Tony Wakeford
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Woking, Surrey, England
- Musician
- songwriter
Tony Wakeford | |
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.jpg) Wakeford with Sol Invictus in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Anthony Charles Wakeford |
| Born | 2 May 1959 Woking, Surrey, England |
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| Years active | 1977–present |
| Member of | |
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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.
Early work
Wakeford was the bassist for the English punk rock band Crisis. An openly left-wing and anti-fascist band,[2] Crisis performed at events organized by Rock Against Racism and the Anti-Nazi League.[2] Crisis disbanded in 1980, but Wakeford later began touring with a new line-up of the band in 2017.[2] Wakeford, Crisis guitarist Douglas Pearce and Patrick Leagas co-founded the band Death in June.[2] 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).[3] In 2007, Wakeford described his National Front membership as "probably the worst decision of my life".[4] Wakeford had also been a member of the Odinic Rite, a neopagan organization.[5] 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.[3] The band's lyrics denounced communism, capitalism and liberalism.[3] The demo received a favorable review from Nationalism Today, the journal of the National Front.[3] The following year, Above the Ruins contributed the song "The Killing Zone" to No Surrender, a compilation of recordings by white nationalist bands,[6] and in late 1985, announced that their demo would be "soon to be available on record".[3]
Sol Invictus
In 1987, Wakeford distanced himself from right-wing views, and formed the neofolk band Sol Invictus,[7] adapting the band's name from a cult that predated Christianity.[8] The band's music combines acoustic guitar playing and "neo-classical instrumentation" with elements of industrial music.[7] Due to Wakeford's past political associations, Sol Invictus has been accused of neo-fascism.[9]
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.[7] After World Serpent dissolved in the 2000s, Cold Spring began distributing the band's albums.[7]
