Budgie (musician)
Peter Edward Clarke, known professionally as Budgie, is an English drummer. His first recording was with The Spitfire Boys in 1977 and then the Slits in 1979. He then became the drummer of the influential band Siouxsie and the Banshees and the drum-and-voice duo the Creatures. Budgie worked with other musicians including John Cale, Leonard Eto and John Grant.
In 2013, Spin rated him at No. 28 in their list of "The 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music", writing: "Post-punk introduced a lot of amazing drummers, but none more influential than Budgie. With the Banshees, Budgie didn't just play rhythms—he played hooks and leads, brilliant parts that set the songs on fire. His tom-tom-intensive approach, enlightened by his awareness of world music". Spin considered his "most booming moment" to be "Into the Light", from 1981's Juju, saying: "Budgie drums up a marvel of kinetic syncopation and invention".
Budgie was hailed in 2013 by peer Stewart Copeland of the Police as one of the 16 most interesting drummers. Copeland described Budgie's playing as "very economical and offbeat", adding, "Budgie didn’t play your standard hi-hat–kick–snare; there were a lot of tom-toms and a big throb." Ari Up of the Slits praised him as "a very sensitive drummer", saying, "He could go from reggae to punk to funk to jazz but still very steady." NME named Budgie the best drummer of 1983, while music journalist David Cavanagh referred to him as "the outstanding English drummer of the post-punk era". Peer Larry Mullen Jr qualified him as "one of the greats" for his work with the Banshees, Ian McCulloch said that Echo & the Bunnymen's drummer "Pete de Freitas loved his drumming".
Career
He debuted as a drummer with the Spitfire Boys and Big in Japan before playing with the Slits on the 1979 album Cut. Years later in 2010, Slits singer Ari Up commented: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 Budgie remained with the group. He first performed with renowned guitarist John McGeoch on the album Kaleidoscope: Budgie became a permanent member of the band until they split up in 1996. He released nine studio albums with the Banshees.
In 1981, he formed a second group with Siouxsie Sioux, named the Creatures. Their music was based more on drums and percussion, with marimba and vibraphone. The 1981 Wild Things EP and 1983 full-length Feast were their first releases.
On subsequent Creatures albums, Budgie also played keyboards, guitars and harmonica. He co-wrote brass arrangements with Peter Thoms on 1983 single "Right Now" and 1989's Boomerang album. Budgie married Siouxsie in May 1991. Within the Banshees, he wrote the lyrics of several songs, including "She's Cuckoo", "Silver Waterfalls", "Staring Back", "Sick Child", "Hang Me High" and "Return". For the Creatures, he wrote the lyrics for several Boomerang-era songs, including "Willow", "Morriña" and "Pluto Drive".
In August 2002, Budgie first collaborated with Japanese taiko player Leonard Eto, recording spontaneous drum-duet improvisations in Tokyo for the fourth Creatures album, Hái!. The drum performances were then edited, and the rest of the sessions took place in France. Budgie was the sound engineer of the album, and he mixed it near Toulouse before its release in 2003. After recording four studio albums as the Creatures, Budgie's final performance with Siouxsie was filmed in 2004 at the Royal Festival Hall in London for the DVD Dreamshow. This was Budgie's last concert and collaboration with Siouxsie; in 2007, the pair publicly announced their divorce.
Outside the Banshees and Creatures, the drummer also worked with Indigo Girls in 1992 on Rites of Passage, and briefly toured with them in the US at the end of that year. In 1994, Budgie recorded percussion on Hector Zazou's Chansons des mers froides, including a song for Jane Siberry. He later played drums for former Velvet Underground member John Cale during his summer 1998 US tour on a double bill with The Creatures. Budgie played two sets each night, one with Cale and one with The Creatures. In 2009, he toured Europe with Juno Reactor and moved to Berlin. Later that year, he also recorded drums for Jessie Evans' Is It Fire? album.
In 2010, he teamed up with two other drummers, Eto and Mabi, plus multi-instrumentalist Knox Chandler and guitarist Sugizo, for a programme called "The Butterfly Effect: East-West Percussive Parade." It was described as a "drumming extravaganza, featuring Western kit, Japanese taiko and African drums, that will launch the musicians into a new sonic galaxy!". The programme's world première took place in Hong Kong in November 2010 as part of the New Vision Arts Festival. "The Butterfly Effect" featured improvised solos and ensemble works as well as new pieces and arrangements specially created for the festival, inspired by the pace, rhythm and character of Hong Kong.
In 2012, he served as the drummer for Efterklang on their worldwide tour. They were accompanied by an orchestra. The premiere at the Opera House in Sydney was praised by Time Out. His last concert with Efterklang took place in Brussels in November. A live album, recorded in Copenhagen, was later issued.
In 2013, Budgie and Eto performed live material from Hái! in Tokyo, 11 years after conceiving the drum parts in that city. The concert took place at the Studio Coast as part of Juno Reactor's set. He also played drums for CocoRosie at several shows.
In 2015, he played drums on John Grant's third solo album, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, playing in November with Grant on the accompanying tour. In 2018, he performed again with Grant in the UK at the latter's March concerts. That year, he also played with tabla player Talvin Singh for the first time since their collaboration on the Siouxsie and the Banshees' 1991-92 Superstition tour: Singh and Budgie gave a one-off performance at the "100 Years of Beat" festival in Berlin. In 2020, he played drums for American singer Thomas Truax.