Photo : Zoe-Ruth Photography
Dorian Wood is a Los Angeles-based artist "armed with a vocal charisma that would befit a preacher and an experimental streak that would make avant-gardists swoon." A wunderkind with a headstrong DIY discipline, Dorian has brought his emotionally-charged performances to concert halls, museums, music venues and performance spaces throughout the US, Mexico and Europe, with a voice that channels the skill and ferocity of such auteurs as Scott Walker, Nina Simone, Nick Cave and Tom Waits.
Dorian Wood will perform with special performance arts guests at his only UK gig of the tour on Friday 14th Feburary 2014 at the intimate Dalston Boys Club in East London. Do not miss out on this exclusive one-off show, we recommend you get your tickets now!
Born in Echo Park, California, Dorian began his musical education at a very early age, continuing his studies at Conservatorio de Castella in Costa Rica, and eventually making his way back to Los Angeles, where he first gained exposure performing on the queer bar circuit. His debut album, BOLKA, received wide critical acclaim for its impeccable merging of folk, soul, Bulgarian choral music and experimental music. His follow-up EP, Black Pig Suite, featured members of the L.A. experimental orchestra Killsonic, of which Dorian was a principal collaborator and performer for 3 years.
Dorian Wood will perform with special performance arts guests at his only UK gig of the tour on Friday 14th Feburary 2014 at the intimate Dalston Boys Club in East London. Do not miss out on this exclusive one-off show, we recommend you get your tickets now!
Born in Echo Park, California, Dorian began his musical education at a very early age, continuing his studies at Conservatorio de Castella in Costa Rica, and eventually making his way back to Los Angeles, where he first gained exposure performing on the queer bar circuit. His debut album, BOLKA, received wide critical acclaim for its impeccable merging of folk, soul, Bulgarian choral music and experimental music. His follow-up EP, Black Pig Suite, featured members of the L.A. experimental orchestra Killsonic, of which Dorian was a principal collaborator and performer for 3 years.
Photo : Dino Dinco In 2010, Dorian received critical praise for his performance and "picture perfect" art direction (Los Angeles Times) in the Killsonic opera, Tongues Bloody Tongues. He also released his album 'Brutus', which featured only Dorian on vocal and piano, and was recorded live at St. Giles-in-the-Fields, a church in London, in the midst of his European tour. Of the back of this release, Dorian was commissioned by LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) to present a new work for the performance series Los Angeles Goes Live, part of Pacific Standard Time. Dorian's performance installation, Athco, Or The Renaissance of Faggot Tree, the controversial piece incorporated over 30 performers, and was presented at Barnsdall Art Park. Dorian also performed with acclaimed artist Marina Abramovic in her piece An Artist's Life Manifesto, presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA).
Wood's latest effort, "Rattle Rattle," is an collection of original "doomsday-themed songs" that hang together a bit like a concept album. Like Killsonic and Athco before it, Rattle Rattle incorporated dozens of participants -- in this case, over 60 musicians, including a 45-member choir assembled by Wood called the Difficult Women. Dorian directed the video for his song "La Cara Infinita," which featured a guest appearance by actor Margaret Cho, as well as some very direct images portraying gay sexuality in a manner of objectification -- similar to the treatment women usually receive in this context, and in the art world too. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was some internet dust-up action, but by that point, the performance art, live music, and creative director aspects of his career had permanently fused.
He embraces what these conduits to communicating with the audience make possible. "[I] realized that if I was going to keep putting out work that I believed in, I needed to allow people to 'join' me in the work. People rarely forget a truly immersive experience, and a big component in what I do musically has to do with who I am, what I look like, where I've been and where I'm at. For a while, I would wear masks and insane outfits, but there is no greater vestment one can wear than the one people believe is yours and only yours. The videos try to capture this without requiring that the audience physically be there in order to get the most out of it."
Though the album was only recently released, he began composing songs for it around late 2008. In the four years that followed, he was devoted to fleshing out arrangements, rehearsing, recording certain sections, lots of mixing -- all while working around some high-profile guests' schedules and staying within budget. "I underestimated what this would cost financially," he says, "and yet grew restless of waiting for the right label to come around and pick up the tab and I really counted on the incredible support of my beautiful friends to make it happen." The controlled chaos of his days with Killsonic prepared him for what he calls "the challenge of gathering over 60 musicians to create a cohesive sound." "There were times when I welcomed any collaborative input they shot my way," he continues, "but I was honored that they mostly just went along with my vision."
Themes of LGBTQ experience and sexuality and gender and politics seem to be clear elements of the work, yet -- while he certainly understands and accepts it being viewed in that context -- Wood does not consider his activity to be primarily political. "I believe I identify more with my anger than I do with politics per se, in that I create based on how something affects me emotionally; and in politics, only a few things affect me that way. I am deeply angered and saddened by injustices against LGBTQ and women, and somehow a rebellious little girl emerges within me whenever I feel anger, and she can only think of violent things without minding the consequences. Certainly, this is how 'Rattle Rattle' came to be, as well as the video we did for 'La Cara Infinita.' Like most people, I welcome the idea of solidarity, but if I had to choose between that or being the weird loner kid who punches walls and browns his trousers, well, I'll be in my corner."
Dorian Wood
Friday 14th February 2014
@ Apiary Studios, London.
Buy Tickets & Event Information
Themes of LGBTQ experience and sexuality and gender and politics seem to be clear elements of the work, yet -- while he certainly understands and accepts it being viewed in that context -- Wood does not consider his activity to be primarily political. "I believe I identify more with my anger than I do with politics per se, in that I create based on how something affects me emotionally; and in politics, only a few things affect me that way. I am deeply angered and saddened by injustices against LGBTQ and women, and somehow a rebellious little girl emerges within me whenever I feel anger, and she can only think of violent things without minding the consequences. Certainly, this is how 'Rattle Rattle' came to be, as well as the video we did for 'La Cara Infinita.' Like most people, I welcome the idea of solidarity, but if I had to choose between that or being the weird loner kid who punches walls and browns his trousers, well, I'll be in my corner."
Dorian Wood
Friday 14th February 2014
@ Apiary Studios, London.
Buy Tickets & Event Information
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