Ian Read (musician)
Encyclopedia
Ian Read is an English
neofolk
and traditional folk music
ian.
and began studying Germanic paganism
. He was particularly interested in galdor or magical metrical poetry and the runes
. Read learned to speak and read Old Norse
and Old English
in addition to German
to further his studies in Northern Europe
an history and folklore
. These interests later heavily influenced his musical pursuits.
and contributed vocals to the tracks, 'Benediction' and 'Malediction' on the 1987 album, Swastikas for Noddy
. He aided Douglas P.
on the Death In June
album, Brown Book
. He later appeared on Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God, a reworking of Swastikas for Noddy, with new tracks and arrangements.
In 1987 Read joined Tony Wakeford
's Sol Invictus
along with Karl Blake
. Read recorded three albums and an EP with Sol Invictus before leaving to form the band Fire + Ice in 1991.
He has also been involved in musical projects with the bands While Angels Watch, Darkwood, Forseti
and Sonne Hagal
, the latter two projects in which he sang vocals in German. He has also collaborated with Paul Fredric of Asmodeus X
and Alice Karlsdóttir in the neo-folk band Verdandi
and sang a duet love song named 'The Unquiet Grave' with Ysanne Spevack
under the artist name Mee.
Ian Read founded an all traditional folk band named Figg's Academy that played a couple of gigs, notably in 2008 at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig. The band was named after the bare-knuckle boxer James Figg
.
In a concert, on the 28th of October in Pavia (Italy) in 2011, Ian Read said to the audience that he was working on a new Fire + Ice album that would be out in 2012. He also mentioned that Douglas P.
and Michael Moynihan
will participate to it.
) of the Rune poem
. Read presently holds the position of Drighten in the Rune Gild and co-publishes the periodical Rûna.
Read became the leader of the English branch of the Illuminates of Thanateros
(IOT), in the early 1990s after founder Peter Carroll
stepped down as leading Magus. Read is currently the editor of the IOT's Chaos International (magazine).
's album Swastikas For Noddy
, therefore he appears on this album and some subsequent albums containing remixes of this material:
's album Brown Book
and the tracks have appeared in subsequent Death In June
's releases as well:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
neofolk
Neofolk
Neofolk is a form of folk music-inspired experimental music that emerged from post-industrial music circles. Neofolk can either be solely acoustic folk music or a blend of acoustic folk instrumentation aided by varieties of accompanying sounds such as pianos, strings and elements of industrial...
and traditional folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ian.
History
Read left school at 16, and at the age of 17, he became an adherent of Germanic neopaganismGermanic neopaganism
Germanic neopaganism is the contemporary revival of historical Germanic paganism. Precursor movements appeared in the early 20th century in Germany and Austria. A second wave of revival began in the early 1970s...
and began studying Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
. He was particularly interested in galdor or magical metrical poetry and the runes
Runic alphabet
The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
. Read learned to speak and read Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
and Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
in addition to German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
to further his studies in Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
an history and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. These interests later heavily influenced his musical pursuits.
Music
Read began his musical career with Current 93Current 93
Current 93 is an eclectic British experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet .-Background:Tibet has been the only constant in the group, though Steven Stapleton has appeared on...
and contributed vocals to the tracks, 'Benediction' and 'Malediction' on the 1987 album, Swastikas for Noddy
Swastikas For Noddy
Swastikas for Noddy is a 1988 album by English music group Current 93.The lineup for the recording was: David Tibet, Steven Stapleton, Jhon Balance, Rose McDowall, Boyd Rice, HÖH, Ian Read, Freya Aswynn, and Douglas P., Gary Carey and Bee....
. He aided Douglas P.
Douglas P.
Douglas P. , is an English folk musician, record label owner, photographer and actor who records under the name Death In June. He was born in Sheerwater in Woking, Surrey, and resides in Australia. Douglas P. is openly gay.-Crisis:Pearce began his musical career in a British punk band called Crisis...
on the Death In June
Death in June
Death in June are a neofolk group led by English folk musician Douglas Pearce, better known as Douglas P. The band was originally formed in Britain in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various...
album, Brown Book
Brown Book (album)
Brown Book is an album by Death In June, released in 1987.- Side 1 :# "Heilige Tod"# "Touch Defiles"# "Hail! The White Grain"# "Runes and Men"# "To Drown a Rose"# "Red Dog - Black Dog"- Side 2 :# "In the Fog of the World"# "We Are the Lust"...
. He later appeared on Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God, a reworking of Swastikas for Noddy, with new tracks and arrangements.
In 1987 Read joined Tony Wakeford
Tony Wakeford
Anthony Charles "Tony" Wakeford is an English folk and neoclassical musician who primarily records under the name Sol Invictus.Wakeford lives in London and is married to Sol Invictus violinist Renée Rosen....
's Sol Invictus
Sol Invictus (band)
Sol Invictus is an English neofolk and neoclassical group fronted by Tony Wakeford. Wakeford has been the sole constant member of the group since its inception, although numerous musicians have contributed and collaborated with Wakeford under the Sol Invictus moniker over the years.-Overview:For...
along with Karl Blake
Karl Blake
Karl Blake is a vocalist, bassist, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. Most of his own music can be described as progressive-experimental and sometimes psychedelic.-Musical career:...
. Read recorded three albums and an EP with Sol Invictus before leaving to form the band Fire + Ice in 1991.
He has also been involved in musical projects with the bands While Angels Watch, Darkwood, Forseti
Forseti (band)
Forseti was a dark folk / apocalyptic folk crossover of German musician Andreas Ritter, from the city of Jena. For studio recordings and live performances, he is supported by other musicians. Forseti is a Norse god of justice, peace, and truth...
and Sonne Hagal
Sonne Hagal
Sonne Hagal is a German experimental and neofolk group.-Albums and EPs:-Compilations:-Unofficial:**...
, the latter two projects in which he sang vocals in German. He has also collaborated with Paul Fredric of Asmodeus X
Asmodeus X
Asmodeus X is an American electro-industrial band whose music is frequently characterized as a mixture of EBM and darkwave and typically includes the use of environmental sampling. Their style is said to be influenced by the music of Laibach, Kraftwerk, Death in June, and Front 242, among others...
and Alice Karlsdóttir in the neo-folk band Verdandi
Verdandi
In Norse mythology, Verðandi , sometimes anglicized as Verdandi or Verthandi, is one of the norns...
and sang a duet love song named 'The Unquiet Grave' with Ysanne Spevack
Ysanne Spevack
Ysanne Spevack is a British violinist, composer and string arranger best known for her work recordings for the Smashing Pumpkins, Dub Gabriel featuring Michael Stipe, Tiesto, and Asian Dub Foundation...
under the artist name Mee.
Ian Read founded an all traditional folk band named Figg's Academy that played a couple of gigs, notably in 2008 at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig. The band was named after the bare-knuckle boxer James Figg
James Figg
James Figg was an English bare-knuckle boxer. He is universally recognized the first English bare-knuckle boxing champion, reigning from 1719 to 1730 or 1734. Many of the bouts at the time consisted of boxing, wrestling and fencing with sharp swords. Figg was also a great fencer that engaged in...
.
In a concert, on the 28th of October in Pavia (Italy) in 2011, Ian Read said to the audience that he was working on a new Fire + Ice album that would be out in 2012. He also mentioned that Douglas P.
Douglas P.
Douglas P. , is an English folk musician, record label owner, photographer and actor who records under the name Death In June. He was born in Sheerwater in Woking, Surrey, and resides in Australia. Douglas P. is openly gay.-Crisis:Pearce began his musical career in a British punk band called Crisis...
and Michael Moynihan
Michael Moynihan (journalist)
Michael Moynihan is an American journalist, publisher and musician. He is best known for co-writing the book Lords of Chaos, about black metal....
will participate to it.
Other pursuits
In 1996 Read was named as a Rune-Master within the Rune-Gild. His master work was the Fire + Ice album Rûna that included a self-written and sung galdor (or galdrGaldr
Galdr is one Old Norse word for "spell, incantation", and which was usually performed in combination with certain rites. It was mastered by both women and men and they chanted it in falsetto .-Etymology:...
) of the Rune poem
Rune poem
The Rune Poems are three poems that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Three different poems have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, and the Icelandic Rune Poem.The Icelandic and Norwegian poems list 16...
. Read presently holds the position of Drighten in the Rune Gild and co-publishes the periodical Rûna.
Read became the leader of the English branch of the Illuminates of Thanateros
Illuminates of Thanateros
The Illuminates of Thanateros is an international magical organization founded in 1978, focusing on practical group work in chaos magic. This fraternal magical society has been an important influence on some forms of modern occultism.- Name :...
(IOT), in the early 1990s after founder Peter Carroll
Peter Carroll
Peter James Carroll is a modern occultist, author, cofounder of the Illuminates of Thanateros, and practitioner of chaos magic theory.-Biography:...
stepped down as leading Magus. Read is currently the editor of the IOT's Chaos International (magazine).
with Current 93
He participated to the sessions of Current 93Current 93
Current 93 is an eclectic British experimental music group, working since the early 1980s in folk-based musical forms. The band was founded in 1982 by David Tibet .-Background:Tibet has been the only constant in the group, though Steven Stapleton has appeared on...
's album Swastikas For Noddy
Swastikas For Noddy
Swastikas for Noddy is a 1988 album by English music group Current 93.The lineup for the recording was: David Tibet, Steven Stapleton, Jhon Balance, Rose McDowall, Boyd Rice, HÖH, Ian Read, Freya Aswynn, and Douglas P., Gary Carey and Bee....
, therefore he appears on this album and some subsequent albums containing remixes of this material:
- Swastikas For NoddySwastikas For NoddySwastikas for Noddy is a 1988 album by English music group Current 93.The lineup for the recording was: David Tibet, Steven Stapleton, Jhon Balance, Rose McDowall, Boyd Rice, HÖH, Ian Read, Freya Aswynn, and Douglas P., Gary Carey and Bee....
, 1987 - Looney Runes, 1988
- Earth Covers Earth, 1988
- Crooked Crosses For The Nodding GodCrooked Crosses for the Nodding GodCrooked Crosses for the Nodding God is an album by the English group Current 93. The album contains music reworked and rerecorded from their 1988 album Swastikas for Noddy.-Track listing:# "He Is Everywhere Nowhere" - 2:55# "Northforth" - 0:38...
, 1989 - Swastikas For GoddySwastikas For NoddySwastikas for Noddy is a 1988 album by English music group Current 93.The lineup for the recording was: David Tibet, Steven Stapleton, Jhon Balance, Rose McDowall, Boyd Rice, HÖH, Ian Read, Freya Aswynn, and Douglas P., Gary Carey and Bee....
, 1993
with Death In June
He participated to Death in JuneDeath in June
Death in June are a neofolk group led by English folk musician Douglas Pearce, better known as Douglas P. The band was originally formed in Britain in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various...
's album Brown Book
Brown Book (album)
Brown Book is an album by Death In June, released in 1987.- Side 1 :# "Heilige Tod"# "Touch Defiles"# "Hail! The White Grain"# "Runes and Men"# "To Drown a Rose"# "Red Dog - Black Dog"- Side 2 :# "In the Fog of the World"# "We Are the Lust"...
and the tracks have appeared in subsequent Death In June
Death in June
Death in June are a neofolk group led by English folk musician Douglas Pearce, better known as Douglas P. The band was originally formed in Britain in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various...
's releases as well:
- Brown BookBrown Book (album)Brown Book is an album by Death In June, released in 1987.- Side 1 :# "Heilige Tod"# "Touch Defiles"# "Hail! The White Grain"# "Runes and Men"# "To Drown a Rose"# "Red Dog - Black Dog"- Side 2 :# "In the Fog of the World"# "We Are the Lust"...
, 1987 - The Cathedral Of TearsThe Cathedral of TearsThe Cathedral of Tears is a 1991 album by Death In June.-Track listing:# "Brown Book "# "Burn Again"# "Death of a Man"# "Rule Again "# "Touch Defiles"# "Hidden Among the Leaves"# "Red Dog - Black Dog"...
, 1991 - Braun Buch Zwei, 2009
with Sol Invictus
- Lex TalionisLex Talionis (album)Lex Talionis is the name of the third album by the English pagan folk/neoclassical group Sol Invictus. The LP was originally released in 1989 in a box set with albums by Current 93 and Nurse with Wound...
, 1990 - Sol Veritas LuxSol Veritas LuxSol Veritas Lux is a CD release by the English folk/rock band Sol Invictus. It combines the first Sol Invictus release, the mini-LP Against the Modern World, with the second release, the live album In the Jaws of the Serpent, onto one CD....
, 1990, compilation of the tracks from the EPs Against the Modern WorldAgainst the Modern WorldAgainst the Modern World was the first release credited to the English industrial and Pagan neoclassical group Sol Invictus.Against The Modern World was a mini vinyl LP rooted in traditional European folk music and modern Industrial. It featured distorted electric guitars, acoustic guitar, and a...
(1988) and In The Jaws Of The Serpent (1988) - Trees In Winter, 1990
with Fire + Ice
- Gilded by the Sun, 1992
- Hollow Ways, 1994
- Midwinter Fires, 1995
- Rûna, 1996
- Birdking, 2000