Biography
The psychedelic pop adventurer Vinyl Williams draws from an array of pursuits beyond sound—among them Egyptian BioGeometry and Russellian science—that shape his ethereal, gently disoriented compositions and understatedly expansive records. Frequently assembled in solitude through unorthodox capture techniques, his output, notably the 2018 release Opal partly tracked via portable cassette and VHS camcorder alongside the more linear, composition-focused Cosmopolis from 2022, charted a consistent path through sonic space, gathering elements of shoegaze, dream pop, soft rock, ambient, and sunshine pop along the way.
Born Lionel Williams, this multi-media creator is the grandson of acclaimed film composer John Williams and the son of Air Supply drummer Mark Towner Williams. Following a period rejecting music as an expressive medium, he took up drums at age ten and soon composed his initial piece. After a decade in Utah, Air Supply’s adopted home, Williams left behind his rigorous religious environment and returned to his native Los Angeles, enrolling at CalArts for visual arts study. He redirected his primary attention to music, however, and during spring 2010 started developing material that would form his first album, performing every instrument himself while layering atmospheric, oneiric qualities through overdubbing. Lemniscate appeared in 2012 via No Pain in Pop, prompting Williams to assemble a touring ensemble. During performances in Seoul, South Korea, he connected with Toro y Moi’s Chaz Bear, leading the pair to join forces on the improvised ambient project Trance Zen Dental Spa in 2014. Bear then brought Vinyl Williams to Company Records, issuing the space rock- and shoegaze-tinged Into in July 2015.
Venturing in a fresh direction, Williams’ subsequent album was captured by Bear over a month at his Berkeley studio, incorporating guitar from live-band member Ian Gibbs plus extra vocals and synth from Medicine’s Brad Laner. Issued in August 2016, Brunei mirrored the artist’s youthful interest in that nation’s currency together with his aspirations for greater global accord. Concurrent with his musical work, Williams maintained activity in video-game design and video direction, applying his lo-fi, fragmented aesthetic to visualize tracks by Tears for Fears, Medicine, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and additional acts. For the following record, Williams integrated video equipment into the workflow. At his Non Plus Ultra artspace studio in L.A., foundational takes were laid to VHS camcorder; guitar lines captured on handheld cassette were then integrated, with the camcorder versions blended beneath digital mixes to produce a wavering, submerged texture. Williams again managed nearly all instrumentation except hand drums from Yonatan Gat’s Gal Lazer and guitar plus synth from Ian Gibbs. The outcome, the cosmically unhurried Opal, emerged in July 2018 on the French imprint Requiem Pour un Twister. Following a two-year interval, Williams resurfaced with Azure, an album steeped in submerged sonics that explored plush surfaces and included some of his most buoyant material to date. Upon commencing the next project, he invited input from kindred players—keyboardist Eric Werner, synth player and vocalist Nick Logie, and guitarists Josh Menashe and Lilliana Villines—yielding a sharper, marginally less hazy collection. With guest vocals from fellow neo-shoegazer Samira Winter on a single track, Cosmopolis surfaced via Requiem Pour un Twister in late 2022.
Born Lionel Williams, this multi-media creator is the grandson of acclaimed film composer John Williams and the son of Air Supply drummer Mark Towner Williams. Following a period rejecting music as an expressive medium, he took up drums at age ten and soon composed his initial piece. After a decade in Utah, Air Supply’s adopted home, Williams left behind his rigorous religious environment and returned to his native Los Angeles, enrolling at CalArts for visual arts study. He redirected his primary attention to music, however, and during spring 2010 started developing material that would form his first album, performing every instrument himself while layering atmospheric, oneiric qualities through overdubbing. Lemniscate appeared in 2012 via No Pain in Pop, prompting Williams to assemble a touring ensemble. During performances in Seoul, South Korea, he connected with Toro y Moi’s Chaz Bear, leading the pair to join forces on the improvised ambient project Trance Zen Dental Spa in 2014. Bear then brought Vinyl Williams to Company Records, issuing the space rock- and shoegaze-tinged Into in July 2015.
Venturing in a fresh direction, Williams’ subsequent album was captured by Bear over a month at his Berkeley studio, incorporating guitar from live-band member Ian Gibbs plus extra vocals and synth from Medicine’s Brad Laner. Issued in August 2016, Brunei mirrored the artist’s youthful interest in that nation’s currency together with his aspirations for greater global accord. Concurrent with his musical work, Williams maintained activity in video-game design and video direction, applying his lo-fi, fragmented aesthetic to visualize tracks by Tears for Fears, Medicine, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and additional acts. For the following record, Williams integrated video equipment into the workflow. At his Non Plus Ultra artspace studio in L.A., foundational takes were laid to VHS camcorder; guitar lines captured on handheld cassette were then integrated, with the camcorder versions blended beneath digital mixes to produce a wavering, submerged texture. Williams again managed nearly all instrumentation except hand drums from Yonatan Gat’s Gal Lazer and guitar plus synth from Ian Gibbs. The outcome, the cosmically unhurried Opal, emerged in July 2018 on the French imprint Requiem Pour un Twister. Following a two-year interval, Williams resurfaced with Azure, an album steeped in submerged sonics that explored plush surfaces and included some of his most buoyant material to date. Upon commencing the next project, he invited input from kindred players—keyboardist Eric Werner, synth player and vocalist Nick Logie, and guitarists Josh Menashe and Lilliana Villines—yielding a sharper, marginally less hazy collection. With guest vocals from fellow neo-shoegazer Samira Winter on a single track, Cosmopolis surfaced via Requiem Pour un Twister in late 2022.
Albums
