Keith Waterfield
Since 2026
Language: English
An experimental project under the guise of a fictional musician, who lived from 1950 to 2019 and whose only recordings are demo tapes and live performances, published posthumously.
Language: English
An experimental project under the guise of a fictional musician, who lived from 1950 to 2019 and whose only recordings are demo tapes and live performances, published posthumously.
Albums
June 27, 2026
Dog Days Tapes: 1967–1977
01. Blues in G - 04:44
02. Guitar Improvisation - 15:00
03. Tuning - 08:40
04. Playing - 10:47
05. Theme from Alpha Star - 01:53
06. Loop - 02:18
07. This Song is Five Seconds Long - 00:05
08. This Song is Ten Seconds Long - 00:10
09. Poem #1 (If I Was…) - 02:00
10. Poem #2 - 03:08
11. Fork - 00:27
12. Hum - 01:24
13. Quiet Improvisation - 10:37
14. Free Improvisation - 15:04
15. Lightning Thunder - 07:00
16. Hard Rock - 01:00
17. Return of the Burning Tree - 13:53
18. K - 09:40
19. Future - 07:00
20. Wolves - 02:12
21. Space - 05:48
22. Drone - 04:32
23. Where We Go Now - 02:27
24. What You Do To Me - 02:55
25. I Wanna Do It Again - 01:52
26. My Darling - 02:09
27. We Can't Go On All Night - 01:27
28. Lady Love - 02:49
29. What You See - 01:32
30. Is It Really Real - 01:56
31. Loneliest Night - 02:50
32. Sleep - 02:07
33. Driving Song - 03:15
34. Bass Improvisation - 11:47
35. Ocarina Piece - 02:22
36. No Input Noise - 12:31
37. Chaos - 02:00
38. Scary Loop - 03:50
39. River - 03:30
40. High Noise - 06:23
41. Silence - 01:51
42. Piano Improvisation - 03:57
43. Paradise - 01:36
44. Slow Paradise - 05:29
45. Violin Piece - 05:15
46. Reverberation - 02:34
47. Water - 02:36
48. Missed Take - 00:30
49. Clean - 06:45
50. Solo - 03:29
51. Distortion - 02:42
52. Chorus - 05:00
53. Bow - 09:15
54. Buzz - 01:19
55. Addicted to Being Myself - 01:54
56. What You Do To Me (Punk Version) - 01:34
57. No No No - 01:54
58. Interlude - 01:14
59. I Don't Wanna - 02:00
60. Nobody - 01:42
02. Guitar Improvisation - 15:00
03. Tuning - 08:40
04. Playing - 10:47
05. Theme from Alpha Star - 01:53
06. Loop - 02:18
07. This Song is Five Seconds Long - 00:05
08. This Song is Ten Seconds Long - 00:10
09. Poem #1 (If I Was…) - 02:00
10. Poem #2 - 03:08
11. Fork - 00:27
12. Hum - 01:24
13. Quiet Improvisation - 10:37
14. Free Improvisation - 15:04
15. Lightning Thunder - 07:00
16. Hard Rock - 01:00
17. Return of the Burning Tree - 13:53
18. K - 09:40
19. Future - 07:00
20. Wolves - 02:12
21. Space - 05:48
22. Drone - 04:32
23. Where We Go Now - 02:27
24. What You Do To Me - 02:55
25. I Wanna Do It Again - 01:52
26. My Darling - 02:09
27. We Can't Go On All Night - 01:27
28. Lady Love - 02:49
29. What You See - 01:32
30. Is It Really Real - 01:56
31. Loneliest Night - 02:50
32. Sleep - 02:07
33. Driving Song - 03:15
34. Bass Improvisation - 11:47
35. Ocarina Piece - 02:22
36. No Input Noise - 12:31
37. Chaos - 02:00
38. Scary Loop - 03:50
39. River - 03:30
40. High Noise - 06:23
41. Silence - 01:51
42. Piano Improvisation - 03:57
43. Paradise - 01:36
44. Slow Paradise - 05:29
45. Violin Piece - 05:15
46. Reverberation - 02:34
47. Water - 02:36
48. Missed Take - 00:30
49. Clean - 06:45
50. Solo - 03:29
51. Distortion - 02:42
52. Chorus - 05:00
53. Bow - 09:15
54. Buzz - 01:19
55. Addicted to Being Myself - 01:54
56. What You Do To Me (Punk Version) - 01:34
57. No No No - 01:54
58. Interlude - 01:14
59. I Don't Wanna - 02:00
60. Nobody - 01:42
Released 27.06.2026
To those well versed in the history of experimental music underground, Keith Waterfield (1950–2019) needs no introduction. He's been called "the most famous unknown", "your favorite artist's favorite artist's favorite artist", or, at times more condescendingly, "jack of all trades, master of none". Since he took a guitar in his hands, he composed uncountable amounts of music, befriended and played with dozens (if not hundreds) of more famous artists, worked as a roadie and recording engineer, and left his traces in almost every major scene during his lifetime. And yet, he somehow has never released an album, not even a single. A few fans he gained during his lifetime made attempts to compile some of the live material, but no one believed that his music, his recordings, would ever see the light of day (or that they even existed). Until today.
This is a collection of everything Keith Waterfield recorded during the first ten years of his artistic career, presented chronologically. It is a product of the hard work of his fans, who scoured the globe in search of bits and pieces, of recordings he made at various studios around the world, live performances and home demos (carefully preserved by his bass player James "Billy" Bill). Many have also been meticulously studying his diaries, interviews and other materials, trying to match scattered notes with the music others have unearthed. Ten years of bold creative ideas, ranging from noisy and uncompromisingly experimental to simple, melodic and comfortingly familiar, are now available for everyone to hear. As with every such collection, a large portion of music here might be more interesting as a purely historical artefact, though some of it may genuinely surprise you by how ahead of its time it was.
There's much more work to do, as Keith remained as prolific until his death as he was seemingly unconcerned about the preservation of his work. But for now, we're glad to present you the most exhaustive document of the first tumultuous years of his creative life. For those who wish to dive deeper into the life of an enigmatic artist, the best place to start is "Keith Waterfield: In Search of Paradise", a 2021 biography written by Simon L. Anders (published by Simon & Schuster in 2021), or "Love, Keith", a 2022 documentary directed by Judith Wrong. Both are partly based on Keith's personal diaries (published in 2019 but currently out of print) and various interviews he gave since the 70s to Rolling Stone, Melody Maker, Punk, Creem, Spin etc. Some of his friends and collaborators have also provided a lot of valuable information.
All music and lyrics by Keith Waterfield
Keith Waterfield – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, synthesizers, electronics and other sound effects, piano (14, 42-44), bass (14, 34, 39, 59, 60), saxophone (14), ocarina (35), drum machine (55-57)
James "Billy" Bill – bass (1, 4, 15, 17, 33)
Peter "Rod" Rhodes – drums (1, 4, 5, 15, 33)
Matthias Müller – drums (17)
Tomoe Yoshida – electronics (36, 40, 41)
John "Baiter" Louder – bass (55-57)
Additional mixing and mastering by Tony Catt
Cover Photo by Mary Iris
Liner Notes and design by Tony Catt
To those well versed in the history of experimental music underground, Keith Waterfield (1950–2019) needs no introduction. He's been called "the most famous unknown", "your favorite artist's favorite artist's favorite artist", or, at times more condescendingly, "jack of all trades, master of none". Since he took a guitar in his hands, he composed uncountable amounts of music, befriended and played with dozens (if not hundreds) of more famous artists, worked as a roadie and recording engineer, and left his traces in almost every major scene during his lifetime. And yet, he somehow has never released an album, not even a single. A few fans he gained during his lifetime made attempts to compile some of the live material, but no one believed that his music, his recordings, would ever see the light of day (or that they even existed). Until today.
This is a collection of everything Keith Waterfield recorded during the first ten years of his artistic career, presented chronologically. It is a product of the hard work of his fans, who scoured the globe in search of bits and pieces, of recordings he made at various studios around the world, live performances and home demos (carefully preserved by his bass player James "Billy" Bill). Many have also been meticulously studying his diaries, interviews and other materials, trying to match scattered notes with the music others have unearthed. Ten years of bold creative ideas, ranging from noisy and uncompromisingly experimental to simple, melodic and comfortingly familiar, are now available for everyone to hear. As with every such collection, a large portion of music here might be more interesting as a purely historical artefact, though some of it may genuinely surprise you by how ahead of its time it was.
There's much more work to do, as Keith remained as prolific until his death as he was seemingly unconcerned about the preservation of his work. But for now, we're glad to present you the most exhaustive document of the first tumultuous years of his creative life. For those who wish to dive deeper into the life of an enigmatic artist, the best place to start is "Keith Waterfield: In Search of Paradise", a 2021 biography written by Simon L. Anders (published by Simon & Schuster in 2021), or "Love, Keith", a 2022 documentary directed by Judith Wrong. Both are partly based on Keith's personal diaries (published in 2019 but currently out of print) and various interviews he gave since the 70s to Rolling Stone, Melody Maker, Punk, Creem, Spin etc. Some of his friends and collaborators have also provided a lot of valuable information.
All music and lyrics by Keith Waterfield
Keith Waterfield – vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, synthesizers, electronics and other sound effects, piano (14, 42-44), bass (14, 34, 39, 59, 60), saxophone (14), ocarina (35), drum machine (55-57)
James "Billy" Bill – bass (1, 4, 15, 17, 33)
Peter "Rod" Rhodes – drums (1, 4, 5, 15, 33)
Matthias Müller – drums (17)
Tomoe Yoshida – electronics (36, 40, 41)
John "Baiter" Louder – bass (55-57)
Additional mixing and mastering by Tony Catt
Cover Photo by Mary Iris
Liner Notes and design by Tony Catt
