From his early, electronic-infused New Wave hits to his
current position as music director of TEDâand encompassing his
development of audio software used for ringtonesâThomas Dolby has always
represented the vanguard of music and technology. So itâs surprising to
find him in his new project,
The Invisible Lighthouse
, besotted
by nostalgia for a soon-to-be-lost artifact of his childhood, and the
distant history of the remote British region of East Anglia where he
grew up. Indeed, while the subject matter looks backwardâas well as
inward, to questions about the nature of memory itselfâDolbyâs delivery
system is as innovative as ever. The documentary film he self-produced,
wrote, directed and edited forms the backdrop of his current
performance, while its music score and narration are rendered live by
Dolby. Its sound effects, likewise, are generated onstage by Foley
artist (and groovy guitarist) Blake Leyh. Dolby explained to
Willamette Week
how the new project ties into themes in his previous work.
"I think there's always been a sense of parallel worlds in
my music. Very often I cast myself as a sort of dissident, underground
writer, ham-radio operator…. And I found myself in that guise with this
piece, just wanting to document the closing of the lighthouse, and
finding that the Ministry of Defence and the National Trust and Trinity
House were all [opposed]. So I sort of took the law into my own hands
and did a clandestine commando raid on the island. And I thought, if I
get arrested and thrown off the island—or worse yet, walk into one of
the supposed unexploded bombs on the island—it would at least make for
an exciting climax to my film."
SEE IT: Thomas Dolby performs The Invisible Lighthouse
at Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St., on Tuesday, Nov. 19. 8
pm. General admission is $20 advance, $25 day of show. VIP is $60
advance, $65 day of show. 21 .
WWeek 2015
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