Anthony Charles "Tony" Wakeford (born 2 May 1959 - Woking, Surrey, UK) is an English neofolk and neoclassical musician who primarily records under the name Sol Invictus. Wakeford lives in London and is married to Sol Invictus violinist Renée Rosen.

Musical work

Pre-Sol Invictus work

Wakeford was the bassist for the English political punk band Crisis from 1977 until the band's termination in 1980. Crisis played many concerts for Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League reflecting Wakeford's then membership of the Socialist Workers Party. He was briefly a member of The Runners From 84, a band started by Patrick Leagas. He then formed Death In June with Crisis guitarist Douglas Pearce and Leagas. This collaboration came to end due to musical differences and because of his membership at the time of the British National Front. Wakeford was asked to leave Death In June in early 1984, with the album Burial documenting his last contributions. He then formed the controversial post punk act Above The Ruins who recorded one album, Songs of the Wolf. After disbanding Above The Ruins, Wakeford formed Sol Invictus in 1987. This period also marked in his own words his departure from right-wing politics. In 2007 Wakeford stated that he has had no connection or interest in such ideas for 20 or more years and has described his membership as "probably the worse decision of my life and one I very much regret".

Tursa label

Wakeford formed his own label, Tursa, in 1990 to release his material and the music of other artists. This material was previously distributed worldwide by the World Serpent Distribution company, later by Cold Spring Records in Europe. In July 2007 the label was relaunched as a partnership with Israeli/USA producer and musician Reeve "M" Malka. The labels roster includes Orchestra Noir, The Triple Tree, Zunroyz, The Wardrobe, Tony Wakeford, Andrew King, Susan Mathews and Autumn Grieve. Sol Invictus signed to Prophecy Records, Germany in 2009 to release their future work plus re-releases of previous albums. In June 2011, Sol Invictus announced the end of their partnership with Cold Spring Records.

Secondary Musical Projects

Wakeford has always been the primary force in Sol Invictus. He has also composed classical music whilst recording outside the framework of Sol Invictus. He has subsequently brought transformative concepts into the familiar terrain of his principal group. He formed L'Orchestre Noir (later Orchestra Noir) in the mid-1990s to explore classical and soundtrack composition. His early 90's collaborative work with Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound produced exceedingly experimental recordings that are radically different from Sol Invictus material. This more experimental side to his work can also be seen in the two albums of The Wardrobe (Cups in Cupboard and A Sandwich Short) that he made in collaboration with Andrew Liles who also played with Nurse With Wound. He also played bass, guitar and keyboards on a number of studio albums by Current 93 as well as playing with them live.

Neofolk

Although he generally refers to his own work as Sol Invictus as folk noir, Wakeford has long been influential in the neofolk music scene throughout Europe, contributing to their development not only through print media and releasing material on his Tursa label, but also by playing at live shows with various acts he has influenced through Sol Invictus or his previous work with Death In June. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Wakeford