David Mackenzie (composer)

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David Mackenzie (born 15 June 1983) is a British composer, multi-instrumentalist musician and producer based in Bristol. He is known for combining classical and electronic music and using abstract concepts and methods in his work. He has contributed music to film and live performance projects as well as creating bespoke sound design for immersive entertainment experiences. He has collaborated with other musicians, as well as with performance, dance and media artists.

Outside of his music and sound work he co-hosts a podcast about creativity called Pivotal Slice, and works as a coach and mentor to artists with his business Zen Coaching. Mackenzie uses Zen practice and other meditation techniques to facilitate his working and teaching methods. Through his work he explores mental health, spirituality and self-development.

Early life

Mackenzie was born in Rugby, England. He started writing music and learning to play the guitar from age eight, and started his first band aged ten. He went on to study Popular Music at Rugby College, then moved to London where he got a BA in Sound Recording, Music Technology and Music Business from Kingston University.

He moved to Brighton in 2005 where he worked as a recording engineer and A&R assistant for a record label, while continuing to write music and lead and play in bands. In 2009 he moved to Bristol.

Aliases

Mackenzie had DJ’d under the name Stantz in Rugby and started producing and releasing music using the moniker when he moved to Brighton. Stantz infused different genres of music including trip hop and electronic with Middle Eastern influences, becoming more experimental after Mackenzie moved to Bristol and was inspired by the city’s varied music scene. He released his first EP as Stantz in 2011 through Acoustic Code Records and continued performing in clubs and venues around Bristol. He worked with director Gon Caride to produce music videos for Dragons Theme and Moment Without Interval. As his sound developed, he started performing and collaborating with classical musicians.

While collaborating with other musicians and vocalists, Mackenzie also released ambient techno under the alias Tunndra from 2015-2016.

In 2021 Mackenzie started releasing music under his own name, relaunching his brand after years of studying classical music and developing his style to include orchestral sounds.

Performance and immersive experience collaborations

In 2015 Mackenzie met and started collaborating with Lucie Lee, a choreographer and dancer based in Leeds. They worked together to develop ‘Pathology of Inner Self’in 2016 then Mackenzie created scores and sound design using a combination of electronics and classical music for a multi-sensory show called 'Lost', which was performed in theatres and venues around the North of England throughout 2018 with the aim of raising awareness of mental health issues.

Mackenzie worked with immersive theatre company Sneaky Experience Events in August 2021, creating sound design for a Halloween event at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire. He then joined the team behind Boomtown Fair, Wake the Tiger, as a freelance sound designer and composer for a new project, an immersive ‘Amazement Park’ based in Bristol that is due to open in August 2022.

Film work

In 2014 Mackenzie began working with production company Aglow Films composing music and recording and designing sound effects for short films and online media, and collaborating with the studio to produce music videos for Stantz. He composed his first feature-length score for ‘Kill Face’, an independent comedy film shot in Bristol, which had a limited release in 2019.

Mackenzie started working with Cine Vantage Film Company in February 2021, an independent production company based in Mumbai, India. He composed and produced a score for short film Twenty-Five, a horror-thriller hybrid released in 2021.

Other work

In March 2021 Mackenzie produced and hosted a radio show called ‘Beatdown Generation’, distributed by Longthrow Radio, which involved curating music and interviewing artists. The show ran for six months before Mackenzie and his co-host decided to reformat the show for release on podcast platforms. Pivotal Slice was launched in October 2021. The aim of the podcast is to ‘delve deep into the creative process, speaking to a wide range of innovators, rule-breakers and experts to get to the root of what drives us as artists.’ Their first guest was horror film director David Creed and they have since interviewed TV writer and producer Bill Oakley, podcaster Caitlin Durante, photographer and filmmaker Janet Lees and writer Irenosen Okojie.

Mackenzie founded ‘Zen Coaching’ in January 2022. The live online course (aimed at artists, writers and composers) includes guided meditation, writing exercises and techniques for strengthening intuition. Mackenzie runs weekly group sessions as well as 1:1 coaching.

Discography

Stantz

• Persian Dawn (EP, 2011, Acoustic Code Records)
• Dragons Theme (Single, 2012)
• Sula Mae, Blind (Stantz Remix, 2015)
• Adryelle, Storyline (Stantz Remix, 2016)
• Start feat Sula Mae (Single, 2017)
• The Invincible (Single, 2019)
• In Praise of Shadows (Single, 2019)
• Kill Face: Original Soundtrack (Album, 2019)
• River (Single, 2020)
• What Goes Up (Single, 2020)
• Murmurations (Single, 2020)
• Phantom (Single, 2020)
• A Glimpse Above the Clouds (Single, 2020)
• Call to Action (Single, 2020)
• Luminosity (Single, 2020)
• Reawakening (Single, 2020)
• All in Flux (Single, 2020)
• Roon's Fun Dance Tune (Single, 2020)
• The World is Our Heart (Single, 2021)
• Ultimate Boon (Single, 2021)
• Macroverse (Single, 2021)

Tunndra

• Savaggio, Fantasia (Tunndra Remix, 2016, Underyourskin Records)
• Asymmetry (Single, 2015, Italo Business)
• From Nothing No-Thing Comes (EP, 2015)

David Mackenzie

• Twenty – Five: Original Soundtrack (Album, 2021)

• Ponticello (Single, 2021)
• The Magnificent (Single, 2021)
• Deep, Deeper Still (Single, 2021)
• Tendril (Single, 2021)
• The Shark (Single, 2021)
• The Inciting Incident (Single, 2022)
• Be All and End All (Single, 2022)
• Virtuoso (Single, 2022)
• Green (Single, 2022)
• Embrace (Single, 2022)
• The Agreement (Single, 2022)
• Multiverse (EP, 2022)
• Solace (Single, 2022)
• Swan Song (Single, 2022)
• Bliss and Shadow (Single, 2022)

References

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