Steve Hillage

About

UK-based guitarist born on August 2, 1951, in London, England. Formerly a member of prog-rock act Gong but best known solo, as half of ambient techno duo System 7 and as a frequent collaborator with The Orb. Hillage started with the band Uriel then left for college and they continued on as Egg. They reunited to record under the pseudonym Arzachel, then Hillage ended up with Kevin Ayers, from which he went on to Gong where he picked up on Daevid Allen's glissando guitar techniques, which Allen had evolved from watching Syd Barrett play with a butter knife bowing strings. He left Gong at the time of Shamal and started a solo career.

Hillage evolved from prodigy to virtuoso and the guitar sound evolved with echoes and reverb blending with synthesizers. he was a pioneer in new age ambient music and retired from recording for a while as he went on to be a prominent producer in the early 1980's, most known for his work on the Simple Minds albums of that era. Some years later he was in a club and heard The Orb sampling his music and hooked up with them. As a result he resurfaced with his longtime partner Miquette Giraudy as System 7 (aka 777 due to concerns from Apple over their operating system at the time). Hillage reunited with Gong circa 2008 and toured with them in 2009 and 2010. That version of Gong also released 2032 in 2009.

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