AV:  When was it that you discovered music as a means of artistic communication for your own talents?

IB:  It was whilst I was at university studying, believe it or not, Biochemistry. I was very into listening to electronic music but other than a bit of messing around with tape recorders at home when I was a about 16 - 17 I hadn't given any thoughts to playing music of any kind. Apart from my science studies I was also good at art and was actively pursuing, in my spare time, some work using screen printing techniques - very Bridget Riley / Vasarely. This was at a publicly funded arts workshop called Spectro. Then in 1979 a friend told me that upstairs there was a sound studio - in I walked to be confronted by Revox tape machines, mixers and VCS3's.

Click here for the interview with Ian Boddy

AV:  Why were a lot of your recordings until 1989 released in Europe?

RR:  Because not very many people seemed interested in my music in the USA at the time. My first reviews came in USA fanzines like OP and Eurock (and UK's Audion aamong others,) but mostly Europeans seemed to be reading these. I really felt like I was working in a vaccuum. When I met new friends in California like Steve Roach and Michael Stearns during the '80s, I felt like I met cousins who shared common struggles finding an original voice in the shadow of '70s Berlin space rock. They found a larger audience amidst '80's "new age" marketing, which didn't click with my post-industrial mentality. I was the younger among them, but happy to find like-minded family.

Click here for the interview with Robert Rich

aka Jesse Sola

Well, it all started when I was just old enough to twist knobs and push buttons really... well, shortly after anyway, I suppose I first started out with a rattle and then came the tribal percussion of the baby drums. My Dad was a professional musician and the very first synthesizer I remember fiddling with was his miniMOOG, which pretty much captivated me.

 My dad would have the miniMOOG set up in the living room where he'd practice with it.  He let me wear these big bulky headphones that kept slipping off my 7-year old head and I just remember making lots of noise with it. My dad passed away in 1988 and I now own that miniMOOG, and a couple other of his synthesizers.

As my musical taste evolved, I found myself drawn in to the more thematic and mysterious side of things. Throughout the 80s & 90s I was really into new wave, industrial, shoegaze, and new age music.

Click here for the interview with Numina aka Jesse Sola

Tim Story's work has garnered an international reputation for its haunting elegance and meticulous compositional detail. When writing and recording, he often spends months carefully working and refining the shape of each composition until he achieves the desired emotional and intellectual effect. His seemingly simple pieces distill harmonic and melodic ideas that are often quite complex.

"I like to work with a finite palette of sounds and keep paring things down to a pure, though often ambiguous, expression. Simplicity shouldn't imply simplemindedness. I think of the deceptively simple, ironic pieces of Erik Satie, or the lovely yet challenging piano music of Debussy. The very best of these pieces appear so effortless and perfect that they seem as if they've existed forever..." Story also cites a diverse range of musical preferences including Bartok, Arvo Part, Miles Davis, Coltrane, Dwight Ashley, Can, Cluster and Robert Wyatt.

Click here for the interview with Tim Story

Jim Cole began practicing harmonic singing in 1991, inspired by the unique vocal sounds of Tibetan monks and David Hykes and the Harmonic Choir (especially their album Hearing Solar Winds).  He founded Spectral Voices and then, intrigued by the reverberant cistern recording of Pauline Oliveros' Deep Listening, they found home in an empty water tower.  In 1996 he received an artist fellowship award from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts for work in harmonic singing, which supported the production and release of Spectral Voices' debut CD Coalescence.    His music and singing have been featured on several episodes of the TV program "The Sacred Journey" hosted by Joyce St. Germaine.  By day he finds jobs for incoming refugees.  Much of his solo improvisation develops at night while lulling his young daughters, Emily Morgan and Amanda Taylor, soundly asleep.

Click here for the interview with Jim Cole

Paul Ellis

Paul Ellis was born on Oct. 10 1961 and from an early age began to show a strong creative streak that began with drawing and changed to music in 1977 after buying copies of the classic European Electronic albums  Stratosfear (TD) , Mirage (KS) , Oxygene (JMJ)  and Snowflakes are Dancing (T) within a week's time. This proved to be a profound awakening for him. He suddenly began hearing a sort of music rising up within himself almost like resonant strings vibrating. The music though extraordinarily different than anything he'd heard before sounded strangely familiar.

He has continued to release albums in the classic European Electronic style ever since bringing his own unique touch to the genre. He was a founding member of the band Dweller at the Threshold and has also released several solo works and collaborations with artists such as Steve Roach.

Click here for the interview with Paul Ellis

Dino Pacifici

There is much to be said about true artists in the recording industry. They must be gifted and creative, and at the same time demonstrate a complete awareness of the everchanging musical Spectrum and their special place within it. Dino Frank Pacifici is that consummate artist whose sound and gift is grounded in New Age/ambient music with a jazz influence in combination with his own unique identity.
In 1979, Dino's first independent album, "Become a Man" (NAB Records) was released locally, and received radio air play for two years. Three years later, his single release of "Jana's Song" receives local air play. In 1986 he co-wrote Nancy Martinez's 'hit'' single on the "Not Just The Girl Next Door" album entitled "Move Out" (Atlantic Records)
Over the years Dino has kept busy writing Pop-Oriented and Dance music and playing in local bands. Dino has spent many years studying, recording, and performing live in which he continuously expands his musical horizons. Dino has become proficient with bass, keyboards, programming of electronic instruments, as well as his first love the guitar.  

Click here for the interview with Dino Pacifici

Kit Watkins

Kit's solo career began in 1980 with the self-produced album Labyrinth, released on his own Azimuth Records label. The album won him 5th place in Keyboard magazine's Annual Readers' Poll Awards for keyboard album. He recorded and performed with drummer/percussionist Coco Roussel during this period. During the 80s, Kit continued to produce solo and collaborative albums, some released on his own label, while others were picked up by larger independent labels. In the early 90s, Kit formed a new label, Linden Music, which released a number of his new recordings, as well as CDs by Robert Rich, Jeff Greinke, and David Borden.

His music style has changed focus from album to album, and has gradually veered away from the progressive rock of his youth into more subtle and mysterious forms of expression, such as ambient-jazz and world-fusion. His influences include artists such as Brian Eno, Mickey Hart, Mark Isham, Joe Zawinul, Harold Budd, Wayne Shorter, Steve Reich, Joni Mitchell, Jon Hassell, Eberhard Weber, Jeff Greinke, Robert Rich, Jan Garbarek, Steve Roach, Wendy Carlos.  

Click here for the interview with Kit Watkins

Themoniker vidnaObmana was chosen by this Belgian composer for hismusical persona because itmeans 'optical illusion.' Eighteen years hence, vidnaObmana still finds this name allows him a sense of freedom to place hismusic first before his own personality and philosophy. As a self-taught electronicmusician, vidnaObmana explored differentmusical realms before discovering the techniques of looping and shaping harmonies,merging layers of sound whileminimizing the configurations to just a few notes. 

Click here for the interview with vidnaOmana

Brannan Lane burst onto the musical scene, and into my musical consciousness with an impact that rattled the windows and shook the rafters. Originating out of Tennessee, a location known more for being the home of country music rather than for being a hotbed of New Age composition, Lane's debut album, "Caribbean Dream" declared boldly that it was a blend of New Age and World music with a Caribbean theme -- a most unlikely melding of genres, make no mistake.

And he pulled it off, with tremendous success. Even today, I remember sitting in a hotel room in Zug, Switzerland, listening to the fluid essence as I unwound from jet lag and business stresses. In fact, each time I put the CD into the player, the effect is always the same.  

For the rest of this introduction by Fred Puhan and the interview with Brannan Lane please click here.

Although Michael Stearns is one of the early originators of what has become known as the ambient music genre, to categorize Michael's music into any one genre, or even several genres would be inaccurate in my view. The diversity of his work is truly amazing, ranging from electronic, new age, space, and ambient music, shamanic underworld journeys, commercials, soundtracks for movies, films, documentaries, and IMAX ... the list goes on and on! Michael's quest for innovation has resulted in ground breaking sonic accomplishments that are not only musically extraordinary, but are always on the cutting edge of recording technology, both of which I deeply admire and appreciate.

For the rest of this introduction by Byron Metcalf and Michael's interview please click here.

Byron Metcalf is the shaman's shaman. And he might be the only person to appear on CD's with Dottie West, Kenny Rogers and Steve Roach in the same year.

No BS! I did an on-line search on Byron and the Dottie West and Kenny Rogers CD's came up. I was mildly surprised and even assumed that there had to be another Byron Metcalf. Then I read some of the interview here. Based on what I know of Byron's music, I'd have never guessed it. But it is true and it is cool.

For the rest of this introduction by Jim Brenholts and Byron's interview please click here.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring Jeff Pearce.

Jeff Pearce released his first ambient CD in 1993.  His unique style has earned him a devoted fan base and much critical acclaim. ("Echoes" listeners chose "To the Shores of Heaven" as CD of the year in 2000.)  Beyond all that, Jeff's humility and quick wit and his devotion to his family and to his spiritual principles have earned him a reputation as a gentleman of honor!

For the rest of this introduction by Jim Brenholts and Jeff's interview please click here.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring David Lanz. Piano Superstar David Lanz bridges the gap between contemporary instrumental music and popular hit songs. His multi-million selling albums have won him recognition world-wide as a musical trend-setter whose talents encompass both recordings and the concert stage.

Lanz (pronounced LAHNZ) has successfully established himself as a critically-acclaimed concert artist, one of the few contemporary instrumental recording stars to also win roaring approval for his live stage performances.

Click here to read David's interview.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring James Asher. James Asher has had a long and varied career in the music business--his first single was produced by Pete Townshend in 1979, and he went on to return the favor by playing drums on Pete's Empty Glass album. After writing and recording 23 albums of library music, as well as gaining a clutch of production credits, he has gone on to explore the wider horizons of world music, releasing a series of very well received albums. pivotal to it. James and I had a chat about how he started off in the business and progressed to the point at which he finds himself today....an international act with fans around the world. I'm sure you will find it interesting and when you are done reading head on over to James' website and check out the music that he currently has available. You'll be glad that you did.

Click here to read James' interview.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring Robert de Fresnes. Robert was born in London in 1970, but has spent most of his life living in Nottingham. His interest in music began at an early age, developing in many directions. He learnt classical piano whilst at school, and later had classical voice training for several years, giving him a valuable insight into dealing with and writing for the voice.

Click here to read Robert's interview.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring Steve Roach. For the last 23 years Steve Roach has been creating some of the most innovative and personal electronic compositions ever to find their way onto vinyl, cassettes and CD's. Beginning with 1984's Structures of Silence and continuing with 1988's Dreamtime Return Roach has created one classic after another in the field of electronic and space music.

Steve feels that the urge to create his compositions is equivalent to the act of  breathing and I'm sure that explains why he has been so prolific over the years and why he has no intention of slowing down in the forseeable future. Put on a Steve Roach CD and dig right in to this insightful interview. Enjoy.

Click here to read Steve's interview.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring James Johnson. With a drive to mold and create organic textures & atmospheres with past and current technologies, James Johnson continues down the path of sonic exploration using computer based software synthesis & sampling technologies alongside traditional acoustic instruments. The atmospheres created, surround and unfold in a sea of timeless tones and textures. His unique voicing can be heard on award winning works such as "Unity" & "Surrender" alongside collaborative efforts and compilation tracks. His latest release "Entering Twilight" is created for continuous playback to enhance the listeners environment with an amorphous, and at times almost transparent, background of sonic imagery.

Click here to read James' interview.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring Patrick O'Hearn. Since the release of his critically acclaimed Ancient Dreams CD Patrick has been no stranger to ambient listeners over the years. Towards the end of 2000 Patrick returned to the world wide web with a brand new website and announcing that he had a new CD ready for release. Patrick's music has often found its way into our CD players here at Ambient Visions so we thought now would be a good time to catch up with Patrick and to see what he had been up over the last few years. Anyone who has read one of Ambient Visions' interviews knows that we don't stop there either. Join us as we talk to Patrick about the roots of music in his life, his early days in the world of pop music and his triumphant entry into the fledgling ambient music industry. I'm sure that you will find it as fascinating as I did. Join us now as we present Patrick O'Hearn.

Click here to read Patrick's interview.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring Medwyn Goodall. We spoke with Medwyn at length during this interview about many aspects of his music starting with the inspiration for a project and following that idea along all the way to the point where the CD is pressed and sold. We found Medwyn to be not only open to the questions but possessing a quick wit and a very humorous side which you will get to see as you progress through our chat. This is very refreshing to see in someone of Medwyn's stature within the New Age/Ambient musical community. Often times the larger the star the harder it is to just carry on a casual conversation with the person and find out who they really are beyond the hype and the PR. To understand why they create their music and what it is that keeps them moving forward in their careers. You will learn all this and much more as we present to you Ambient Visions' interview with Medwyn Goodall. Enjoy!

Click here to read Medwyn's interview.

Welcome to another of our great interviews. This time we are featuring the talents of Kim Waters and Hans Christian who collectively form the group..RASA. RASA released their debut CD on the Hearts of Space label earlier this year. We are very proud to offer our readers this glimpse into the lives of Kim Waters and Hans Christian and how RASA came to be. I'm sure that you will enjoy this interview and that after you are done you will want to go out and get your own copy of their debut CD Devotion. For now though sit back and relax as we present our chat with RASA.

RASA's Devotion was chosen as the best new age CD of 2000 by Amazon.com!

Click here to read RASA's interview.

Ambient Visions is proud to continue our series of Artist interviews with our latest entry featuring Richard Bone. With the release of Ascensionism Richard Bone finishes up his trilogy of music that started with Electropica. We thought that with the release of this CD it might be a good time to have a chat with Richard and find out a little more about what makes him tick as an artist and as a human being. Our discussion was wide ranging and covered Richard's earliest involvement with music and progresses through the variety of experiences that led Richard to be right where he is today. It was a pleasure talking to Richard as he was very candid and open with his comments about his life and his music. If you already know Richard I think that you will learn something new during this interview and if you don't know of Richard and his music then this is the perfect opportunity to be introduced to him and find some new music to add to your collection. Thanks for joining us and without further ado we present Richard Bone.

Click here to read Richard's interview.

Ambient Visions is proud to present our next interview. Gabrielle Roth moves easily between the Dance that she loves so well and the music that acts as a catalyst for the Dance to take place. If you are familiar with Gabrielle's music you already know the power contained therein but for Gabrielle that is only the beginning. Join us as we talk to Gabrielle Roth about her views concerning her music, her spirituality and of course her Dance. If you are not familiar with Gabrielle's music or her books I would urge you to pick up a copy and learn even more about the passions that drive Gabrielle and how you can make them a part of your life too. Thanks for stopping by and without further ado we present.......Gabrielle Roth.

Click here to read Gabrielle's interview.

Welcome to the first of many exclusive interviews with Ambient , New Age and Electronica musicians and vocalists. We kick off this series with a marvelous talk that we had with Robert Gass a few weeks back. Robert is a powerful proponent of chant and the many benefits that can be derived from this powerful practice. Thanks for joining us, now lets get on with our interview with Robert Gass. Click the title above to begin reading.

Click here to read Robert's interview.