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Aphex Twin (born Richard David James on August 18, 1971 in Limerick, Ireland) is an English electronic music artist. He has been described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music." Rephlex Records was co-founded by Aphex Twin with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge in 1991. Richard David James was born of Welsh parents Lorna and Derek James at 5:00 AM[2] on August 18, 1971 in St. Munchins Limerick Regional Maternity Hospital, Ireland. James grew up in Lanner, Cornwall, England, enjoying, along with two older sisters a "very happy" childhood during which they, according to James, "were pretty much left to do what [they] wanted."[3] He "liked growing up there, being cut off from the city and the rest of the world." James was educated at the Redruth School located in Redruth, Cornwall. As a child he experimented on the strings and hammers of the family piano. According to Benjamin Middleton, James started producing music at the age of 12. As a teenager he DJed at the Shire Horse in St Ives, with Tom Middleton at the Bowgie Inn in Crantock, and also along the numerous beaches around Cornwall. From age 16 to 18 James studied for a National Diploma in Engineering from 1988 to 1990 in Cornwall College. James describing his course has said "music and electronics went hand in hand". According to his teachers he passed the course, although he listened to his mixes on his headphones during practical lessons. James met Grant Wilson-Claridge in 1989, while they were DJing on alternate weeks at the Bowgie in Newquay, Cornwall. Wilson-Claridge was intrigued by James' sets and was later surprised to discover that James was playing tapes of his own music. Richard James's first record was the 12-inch EP Analogue Bubblebath released as AFX, the track "En Trance to Exit" was made with Tom Middleton aka Schizophrenia. It was played on the KISS FM playlist, an influential London pirate station, which helped the EP become a success. In 1991 James formed Rephlex Records with his friend Grant Wilson-Claridge to promote: "Innovation in the dynamics of Acid - a much loved and misunderstood genre of house music forgotten by some and indeed new to others, especially in Britain." Between 1991 and 1993, James released two Analogue Bubblebath EPs under the name of AFX and a Bradley Strider EP under "Bradley Strider". He would also record tracks during this time that appeared on his later releases, ...I Care Because You Do and GAK. Early in his career, James moved to London to take an electronics course at Kingston Polytechnic, but at the time admitted to David Toop that his "electronics studies were already slipping away as a career in the techno business took precedence". After quitting his course, James remained in London and released a number of albums and EPs on Warp Records and other labels under many aliases, including AFX, Polygon Window, and Power-Pill. A number of Richard's tracks (released under the aliases Blue Calx, The Dice Man, and others) were also included in various compilations during this time. Local legend has it that James lived on the roundabout in Elephant and Castle, South London during his early years in the capital. The first full-length Aphex Twin album, Selected Ambient Works 85-92, was released in 1992 on R&S Records. John Bush of the All Music Guide described it as a "watershed of ambient music". Rolling Stone magazine wrote of the album: "Aphex Twin expanded way beyond the ambient music of Brian Eno by fusing lush soundscapes with oceanic beats and bass lines". Critics also noted that the songs were recorded on cassette and that the sound quality was "relatively poor". Warp Records has billed the album as "both the birthplace and the benchmark of modern electronic music ... every home should have a copy." In 1992, he also released the Xylem Tube EP and Digeridoo as Aphex Twin, as Power-Pill the Pac-Man EP based on the arcade game Pac-Man, and two of his four Caustic Window EPs. Digeridoo reached #55 on the UK charts, and was later described as foreshadowing drum and bass by Rolling Stone. Digeridoo was recorded initially for the benefit of FIZZ-BOMB (at the Shire Horse, St Ives, Cornwall). These early releases came out on Rephlex Records, Mighty Force of Exeter, and R&S Records of Belgium. In 1993, Aphex released his third installment in the Analogue Bubblebath series, an ambient single On, his second Bradley Strider EP, two more Caustic Window EPs, and his first releases on Warp Records, Surfing on Sine Waves and Quoth under the alias Polygon Window. Warp Records pressed and released a follow-up to SAW85-92, Selected Ambient Works Volume II in 1994. The sound was much less beat-driven than the previous volume. Except for one song explicitly named "Blue Calx", all of the track names were described with pie chart symbols, each of which was meant to be paired with a corresponding image in the album jacket. To decipher song titles, listeners had to pair each numbered symbol with the correct image (for example, the first title, which is often labeled "cliffs", is realized by pairing the first symbol with the first image, which is that of a rocky cliffside). James stated in The Wire magazine and other media that these songs were inspired by lucid dreams and synesthesia. 1994 would also include a string of other releases including his fourth Analogue Bubblebath, GAK, derived from early demos sent to Warp Records and Classics, a compilation album that includes the Digeridoo single, the Xylem Tube EP, along with some other previously unreleased tracks. For his 1995 release, ...I Care Because You Do, James used an image of his face for the album cover; a motif that would continue on many of his later records. The album was a compilation of songs composed between 1990 and 1994, and represented a mish-mash of Aphex Twin's various music styles. This was Aphex Twin's last record of the 1990s to use mostly analogue synthesizers. Aphex Twin collaborated with minimalist composer Philip Glass to make an orchestral version of one of the songs from this album, "Icct Hedral", which appeared on the Donkey Rhubarb EP. In 1995, two releases Melodies from Mars and Analogue Bubblebath 5 were recorded but not released. In 1995 (primarily with Hangable Auto Bulb, a near anagram of Analogue Bubblebath), he began releasing more material composed on computers, combining a jungle sound with nostalgic childhood themes and strange computer-generated acid lines. Aphex Twin's early adoption of software synthesizers predated the later popularity of using computers to make music. The late 1990s saw his music become more popular and mainstream, as he released the Richard D. James Album (which included the previously released Girl/Boy EP), and Expert Knob Twiddlers (a collaboration with fellow dance producer u-ziq) in 1996, "Come to Daddy" in 1997 (#36 on UK charts) and "Windowlicker" in 1998 (#16 on UK charts), both of which were shown on MTV and became cover features for music magazines such as NME. The videos for both singles were directed by British artist Chris Cunningham and caused controversy on their release due to disturbing images and themes. In 1997, a companion to Analogue Bubblebath 3 was released, Analogue Bubblebath 3.1. In 2001 Aphex Twin released his most personal album yet, drukqs, a 2-CD album which featured prepared piano songs influenced by Erik Satie and John Cage. It is notable that many of the tracks names are written in the Cornish language (e.g. 'jynweythek' translatable as 'machinemusic'). Also included were abrasive, fast and meticulously programmed computer-made songs. Rolling Stone described the piano songs as "aimlessly pretty".[23] Some reviewers concluded that drukqs was released as a contract breaker with Warp Records—a credible guess, as James' next big release came out on his own Rephlex label. Richard told the interviewers he had left almost all the album's tracks on an MP3 player that he accidentally left on a plane with "Aphex Twin - unreleased tracks" written on it, and rushed its release to pre-empt an Internet leak. In late 2004, rumours of James' return to an acid techno based sound were realised with the Analord series. This series concentrated on producing fully analogue pieces of music, written and recorded on analogue equipment and pressed to vinyl. James was very meticulous about the whole process of recording, mastering and pressing. However, label co-owner Grant Wilson-Claridge convinced James to release a digital CD, Chosen Lords, which included a selection from the Analord series, with some tracks slightly altered to improve the flow of the album. For the Analord records, James used his extensive collection of Roland drum machines which he bought when they were still at bargain prices. He also used one of the rarest and most desirable synthesizers of his generation, the Synton Fenix, and the notoriously difficult to program Roland MC-4 sequencer (a sequencer with a reputation for excellent timing), as well as the famous Roland TB-303 for his trademark acid melodies. Recently, rumors in the media suggest Aphex Twin is now recording under one or more secret new aliases, such as The Tuss.[25][26] In late February 2008 it was confirmed that James would be headlining Ireland's very own Oxegen Festival. This has led to a mass registration on the festival website with demand for tickets reaching a new high. It was also announced that Aphex Twin is part of the confirmed lineup for T in the Park 2008. [27] He will also be playing the Bestival in September this year. Aphex Twin was a late addition to perform at the 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

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