Richard (Ricky) Graham is a highly inspired and enthusiastic musician and music producer originally from Northern Ireland, now based in the USA. His music productions encompass everything from ambient to experimental to progressive music.
Graham has toured extensively throughout the UK, Europe, Asia and US promoting various music releases since 2006, recorded various sessions for BBC radio, and his productions have featured on regional and national TV & Radio. Ricky has been involved with a multitude of music festivals and performance events, sharing the stage with Mary Anne Hobbs (BBC Radio 1) and Boxcutter (Planet Mu) in 2008, and electronica legend, Ulrich Schnauss in 2009. Graham completed his Ph.D in music in 2012. The same year, Graham joined Fluttery Records family.
signalsundertests is Graham’s sonic playground, beginning life as a collaborative project with fellow artisan, John King. Since 2008, Graham has developed the signalsundertests project to attend to the effects of interactive music technology on music performance, resulting in a series of collaborations with a conglomeration of contrasting artists.
“Nascent” features a series of ambient guitar-based musical works. The pieces seek to interrogate the increasingly polyphonic nature of the solo performing electronic guitarist. The disc features a series of refined live improvisations through production techniques. The live recordings were produced with hardware and software developed by Graham. The album features collaborative efforts from Irish Composer, Michael Andrews, and American Vocalist, Laura Graham. Dublin- based producer, Philip Byrne, mastered the disc. The artwork is by Tennessee-based Artist, Jon Kenney. Overall, this album has resulted from a positive musical experience, which Graham calls his best work, thus far.
signalsundertests produce sound sculptures; and they talk to you, as if they were communicating directly to your face. There are plenty of drone, ambient / electronic(a) musicians out there, but not many produce music with bespoke music software and hardware developed by themselves.
Guitar Player Magazine says: “The brainchild of Northern Irish experimental guitarist, Ricky Graham, in collaboration with composer and tape-wrangler, Michael Andrews, this music began as a series of improvisations created utilising looping and processing software and polyphonic guitar hardware developed by Graham, and was later refined into its present form. Unlike other “drone” and “atmospheric” music, it possesses a subtle evocative and majestic quality reminiscent of masters such as Brian Eno, Michael Brook, and Robert Rich.”