Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 06:35, 10 November 2021

Budgie
Budgie in Oakland, California, June 1986
Background information
Birth name	Peter Edward Clarke
Also known as	Blister, Budgie
Born	(1957-08-21) 21 August 1957 (age 67)
Origin	St Helens, Lancashire, England
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Percussion, drums, guitars, keyboards
Years active	1977–present
Labels	Polydor, Geffen, Sioux Records
Website	Official site Curiouscreaturespodcast.com

Peter Edward Clarke (born 21 August 1957), known professionally as Budgie, is an English drummer. His first recording was with the Spitfire Boys in 1977 and then the Slits in 1979. He was the drummer of Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1979 to 1996, and the Creatures from 1981 to 2004. Budgie worked with other musicians including John Cale, Leonard Eto (formerly of the Kodo Drummers) and John Grant.

In 2013, Spin rated him at No. 28 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music", writing: "Post-punk introduced a lot of amazing drummers, but none more influential than Budgie. With the Banshees, Budgie didn't just play rhythms—he played hooks and leads, brilliant parts that set the songs on fire. His tom-tom-intensive approach, enlightened by his awareness of world music". Spin considered his "most booming moment" to be "Into the Light", from 1981's Juju, saying: "Budgie drums up a marvel of kinetic syncopation and invention".

Stewart Copeland of the Police described Budgie's playing as "very economical and offbeat", adding, "Budgie didn’t play your standard hi-hat–kick–snare; there were a lot of tom-toms and a big throb." Ari Up of the Slits felt that he was "a very sensitive drummer", saying, "He could go from reggae to punk to funk to jazz but still very steady." Larry Mullen Jr. of U2 qualified Budgie as "one of the greats" for his work with the Banshees. NME readers voted Budgie the best drummer of 1983; music journalist David Cavanagh commented that "Terry Chambers was, along with Budgie of Siouxsie And The Banshees, the outstanding English drummer of the post-punk era"; Ian McCulloch said that Echo & the Bunnymen's drummer "Pete de Freitas loved his drumming".

Career

He debuted as a drummer with the Spitfire Boys and Big in Japan before playing with the Slits on the 1979 album Cut. Years later in 2010, Slits singer Ari Up commented:

Budgie could play anything. Sting loved the Slits album Cut and what he said about it was that the drumming, he was fanatic about the drums. A lot of people at the time were raving about the drums. They knew that he had a lot of technique but he had a sensitivity, you know, and a variation about him. He could go from reggae to punk to funk to jazz, you know, all over the place, but still very steady.

In September 1979, he joined Siouxsie and the Banshees on their Join Hands tour. Initially he was intended to be a temporary replacement for Kenny Morris, who had left the band two days into a tour, but Budgie remained with the group. He first performed with renowned guitarist John McGeoch on the album Kaleidoscope: Budgie became a permanent member of the band until they split up in 1996. He released nine studio albums with the Banshees. In 1981, he formed a second group with Siouxsie Sioux, named the Creatures. Their music was based more on drums and percussion, with marimba and vibraphone. The 1981 Wild Things EP and 1983 full-length Feast were their first releases.

On subsequent Creatures albums, Budgie also played keyboards, guitars and harmonica. He conceived brass arrangements with Peter Thoms on 1983 single "Right Now" and 1989's Boomerang album. Budgie married Siouxsie in May 1991. Within the Banshees, he wrote the lyrics of several songs, including "She's Cuckoo", "Silver Waterfalls", "Staring Back", "Sick Child", "Hang Me High" and "Return" (the latter was co-written with Siouxsie). For the Creatures, he wrote the lyrics for several Boomerang-era songs, including "Willow", "Morriña" and "Pluto Drive" (the latter was co-written with Siouxsie).

In August 2002, Budgie first collaborated with Japanese taiko player Leonard Eto (formerly of the Kodo Drummers), recording spontaneous drum-duet improvisations in Tokyo for the fourth Creatures album, Hái!. The drum performances were then edited, and the rest of the sessions took place in France. Budgie was the sound engineer of the album, and he mixed it near Toulouse before its release in 2003. After recording four studio albums as the Creatures, Budgie's final performance with Siouxsie (featuring Eto and the Millennia Ensemble) was filmed in 2004 at the Royal Festival Hall in London for the DVD Dreamshow. This was Budgie's last concert and collaboration with Siouxsie; in 2007, the pair publicly announced their divorce.

Outside the Banshees and Creatures, Budgie played drums and harmonica for a Annie Hogan song called "Vixo", featuring Nick Cave on lead vocals which was recorded in October 1983: the track was released in 1985 on the 12" inch vinyl "Annie Hogan - Plays Kickabye". Budgie also worked with Indigo Girls in 1992 on Rites of Passage, and briefly toured with them in the US at the end of that year. In 1994, Budgie recorded percussion on Hector Zazou's Chansons des mers froides, including a song for Jane Siberry. He later played drums for former Velvet Underground member John Cale during his summer 1998 US tour on a double bill with The Creatures. Budgie played two sets each night, one with Cale and one with The Creatures. In 2009, he toured Europe with Juno Reactor and moved to Berlin. Later that year, he also recorded drums for Jessie Evans' Is It Fire? album.

In 2010, he teamed up with two other drummers, Eto and Mabi, plus multi-instrumentalist Knox Chandler and guitarist Sugizo, for a programme called "The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade." It was described as a "drumming extravaganza, featuring Western kit, Japanese taiko and African drums, that will launch the musicians into a new sonic galaxy!". The programme's world première took place in Hong Kong in November 2010 as part of the New Vision Arts Festival. "The Butterfly Effect" featured improvised solos and ensemble works as well as new pieces and arrangements specially created for the festival, inspired by the pace, rhythm and character of Hong Kong.

In 2012, he served as the drummer for Efterklang on their worldwide tour. They were accompanied by an orchestra. The premiere at the Opera House in Sydney was praised by Time Out. His last concert with Efterklang took place in Brussels in November. A live album, recorded in Copenhagen, was later issued.

In 2013, Budgie and Eto performed live material from Hái! in Tokyo, 11 years after conceiving the drum parts in that city. The concert took place at the Studio Coast as part of Juno Reactor's set. He also played drums for CocoRosie at several shows.

In 2015, he played drums on John Grant's third solo album, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, playing in November with Grant on the accompanying tour. In 2018, he performed again with Grant in the UK at the latter's March concerts. That year, he also played with tabla player Talvin Singh for the first time since their collaboration on the Siouxsie and the Banshees' 1991-92 Superstition tour: Singh and Budgie gave a one-off performance at the "100 Years of Beat" festival in Berlin. In 2020, he played drums for American singer Thomas Truax. He recorded percussion for Peaches for her cover version of Marc Bolan's "Solid Gold Easy Action" in 2020.

In October 2021, Budgie and Lol Tolhurst launched the Curious Creatures podcast, in which they talked about the "post punk’s enduring legacy and contemporary relevance". The first guest of the opening episode was James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem.

Personal life

He has remarried and he is the father of two children: a daughter born in 2012 and a boy born in 2014.

References

1. ^ Azerrad, Michael (21 May 2013). "The 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music: N°28 Budgie of Siouxsie And The Banshees". Spin.com. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
2. Joe Bosso (24 June 2013). "Stewart Copeland picks 16 fun drum albums 14/16 Siouxsie And The Banshees - Once Upon a Time: The Singles (1981)". Musicradar.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
3. ^ Macia, Peter (21 October 2010). "Interview With Ari Up from the Siouxsie Sioux/Shabba Ranks Icon Issue". thefader.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014.
4. Cosyns, Simon (10 October 2014). "Protestant or Catholic, we despised the bombers, both were the devil - [U2 interview]". Official. Retrieved 19 April 2020. Siouxsie and the Banshees? Yeah I was intrigued by that and their drummer Budgie was one of the greats
5. "NME awards history 1983". NME. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
6. Cavanagh, David (September 1996). Zesty XTC: Clever to the power . Terry Chambers was, along with Budgie of Siouxsie And The Banshees, the outstanding English drummer of the post-punk era. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
7. Adams, Chris (2002). Turquoise Days: The Weird World of Echo & the Bunnymen. NY: Soft Skull Press. p. 61. ISBN 1887128891. we banned hi-hats and anything else that 'tsss.' We told him to get stuck into the toms. Budgie was the only other drumming doing that stuff at the time and Pete loved his drumming. - Ian McCulloch, 1995
8. "Big in Japan – Where are they now?". Q. January 1992. Archived (via the Library of Mu) on 16 September 2016.Misplaced Pages:WikiProject The KLF/LibraryOfMu/271
9. Budofsky, Adam. Budgie interview, Modern Drummer, September 1990
10. The Bestiary of the Creatures (booklet - cd 1997). Polydor
11. Cairns, Dan.Siouxsie Sioux is back in bloom. The Sunday Times. 26 August 2007
12. "Annie Hogan Plays "Kickabye" - liner notes for "Vixo" on the label Doublevision – DVR9 on 12" in 1985.
13. Gourley, Bob (1999). "Budgie interviewed about The Creatures". Chaoscontrol.com. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
14. Jessie Evans – Is It Fire? . 2009 Fantomette Records – Fantomette 001
15. The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade Archived 2 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine newvisionfestival.gov.hk. Retrieved 6.09.2010
16. Budgie - Butterfly Effect on YouTube The Video. Live Excerpt. November 2010. Hong Kong. New Visions Festival
17. Efterklang The Danes make an art-music splash with the SSO. Time Out. Retrieved 27 June 2012
18. "We’re Looking for..." Archived 14 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine. efterklang.net. Retrieved 27 August 2012
19. "The Piramida Concert". 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
20. "Leonard Eto & Budgie ~ Juno Reactor Japan Tour 2013" on YouTube. August 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014
21. "Just played Frankfurt twice in a row with special guest drummer Budgie. Was a blast!!!". Twitter CocoRosie official. 20 September 2013. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
22. Hudson, Alex. "John Grant announces grey tickles black pressure LP". Exclaim!. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015
23. "Pop & Trash -interview with Budgie". Alex-berlin.de live stream. 6 September 2015.
24. "Budgie". Facebook.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
25. "Talvin Singh/Budgie/Jason Singh, Ghana Panorama, DJ Zhao". hkw.de. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
    Talvin Singh & guests Budgie, part 4 - Berlin 2018 - "100 Jahre Beat". Youtube. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
26. Linazasoro, Nick (15 February 2020). "New Music Machines' tour to hit Brighton". brightonandhovenews.org. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
27. Martoccio, Angie (3 August 2020). "Peaches Takes T.Rex's 'Solid Gold, Easy Action' to Sensual Heights". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
28. Ryan, Jeff. "Curious Creatures". Moderndrummer.com. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
29. "Curious Creatures Podcast". Curiouscreaturespodcast.com. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
30. Volohov, Danil (05 August 2019). "Interview - Peter Budgie Clarke". Peek-a-boo-magazine.be. Retrieved 10 November 2021. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Official site
• Curious Creatures Podcast - Budgie and Lol Tolhurst's Podcast

• Use dmy dates from January 2013
• 1957 births
• Living people
• English rock drummers
• English new wave musicians
• People from St Helens, Merseyside
• Siouxsie and the Banshees members
• Big in Japan (band) members
• The Slits members
• British post-punk musicians
• Juno Reactor members