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Tony Wakeford
Wakeford with Sol Invictus in 2005
Background information
Birth name	Anthony Charles Wakeford
Born	(1959-05-02) 2 May 1959 (age 65) Woking, Surrey, England
Genres	Neofolk post-punk punk rock
Occupations	Musician songwriter
Instruments	Bass guitar vocals keyboards
Years active	1977–present
Member of	Sol Invictus Crisis
Formerly of	Death in June Above the Ruins Current 93 Orchestra Noir The Wardrobe

Anthony Charles Wakeford (born 2 May 1959) is a British neofolk musician, who primarily records under the name Sol Invictus. He is also a member of the punk rock band Crisis and a co-founder of Death in June.

Biography

Early work

Wakeford was the bassist for the English punk rock band Crisis. An openly left-wing and anti-fascist band, Crisis performed at events organized by Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League. Crisis disbanded in 1980, but Wakeford later began touring with a new line-up of the band in 2017. Wakeford, Crisis guitarist Douglas Pearce and Patrick Leagas co-founded the band Death in June. In early 1984, Wakeford was fired from Death in June for "bringing his 'right-wing leanings into the group'"; at the time he had been a member of the National Front (UK). In 2007, Wakeford described his National Front membership as "probably the worst decision of my life". Wakeford had also been a member of the Odinic Rite, a neopagan organization. After being fired from Death in June, Wakeford formed the post-punk band Above the Ruins, and in October 1984, they released a nine song demo album on cassette, Songs of the Wolf, which was distributed through the London-based P.O. box BCM Grimnir, and from the National Front bookshop in Croydon. The band's lyrics denounced communism, capitalism and liberalism. The demo received a favorable review from Nationalism Today, the journal of the National Front. The following year, Above the Ruins contributed the song "The Killing Zone" to No Surrender, a compilation of recordings by white nationalist bands, and in late 1985, announced that their demo would be "soon to be available on record".

Sol Invictus

In 1987, Wakeford distanced himself from right-wing views, and formed the neofolk band Sol Invictus, adapting the band's name from a cult that predated Christianity. The band's music combines acoustic guitar playing and "neo-classical instrumentation" with elements of industrial music. Due to Wakeford's past political associations, Sol Invictus has been accused of neo-fascism.

In 1990, Wakeford formed his own record label, Tursa. With distribution by World Serpent Distribution, Tursa released numerous albums by Sol Invictus, starting with Trees in Winter. After World Serpent dissolved in the 2000s, Cold Spring began distributing the band's albums.

Discography

References

1. Neumann-Braun, Klaus; Schmidt, Axel (2008). Die Welt der Gothics: Spielräume düster konnotierter Transzendenz (in German) (2nd ed.). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. p. 280. ISBN 978-3-531-15880-8.
2. ^ "CRISIS Interviewed 2017 -new line-up of legendary punk band back in action". Louder Than War. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
3. ^ Robert, Forbes; Stampton, Eddie (9 November 2015). "1985". The White Nationalist Skinhead Movement, UK & USA, 1979-1993. Feral House. pp. 161–164. ISBN 9781627310253.
4. Barry, Robert (3 October 2012). "FACT meets Boyd Rice: noise pioneer, film buff, leader of the Church of Satan". Fact magazine. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
5. Backes, Uwe; Moreau, Patrick (2012). Die völkisch-religiöse Bewegung im Nationalsozialismus: Eine Beziehungs- und Konfliktgeschichte. ISBN 9783525369227.
6. Robert, Forbes; Stampton, Eddie (9 November 2015). "1985". The White Nationalist Skinhead Movement, UK & USA, 1979-1993. Feral House. pp. 159–160. ISBN 9781627310253.
7. ^ Simpson, Paul. "Sol Invictus Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
8. Webb, Peter (10 June 2010). "Neofolk or Post-Industrial Music". Exploring the Networked Worlds of Popular Music. Taylor & Francis. p. 68. ISBN 9781135910792.
9. Livingstone, David (2015). "Occulture". Transhumanism: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Sabilillah Publications. p. 307. ISBN 9781515232575.

External links

• Tursa Records, Wakeford's label
• Tursa Records on MySpace

• 1959 births
• Living people
• People from Woking
• English punk rock bass guitarists
• English rock bass guitarists
• British male bass guitarists
• English modern pagans
• Adherents of Germanic neopaganism
• Performers of modern pagan music
• Death in June members
• Sol Invictus (band) members