Scott Albert, now known as
Klayton, is a multi-instrumentalist musician formerly of New York City and currently of Detroit, Michigan who has led several cult status underground bands and has performed under a variety of stage names since the early 1990s. He is best known for his current project,
CelldwellerCelldweller is a Detroit, Michigan-based Electronic Rock project that was created by multi-instrumentalist Klayton, former frontman and songwriter of the bands Circle of Dust, Argyle Park, Angeldust . Celldweller's music is multi-faceted, often labeled electronic rock and more commonly being...
.
Personal life
Klayton grew up in a conservative Christian household in New York and went to church with his younger brother, Dan (now a solo musician going by the band
LVLlvl is both the solo music project and personal moniker for New York City musician Dan Levler. lvl was formerly called Level but changed the name to avoid confusion with a handful of other bands with the same name. lvl's musical output ranges from fast-paced industrial metal to mellow electronica...
) and friends Buka and Klank, who would both collaborate with him on a number of future music projects. He never had any formal training on an instrument, instead picking up whatever his latest fancy was and learning it himself. This eventually led to Klayton characterizing himself as being a "
jack of all trades, master of none"Jack of all trades, master of none" is a figure of speech used in reference to a person that is competent with many skills but is not necessarily outstanding in any particular one....
" when it came to musical instruments. The first of these instruments was the drum set. As a teenager, Klayton listened to a lot of metal, only later being introduced to electronic music through bands such as Depeche Mode and Skinny Puppy. All of these would influence Klayton's musical output in the early and mid 90s, as he melded heavy guitars with layered samples and synths in the handful of industrial metal bands that he formed. In later years, Klayton has referenced European drum'n'bass and
Goa/psychedelic tranceGoa trance is a form of electronic music that originated during the late 1980s in Goa, India.-History:The music has its roots in the popularity of Goa in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a hippie capital, and although musical developments were incorporating elements of industrial music and EBM...
as influential on the sound of his band Celldweller.
Though Klayton's numerous projects in the early and mid 1990s were signed to Christian record labels and are generally considered Christian bands, Klayton took great pains to distance himself from that distinction and that subculture in the later 90s by splitting from the
CCMContemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
industry and forgoing any further performances at Christian venues. He described this move and the reasoning behind it to great length in a 1998
interview with Christian metal publication
HM MagazineHM: The Hard Music Magazine is an American bimonthly publication focusing on both Christianity and hard rock. Articles include news, album and festival reviews, posters, artists to watch, indie artist reviews, devotionals and interviews with Christian artists...
and has reiterated his stance in more recent Celldweller interviews.
Immortal, late 1980s
Immortal was a thrash metal band that put out one demo cassette in the late 80s. It was this cassette that got the attention of R.E.X. Records, who would later sign Klayton's band Circle of Dust. Dan (lvl) was also a member of Immortal.
Circle of Dust, Brainchild, and Argyle Park, 1990-1995
Klayton's primary band throughout the 1990s was Circle of Dust, an
industrial metalIndustrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
outfit he formed in 1990. Circle of Dust got signed to
R.E.X. RecordsR.E.X. Records was an independent record label founded by Doug Mann and Gavin Morkel, which operated from 1987 until running into financial difficulty in 1995. Operations were based in Chicago until 1990 when the company moved to Nashville...
, a small label that concerned itself primarily with underground
Christian metalChristian metal, also known as white metal, is a form of heavy metal music usually defined by its message in a song's lyrics as well as the band's dedication to Christianity...
in the late 80s and early 90s. Despite heavy touring and some notable success in the underground industrial metal scene, Circle of Dust released only two proper albums, those being a self-titled debut in 1992 and a posthumous collection called Disengage in 1998. In between the times of those releases, Klayton created two notable side projects under various aliases and with various collaborators. The first of these was Brainchild, formed with the president of R.E.X. Records, Doug Mann. The only Brainchild album, Mindwarp, was released shortly after the debut Circle of Dust album in 1992 and featured even heavier thrash metal influences. Later, in 1994, the Mindwarp album was re-issued as a Circle of Dust album titled Brainchild to take advantage of a new distribution deal R.E.X. had signed without having to write and record a new album. That same year, Klayton created Argyle Park, arguably the most controversial Christian industrial metal band in the short history of the genre. Argyle Park produced one album, Misguided, which was released to both high acclaim and heavy criticism in 1995 and featured a number of collaborators from mainstream industrial rock bands and Christian rock bands alike. 1995 would prove to be a busy and chaotic year for Klayton; he toured and released a complete re-recording of the self-titled Circle of Dust album while R.E.X., it turned out, was losing its distribution deal. This caused the label, who refused to release any of their signed bands from contract, to slide into bankruptcy. Essentially, Circle of Dust was trapped on a sinking ship, unable to record and release new music but also prevented from signing to any other label. Later that year, Klayton decided to end Circle of Dust and find new means of creating and releasing music.
Angeldust/Criss Angel, 1995-2000
While Circle of Dust was touring in 1994/1995, Klayton had been contacted on a number of occasions by illusionist Criss Angel, who wanted to collaborate on a magic show. When R.E.X.'s legal troubles prevented Klayton from recording or touring in 1995, he put the band to rest and began writing with Angel. The two combined their names and called the band Angeldust and spent upwards of two years creating a live theatrical show that would feature "Illusions, a live band, Avant-garde characters that roam the landscape, robotic lighting, television monitors and projectors, performance art pieces and more." They released their first album,
Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion, in 1998, the same year as the final Circle of Dust album. However, by 2000, all mention of Klayton had been erased from the Criss Angel website and a complete trilogy of albums, including a re-issue of the first album, were released only under the name Criss Angel as the extended soundtrack for his Amystika show. Klayton later explained that it had become apparent to the two that they were better off working on their own projects. Several years later, however, it appear that the two had made amends, as Klayton recorded and remixed a new theme song for Angel's Mindfreak show in 2006.
During this time period, Klayton changed his moniker from Scott Albert (and various other aliases) to Klay Scott.
Celldweller, 1999-present
Klayton, previously having used Celldweller only as an occasional production moniker, turned the entity into a full-fledged solo band after parting ways with Criss Angel in 1999 and released a five song limited edition teaser EP that same year. Interest ran high, with several Celldweller demo songs and remixes earning high marks on the charts of the old Mp3.com. A number of setbacks, including attempts to find backing by a major label that fell through, caused the debut eponymous Celldweller album to be delayed by two years. It was independently released in 2003 and has made a number of achievements such as reaching the 17th spot on Billboard's Internet Sales Chart, winning a number of 2004 Just Plain Folks Music Awards, and having every track present on the album being licensed to appear in movie trailers, television shows, or computer games, a feat only previously accomplished by Moby and Crystal Method.
In 2008, Celldweller released
“Soundtrack to the Voices in My Head Vol. 1”, a collection of works that Klayton felt were more apt for theatrical use than main album material. Some of these tracks have now been licensed to media, and additional volumes are expected to appear in the future. Klayton has been working on the second Celldweller album,
Wish Upon A Blackstar, for the past four or five years and recently announced the release method, which involves publishing the album digitally in chapters of two songs each over time as he finishes the songs in the studio. This approach is tailored to the "post-album" atmosphere of the modern music industry, and parallels similar movements by such high profile artists as
The Smashing PumpkinsThe Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1988. Formed by Billy Corgan frontman and James Iha , the band has included Jimmy Chamberlin , D'arcy Wretzky , and currently includes Jeff Schroeder Mike Byrne , and Nicole Fiorentino The Smashing...
.
Klayton has also produced a number of songs and albums for similar artists since starting Celldweller, most notably appearing on AP2, the resurrection of Argyle Park, on
Tooth & Nail RecordsTooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in the U.S. state of California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington, where it is situated today...
in 2000. Klayton wrote two songs for the album, while LVL wrote the bulk of the album.
FiXT
Klayton and his manager had formed Esion Media to release the first Celldweller album themselves, and after the success of that album, Klayton morphed Esion into an all new independent record label, FiXT Music. FiXT grew quickly over the following few years and now features an extensive online store that distributes artists signed to both FiXT itself and to a variety of other independent record labels. FiXT also sells digital art packs and hosts fan remix contests, and offers original clothing designs as well.
Stage names
Klayton appeared under a number of pseudonyms during the 90s before settling on the moniker Klayton in 1999. He used his birth name, Scott Albert, for Immortal and for Circle of Dust through their touring years, up until 1995. For the Brainchild side project, Klayton used the alias Tox. Brainchild also gave rise to the handle of Celldweller; an outtake of the album, "Helldweller", appeared on a compilation in 1993 and friends of Klayton twisted the title into "Celldweller", applying it to Klayton with the explanation that he spent all his time in his basement, like a prisoner, working on music. For Argyle Park, Klayton appeared as two fictitious band members, Dred and Deathwish, and also used the Celldweller moniker for the first time as the name of the album's producer. Again, in 1996, Klayton appeared on a tribute to Stryper under the slightly altered name Cell Dweller.
By 1998, when Klayton had begun working with Criss Angel, he had changed his name from Scott Albert to Klay Scott, explaining in an interview that the name had been given to him by Angel for his ability to "take sounds and shape them as if they were clay". He appeared as Klay Scott on the Angeldust/Criss Angel Amystika releases and on the posthumous Circle of Dust album Disengage. At this stage he also stated he was done with pseudonyms, preferring to establish one identity under which all of his music projects took shape. However, despite this, Klay's name would change once more by 1999, when he made Celldweller his sole musical output. The simple name of
Klayton has stuck ever since, with the artist restating in newer interviews that he was done experimenting with musical personas and does not want to confuse his fans any longer: "I've been so guilty of doing a million side projects. I've changed my name on every one of them. It's got to the point when my own fans didn't know whether I worked on an album or not."
Primary Projects
- Immortal - Dead and Buried (1990, independent) demo tape, Klayton's first band
Circle of Dust
- Circle Of Dust
Circle of Dust is the 1992 self-titled debut album of Industrial Rock band Circle Of Dust. All songs were written by Klayton, then known by his birth name "Scott Albert". The album was initially released in 1992 through R.E.X. Records to the limited Christian music market. After R.E.X...
(1992, R.E.X. Records)
- Metamorphosis (Circle of dust album)
Metamorphosis is a 1993 compilation album recorded and mixed by Scott Albert featuring music from two of his projects-Brainchild, and his Industrial Metal band Circle Of Dust, as well as material from Living Sacrifice....
(1993, R.E.X. Records)
- Brainchild (Circle of Dust album)
Brainchild is the 1994 second album by Industrial Metal band Circle Of Dust. Originally, the album was released as Brainchild - Mindwarp. But R.E.X. Records demanded Klay Scott make a second Circle of Dust album. But there wasn't enough money to make another album, so R.E.X...
(1994, R.E.X. Records)
- Disengage (1998 Flying Tart Records)
Argyle Park
- Misguided
Misguided is Argyle Park's first and only album under that name. The album was released by R.E.X. Records into the Christian rock market, and sits alongside other early 90s work by Circle of Dust and Mortal as being instrumental in introducing industrial music to the Christian music scene.Misguided...
(1995, R.E.X. Records)
Angeldust/Criss Angel
- Musical Conjurings from the World of Illusion (1998)
- System 1 in Trilogy
System 1 in the Trilogy is an album by industrial rock group Angeldust which consisted of Criss Angel and Klay Scott. The album was released under Criss Angel's name in 2000 after the band departed but recorded as Angeldust...
(2000)
- System 2 in Trilogy
System 2 in Triogy is the third album from industrial rock band Angeldust. The first eight tracks are soundtracks to the segments that Klay Scott played as Criss Angel would either perform his magic or act.-Track listing:...
(2000)
- System 3 in Trilogy
System 3 in Trilogy is the final Angeldust CD made by Criss Angel & Klay Scott . Like the previous album, this one contains mixed songs and soundtracks that were used for segments in Criss Angel's show. The final song on the album, "Amixtika", contains every single song from the System CD's rolled...
(2000)
- Criss Angel: Mindfreak (2002)
Celldweller
- Celldweller
Celldweller is the self-titled debut EP by industrial rock band Celldweller. Only 250 copies were made and sold out quickly. The first three tracks are credited to Celldweller and were re-recorded for the debut full-length album that was released four years later; the fourth and fifth tracks were...
(1999 Esion/Position)
- Celldweller
Celldweller is the 2003 self-titled debut album by American Electronic Rock band, Celldweller. The album spent one week on the Billboard Top Internet Albums chart, at number 17, and the song "I Believe You" reached number 11 on the R&R Alternative Specialty Show Chart. Celldweller was awarded Album...
(2003 Esion/Position)
- The Beta Cessions
The Beta Cessions is a series of releases by Celldweller that collect demos, B-sides, outtakes, and remixes that have been omitted from Celldweller's main studio albums. As of summer 2011, one complete volume of The Beta Cessions, collecting material from the era of the debut Celldweller album, has...
(2004 Esion/Position)
- Soundtrack for the Voices in My Head Vol. 1
- Licensing :Most of the songs from Soundtrack for the Voices in My Head Vol. 1 have been licensed for film, TV, and video games and have also been used in Celldweller video clips on the CelloutTV YouTube channel. "Solaris" was used in the trailer for Frank Miller's movie The Spirit and was also...
(2008 FiXT Music)
- Wish Upon a Blackstar
Wish Upon a Blackstar is the second album from American electronic rock project Celldweller. Wish Upon a Blackstar has been a work in progress since 2005; originally scheduled for release in 2006, finalized songs from the album were not released until mid-2009. The full album will be released on...
(2009 - 2011 FiXT Music)
- Soundtrack for the Voices in My Head Vol. 2
Soundtrack for the Voices in My Head Vol. 2 is the second instrumental-based album by the American industrial metal artist, Celldweller. It is the second album in the SVH series.-Chapter 01:...
(2010 - 20?? FiXT Music)
- Cellout EP 01 (2011 FiXT Music)
- Groupees Unreleased EP (2011 FiXT Music)
- The Complete Cellout
The Complete Cellout Vol. 1 is an upcoming remix album by Celldweller, which is essentially a compilation of old and new remixes by Klayton himself, Blue Stahli, Drivepilot, Josh Money and others, it is set to be released alongside Blue Stahli's Antisleep Vol. 02 on December 16th, 2011.-Track...
(2011 FiXT Music)
- The Beta Cessions 2 (TBA FiXT Music)
Production, programming, and remixing credits
- Living Sacrifice
Living Sacrifice is a Christian heavy metal band that formed in September 1989 in Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. The band has released seven studio albums, out of which the first three were recorded under R.E.X. Records with their original vocalist Darren Johnson as a more thrash metal and death metal...
- NonexistentNonexistent is the second album by the Christian metal band, Living Sacrifice. The band had only 9 days to make the album.-Track listing:# Emerge - 1:20# Enthroned - 3:30# Non-Existent - 4:47# Haven Of Blasphemy - 2:54# ...To Nothing - 3:17...
(1992, R.E.X. RecordsR.E.X. Records was an independent record label founded by Doug Mann and Gavin Morkel, which operated from 1987 until running into financial difficulty in 1995. Operations were based in Chicago until 1990 when the company moved to Nashville...
) contributed opening track "Emerge"
- MTV Sports
MTV Sports is a show that ran on MTV from 1992 to 1997. Dan Cortese hosts this Emmy-winning reality sports show featuring radical sports from around the country. It was later hosted by athlete/model Gabrielle Reece from 1993 to 1995....
- contributed "Tranquil Chaos" opening theme, background music
- Chatterbox - Despite (1994, Tooth & Nail Records
Tooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in the U.S. state of California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington, where it is situated today...
) produced, programmed, and edited album; some backup vocals and instrumentation
- various artists - Demo-lition II (1994 R.E.X. Records
R.E.X. Records was an independent record label founded by Doug Mann and Gavin Morkel, which operated from 1987 until running into financial difficulty in 1995. Operations were based in Chicago until 1990 when the company moved to Nashville...
) "Never" by Rivot: side project of Circle of Dust engineer Vinny Syrek; written and recorded by Klayton, vocals by Vinny
- Billy Lamont - Eulogy: Flowers for the Living (1995) contributed backing music to "The Poet's Eye"
- Klank
Klank is the nickname for New York City-based musician Daren Diolosa and the name of Diolosa's band. Diolosa formed Klank in the mid 90's when he was a member of industrial metal band Circle of Dust, for whom Klank was a guitarist...
- Still Suffering (1996, Tooth & Nail RecordsTooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in the U.S. state of California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington, where it is situated today...
) produced, programmed, and mixed the album
- Klank
Klank is the nickname for New York City-based musician Daren Diolosa and the name of Diolosa's band. Diolosa formed Klank in the mid 90's when he was a member of industrial metal band Circle of Dust, for whom Klank was a guitarist...
- Downside (1997, Tooth & Nail RecordsTooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in the U.S. state of California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington, where it is situated today...
) contributed all remixes
- Prong - Rude Awakening (1996, Sony/Epic
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
) co-wrote the song "Controller" (song shares main riff with Argyle ParkFor the park of the same name in Babylon, NY, see Argyle Lake ParkArgyle Park was an underground industrial rock supergroup founded in New York City in 1994 and active until 1996. Members of the group reformed under the name AP2 in 1998, and were active under that name until winter 2000...
's "DOOMsayer")
- Prong - Rude Awakening remix single (1996, Sony/Epic
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
) contributed the "Klay Angel Mix"
- various artists - Sweet Family Music: A Tribute to Stryper (1996 Flying Tart Records) "The Abyss" Stryper cover, credited to Cell Dweller
- various artists - Violent World: A Tribute to the Misfits
Violent World: A Tribute to the Misfits is a tribute album to the horror punk band the Misfits released in 1997 by Caroline Records. It features primarily punk rock bands performing cover versions of Misfits songs from the band's early era, 1977 to 1983....
(1997, Caroline RecordsCaroline Records started out as a subsidiary of Richard Branson's Virgin Records label during the early to mid 1970s. The label originally specialized in putting out budget price LPs by mainly progressive rock and jazz artists generally not considered to have a great deal of 'mainstream' or...
) produced and mixed Prong's cover of "London Dungeon"
- The Way Sect Bloom - Efflorence (1997, Flaming Fish Music) production, programming, instrumentation, backing vocals
- Fluffy - (unknown) (1998, Flying Tart Records) "Hulaville" remix (label was bought out and dissolved before official release; remix only available on bootlegs)
- Level
lvl is both the solo music project and personal moniker for New York City musician Dan Levler. lvl was formerly called Level but changed the name to avoid confusion with a handful of other bands with the same name. lvl's musical output ranges from fast-paced industrial metal to mellow electronica...
- (unknown) (1999, Flaming Fish Music) "Backslide (Klay Scott Revision)" (remix for cancelled EP, leaked online)
- AP2
For the park of the same name in Babylon, NY, see Argyle Lake ParkArgyle Park was an underground industrial rock supergroup founded in New York City in 1994 and active until 1996. Members of the group reformed under the name AP2 in 1998, and were active under that name until winter 2000...
- Suspension of DisbeliefSuspension of Disbelief was the lone AP2 release, put out by Tooth & Nail Records in 2000. AP2 was a sequel of sorts to the band Argyle Park, who released their only album Misguided in 1995. Argyle Park had consisted of Buka and Klayton, while AP2 featured primary players Buka and Level, with...
(2000, Tooth & Nail RecordsTooth & Nail Records is a record label founded by Brandon Ebel in the U.S. state of California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington, where it is situated today...
) production, contributed two songs
- Breathing Underwater – Breathing Underwater EP (2006) mixing, engineering on "Capsized"
- Criss Angel
Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos , better known by the stage name Criss Angel, is an American illusionist, writer, director, musician, and actor...
– Criss Angel Mindfreak (2006 Apitrag Records) production, wrote and remixed "Mindfreak"
- LVL
lvl is both the solo music project and personal moniker for New York City musician Dan Levler. lvl was formerly called Level but changed the name to avoid confusion with a handful of other bands with the same name. lvl's musical output ranges from fast-paced industrial metal to mellow electronica...
- Home Re:mix (2007 FiXT MusicFiXT is an American independent media company with several divisions including a record label, an online music store, a film/TV/video game music licensing arm, and a remix contest site and community...
) "Home (Klayton Revision)"
- Fluffy Star - Come On! (2007) vocals on "Cold"
- Subkulture - Erasus EP (2007 FiXT Music) produced, contributed vocals
- Pendulum
Pendulum is an Australian drum and bass and electronic rock band founded in 2002 in Perth by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen, and Paul Harding.Swire and McGrillen were members of the rock band known as Xygen. After hearing Konflict's "Messiah" at a club, they were inspired to enter into the drum and...
- In Silico (Special Edition) (2008 Atlantic RecordsAtlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
) "Propane Nightmares (Celldweller Remix)"
- BT - These Hopeful Machines (2010) "Suddenly (Celldweller Mix)"
- Blue Stahli - Blue Stahli (2011 debut album FiXT Music
FiXT is an American independent media company with several divisions including a record label, an online music store, a film/TV/video game music licensing arm, and a remix contest site and community...
) production, mixing, backup vocals on "Kill Me Every Time"
External links