Anthony Charles Wakeford (born 2 May 1959) is a British

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrume ...

musician, who primarily records under the name

Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (, "Invincible Sun" or "Unconquered Sun") was the official Solar deity, sun god of the late Roman Empire and a later version of the god Sol (Roman mythology), Sol. The emperor Aurelian revived his cult in 274 AD and promoted Sol Inv ...

. He is also a member of the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Crisis A crisis (: crises; : critical) is any event or period that will lead to an unstable and dangerous situation affecting an individual, group, or all of society. Crises are negative changes in the human or environmental affairs, especially when ...

and a co-founder of

Death in June Death in June are a neofolk group led by English musician Douglas P. (Douglas Pearce). The band was originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as a trio. However, after the other members left, in 1984 and 1985, to work on other projects, ...

Biography

Early work

Wakeford was the bassist for the English

band

. An openly

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

and

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

band, Crisis performed at events organized by

Rock Against Racism Rock Against Racism (RAR) was a political and cultural movement which emerged in 1976 in reaction to a rise in racist attacks on the streets of the United Kingdom and increasing support for the far-right National Front at the ballot box. Betwe ...

and the Anti-Nazi League. Crisis disbanded in 1980, but Wakeford later began touring with a new line-up of the band in 2017. Wakeford, Crisis guitarist Douglas Pearce and

Patrick Leagas Patrick Leagas is a British musician. Leagas was a founding member of Death In June. After leaving Death In June in 1985 during a tour in Italy, Leagas formed Sixth Comm in 1986 and began working under the name Patrick O-Kill. Sixth Comm frequen ...

co-founded the band

. In early 1984, Wakeford was fired from Death in June for "bringing his '

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

leanings into the group'"; at the time he had been a member of the

National Front (UK) The National Front (NF) is a far-right, fascist political party in the United Kingdom. It is currently led by Tony Martin. A minor party, it has never had its representatives elected to the British or European Parliaments, although it gain ...

. In 2007, Wakeford described his National Front membership as "probably the worst decision of my life". Wakeford had also been a member of the

Odinic Rite The Odinic Rite (OR) is a reconstructionist religious organisation named after the god Odin. It conceives itself as a " folkish" Heathen movement concerned with Germanic paganism, mythology, folklore, and runes. As a white supremacist organizati ...

, a

neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

organization. After being fired from Death in June, Wakeford formed the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band Above the Ruins, and in October 1984, they released a nine song

demo album Demo, usually short for demonstration (disambiguation), demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than for release *Demo (Behind Crimson Eyes), ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 ...

on cassette, ''Songs of the Wolf'', which was distributed through the London-based P.O. box BCM Grimnir, and from the National Front bookshop in Croydon. The band's lyrics denounced

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

and

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

. The demo received a favorable review from ''Nationalism Today'', the journal of the National Front. The following year, Above the Ruins contributed the song "The Killing Zone" to ''No Surrender'', a compilation of recordings by

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a Race (human categorization), raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara ...

bands, and in late 1985, announced that their demo would be "soon to be available on record".

Sol Invictus

In 1987, Wakeford distanced himself from right-wing views, and formed the

band

, adapting the band's name from a cult that predated Christianity. The band's music combines acoustic guitar playing and "neo- classical instrumentation" with elements of industrial music. Due to Wakeford's past political associations, Sol Invictus has been accused of

neo-fascism Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

. In 1990, Wakeford formed his own

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, ...

, Tursa. With distribution by

World Serpent Distribution World Serpent Distribution was a England, British record label and music distribution house formed in the 1990s by David Gibson, Alan Trench and Alison Webster. Douglas Pearce of Death In June coined the company name in 1991, ''World Serpent'' b ...

, Tursa released numerous albums by Sol Invictus, starting with ''Trees in Winter''. After World Serpent dissolved in the 2000s, Cold Spring began distributing the band's albums.

Discography

References

External links

Tursa Records, Wakeford's labelTursa Records on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wakeford, Tony 1959 births Living people People from Woking English punk rock bass guitarists English rock bass guitarists British male bass guitarists British modern pagans Adherents of Germanic neopaganism Performers of modern pagan music Death in June members Sol Invictus (band) members