William Davison

William A. Davison is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist and musician who has been producing various forms of experimental art for over forty years. His work as a musician and composer began in the early 80s where he explored a wide variety of styles and approaches, mostly derived from punk, post-punk, and industrial music. He became involved in freely improvised music in the late 90s, performing solo, leading ensembles, and collaborating in hundreds of ad hoc groupings in Canada and internationally.

As an improviser, Davison plays amplified objects, homemade instruments, cheap or broken electronic devices, modified tape recorders and turntables, voice, tabletop percussion, micropercussion, extended technique and preparations as applied to guitar and other instruments, and effects (guitar pedals).

Davison's work has been presented at festivals and events around the world and his recordings have appeared on over 400 albums, film and video soundtracks, and radio art broadcasts. In concert he has appeared solo and in collaboration with John Oswald, Aidan Baker, Eddie Prevost, Zev Asher, Sam Shalabi, Michael Evans, Paul Dutton, Michael Snow, irr. app. (ext.), Sandy Ewen, Janet Feder, Bohman Brothers, Simon H. Fell, Johannes Bergmark, Knurl, Phycus, Gastric Female Reflex, Tatsuya Nakatani, Neighborhood Public Radio, Nihilist Spasm Band, Nurse With Wound, Tim Olive, Evan Parker, Eugene Martynec, Martin Tetrault, Nilan Perera, Istvan Kantor, Nobuo Kubota, Tony Wren, Paul Shearsmith, Marcio Mattos, Phil Morton, MSBR, Government Alpha, Mark Gane, Arthur Bull, Allison Cameron, Brian Ruryk, tENTATIVELY a. cONVENIENCE, and many others.

In addition to his work as a musician, improviser, composer, and instrument-builder, Davison has produced a sizeable body of work in film and video, performance art, poetry, visual art, and mixed media/multimedia.

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Profile picture - Davison's long-running solo project Songs of the New Erotics in concert at The Music Gallery, Toronto, 1993.