Doug Parmenter (born 6 November 1987) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer and film-maker from

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, England.''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', June 2007 Parmenter learned to play the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

at a young age. Before reaching his twelfth birthday, he had already become an accomplished pianist, violinist and clarinettist, although he lacked the drive to pursue music as a career. After teaching himself to play the

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, he began to collaborate and write with others, later developing his skills on the other side of the

mixing desk A mixing console or mixing desk is an electronic device for mixing audio signals, used in sound recording and reproduction and sound reinforcement systems. Inputs to the console include microphones, signals from electric or electronic instr ...

. Parmenter is half of the duo The Idles, a partnership formed with the guitarist and pianist Joseph Fuller, who frequently gigged and collaborated with other musicians in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

. They developed a countrywide fan base after receiving national airplay on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

. Together they championed the music scenes of Reading and nearby communities.''Q'' Magazine, August 2005 Since appearing on '' Later... with Jools Holland'',''Later... With Jools Holland'' and later going on to date the star,

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

, 2007 Parmenter has performed and collaborated with John Power,

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song " Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. Th ...

and Jack White.

Glastonbury Festival

Parmenter's most infamous performance was as the unofficial opening act of the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

2003. The Idles had been asked to perform the sound check for the Jazz World stage on the Thursday, whilst the main stages open officially on the Friday. After drinking too much Brothers Pear Cider before the set, he ran across the stage, failed to negotiate the

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player ( drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsti ...

, and was stretchered off stage with a suspected broken leg. Subsequent medical inspection revealed a sprained ankle.Glastonbury Q Daily, 27 June 2003 He went on later in the weekend to play an unannounced set on

The Left Field The Left Field is a travelling Stage (theatre), stage and bar (establishment), bar which forms part of several List of festivals in the United Kingdom, British festivals. The event is organised by Geoff Martin, organiser of the Battersea and Wand ...

stage.Q Glastonbury Review, 2003

Retirement From the Music Industry

Despite the wide global audience his work has reached, Parmenter has consistently shunned fame and fought to maintain what he describes as "a regular lifestyle". Since 2010, he has begun to formalise his retirement from the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

. He is a dedicated member of his local

Neighborhood Watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood. The aim of neig ...

scheme, routinely assisting local police with investigations into public disturbances. Most recently, he has made

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...

footage available t
ongoing inquiries

06 July 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parmenter, Doug Place of birth missing (living people) Living people British clarinetists British rock pianists British rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists British male violinists British male pianists 21st-century British pianists 21st-century clarinetists 21st-century violinists 21st-century British male musicians 1987 births