Photo: Eduardo Alvarez
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Photo: Eduardo Alvarez
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Photo: Rafael Cardenas
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BIO
Los Angeles-based artist Dorian Wood is "armed with a vocal charisma that would befit a preacher and an experimental streak that would make avant-gardists swoon" (WNYC Culture). He has held audiences captive on street corners, in concert halls and performance spaces throughout the US, Mexico and Europe, carrying with him a sound that marries troubadour balladry with the avant-garde, both as a soloist and as a member of the 30-piece experimental orchestra, Killsonic.
Born in Echo Park, California, Dorian began his musical education at a very early age, continuing his studies at Conservatorio de Castella in Costa Rica, and eventually making his way back to Los Angeles, where he first gained exposure performing on the queer bar circuit. His debut album, BOLKA, received wide critical acclaim for its impeccable merging of folk, soul, Bulgarian choral music and experimental music. His follow-up EP, Black Pig Suite, featured a 14-piece band that included horns, accordions and women's voices.
In early 2010, Dorian was joined onstage by legendary artist Little Annie at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York. That same year, Dorian received critical praise for his performance and "picture perfect" art direction (Los Angeles Times) in the Killsonic opera, Tongues Bloody Tongues, presented at the REDCAT in Los Angeles. Dorian performed at the REDCAT again in 2011 in the opera Zoophilic Follies, along with TImur and The Dime Museum.
Most recently , Dorian was commissioned by LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) to present a new work for the performance series Los Angeles Goes Live, part of Pacific Standard Time. Dorian's performance installation, Athco, Or The Renaissance of Faggot Tree, incorporated over 30 performers, and was presented at Barnsdall Art Park on October 9, 2011. Dorian also performed with acclaimed artist Marina Abramovic in her piece An Artist's Life Manifesto, presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) on November 12, 2011.
Dorian has also performed at LACMA, UCLA, Highways Performance Space (Santa Monica), Pacific Design Center (West Hollywood), The Stone (New York City) ,Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco) and the Stockholm Fringe Fest (Sweden).
Dorian's latest album, Brutus, was recorded live at St. Giles-in-the-Fields in London, during his spring 2010 European tour. He is currently working on a new studio album, entitled Rattle Rattle.
Dorian lives in Los Angeles.
MUSIC EPK (Sonicbids)
ARTIST CV
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PRESS
"Artist and musician Dorian Wood makes mercurial pop that demands and deserves attention." - WNYC CULTURE
"Just in case you thought that Sufjan Stevens was the only arty, ambitious folkie out there, there's also the sweet-voiced Los Angeles singer/songwriter Mr. Wood." - VILLAGE VOICE
"The androgynous emotionality of Wood’s singing voice lends itself to the demanding theatricality of [his] lyrics, arrangements and production. The nakedness of a lover’s need and the wide-eyed madness that ensues when that need is not met twine around one another." - LA WEEKLY
"Wood unleashes gospel-infused wails and testimony that bring the audience…to a frenzy.” – THE ADVOCATE
"Lording over the keys, the living ghost of deep delta bluesmen, Wood's rapturous songs marry the fevered spirituality of Southern gospel to the virtuosity of golden era Tin Pan Alley composers. Stories swirling in apocalyptic imagery waltz through the looking glass, confronting Alice's hallucinatory wonderland. It's the blood and gore of Brothers Grimm undercut with Bertolt Brecht's savage social criticisms, tightly wound and careening around the corners without losing control." - VINGT PARIS