Biography
Ken Peel is a creator of electronic music and sound art, an award winning media composer and a field recordist. He has been releasing electronic music spanning numerous genres since 2004 and in 2017 was awarded a Master of Music with distinction, by Bath Spa University, for his studies in Creative Sound and Media Technology.
Releases
2004 – Legs (as Avon) on The Abduction of the Art of Noise (compilation) [CD], Karvavena/Iris Light Records
2004 – Salary Man (as Avon) [CD], Karvavena/Iris Light Records
2005 – Marginal [CD, digital], Karvavena Records
2005 – The Cut (e.p.) (as Avon) [CD, digital], Departure Point Recordings
2007 – The Cloud of Reason (e.p.) [CD, digital], Departure Point Recordings
2010 – EP7, in 14 Versions of the Same EP [4x CD boxed set compilation], Front and Follow Records
2011 – Ogonblick, (with David Stiernholm) [digital], Departure Point Recordings
2011 – Bristol Left Overs 1999-2009 [digital], Departure Point Recordings
2011 – Salary Man (re-issue) [digital], Departure Point Recordings
2015 – I Am Not Ken Peel (e.p.) [digital], Departure Point Recordings
2015 – A Tune a Day: Synthesizer Book 1 (e.p.) [digital], Departure Point Recordings
2020 – Party Droids (e.p.) [digital], Departure Point Recordings
2020 – Shadows of the Future (e.p.) [digital], Departure Point Recordings
Installation & Collaboration
2016 - Anamnesis - electro-acoustic collaboration featuring special appearance by Henk Hofstede from famous Dutch band The Nits
2017 - Remanance - collaboration with dancer and choreographer Emily Harper
2017 - Laminar Flow - A/V installation exploring the fate of refugees at sea triggered by real-time wind speed
Broadcast Commissions and Licensing
Arts Council England, documentary, Cultural Cargo
BBC Alba, documentary, Balaich Eileen
BBC2, documentary, The People Detective
BBH New York, TV & cinema commercial, Axe Residue
ITV, documentary, RAPID
Long Bio
Favourably reviewed in in UK and international press including: Decode, Future Music, The Bristol Evening Post, The Wire, Venue and Electronics and Music Maker Ken has also garnered praise from several online sites including Electronic Music, The Big Chill and Untitled Music.
Classically trained in piano and euphonium, Ken became interested in music technology during the Acid House revolution and acquired his first sampler in 1989. During the 1990s he played keyboards in funk and soul bands in Basingstoke and Bristol, before emerging as a solo artist and producer early in the 21st century.
In 2004, in homage to the 1980s BBC sci-fi series, Blake’s 7, and under the moniker Avon, Ken created Salary Man - an LP released by Iris Light Records and Karvavena Records. Its critical reception lead to a live performance of the album on London’s X-FM show Flo-Motion, presented by Nick Luscombe. At the same time, Classic FM producer Ben Eshmade asked Ken to create the audio branding for The Chiller Cabinet, a weekend midnight show of ambience, movies and minimalism.
The next 6 years saw the release of 3 EPs, the album Marginal and the folktronica collaboration Ogonblick with Swedish multi-instrumentalist David Stiernholm. In this period, Ken wrote TV soundtracks for documentary series on BBC2 and ITV and his music was licensed for The Arts Council England, BBC Alba and TV and cinema commercials in the USA. A national USA commercial for Axe by agency BBH New York, scored by Ken, received a Gold Medal at the Cannes Lions Advertising Awards.
2011 saw a digital re-release of Salary Man, the 23-track album Bristol Left Overs 1999-2009 (a collection of TV themes and related compositions) and the launch of an Internet radio Live365 channel, Departure Point Radio, which ran for several years. The Live365 channel was unexpectedly popular in Peru and Ecuador.
In the summer of 2014, Spotify included Ken’s track Ashes and Snow for their Ultimate Chill Out playlist and notching over one million streams in 6 months.
2015 saw the release of two EPs and Ken embark on his Masters studies delving deep into Max for video processing, collaborating with the choreographer Emily Harper and exploring field recording in abandoned factory spaces in Somerset and the streets around Karl Marx Strasse in Berlin.
Exploring more techno influences, two EPs were released in 2020: Party Droids and Shadows of the Future. In 2021, Ken created a sample library at the Rockaway Park community which is offered as donation-ware for Care4Calais.
2023 saw Ken get back to playing live at We All Play Synth, Sonic State Live and Breezeblock Beats.
Ken lives with his family in the South West of England.