Us: Graham Lewis.
Selected works
A Touching Display
"I composed the main theme in the autumn of 1978, during a sound check at legendary Berlin club SO36. It became a powerful and dramatic live piece whilst touring with Roxy Music in 1979. It was completely realised during the Mike Thorne produced 154 sessions at Advision, particularly by the fantastic addition of the electric viola part of the late Tim Souster. The viola shadows the bass solo, and the shift between E and E-sharp is magnificent. A rather desperate love song."
Feed Me
"Its genesis was based on experiments made upon a newly acquired toy-like Casio SK-1 keyboard sampler. The rhythm track was generated from a bass harmonic sample and the huge crash 'guitar' sound from furious thrashing of bass strings. Recorded at Hansa, Berlin with Gareth Jones producing, Feed Me contains a crackling and rare guitar solo from Bruce Gilbert and a vocal performance captured at 4 a.m. in the dead of night. A 'not any longer in love' song recorded by the Wall in Potsdamer Platz."
Underwater Experiences
"From the less-than-hi-fi field recordings that are Document & Eyewitness. Here in its third musical version, written and rehearsed literally days before the Electric Ballroom confrontation/concert, this piece careers along, barely in control. The chorus line chants the formula for a body falling through space—32 feet per sec per sec. Vertiginous and giddy! A group and a song in free fall."
Graham Lewis
Edvard Graham Lewis, currently a resident of Uppsala in Sweden, is Wire's bassist, and is responsible for the bulk of the band's lyrics. Having originally graduated in 1974 from Middlesex Polytechnic with a degree in fashion design, he initially worked as a freelance designer. Successful collaboration with the Jeffrey Rodgers company led to his designs appearing in the editorial pages of Elle, Cosmopolitan,19, and more, and his collections were available in a number of high-street boutiques.
Things all changed in 1976, when he was asked to join—as bass player—an unnamed group consisting of George Gill, Colin Newman and Bruce Gilbert. Robert Grey soon also joined, and the band became known as Wire. However, Gill's departure led to the remaining quartet having to create an entirely new set of material, and so Graham formed a writing partnership with Colin, with Graham primarily acting as lyricist. Subsequently, Graham also wrote and sang many of his own compositions, and with Bruce, Graham managed and created much of Wire's visual identity, including record sleeves and stage design.
Outside of Wire, Graham has been prolific, working on a number of other projects. He's released solo and collaborative CD works with Bruce Gilbert, Russell Mills, C.M. von Hausswolff, John Duncan, Leif Elggren, Jean-Louis Huhta, Thomas Öberg, Andreas Karperyd, and Mattias Tegnér. He's also co-founded the groups Dome, Cupol, P'o, Duet Emmo, He Said, He Said Omala, H.A.L.Ö, Ocsid, Hox, 27#11, and UUUU.
Graham has composed music for modern dance (including for the Michael Clark Company, Stephen Petronio Company, and Su-en Butoh Company), and for film (including Brothers Quay, Bigert & Bergström, and Gunilla Leander). Also active in the arts scene, Graham's installations have graced The Waterloo Gallery, MOMA (Oxford), Fargfabriken (Stockholm), Baltic Art Museum (Goteland), and Podevil (Berlin). He also held the Krevian post of Minister of Wholey Smoke.