The Amygdala: Brian Wilson Factfile

BRIAN WILSON

We also used a lot of Brian Wilson's music. He is a revolutionary musician for his work in the studio (double tracking vocals etc.) and out.

Brian Douglas Wilson, born June 20, 1942, is an American musician, songwriter and singer.
He is from Inglewood, California.
He is a founding member of The Beach Boys, although he was largely separate from the band from the 1970s until 2011.
He played bass, sang, and wrote songs for them.
In the 1970s and 80s, Wilson struggled with drug problems and eating too much.
In the 1980s and 90s, he began a solo career.

Mental Health

Wilson experiences auditory hallucinations and has been formally diagnosed as mildly manic-depressive with schizoaffective disorder that presents itself in the form of disembodied voices.
According to him, he began having hallucinations in 1965, shortly after starting to use psychedelic drugs.
In recent years, Wilson's mental condition has improved, although he still has auditory hallucinations from time to time.
Wilson is infamously difficult to interview, rarely ever giving a long answer. According to Salon writer Peter Gilstrap: "He’s also been known to get up, extend a hand and blurt out 'Thanks!' well before the allotted time is up. And sometimes he just gets tired and shuts down. None of this, however, is due to a bad attitude."

Music and Legacy

Wilson popularises the idea of the recording studio as a compositional tool by using recording sessions as fertile creative terrain in and of themselves, a practice which was unheard of in his time and later shorthanded as "playing the studio"\
He was the first rock producer to use the studio as a discrete instrument.

Discography

The Amygdala