ALEX WROTEN

Alex Wroten biography
American musician Alex WROTEN's training combines formal education in classical guitar and classical composition with years of independent experiments with electric guitar, keyboard, and computer software. Inspired by such avant-garde influences as THE RESIDENTS, as well as such classically-oriented progressive music as EMERSON LAKE AND PALMER, WROTEN's music has always exhibited an eclectic blend of electronic and acoustic, of classical and rock. In blending such diverse styles, WROTEN has, in a way, crafted his own unique style, characterized by a desire to consistently find new and interesting ways to create and manipulate sound.

Although WROTEN created a number of full-length cassette tape projects as a young child, the first album he made in earnest was Turkey's Revenge (2001). Beginning with Turkey's Revenge, progressive influences enter WROTEN's music in the form of complicated time signatures, instrumental performances, and a marked compositional quality. WROTEN would take a hiatus of some years to focus on classical compositions, during which time he also created several film soundtracks, culminating in 2007's Kirk Mannican's Liberty Mix. On this album, the progressive elements found on Turkey's Revenge are fully expressed in the use of vintage keyboards, MAHAVISHNU-like electric violin and guitar combinations, and long-form compositions. WROTEN's latest album, Not Necessarily Like This (2010), is undoubtedly the progressive powerhouse of his discography so far. With all its instruments performed by WROTEN, Not Necessarily Like This sees greater use of synthesizers and vintage keyboards, as well as long-form composition taken to a further extreme with the twenty-minute-long track Alpha But Omega. Though mature in skill and style, Wroten is still relatively young in age, with plenty of room to grow even further in decades to come.

---- bio written by Ehab Buhaisi ----