Richard Reed Parry (born October 4, 1977) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the
Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
-winning
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
band
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...
, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching between guitar, double bass, drums,
celesta
The celesta () or celeste (), also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music ...
, keyboards, and
accordion
Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
.
Early life and education
Parry comes from a musical family. His late father was
David Parry of the
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk horror
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
band
Friends of Fiddler's Green. His mother,
Caroline Balderston Parry, was a poet and musician, and his sister,
Evalyn Parry, is a theatre artist, songwriter, and
spoken word
Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...
performer.
Parry's family is
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
and Parry grew up attending
Toronto Monthly Meeting.
Parry attended
Canterbury High School in Ottawa,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
, Canada and was one of a dozen members of the Literary Arts program (first generation). His classmates include ''
Stargate: Atlantis'' writer
Martin Gero
Martin Gero (born July 6, 1977, in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Canadian screenwriter and co- executive producer for ''Stargate Atlantis'' and the creator of '' Blindspot''.
Born in Switzerland, Gero spent much of his childhood in Ottawa, Ontari ...
and ''
The Holmes Show'' comedian
Kurt Smeaton.
In the mid 1990s, he worked summers at a
vegetarian camp in near
Chelsea, Quebec
Chelsea is a municipality located immediately north of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, and about north of Ottawa. Chelsea is located within Canada's National Capital Region. It is the seat of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais Regional County Municipality ...
, called ''Camp Au Grand Bois''.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he studied
electroacoustics
Acoustical engineering (also known as acoustic engineering) is the branch of engineering dealing with sound and vibration. It includes the application of acoustics, the science of sound and vibration, in technology. Acoustical engineers are typical ...
and contemporary dance at
Concordia University
Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...
in Montreal.
Career
The
Bell Orchestre was formed in 2005, along with Sarah Neufeld, Tim Kingsbury as well as Stefan Schneider and French horn player Pietro Amato. Parry primarily plays double bass and is the de facto producer. Bell Orchestre released ''
As Seen Through Windows'' with
Arts & Crafts Records on March 10, 2009. It was recorded with
John Mcentire in Soma Electric Studios in Chicago, Illinois. The album since won a 2011
Juno Award
The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...
for best instrumental album.
A long-time core member of
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...
, he co-produced and collaborated on the debut
EP, ''
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...
'', before the first lineup of the band fell apart. Helping to reform and recreate the band, Parry brought in Bell Orchestre bandmate
Sarah Neufeld, and New International Standards bandmates,
Tim Kingsbury and
Jeremy Gara.
He has also made musical contributions to albums by
The National,
Little Scream,
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released ten solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomina ...
,
The Unicorns
The Unicorns were a Canadian rock band formed in the year 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn (Nick Diamonds) of British Columbia and Alden Penner (Alden Ginger) of Quebec. J'aime Tambeur joined in December 2003. The band announced their split in late ...
and
Islands
This is a list of the lists of islands in the world grouped by country, by continent, by body of water, and by other classifications. For rank-order lists, see the #Other lists of islands, other lists of islands below.
Lists of islands by count ...
. On the latter's critically acclaimed 2006 album
Return to the Sea, he played several instruments, sang background vocals and arranged strings, and appeared with the band's 2016 10-year-anniversary shows where they played the album in full.
Parry has also performed in a cover band called Phi Slamma Jamma along with
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...
bandmates
Will Butler, Jeremy Gara, and Tim Kingsbury. The group performed at the 2011
POP Montreal Festival as well as the 2012
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival.
On January 20, 2007, Parry returned to Canterbury High to perform a concert with Arcade Fire in the school's cafeteria. Only 400 students and staff were permitted to attend the show. Beforehand, those chosen had the opportunity to preview new, unreleased songs from the Arcade Fire's upcoming album. After the show, there was a brief autograph period and the students met with the band members.
He was also formerly a member of the band the New International Standards, with Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara.
His first work for Orchestra, entitled ''For Heart, Breath and Orchestra.'' It was recorded by the
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, on their 2011 album ''From Here on Out'' alongside pieces by
Jonny Greenwood
Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Radiohead, and has composed numerous film scores. He has been named one of the greatest guitarists by numer ...
and
Nico Muhly. He has also written commissioned works for
Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...
,
yMusic and
Bryce Dessner
Bryce David Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, and a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother, Aaron is also a member of the group. Together, they write the music in collabo ...
, and his chamber works also have been performed by the Calder Quartet and Warhol Dervish.
Parry appeared at each night of the 2012
All Tomorrow's Parties
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by the Velvet Underground and Nico, written by Lou Reed and released as the band's debut single in 1966. The song is from their 1967 debut studio album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''.
Inspiration for the so ...
festival, mounting a "moving surround sound sci-fi composition for bicycles and boomboxes" entitled ''Drones/Revelations'', as well as performing songs with a folk trio called ''Quiet River of Dust'', and as part of a chamber music ensemble performing Parry's ''Music for Heart and Breath''. The lineup included
Owen Pallett,
Nico Muhly,
Bryce Dessner
Bryce David Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, and a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother, Aaron is also a member of the group. Together, they write the music in collabo ...
,
Aaron Dessner
Aaron Brooking Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American musician. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band The National (band), the National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big ...
,
Gaspar Claus,
Nadia Sirota,
Kyle Resnick, and Dave Nelson.
He occasionally performs as drummer and backup singer with
Little Scream.
Parry has also collaborated with
The National, arranging vocals and writing guitar parts for their songs on their 2010 album ''
High Violet
''High Violet'' is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010, in Europe and on May 11, 2010, in North America via 4AD. The band produced the album themselves, assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on t ...
'' and appeared with them singing and playing guitar and double bass in their
Vevo
Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...
live event as well as on their
Late Night with David Letterman
''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...
appearance in 2011. He has joined them frequently onstage as a guest during many performances, including
Lollapalooza 2010 (at which Arcade Fire also performed) and also during a brief segment of Arcade Fire's 2011 midwestern US tour in which The National acted as openers. Parry has also collaborated with
Bryce Dessner
Bryce David Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, and a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother, Aaron is also a member of the group. Together, they write the music in collabo ...
of The National on classical compositions, performing together at the Edinburgh Festival in 2015.
Parry recently co-hosted a BBC 6 Music Takeover programme with the members of The National called Arcade Fire and the National Takeover
Parry and brothers Aaron & Bryce Dessner who play guitar in The National have been long-term friends since meeting on the American alt-rock circuit, regularly appearing on the same festival bills worldwide.
Their friendship was cemented when Richard from the Arcade Fire contributed to a number of songs on The National's album
High Violet
''High Violet'' is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010, in Europe and on May 11, 2010, in North America via 4AD. The band produced the album themselves, assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on t ...
, most notably playing double bass and guitar on 'Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks', and doing the vocal harmony arrangements on 'Conversation 16' and 'Sorrow'. During this show Parry mentioned he was producing an album by a local Montreal artist named
Little Scream.
In July 2018 Parry announced the upcoming release of two albums: ''Quiet River Of Dust Vol. 1'' and ''Quiet River Of Dust Vol. 2''.
The albums are inspired by Buddhist myths, death poems, British folk songs, and a recent trip to Japan.
Between 2019 and 2021, Richard Reed Parry produced
The Sadies' 2022 album ''
Colder Streams
''Colder Streams'' is the 11th studio album by Canadian alternative country band The Sadies, released July 22, 2022, on Dine Alone Records in Canada and Yep Roc Records in the United States.Alex Hudson"The Sadies Announce 'Colder Streams,' Produc ...
'' at Montréal's Skybarn. This was the last album by The Sadies to feature founding member Dallas Good, who died suddenly of natural causes on February 17, 2022, at the age of 48. Shortly after, Parry announced via Instagram that he and Dallas had been working on an album on and off since 2008 with the working title The Watchtower. Unfinished at the time of Dallas Good's death, Parry plans to finish the album.
In 2023, Parry composed
the score The Score may refer to:
Films and television
* The Score (1978 film), ''The Score'' (1978 film), a 1978 Swedish film, released in Sweden as ''Lyftet''
* The Score (2001 film), ''The Score'' (2001 film), a 2001 crime drama film starring Robert De Ni ...
of the
biographical drama film ''
The Iron Claw'' by
Sean Durkin
Timothy Sean Durkin (born December 9, 1981) is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Durkin is known for directing the critically acclaimed independent films ''Martha Marcy May Marlene'' (2011), ''The Nest (2020 film), Th ...
, the score for ''
Eileen'' by
William Oldroyd, and the score for the hybrid documentary ''
Adrianne and the Castle'' by
Shannon Walsh.
In April 2025, Arcade Fire announced that Parry would miss their upcoming ''Pink Elephant'' tour; Parry had taken
parental leave
Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity leave ...
whilst he and his wife prepared for the birth of their first child.
Discography
Solo albums
* ''Music For Heart and Breath'' (2014)
(with Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classical musi ...
, yMusic, Bryce and Aaron Dessner
Aaron Brooking Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American musician. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band The National (band), the National, with whom he has recorded nine studio albums; a co-founder of the indie rock duo Big ...
, Nadia Sirota)
*''Quiet River of Dust'' (2018)
*''Quiet River of Dust Vol. 2: That Side of the River'' (2019)
* ''First Sounds'' (2024)
(with Sarah Neufeld and Rebecca Foon)
Film scores
*''
The Nest'' (2020)
* ''
Eileen'' (2023)
* ''
The Iron Claw'' (2023)
* ''
The Actor'' (2025)
Arcade Fire
* ''
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...
'' (EP,
Merge, 2003)
* ''
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
'' (LP, Merge, 2004)
* ''
Neon Bible'' (LP, Merge, 2007)
* ''
The Suburbs
''The Suburbs'' is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 3, 2010. Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and "Month of May". '' (LP, Merge, 2010)
* ''
Reflektor'' (LP, Merge, 2013)
* ''
Everything Now'' (LP, Sonovox, 2017)
* ''
We'' (LP, Sonovox, 2022)
* ''
Pink Elephant'' (LP, Columbia, 2025)
Bell Orchestre
* ''
Bell Orchestre'', (demo, 2002)
* ''
Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light'', (album, 2005)
* ''
As Seen Through Windows'', (LP, released on March 10, 2009)
* ''
Who Designs Nature's How'', (EP, released on August 25, 2009)
* ''House Music'' (2021)
Appearances
Full track appearances
* ''
Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell ''(2 tracks on compilation LP), (
Yep Roc
Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Fountains of Wayne ...
, 2012)
* ''From Here on Out'','' ''
Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, (LP,
Analekta, 2012)
* ''Spirit of Talk Talk'', (track on compilation LP,
Fierce Panda, 2012)
* ''
Have Not Been the Same'', (track on compilation LP,
Zunior, 2012)
Little Scream
* ''
The Golden Record'', (LP,
Secretly Canadian, 2011)
The National
* ''
Trouble Will Find Me'', (LP, 4AD, 2013)
* ''
High Violet
''High Violet'' is the fifth studio album by The National, which was released on May 10, 2010, in Europe and on May 11, 2010, in North America via 4AD. The band produced the album themselves, assisted by Peter Katis with whom they worked on t ...
'', (LP, 4AD, 2010)
Barr Brothers
* ''
Sleeping Operator'', (LP,
Secret City Records, 2014)
Islands
* ''
Return to the Sea'', (LP,
Rough Trade, 2007)
The Unicorns
* ''
Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?'', (LP,
Rough Trade, 2004)
References
External links
*
*"Bell de Jour – Montreal's Bell Ochestre Catching Fire" by Sarah Liss in ''
Now Magazine''
Interview with Richard Parryat ''Torontoist.com''
Bell Orchestre articleMarch 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Richard
1977 births
Living people
Arcade Fire members
Canadian record producers
Canadian indie rock musicians
Musicians from Ottawa
Grammy Award winners
Concordia University alumni
Bell Orchestre members
Parry family (Canada)