Phil Durrant

Born in 1957 in the United Kingdom, Phil Durrant was first trained as a violinist and pianist at the London College of Music before turning to free improvisation in the late 1970s, in the wake of the London scene linked to the Musicians’ Collective. A violinist, composer and electronic musician, Phil Durrant develops work situated between contemporary improvisation, electroacoustic music and minimal electronics, with attention paid to textures, micro-variations and open forms. His career leads him equally toward free improvisation groups and toward the British underground techno scene, where he worked as a musician and producer under the pseudonyms Excel D, Midi Tribe and Mystical Units, often with Francis Powell. In the field of improvisation, Durrant notably played with John Russell and John Butcher, then in News from the Shed with Paul Lovens and Radu Malfatti, while later collaborating with musicians such as Chris Burn, Thomas Lehn, Pat Thomas or Mark Sanders. From the 1990s, he deepened the integration of live electronics into his violin playing and also worked with dance. His discography notably includes Concert Moves (1995), Sowari: Violin & Live Electronics (1997), Secret Measures with John Butcher (1999) and Dach with Radu Malfatti (2001).