Russell Senior (born 18 May 1961) is a British musician and the former guitarist and violinist of the band
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
.
Senior was born and grew up in
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
. Whilst at
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
in
Bath, he formed the
Dada
Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich), Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 192 ...
Society (also known as the New Wave Society) and appeared as the lead role in a dramatic adaptation of
Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typ ...
's ''
The Trial
''The Trial'' (german: Der Process, link=no, previously , and ) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and pr ...
''. He also had a band called The Bath Bankers and arranged for a gig at the University featuring his friends from Sheffield -
Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
. He obtained a 2.1 honours degree in Business Administration, and went back to Sheffield to join Pulp. During the
miners' strike
Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions.
See also
* List of strikes
References
{{Reflist
Miners
A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are tw ...
of 1984 he was a
flying picket
Picketing is a form of protest in which people (called pickets or picketers) congregate outside a place of work or location where an event is taking place. Often, this is done in an attempt to dissuade others from going in (" crossing the pic ...
, taking part in industrial action including the
Battle of Orgreave
The Battle of Orgreave was a violent confrontation on 18 June 1984 between pickets and officers of the South Yorkshire Police (SYP) and other police forces, including the Metropolitan Police, at a British Steel Corporation (BSC) coking plant at ...
.
Pulp
Senior first met Pulp in 1980 when he reviewed a show of theirs for his fanzine, also called ''The Bath Banker''. He joined the third line-up of the band in 1983, the other members being
Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...
(vocals/guitar),
Magnus Doyle (drums) and
Peter Mansell
Pulp are an English rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their best-known line-up from their heyday (1992–1997) consisted of Jarvis Cocker (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Russell Senior (guitar, violin), Candida Doyle (keyboards), Nick Banks ...
(bass). During the mid-1980s he was a central member of the group, often taking vocal duties. He also played the
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
on a number of tracks.
In the earlier days of the band, Senior wrote lyrics and/or provided vocals for a number of songs such as "Fairground" and "Anorexic Beauty" on
''Freaks'' and "This House is Condemned" on
''Separations''.
As the band became successful, Senior became dissatisfied with the touring, recording and publicity treadmill the band found themselves on after their long-awaited success, and on 20 January 1997 he left Pulp to work on other projects.
He commented that he did not like the Cocker-led song "
Help the Aged
Help the Aged was a United Kingdom based international charity founded in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner to help disadvantaged older people who were affected by poverty, isolation and neglect. It merged with Age Concern in 2009 to f ...
", and that he didn't feel it was a worthy follow-up to "
Common People
A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...
", and so deliberately tried to sabotage it in the studio.
Soon afterwards, feeling his unhappiness was leading the atmosphere in the band to become poisonous, he told Cocker he was quitting.
In an interview he said that "I was very proud of being in Pulp. I thought it was the best band in the world when I was in it, but I want to be able to move on from it at some point."
In 2010 he revealed he was still friendly with his old band members, and said he left in 1997 because, "I liked the idea of ending on a high, I didn't want to slowly fade away."
[
In November 2010, it was announced that Pulp were to reform and play live in 2011, which included Russell Senior in the line-up. He however did not continue with the band for their 2012 tour.
In October 2015, Senior released his first book, ''Freak Out the Squares: Life in a Band Called Pulp''. Within the book, Senior recalls stories of the band's earlier days, their rise to fame and his decision to leave. Alongside this, he gives personal recounts and diary entries of the reunion tour, and the toll it takes on him and his fellow band members. The book released to positive reviews, with an overall of 4/5 on Goodreads.
]
Other work
In 1999 he formed Venini with Debbie Lime (vocals), Nick Eastwood (bass - later with Dolly TV and Hiem), Bob Barton (drums - later with The Human League
The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...
), and Danny Hunt (keyboards - later with Ladytron
Ladytron are a largely British electronic band formed in Liverpool in 1999. The group consists of Helen Marnie (lead vocals, synthesizers), Mira Aroyo (vocals, synthesizers), Daniel Hunt (synthesizers, guitar, vocals), and Reuben Wu (synthesize ...
). They released three singles before splitting in 2000.
Senior has also worked as a producer with Baby Birkin and more recently The Long Blondes
The Long Blondes are an English indie rock band formed in Sheffield in 2003 by Dorian Cox (lead guitar and keyboards), Reenie Hollis (real name Kathryn Hollis) (bass guitar and backing vocals), Emma Chaplin (rhythm guitar, keyboards and backing ...
. In March 2006, British indie band Art Brut invited him to produce their second album.
He has co-written a musical about the 1980s miners strike, ''Two Tribes'', with Ralph Parmar (DJ Ralph Razor).
Personal life
He continues to live in Sheffield with his girlfriend and has two children. Aside from the music world he is also a dealer in antique glassware.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senior, Russell
1961 births
Living people
English rock guitarists
English violinists
British male violinists
Pulp (band) members
Musicians from Sheffield
Alumni of the University of Bath
English male guitarists
21st-century violinists
21st-century British male musicians