Epic Soundtracks was the stage name of the British musician Kevin Paul Godfrey (23 March 1959 – 6 November 1997). Born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, Surrey, he was brought up in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

with his brother Adrian Nicholas Godfrey, who was known as

Nikki Sudden Adrian Nicholas Godfrey (19 July 195626 March 2006), known professionally as Nikki Sudden, was a prolific English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He co-founded the post-punk band Swell Maps with his brother, Epic Soundtracks, while attending So ...

(1956–2006). In 1972, Kevin and Adrian formed the nucleus of what was to become the

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

rock group

Swell Maps Swell Maps were an English experimental DIY, early punk or post-punk rock group from Birmingham, England, active in various forms between 1972 and 1980. Influenced by bands such as T. Rex and the German krautrock groups such as Can and Faust ...

, with "Soundtracks" on drums and piano, and "Sudden" on guitar and vocals. He would briefly join the

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

band

Red Krayola The Red Krayola (originally Red Crayola) is an American avant rock band from Houston, Texas formed in 1966 by the trio of singer/guitarist Mayo Thompson, drummer Frederick Barthelme, and bassist Steve Cunningham. The group were part of the 196 ...

in the late-70s. Soundtracks later played drums for

Crime & the City Solution Crime & the City Solution are an Australian rock band formed in late 1977 by singer-songwriter and mainstay Simon Bonney. They disbanded in 1979 leaving only bootleg recordings and demos. In late 1983, Bonney travelled to London and in 1985 he ...

and

These Immortal Souls These Immortal Souls were an Australian post-punk band formed in London in 1987 by Harry Howard on bass guitar, his older brother Rowland S. Howard on guitar and vocals, Epic Soundtracks (a.k.a. Kevin Godfrey) on drums (all three ex-Crime & the ...

. In 1991, Soundtracks decided to focus on his own songwriting career, and began the series of recordings that comprised his three solo records. As a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist he released three critically acclaimed solo albums, and two more were released posthumously. Notable fans of Soundtracks' solo work include

Evan Dando Evan Griffith Dando (born March 4, 1967) is an American musician and frontman of the Lemonheads. He has also embarked on a solo career and collaborated on songs with various artists. In December 2015 Dando was inducted into the Boston Music Awards ...

and

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

Dave Graney Dave Graney is an Australian rock musician, singer-songwriter and author from Melbourne. Since 1978, Graney has collaborated with drummer-multi instrumentalist Clare Moore. The pair have fronted or been involved with numerous bands including Th ...

paid tribute to Soundtracks with the song "A Boy Named Epic" on The Royal Dave Graney Show's 2003 album ''The Brother Who Lived''. Arthur Lee's backing band,

Baby Lemonade "Baby Lemonade" is the opening track to Syd Barrett's second studio album, '' Barrett''. "Baby Lemonade", and another song, "Gigolo Aunt", were recorded by Barrett playing and singing over a prerecorded backing track. The solo was performed by B ...

, paid tribute as well, with a song off their 2001 ''High Life Suite'' LP called,"Song for Epic". Epic Soundtracks died in his sleep on 6 November 1997, at his flat in

West Hampstead West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottage to ...

, London. His funeral took place in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

Baptist Church Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

on 1 December. The official cause of death was ruled as inconclusive.

Selected discography

*''Popular Classical'' (aka ''Jelly, Babies'') 7" (1981) *''Rain, Rain, Rain'' (with

Jowe Head Jowe Head (born Stephen Bird) is a British guitarist, singer, and visual artist, who was a member of Swell Maps before joining the Television Personalities. He has also released a large amount of material as a solo artist and as leader of group ...

) 12" (1982) *'' Rise Above'' (1992) *'' Sleeping Star'' (1994) *''Debris'' (1995) *''Change My Life'' (1996)

Posthumous releases

*''Everything is Temporary'' (1999) ompilation*''Good Things'' (2005) *''Wild Smile'' (2012) ompilation*''Film Soundtracks'' (2017)

References

External links

Biography

1959 births 1997 deaths People from Solihull English rock drummers British male drummers 20th-century English musicians 20th-century drummers Crime & the City Solution members 20th-century British male musicians {{UK-drummer-stub