Thomas Dolby is one of those popular music characters who has an unusual career and backstory once you start scratching beyond his most prominent successes and achievements.
Many of us know him for the wonderful nerdy early-‘80s synth-pop of “She Blinded Me With Science.” Dolby’s style fit in with some of the shoulder-pad and synth-bass jams of the era by artists like Duran Duran, Devo and David Bowie. Dolby has done some surprising collaborations over the years, having produced Joni Mitchell, Budgie and Jerry Garcia.
Dolby’s dad was a classics professor, which might explain some of the academic and intentionally antiquated overtones that come through in Dolby’s music. Today Dolby, who recently wrote a memoir, is also an educator and writer on merging of the fields of music, media and technology. This show will be sort of a presentation as much as a concert, mixing explanations about the songs’ origins, the layering of musical ideas, the manipulation of the gadgetry to get it to sound the way it does and more.
Thomas Dolby performs in an evening of music and storytelling at The State House, 294 State St., New Haven, on Sunday, Aug. 5, at 5 p.m. $30. statehousepresents.com