Peter Gifford (born 5 April 1955), sometimes known as "Giffo," is an

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions ...

ian. From 1980 until 1987, he played

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

Chapman Stick The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines ...

and sang

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

for Australian rock band

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 ...

Midnight Oil

Gifford is credited with creating a significant part of the Oils' tight, driving sound, and has been described as being an aggressive bass guitarist. He played on the albums '' Place without a Postcard'' (1981), '' 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'' (1982), '' Red Sails in the Sunset'' (1984) and '' Diesel and Dust'' (1987), as well the EPs '' Bird Noises'' (1980) and '' Species Deceases'' (1985). Gifford joined the band in 1980 after hearing on the radio about the auditions for a replacement for bassist Andrew James, whose poor health required him to withdraw from the band. He was actually driving over the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

to work as a roadie at the time. The band was looking for a more aggressive style of bass playing (an 'animal' in the words of guitarist Jim Moginie). Gifford predominantly played a

Fender Precision Bass The Fender Precision Bass (often shortened to "P-Bass") is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instru ...

guitar and this can be seen in the ''Oils on the Water'' concert, performed on

Goat Island Goat Island (or Goat Islands) may refer to: Arts * Goat Island (performance group), a Chicago-based company * ''Goat Island'' (play), ''Delitto all'isola delle capre'', by Ugo Betti Places Australia * Goat Island (Port Jackson) in Sydney Harbou ...

in 1985. His bass solo work in live performances of "Stand in Line" was his signature. He also played the

on the tracks "Sleep" and "Who Can Stand in the Way" on the ''Red Sails in the Sunset'' album, and in concert. Gifford provided many backing vocals for the band, and is credited by longtime producer

Nick Launay Nicolas Launay is an English record producer, composer and recording engineer. He is one of the most sought after record producers in the world due to his success with recent albums by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Anna Calvi, IDLES, Black Re ...

as being a significant contributor in the recording studio. In 1987, he left the group, due to personal reasons. He was later replaced by Bones Hillman.

Discography

With Midnight Oil

Studio albums

*'' Place without a Postcard'' (1981) *'' 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1'' (1982) *''Red Sails in the Sunset'' (1984) *'' Diesel and Dust'' (1987)

Extended plays

*'' Bird Noises'' (1980) *'' Species Deceases'' (1985) *''The Dead Heart'' (1986)

Live albums

*'' Scream in Blue'' (1992), tracks 1, 4, 5, and 12 *''Best of Both Worlds'' (2004)

With Warumpi Band

*''Go Bush'' (1987)

With Neil Murray (Australian musician)

*''Calm and Crystal Clear'' (1989), tracks 1, 2, 3 4, 6 and 8 *''These Hands'' (1993), track 1

Business interests

After leaving the band, Gifford started the

Byron Bay Byron Bay (Minjungbal: ''Cavvanbah)'' is a beachside town located in the far-northeastern corner of the state of New South Wales, Australia on Bundjalung Country. It is located north of Sydney and south of Brisbane. Cape Byron, a headla ...

-based Wicked Weasel, a

direct marketing Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among practitioners, it is also known as ''direct response marketing''. By ...

business specialising in micro bikinis and short shorts. The company has built an international reputation for female swimwear and underwear. In early 2016, he sold all his interests in Wicked Weasel and related entities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gifford, Peter 1955 births Living people Australian rock guitarists Australian rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists Midnight Oil members Australian company founders Australian male guitarists