Russ Davies

Early life

Russell T. Davies was born and brought up in North London, England. His father is Dave Davies of British rock and roll band the Kinks. While growing up in the 1980s, Russ would frequently play with the classic synths and drum machines in his father's home studio. As a teenager in London, he stated "the most exciting thing you could do [in the 1990s] was to go to the underground electronic parties around the city. That was the freshest culture going on with the strongest energy."

Early collaborations

In the summer of 1998 Davies collaborated with his father on the ambient new age album Purusha and the Spiritual Planet. A mostly instrumental album with vocals on only one track, it had liner notes telling "a story about an 13-year-old boy who collects ancient artifacts and comes across a strange pendant." According to a mixed review in Allmusic, "Each track is like a chapter of the story providing a musical interpretation, sort of what Michael Nesmith did with The Garden and The Prison. The duo released it in October 1998 on Meta Media Records under the project name Crystal Radio.

In the early 2000s, Davies released several collaborative singles with his friend Humphrey Bacchus, the label manager at Dragonfly Records in England. The project was dubbed Nada and incorporates psychedelic and dance music. Nada was largely released on Liquid Sound Design, the ambient imprint of Dragonfly Records. As Nada he and Bacchus both wrote and produced tracks such as "Earthgarden" and "Manakhana," which were included on the 2003 Liquid Sound Design compilation Butterfly Dawn, among others. The tracks were included on two compilations by Buddha Bar Records, and others by Platipus, Whirl-Y-Gig, and Wagram Music. Around that time Davies was also commissioned to remix bands such as The Orb.

Abakus

In 2002 Davies wrote and produced the electronic track "Return To Rama" under the alias Abacus, which was included on the Liquid Sound Design (LSD) compilation Elucidations. In October 2003, his track "California Sunshine" by Abakus was released on the LSD compilation Youth in Dub. The track includes acoustic guitar and vocals by Ranajit Sengupta. His track "Last Summer Dub" as Abakus was released on the 2004 Wider Horizons compilation on LSD.

As Abakus, Davies released his studio album That Much Closer to the Sun on Liquid Sound Design in 2004. Beyond the UK release, there was a special Japanese edition with a different catalogue and bonus track. Songs on the album were licensed to over 40 different compilations.

Trance.net called That Much Closer to the Sun "the best album released so far on Liquid Sound Design." The album received an average rating of 4.57/5 (out of 5) on Discogs collected from 203 reviews. It received a score of 7/10 in a review by Ashoka, with Beata Brzoza stating, "This album has something of a carefree atmosphere of the summer, from childhood spent...[in an] idyllic climate of your own universe to which no adult has access." The album received glowing praise from Psyreviews.net, which stated, "the stillness and beauty that's gone into the production and movement in the tracks is uncommonly good, and the shimmering, lazy mastering adds to the dreamy, three-beers-at-lunch-now-I've-got-sunstroke haziness...the changes and the attention to detail are gorgeous."

In 2004 he toured in support of That Much Closer to the Sun under the DJ name Abakus, with gigs both in the United Kingdom and internationally in countries such as Australia, where he played the Rainbow Serpent Festival in early January 2005. He began touring as a deejay in locations as diverse as parties in Russia and electronic festivals in Japan, also playing in South America and throughout Europe and Asia. Starting in 2005, he contributed to several remixes with Youth on Dragonfly Records.

We Share the Same Dreams, his second album as Abakus, was released in November 2008 on his own label Modus Records. Electronic music magazine Resident Advisor gave it 4/5 stars and a generally positive review, categorising it as downtempo progressive house. The review stated, praised the album's "nostalgic" nods and references to the UK's house and garage renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s, but stated "We Share the Same Dreams has one foot planted in all the right influences from the previous decade, but the other hasn't quite stepped on solid modern ground." By 2009 he had toured throughout the European nu-disco scene.

Cinnamon Chasers

In 2008 Davies started releasing music as Cinnamon Chasers, a London-based solo project with an "alternative electro/indietronica" sound, according to Mezzic. Davies originally considered the project names "the light" and "light chasers," before deciding to "lighten to mood" with the word cinnamon. He has stated about the project, "I try to create music that gives me the same vibe as classic films like The Neverending Story gave me as a kid." According toVivascene, in "attempting to recreate sentiment of fantastical films of his childhood, Cinnamon Chasers achieves this with a flawless balance of electronics, sing along structure of pop based melodies, and that same old indie feel." Davies chose to release Cinnamon Chasers on his own Modus Records, despite being offered three record deals for the solo project.

On 1 December 2008, Cinnamon Chasers released the 4-track single "Jetstreams / Luv Deluxe" on Modus. Accordng to a review, "'Luv Deluxe' sounds like a cross between Alan Braxe's French house fun and the more intricate synth excursions of Jean-Michel Jarre, albeit more innocent. Fans of Hot Chip, The Field, The Junior Boys, or Royksopp will find much to love about it." While still creating music as Abakus, he started touring as Cinnamon Chasers as well, and in June 2009 Cinnamon Chasers was featured in Nemone's Lunchbox on the BBC, a selection of her favourite weekly tracks.

In 2009 Saman Kesh, then studying at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, pitched to Davies via email the idea of a "fast-paced, first-person narrative" music video for the track "Luv Deluxe." The video was shot over ten days in cities such as Las Vegas, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland. The video was posted on YouTube on 11 September 2009, on Modus Records.

By January 2010 the video had over 1 million views in various combined online locations, and it was screened at over 40 national and international film festivals. On 16 March 2010, it won best video at the South by Southwest Film Festival. It later received a nomination for Best Dance Video at the UK Music Video Awards. As of May 2014 the official video had over 4.5 million views.

Davies released the White Flag EP as Cinnamon Chasers in May 2009, followed by his first full-length album as Cinnamon Chasers, A Million Miles From Home, on 16 June 2009. He released another EP, The Elements, that August.

The full album Luv Deluxe (Remixes) was released on 28 January 2010 on Modus Records, with a diverse style of remixes. A review stated "An impressively mosaic set of remixes could [help Luv Deluxe (Remixes)] become one of the first big crossover hits of 2010. Those who like Hotflush Recordings' dubstep-techno soundclash movements will be intrigued by label boss Scuba's curious mix of uplifting disco, skippy techno rhythms, and bass warbles. There's also...Diamond Cut's euphoric electro house rework...a magical deep house version from Jay Shepheard, a rock-driven indie dance mix from Vasili Gavre, a ground-shaking dubstep remix from Tempa's N-Type."

He released the Cinnamon Chasers single was "The Bomb" in 2010, which was more dance oriented than the pop sounds of his upcoming album Science.

In February 2010 as Cinnamon Chasers he released a three-track EP on Virgin Records for the band Roxy Music, in Remixes By Cinnamon Chasers. Several months after he released the Cinnamon Chasers EP Sunset Drive on Modus, and in the first half of 2011 he remixed tracks by artists such as Tears for Fears, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Billy Idol and The Killers. One of his remixes was of "Shout" by Tears for Fears.

The Aschere Project

In 2010 he collaborated with Dave Davies on the album Two Worlds, under the group name The Aschere Project. Both members wrote, produced, and recorded all the tracks. About the album's genre, Dave stated "it's a mixture of rock, kinda classical and electronic music." Russ stated, "[Dave and I are] both big sci-fi fans. The Aschere Project is a kind of avant garde electronic prog-rock record, set in a cosmic space opera storyline."

The album was released on Modus Records in 2011. Shindig Magazine called Two Worlds a "hauntingly beautiful rock electronica album," while Willard's Wormholes called it "perhaps Dave Davies' most fascinating work – maybe of his entire career." About the recording process, Dave stated "I had the same kind of relationship recording [the album] with my son Russ as I used to have with [Ray Davies of The Kinks]." He also stated that he and Russ "constantly exchange thoughts and musical ideas. I think when you work with someone who comes from a different musical perspective, you get different ideas. It makes you stretch out a little bit."

Festivals, touring

He regularly tours live, including performances at some of USAs largest EDM festivals including headlining the Elektrana Stage at the 'Best Major European Festival' Exit Festival 2011. Other performances include the Lights All Night Festival in Dallas, Counterpoint Festival, Camp Bisco, Wakarusa, and SXSW.

Recent years

After founding Cinnamon Chasers, Davies continued to release music as Abakus, starting with the full-length album Unreleased & Remixed in 2009. That year he also released The Jaguar EP, followed in 2010 by the full-length Abakus album Prisms on Modus. Later that summer he released two EPs, Wasted Feeling and Wasted Feeling (Remixes), both on the Sick Watona label in Argentina. 2011 saw him release three Abakus EPs on Modus, starting with the Beyond The Fields EP, followed by the live EPs Reworks Volume 1 and Reworks Volume II.

His sophomore Cinnamon Chasers LP Science was released in January 2011, on Modus, and a month later was released on iTunes. About the album, Davies stated "I wanted to create a fun party vibe...with a very strong disco/electro influence, but all packed strong with melody and feeling. The previous album was more song based but from what I've seen...Cinnamon Chasers is best suited to the dance world." Vivascene stated, " Davies...came to the forefront of the Italo disco genre with his second long play Science which was widely successful earlier this year as a marquee album for those of you who love Italo disco." SoundFuse named Science one of their top albums of 2011.

In March 2011 as Cinnamon Chasers he released Extended Club Instrumentals, an instrumental-only version of Science for DJs. Later that year saw the release of the EPs Science Remixes (Part 1) and Science Remixes (Part II), both on Modus Records.

In late 2011 he started writing the Cinnamon Chasers album Dreams & Machines, which he worked on for around six months. An exclusive track from the album was released in March 2012 to Earmilk.com; the track, a remix of his own song "Warm Rush," had a harder and more energetic sound than the original to be more appropriate for clubs. The full album was released on 25 November 2012, with another full LP already being worked on.

About Dreams & Machines, SoundFuse Magazine stated, "All nine tracks share a common tone and mood, working in an almost a frantic yet driven urgency. Dreams & Machines returns to CC's roots and features more instrumentals (only three tracks have vocals this time around), while the music itself has evolved into a larger, more orchestral specimen. This is his most well-rounded release to date, and another step in the right direction for that quest to find that 'perfect sound.' While this may it not be his most accessible album, it's definitely his most impressive." The Untz also called the album his best work to date.

Davies stated the upcoming album would be "very electric, analogue and moody, and with more attitude than previous cinnamon releases." The Cinnamon Chasers EP Time.Body.Tears was released in June 2013. The Untz stated about the EP, "The British producer has crafted a silky sound that's more like a musical time capsule than anything else; composing disco and house tunes primed to rattle around in your head for days."

As Abakus, in May 2012 he released Futurism Part 1 on Modus, following by Emx1 – EP that October. He released the full album Silent Geometry the following year, and his most recent Abakus album is the April 2014 Tokyo Express EP. Lights was featured as Record of the Week by Above and Beyond on their Group Therapy Radio. A review by The Untz praised the emotions of the album.

On 16 September 2013, he released Controller (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) on Modus Recordings, selling the EP digitally on iTunes. The original music is used as the soundtrack for Controller, a sci-fi action film produced by MARQ Films and directed by Samen Kesh, and which was included in Deadline Hollywood's "Top Shorts of 2013," and was subsequently released as an EP.

Style

Davies stated in 2005 that he works in a variety of styles and can't define his genre as a whole, and that he is more focused on the "vibe" of his music than its defining style. He primarily works with electronic instruments, turntables, and DAWs, though he does periodically write acoustic music. According to the BBC, "Russ has strong musical roots in early pioneers like Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis and Jean Michel Jarre." Davies also cites KLF as a key influence, as well as modern artists such as Alan Braxe and Rex the Dog.

Concerning Davies' multiple ongoing solo projects, he has stated that "I can put my mind and heart into different musical personas. I find if I stay on one concept for too long I stagnate, creatively." About their differences in sound, Davies clarified that "Abakus is more spirit sounding music and I try for it to have no boundries [sic] or genre. Cinnamon Chasers is a specific concept – the whole retro/disco future thing." Also, "I make deeper and complex music under the Abakus moniker, but I want Cinnamon Chasers to be more accessible, so I've got [vocals] in there."

Personal life

As of 2005 Davies lives in Camden, London.

As Abakus

With Nada