Why Is Dorian Grimm?

 

“One of the problems of being a storyteller is the cultivated ability to extrapolate; in every situation all the what ifs come to me.” (L'Engle, January 1, 1974) In the summer of ’08, the name was born. All the pain and grief had led to this. My escape into a fantasy through music, online cultures and rebellion. Growing up, I was fascinated by the psychedelic sounds my parents played me, my earliest memory of music was being made to sit in the middle of the living room. Poised on a beanbag I found myself listening to Rick Wakeman’s 1974 masterpiece “Journey to The Centre of The Earth”. Now this was not a lavish house, nor a professional set up by any means. Yet experiencing this audio soundscape in 5.1 around our quaint; semi-detached house in the middle of Greenwich, London for the first time. My 6-year-old head was blown away, following every note progression to its resolve. This led me early on down the line of progressive rock bands like YES; Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull. Although too young to understand the true meaning behind the words, the shaping of the sound and music-built cities and worlds inside my imagination. This would later go on to form the very foundation of my musicianship through my teens and truly form in the state I find myself today.

 

Finding my own way through music, I would say took me a long time. Looking back, I do not feel that I would be kind to myself for some of the music that I once listened too. The concept baffles me now that my taste in genre of music was a lot more mainstream and pop as an early teenager. Being brought up in a household of parents who were heavily invested with the experimental music scenes in the late 70’s and early 80’s. To find myself begging to see my favourite band, S Club 7 in concert seems almost incomprehensible. I can rest easy knowing that this wish was thankfully never fulfilled. This juxtaposition in taste was primarily brought on by a lack of like-minded peers with similar backgrounds and a fixation for Saturday morning children’s television. This was, however, how I came to discover my first weapon in my musical arsenal. As I led the school choir as an alto, I was shown to be a promising singer for my age.

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A lot of the music I have come to make over the years has been based in Rock and Metal sub-genres. Yet, I have always loved to push boundaries of the stylings. The early days of the Synthesiser in modern music and its role in revolutionising what is produced today, is for me a corner stone in my style. The use of synthesisers to manipulate songs for instance. Bringing both modern traditions of electronic sounds, from dubstep and house for example. To more classic Moog synth sounds of Dance, into a more analogue recording, can completely change the song’s identity.

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This is not to say that these genres are all I have come to listen to or perform. In revolt to more formulaic dance music, I have found myself inspired by “Artificially” Intelligent Dance Music (I.D.M) and the sense of peace the glitchy sounds it brings give me. According to Sean Booth, “Warp Records - Artificial Intelligence” (1992) “…was a definite tongue-in-cheek thing going on… initially, everyone knew it was a bit silly. Thing is, almost all the artists on that first AI compilation are… not known for being intellectually powerful, they're just fucking good musicians.” (Muggs, 2016) Focusing more on the textures and substance of the sounds created defying conventions set by techno music the concept was electronic music not for the dance floor, with inspiration from bands such as Kraftwerk and Pink Floyd. I.D.M was later credited as the launch of bands such as Aphex Twin.

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Composers such as Chad Lawson however have started to take inspiration from such textures by using synthesizers and samplers in their work, reshaping what classical music means. My love for classical music in film and tv is due to the raw emotion it provokes. With the growing industry of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for instance, I feel the line between classical composing and electronic synthesisers draws thinner. Whether it is the first time listening to a piece or my most recent, I feel a sense of nostalgia for the tension in the crescendo and its ultimate release. The musical theory in its complex inception is truly inspiring to me and helps me focus on trying to harmonise the techniques I use in my own work.

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Growing up as an Anglican protestant, I found myself surrounded by traditional church hymns passed down through sermons and word of mouth. Though due to family trauma and my peers in later teenage years, I would start to rebel against the church and belief as well as my family’s expectations. My appearance changed drastically as so did my taste in music. Gone were the days of pop, as I found my first rock/post-hardcore band when I was 15, a band called We Are the Ocean. Whose mix of rock singing and the harsh screaming vocals in the chorus still catch my attention. Over the years since, I have been in several local and global bands refining my place in this style of music. Realising that post-hardcore also utilised aspects of electronic dance music for chorusing and breakdowns I felt like I had found my sound. 

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Over time I have started to feel unrest in conforming to the genre’s standards and how at face value its “welcoming” people of all sexualities and race has felt more of an elitist façade. Through modern media, stereotypes have been placed upon listeners of emo and post-hardcore, of a worrying generation more fascinated by tendencies to commit self bodily harm or even suicide due to the mood of the music. Due to losing my father at the age of 16 I dealt with my grief and self-blame by falling prey to a darker side of writing lyrics and expression in my music. I had a focus more in shocking listeners through my vivid imagery and representation of the demons that haunted my head as I battled self-harmed.

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Parallel to this I tried to reinvent my persona in an experimental representation of sexual discovery. More influenced by punk and dance styling of bands like The Cure and Soft Cell, I focused on a harder electronic bass and rhythm as used in “I Feel Love” (Summer, et al., 1976) . Using a form of storytelling to help purvey the subtlety and intensity of passion within this new styling, I turned to my favourite books for a name. Not unlike my taste in music at this time, I was drawn to the fantastical worlds of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (Wilde, 1890) and “Children's and Household Tales” (Grimm & Grimm, 1812). With the gothic and supernatural themes that fit this new identity I became Dorian Grimm. 

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Through this characterisation of my self expression, it led me on a journey to reconnect with my heritage through many forms of folk music. Looking back to my childhood I rediscovered Cèilidh and other forms of tradition Irish pub music. This inspired me to experiment with structure and harmonies within the stories I purveyed. I have always relied upon my ability to learn music by ear rather than through notational methods, following in the footsteps of previous generations. In more recent years the appreciation for my ancestral culture, has transformed the outlook of my musicianship through the many styles I have come to love. It’s development into a coalescence of style and sound forge a path I wish to explore during my time at university.

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Using the many sounds, techniques and styles of music I have come to draw from in my development, the birth of Dorian Grimm created an alternative vision for my career in the music industry. This has pushed my creative boundaries and explored a multiplicity of genres accumulating in the juxtaposition from my own formula. Now studying once again, I am eager to experience how my time at university will influence the music I create and any changes it may have on my creative process.

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Works Cited

Various Artists, 1992. Artificial Intellegence. [Sound Recording] (Warp Records).

Grimm, J. & Grimm, W., 1812. Children's and Household Tales. 1st Edition ed. s.l.:Germany.

L'Engle, M., January 1, 1974. The Summer of the Great-Grandmother. s.l.:HarperSanFrancisco.

Muggs, J., 2016. Autechre: elseq et al. [Online] 
Available at: https://ra.co/features/2756

Summer, D., Moroder, G. & Bellotte, P., 1976. I Feel Love. [Sound Recording] (Casablanca).

Wilde, O., 1890. The Picture of Dorian Gray. 2nd Edition ed. s.l.:Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.