Spectre (musician)
Encyclopedia
Spectre is Skiz Fernando, head of the Wordsound label, in his record producer
, rapper and electronica
artist persona.
, trip hop
, industrial music
, and horror film
s, and has been described as "the Nosferatu of underground horrorcore". His first album was The Illness (1995
), which drew comparisons with the Wu-Tang Clan
and Lee "Scratch" Perry, and cemented his reputation in the musical community, and was rated at number 29 on music critic Piero Scaruffi
's list of "Best hip-hop albums of all times"., with Scaruffi describing Spectre's first three albums as "the hip-hop equivalent of a William Blake
poem". He soon began collaborating with Prince Paul
(on his Psychoanalysis album), Techno Animal (Vs Reality), Sensational
(on Spectre's 2001 album Parts Unknown), and others.
Spectre also released a 90 minute mixtape, RuffKutz, which showcased his new label, Black Hoodz, and featured tracks by Dr. Israel, Sensational, Mr. Dead, and the Jungle Brothers. His second album, The Second Coming was released in 1998, with a third, The End following in 2000.
Psychic Wars was released in 2003, with reviewer Mason Jones commenting "Spectre's world is a dark, dank back alley, with echoes of doom-laden bass pulses and the distant clanks and thuds of a factory on the outskirts of town". German magazine Skug described the album as "Gnackwat for the brain cells". The album featured vocals from Honeychild and was mixed by Pere Ubu
's Tony Maimone
.
.
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, rapper and electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
artist persona.
Career
He is known for dark, brooding compositions inspired by illbientIllbient
Illbient is a term allegedly coined by DJ Olive to describe the iconoclastic music being produced by a community of artists based in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York in 1994...
, trip hop
Trip hop
Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...
, industrial music
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, and horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
s, and has been described as "the Nosferatu of underground horrorcore". His first album was The Illness (1995
1995 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
), which drew comparisons with the Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
The Wu-Tang Clan is a hip-hop group from Staten Island that consists of RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard. They are frequently joined by fellow childhood friend Cappadonna, a quasi member of the group...
and Lee "Scratch" Perry, and cemented his reputation in the musical community, and was rated at number 29 on music critic Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi
Piero Scaruffi received a degree in Mathematics in 1982 from University of Turin, where he did work on the General Theory of Relativity. For a number of years he was the head of the Artificial Intelligence Center at Olivetti, based in Cupertino, California. He has been a visiting scholar at...
's list of "Best hip-hop albums of all times"., with Scaruffi describing Spectre's first three albums as "the hip-hop equivalent of a William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
poem". He soon began collaborating with Prince Paul
Prince Paul
Paul Huston, better known by the stage name Prince Paul, is an American disc jockey and hip-hop record producer. He was also a founding member of the Gravediggaz where he used the name The Undertaker.- Biography :...
(on his Psychoanalysis album), Techno Animal (Vs Reality), Sensational
Sensational
Sensational is a hip-hop performer from New York. He worked with the Jungle Brothers under the name Torture before going solo. He was featured on the cover of The Wire magazine in December 2009. A film about him entitled The Rise and Fall and Rise of Sensational was released in 2011....
(on Spectre's 2001 album Parts Unknown), and others.
Spectre also released a 90 minute mixtape, RuffKutz, which showcased his new label, Black Hoodz, and featured tracks by Dr. Israel, Sensational, Mr. Dead, and the Jungle Brothers. His second album, The Second Coming was released in 1998, with a third, The End following in 2000.
Psychic Wars was released in 2003, with reviewer Mason Jones commenting "Spectre's world is a dark, dank back alley, with echoes of doom-laden bass pulses and the distant clanks and thuds of a factory on the outskirts of town". German magazine Skug described the album as "Gnackwat for the brain cells". The album featured vocals from Honeychild and was mixed by Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an experimental rock music group from Cleveland, Ohio.Père Ubu may also refer to:* Ubu, the enigmatic central figure of a series of French plays by Alfred Jarry, including Ubu Roi, and subsequent plays Ubu Cocu and Ubu Enchaîné...
's Tony Maimone
Tony Maimone
Tony Maimone is a bass player, producer, and engineer who lives in Brooklyn, New York.He was a member of Pere Ubu from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s, often playing with drummer Scott Krauss...
.
Crooked
In 2000 while visiting family in Sri Lanka, Fernando wrote the script for a movie called Crooked. The film was shot in 25 days in April 2001 then edited and put through post production through the summer and winter of the same year. It was released on the Wordsound label as a soundtrack and a two disc DVD set in 2002.Discography
| Title | Release date |
|---|---|
| The Illness | 1995 |
| The Second Coming | 1997 |
| The End | 1999 |
| Parts Unknown | 2001 |
| Psychic Wars | 2003 |
| Retrospectre | 2004 |
| Transcendent | 2006 |
| Internal Dynasty | 2008 |
Film
Several tracks from The Illness and The Second Coming were used in the film The Mindscape of Alan MooreThe Mindscape of Alan Moore
The Mindscape of Alan Moore is a 2003 feature documentary which chronicles the life and work of Alan Moore, author of several acclaimed graphic novels, including From Hell, Watchmen and V for Vendetta....
.
External links
- Wordsound Official Website
- Skiz Fernando 5-Page interview with Y.Misdaq aka YoshiY.Misdaq aka YoshiY. Misdaq aka Yoshi is a multimedia artist and founder of the arts website Nefisa, which also doubles as an independent media label- Nefisa UK. Since 2004 he has released three LPs, three documentaries and two novels, as well as appearing on numerous works as writer, filmmaker, and performer. Y...