William C. Harrington
uses loops, analog and digital synthesis, traditional instruments and found objects to create soundscapes that shift from experimental ambient to avant-garde free jazz
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
was born in Yonkers, New York. At Cal State U Dominguez Hills, he studied composition, performance, and electronic music with Richard B. Evans, author of the classic book on John Cage, "The Well Prepared Piano". He was also influenced by seminars with several composers including Nicholas Slominsky.
After leaving college he worked in the wholesale record industry for two years before going on tour. He worked as a keyboard technician for several bands, including Gentle Giant, before beginning a three year working relationship with Frank Zappa. (This included three America tours, two European tours, spending several months in the studio working on the album "Baby Snakes" and making a brief, credited appearance in Zappa's movie, "Baby Snakes"). He was with Zappa in Paris when Pierre Boulez first visited.
Upon returning to LA, he attended the UCLA Extension, Music Business program where he was awarded two NARAS scholarships. He studied record production with Nick Venet (producer of The Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater and many others).
His first two CDs, Urban Electronic Music, and UEM Live received good reviews and airplay on NPR, college and indie radio stations. In 2006 The American Composers Forum awarded him a SUBITO grant to help defer the cost of his third studio CD, Nuclear Menace which was reviewed favorably in the fall/2007 issue of Signal to Noise Magazine. His current release, Science Can't Explain It, was released this year. He has recently performed at the REDCAT Theater - in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, ResBox at The Steve Allen Theater and the SASSAS presentation based on the Scratch Orchestra Draft Constitution.
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
Yes! Usually festivals and art galleries. Make Music New York was a blast. "electro-music 2006", in Philly was cool too. The REDCAT in down town LA is one of my favorites.
Your musical influences
Louis & Bebe Barron, Jane Ira Bloom, John Cage, Captain Beefheart, George Clinton, Lol Coxhill, Ron Geesin, Pierre Henry, King Crimson, Roland Kirk, Steve Lacy, Cliff Martinez, Thelonious Monk, Conlon Nancarrow, Sam Newsome, Pink Floyd, Krsystof Penderecki, Harry Partch, Roger Ruskin Spear, Soft Machine, Soulive, Karlhienz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Raymond Scott, Weather Report, Robert Wyatt, Iannis Xenakis, Frank Zappa, Joe Zawinul
What equipment do you use?
Unison S100 soprano sax w/ Selmer metal mouthpiece "E" w/ Selmer ligature and Francois Louis 3 reeds, MacBook with Ableton Live, Line 6 DL4, Kawai K4, Roland VK-7, Alesis Micron, Korg Kaoss KP3, Korg Kaossilator Pro, and lots of found objeccts
