Erik Griswold Explained

Erik Griswold
Occupation:Composer
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, United States
Associated Acts:Clocked Out Duo, Daughter's Fever
Label:Room40, Neuma
Instrument:Piano

Erik Griswold (born 1969) is an American-born, Australian-based composer and pianist from Brisbane.[1]

Career

Griswold began playing piano at the age of five, and has cited his early influences as Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartok, and Miles Davis, and later Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington as he became more interested in improvisation.[2]

He studied his undergraduate at University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and University of California, San Diego, before moving to Australia in 1999. Initially he moved to Melbourne, before settling in Brisbane, and it was after his move to Australia that Griswold began to seriously explore prepared piano and focus more on his work as a performer.

He has released several albums on Australian record label Room40,[3] beginning with 2004's Altona Sketches, and album of prepared piano pieces.[4]

In 2020 ABC Classics commissioned a new 15-minute work from Griswold to have its premier at the 2021 Brisbane Music Festival.[5] The work How Strange the Change was inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, while the title was in homage to Cole Porter’s Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye.[6]

Work with Vanessa Tomlinson

Erik Griswold has released music with his partner percussionist Vanessa Tomlinson as Clocked Out Duo.[7] In 2000 they won two Green Room Awards for their collaboration Dada Cabare,[8] and as Clocked Out won the Award for Excellence by an Organisation or Individual and Queensland State Award at 2011's APRA and AMC Art Music Awards.[9]

In 2015 they celebrated 15 years of making music together, having toured internationally and already released eight albums together at the time.[10]

In 2016 they collaborated on music for architect Bruce Wolfe's project Piano Mill, a tower located in Queensland bushland housing 16 pianos.[11]

For 2017's World Science Festival in Brisbane, they performed Time Crystals, a musical piece inspired by physicist Frank Wilczek's theories on time.[12] The song previously appeared on their eighth album of the same name, released in 2014.[13]

Awards

!Year!Award!Work!Status
2021Art Music Awards: Work of the Year: DramaticDragon Ladies Don't WeepWinner[14]
2017ARIA Award for Best Jazz AlbumWater Pushes SandNominated[15]
2016Art Music Awards

Work of the Year: Jazz

Water Pushes SandNominated[16]
2000Green Room Awards: Commitment To Cabaret (Venue/producer) and Most Innovative Use Of FormCabaret Dada with Vanessa TomlinsonWinner

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Griswold, Erik (1969-). 2022-02-25. Trove.
  2. Knight. Peter. 2010. Erik Griswold in Conversation with Peter Knight. Extempore. 5. 34–46. 1835-6915.
  3. Web site: Erik Griswold : Represented Artist Profile : Australian Music Centre. 2022-02-25. Australian Music Centre.
  4. Web site: Berge. Bryan. 2005. Erik Griswold - Altona Sketches. 2022-02-25. Stylus Magazine.
  5. Web site: 2020-07-13. New Australian music commissioned by the ABC. 2022-02-25. ABC Classic. en.
  6. Web site: World Premiere: Erik Griswold's How Strange the Change. 2022-02-25. Limelight. en-AU.
  7. Web site: 2019-02-07. Return to The Piano Mill. 2022-02-25. ABC Classic. en.
  8. Web site: 2000. 08 Nov 2004 - Stage Left Feature - Green Room Awards Results - Archived Website. dead. http://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20041108102730/http://www.stageleft.com.au/fgreenr2.html. 2004-11-08. 2022-02-25. Stage Left. en.
  9. Web site: Gallasch. Keith. 2011. RealTime Arts - Magazine - issue 103 - a winning year for innovators. 2022-02-25. RealTime Arts.
  10. Web site: Innes. Matt. Clocked Out: 15 Years Later. 2022-02-25. scenestr. 3 September 2015 . en-gb.
  11. Web site: Mill. Interior of the Piano. 2018-11-30. Australian music and architecture project wins international award. 2022-02-25. ABC Classic. en.
  12. News: 2017-03-27. How music can monitor climate change. en-AU. ABC News. 2022-02-25.
  13. Web site: 2022. Clocked Out / Erik Griswold / Vanessa Tomlinson - Time Crystals. 2022-02-25. All Music.
  14. Web site: 2021 Art Music Awards winners announced. 2022-02-25. Limelight. en-AU.
  15. Web site: 2017-10-03. Gang Of Youths, King Gizzard, D.D Dumbo & More Score Early ARIA Award Nominations. 2022-02-25. Music Feeds.
  16. Web site: 19 July 2016. 2016 Art Music Awards: finalists announced. 2022-02-25. Australian Music Centre.