Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory may be best known for icy pop and electronica, but these days he’s turning heads closer to home. Writer Joe Shooman meets the Bath-based composer to talk synths, science, and the Ivor Novello-nominated Moog Ensemble. Image credit: Joe Short
Goldfrapp’s blend of icy pop, trip-hop and electronica has delighted millions over the years.
The instantly-recognisable vocal of Alison Goldfrapp is couched in sumptuous soundscapes created with the other half of the band, Will Gregory.
Gregory lives and works in Bath and is currently celebrating an unexpected, but very welcome, accolade for one of his other projects, The Will Gregory Moog Ensemble.
Composer Gregory was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award in October 2025 for song writing and composing on the Moog Ensemble’s latest LP, Heat Ray: The Archimedes Project. He is clearly delighted and a little mischievous at such a nomination.
“It’s like wading into classical areas that I shouldn’t be allowed to be in,” he tells The Bath Magazine. “My career has often been more commercial – but I do come from a classical background.”
The band plays a blend of classical music, film scores and their own original work, all based around analogue synthesizers. It’s no gimmick, however: the Ensemble has regularly broadcast on BBC including a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings at the 2019 proms.
When you consider that Gregory has had an opera performed at Queen Elizabeth Hall plus composed for productions of Shakespeare in Stratford-Upon Avon plus TV and movie soundtracks, the Novello shout is really not such a stretch.
The Archimedes Project came about during COVID lockdown, he adds: “I was ruminating and like many people ended up down a rabbit hole. I became obsessed with Archimedes.”
The ancient Greek philosopher would no doubt be delighted with Gregory’s subsequent lateral thought.
“I had a mad scheme to bring together Archimedes with my other obsession – synths. And with the Moog Ensemble it became, Peter and the Wolf-style, more like a musical lecture.” Clearly the Novello board had done their homework.
In fact, it’s not the first brush Gregory has had with Ivor Novello Awards. In 2004, Goldfrapp won an award for Best Dance Single, for their track Strict Machine, and then in 2021 the prestigious Inspiration Award, which is voted for by peers.
I just love the sound of different synths and they’re not really employed to the extent of other band instruments.”
Bath for good
Gregory ended up in Bath by a suitably random route, he says, courtesy of his friend and one-time band colleague Andy Creswell Davis.
“Andy is an eminent Bath musician, having lived here for years working with the likes of The Korgis, Stackridge and The 3 Caballeros. I’d just come off a Tears for Fears tour with Andy and was feeling very rootless, as can happen. So, I stayed with Andy.”
Davis was a one-time Tears for Fears live keyboardist; Gregory recorded and toured with the chart band for much of the 1980s. You’ve got to be based somewhere, and Bath seemed to tick a lot of boxes.
“Bath is an easy town to live in. You can walk everywhere; it’s not a village of course but it has those attributes: you can always find everything you need here. My partner and I often go for post-dinner walks to clear our heads. It can be quiet in the evening, for example, round the Lansdown hills side, or Charlcombe.
“It can be very atmospheric: you hear owls and if you’re very lucky you might see a badger.”
Gregory was born in London but spent his formative years in Bristol, where the scene was absolutely popping off. He retains close links:
“Bath is so well-connected to the mainline; you can be in Bristol in 12 minutes. We often go to Wales, too, and it’s quick to London from here.”
Those connections prove handy for all kinds of adventures – Gregory is also an accomplished and in-demand saxophonist.
Seven Deadly Synths
More than anything, though, Will Gregory is head-over-heels for retro synths and has an ever-growing collection; he warns us that if we start him talking about them, he’ll not stop. We take the chance.
“Synths are quirky, individual things and different cultures make different versions. There’s ones from the States, UK, France, Germany, Japan and the often-overlooked Italian synths. Many of them are at the studio; there’s one room with shelves of synths, some in racks ready to play.”
Ah, that studio. It’s somewhere in the Bath area, he divulges, but as it’s not a commercial studio he’s not hugely keen on sharing the exact location. It’s a place, he shares, where he can get away from everything.
“It is a personal studio, though people I know can and have come to specifically record synths. It’s in a bungalow, which is great for a studio as they generally have bigger rooms compared to more historic buildings, which can be a bit cramped.”
Every synth in the collection gets a chance, he says, to justify its existence; that might mean appearing on a single song. Many of them were bought on consultation with his bandmate Alison Goldfrapp,
says Gregory.
“I’d say: ‘shall I get it?’, and she’d say, ‘yes’,” he says. We suspect he never takes much convincing, though.
“I just love the sound of different synths and they’re not really employed to the extent of other band instruments so they come with less baggage. I love the characterful sound of the older ones. It’s a pleasure to pull a previously-neglected one out in the studio and see how I can rekindle a love for it, to give a song something absolutely individual.”
He adds: “Nobody else is mad enough to have all these old synths [to hand].”
The Moog Ensemble still play stuff by J.S. Bach; Gregory reckons the venerable composer would be delighted to get stuck in: “Oh I’m sure he would have gone into orbit behind a Moog,” he says, laughing.
Goldfrapp Goodies
Whilst there’s been quite a hiatus with Goldfrapp, the good news for fans is that he and Alison speak very regularly.
“We’ve both been working on other projects recently, but Goldfrapp is precious to us both so when it comes to new music, never say never. Watch this space! We did recently finish some new remixes for a special edition of our album Supernature which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year”
There’s also to be a new LP by The Moog Ensemble, plus putting together a longer set of live material that’s festival-friendly; film and telly projects continue to come in; and Gregory is also looking forward to playing pub gigs with Gas Giants.
“If you don’t get out there and play live you can get stale,” he comments of the small, whites-of-their-eyes concerts, “and very gratifying. It’s instant marks out of 10 from the audience.”
Awards are fantastic, but sometimes music is all about such grass-roots rewards. Either way, you can be sure that Gregory’s got a synth to soundtrack the emotion.