Budgie (musician)

Peter Edward Clarke (born 21 August 1957), known professionally as Budgie, is an English drummer best known for his work in Siouxsie and the Banshees. He is also the co-founder of the Creatures.

For the heavy metal band, see Budgie (band).

Budgie
Budgie in Oakland, California, in 1986
Budgie in Oakland, California, in 1986
Background information
Birth namePeter Edward Clarke
Also known asBlister, Budgie
Born (1957-08-21) 21 August 1957
OriginSt Helens, Lancashire, England
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter
InstrumentsPercussion, drums, guitars, keyboards
Years active1977–present
LabelsPolydor, Geffen, Sioux Records
Member ofJuno Reactor
Formerly of
WebsiteOfficial site
Curiouscreaturespodcast.com
Lol Tolhurst x Budgie x Jacknife Lee

He was the drummer of the Slits in 1979. He was then a member of Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1979 to 1996 and a member of the Creatures from 1981 to 2004. Budgie worked with other musicians including John Cale, Leonard Eto (formerly of the Kodo Drummers), John Grant and Anohni with Hercules and Love Affair. In 2023, he recorded the album Los Angeles with Lol Tolhurst and Jacknife Lee: the lead single and title track features James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem on vocals.

Spin rated him at No. 28 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music",[1] 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, [was] 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".[1]

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."[2] 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."[3] NME readers voted Budgie the best drummer of 1983.[4] 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".[5] Ian McCulloch said that Echo & the Bunnymen's drummer "Pete de Freitas loved his drumming",[6] and Larry Mullen Junior of U2 dubbed him "one of the greats".[7]

Career

Budgie grew up in St Helens in the north west of England. He then lived in Liverpool in the 1970s, studying at an art school while being part of the local music scene. He rehearsed with other musicians at Eric's Club when there was no concert billed for the evening. He debuted as a drummer with the Spitfire Boys and Big in Japan[8] 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.[3]

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.[9] 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.[10] 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.

Other projects

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".[11] Budgie also worked with the Indigo Girls in 1992 on Rites of Passage, and briefly toured with them in the US and Europe 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 on a US 1998 tour with The Creatures. Budgie played two sets each night, one with Cale and one with The Creatures.[12] 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.[13]

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!".[14] 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.[15]

He served as the drummer for Efterklang on their worldwide tour in 2012. They were accompanied by an orchestra. The premiere at the Opera House in Sydney was praised by Time Out.[16] His last concert with Efterklang took place in Brussels in November.[17] The Piramidia Concert, a live album recorded in Copenhagen, was issued in 2013.[18]

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.[19] He also played drums for CocoRosie at several shows.[20]

He played drums on John Grant's third solo album, 2015's Grey Tickles, Black Pressure,[21] playing in November with Grant on the accompanying tour.[22] He performed again with Grant in the UK in 2015 at the latter's March concerts.[23] 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.[24]

He recorded percussion for Peaches for her cover version of Marc Bolan's "Solid Gold Easy Action" in 2020.[25]

In October 2021, Budgie and Lol Tolhurst launched the Curious Creatures podcast, in which they talk about "post punk’s enduring legacy and contemporary relevance".[26] The second season of the Curious Creatures podcast started in March 2022, with a new episode uploaded every week.[26]

On a suggestion of Anohni who admired the percussion work on the Creatures' records,[27] Budgie contributed to Hercules and Love Affair's album In Amber: they contacted him "to derail some of the arrangements for more impact".[28] In Amber was released in June 2022 on vinyl.[29] The lead single "Poisonous Storytelling" featured a collaboration of Budgie with Anohni on lead vocal.[30]

In 2023, he featured on Thomas Truax's album Dream Catching Songs.[31]

On 24 July 2023, Budgie, Tolhurst, and Jacknife Lee announced their album Los Angeles, set for release on 3 November by PIAS Recordings.[32] They recorded it with guest musicians and singers including LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy, the Edge, Isaac Brock and Bobby Gillespie.[33]

Personal life

Budgie married Siouxsie in May 1991. In 2007, the pair publicly announced their divorce.[34] Budgie has remarried and he is the father of two children: a daughter born in 2012 and a son born in 2014.[35]

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. "NME awards history 1983". NME. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  5. Cavanagh, David (September 1996). Zesty XTC: Clever to the power [XTC Fossil Fuel: The XTC Singles Collection album review]. 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)
  6. 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 [from the Banshees] was the only other drumming doing that stuff at the time and Pete loved his drumming. – Ian McCulloch, 1995
  7. Cosyns, Simon (10 October 2014). "Protestant or Catholic, we despised the bombers, both were the devil…'". SimonCosyns. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  8. "Big in Japan – Where are they now?". Q. January 1992. Archived (via the Library of Mu) on 16 September 2016.Wikipedia: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. "Annie Hogan Plays "Kickabye" – liner notes for "Vixo" on the label Doublevision – DVR9 on 12" in 1985.
  12. Gourley, Bob (1999). "Budgie interviewed about The Creatures". Chaoscontrol.com. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  13. Jessie Evans – Is It Fire? [cd-liner notes]. 2009 Fantomette Records – Fantomette 001
  14. The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade Archived 2 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine newvisionfestival.gov.hk. Retrieved 6.09.2010
  15. Budgie – Butterfly Effect on YouTube The Video. Live Excerpt. November 2010. Hong Kong. New Visions Festival
  16. Efterklang The Danes make an art-music splash with the SSO. Time Out. Retrieved 27 June 2012
  17. "We’re Looking for..." Archived 14 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine. efterklang.net. Retrieved 27 August 2012
  18. "The Piramida Concert". 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  19. "Leonard Eto & Budgie ~ Juno Reactor Japan Tour 2013" on YouTube. August 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2014
  20. "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.
  21. Hudson, Alex. "John Grant announces grey tickles black pressure LP". Exclaim!. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015
  22. "Pop & Trash -interview with Budgie". Alex-berlin.de live stream. 6 September 2015.
  23. "Budgie". Facebook.com. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  24. "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.
  25. Martoccio, Angie (3 August 2020). "Peaches Takes T.Rex's 'Solid Gold, Easy Action' to Sensual Heights". Rollingstone.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  26. "Curious Creatures Podcast". Curiouscreaturespodcast.com. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  27. "Hercules & Love Affair: new album marks musical shift to darker yet hopeful horizons". France 24 on YouTube. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022. Budgie was brought into the picture ... He had a side-project with Siouxsie called the Creatures... We were working on the atmospheric tracks ... Anohni is very much a fan. On the atmospheric tracks he said it would be great to have a sort of percusionist player like Budgie on this.
  28. Kenneally, Cerys (24 February 2022). "Hercules and Love Affair announce first album in five years with lead single "Grace"". Thelineofbestfit.com. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  29. "In Amber Hercules and Love Affair". Roughtrade. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
  30. Clarke, Patrick (17 May 2022). "Push And Pull: An Interview With Hercules And Love Affair". TheQuietus.com. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  31. Linazasoro, Nick (15 February 2020). "New Music Machines' tour to hit Brighton". brightonandhovenews.org. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
    "Budgie & Thomas Truax - 'A Wonderful Kind Of Strange'". music.youtube.com. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
    Rowe, Katrina (5 January 2023). "Thomas Truax In Cardiff On Jan 18". westwaleschronical.org. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  32. Breihan, Tom (24 July 2023). "Lol Tolhurst, Budgie, & Jacknife Lee – "Los Angeles" (feat. James Murphy)". Stereogum. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  33. Trendell, Andrew (24 July 2023). "Lol Tolhurst, Budgie and Jacknife Lee talk new project Los Angeles". NME. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
  34. Cairns, Dan.Siouxsie Sioux is back in bloom. The Sunday Times. 26 August 2007
  35. Volohov, Danil (5 August 2019). "Interview – Peter Budgie Clarke". Peek-a-boo-magazine.be. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
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