Neville Farmer

Neville MacKenzie Farmer (born 17 January 1960) is a British music, television and film producer, composer, performer and music industry commentator.

Life and career

His TV and music production work began in 1989, when he both scripted and announced the first World Music Awards from Monte Carlo, a large and prestigious event that honours both performers and music industry achievers. For the next 14 years he served as executive Musical Director to Pilot Film and television,^[1] a London-based production company that creates and distributes multiple-award-winning independent television programs, including Lonely Planet, Globetrekker and Treks in a Wild World, for whom he produced over 100 episodes. This led to the successful Globe Trekker CD series,^[2] collection of numerous CDs available worldwide. Each CD features contributions from numerous artists, including Emmy Award winner Martyn Swain,^[3] Roger Waters' producer Ian Ritchie, and Grammy Award nominated Simon Emmerson.

Farmer earned his expertise in combining different musical cultures through some years working for Peter Gabriel's Real World Group, which publishes some of his music. His other musical collaborations have included Robert Plant,^[4] XTC, Nigel Kennedy, Dave Edmunds, John Otway, Robbie Blunt, Deni Bonet,^[5] Ayub Ogada, Douglas Pashley, Richard Horowitz, Richard Niles, Ian Carr,^[6] and Karl Wallinger.

His theatrical work has included producing the music for the London stage show, Stormforce,^[7] " which successfully blended Irish and African rhythms, and both writing and producing the play The Devil's Interval,^[8] about the composer, George Frideric Handel and rock guitarist, Jimi Hendrix.

As a writer on music and the music industry, Farmer has been employed by Beatles producer, Sir George Martin, Peter Gabriel, Andy Partridge, the Bert Kaempfert Organisation, Abbey Road Studios and international publications such as Billboard, Music Week, Pro Sound News and Mix Magazine. His books include the history of German composer, Bert Kaempfert for the Songwriters Hall of Fame Museum in New York, and XTC – Song Stories,^[9] the story of the music of British cult band XTC, for Disney's Hyperion Books.

Executive producer and recording credits

• Late Developer – Suzanne Rhatigan, 2012 – backing vocalist
• Mermaids Live Inside – Jacqueline Kroft, 2011 – producer^[10]
• Globe Jam – various artists, 2008 – executive producer^[11]
• Metropolis – various artists, 2008 – executive producer^[11]
• Globe Trekker Latin American Journeys – various artists, 2005 – executive producer
• Globe Trekker Asian Journeys – various artists, 2005 – executive producer^[11]
• More Music From The Lonely Planet – various artists, 2003 – executive producer
• Globe Trekker Original Journeys – various artists, 2003 – executive producer^[12]
• Music From The Lonely Planet – various artists, 2002 – executive producer
• Globe Trekker Volume 2 – various artists, 2002 – executive producer^[11]
• Globe Trekker Ambient Journeys – various artists, 2002 – executive producer
• Globe Trekker Volume 1 – various artists, 2001 – executive producer^[12]
• Lifting The Veil – Susanne Bramson, 1998 – producer
• Books Are Burning – Nonsuch – XTC, 1992 – backing vocalist
• Poor Skeleton Steps Out – Oranges And Lemons – XTC, 1989 – backing vocalist^[13]
• Bags of Fun With Buster – Single, 1987 – co-composer, backing vocalist with Andy Partridge, David Gregory, and John Otway
• Take Good Care of Your Soul – Real World Presents – various artists – co-composer, backing vocalist
• Look What You've Done to mMy Skin – The Passion of Darkly Noon Film Soundtrack (demo version) – Nic Bicat – lead vocalist

Television and film music credits

• The World Music Awards – seasons 1–5 – Marcor International / ABC TV – scriptwriter / announcer
• Lonely Planet – seasons 1–12 – Pilot Productions – musical director
• Treks in a Wild World – seasons 1–4 (2000–2008) – Pilot Productions – musical director
• Into Africa – Wall To Wall Television – music producer
• Supertwins – Wall To Wall Television – music producer^[14]
• Into The Fire – Wall To Wall Television – music producer
• Grand Designs – Season 2 – Talkback Thames Productions
• Jesus in the Himalayas – National Geographic (2001) – musical director^[14]
• Lost Worlds – The Discovery Channel – musical director
• Adventure Golf – Seasons 1–2 (2010) – Pilot Productions – musical director
• Planet Food – Seasons 1–3 – Pilot Productions (2009–2011) – musical director^[14]

References