CLIVE WILLIAMSON - Biography
 Clive
Williamson is a composer, producer and
musician with the group Symbiosis
and also works as a freelance graphic designer, photographer and journalist.
His main interest has always been finding
areas where Technology and the Arts can interact creatively. He trained
at the BBC as a sound engineer and worked as a Technical Operator and
Studio Manager in radio, and as an Assistant Producer in television
(for BBC2's Riverside and Computers in Control). He went
on to produce Applying the Micro for the U.K.'s national Radio
4 network and The Science of Sound for Radio 4 Education and
BBC World Service.
As
a journalist, Clive has written about the uses of new technology in
sound production and music for the Institute of Broadcast Sound magazine
Line Up; Sound on Sound magazine; and most recently
for the online magazine Digital DIY. Earlier
he wrote three books on home computing (Sigma Press and Penguin Books)
and articles for Which Micro?, Acorn User, Time Out
and Televisual magazine. He was a regular contributor to Matthew
on Music and Sarah Ward (BBC World Service), The Big
Byte (BBC Radio 5) and has since appeared as a composer and performer
on Techno (BBC2); 11 a.m. (Seven Network, Australia);
and on numerous radio programmes.
Clive
Williamson now concentrates on his work with the Devon-based musical
group Symbiosis, which he started
in London in 1987, aiming to combine natural instruments such as flutes (played
by himself and John Hackett) and guitars
(played by Richard Bolton) with the best in studio technology and a sensitive approach to production. The group then expanded to include cittern and mandolin player Ashley Drees; flautist and singer Emily Jane Sinclair; and a number of guest musicians including Sarah Devonald (oboe and Cor Anglais), Ian
Ritchie (soprano sax), Maloviere
(violin and tsimbala) and percussionist Michèle
Drees. Clive has used both analogue and digital recording methods
to capture their performances and creates all their album covers using
'ambient images' from nature.
"Our
goal has always been to use technology intuitively and creatively,"
says Clive, "so that our music – and the way we present it – is as natural and as inventive as possible. I think the best use of technology is often when it is completely transparent to our listeners, but has enabled us to make better recordings – with more heart-felt and inspired playing, writing and mixing – than would have been possible using traditional methods!"
 In
1995/6 Clive travelled round New Zealand collecting nature recordings
for the Symbiosis release "AOTEAROA
- Nature Sounds of New Zealand". (These natural sounds have also been used extensively in BBC radio and TV programmes and featured in the 2018 Royal New Zealand Ballet's production of 'The Piano'.) More recently, he recorded
John Hackett and pianist Sally Goodworth's album of John's classically-inspired
tunes titled "Velvet Afternoon"
and designed the covers for both that album, "Checking
Out of London" (March 2005), and John's later solo release:
"Prelude to Summer"
(2008). Since 2006, Clive has been expanding and remastering the range
of Symbiosis recordings available for download world-wide from 
and streaming on Spotify. In 2017 he revisited New Zealand with his wife Nora, making new recordings for a remastered and extended edition of "AOTEAROA", which was released under his own name in late 2018 as "New Zealand Naturally". 2018 also saw the release of a retrospective collection celebrating Clive's musical work with Symbiosis titled "Flowing with the Tide". In 2021 Clive released "At Peace With Nature", a beautiful collection of his most relaxing natural sounds from Australia, New Zealand, Colombia and the United Kingdom. The album was offered free to NHS and UK Care Home staff in appreciation of thier work during the COVID pandemic..
To
contact Clive, e-mail: relax(at)symbiosis-music.com {replacing
(at) with @ }
Discography:
Tears of
the Moon (1988/2001); Song
of the Peach Tree Spring (1988/1998); Touching
the Clouds (1992/5); Lake of Dreams
(1994); Autumn Days (1995/2007); Amber
& Jade (1996); AOTEAROA - Nature Sounds
of New Zealand (1997); Sea of Light
(1999); The Comfort Zone (2002);
Dancing in your Dreams (2005);
Touching the Clouds - Therapist's
Edition (1992/2007); The
Dream of the Emperor's Concubine – by Maloviere & Symbiosis
(2008); Air & Grace by John Hackett & Symbiosis (2017); New Zealand Naturally (2018); Flowing with the Tide (2018); Songs of Hope: The Dawn Chorus - Tiritiri Matangi Island (2019). Symbiosis videos viewable on YouTube.
 
Also appeared on: Denise Linn's 'Angels! Angels! Angels!', 'Phoenix Rising', 'Dreams', 'Secrets & Mysteries - the Glory and Pleasure of Being a Woman' and 'Instinctive Feng Shui for Creating Sacred Space'; "Salvador" on the New Age Music Association's release 'Lucid Dreaming' (1992); "Shaving is Boring" on the debut album by the UK group Hatfield and the North (1973); and a number of BBC Audio Productions including: Satellites Français; The Paddington Bear stories; Get by in French and Get by in German.
Clive Williamson on Franz Josef glacier (South Island of New Zealand)
Radio
Journalist Interviews
for BBC Radio 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, the BBC's World Service and Transcription
Recording Unit, Denmark Radio, ABC Australia and Capital Radio (London)
include: Peter
Gabriel, Phil Collins, Steve Hackett, Paul Simon, Frank Zappa, Jaco
Pastorius, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Bill Bruford, Robert Wyatt,
Mike Oldfield, Pete Townshend, Kate Bush, Daevid Allen and Steve Hillage
(Gong), Viv Stanshall, Ian Dury, Joe Zawinul, Todd Rundgren, Kevin
Godley & Lol Creme, John Miles, Julie Felix, Judy Tzuke, guitarist
John Williams, poets Linton Kwesi Johnson & John Cooper Clarke,
Glen Velez, Adrian Belew, Wendy
Carlos, and Bob Moog; Members of: Blondie,
The Human League, Roxy Music, Soft Machine (Mike Ratledge), Can (Michael
Karoli), Tangerine Dream (Edgar Froese), Brand X (Percy Jones), Magazine,
The Gang of Four, XTC, Heaven 17, UK, Scritti Politti (Green), Hatfield
and the North (Dave Stewart), Spirit (Ed Cassidy), Van Halen, Blue
Oyster Cult and Talking Heads (David Byrne); Artists, Designers and
Photographers: Roger Dean, Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell ('Po')
of Hipgnosis, Chris Foss, Pennie Smith and Kim Poor; and jazz musicians
Freddie Hubbard, Victor Feldman, Bobby Wellins, Pepper Adams, Dick
Morrisey and Herbie Mann.
Books
by Clive Williamson:
Getting the Most from Your BBC Micro (Penguin Books Ltd, 1984)
ISBN 0 14 00.7812 6
Getting the Most from Your Acorn Electron (Penguin Books Ltd, 1984)
ISBN 0 14 00.7805 3
Mastering View, ViewSheet and ViewStore (Sigma Press, 1987) ISBN
1-85058-051-0
Photos:
Portrait with CD taken in Christchurch, New Zealand by Annette Turnbull-Dew
Panorama of Clive Williamson in the Symbiosis Studio
by Robin Mudge
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