Nick Laird-Clowes (born 5 February 1957, in London, England) is an English musician and composer, best known as the singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter for

The Dream Academy The Dream Academy was a British Indie pop, alternative pop band consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist and primary songwriter Nick Laird-Clowes, woodwinds player and pianist Kate St John, and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. The band is most no ...

Life and career

Laird-Clowes was a member of Alfalpha and The Act before forming The Dream Academy. He was also a

presenter Presenter may refer to: People * News presenter, person who presents news during a news program * Sports commentator, an announcer who presents analysis of a sporting event * Radio personality, presenter or announcer on a radio show * Television ...

for the first series of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

music show ''

The Tube The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...

''. The Dream Academy formed in 1983. Laird-Clowes sang and played guitar for the band and was its primary songwriter. The band's other members were multi-instrumentalist

Kate St John Kate St John (born 2 October 1957) is an English composer, arranger, producer and multi-instrumentalist. She was a member of bands Ravishing Beauties, The Dream Academy, and Channel Light Vessel, and of Van Morrison's live band, in which she pl ...

and keyboardist Gilbert Gabriel. The Dream Academy is most noted for their 1985

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

, "

Life in a Northern Town "Life in a Northern Town" is the debut single by British band the Dream Academy, released in March 1985. It appears on the band's debut studio album, ''The Dream Academy''. Written by Nick Laird-Clowes and Gilbert Gabriel, the song was produc ...

" (1985), which was a worldwide success and a sizeable hit in the U.S. The band released three albums: ''

'' (1985), ''

Remembrance Days Remembrance is the act of remembering, the ability to remember, or a memorial. Remembrance or Remembrances may also refer to: Events * :Remembrance days ** Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice, a commemorative day observed by Argentina ** ...

'' (1987) and '' A Different Kind Of Weather'' (1990). The Dream Academy disbanded in 1991. Laird-Clowes released a solo album, ''Mona Lisa Overdrive'', under the name Trashmonk in 1999. A friend of

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

, with whom he co-produced both ''The Dream Academy'' and ''A Different Kind of Weather'' albums, Laird-Clowes contributed

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

to two songs on

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

's album ''

The Division Bell ''The Division Bell'' is the fourteenth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 28 March 1994 by EMI Records in the United Kingdom and on 5 April by Columbia Records in the United States. The second Pink Floyd album re ...

''. In the 2000s, Laird-Clowes was involved in

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and documentary

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

s. He produced the score for '' The Invisible Circus'' (2001), directed by Adam Brooks and starring

Cameron Diaz Cameron Michelle Diaz (born August 30, 1972) is an American actress. Prolific in both comedy and drama, Cameron Diaz filmography, her films have grossed over $3 billion in the U.S. box-office. Her output of romantic comedies in the late 1990s a ...

, and was the musical consultant for

Bernardo Bertolucci Bernardo Bertolucci ( ; ; 16 March 1941 – 26 November 2018) was an Italian film director and screenwriter with a career that spanned 50 years. Considered one of the greatest directors in the history of cinema, Bertolucci's work achieved inte ...

's '' The Dreamers'' (2003). Laird-Clowes composed the music for '' Fierce People'' (2005), which was directed by

Griffin Dunne Thomas Griffin Dunne (; born June 8, 1955) is an American actor, director and producer. He is known for portraying Jack Goodman in ''An American Werewolf in London'' (1981) and Paul Hackett in '' After Hours'' (1985), for which he was nominat ...

and starred

Diane Lane Diane Lane (born January 22, 1965) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for an Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. Lane made her film debut in George Roy Hill's 1979 film '' A Littl ...

and

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received List of awards and nominations received by Donald Sutherland, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award ...

, and for '' Wit Licht'' (2008), directed by Jean van de Velde.

Nick Broomfield Nicholas Broomfield (born 1948) is an English documentary film director. His self-reflective style has been regarded as influential to many later filmmakers. In the early 21st century, he began to use non-actors in scripted works, which he call ...

's film ''

Battle for Haditha ''Battle for Haditha'' is a 2007 drama film directed by British director Nick Broomfield based on the Haditha killings. Dramatising real events using a documentary style, ''Battle for Haditha'' is Broomfield's follow up to ''Ghosts (2006 film), ...

'', which premiered at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October. In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...

in 2007, also had a Laird-Clowes soundtrack.http://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/artist_profile/nick-laird-clowes_profile.html In June 2009, he scored Broomfield's

agitprop Agitprop (; from , portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in the Soviet Union where it referred to popular media, such as literatu ...

documentary for

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of Environmental movement, environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its biod ...

, ''A Time Comes'', featuring the single "Mayday". In May 2007, Laird-Clowes and

Joe Boyd Joe Boyd (born August 5, 1942) is an American record producer and writer. He formerly owned Hannibal Records. Boyd has worked with Pink Floyd, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny who was in Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, The ...

produced a

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

memorial concert, "The Madcap's Last Laugh", at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

in London; the concert also featured both Pink Floyd and

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

. In 2013, Laird-Clowes worked as both composer and music consultant for the

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a British screenwriter, producer and director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known for romantic comedy-drama films, including ''Four Weddings and a Funeral' ...

directed film, '' About Time''. In 2014, The Dream Academy released a compilation album entitled '' The Morning Lasted All Day: A Retrospective''; it was compiled, annotated, and remastered by Laird-Clowes. In 2017, Laird-Clowes composed the music for the feature documentary, '' Whitney: Can I Be Me'', directed by Nick Broomfield. In 2019 (and also for Broomfield), he composed the score for the acclaimed Universal film about

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, ''Marianne & Leonard: Words Of Love''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laird-Clowes, Nick 1957 births Living people English male songwriters English male singers English television presenters Singers from London The Dream Academy members