Chuck Wild (born September 22, 1946, in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

) is a keyboardist, composer, producer, recording artist and

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-nominated songwriter best known for his series of relaxation music albums using the artist name and imprint Liquid Mind. As of February 2025, there are 19 albums in the Liquid Mind catalog.

Early work

Wild's career spans 50 years from 1972 to the present, including writing 125 songs and compositions used in TV, films, and music albums. He was signed to Warner/Chappell Music and

Lorimar-Telepictures Lorimar-Telepictures Corporation, Inc. was an entertainment company established on February 19, 1986 with the merger of Lorimar Productions, Inc. and Telepictures Corporation. Headquartered at the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (now Sony Pi ...

as a staff songwriter in 1987 and co-wrote "You're My One And Only" with songwriter Marti Sharron, a #1 hit in Germany for

Jennifer Rush Jennifer Rush (born Heidi Stern; September 28, 1960) is an American pop and rock singer. She achieved initial success during the mid-1980s with several singles and studio albums, including the million-selling single " The Power of Love", whic ...

on '' Passion''. His catalog includes studio work and concert performances as keyboardist with the 1980s

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

band

Missing Persons A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, o ...

on the ''

Spring Session M ''Spring Session M'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Missing Persons. It was released on October 8, 1982, by Capitol Records. The title of the album is an anagram of the band's name. Produced by Ken Scott with the songs written ...

'' (1982) and '' Rhyme & Reason'' (1984) albums, during which time he worked with vocalist

Dale Bozzio Dale Frances Bozzio (née Consalvi; born March 2, 1955) is an American rock and pop vocalist. She is best known as co-founder and lead singer of the '80s new wave band Missing Persons and for her work with Frank Zappa. While with Zappa, she p ...

, drummer

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons, U.K., and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missi ...

, guitarist

Warren Cuccurullo Warren Bruce Cuccurullo (born December 8, 1956) is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner, and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1 ...

, and bassist

Patrick O'Hearn Patrick John O'Hearn (born September 6, 1954) is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and recording artist. Known primarily as a bass guitarist and keyboardist, O'Hearn came to prominence with Frank Zappa and co-founded the early 1980s ...

. Studio work with

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

from 1994 to 1998 includes drums, keyboards, percussion, programming, sound design, sound effects, soundscapes, synthesizer and synthesizer programming on the '' HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I'' album. Wild was mentored by the late five-time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning engineer/producer

Bruce Swedien Bruce Swedien ( ) (April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Swedie ...

from 1984 to 2021. Notable projects with other recording artists include studio work with

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

Paula Abdul Paula Julie Abdul (born June 19, 1962) is an American singer, dancer, choreographer, actress, and television personality. She began her career as a cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers at the age of 18 and later became the head choreographe ...

, and songwriting/studio recording for

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his fo ...

The Pointer Sisters The Pointer Sisters are an American female vocal group from Oakland, California, who achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. They have had a repertoire with many genres, they have sold around 50 million records throughout their ...

and

Tommy Page Thomas Alden Page (May 24, 1970– March 3, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter, best known for his 1990 hit single "I'll Be Your Everything (Tommy Page song), I'll Be Your Everything" and was later a music industry executive. Page collabor ...

among many others. He composed and recorded original music for ''

The Panama Deception ''The Panama Deception'' is a 1992 American documentary film, critical of the 1989 United States invasion of Panama. The film was directed by Barbara Trent, written and edited by David Kasper, and narrated by actress Elizabeth Montgomery. It was ...

'', a documentary film about the 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States and corporate media complicity. The film won an

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Academy Honorary Award, Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. The ...

in 1992. Wild co-wrote the song "Starr X'd Lovers" with Michèle Vice-Maslin and Dorian Cheah for the ABC TV series ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as ...

'', which was nominated for Outstanding Original Song For A Drama Series at the 2011

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

s. Wild was signed to the Real Music record label from 2004 to 2014 He received a Special President's Award from Barbara Wheeler, president of the American Music Therapy Association, on November 12, 2009, in San Diego California at their 2009 Annual Conference, "In recognition for outstanding advocacy, generosity and support of the

Music Therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

profession."

Liquid Mind

Wild is best known for his series of Liquid Mind albums; Liquid Mind is classified by music critics and listeners as therapeutic music, sedative music,

ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes Musical tone, tone and atmosphere over traditional Musical form, musical structure or rhythm. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking Musical composition, composition, beat, and/or structured melod ...

, or

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

. For example, ''Liquid Mind XI: Deep Sleep'' charted at #1 on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

USA Top 100 New Age album charts after its release on February 5, 2016. ''Relax: A Liquid Mind Experience'' charted at #10 on the New Age

Billboard charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

on March 22, 2008.

Inception

Wild discusses the inception and process of creating the Liquid Mind series in many published interviews:

The Liquid Mind series was born from my struggle with panic attacks and anxiety while co-scoring the Emmy Award-winning
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...
television series ''
Max Headroom Max Headroom is a fictional character played by actor Matt Frewer. Advertised as "the first computer-generated TV presenter", Max was known for his biting commentary on a variety of topical issues, arrogant wit, stuttering, and pitch-shifting ...
'' with composer
Michael Hoenig Michael Hoenig (born 4 January 1952) is a Germans, German composer who has composed music for several films and games, in addition to two solo albums, including the highly acclaimed 1978 album ''Departure from the Northern Wasteland''. In 1997, ...
. During the same period more than 60 of my friends, associates and family members died of HIV and cancer. To help heal from the panic, a counselor suggested that I write music representing the way I wanted to feel. This resulted in the first Liquid Mind album, ''Ambience Minimus'', completed in 1988. When I discovered this music was effective in healing my own anxiety and panic attacks, and with the encouragement of fellow artist Suzanne Doucet, I decided to release it through major distribution. The ultimate compliment to me is that people fall asleep to my music. Liquid Mind is functional music, assisting us to be tranquil at those times when that may not be easy.

Discography

Liquid Mind albums

* Ambience Minimus (1994) * Slow World (1996) * Liquid Mind III: Balance (1999) * Liquid Mind IV: Unity (2000) * Liquid Mind V: Serenity (2001) * Liquid Mind VI: Spirit (2003) * Liquid Mind VII: Reflection (2004) * Liquid Mind VIII: Sleep (2006) * Relax: A Liquid Mind Experience (2007) * Liquid Mind IX: Lullaby (2009) * Dream: A Liquid Mind Experience (2011) * Liquid Mind X: Meditation (2012) * Liquid Mind: Relaxing Rain & Ocean Mixes (2014) * Liquid Mind XI: Deep Sleep (2016) * Liquid Mind XII: Peace (2018) * Liquid Mind XIII: Mindfulness (2020) * Liquid Mind: Musical Healthcare (2021) * Liquid Mind XIV: Simplicity (2022) * Liquid Mind XV: In The Love (2025)

Liquid Mind and Bryan Baker

* The Wisdom of Kindness Flute Remix (2023) Renowned photographer and graphic designer

Glen Wexler Glen Wexler is an American photographer who is best known for his elaborately staged digital photocompositions of improbable situations. Biography Wexler was born in Palm Springs, California. His father, Donald Wexler FAIA, is a noted mid-cen ...

designed the album covers and packaging for eleven Liquid Mind albums.

Selected work with other recording artists

Missing Persons (band) Missing Persons is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, vocalist Dale Bozzio (née Consalvi), and drummer Terry Bozzio. They later added bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck ...

(1982 album) - Certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) *

, Rhyme & Reason (1984 album) *

, drums and programming on the song ''State Of Attraction'' from the

Forever Your Girl ''Forever Your Girl'' is the debut studio album by American singer Paula Abdul. It was released on June 13, 1988, through Virgin Records. The album was Abdul's breakthrough into the music industry after being a choreographer for high-profile cli ...

album (1988) *

, drum machine, programming and synthesizer on the song ''Say The Word'' from the ''Hot Together'' album, co-written with

Glen Ballard Basil Glen Ballard Jr. (born May 1, 1953) is an American songwriter, lyricist, and record producer. He is best known for co-writing and producing on Wilson Phillips' debut and sophomore albums, '' Wilson Phillips'' and '' Shadows and Light'', ...

and Marti Sharron. (1986) * Philip Bailey (album) of

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

, co-writer with

Roxanne Seeman Roxanne Joy Seeman is an American songwriter and lyricist. She is best known for her songs by Billie Hughes, Philip Bailey, Phil Collins, Earth, Wind & Fire, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, The Sisters of Mercy, The Jacksons, Jacky Cheung, and ...

of the song ''Yours'' on Bailey's solo album (1994) *

, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, drums, keyboards, percussion, programming, sound design, sound effects, soundscapes, synthesizer and synthesizer programming (1995) * Beautiful Music Machine, songwriting, programming, keyboards and arranging on the ''Soundtrack of the Inner World'' album with Seven Whitfield (2016)

Selected music for film

In addition to credits listed above, Chuck Wild has contributed music to many films in major distribution. *

The Karate Kid Part III ''The Karate Kid Part III'' is a 1989 American martial arts drama film, the third entry in the ''Karate Kid'' franchise and a sequel to ''The Karate Kid Part II'' (1986). It stars Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Robyn Lively, and Thomas Ian Griffith ...

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

(1989) :''High Wire'' (song) ::Written by

Jeff Silbar Jeff Silbar is a songwriter. Silbar, a native of Los Angeles, won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1990 for co-writing Bette Midler's " Wind Beneath My Wings" with Larry Henley. Notable compositions *" All My Life" (Kenny Rogers) *" He's a ...

and Chuck Wild ::Performed by

Glenn Medeiros Glenn Alan Medeiros (born June 24, 1970) is an American former singer best known for his 1987 George Benson cover, "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You", which reached No. 12 on the US ''Billboard charts, Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 10 ...

* Breaking the Rules (film),

Miramax Films Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

, starring

Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...

(1992) :Co-writer on four songs composed for the film: :''Gravity'' ::Music and Lyrics by Frank Fitzpatrick, Chuck Wild and Sue Sheridan ::Performed by Hidden Faces ::Produced by Frank Fitzpatrick and

David Kitay David Joseph Kitay (born October 23, 1961) is an American film composer. Filmography Video games References External links Official website* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitay, David Living people 1961 births American film score composers Ameri ...

:''I Can't Get You Out Of My Mind'' ::Music and Lyrics by Frank Fitzpatrick and Chuck Wild ::Performed by Hidden Faces ::Produced by Frank Fitzpatrick and David Kitay :''Can't Stop Thinking Of You'' ::Music and Lyrics by Frank Fitzpatrick, Chuck Wild and Sue Sheridan ::Performed by Hidden Faces ::Produced by Frank Fitzpatrick and David Kitay :''Hurt So Bad (To Love)'' ::Music and Lyrics by Frank Fitzpatrick and Chuck Wild ::Performed by Hidden Faces ::Produced by Frank Fitzpatrick * Away We Go,

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American independent film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as a unit of Universal Pictures, which is itself a unit of Comcast's division NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and fore ...

(2009) :''Teach Me To Whisper'' from ''Liquid Mind VI: Spirit'' ::Written by Chuck Wild ::Performed by Liquid Mind

Conflict resolution album

Wild's twelfth Liquid Mind studio album, ''Liquid Mind XII: Peace,'' was released on January 19, 2018. It is unique to the series in that it is the only Liquid Mind album composed by Wild with a specific theme. Titles of the eight tracks on the album represent steps in the process of

conflict resolution Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of Conflict (process), conflict and Revenge, retribution. Committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively co ...

. Extensive liner notes and a music video were made available on the album website, including the following commentary by Wild (track titles are italicized):

"No one is born hating another person; people can and do change every day. Peace between differing ideologies and cultures, though not impossible to achieve, may be challenging to attain. However, peace on a person-to-person basis is possible between any two willing individuals, regardless of their backgrounds. Even the smallest step taken by one individual as a peacemaker can build a bridge of hope, encouragement and understanding which will grow in a harmonious way. The titles of the compositions on this album are steps we can each take towards conflict resolution: We begin by acknowledging that ''At the Center Is Love.'' Where there is a capacity for love, which all humans share, there can be peace. The peace process begins with respectful ''Communication'' between two people, ''Person to Person,'' which leads to a discovery of their ''Shared Values.'' These shared values create a willingness to ''Surrender to Love,'' and we are able to move forward together as a measure of ''Trust'' develops. As trust grows, we become aware of our ''Oneness,'' and the ''Spirit of Peace'' prevails. It is the process of engendering peace to which this album is dedicated."https://www.liquidmindmusic.com/peace/ Excerpt from the Liquid Mind XII: Peace liner notes booklet. Retrieved 29 April 2019.

References

External links

Liquid Mind official website

Chuck Wild official website

Real Music record label official website

Beautiful Music Machine official website

Myndstream record label artist page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wild, Chuck 1946 births Living people 21st-century American composers New-age musicians American ambient musicians Chill-out musicians