Biography

Greg was born in Tasmania, Australia in 1954.  Lived and worked in Adelaide (1978 - 1982), Oxford, England (1985 -1988) and Benissa, Spain (1988 - 1990).  Now resident in Hobart, Tasmania.
 
"Since Greg discovered that the sporadic and explosive short-circuiting in his basal ganglia was probably the cause of his disturbingly speedy chops while driving his music (Greg has Tourettes syndrome) he has been creating performances of such energy, humour, sadness, stupidity, shallowness and wisdom that it makes him cry (along with the audience). Greg is Tasmania's resident musical genius, and one of the great iconoclastic guitarists in improvised music. He is not so much do-it-yourself as being-done-over-by-yourself."  Australia Adlib 
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/adlib/stories/s861553.htm 

 

 

 

Photo by Giles Hugo

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Hills Hoist: Greg Kingston

"Hobart is one of the less obvious centres in the world for improv, but Greg Kingston's interest in the guitar and improvising led him to follow the familiar path of many musicians exploring the geographies of the phonograph.  Seeing Jon Rose play in 1980, he was inspired to pursue a career of obscurity and occasional gigs. 'I needed to go and listen, meet and play with other players', he remembers, and so in 1985 he relocated with his family to the UK, playing with Derek Bailey, who was 'too much of a mentor', releasing Original Gravity (CD, Incus, Incus 003, 1988) with UK artists Tony Bevan (sax) and Matt Lewis (percussion) on Bailey's own label.  Despite many successes, Kingston couldn't sustain the family, moving back to Tasmania in the early 1990s.  Since then he has made occasional mainland forays and was a stalwart of What is Music? throughout the 1990s.
Hills Hoist (CD, Antboy, antboy02), a duo with percussionist Will Guthrie recorded at the Make It Up Club in Melbourne in July 2002, documents his hard-edged, solid-body guitar playing of recent years.  This is gestural music - Kingston has a physicality that is wonderfully unique.  Phraseology is short, often violent, although the overall feel of the music is whimsical.  Toys and the use of a radio bring about moments of irony and lightness.... 
Greg Kingston remains an isolated figure.  For months at a time he has no activity in music, and it is criminal that his career hasn't been better documented by releases.  He admits 'staying with it is difficult'.  Perhaps because of this isolation he has produced music unhindered by the vicissitudes of fashion".

(extract from Denley, Jim (2009) "Networks, playfulness and collectivity: Improv in Australia, 1972-2007" in Priest, G. (ed.) Experimental Music: audio explorations in Australia (pp 145-147). Sydney: UNSW Press.) http://www.experimentalmusicaustralia.net/