Stephen John Parry (born 4 September 1958, in Pontypool), is a Welsh guitarist and composer who was a founder member of the experimental rock band Hwyl nofio.
Parry is a product of the South Wales Valleys;[2] formative years were spent living in the shadow of The Black Mountains, amid the scars and ruins of a heavily industrial landscape.
Parry previously had recalled the memory of a school trip to a local steelworks, experiencing intense heat, tasting toxic gasses, seeing rivers of molten metal and the sound of industrial hammers.
Parry's compositions frequently refer to the catharsis of childhood and influence of environment,[3] expressly hymnal facets of his work in the experimental music ensemble Hwyl Nofio.
[4] The Hwyl Nofio, abstract, noise composition 'From Elevated Gangways Rivers of Molten Metal Flow' referred to the above-mentioned childhood experience.
Abandoning conventional theory and on discovering the music of American avant-garde composer, philosopher John Cage Parry became less interested in the standard use of the guitar.
He created HWYL to promote and release original instrumental music from an eclectic idiom employing classical, primitive, jazz, folk, minimalism, contemporary to developing systems for producing sound.