Ivo Watts-Russell (born 1954) is a British

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

executive. He was joint-founder with Peter Kent of the

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

. He has produced several records, although he prefers to use the term "musical director".

Early years

Watts-Russell was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, the youngest of eight children of Major David Watts-Russell and Gina Spinola (née Baker; died 2018 aged 98). He "never related emotionally" to either of his parents, and grew up "on a dilapidated

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

estate in an atmosphere of almost Victorian froideur". He was educated at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire ...

. His paternal grandfather, Captain Arthur Egerton Birch, of the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

(son of the colonial administrator Sir Arthur Nonus Birch), took his mother's surname at the age of 21, she being of the Watts-Russell gentry family formerly of Ilam Hall,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

.Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th edition, vol. 2, ed. Peter Townend, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1969, pp. 543-544 Captain Arthur Egerton Watts-Russell married Sylvia Grenfell, of the family of the Barons Grenfell, through whom Ivo Watts-Russell is a cousin of the war poet Julian Grenfell. In 1977, he joined

Beggars Banquet Records Beggars Banquet Records is a British independent record label. Beggars Banquet started as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin and is part of the Beggars Group of labels. History In 1977, spurred by the prevailing D ...

as they were starting their label.

Career

One of his better-known productions is the

Cocteau Twins Cocteau Twins were a Scottish rock music, rock band active from 1979 to 1997. They were formed in Grangemouth on the Firth of Forth by Robin Guthrie (guitars, drum machine) and Will Heggie (bass), adding Elizabeth Fraser (vocals) in 1981. In 19 ...

' debut album '' Garlands'' (1982). He is the namesake of "Ivo", the lead track of Cocteau Twins' 1984 album, ''

Treasure Treasure (from from Greek ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions legally define what constit ...

''. He also led

This Mortal Coil This Mortal Coil were a British music collective led by Ivo Watts-Russell, founder of the British record label 4AD. Although Watts-Russell and John Fryer were the only two official members, the band's recorded output featured a large rotat ...

, writing and selecting songs; choosing the personnel for each song; and occasionally playing keyboards. A few years after the release of This Mortal Coil's final studio album, he founded and produced a band called The Hope Blister, which released two albums: '' ...smile's OK'' (1998) and ''Underarms'' (1999). Although 4AD first released ''Underarms'' as a limited edition CD, the label reissued it in 2005 as '' Underarms and Sideways'', the second disc of which has seven remixes by Markus Guentner.

Later years

He had a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

in 1994 and sold his half of 4AD to founder and chairman of the

Beggars Group Beggars Group is a British record company, founded by Martin Mills, that owns or holds stakes in various record labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings, and Young (record label), Young. History The company had i ...

Martin Mills in 1999. He moved to Santa Fe in the US where he still lives.

References

External links

Official 4AD website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Watts-Russell, Ivo 1954 births 4AD British expatriates in the United States English record producers Living people People educated at Oundle School People from Northamptonshire People from Santa Fe, New Mexico This Mortal Coil members