Davis, Greg

Artists: Greg Davis
P: 2009
My first foray into Greg Davis’s work was through his excellent debut on Carpark ‘Arbour’ in the summer of 2002 I believe. As I sat with my friend who was playing it on his big stereo I was really just taken aback by how detailed, melodic and organic the work was. I became an instant fan, yet despite this was still taken aback further when I first met Greg and saw him playing live at the Bellingham Electronic Arts Festival on the first of December 2006. The show took a while to sink in as I had never really heard anything quite like it before. I guess in many ways it was an entry for me into ‘drone’ work although this term (as always) is rather disingenuous as there is so much more to Greg’s work than the dictionary definition of ‘drone’. I think it was the sheer size of the sound in the smallish area he played in. Either way, it was both enormous sounding and micro-detailed all in one.
So nearly 6 years after that show I asked Greg if he fancied releasing this as a CD as a kind of comparison to his newer live work. We ended up agreeing on his performance at Higher Ground in May of this year as it seemed like a nice comparison, yet what we got was essentially two live shows which come together seamlessly to create ‘Midpoint’. Its a whole other side to Greg’s work that many have yet to experience and perhaps in a small way we can show just how amazing Greg’s body of work is. From violin to bells, synthesizer to stomp boxes, analog to digital, it just highlights his natural ability to create improvised and amazing sound-scapes. At once minimal, slowly-evolving and rich, you’ll also find yourself entranced by rhythms and bleeps you never thought could exist within ‘drone’ works, if thats how we really must define this. This experimentation and indeed, playful side to his work, is classic Greg Davis. Its what first drew me to his work and which brings a smile to my face as I listen and try to write these pithy words.
( Ian Hawgood )