Tim Hughes talks to Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory about his new project celebrating the art and science of the synthesizer - The Moog Ensemble

He is known the world over as one-half of groundbreaking electro-pop duo Goldfrapp, but for his latest project Will Gregory has turned his back on cutting edge technology, by surrounding himself with instruments which ought to belong in a museum.

Never one to take the obvious route, keyboardist Will Gregory has embarked on a mission to perform work composed hundreds of years ago, on equipment which itself dates back half-a-century.

The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble sees the innovative multi-instrumentalist teaming up with nine other masters of the synth to play classic versions of the instrument dating back to the 60s.

Developed by American electronic music pioneer Dr Robert Moog, who died 10 years ago, the Moog is an analogue synthesizer based on the use of transistors – which came to replace the more cumbersome vacuum tubes which preceded them. They became the first widely used electronic musical instruments, and feature in recordings by everyone from Diana Ross & the Supremes and Stevie Wonder, toThe Doors, Donna Summer, the Beach Boys and Kraftwerk. Even The Beatles were fans of the Moog, using it on the album Abbey Road, on such tunes as Here Comes the Sun.

The new instruments provoked a flurry of competition, with manufacturers racing to bring out more affordable models which were, in turn, snapped up by a new generation of electro-pop artists such as Britain’s Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and Depeche Mode, in the 1980s.

The ensemble, which includes fellow Bristolian Adrian Utley of Portishead, and composers Graham Fitkin and Eddie Parker, have gathered 10 classic Moogs and other analogue synthesizers by Korg, Roland, Macbeth and Doepfer to create new versions of classical pieces, soundtracks, film music and specially-composed pieces.

Their performance includes synth interpretations of music by J S Bach (Brandenburg Concerto No 3), Giovanni Gabrieli (Canzon primi toni a 8, Ch.170) and Oliver Messiaen (Quartet for the End of Time), as well as pieces written, or adapted, for Moog by John Carpenter (Escape from New York), Burt Bacharach and new pieces by Will and Ensemble members Parker and Fitkin.

“There was a sense of guilt that I have all these instruments, so I got some good friends together and the ensemble took shape,” says the gently-spoken Will.

“We are doing it because we are all interested in synthesizers and like playing them. We are a bit like a club and this is a good excuse to get together. It’s also nice to be around a community of people playing music who are from all walks of life.

“We are appealing to believers that these instruments are not redundant – but still point to the future.

“They are all monophonic and analogue, have electricity buzzing around their circuits and an integral purity. They only play one note at a time, and, in that way, are like voices.” The choice of Bach is significant. One of the first widely-available Moog compositions was American musician Wendy Carlos’s 1968 record Switched-On Bach, which rendered the great composer’s work in synth – popularising classical music and hitting the upper reaches of the charts in the process.

“There’s an amazing variety of classical and new music which uses synths as an ordinary instrument,” says Will, who is talking to me while taking a break from a session on his other instrument – the saxophone (he played the sax with Tears for Fears, played oboe for Tori Amos and worked with Peter Gabriel, The Cure, and Portishead, before Goldfrapp).

So why Bach? “There was genius in the choice of Bach,” he says. “Bach was someone who composed music where all parts are equally important. His compositions leap out in a special way; all parts are homogeneous and it’s not always obvious to hear who plays what. But the synthesizer brings it out more than conventional instruments.”

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He goes on: “I don’t want it to be about nostalgia, though. We could easily have become a Giorgio Moroder tribute band. It’s not a new thing; it’s been done before, but not very often.”

The ensemble make use of a specially built device which enables all the synths to be synchronised, creating music previously impossible to perform live.

Will adds: “These instruments came out in a frenzy of invention. Before them the saxophone was the last instrument to have been invented.

“Moog was ahead of the game. He made these modular systems which were like big telephone exchanges, where all the sections could talk to each other, but they were very expensive and tended to be owned by very rich people or university departments. So he focussed on more affordable Minimoogs, which allowed people to get their hands on synthesizers for the first time. They were also the first to have a keyboard attached.”

So how does the project sit alongside his other achievements - including Goldfrapp and his own opera Piccard in Space, which looked at early ballooning pioneers? “I loved doing Piccard in Space with the orchestra all going for it,” he says. “That was pretty exciting and brought out the megalomaniac in me. Obviously there have been some great moments with Goldfrapp, and I also had some special times on tour with Tears for Fears. But really, I’m happy just doing everything.”

So would Bach approve? “He would have been excited,” says Will.

“He was someone who loved playing pipe organs, which were the high-tech thing of the day, as well as wind instruments, which people had only just made to play in all keys. He’d have been all over synthesizers!

“There’s a faction of classical music people who don’t think it’s quite proper, but I’m not just saying ‘aren’t synthesizers great’ and doing this for a gimmick – I’m saying ‘isn’t Bach great!’”

The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble. SJE, Iffley Rd. Weds. sje-oxford.org