Budgie

Budgie
Fury Eyes Box Set Postcard
Birth name	Peter Edward Clarke
Born	21 August 1957
Occupation	Percussionist, Drummer, Musician, Songwriter
Years active	1977–present
Genre	Punk rock, Post-punk, New wave, Gothic rock, Alternative rock
Photographer	Unknown
Date Taken	Unknown
Image URL	http://slowdive.users.netlink.co.uk/Sioux/
Image Credit (Digital Scan)	Andrew Stoker
Artist URL	N/A

Peter Edward Clarke, (born 21 August 1957, in St Helens, Lancashire), better known as Budgie, is an English drummer. He was the drummer of the influential band Siouxsie and the Banshees (1979–1996) and its side-project The Creatures (1981–2004).

In 2010, Budgie has created a new project called The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade with percusionists Leonard Eto from Japan and Mabi from South Africa. In November, they performed their first shows in Hong Kong as part of the New Vision Arts festival.

Early life

Budgie spent his childhood in Liverpool. He later became an art student but when a new scene emerged in 1976, he gave up school to become a musician.

Career

He debuted as a drummer with The Spitfire Boys and Big in Japan before playing with The Slits on the 1979's album Cut.

In September 1979, he joined Siouxsie and the Banshees on their Join Hands tour. Initially he was intended to be a temporary replacement for Kenny Morris who had left the band two days into a tour, but he remained with the group. He first performed on the album Kaleidoscope and became shortly after a permanent member of the band until they split up in 1996. He released nine studio albums with the Banshees.

In 1981, he also formed a second act with Siouxsie Sioux named The Creatures : their music was more based around drums, including percussions, marimba and vibraphone. Budgie married Siouxsie several years later in May 25th 1991.

In 2003, Budgie first collaborated with Japanese Taiko drummer Leonard Eto for the Creatures Hai! album.

After recording four studio albums as The Creatures, Budgie's last performance with Siouxsie featuring Eto and the Millenia Ensemble was filmed in 2004 at the Royal Festival Hall in London for the DVD Dreamshow.

In 2007, Siouxsie and Budgie publicly announced their divorce.

Outside the Banshees and the Creatures, the drummer also made collaborations. In 1992, he worked with Indigo Girls on Rites of Passage and briefly toured with them in the USA at the end of that year.

Budgie later played drums for former Velvet Underground member, John Cale during his summer 1998' US tour : Budgie played each night two sets, one with Cale and one with The Creatures. It was a double-bill tour.

In 2009, Budgie toured in Europe with Juno Reactor. Later that year, he also recorded drums for Jessie Evans's Is It Fire ? album.

In 2010, Budgie teamed up with two other drummers Leonard Eto and Mabi, plus multi-instrumentalist Knox Chandler and guitarist Sugizo for a program called The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade. It was pictured by "drumming extravaganza, featuring Western kit, Japanese taiko and African drums, that will launch the musicians into a new sonic galaxy!". In the programme are improvised solos and ensemble works as well as new pieces and arrangements specially created for the New Vision Arts Festival, inspired by the pace, rhythm and character of Hong Kong. The World première took place in Hong Kong in November as part of New Vision Festival.