bvdub

Within the vast multitude of artists that can be filed under ambient, there aren't many voices capable of standing out with a style so distinctive as to always remain recognizable. Brock Van Wey, aka bvdub, certainly belongs to this circle, a prolific architect of highly emotional atmospheric soundscapes.

Born in 1974 in the San Francisco Bay Area, he began playing violin and piano, receiving a classical musical training. Having set that chapter aside, in the early '90s – almost inevitably, given the geographical area – he became interested in electronic music and immersed himself in the rave scene as a DJ. After moving to China in the early 2000s, he began producing his own music in 2006, debuting the following year with "Strength In Solitude".

Starting with this work, which gathers his first composed tracks, a fruitful creative journey takes off, one that sees Van Wey refine his distinctive take on ambient, made of synthetic layers building in crescendos that grow ever less marked by rhythmic structures, and often intersected with filtered vocal modulations. The drifts shaped in this way expand, tracing hypnotic, emphasis-laden trails that stand as the true trademark of an artist who, by choice, remains outside any scene, holding to the idea of making music solely to express his own feelings. It's no coincidence that the biographical notes on his website are limited to:

"My name is Brock Van Wey.

I am bvdub, Earth House Hold, and East of Oceans.

I make music about my life.

I make music about life.

I make music for life."

In more than 15 years of activity under the bvdub name, he has released over forty albums, among them the excellent "To Live" (2009, Smallfish), "The Art Of Dying Alone" (2010, Glacial Movements), "Erebus" in collaboration with Loscil (2013, Glacial Movements), "So Much" (2014, Quietus), "Heartless" (2017, n5md).