Brendan Michael Perry (born 30 June 1959) is a British singer and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as half of the duo

Dead Can Dance Dead Can Dance are an Australian music duo first established in Melbourne. Currently composed of Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry, the group formed in 1981. They relocated to London the following year. Australian music historian Ian McFarlane des ...

with

Lisa Gerrard Lisa Germaine Gerrard (; born 12 April 1961) is an Australian musician, singer and composer who rose to prominence as part of the music group Dead Can Dance with music partner Brendan Perry. She is known for her unique singing style technique ( ...

Early life

Perry was born in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, London, England, UK, in 1959 to a mother from Cavan, Ireland,Brendan Perry: Biography
. ''AllMusic''. Retrieved 15 April 2018. and a father from London. He was raised and schooled in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

until his family moved to

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand, in 1973. Having received no formal musical education, Perry began to play the guitar at St Paul's College, the Catholic school he attended in Ponsonby. After failing to become a primary school teacher and to join the civil service, Perry worked at a series of jobs until joining

the Scavengers The Scavengers were a New Zealand punk rock band that formed in 1977. They moved to Melbourne, Australia, in November 1978 and became Marching Girls. History The band was formed in 1976 at Auckland Technical Institute by graphic design stude ...

in 1977. At first Perry played bass guitar, later taking on the duties of lead vocalist when the original singer left the band. Apart from a handful of original songs, the band covered music from

the Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...

New York Dolls New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...

, and late-1960s

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

. After two years, having failed to secure a recording deal or live dates, the band moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, in November 1978 and changed its name to Marching Girls. In 1980, Perry left the Marching Girls to pursue a solo career, experimenting with tape loops, synthesis, and alternative forms of rhythm. In 1981, Perry formed

with Simon Monroe and Paul Erikson (both of whom were to leave soon after they had relocated to London), and

Career

The Scavengers and Marching Girls

Though now primarily known for his work with

, Perry's first musical forays were in a markedly different style. In 1977, Perry was a leading member of New Zealand punk rock band

, working under the pseudonym of Ronnie Recent. Perry started as the band's bass player, becoming lead vocalist after a lineup change in 1978. In 1979, the band moved to Melbourne and changed its name to the Marching Girls. Perry left the band in 1980. Perry's work with these two bands can be found on the 1979 compilation album ''

AK79 ''AK79'' is a collection of unreleased tracks by punk bands active in Auckland, New Zealand in the late 1970s. The album was compiled by Bryan Staff, with artwork from Terence Hogan, and was released by Ripper Records in December 1979. History ...

'' that was re-released on CD in 1994 and on vinyl in 2020. The Scavengers have released two collections of their tracks in New Zealand, in 2003 and 2014. The Scavengers are regarded as New Zealand's equivalent of

the Buzzcocks Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band formed in Bolton, England in 1976 by singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto. They are regarded as a seminal influence on the Manchester music scene, the independen ...

, with the Perry co-penned song "Mysterex" regarded as one of the country's best and most distinctive punk-rock recordings. Marching Girls also reached the New Zealand singles charts in 1980 with "True Love."

Dead Can Dance

originally formed as a quartet in 1981 in Melbourne, with Perry, drummer Simon Monroe, bass player Paul Erikson, and, last to join the band,

. In 1982, Dead Can Dance moved to London leaving Simon Monroe in Australia.

Peter Ulrich Peter Lawrence Ulrich (born 29 August 1958 in Perivale, England) is a multi-instrumentalist songwriter, recording artist and author. Biography He was educated at Vaughan School in West Harrow, Cannon Lane School in Pinner, the John Lyon Sch ...

played drums on the band's first demos, concerts and recordings. Paul Erikson soon left the band to fly back to Australia, leaving the band a duo. The band went on to record eight albums on the

4AD Records 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name "Axis" (after the Hendrix album) by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD af ...

record label beginning with the self-titled ''

'' album, which was released in February 1984.

Solo career

In 1999, Perry released his solo album ''

Eye of the Hunter ''Eye of the Hunter'' is the debut solo album by Brendan Perry, previously the male half of the band Dead Can Dance. The album was released by 4AD on 4 October 1999 in the UK and a day later in the US. Overview The album's title is found in the l ...

'' on 4AD Records. The album contained songs written by Perry and a cover of

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ja ...

's song "I Must Have Been Blind." Perry would eventually cover more Tim Buckley songs: "Happy Time", "Chase the Blues Away", "Dream Letter" and " Song to the Siren". Brendan Perry 2013

Around 2001, Perry did the music for a 10-minute film (''Mushin'') made by Graham Wood, who designed the artwork of the box set '' Dead Can Dance (1981-1998)'' and the album '' Wake''. Perry announced his departure from 4AD in September 2008, and promised a new album titled ''

Ark Ark or ARK may refer to: Biblical narratives and religion Hebrew word ''teva'' * Noah's Ark, a massive vessel said to have been built to save the world's animals from a flood * Ark of bulrushes, the boat of the infant Moses Hebrew ''aron'' * ...

'' in early 2009. According to a reply Perry made to a comment on his Myspace blog, the new album would be very different from ''

'', notably because it would feature rhythm machines and electric guitars. "Utopia", a demo version of a song from the album, was made available on his Myspace blog. ''Ark'' was eventually released on 7 June 2010. In March 2016 it was announced that he would collaborate with French musician Olivier Mellano and the

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

traditional band Bagad Cesson on a project titled ''No Land''.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2010) * ''Songs of Disenchantment: Music from the Greek Underground'' (2020)

Compilations

* ''The Scavengers: The Scavengers'' (2003) ompilation LP of demos and assorted tracks from Brendan Perry's punk band* ''

'' (1980) ew Zealand punk collection including The Scavengers, reissued in 1994 and 2020 with the Marching Girls* ''London ICA (13 Year Itch Festival)'' (2008) olo, only available as a MP3/MP4 download

Contributions

* Opera Multi Steel: ''Stella obscura'' (CD, "Du chant des elfes") * ''The 13 Year Itch'' (4AD compilation, "Happy time" 1993) * Elijah's Mantle: ''Angels of perversity'' (1993, "Paradis IAC" & "Quem di dilicunt -part two") *

Hector Zazou Hector Zazou (11 July 1948 – 8 September 2008) was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists. He worked on his own and other artists' albums, inclu ...

: '' Sahara Blue'' (1994, "Youth" & "Black Stream" /Lisa Gerrard * Hector Zazou: ''Songs from the cold seas'' (1994, "Annuka suaren neito" & "Adventures in the Scandinavian skin trade") * ''Rare on Air'' (KCRW compilation, "The Captive Heart" 1994) * CoEx: ''Synaesthesia'' (1995, "Chant of Amergin") * Hector Zazou & Harold Budd: ''Glyph'' (1995, "Around the corner from everywhere") * Hector Zazou: ''Lights in the dark'' ("Gol na dtrí Muire", "In ainm an athar le bua" & "Caoine Mhuire") *

Barbara Gogan The Passions were a British post-punk/ new wave band which formed in 1978 and disbanded in 1983. The Passions' music was grounded mainly in Barbara Gogan's voice and Clive Timperley's delicate Echoplex guitar work. They were considered one of th ...

& Hector Zazou: ''Made on Earth'' (1997, "True love") * ''Sunset Heights'' 1997 (movie soundtrack by Perry) * ''Greenwood voice of the celtic myth'' (compilation, "Balor's song", 1997) *

: ''Pathways and Dawns'' (programming & sequencing, guitars, hurdy-gurdy & tin whistles) * '' Sing a Song for You: Tribute to Tim Buckley'' (tribute album, "Dream letter", 2000) * Zoar: ''Clouds without water'' (2003, "Winter wind" & "Wakeworld") *

Piano Magic Piano Magic was a musical collective formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England. Their sound has been described as ambient pop, post-rock, indietronica, dark wave, "arty baroque pop" and " ...

: ''Ovations'' (2009, "The Nightmare Goes On" & "You Never Loved This City") * Olivier Mellano: ''No Land'' (2017) * Deleyaman: ''The lover, The stars & The citadel'' (2016, "Escape" & "Autumn Sun") * Deleyaman: ''Sentinel'' (2020, "The Valley")

References

External links

brendanperry.com
(official website) *
deadcandance.com
(official website of Dead Can Dance)
The Scavengers at AudioCulture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Brendan English baritones English people of Irish descent 1959 births Living people People from Whitechapel 4AD artists People educated at St Paul's College, Auckland Cooking Vinyl artists Dead Can Dance members