Max de Wardener

British composer, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist Max de Wardener is known for his film and television scores as well as his inventive solo works, which sometimes involve self-created instruments. He's played on recordings by Plaid, Matthew Herbert, Róisín Murphy, Dani Siciliano, and others. His solo recordings include the glitchy electro-acoustic pieces of 2004's Where I Am Today and 2020's self-explanatory Music for Detuned Pianos. His extensive list of scores includes two feature films by Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski and 2021's The Power, which he co-composed with Gazelle Twin. London-based Max de Wardener graduated from York University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In the late 1990s, he played bass on recordings by IDM duo Plaid, dub project Mystic Red, disco-house group Soul Ascendants, and others. He scored Pawel Pawlikowski's 2000 film Last Resort, as well as several television movies, documentaries, and short films. Stops, de Wardener's debut EP, was released by Matthew Herbert's Accidental label in 2002. Two of its songs reappeared on the 2004 full-length Where I Am Today, which featured pieces for de Wardener's self-made cloud chamber bowls as well as pipe organs, reeds, glitchy electronics, and more. De Wardener contributed to Dani Siciliano's first two solo albums and Herbert's 2007 release Score, and additionally worked with Efterklang, Elysian Quartet, Mara Carlyle, and others. He also performed as a member of Zimbabwean musician Chartwell Dutiro's band Spirit Talk Mbira. He scored Pawlikowski's 2011 film The Woman in the Fifth, and won a Czech Radio Award for his work on the 2012 documentary Village at the End of the World. Signing with London's Village Green label, de Wardener issued his second album, Kolmar, in 2019. The release was performed by Thomas Bloch, a musician specializing in rare instruments such as Ondes Martenot and Cristal Baschet, along with jazz drummer Moses Boyd and electronic musician Simon James. Music for Detuned Pianos, performed by pianist Kit Downes and inspired by composers such as Harry Partch and LaMonte Young, appeared in 2020. Its pieces were remixed by Loraine James, Oliver Coates, Call Super, and others for the subsequent Detuned Reworks EP. Gazelle Twin and de Wardener's soundtrack for the horror film The Power was released by Invada in 2021.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo