DIGITONAL
February 14th, 2006 by rui
Gordon Landsburgh’s review of Digitonal’s Sanctuary Stage set at The Big Chill 2006…
A chance meeting at Big Chill 2005 led me to what would be my finest moment at the Big Chill of 2006.
In the North general campsite I stopped a guy to ask him where he had bought his "Toytronic" hooded top. "I’m signed to the label" he told me, "It’s a limited run unfortunately". I spoke to Andy Dobson for maybe five minutes about the label and the roster and where to buy electronica in london, and we went our separate ways. I checked out Andy’s band Digitonal when I got back home and bought "The centre cannot hold" which I really liked and managed to stay on my mp3 player all year.
A year later and I’m back at The Big Chill with a shortlist of must see acts,including Tom Middleton, Lou Rhodes, Longrange and more. However Digitonal turned out to be my highlight gig of 2006 – no question. Beautiful, Elegant, Melodic, Dramatic stuff that put me firmly but gently in the zone. Come and play left me with tears on my cheeks. I can’t think of many bands that have moved me quite like that. A shortened "Stella Maris" morphing into Opus 3′s "A fine night tonight" finished a truely memorable performance of sublime electronica.
So to finish I just want to say thanks to Andy for wearing that hoody that day because otherwise I might have missed the best 45 minutes I’ve had listening to a live band in a long long time.
Gordon Landsburgh
Digitonal – Biography
Although producer Andy Dobson had been writing and performing as Digitonal since 1997, it wasn’t until the addition of violinist Samy Bishai in 2000, and drummer Callum Macmillan in 2002 that the outfit’s collision of cinematic, string drenched neo-classicism and melodic electronica properly took shape. Acclaimed releases for Toytronic, Seed Records and Cactus Island followed which fused the boundaries of both the modern classical and electronic movements, garnering across the board praise from critics of both faiths. 2004′s The Centre Cannot Hold EP introduced legendary ambient vocalist Kirsty Hawkshaw to the line up who the band continue to work with.
Digitonal are live favourites with high-profile shows under their belt for the Royal National Theatre, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Cheltenham International Festival of Classical Music, The Dedbeat Festival, and the Big Chill festival, as well as many more across the UK, US and Europe.
The Band
Andy Dobson – production and keyboards
Andy Dobson started writing and performing as Digitonal in 1997 whilst writing music for film and theatre groups. Classically trained from a young age, his flatmate turned him onto electronica by taking him to a little club night called Blech. Aside from Digitonal, he once wrote and toured a satirical musical and sang with the Philharmonia Chorus. Everything he knows he stole from comic books. He lives in Battersea.
Samy Bishai – violin
In addition to his work with Digitonal, Samy Bishai is an in demand session player in London, and has toured and recorded with Terry Hall and Mushtaq, Celloman, Yasmin Levy, Reem Kelani and Julian Joseph. He drinks way too much espresso.
Callum Macmillan – beats
Although Callum Macmillan started playing the drum kit at the age of fourteen, it is over the past ten years working as a digital artist & musician, which have allowed him to really explore his creativity. A pivotal moment in this progression happened through a chance meeting with producer, Andrew Dobson (Digitonal), in 2002. Here, Callum found an opportunity to converge two of his greatest passions; electronic music and drumming. Having appreciated many types of electronic music over the years, it was in the rhythmic patterns and sound palettes of these genres where Callum first started to find his own drumming technique and style.
Kat Arney – harp
Kat Arney has been making music since before she was tall enough to reach the piano keys. Now still not tall enough to reach the keys, she plays harp, clarinet, bass clarinet, spoons and more or less anything else she can get her hands on. Kat is often found playing with the eclectic acoustic/Indian outfit Sunday Driver, but freely admits to being a complete musical whore who will go with anyone. In her spare time, she’s a professional science communicator and avid knitter.
