Biography
Amoeba emerged from the extended creative partnership between multi-instrumentalist Rick Davies and ambient composer Robert Rich, a connection spanning several decades with intermittent activity. The pair first crossed paths in 1979 once Davies had come back from periods spent in England and Spain. During the 1980s they joined forces in multiple groups such as Quote Unquote and Urdu. Davies contributed extensive skills to these efforts, encompassing proficiency on winds, guitars, synth, and percussion along with a refined grasp of electronic music gained through his editorial roles at Music Technology and Home & Studio Recording magazines.
Robert Rich supplied equally vital input to the project. Although the pair had worked together before the debut Amoeba release, Rick Davies took no part in that recording; instead Rich enlisted Andrew McGowan, Dave Hahn, and Matt Isaacson. Issued in restricted quantities, the album drew muted critical response. Rich pursued a strongly experimental path, becoming an early adopter of micro-toned synthesizers while staging renowned sleep concerts that featured ambient, droning soundscapes running from late evening into morning for audiences to experience while asleep. He also issued solo works including Trances/Drones in 1983 and Rainforest in 1989, and he has joined forces with Steve Roach, David Tom, Lustmord, Lisa Moskow, Vidna Obmana, and Forrest Fang. Those interests traced back to his early years, when he grew captivated by everyday sonic details such as croaking frogs and ventilator shafts and constructed his initial synthesizer from a kit at age 13.
The second Amoeba album, Watchful, represented a fully realized collaboration between Davies and Rich. It blended multi-layered ambient textures with pop instrumentation in a manner that echoed boundary-pushing pop efforts by Talk Talk and Dead Can Dance. Watchful earned widespread acclaim and confirmed the productive artistic union between the two musicians. Pivot appeared in late 2000.
Robert Rich supplied equally vital input to the project. Although the pair had worked together before the debut Amoeba release, Rick Davies took no part in that recording; instead Rich enlisted Andrew McGowan, Dave Hahn, and Matt Isaacson. Issued in restricted quantities, the album drew muted critical response. Rich pursued a strongly experimental path, becoming an early adopter of micro-toned synthesizers while staging renowned sleep concerts that featured ambient, droning soundscapes running from late evening into morning for audiences to experience while asleep. He also issued solo works including Trances/Drones in 1983 and Rainforest in 1989, and he has joined forces with Steve Roach, David Tom, Lustmord, Lisa Moskow, Vidna Obmana, and Forrest Fang. Those interests traced back to his early years, when he grew captivated by everyday sonic details such as croaking frogs and ventilator shafts and constructed his initial synthesizer from a kit at age 13.
The second Amoeba album, Watchful, represented a fully realized collaboration between Davies and Rich. It blended multi-layered ambient textures with pop instrumentation in a manner that echoed boundary-pushing pop efforts by Talk Talk and Dead Can Dance. Watchful earned widespread acclaim and confirmed the productive artistic union between the two musicians. Pivot appeared in late 2000.
Albums
Singles
