Don Verbrilli Bio
People and musical styles change over time- that is a given. Accordingly, Don Verbrilli's musical journey has always been an evolving experience. He started his musical career in the early 1990s where the emerging influences of electronic music and shoegaze propelled his musical aspirations in the Vancouver rock band Pull. However his ear had always leaned towards the beautiful sounds of psychedelic artists new and old. So the music was always layered with tones both sweet and mysterious, and coloured with a playful lyricism. By 1995 Pull had disbanded, so Don bought a 16-channel Mackie mixer, an ADAT, and a few mics and began to learn the art of recording rock music himself. At around the same time a digital synth and sampler called the Kurzweil K2000 was growing in reputation. It was an instrument that was to capture Don Verbrilli's imagination and set him on a path of electronic experimentation that continues to this day.
In 1999 with the release of "Many Coloured Butterflies", Don's project The Verbrilli Sound began its eclectic musical voyage. The music was a rich blend of sounds both played and sampled. There were elements of psychedelia, 70's funk, downtempo, ambient, drum and bass, house, and anything and everything in between. Don's guitar playing featured on many songs, but a new found love grew for drum machines, synths- and above all for the sampler as a very unique and freeing instrument. Artists like DJ Krush and Roni Size took notice and played songs in DJ sets from this classic release.
Electronic music dominated Don Verbrilli's career for the next fifteen years, with the release of many albums at Upstairs Recordings under the names The Verbrilli Sound, Telefuzz, Portable Planets, Swankz and Verbrilli, and Drug Submarine. Upstairs Recordings' now classic first release "Deepdown Tempos One", put Vancouver's downtempo scene on the map and garnered glowing reviews. Strong releases followed, with the music always pushing the notional boundaries of electronic music thanks to Don Verbrilli's love for a wide variety of musical influences, and for his guitar and sampler. Both The Verbrilli Sound and Telefuzz played England's The Big Chill Festival in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
Concurrent with his electronic career Don continued along the other path of discovery he had first embarked upon as guitarist and vocalist in Pull- that quest of learning recording techniques of decades past, and building a studio of classic acoustic and electric instruments and gear to truly fulfill his dreams of making music of all types. Could the widely varied influences of The Beatles, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, REM, The Smiths, The Church, XTC, Radiohead, Swervedriver, My Bloody Valentine, The Orb, Sun Electric, Neil Young, The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, Miles Davis, Motown and more all be blended and fused into something cohesive and unique? Certainly Don's work to date has been broadly varied, with hints of greater achievements yet to come. But the ultimate answer will be found in this new phase of Don's musical evolution. Verbrilli Recordings has now been created. Many years of writing and preparation have been spent. Songs have been carefully worked on and have evolved and coalesced into the thematic albums they were destined to be part of. Now begins the process of unveiling some of the most complete and complex work that Don Verbrilli has ever created, drawing together all influences and releasing music that encompasses a wide range of musical history and heritage. Each album will be to a large extent unique, and the adventure will be gleefully unpredictable and ultimately rewarding. However the music will continue to be identifiable as Don Verbrilli's because it bears a sonic print that can only be described as "The Verbrilli Sound".
As a final note: many bands record their albums in commercial studios under the pressures of time and money, relying on the expertise of mixers, engineers and producers. These albums often capture a moment in time and there is a definite charm to this style of recording. Sometimes there are regrets and mistakes, but sometimes there is absolute magic in the studio, where the pressure of recording brings out the best in a band. On the other hand, there is a new breed of musician who has the freedom to take time with his or her material. All the tools for songmaking are at hand, so there is no pressure to finish songs or albums in finite lengths of time. Songs can evolve and grow over greater stretches of time, and many experiments in sonic character and arrangements can be conducted. Don Verbrilli's work falls into this second category, for better or for worse. There may be less of a sense of the recording representing "a slice in time", but the album may feel more thoroughly sculpted and detailed, and the album itself may cover more musical territory as a result.
In 1999 with the release of "Many Coloured Butterflies", Don's project The Verbrilli Sound began its eclectic musical voyage. The music was a rich blend of sounds both played and sampled. There were elements of psychedelia, 70's funk, downtempo, ambient, drum and bass, house, and anything and everything in between. Don's guitar playing featured on many songs, but a new found love grew for drum machines, synths- and above all for the sampler as a very unique and freeing instrument. Artists like DJ Krush and Roni Size took notice and played songs in DJ sets from this classic release.
Electronic music dominated Don Verbrilli's career for the next fifteen years, with the release of many albums at Upstairs Recordings under the names The Verbrilli Sound, Telefuzz, Portable Planets, Swankz and Verbrilli, and Drug Submarine. Upstairs Recordings' now classic first release "Deepdown Tempos One", put Vancouver's downtempo scene on the map and garnered glowing reviews. Strong releases followed, with the music always pushing the notional boundaries of electronic music thanks to Don Verbrilli's love for a wide variety of musical influences, and for his guitar and sampler. Both The Verbrilli Sound and Telefuzz played England's The Big Chill Festival in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
Concurrent with his electronic career Don continued along the other path of discovery he had first embarked upon as guitarist and vocalist in Pull- that quest of learning recording techniques of decades past, and building a studio of classic acoustic and electric instruments and gear to truly fulfill his dreams of making music of all types. Could the widely varied influences of The Beatles, The Doors, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, REM, The Smiths, The Church, XTC, Radiohead, Swervedriver, My Bloody Valentine, The Orb, Sun Electric, Neil Young, The Flaming Lips, Tame Impala, Miles Davis, Motown and more all be blended and fused into something cohesive and unique? Certainly Don's work to date has been broadly varied, with hints of greater achievements yet to come. But the ultimate answer will be found in this new phase of Don's musical evolution. Verbrilli Recordings has now been created. Many years of writing and preparation have been spent. Songs have been carefully worked on and have evolved and coalesced into the thematic albums they were destined to be part of. Now begins the process of unveiling some of the most complete and complex work that Don Verbrilli has ever created, drawing together all influences and releasing music that encompasses a wide range of musical history and heritage. Each album will be to a large extent unique, and the adventure will be gleefully unpredictable and ultimately rewarding. However the music will continue to be identifiable as Don Verbrilli's because it bears a sonic print that can only be described as "The Verbrilli Sound".
As a final note: many bands record their albums in commercial studios under the pressures of time and money, relying on the expertise of mixers, engineers and producers. These albums often capture a moment in time and there is a definite charm to this style of recording. Sometimes there are regrets and mistakes, but sometimes there is absolute magic in the studio, where the pressure of recording brings out the best in a band. On the other hand, there is a new breed of musician who has the freedom to take time with his or her material. All the tools for songmaking are at hand, so there is no pressure to finish songs or albums in finite lengths of time. Songs can evolve and grow over greater stretches of time, and many experiments in sonic character and arrangements can be conducted. Don Verbrilli's work falls into this second category, for better or for worse. There may be less of a sense of the recording representing "a slice in time", but the album may feel more thoroughly sculpted and detailed, and the album itself may cover more musical territory as a result.