Thomas Dolby: Future World

By Jon Armstrong

I knew that whatever music I would be attracted to and ultimately attempt to make myself would be changed after I heard Thomas Dolby’s first hit, “She Blinded Me With Science” in 1982. I didn’t know it then, but Dolby played on some of the biggest songs of the early 1980s, lending his talent and sound to Def Leppard’s Pyromania, synthesizer work on Foreigner’s mega-smash, 4, (can anyone who was alive and young during that album’s run forget the synth line to “Waiting for a Girl Like You”?) and as David Bowie’s keyboardist for Bowie’s band at Live Aid in 1985, contributing to the goosebump inducing rendition of Hereos.

Aside from helping to define the synthpop era, Dolby is a real renaissance man. His work as a producer, technologist and entrepreneur hasn’t stopped for over 25 years. Like most of the keyboardists from his era, Dolby is linked to technology and music deeply.

Dolby also produced one of my favorite albums of the 1980s, Prefab Sprout’s Steve McQueen (also referred to in the U.S. as Two Wheels Good). When that album came out, I was living in England and the sounds of those songs forever remind me of rain, great chords, peculiar melodies and coming of age.

Jon Armstrong: Your musical history is inextricably linked to technology. How has the last 15 years of your musical life compared to the first 15 in terms of hardware versus software? How much of what you do is software dependent now versus in the 1980s?

Thomas Dolby: In the last 15 yeas I’ve done almost no music at all. This is partly because I got drawn in as a technology designer and entrepreneur, with my company Beatnik which makes the audio software in over half the world’s mobile phones; and partly because I was frustrated that the potential of the Internet as a replacement for the physical music business seemed to be slow in fulfilling itself. Now, Beatnik is running very well without me (better!) and the Internet is getting very interesting. It has completely changed the equation for musicians. We no longer need to depend on a third party to fund our recordings or even our distribution. When I write a song I’m only a few clicks away from sharing it with my audience. This makes a huge difference to the song itself, because I no longer have to impress my manager, A+R man, marketing department, radio programmers, or journalists–I can just communicate directly to the fans. Meanwhile, hardware is more affordable and software more varied and plentiful. So overall, it’s a much better time to be making music than when I started out in the 1970’s.

Jon Armstrong: Do you think that the evolution of music software has helped or hurt the musical landscape? (I’m speaking in terms like Apple including a copy of Garage Band on every Mac and software like Acid for the PC.)

Thomas Dolby: It’s undoubtedly brought the pleasure of making music to a wider public. This software is very approachable and almost anyone can sound ‘good’ within minutes. I’m sure some people are getting hooked and discovering their musical talent through these applications. Some argue it makes everything sound the same, but I’m not sure that’s true. If anything, it makes the unusual stuff stand out, when the artist has avoided the obvious tools and gone a different route.

Jon Armstrong: Since TED just finished, I’d love to know if you think that the ideas of TED filter out into broader culture… And if so, how long do you think it takes? I like the juxtaposition of technology and entertainment and wonder if you think that as a whole, technology has degraded or improved how people experience entertainment (movies, music, live music, theatre, etc)? Does TED make a difference?

Thomas Dolby: TED is a remarkable success story. It’s a concentration of some of the most brilliant minds on the planet, into a meeting over four days that is free from the influence of governments, causes, or corporations. There’s a flow and commonality to the talks which comes about from each speaker listening, as well as talking, to the TED community. In the early days of TED this was a very elitist experience (you needed thousands of dollars and a good Rolodex to even attend) but now that we have made the talks downloadable, the ideas can be shared with anyone across the globe. And you realise there’s actually very little great content online that doesn’t come with a pricetag of some sort, or that you can really trust as being unbiased. I think a few hours of TED talks will completely change your view of what, as a species, we might be able to achieve, in terms of curing disease, addressing poverty, and rescuing the planet.

Plus, it’s just so entertaining (to me) to see inside the heads of these extraordinary people. They are talking to their intellectual
peers from all different disciplines, not just to other experts in their own field, or explaining themselves to a random audience. It’s
frowned on for speakers to ‘toe the corporate line’ or preach any doctrine. They are encouraged to open up and talk from the heart, and that happens at TED over and over again.

Jon Armstrong: Since I haven’t seen a lot of coverage about your work with Prefab Sprout online, just wondering how you think that work stands up to your other work. Disclosure: My favorite Prefab tracks are the ones you produced.

Thomas Dobly: I feel that ‘Steve McQueen’ (’Two Wheels Good’ in the USA) and ‘Jordan: The Comeback’ are two of the best albums I’ve ever been involved in. In some ways they’re parallel to my own albums ‘The Flat Earth’ and ‘Astronauts and Heretics’. I love Paddy McAloon’s writing and his odd chords and harmonies. At their best, there’s a rock grittiness combined with a soft heart that I’ve never heard anywhere.

Jon Armstrong: What’s up next for you?

Thomas Dolby: I am converting a vintage lifeboat into a studio in my garden, overlooking the North Sea. It’s tricky because there’s no more mahogany and other hard woods to be had, we’ve depleted the world’s supplies. So I’m trying to use reclaimed timber which I scrounge from old buildings that are pulled down, or from other wooden boats.. When it’s done it will be powered by a wind turbine and solar panels, and then I plan to make a new album using only renewable energy. I’m writing the material now, mostly in my head. It’s been so long since I made new music, and I’m quite rusty. But I’m enjoying myself immensely!

About The Author: Jon Armstrong is husband of Heather, father of Leta, and wrangler of Chuck and CoCo. He is a web designer/developer, a photographer, writer, musician, co- founder of Armstrong Media, LLC., and an all around lovable human being. He currently resides with his family on a beach on the Gulf of Mexico.