Filthy Pedro is an
antifolk musician based in London. Born Simon Parry in Anglesey, Wales, he moved to London in the late 1990s. Parry had grown interested in antifolk after hearing
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
's ''
Stereopathetic Soulmanure
''Stereopathetic Soulmanure'' is the second studio album by American musician Beck. It was released on February 22, 1994, by Flipside. The album shows a strong folk influence, consisting of home recordings, studio recordings, live performances, f ...
'' album (1994). However, it was only after a trip to New York's Sidewalk Cafe (where
Beck
Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...
had first come to prominence) in 2001 that he thought a similar movement should be created in London.
Similar to
Lach
Lach is an American singer-songwriter associated with the anti-folk movement. As a songwriter, Lach founded the anti-folk art and music movement, which is cited as a main inspiration by contemporary performers like Beck, Jeffrey Lewis, Hamell o ...
, the New York-based musician/promoter who first started booking 'antifolk' shows at various venues in New York City after finding himself unwelcome at more traditional venues, Parry founded a similar movement in London in 2002, taking the stagename Filthy Pedro. He created the antifolk.co.uk website and soon after started a seasonal gig in London -- 'The Antifolk UK Fest' -- where unusual and like-minded songwriters could perform outside of the generic indie/rock scene. The 'antifolk movement' and its unorthodox practices (often booking people on its shows with a low level of musical competence), started to attract some press attention in 2006, with Filthy Pedro a key interviewee.
The movement has been championed by ''Nude Magazine'',
''Time Out'' London and
Everett True of
''Plan B'' Magazine and ''
The Village Voice''. Filthy Pedro has appeared on Channel 4's
Transmission
Transmission may refer to:
Medicine, science and technology
* Power transmission
** Electric power transmission
** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power
*** Automatic transmission
*** Manual transmission
*** ...
programme (which borrowed the idea from his song 'Rock N Roll Points' as an interview technique), was recommended by
Lauren Laverne in the
NME and in 2007 performed live on
Marc Riley's BBC6 radio show following the launch of his first single.
Filthy Pedro often performs with a band, The Carthaginians, which is composed of Thee Intolerable Kidd (Nathaniel Kidd), Claudius T. Skull (Tim Tomlinson), Cigarface (Jack Medley), Penny O, Krakatoa Kate, and Disco Stu (Stuart Saunderson of
David Cronenberg's Wife). Many songs humorously combine themes of (usually ancient) history with more modern examples of heavy drinking, drugs and sex: "Man, I'm Old", "History Lover" and "Talking About Caesar".
Singles
* "Rock N Roll Points" (Blang Records, 2007)
* "Gilgamesh" (Blang Records, 2010)
* "Get Your Beak On" (Blang Records, 2010)
Albums
* ''Filthy Pedro and the Carthaginians'' (Blang Records, 2010)
External links
Official websiteAntiFolk UK - The Homepage of the British Antifolk movementMorning Star article on AntiFolk & Filthy Pedro
Everett True on Antifolk / Image of Filthy Pedro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filthy Pedro
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)