Peter Warren (born 1958) New Zealand drummer primarily known as the drummer for
DD Smash. Warren is also known by the nicknames 'Rooda' and 'Beat'. With a career spanning decades,
Warren has been described as 'one of New Zealand's finest rock drummers.'
When he was 14 years old, Warren formed a band with other
Westlake Boys High School students including a young
Don McGlashan
Donald McGlashan (born 18 July 1959) is a New Zealand composer, singer and multi-instrumentalist who Is best known for membership in the bands Blam Blam Blam, The Front Lawn, and The Mutton Birds, before going solo. He has also composed for ...
, called Ethos. Warren played drums and sang.
In the late 1970s Warren was the drummer, lead singer, and songwriter of the band Lip Service, during which time fellow band member The Future coined his nickname Rooda.
Lip Service were managed by Charlie Grey, who also managed
Th' Dudes, one of New Zealand's top pop/rock bands of that time.
Lip Service often supported Th' Dudes at concerts, which is where Warren met future DD Smash band-leader
Dave Dobbyn. Lip Service signed to CBS records for a four-record deal,
though the only album released was their self-titled debut album which sold poorly.
In 1981 Dave Dobbyn had decided to leave Th' Dudes and approached Warren and Lip Service bandmate Rob Guy (Revox) to form a new band, DD Smash, which initially also included
Lisle Kinney
Lisle Kinney is a musician from New Zealand. His full name is David Lisle Kinney. From 1967 onwards he was a semi-professional musician, playing mainly in cabaret bands. He played bass in the following bands: October while at the University of ...
previously of
Hello Sailor (band). DD Smash lasted for eight years, with three albums being released which sold well in New Zealand and Australia.
Their first album,
Cool Bananas
''Cool Bananas'' is the first album by the New Zealand band DD Smash led by Dave Dobbyn, released in 1982. It entered the charts at number 1, purely on tour exposure.
In 2015, as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of the New Zealand M ...
, debuted at No. 1. in the New Zealand music charts. In 1982 DD Smash won the award for Top Group at the
New Zealand Music Awards. Later, in Australia,
After he left DD Smash,
Warren was involved with projects including:
Pop Mechanix, the band Rooda (named after his nickname), 'all star collection' The Party Boys., toured New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, and United States with guitarist
Midge Marsden
Keith Douglas "Midge" Marsden (born 1945) is a New Zealand blues and R&B guitarist, harmonica-player, and singer with a musical career spanning four decades.
Life and career
Marsden was born and brought up in Moturoa, New Plymouth, Taranaki, ...
,
and joined
Serbian band
Disciplin A Kitschme.
Since 2016 Warren has been drumming for reformed New Zealand band
The Narcs
The Narcs are an award winning New Zealand band, that formed in 1980 in Christchurch, New Zealand, by bassist Tony Waine, drummer Bob Ogilvie and guitarist Garth Sinclair – departed/replaced by Australian guitarist/singer songwriter Andrew/And ...
. In 2017 Warren drummed for Tony Painting's Deep Purple Project. In 2018 he drummed in a tribute for late Hello Sailor frontman
Graham Brazier.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Peter
1958 births
Living people
New Zealand drummers