such ideas for 20 or more years and has described his membership as "probably the worse icdecision of my life and one I very much regret".

Sol Invictus

Tursa label

Wakeford formed his own label, Tursa, in 1990 to release his material and the music of other artists. This material was previously distributed worldwide by the

World Serpent Distribution World Serpent Distribution was a British record label and music distribution house formed in the 1990s by David Gibson, Alan Trench and Alison Webster. Douglas Pearce of Death In June coined the company name in 1991, ''World Serpent'' being anot ...

company, later by Cold Spring Records in Europe. In July 2007 the label was relaunched as a partnership with Israeli/USA producer and musician Reeve "M" Malka. The labels roster includes Orchestra Noir, The Triple Tree, Zunroyz, The Wardrobe, Tony Wakeford, Andrew King, Susan Mathews and Autumn Grieve. Sol Invictus signed to Prophecy Records, Germany in 2009 to release their future work plus re-releases of previous albums. In June 2011, Sol Invictus announced the end of their partnership with Cold Spring Records.

Secondary musical projects

Wakeford has always been the primary force in Sol Invictus. He has also composed

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

whilst recording outside the framework of Sol Invictus. He has subsequently brought transformative concepts into the familiar terrain of his principal group. He formed L'Orchestre Noir (later Orchestra Noir) in the mid-1990s to explore classical and soundtrack composition. His early 1990s collaborative work with

Steven Stapleton Steven Peter Stapleton (born 3 February 1957) is an English musician who is best known as the only constant member of experimental improv outfit Nurse with Wound. He is often seen as one of the pioneers of the British industrial music scene, a ...

of Nurse With Wound produced exceedingly

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

recordings that are radically different from Sol Invictus material. This more experimental side to his work can also be seen in the two albums of The Wardrobe (''Cups in Cupboard'' and ''A Sandwich Short'') that he made in collaboration with

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 ...

who also played with Nurse With Wound. He also played bass, guitar and keyboards on a number of studio albums by

Current 93 Current 93 are an English experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet, who has been Current 93's only constant member. Background Tibet has been the only const ...

as well as playing with them live.

Neofolk

Although he generally refers to his own work as Sol Invictus as

folk noir Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumen ...

, Wakeford has long been influential in the

music scene throughout Europe, contributing to their development not only through print media and releasing material on his Tursa label, but also by playing at live shows with various acts he has influenced through Sol Invictus or his previous work with Death in June.

Collaborations, guest performances, and solo releases

(besides

)

Private life

He has been a member of the

Odinic Rite The Odinic Rite (OR) is a reconstructionist religious organisation named after the god Odin. It conceives itself as a neo-völkisch Heathen movement concerned with Germanic paganism, Germanic mythology, folklore, and runes. As a white supremacis ...

, a

neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

organization.

References

External links

Official
Tursa Records, Wakeford's labelTursa Records on My Space
Unofficial
Tony Wakeford Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakeford, Tony 1959 births Living people People from Woking English punk rock bass guitarists English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English modern pagans Adherents of Germanic neopaganism Performers of modern pagan music Death in June members Sol Invictus (band) members