Brendan Perry
Encyclopedia
Brendan Michael Perry (born 30 June 1959 in Whitechapel
, London
) is a singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as the male half of the duo Dead Can Dance
with Lisa Gerrard
.
, London, England, UK
, in 1959 to Anglo-Irish parents and subsequently raised and schooled in the East End of London
, until his family emigrated to Auckland
, New Zealand. Having received no formal musical education, Perry began to play the guitar at the Catholic school he attended in Ponsonby
. After failing to become a primary school teacher and to join the civil service
, Perry worked at a series of jobs until joining the Scavengers
in 1977. At first Perry played bass guitar, later taking on the duties of lead vocalist when the original singer left the band. Apart from a handful of original songs, the band covered music from the Stooges
, New York Dolls
, and late-'60s Psychedelia
. After two years, having failed to secure a recording deal or live dates, the band moved to Melbourne
, Australia, in 1979 and changed its name to the Marching Girls. In 1980, Perry left the Marching Girls to pursue a solo career, experimenting with tape loops, synthesis, and alternative forms of rhythm. In 1981, Perry formed Dead Can Dance
with Simon Monroe and Paul Erikson (both of whom were to leave soon after they had relocated to London), and Lisa Gerrard
.
, Perry's first musical forays were in a markedly different style. In 1977, Perry was a leading member of New Zealand
punk rock
band the Scavengers
, working under the pseudonym of Ronnie Recent. Perry started as the band's bass player, becoming lead vocalist after a lineup change in 1978. In 1979, the band moved to Melbourne and changed its name to the Marching Girls. Perry left the band in 1981. Perry's work with these two bands can be found on the compilation album AK79
and on a compilation of Scavengers singles that was recently released on CD. The Scavengers are regarded as New Zealand's equivalent of the Buzzcocks, with the Perry co-penned song "Mysterex" regarded as one of the country's best and most distinctive punk-rock singles. The Marching Girls also reached the New Zealand singles charts in 1980 with "True Love."
originally formed as a quartet in 1981 in Melbourne
, with Perry, drummer Simon Monroe, bass player Paul Erikson, and, last to join the band, Lisa Gerrard
. In 1982, Dead Can Dance moved to London
leaving Simon Monroe in Australia
. Peter Ulrich
played drums on the band's first demos, concerts and recordings. Paul Erikson soon left the band to fly back to Australia, leaving the band a duo. The band went on to record eight albums on the 4AD Records record label
beginning with the self-titled Dead Can Dance
album, which was released in February 1984.
on 4AD Records. The album contained songs written by Perry and a cover of Tim Buckley
's song "I Must Have Been Blind." Perry would eventually cover three more Tim Buckley songs: "Happy Time," "Chase the Blues Away," and "Dream Letter."
Around 2001, Perry did the music for a 10-minute film (Mushin) made by Graham Wood, who designed the artwork of the box set Dead Can Dance (1981-1998)
and the album Wake.
Perry announced his departure from 4AD in September 2008, and promised a new album titled Ark
in early 2009. According to a reply Perry made to a comment on his MySpace blog, the new album will be very different from Eye of the Hunter
, notably because it will feature rhythm machines and electric guitars. "Utopia," a demo version of a song from the album, was made available on his MySpace blog. Ark was eventually released on 7 June 2010.
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
) is a singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as the male half of the duo Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
with Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....
.
Early life
Perry was born in WhitechapelWhitechapel
Whitechapel is a built-up inner city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England. It is located east of Charing Cross and roughly bounded by the Bishopsgate thoroughfare on the west, Fashion Street on the north, Brady Street and Cavell Street on the east and The Highway on the...
, London, England, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, in 1959 to Anglo-Irish parents and subsequently raised and schooled in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, until his family emigrated to Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand. Having received no formal musical education, Perry began to play the guitar at the Catholic school he attended in Ponsonby
Ponsonby, New Zealand
Ponsonby is an inner-city suburb of Auckland City located 2 km west of the Auckland CBD, in the North Island of New Zealand. The suburb is oriented along a ridge running north-south, which is followed by the main street of the suburb, Ponsonby Road....
. After failing to become a primary school teacher and to join the civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
, Perry worked at a series of jobs until joining the Scavengers
The Scavengers
The Scavengers were a New Zealand Punk Rock band, formed in 1977. In 1979 they moved to Melbourne, Australia, and became The Marching Girls in 1980.-History:...
in 1977. At first Perry played bass guitar, later taking on the duties of lead vocalist when the original singer left the band. Apart from a handful of original songs, the band covered music from the Stooges
The Stooges
The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
, New York Dolls
New York Dolls
The New York Dolls is an American rock band, formed in New York in 1971. The band's protopunk sound prefigured much of what was to come in the punk rock era; their visual style influenced the look of many new wave and 1980s-era glam metal groups, and they began the local New York scene that later...
, and late-'60s Psychedelia
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
. After two years, having failed to secure a recording deal or live dates, the band moved to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, Australia, in 1979 and changed its name to the Marching Girls. In 1980, Perry left the Marching Girls to pursue a solo career, experimenting with tape loops, synthesis, and alternative forms of rhythm. In 1981, Perry formed Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
with Simon Monroe and Paul Erikson (both of whom were to leave soon after they had relocated to London), and Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....
.
The Scavengers and The Marching Girls
Though now primarily known for his quiet introspective work with Dead Can DanceDead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
, Perry's first musical forays were in a markedly different style. In 1977, Perry was a leading member of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band the Scavengers
The Scavengers
The Scavengers were a New Zealand Punk Rock band, formed in 1977. In 1979 they moved to Melbourne, Australia, and became The Marching Girls in 1980.-History:...
, working under the pseudonym of Ronnie Recent. Perry started as the band's bass player, becoming lead vocalist after a lineup change in 1978. In 1979, the band moved to Melbourne and changed its name to the Marching Girls. Perry left the band in 1981. Perry's work with these two bands can be found on the compilation album AK79
AK79
AK79 is a compilation album of tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand, in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in 1979 - just in time for Xmas. Bands featured on the original compilation include The...
and on a compilation of Scavengers singles that was recently released on CD. The Scavengers are regarded as New Zealand's equivalent of the Buzzcocks, with the Perry co-penned song "Mysterex" regarded as one of the country's best and most distinctive punk-rock singles. The Marching Girls also reached the New Zealand singles charts in 1980 with "True Love."
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can DanceDead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
originally formed as a quartet in 1981 in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, with Perry, drummer Simon Monroe, bass player Paul Erikson, and, last to join the band, Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Gerrard is an Australian musician, singer, and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with former music partner Brendan Perry....
. In 1982, Dead Can Dance moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
leaving Simon Monroe in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Peter Ulrich
Peter Ulrich
Peter Ulrich is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter and recording artist.-Biography:He was educated at Vaughan School in West Harrow, Cannon Lane School in Pinner, The John Lyon School in Harrow, and Hatfield Polytechnic from which he graduated in Humanities.A self-taught drummer, he began playing...
played drums on the band's first demos, concerts and recordings. Paul Erikson soon left the band to fly back to Australia, leaving the band a duo. The band went on to record eight albums on the 4AD Records record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
beginning with the self-titled Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance (album)
Dead Can Dance is the debut album recorded by Dead Can Dance in 1984. This album differs greatly from later Dead Can Dance releases. The instrumentation consisted of guitars, bass and drums with added percussion and the very distinct sound of the Yang Chin as played by Lisa Gerrard. This album has...
album, which was released in February 1984.
Solo career
In 1999, Perry released his solo album Eye of the HunterEye of the Hunter
Eye of the Hunter is the debut solo album by Brendan Perry, previously the male half of the band Dead Can Dance. The album was released by 4AD on 4 October 1999 in the UK and a day later in the US.-Overview:...
on 4AD Records. The album contained songs written by Perry and a cover of Tim Buckley
Tim Buckley
Timothy Charles Buckley III was an American vocalist, and musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years; his first album was mostly folk oriented, but over time his music incorporated jazz, psychedelia, funk, soul, avant-garde and an evolving "voice as instrument," sound...
's song "I Must Have Been Blind." Perry would eventually cover three more Tim Buckley songs: "Happy Time," "Chase the Blues Away," and "Dream Letter."
Around 2001, Perry did the music for a 10-minute film (Mushin) made by Graham Wood, who designed the artwork of the box set Dead Can Dance (1981-1998)
Dead Can Dance (1981-1998)
Dead Can Dance is four-disc box set, containing three CDs of music spanning Dead Can Dance's career and a DVD of their 1994 video release Toward the Within....
and the album Wake.
Perry announced his departure from 4AD in September 2008, and promised a new album titled Ark
Ark (Brendan Perry album)
-Personnel:Musical* Brendan Perry – writer, composer, performerTechnical* Mastered by Aidan Foley at MasterlabsGraphical* Sleeve design by Graham Wood* Photography by * Photography by Sophia Wood- Charts :-External links:...
in early 2009. According to a reply Perry made to a comment on his MySpace blog, the new album will be very different from Eye of the Hunter
Eye of the Hunter
Eye of the Hunter is the debut solo album by Brendan Perry, previously the male half of the band Dead Can Dance. The album was released by 4AD on 4 October 1999 in the UK and a day later in the US.-Overview:...
, notably because it will feature rhythm machines and electric guitars. "Utopia," a demo version of a song from the album, was made available on his MySpace blog. Ark was eventually released on 7 June 2010.
Albums
- 1978: The Scavengers: The scavengers (first LP from Perry's punk band)
- 1980: AK79AK79AK79 is a compilation album of tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand, in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in 1979 - just in time for Xmas. Bands featured on the original compilation include The...
(compilation, Scavengers & Marching girls)
- 1999: Eye of the HunterEye of the HunterEye of the Hunter is the debut solo album by Brendan Perry, previously the male half of the band Dead Can Dance. The album was released by 4AD on 4 October 1999 in the UK and a day later in the US.-Overview:...
(solo)
- 2010: ArkArk (Brendan Perry album)-Personnel:Musical* Brendan Perry – writer, composer, performerTechnical* Mastered by Aidan Foley at MasterlabsGraphical* Sleeve design by Graham Wood* Photography by * Photography by Sophia Wood- Charts :-External links:...
(solo)
Contributions
- Opera Multi Steel: Stella obscura (CD, "Du chant des elfes")
- The 13 Year Itch (4AD compilation,"Happy time" 1993)
- Elijah's Mantle: Angels of perversity (1993, "Paradis IAC" & "Quem di dilicunt -part two")
- Hector Zazou: Sahara Blue (1994, "Youth" & "Black Stream [w/Lisa Gerrard]")
- Hector Zazou: Songs from the cold seas (1994, "Annuka suaren neito" & "Adventures in the Scandinavian skin trade" )
- Rare on Air (KCRW compilation, "The Captive Heart" 1994)
- CoEx: Synaesthesia (1995, "Chant of Amergin" )
- Hector Zazou & Harold Budd: Glyph (1995, "Around the corner from everywhere")
- Hector Zazou: Lights in the dark ("Gol na dtrí Muire" & "In ainm an athar le bua" & "Caoine Mhuire" )
- Barbara Gogan & Hector Zazou: Made on Earth (1997, "True love")
- "Sunset Heights" 1997 (movie soundtrack by Perry)
- "Greenwood voice of the celtic myth" (compilation, "Balor's song" ; 1997)
- Peter Ulrich: Pathways and dawns (programming & sequencing, guitars, hurdy gurdy & tin whistles: Brendan Perry)
- Sing a Song for You (Tim Buckley tribute album,"Dream letter" 2000)
- ZoarZoar (band)Zoar is a primarily instrumental musical group from New York City. Michael Montes, a former medical student, formed Zoar in 1995 with Peter Rundquist, who formerly worked on Wall Street, and Erik Friedlander...
: Clouds without water (2003, "Winter wind" & "Wakeworld") - Piano MagicPiano MagicPiano Magic is a musical collective formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England. Their sound has been described as ambient pop, post-rock, indietronica, coldwave, dark wave and ghostrock...
: Ovations (2009, "The Nightmare Goes On" & "You Never Loved This City")
External links
- Brendan-Perry.com (official website)
- Dead-Can-Dance.com (English/Italian fansite, incl. Perry)
- Muzic net's Scavengers page
- Discography
- Interview ca. 2001 with Perry