Peter O'Doherty (born 23 March 1958) is a New Zealand-born Australian musician and visual artist. He is a founder of Australian pop band, Dog Trumpet, in 1991 on guitar and vocals, alongside his older brother, Chris O'Doherty ( Reg Mombassa) on guitar, keyboards, harmonica and vocals. They were also members of new wave group,

Mental as Anything Mental As Anything are an Australian new wave and pop rock band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of their charting singles and albums) was Martin Plaza (birth name Marti ...

, which O'Doherty joined in August 1977 on bass guitar and vocals, until they both left in 2000. As a visual artist, O'Doherty specialised in

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

and everyday suburban scenes. He is married to Susan, who is also a visual artist.

Early life to Mental as Anything

Peter O'Doherty was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand on 23 March 1958; with his family he emigrated to Sydney in 1969. His father, James, and mother were landscape painters. His older brother, Chris ( Reg Mombassa, born 1951), attended art school where he formed a new wave group,

Mental As Anything Mental As Anything are an Australian new wave and pop rock band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of their charting singles and albums) was Martin Plaza (birth name Marti ...

, in early 1976 with his fellow students. O'Doherty attended high school on Sydney's Northern Beaches, where he learnt classical guitar and later worked as a petrol station attendant. He appeared on stage with his brother's group in August 1977, initially filling in, and became a permanent member on bass guitar and vocals with Mombassa on lead guitar and vocals, Martin Plaza on vocals and guitar,

Greedy Smith Andrew McArthur "Greedy" Smith (16 January 1956 – 2 December 2019) was an Australian vocalist, keyboardist, harmonicist and songwriter with Australian pop/ new wave band Mental As Anything. Smith wrote many of their hit songs including " Liv ...

on vocals, keyboards and harmonica, and David Twohill on drums.

Unlike other members of the group's classic line-up, O'Doherty was billed under his real name on all their releases. (He was introduced as "Ouzo Pork" in a few early concerts, and acquired the occasionally-referenced nickname "Yoga Dog" later, but was always billed simply as Peter O'Doherty on all their records issued from 1978 through 1999.) During O'Doherty's time with the group they issued three Top 10 albums, '' Cats & Dogs'' (September 1981), ''

Creatures of Leisure ''Creatures of Leisure'' is the fourth studio album released by Australian band, Mental As Anything. It was released in March 1983 and peaked at #8 on the Australian Album charts. NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charting from 1970 ...

'' (March 1983) and '' Fundamental'' (September 1985). He also composed tracks, including the singles "Close Again" and "Brain Brain", provided guitar and designed covers and art work.

Art career

Although O'Doherty never attended art school, he became a prolific visual artist alongside his acclaimed brother, Mombassa. They had left Mental as Anything in 2000 to concentrate on their art and music careers. His wife Susan is also a visual artist, " hepaints her more abstract pieces," while O'Doherty specialised in still life and built landscapes. He has entered the art competition of the

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, the editor ...

with his works relegated to the '' Salon des Refusés''.

Solo and side projects to Dog Trumpet

In 1987, with O'Doherty and Plaza with members of

Gang Gajang Ganggajang (styled as GANGgajang) are an Australian pop rock band which formed in 1984. The four founders are frontman Mark 'Cal' Callaghan (ex-Riptides) on guitar and lead vocals, Chris Bailey on bass guitar, Graham 'Buzz' Bidstrup on drums ...

, he recorded a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

album credited to the Stetsons. During the late 1980s and early 1990s he performed live with the bands the Bejesus Burgers and the Happening Thang. Since 2000 O'Doherty's main musical outlet has been Dog Trumpet, a collaboration with Mombassa, formed as a side-project in 1991. They released four studio albums and two extended plays.

References

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External links

Dog Trumpet official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Odoherty, Peter 1958 births Living people Australian bass guitarists Australian musicians Australian painters