Budgie (musician)

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

He was the drummer of the Slits in 1979. He was then a member of the band Siouxsie and the Banshees from 1979 to 1996. Budgie worked with other musicians including John Cale, Leonard Eto (formerly of the Kodo Drummers), John Grant and Anohni with Hercules and Love Affair.

''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, asenlightened 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." '' 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", and Larry Mullen Junior of U2 dubbed him "one
of the greats".

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 before playing with the Slits on the 1979 album '' Cut''. Years later in 2010, Slits singer Ari Up commented:

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.Budofsky, Adam
Budgie interview
''Modern Drummer'', September 1990 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.

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". 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 on a US 1998 tour 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 Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade
newvisionfestival.gov.hk. Retrieved 6.09.2010 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.

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''. His last concert with Efterklang took place in Brussels in November. A live album, recorded in Copenhagen, was later issued.

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.

He played drums on John Grant's third solo album, 2015's '' Grey Tickles, Black Pressure'', playing in November with Grant on the accompanying tour."Pop & Trash -interview with Budgie". Alex-berlin.de live stream. 6 September 2015. He performed again with Grant in the UK in 2015 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 talk about "post punk’s enduring legacy and contemporary relevance". The second season of the ''Curious Creatures'' podcast started in March 2022, with a new episode uploaded every week.

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

Personal life

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

References

External links

Official site
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Budgie
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