Aphasia was the handle of digital multimedia artist Richard Johnson. Johnson -- who was born in Abu-Dhabi to British parents and later moved to the U.K. -- began working in electronic sonic collages in the mid-'90s. Originally, Aphasia (the medical term for the inability to make or understand verbal communication) was Johnson's solo project, but it eventually grew to include like-minded musicians who provided source material for him to tweak. Found sounds, field recordings, and electro-acoustic objects also contributed to his unique approach, which was documented in releases such as the 1998 Staalplaat offering Stereoisomerism, and the following year's Mesospheric Breaks, which was issued by the French label Noise Museum. Johnson changed the name of his project to the Aphasia Group because of a punk band also named Aphasia; as the Aphasia Group, he collaborated with the experimental California outfit Uprock Rhizome on the 2004 Tigerbeat6 album Jungle Green Memes. ~ Heather Phares