John L. Walters

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John L. Walters
Birth nameJohn L. Walters
Born (1953-04-16) 16 April 1953 (age 68)
Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England
Occupation(s)Musician, composer, journalist, editor
InstrumentsKeyboards, woodwinds
Years active1974–present

John L. Walters (born 16 April 1953)[1] is an English editor, musician, critic and composer.

Early years[]

John L. Walters was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England. He attended King's College London and holds a degree in Maths with Physics.[2]

Career[]

In 1974 John L. Walters was a founding member of the band Landscape, which evolved into a five-piece band with Richard James Burgess (drums, electric drums, computer programming, synths, vocals), Christopher Heaton (synthesizers, piano, vocals), Andy Pask (fretted and fretless basses, vocals), Peter Thoms (trombone, electric trombone, vocals), and Walters (lyricon,[3] soprano sax, flute, alto flute, computer programming, synths, vocals). The band is known for the 1981 hit single "Einstein A Go-Go", which reached number 5 in the UK charts, “Norman Bates” and the album [From the Tea-Rooms of Mars …].

After the band split in 1984, Walters went into record production. He subsequently produced and arranged records for Swans Way, Kissing the Pink, Twelfth Night, The Mike Gibbs Orchestra and pianist Mark Springer, and worked with other artists from the era including Kate Bush, Hot Gossip and Landscape colleague Richard James Burgess.[4]

From 1987 to 1997 Walters was a member of the "electronic jazz orchestra" Zyklus, with Neil Ardley, Warren Greveson and Ian Carr.[5]

In 1992, with Laurence Aston, he co-founded the audio journal Unknown Public.[6], which won a Prudential Award in 1996. Aston and Walters also founded the SoundCircus label with producer James Mallinson and pianist Joanna MacGregor.[7]

In 1997, after working for a number of newspapers and magazines, including the Architectural Review, he joined Eye magazine as managing editor. Walters has been the editor of Eye magazine since the publication of Eye no. 33 in 1999.[8] He became its co-owner (with art director Simon Esterson) after a management buy-out in 2008.[9] Walters also writes about creative music (including jazz, electronica and world music) for The Guardian.[10]

Walters has been a guest lecturer at colleges and conferences internationally, and he served as an external examiner at Central Saint Martins from 2003-06. Walters has also served as chair for several international juries, including one for the inaugural European Design Award and also the 24th International Biennial of Graphic Design. He has received six nominations for the UK’s BSME (British Society of Magazine Editors) Awards, and won in 2002 and 2018.[2] In January 2010, Walters was the co-curator of a one-day conference about music and design at St Bride Library, London,[10] and he co-programmes the regular Type Tuesday[11] events that Eye has held at St Bride since 2013.

Personal life[]

Walters is married to writer and journalist Clare Walters[12] and has two daughters, circus artist and costume designer Jessie Rose,[13] formerly a member of the hula hoop trio Hoop La La (semi-finalists, Britain’s Got Talent 2008) and Rosie Walters.

Articles and Books[]

Walters has written 100s of articles about music and graphic design and two books.

• 50 Typefaces That Changed The World (Octopus, 2013)[14]

• Alan Kitching, A Life In Letterpress (Laurence King, 2016)[15][16]

References[]

  1. ^ Carr, Ian; Fairweather, Digby; Priestley, Brian (2004). The Rough Guide to Jazz. Rough Guides. Retrieved 10 December 2015. neil ardley zyklus.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "John L. Walters". Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  3. ^ http://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the-search-for-expression/2505
  4. ^ * John L. Walters discography at Discogs.com
  5. ^ "Zyklus Virtual Realities". Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  6. ^ Unknown Public website unknownpublic.com
  7. ^ "A brief history". Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  8. ^ "Editorial, Eye". Autumn 1999. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  9. ^ "Editorial, Eye". Summer 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Schepis, Michael (2 January 2013). "Interview - John L. Walters Eye Magazine". Archived from the original on 11 December 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  11. ^ http://www.eyemagazine.com/blog/post/type-tuesday-happy-birthday-st-bride
  12. ^ https://wordlessbooks.co.uk/about
  13. ^ https://www.jessierose.co.uk/about
  14. ^ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fifty-Typefaces-That-Changed-World-ebook/dp/B00DZOEAWM/
  15. ^ http://www.thetypographyworkshop.com/life#the_book
  16. ^ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alan-Kitching-Special-Life-Letterpress/dp/178067774X/

Further reading[]

External links[]

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