I’m Robert Wilks and passionate about music. From an early age I have fond memories of sitting on the carpet floor with records scattered all around me, playing one after another, listening to classical music, junks opposed to jazz or swing and Beatles’ singles… “Lady Madonna” and “Penny Lane”.
It was definitely an eclectic mix. One of the first records I can remember taking a liking to was “I’m a believer” by the Monkees.
I’m the younger of two siblings and at the age of six, in 1970, my brother splashed out on a top quality stereo cassette player. For the day, this was state of the art technology. Vinyl was out and cassettes were in. It’s hard to imagine now, but it was a big deal to be able to record music off the radio or to listen to your favourite artists without the ever-present background noise we’d become accustomed to. I loved recording sounds. I was fascinated by it… even getting up early in the morning before my parents, just to listen to stuff recorded from the radio or TV the day before. Looking back, it seems my passion for all things relating to music and making recordings revealed itself at a very early age.
For those that know Worcester, my first school was at Dines Green. I can still remember my first music lessons, where the teacher would take us out into the hall and hand out percussion instruments for us all to play with. It was so much fun, but it also gave me a want to make music rather than to just listen to it.
This was the year the Beatles split up, and my brother had started buying their early solo albums. I loved listening to Paul’s first album, McCartney. Famously, he played all the instruments himself, laying down separate recordings on a four track tape deck. Without doubt, this inspired me, later in life, to start composing and recording my own music.
My artistic streak probably came from my mother. She loved to paint beautiful landscapes that sold locally and to places as far flung as Virginia in the USA. I guess all art stems from a basic desire to create something that can be appreciated by others. My mother painted beautiful landscapes; I chose music as my medium.
At school I was steered towards taking Science and Technology courses, which lead to me graduating in Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic of Wales in 1986.
My father was a Quantity Surveyor for the City Council. Working on large projects, he had good knowledge of Civil Engineering, and was able to show me how to create Engineering Drawings and help teach me mathematics. It was this grounding, I think, that influenced my decision to go into Engineering as a career.
During my time as a student I enjoyed seeing live bands or solo artists such as The Jam, Echo and the Bunny Men, Billy Bragg and The Cocteau Twins. I loved the way that the Cocteau Twins featured a wheel-to-wheel tape machine on stage. I’d never seen that done before, but for me at least, it showed that you could use machines as instruments. Another influence perhaps.
While studying for my Engineering degree, I bought a small computer to help with my studies. I soon realised, however, that it was also capable of producing polyphonic sounds. I was interested in programming at the time and wanted to explore the possibility that a machine could compose music by following a basic set of rules. I set to the task and, to my surprise, managed to get some pretty good results. Producing music on computers in the 80’s was very much in its infancy. Nothing like what we have today, but fair to say, this was my first introduction to digital music.
Post graduation, I was employed by Dowty Meco, now Komatsu. I’ve been with the organisation for 35 years and during that time have held various roles in the Production and Industrial Engineering field, with my most recent role being that of Production & Works Engineering manager. I’ve been involved in a number of projects and initiatives that include new buildings, buying machine tools, installation of new production lines and providing technical support overseas.
To assist with setting up our global supply chain, my first visits to China were back in 2007, where I helped with auditing and evaluating subcontractors. I’ve since returned many times over the years. My last visit was to our Tianjin factory in 2019 to help develop some of our manufacturing processes.
During my time over there, I was able to visit a number of music venues where traditional Chinese music was performed. Always on the look out for inspiration, I was particularly interested in the distinctive sound of the Guzheng. A multi stringed instrument, with a large wooden soundboard that featured in many of the performances I attended. A versatile instrument, perhaps sounding a bit like a lute, but with a distinctly oriental feel to it. I wanted to include this in my musical arrangements, but at the time, was not quite sure how I was going to go about it.
In 2005 I invested in my first audio workstation and keyboard. At last I had an array of musical instruments at my disposal. The only problem was that I had no formal training in music or piano playing. All I had was the passion and determination to create music the way I wanted. I soon realised it wasn’t going to be easy, but over time, I kept learning, kept trying, kept improving and eventually got to a point where I was producing something I felt was actually worthwhile. I gave myself the name mantramania and started uploading my music to websites.
Encouraged by listeners from around the world, I realised that I had created my own style of music that could be taken on a journey. I introduced new sounds, new textures and new instruments, including some from China, to create a style that is both melodic and relaxing to listen to.
One of the new sounds I created was achieved by mixing the Guzheng with an acoustic guitar. The combined resonance gave me the blend I was looking for … which then went on to be featured in many of my tracks, such as Olympus Mons and Mikuru.
Another sound I wanted to include in my recordings comes from the Beijing Drum Tower, a tall, two-story building, near Tiananmen Square where daily performances take place. The second story of the building, where 24 drums are housed, serves as an acoustic chamber that boosts the sound, so you feel the pressure waves of the bass drums as they pass through your body and echo out across the Forbidden City.
While I was there, I managed to make an audio recording of the performance…