Phillip Calvert (born 11 January 1958) is an Australian
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...
and producer best known for his playing in 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 ...
band
The Birthday Party with
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...
.
History
At the private boys school
Caulfield Grammar
Caulfield Grammar School is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican, International Baccalaureate, day school, day and boarding school, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1881 as ...
in the early 1970s Calvert met
vocalist
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...
and
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
Mick Harvey
Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...
and formed a rock band with other students, playing parties and school functions. The band picked up Cave's friend
Tracy Pew
Tracy Franklin Pew (19 December 1957 – 7 November 1986) was an Australian musician, and bassist for The Birthday Party. He was later a member of The Saints, and worked with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
As a member of the Birthday Party, Pe ...
on
bass, and after they finished secondary school they named themselves
The Boys Next Door in 1977. After making recordings for local independent labels Suicide (a subsidiary of
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...
) and
Missing Link, and playing hundreds of live shows, the band left for
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 1980 and renamed themselves
The Birthday Party, signing first to
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 ...
and then to
Mute Records
Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...
.
After his split with The Birthday Party in 1982, Calvert joined the UK group
The Psychedelic Furs
The Psychedelic Furs are a post-punk band founded in London in February 1977. Led by lead vocalist Richard Butler and his brother Tim Butler on bass guitar, the Psychedelic Furs are one of the many acts spawned from the British post-punk scene ...
, touring the U.S., but never recorded with them. He left before they recorded ''
Mirror Moves
''Mirror Moves'' is the fourth studio album by English rock band the Psychedelic Furs, released in May 1984 by Columbia Records, two years after their previous studio album, '' Forever Now'' (1982).
The album includes the dance hit "Heartbeat" ...
'' in 1984.
He returned to Melbourne and in 1985 became a founding member of the rock group
Blue Ruin
''Blue Ruin'' is a 2013 American thriller film written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier and starring Macon Blair. Saulnier funded production on the film through a successful Kickstarter campaign, which MTV called "the perfect example of what c ...
. They recorded five LPs with Calvert and travelled to the UK. Calvert split with Blue Ruin in the late '80s. Blue Ruin reformed with Calvert for some shows in 2006.
Guitarist Ben Ling and Calvert have also co-produced the Melbourne band
Witch Hats
Witch Hats are a rock music, rock band based in Melbourne, Australia.
History
Formation & ''Wound of a Little Horse'' (2005 - 2007)
The band was formed in late 2005 by guitarist and vocalist Kris Buscombe with drummer Duncan Blachford, who move ...
on releases ''
Wound of a Little Horse'' (2006), ''
Cellulite Soul'' (2008) and ''
Solarium Down the Causeway'' (2009). In 2015 Calvert launched the label Behind the Beat Records with associate Ben Ling. The first artist on the label is Seri Vida.
As of 2020 Calvert makes assemblage sculpture in collaboration with his wife Julia under the name "Kitty Calvert".
Selected discography
Albums
*The Boys Next Door - ''
Door, Door
''Door, Door'' is the debut album by Australian rock band The Boys Next Door. The album was recorded before the band left Australia for London in 1980, at which point they changed their name to The Birthday Party and created the body of work ...
'' (1979)
*The Birthday Party - ''
Hee Haw (EP)
''Hee Haw'' is the second release and first EP by the Australian post-punk band the Boys Next Door (later renamed the Birthday Party). The ''Hee Haw'' EP was released in 1979 by the independent label, Missing Link Records.
Background
By 197 ...
'' (1980)
*The Birthday Party - ''
Prayers On Fire
''Prayers on Fire'' is the debut studio album by Australian rock group The Birthday Party, which was released on 6 April 1981 on the Missing Link label in Australia, later licensed to the 4AD label. This was the band's first full-length releas ...
'' (1981)
*The Birthday Party - ''
Junkyard'' (1982)
*The Birthday Party - ''
It's Still Living''
*The Birthday Party - ''Live''
*The Birthday Party - ''John Peel Sessions''
*Blue Ruin - ''Such Sweet Thunder'' (1986)
*Blue Ruin - ''Flame'' (1987)
*Blue Ruin - ''Strange Things In The Corner'' (1988)
*Blue Ruin - ''Lighthouse Girl'' (1989)
*Blue Ruin - ''I'm Gonna Smile'' (1990)
*The Sunday Kind - ''The Sunday Kind'' (1993)
*Sugarhips - ''Sugarhips'' (1999)
*Bulletproof - ''Exciting Real Life Drama'' (2002)
*The Enthusiasts - ''I Hate Everybody'' (2006)
DVD
*The Birthday Party - ''
Pleasure Heads Must Burn
The discography of The Birthday Party (band), The Birthday Party, an Australian post-punk band, consists of four studio albums, two live albums, six compilation albums, six extended plays and nine Single (music), singles. The group began under va ...
''
As Producer
*The Enthusiasts - ''I Hate Everybody'' (2006)
*Witch Hats - ''Wound of a Little Horse'' (2006)
*Witch Hats - ''Cellulite Soul'' (2008)
*Witch Hats - ''Solarium Down the Causeway'' (2009)
*Seri Vida - ''To be Free'' (2012)
*Masses - ''Horde Mentality'' EP (2014)
*Seri Vida - ''The Wait'' (2015)
*Masses - ''Moloch'' (2016)
*Astrid Munday - ''Beauty in the Ordinary'' (2020)
See also
*
List of Caulfield Grammar School people
This is a list of notable past students and staff of Caulfield Grammar School and/or Malvern Memorial Grammar School (amalgamated with Caulfield in 1961). Alumni of the school are known as "Caulfield Grammarians" and are supported by the Caulf ...
References
Further reading
*''Inner City Sound'',
Clinton Walker
Clinton Walker is an Australian writer, best known for his works on popular music. He is known for his books ''Highway to Hell'' (1994; a biography of Bon Scott), ''Buried Country'' (2000; also a film and soundtrack album), ''History is Made a ...
(2005)
*''Bad Seed: A biography of Nick Cave'', Ian Johnston (1995)
*''The Birthday Party & other epic adventures'', Robert Brokenmouth (1995)
*''Boy on Fire: The Young Nick Cave'', Mark Mordue (2020)
External links
Birthday Party Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, Phill
1958 births
Living people
Musicians from Melbourne
Australian rock drummers
Male drummers
Noise rock musicians
People educated at Caulfield Grammar School
Australian punk rock musicians
The Birthday Party (band) members