Chris Watson (musician)
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Chris Watson is a sound recordist specialising in natural history. His work as a sound wildlife sound recordist includes both work for television documentaries and experimental musical collaborations.
Christopher Richard Watson was born in Sheffield where he attended Rowlinson School and Stannington College (now part of Sheffield College). In 1971 he was a founding member of the influential Sheffield-based experimental music group Cabaret Voltaire.
His sound recording career began in 1981 when he joined Tyne Tees Television.
He has released three solo albums of field recordings: Outside the Circle of Fire, Stepping into the Dark (which won an Award of Distinction at the 2000 Prix ARS Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria), and Weather Report. He has also released a variety of works in collaboration with other artists, including Star Switch On, a collaboration with Mika Vainio of Pan Sonic, Philip Jeck, Hazard, Fennesz, AER, and Biosphere. All of these recordings were released on the UK-based Touch Music label.
His television work includes Bill Oddie Back in the USA.
In 2006 he was a awarded an honorary Doctor of Technology degree by the University of the West of England "in recognition of his outstanding contribution to sound recording technology, especially in the field of natural history and documentary location sound".
His series of five, fifteen-minute radio programmes, The Reed Bed, was broadcast on Radio Four from 19-23 March 2007 and is still available on-line [1]
