Wayne Gerard Trotman

Wayne Gerard Lionel Trotman (born 16 May 1964, San Fernando, Trinidad), is a British independent filmmaker, writer, photographer, composer and producer of electronic music.

Formative years

On 16 May 1964, Wayne Gerard Trotman was born in San Fernando, Trinidad. By the age of six, Trotman was experimenting with recording on a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He recorded science fiction stories in which he performed all the dialogue and created all the sound effects. At this time, Trotman also developed an interest in drawing, painting and photography.

Early musical development

Trotman attributes hearing the popular singles Popcorn (Gershon Kingsley) by Hot Butter in 1972 and Equinoxe Part 5 by Jean Michel Jarre in 1979 as the catalysts for his development as a composer and producer of electronic music.

In 1979 he received a Casio VL-1 also known as a Casio VL-Tone http://www.hollowsun.com/vintage/casio_vl1/ as a gift and began to teach himself music composition. He continued his experimentation with tape loops, overdubbing and most notably the creation of rhythms using only audio feedback. Trotman is a self-taught musician and has never had traditional piano lessons nor does he possess substantial knowledge of reading or writing musical notation.

Trotman found the Casio VL-1 limiting and as a result, his initial exploits in music creation were very frustrating. In 1981 he began using a Casiotone MT-70 electronic keyboard and produced compositions recorded using two audio cassette recorders and a mono echo recorder. By 1983 Trotman had produced over 200 experimental, often bizarre, home recordings.

Fine Art

Trotman studied history and art at Presentation College, San Fernando, Trinidad where he won the Presentation College Art Prize twice – 1979 and 1982. During the early 1980s, Trotman also won national art prizes in Trinidad and Tobago. His artwork during this period consisted largely of comic book illustrations and acrylic or oil paintings. Photographs of his work were submitted to the Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea, London winning him a place to study art and design there in 1984.

Emigration

In August 1984 Trotman moved to England to study art and design at to the Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea, London.[1] In 1985, Trotman's painting entitled 'Psychedelic Eric' was accepted for the London Youth Festival exhibition and he was featured in both The Caribbean Times http://www.caribbeantimes.co.uk/ and West Indian World newspapers.

Professional music composition

In 1985 Trotman purchased his first ‘professional’ electronic keyboard – the Roland JX-3P and this instrument has featured in virtually all his recorded music since that time. But his transition to professional musician came with the addition of the Ensoniq SQ-80 synthesiser in 1988, swiftly followed by the addition of an Ensoniq Mirage sampler and Alesis HR-16 drum machine http://www.vintagesynth.com/index2.html. January 2014 saw Trotman at number 1, on the Reverbnation electronica chart for the UK and 6th globally.

Film and video work

Between the late 1980s and mid 1990s Trotman produced compositions for British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) as well as low budget independent film productions. He completed his second feature film script entitled Ashes to Ashes in 1994 and in 1995 his short film – London: Metropolis of the Future premiered at the British Short Film Festival.

Trotman directed, co-produced, scored and edited the British independent film Ashes to Ashes in 1998. He also played the film's lead role of Gabriel Darbeaux and used real martial arts weapons including the nunchaku or two-piece rod[2] .

In 2006, Trotman co-produced a training DVD, which tackles the root cause of anxiety and panic attacks: The Fight or Flight Response.

Between 2006 and 2009, Trotman wrote part one of the epic Psychic Wars sci-fi saga: Veterans of the Psychic Wars. Between 2010 and 2015, Trotman wrote the first instalment of the Kairi Chronicles entitled Kaya Abaniah and the Father of the Forest, which is also set in his fictional Psychic Wars universe. Kaya Abaniah and the Father of the Forest is a coming of age, science fiction, adventure story. It is set in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and presented with much of its dialogue in authentic Trinidadian Creole. It explores the culture of Trinidad and Tobago and combines legends and characters from Trinidad and Tobago folklore with the themes of wildlife conservation, redemption, and forgiveness.

Novels

Blogs

On his blog, Red Moon Chronicle: Reviews & Interviews – Dedicated to Science Fiction, Fantasy and the Speculation of Creative Minds, Trotman has interviewed Syd Mead, John Howe, Kevin J. Anderson, Larry Fast, Robert J. Sawyer, Linda Nagata, Jeremy Robinson, Kevin Baldeosingh, Peter Coleborn, Kevin D. Anderson and others. Trotman's second blog, Psychic War Journal, explores the fictional characters, worlds and cultures created in his science fiction novels.

Discography

Films

Other interests

Trotman has had training in several martial arts including karate, taekwondo, Chinese martial arts and fencing. He is a self-taught exponent of nunchaku. In 2012, Trotman released the eBook, Ashes to Ashes: Screenplay, and also became Kingston upon Thames Adult Intellectual Chess Champion in the Surrey Hundreds All Surrey Chess Championship.

References

  1. ↑ "Official Red Moon Productions Site". Retrieved 8 October 2007.
  2. ↑ Leeder, Mike (April 2006). "Ashes to Ashes". Impact Magazine (MAI Publications). pp. 62–63. Retrieved 8 October 2007.

External links