The Imaginary Paradise of Richard Burmer in Echoes Podcast
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
On the 10th anniversary of his death, we remember electronic composer Richard Burmer. Burmer was among the California electronic scene of the early 1980s that included Steve Roach, Robert Rich and Michael Stearns. Creating his own instruments through sampling, Burmer composed orchestras of sound that were dynamic, epic and unrelentingly melodic. He died on August 9, 2006. We remember this artist whose music still sounds so true. We hear archival interviews with Burmer, as well as remembrances from musicians Steve Roach, Michael Hoppé, and Hollan Holmes, and Hearts of Space founder and host, Stephen Hill.
So glad you are doing a show on Richard Burmer. He was a grand musician and good friend. One of those intense guys that when a subject was found, he would wax on forever. I once painted an entire bedroom while Richard was talking music on the phone. He loved The Moody Blues and was not just skilled compositionally, but in designing wonderful sound images. I still use some of his samples. Owosso Michigan…. tiny town and home of Scott Kinsey and Richard Burmer !! Two musical wonderlings.
I was in Tokyo in 1988 , his amazing music was played everyday on JWAVE , It was a tour de force and affected many listeners as “the perfect ambient music” It is sad he reached such highs with his music but such lows in his personal life. I still treasure his CD “Across the view”
I realized later in life how great it was to hear everything be created in the basement, playing hooky in school to go home and play with the memory moog.
My kids didn’t realize till late how cool it was that people like Richard, Fripp, George Winston and Cluster were coming to our basement.
Richard Burmer is easily one of the greatest visionary musicians of the last 35 years.
Rick was an artistic role model…and every day I wish I had his childlike enthusiasm for all things musical…and I loved him dearly…
Patrick… Please contact me about Rick. We were friends in the late 1970-1980s. I would like to contact both Susan and Deb. I wish I had known sooner. Rick was so much fun to be around. Played around many a late night in his home studio. His practical knowledge of the insides of the electronic instruments was always spot on and useful. I still have his great music to remind me. Doug.
I first heard of Richard Burmer while in jr. high school when Echoes was still playing on the local radio station on the late evening hours. While everyone was listening to pop music, I was elsewhere. I always recall his sound being in that place of wonder, calm and warmth. Nearly twenty five years later and still visiting those places.
Discovered Richards’ first album on a Sunday Night back in 85. His first album, Mosaic, was the feature album of the night for ‘Innervisions’, the New Age show on KTCL in Fort Collins, Colorado. That album was so far ahead of all the other artists, sorry to say to all the others… I have listened to Mosaic more than any other cd that I’ve owned since then…by far… I believe his music will be listened more intently 200 years from now.
Richard left this world much to soon but his music will last forever.
Rick was my best friend for 40 years, we used to jam in his parents basement. There was nothing we couldn’t talk about…I miss him dearly.
Rick was a sound sculpting genius, and was truly a pioneer in the 80’s, at the forefront of sampling technology. He could create anything your imagination could come up with, and would astound you with his wizardry! Who else could come up with an exact replication of a Ramayana monkey chant?! It is that appreciation for creativity and wonder that made working with him such an unforgettable experience. I love the J. R.Tolkien reference to his musical style, and I think he would be happy to know that he was remembered in that way.
An icon of electronic music, a life so sadly lost.
Thank you for creating/releasing this interview about Richard Burmer. I’m feeling a deep nostalgia, as I listen… partly from the memory of encountering and using some of his work on my own weekly program, after discovering him, via Hearts of Space. His music, including the collaborations, bring up a kind of aliveness I found in that pivotal, transformational time.
Just Today, a Sunday, as I was making my morning Americano, my eyes caught the spine of his CD, Shining By The River, and have been “going to church” hearing through “Bhakti Point”!
Reading comments, before mine, I see I’m not the only one who thinks that his work hasn’t lost anything as our world is bringing relentless change; if anything, it’s a welcome respite and a nourishing evocation of something both imaginary, yet profoundly home, in me.
Considering his final period, I can only hope that he has found a rest, in peace.
No one can say he didn’t give his Best.
~Wayne Upchurch
Host of Into The Mystic, on WHQR, back in the day.