Electro-pop pioneer finds his freedom again on tour

It has been a dozen years since electronic music pioneer Thomas Dolby issued anything resembling a proper album, and two more than that since 1992's exceptional "Astronauts & Heretics."

Yet the man known primarily for two striking yet very '80s novelties, "She Blinded Me With Science" and "Hyperactive," says "I never really intended to take 10 years away from the music business."

Ever intrigued by new technology, Dolby (born Thomas Morgan Robertson; "Dolby" was a nickname that eventually led to a lawsuit from Dolby Laboratories) grew fascinated in the advent of the Internet as the '90s began. Crafting albums seemed an antiquated notion; pursuing the promise of artistic independence that the Net held became paramount.

Impact is key

"I'm not the sort who needs to be in the limelight in order to get satisfaction out of what I'm doing," Dolby, 47, said by phone from his Northern California home as he was preparing to launch his Sole Inhabitant Tour, his first (mostly) headlining jaunt in ages.

"I like to be where I can make the biggest impact, and I'm naturally drawn to areas that are still unexplored."

Recognizing a power shift was imminent in the stagnating music biz, Dolby, an Egyptian-born Englishman living stateside since 1987, formed Beatnik Inc. in San Mateo, Calif., to make the most out of burgeoning cyberspace, just as he had with the music-video explosion that transformed pop music in the early '80s.

But for years, he says, Beatnik was in a holding pattern — "neither an abject failure nor a runaway success. If either of those had happened earlier, I'd have been back making music sooner. But there was always something around the corner."

Ironically, it was only after the company rode out the Internet's boom and bust that Beatnik found its true calling: creating audio for cellphones. Today, the company is the world's top provider of such software, including ringtones.

"We're now in over half the world's cellphones," he notes. "That's a lot of cellphones."

Achieving that prominence, however, means the services of a maverick are no longer required on regular basis. Beatnik runs itself, and Dolby, still the company's largest shareholder, has time to resume a music career that in certain circles is considered among the most acclaimed of his era.

Most people's knowledge of Dolby begins and ends with "She Blinded Me With Science," a sly slice of synth-funk from a superior album ("The Golden Age of Wireless") whose variety and depth went far beyond its artificial surface. Indeed, for those who sought him out — certainly for scores of electronica acts who routinely cite him as an influence — Dolby was one-of-a-kind, a do-it-yourself electro wizard whose work conjured warmth and soul from machines whose output in other hands was pure digital chill.

But after Dolby took a deliberate detour off his pop-stardom trajectory with 1984's "The Flat Earth" — an introspective, atmospheric masterwork, one of the best albums of the '80s yet currently out of print — the writing was on the wall: He would never be more than a cult figure, revered by few, misunderstood or dismissed by most.

Other projects

Sure enough, he retreated to production work (notably for Brit band Prefab Sprout) and film composing (lamentably for the mega-flop "Howard the Duck"), and his albums, though unusual and clever, rapidly sank into obscurity.

In those days, as it often still is today, "There was this narrow window where if your music didn't catch fire, you basically went back to the drawing board. Now I can put stuff out and it doesn't have to sell right off the bat.

"It's an annuity that sits there and might spike two years from now when a piece gets used in a movie." (Coincidentally, Dolby has an instrumental in "Mission: Impossible 3" that he co-wrote with its director and erstwhile electronic-music artist, "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams.)

Dolby, however, doesn't foresee a new album in his immediate future — why bother with that when he can enjoy more freedom and immediacy by recording and releasing what he wants via his Flat Earth Society site (version.thomasdolby.com)?

"I care less about that than the fact that I'm free — that if I choose to push a button at any time I can release [a song], have it accessible by anyone. There's no rigmarole of A&R men and radio promoters to get around anymore."