Johan Kiran Leonard is an English musician, composer and singer-songwriter from Saddleworth, Greater Manchester.

Career

Leonard was born into a musical family in the countryside of

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

. He first learned to play

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and then, inspired by his older brother's diverse music collection, began to experiment with composing

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

. After a period of prolifically self-releasing experimental music, Leonard's full length album ''Bowler Hat Soup'' was released in 2012 on Hand of Glory Records to some acclaim, receiving notable endorsement from DJ Marc Riley of

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

. His subsequent LP ''Grapefruit'' (2016), released on Moshi Moshi Records, likewise received critical acclaim. Leonard's music notably references a wide variety of literature, historical figures and geographical locations: his 2017 LP ''Derevaun Seraun'' documented a collection of pieces commissioned by

Manchester Central Library Manchester Central Library is the headquarters of the city's library and information service in Manchester, England. Facing St Peter's Square, it was designed by E. Vincent Harris and constructed between 1930 and 1934. The form of the build ...

inspired by works by

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, so ...

Clarice Lispector Clarice Lispector (, born Chaya Pinkhasivna Lispector (; ) December 10, 1920December 9, 1977) was a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and short story writer. Her distinctive and innovative works delve into diverse narrative forms, weaving them ...

and

Manuel Bandeira Manuel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho (April 19, 1886 – October 13, 1968) was a Brazilian poet, literary critic, and translator, who wrote over 20 books of poetry and prose. Life and career Bandeira was born in Recife, Pernambuco. In 1904 ...

, while ''Grapefruit'' makes reference to Ondör Gongor,

Caiaphas Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD) was the High Priest of Israel during the first century. In the New Testament, the Gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Luke, Luke and Gospel of John, John indicate he was an organizer of ...

, the

Bilderberg Group The Bilderberg Meeting (also known as the "Bilderberg Group", "Bilderberg Conference" or "Bilderberg Club") is an annual off-the-record forum established in 1954 to foster dialogue between Europe and North America. The group's agenda, originally ...

Lagavulin Lagavulin (, "hollow of the mill") is a small village approximately outside Port Ellen on the Isle of Islay, Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third ...

and

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

, ''Bowler Hat Soup'' to

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

, Brunswick Street,

Port Ainé Port Ainé is a ski resort located in Rialp, in the Catalan Pyrenees, inaugurated in 1986. The ski area extends from 1,650 to 2,440 meters. Cycling In March 2013, Port Aîné hosted the fourth stage of the Volta a Catalunya . Daniel Martin ...

and

Bora Bora Bora Bora (French language, French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands (Society Islands), Leeward Islands in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific. The Leeward Islands comprise the we ...

, ''Thread Colours'' (2015) to

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

and

Windermere Windermere (historically Winder Mere) is a ribbon lake in Cumbria, England, and part of the Lake District. It is the largest lake in England by length, area, and volume, but considerably smaller than the List of lakes and lochs of the United Ki ...

, and ''Garden in Bermuda'' (2016) to Annie Edson Taylor and

Coyoacán Coyoacán ( ; , Otomi: ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre- ...

. He has cited musicians such as

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

Richard Dawson Richard Dawson (born Colin Lionel Emm; 20 November 1932 – 2 June 2012) was an English-American actor, comedian, game-show host, and panelist. Dawson was well known for playing Corporal Peter Newkirk in ''Hogan's Heroes'', as a regular panel ...

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms the core of the ban ...

and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

as important influences on his music.

Personal life

Leonard studied

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and Portuguese at

Wadham College Wadham College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, a ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

Select discography

Albums

* ''Selected Passive Drones, Part II: Organic Journey'' (2009) * ''The Big Fish'' (2011) * ''A Seed is a Sovereign'' (2012, compilation) * ''The End Times'' (2012) * ''Oakland Highball EP'' (2013) * ''Multi-Titled Summer Tour CD'' (2013) * ''Bowler Hat Soup'' 2LP (2013) * ''Spring Rounds'' CD (2014) Collection of live, field and home recordings * ''Terreiro do Paço'' (2014) * ''Abandoning Noble Goals EP'' (2015) * ''

Grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...

'' 2LP (2016) * ''Garden in Bermuda'' CD (2016) Collection of songs credited to Kiran Leonard as well as his Advol, Pend Oreille and Akrotiri Poacher pseudonyms * '' Derevaun Seraun'' LP (2017) * ''Monarchs of the Crescent Pail'' cassette (2017) * ''A Bit of Violence With These Old Engines'' cassette (2018) * ''Western Culture'' LP (2018) * ''Trespass On Foot'' double album, cassette (2021) * ''River Holds Peace, Some Live'' LP (2023) * ''Real Home'' LP (2024)

As Pend Oreille

* ''YLA EP'' (2012) * ''Thread Colours'' (2015)

As Akrotiri Poacher

* ''Silence Within Buildings'' (2010) * ''Jane Barbe / Akrotiri Poacher'' (2011) Split with Jane Barbe * ''Seminary'' (2012) * ''Motiongazer / Akrotiri Poacher'' (2014) Split with Motiongazer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Kiran 1995 births Living people People from Saddleworth English male singer-songwriters Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Musicians from Greater Manchester 21st-century English singers 21st-century English male singers