BT (musician)

File:BT ozonic.png

BT holding an M-Audio Ozonic keyboard

Brian Wayne Transeau (born October 4, 1970 in Rockville, Maryland) is an electronica musician, better known by his stage name, BT. When recording with other artists he has used the aliases Kaistar, Libra, Dharma, Prana, Elastic Reality, Elastic Chakra, and GTB.

BT is a highly influential electronic musician. His techniques are frequently groundbreaking and trend setting . He is very well known in production circles for his signature technique, the stutter edit, also known as the BT stutter . This technique consists of taking a small sample of a sound and then repeating it in a musical as well as mathematical way.

His signature sound is also achieved by means of a method of sound manipulation called granular synthesis using Karlheinz Essl's REplay PLAYer software where sounds are broken apart into tiny pieces and rearranged to create very chaotic and wild soundscapes . This effect is demonstrated very well in some of the vocal bits on the song "Pop" that he produced alongside N Sync , particularly at the beginnings and ends of phrases. He is also one of the direct pioneers of time correction techniques . Time correction is where a producer takes a series of samples with random occurrence (such as rain) and time corrects each individual hit according to a rhythmic and mathematical grid, much like the BT stutter. The result is the seemingly random pulses take on a rhythmic form as well as a developing pattern, but retain their chaotic unpredictable character.

Biography

He has been playing piano since the age of 3 and attended Berklee College of Music for one year before dropping out and moving to Los Angeles, California .

Transeau's music was not well received in the United States, so he moved to Europe where his music was discovered by Sasha, a British DJ who introduced BT's music to the club circuit. Instantly popular, BT's 1996 album Ima helped shape the future of the burgeoning progressive house scene as it merged with, and later came to define, the trance music style. Notable on the album IMA was a collaboration with singer/songwriter Tori Amos called Blue Skies, which rose to the top of the dance charts and was released as a single.

While Ima was comprised solely of the "progressive" sound, 1997's ESCM was more experimental (although it still produced several big records for the electronic dance music scene). BT's 1999 album Movement in Still Life continued his experimentation outside of the trance genre he helped to define through his more adventurous work and the more structured, commercially viable tracks. This album also featured a strong element of nu skool breaks, a genre he helped define with the classic Hip-Hop Phenomenon, in collaboration with Tsunami One. 2003 saw the release of Emotional Technology featuring more vocal tracks than usual, including six with vocals by Transeau. He also provided vocals on the DJ Tiësto single "Love Comes Again," and recently worked together with David Bowie on the song "(She Can) Do That," recorded for the movie Stealth (2005), which BT also composed the score for.

In recent years, he has also moved into film scoring, including Go (1999), Under Suspicion (2000), Driven (2001), The Fast and the Furious (2001), and Monster (2003). He recently completed the score for Stealth (2005), as well as the score for Underclassman (2005).

Unlike many artists working in electronica, Transeau frequently performs his music live. In 2004, he did a very popular "last night of summer" concert at BT Tower (named for British Telecom).

He has a young daughter, Kaia, as well as a girlfriend, Ashley. He lives and composes his works in his Los Angeles home studio.

Musical Progression

The variety of BT's music is considered one his most notable qualities. In the early portion of his career (roughly 1995-2000), he was generally referred to as a trance artist; and despite never having graced a pair of decks by that stage of his career, he appeared in DJ Mag's 1998 Top 100 DJs Poll . He has been consistently experimental in his music, making it impossible to classify him in any one genre.

In 1997, BT released ESCM, which featured more complex melodies and more traditional harmonies along with a heavier use of vocals. The tone of the album is darker and less whimsical than Ima, the individual tracks being much tighter and cohesive . The album, as a whole, is much more diverse than BT's debut album. While Lullaby for Gaia and Remember (both featuring Jan Johnston) are code trance music, other tracks find their way into the canons of other electronic sub-genres that were emerging in the mid-nineties. Love, Peace, and Grease is breakbeats, Firewater and Orbitus Terranium are considered house, Flaming June (probably the most famous single of the album) and Nectar are examples of hard trance. The most experimental track on the album is Solar Plexus which is easily divided into two parts. The first part is dark and suspenseful with a raging crescendo chorus, and features gritty vocals that proclaim "I burn!" in the chorus. This half of the song has been featured in numerous film trailers, including Blade 2 and Hellboy. The second half of the song is slow and introspective, with a single piano and slowly building electronic accents. The vocals in the second half are clear and quiet to the point of obscurity. The mystery of what the lyrics to Solar Plexus actually are has been a sort of in-joke among BT fans since the album's release.

BT's third album, Movement in Still Life, moved into less experimental music and was somewhat worrying to some fans on the artist's message boards. The strong hip-hop influence on Madskillz-Mic Chekka and Love on Haight Street was the cause of this worry as hip-hop and trance are essentially complete opposites in style . Smartbomb provided the missing link between BT's previous work and this new rap-infused work, as it bore a strong resemblance to Solar Plexus Part 1 and included a lyric sample from Love on Haight Street. The album hits a spectrum of genre-work. Shame, Satellite, and Running Down the Way Up lean towards the alt-rock, while Godspeed and Dreaming fall into classic trance ranks. Never Gonna Come Back Down (featuring vocals by Mike Doughty) was the most popular single from the album, and appeared on the Gone in 60 Seconds soundtrack in radio edited form. Mercury and Solace, while failing to achieve the commercial success of Never Gonna Come Back Down, is the most commercially remixed song from the album (http://folk.uio.no/ulfb/odd/btdisc.htm). Jan Johnston sang vocals on this track and others, with Kirsty Hawkshaw also making significant vocal contributions to Running Down the Way Up and Dreaming.

Shortly after Movement in Still Life BT raised the production bar with 'Pop', a collaboration with N Sync. An instrumental version can be heard/viewed here.

Emotional Technology succeeded in being BT's most experimental album , to the great relief of fans . While the album opens with the hip-hop infused Knowledge of Self, the rest of the album features hooking riffs with an almost excessive amount of electronic accent. Superfabulous (featuring vocals by Rose McGowan) is the least of the songs in that respect, and yet it breaks in the middle of the song for a brief spoken word conversation about Rose flipping off someone at the Getty Museum. The big single from the album, Somnambulist, draws heavily from the breakbeats and new wave dance of New Order and Depeche Mode, whom BT has cited as major influences . The rest of the album fairly escapes genre labeling , from the dark guitar work of Circles, to The Only Constant is Change which is reminiscent of Satellite, the album blends genres, changes genres in mid-track, and never fears the atonal .

His fifth studio album, This Binary Universe, will be his first studio album released in 5.1 surround sound. His first release in 5.1 surround sound was his score to the film Monster.

His as-yet untitled sixth album is scheduled to be released in late 2006, and is rumored to feature Imogen Heap, Rob Dickinson (of The Catherine Wheel) among others.

Discography

Albums

• Ima (1995)
• ESCM (1997)
• Movement in Still Life (1999)
• Movement in Still Life - US release with alternate tracks (2000)
• Emotional Technology (2003)
• This Binary Universe (2006)

Singles and EP's

• "Loving You More" (1996) (vocals by Vincet Cavello)
• "Embracing the Sunshine" (1996)
• "Blue Skies" (1996) (vocals by Tori Amos)
• "Love, Peace and Grease" (1997)
• "Flaming June" (1997)
• "Remember" (1997)
• "Godspeed" (1998)
• "Mercury and Solace" (1999) (vocals by Jan Johnston)
• "Dreaming" (2000) (vocals by Kirsty Hawkshaw)
• "Smartbomb" (2000) (vocals by Rascoe)
• "Never Gonna Come Back Down" (2000) (vocals by Mike Doughty)
• "Shame" (2001) (vocals by BT)
• "Somnambulist (Simply Being Loved)" (2003) (vocals by BT and J.C. Chasez)
• The Technology EP (2004)

Compilations

• R&R (Rare & Remixed) (2001) - A two disc mix album showcasing BT's remix work, rare songs from his early career and tracks unreleased in the US.

• Still Life In Motion (2001) - A collection of remixes and edits of songs off of Movement in Still Life.

• 10 Years In the Life (2002) - Disc 1 is a collection of rare songs, remixes and edits of Transeau's songs, showcasing Transeau's progression as an artist over the span of a decade. It notably includes his very first track ever recorded, "The Moment Of Truth". Disc 2 is a mix album and features remixes and rare tracks done by BT, including remixes of Madonna, The Crystal Method and Deep Dish. Most of the rare tracks by BT are under the names of his many aliases. The booklet that comes with the CD features stories by BT about the making of each track on both discs, as well as a series of comments about his early career, remixing, scoring films and producing music in general.

Film appearances & scores

• The Jackal (1997) - "Shineaway" (with Richard Butler)
• Go (1999) - Complete score, "Believer"
• American Pie (1999) - "Anomaly-Calling Your Name" (Libra Presents Taylor)
• Under Suspicion (2000) - Complete score
• Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) - "Never Gonna Come Back Down"
• Driven (2001) - Score, "Satellite"
• Double Take (2001) - "Movement In Still Life"
• Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) - "The Revolution"
• The Fast and the Furious (2001) - Complete score, "Nocturnal Transmission"
• 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) - "Smartbomb"
• Zoolander (2001) - (removed his name, uncredited), "Madskillz-Mic Chekka (Remix)"
• Sweet November (2001 film) - "Shame (Ben Grosse Remix)"
• Blade 2 (2002) - "Tao Of The Machine" (with The Roots)
• The Core (2003) - "Sunblind"
• Monster (2003) - Complete score
• Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004) - "Superfabulous (Scott Humphrey Radio Mix)"
• The Underclassman (2005) - Complete score
• Stealth (2005) - Complete score, "She Can (Do That)" (with David Bowie)
• Domino (2005) - "Paris"
• Look (2006) - Complete score (although some of the songs were performed and/or co-written by actor Giuseppe Andrews)

Remixes

• B-Tribe, "Nanita (A Spanish Lullaby)" (1995)
• Shiva, "Freedom" (1995)
• Diana Ross, "Take Me Higher" (1995)
• Cabana, "Bailando Con Lobos" (1995)
• Grace, "Not Over Yet" (1995)
• Wild Colour, "Dreams" (1995)
• Mike Oldfield, "Let There Be Light" (1995)
• Billie Ray Martin, "Running Around Town" (1995)
• Seal, "I'm Alive" (1995)
• Gipsy Kings, "La Rumba De Nicolas" (1996)
• Billie Ray Martin, "Space Oasis" (1996)
• Tori Amos, "Talula" (1996)
• Tori Amos, "Putting the Damage On" (1997 - Unreleased)
• Dina Carroll, "Run To You" (1997)
• Dance Fest, "Yorkshire Sqat" (2002)
• The Crystal Method, "Keep Hope Alive" (1997)
• Paul Van Dyk, "Forbidden Fruit" (1997)
• Deep Dish, "Stranded" (1997)
• Madonna, "Drowned World/Substitute For Love" (1998)
• Lenny Kravitz, "If You Can't Say No" (1998)
• DJ Rap, "Bad Girl" (1998)
• Depeche Mode, "It's No Good" (1998 - Unreleased)
• Sarah McLachlan, "I Love You" (1999)
• Tom Jones, "She's A Lady" (2000)
• Sarah McLachlan, "Hold On" (2001)
• KoЯn, "Here to Stay" (2002)
• The Doors, "Break on Through (To the Other Side)" (2004) w/ additional production by Burufunk and Carmen Rizzo

Video game appearances & scores

• Die Hard Trilogy 2: Viva Las Vegas (1999) - Complete score
• FreQuency (2001) - "Smartbomb"
• SSX Tricky (2001) - "Smartbomb (Plump's Vocal Mix)" and "Hip Hop Phenomenon" (with Tsunami One)
• Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec (2001) - "Madskillz-Mic Chekka"
• FIFA 2002 (2001) - "Never Gonna Come Back Down (Hybrids Echoplex Dub Mix)"
• Wipeout Fusion (2002) - "Smartbomb (Plump DJs Remix)"
• ATV Offroad Fury 2 (2002) - "The Revolution"
• Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions (2002) - Complete score
• Need for Speed: Underground (2003) - "Kimosabe" (with Wildchild)
• Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) - "Tao of the Machine (Scott Humprhey's Remix)" (with The Roots)
• Amplitude (2003) - "Kimosabe" (with Wildchild)
• Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (2004) - "Simply Being Loved (Somnambulist)"
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (2004) - Complete score (Now available on iTunes)
• XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Association - "Dreaming", "Godspeed", and many more.
• Burnout Revenge (2005) - The Doors - "Break On Through (BT Mix)" (Credited as BT vs. The Doors)

Sample CDs

• Breakz from the Nu Skool (2002)
• Twisted Textures (2002)
• 300 Years Later (with Nick Phoenix) (2005)

Alias' and Known Pseudonyms

• BT
• Prana
• Elastic Chakra
• Elastic Reality
• Libra
• Dharma
• Kaistar

See also

• List of Number 1 Dance Hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• The anomaly

External links

• BT's official website
• BT's MySpace page
• BT Network (began in 1997)
• BT's deviantArt page
• BT discography at MusicBrainz
• BT at IMDb
• BT discography at Discogs
• Template:Last.fm
• Electric Sky Church Music: Full BT Discography