Dwight Goodyear
I was born in New Jersey in 1970 and grew up in a creative and intellectually stimulating household. My father was a physics teacher and mother is an art teacher. My passion for music was clear at a young age and, after my excitement upon seeing the film Woodstock (and especially Michael Shrieve's immortal drum solo) my mother encouraged me to take drum lessons at 8. I played drums in the school band until high school and then started playing guitar and piano as well. I played in a few bands and had a lot of fun. However, after hearing Michael Hedges in 1987 I decided to compose solo guitar pieces seriously. And after hearing Keith Jarrett in 1988 I decided to compose solo piano pieces seriously. After high school I studied music, film, and philosophy at William Paterson University in N.J. and received my B.A. in philosophy. I then went on to study at the New School for Social Research in NYC where I received my Masters and Ph.D. in philosophy. Over the years of my musical development, I have embraced many diverse musical forms. But I tend to create (1) experimental world music that is piano based and which synthesizes Western ideas of harmony and song structure with Chinese and Japanese instruments and aesthetics; and (2) experimental musical science fiction which is guitar based and uses electronic and synthesized sounds. In my world music efforts I have been guided the most by the music of Claude Debussy, Toru Takemitsu, Teiji Ito, Peter Garland, Keith Jarrett, Cecil Taylor, and traditional Japanese and Chinese music. In my musical science fiction efforts I have been guided the most by Allan Holdsworth, Al Di Meola, Buckethead, Gustav Holst, Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Klaus Schulze, and, of course, Ace Frehley. Many of my works are what I call "musical gates" or works which feature a strong sense of passing into a mysterious, transcendent, and, sometimes, terrifying musical world of suspension. When I am not playing and composing music, I am spending time with my family or teaching at Westchester Community College in NY where I am associate professor of philosophy. I teach ancient philosophy, modern philosophy, ethics, logic, religions of the world, philosophy of love, and philosophy of art.