Thomas Temple Ellard (born 1962) is an Australian electronic musician best known as the founding member of the electronic and industrial music group

Severed Heads Severed Heads were an Australian electronic music group founded in 1979 in music, 1979 as Mr and Mrs No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, who were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright had both ...

Early life

Ellard's first music contributions began in the late 1970s as a teenager when he was influenced by groups that emerged from the early

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and Australian

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

movement. Predating

music technology Music technology is the study or the use of any device, mechanism, machine or tool by a musician or composer to make or perform music; to musical composition, compose, music notation, notate, playback or record songs or pieces; or to Music infor ...

such as

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

and

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s, Ellard's early work was performed with tape machines,

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among ...

s and basic analogue equipment. In 1979, Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright formed an electronic dance group called Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign, and they were soon joined by Ellard.

Career

Fielding renamed the group Severed Heads. Through the 1980s, Ellard began to take advantage of technological developments such as the

music sequencer A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling Musical note, note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open ...

in combination with looping sounds before sampling arose. Severed Heads were probably most well known in Australia for chart success with a 1994 remix of the track " Dead Eyes Opened" (initially released in the early 1980s), which made the Australian top 40. Ellard is also noted for his early contributions to the electronic and industrial music movements in Australia and overseas. In 2013, Ellard created the interactive game ''Hauntology House''. He has expressed interest in the computer-gaming platform many times in interviews.

Awards

In 2005, Ellard received the Australian Record Industry Association's ARIA Music Award for the best original soundtrack/cast/show for the soundtrack to the Australian film '' The Illustrated Family Doctor''.

Personal life

, Ellard resides in

Surry Hills Surry Hills is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Surry Hills is immediately south-east of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local gover ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and continues to record music and soundtracks. He also lectures at a variety of educational facilities on music production in Australia. He is the creator and director of sevcom.com, a website for alternative methods of music distribution and creation.

Discography

Solo albums

*''Snappy Carrion'' (1982) *'' 80's Cheesecake'' (1982) *''Return To Barbara Island'' (2010) *''Meteosat 2004'' (2013) *''Barbara Channel 3'' (2014) *''Rhine'' (2015)

With Severed Heads

*''Side 2'' (1980) *'' Clean'' (1981) *'' Blubberknife'' (1982) *'' Since The Accident'' (1983) *'' City Slab Horror'' (1985) *'' Come Visit The Big Bigot'' (1986) *'' Bad Mood Guy'' (1987) *'' Rotund For Success'' (1989) *'' Cuisine (With Piscatorial)'' (1991) *'' Gigapus'' (1994) *''

Haul Ass ''Haul Ass'' is the eleventh studio album by Australian electronic music group Severed Heads. After Tom Ellard's relationship soured with Nettwerk and Volition Records, he decided to release ''Haul Ass'' independently through his then newly form ...

'' (1998) *'' Under Gail Succubus'' (2006)

With CoKlaComa

*''Coklapop'' (1996) *''Maximus'' (1999) *''It's All Good!'' (2000)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellard, Tom 1962 births Living people Australian electronic musicians Musicians from Sydney Severed Heads members