BIOGRAPHY


RECENT HISTORY

David began writing music for theatre and films in 1998. After collaborating with Jesse Chambers on the award-winning musical short, Inside Out Man he went to the National Film and Television School (1999-2001) where he scored many films in a wide variety of styles. Since leaving the NFTS, David has been writing music for film & television, his music having been broadcast on all the UK's terrestrial channels. In 2002 The Luckiest Nut in the World, a musical documentary about trade and globalization featuring a troupe of singing peanuts, was made pick of the day by every one of the UK broadsheets. Other work has included adverts, drama, documentary, animations and, most recently, feature films (see FILM & TV for sound clips & more information).

In August 2002, while continuing with his film & television music, David decided to return to songwriting and to the stage. Since then he has gained a wide and loyal following through his CDs & uniquely energetic gigs.

David has a huge number of very exciting projects on at the moment - click on the 'news' link above for the latest info.

NOT-SO-RECENT HISTORY

David Schweitzer was born May 3rd 1975. Photographic evidence reveals a happy, fearless child, and an emotionally stable as well as physically active upbringing in Blackheath, South East London. A brief, though passionate affair with the Sinclair ZX Spectrum fizzled out when David started learning guitar at the age of 11.

After leaving primary school, he joined Age Exchange Youth Theatre where he got to know the die-hard new romantic Nathan Cooper, who asked him to join his band, Syntax Error. Their first ever performance was in David's house in early 1988 when the band were 12 years old. The line-up of this most pretty of boy-bands was Matt Klose on drums, Nathan and Gabriel Prokofiev on vocals and keyboards, and David playing his brand new £80 electric guitar. John Williamson joined a month or so later, playing bass.

David soon built up the confidence to write and sing his own songs and the band performed several of these at their first proper gig at Blackheath Concert Halls in February 1989. After changing their name to Syntax, the band carried on recording and playing increasingly ambitious gigs until they were 18 (see photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). For an account of the band's history, have a look at the lyrics of David's 2003 song, The Ballad of Syntax.

From the age of 13, David was also having piano and clarinet lessons and, when he was 16, he wrote an hour-long Requiem Mass for choir & orchestra. Although part of it was performed by the school choir, no recording of it exists, but here is a copy of one of it's 220 pages. It is well-documented that around this time, David was obsessive about elves and even began inventing his own language with which to communicate with them (see his Song for the Elves). He was known to disappear with his guitar into woods and fields in the hope of talking to some of these creatures. It seems that no contact was ever made.

In 1993, David recorded three albums: Insect with Syntax, Stay With Someone You Know with Jonton Rory (a collaboration with Fergus Partridge), and his solo cassette, Pierrot Lunaire. Syntax eventually disbanded as the flaky managers failed to deliver the promised glory and riches.

While studying music at New College, Oxford (1994-97), David bought himself a computer and some gadgets for making music on it. He specialised in electro-acoustic music and orchestration, and wrote his dissertation on dance music.

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