Peter James Stapleton (25 April 1954 – 22 March 2020) was a musician from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band The Terminals. Stapleton was also a member of the groups Vacuum,

The Pin Group The Pin Group was a post-punk band formed in 1980 in Christchurch, New Zealand. They were the first band released on Flying Nun Records, and featured Roy Montgomery, Peter Stapleton, Ross Humphries, Mary Heney, and Peter Fryer. The group were ...

, Dadamah,

Flies Inside the Sun Flies Inside the Sun were a band from New Zealand. They formed in 1993, and consisted of Kim Pieters, Peter Stapleton, Danny Butt, and Brian Crook. They were part of a prominent improvisation / noise music, noise scene which was active in New Ze ...

, Eye, and Scorched Earth Policy.

Career

Stapleton was principally a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

, although he also contributed

shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the High frequency, high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30& ...

and sample manipulations to various recordings. In 1976 Stapleton joined Vacuum, who went largely unrecorded. The band consisted of Stapleton,

Bill Direen Bill (also William) Direen is a musician and poet. He manages the music group Bilders and lives in Otago, New Zealand. Direen has appeared at Book Festivals in New Zealand, the USA and Eastern Europe, but is better known for his music and son ...

, Steve Cogle, Peter Fryer and, later replacing Fryer, Alan Meek. When Vacuum split,

went on to form

The Bilders Bilders (or Builders) is a New Zealand music group of varying lineups that produced a string of self-recorded 7-inch vinyl releases between 1980 and 1982 leading to Beatin Hearts, the first studio-album from fledgling New Zealand independent re ...

, while Stapleton, Cogle, Tony O'Grady and Meek, along with singer/songwriter Mary Heney transformed into The Victor Dimisich Band, which released its first self-titled EP on

Flying Nun Records Flying Nun Records is a New Zealand independent record label formed in Christchurch in 1981 by music store manager Roger Shepherd. Described by ''The Guardian'' as "one of the world's great independent labels", Flying Nun is notable for bringi ...

in 1982. The Victor Dimisich Band disbanded, and posthumously released a cassette, ''Mekong Delta Blues'', on the

Xpressway Xpressway was a record label founded by New Zealand musician Bruce Russell in Dunedin in 1988. Until it ceased in 1993, Xpressway released a variety of New Zealand musicians, primarily on cassette, but its catalogue included several 7-inch singl ...

label in 1988. Stapleton and Cogle went on to form The Terminals in 1986. Stapleton also formed

with

Roy Montgomery Roy Montgomery (born 1959) is a composer, guitarist and lecturer from Christchurch, New Zealand. Montgomery's mostly instrumental solo works have elements of post-rock, lo-fi, folk and avant-garde experimentation. His signature sound might be d ...

and Ross Humphries in 1981. Their 1981 "Ambivalence" 7-inch was the first release on the Flying Nun label. Another 7-inch, "Coat" was issued later that year, followed by ''The Pin Group Go To Town'' EP in 1982. The Pin Group disbanded soon after, later reuniting in 1992 for the "Eleven Years After" 7-inch. A compilation of these recordings was released in 1997 on the

Siltbreeze Siltbreeze is an American independent record label based in Philadelphia. It is known for its eclectic roster of artists and releases of experimental, noise, folk, and rock-based music. Founded in 1989 by Ohio native Tom Lax, the label evolved out ...

label, and later in expanded form on Flying Nun. Stapleton formed the

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

band

Scorched Earth Policy A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy of destroying everything that allows an enemy military force to be able to fight a war, including the deprivation and destruction of water, food, humans, animals, plants and any kind of tools and i ...

, who released two EPs; "Dust to Dust" (1984) and "Going Through a Hole in the Back of Your Head" (1985). These recordings were later compiled and reissued on the Medication label as ''Keep Away From The Wires,'' and on the Siltbreeze label as ''Going Thru' A Hole in the Back of Your Head''. During the 1990s, Stapleton moved into more

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

and

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical sound. Noise music include ...

, forming numerous groups such as Dadamah with Roy Montgomery from

, and

Sleep Sleep is a state of reduced mental and physical activity in which consciousness is altered and certain Sensory nervous system, sensory activity is inhibited. During sleep, there is a marked decrease in muscle activity and interactions with th ...

. In 1996 he founded the Metonymic and Medication record labels. From 2003 until his death, he played in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

improvised psychedelic noise rock trio

Eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

. In 2011, Stapleton completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, with a thesis titled ''The Rockumentaries, Direct Cinema, and the Politics of the 1960s''. Stapleton died in Dunedin on 22 March 2020.

References

External links

Biography at New Zealand Electronic Poetry CentreAn interview with Peter StapletonAn interview with The TerminalsInterview with Peter Stapleton (parts 1 – 3)Interview with Peter Stapleton (parts 4 & 5)Interview with Peter Stapleton (parts 6 – 8)Interview with Peter Stapleton (parts 9 and 10)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stapleton, Peter 1954 births 2020 deaths New Zealand drummers New Zealand male drummers Musicians from Dunedin University of Otago alumni