From the 1996 Dead Can Dance Tour Program
        Summer 1996

          This year Myself and Lisa together with Friends and Musicians will be Celebrating the Fifteenth Anniversary of Dead Can Dance with the release of a new Album and a World Tour that will take our music to such diverse places as Istanbul and Buenos Aires. Since our formation in 1981 we have refused to conform to the momentary passing of musical trends choosing instead more demanding avenues of expression, adopting diverse musical traditions and tailoring them to our own needs. This has often caused consternation to those who would attempt to classify our music. In the beginning we were berated for being gothic two years too late, today we are applauded for being at the vanguard of World Music. Whoever you believe we have always endeavoured to remain true to our convictions, in the belief that our music would eventually find its audience on its own merits and not by way of slavishly pandering to the whims of an industry that continually lacks imagination and is subservient to formula and greed. We would like to thank everyone with our deepest Gratitude for the support you have given us over the years to help us retain our Musical independence and give meaning to our labours.
          Brendan Perry, Marrakesh, 1996


          Brendan Perry
          I was born in Whitechapel, London in 1959 to Anglo-Irish parents and subsequently raised and schooled in the East End of London, until my family emigrated to Auckland, New Zealand, seeking a new life and new opportunities. Having received no prior formal musical education, I began to play the guitar under the guiding influence of Maori and Polynesian muscians at the catholic school I attended in Ponsonby. After half hearted attempts to become a primary school teacher and then join the civil service, I drifted through a series of jobs until I was asked to join The Scavengers in 1977 [see AK79]. At first I played bass Guitar later taking on the duties of lead vocalist when the original singer left the band. Apart from a handful of original songs we would cover music from the Stooges, New York Dolls, and the late 60's Psychadelia. After two years of entertaining controversy, unable to secure a recording deal or live dates (largely dut to the media's sensationalist attitude towards punk) We decided to move to Melbourne, Australia, in 1979 and changed our name to the Marching Girls. In 1980 I left the and to pursue a more creative personal musical odyssey, experimenting with tape loops, synthesis and alternative forms of rhythm. In 1981 I formed Dead Can Dance with Simon Monroe and Paul Erikson (both of whom were to leave within the year soon after we had relocated to London) and of course Lisa Gerrard, who was to become my fellow navigator and soul musical companion for the next fifteen years. Today I live in Rural Ireland where I can be found indulging myslelf in mythological and natural interests such as Dragon Hunting.


          Lisa Gerrard
          Please let me welcome you again or for the first time to an evening with Dead Can Dance. It is with our pleasure and gratitude that we are being given yet another opportunity to embrace together the all important sense of community and common ground that music is capable of providing for us. In preparation for the work there is always an atmosphere of anticipation as the co-ordinated properties both abstract and physical manifest for the purpose of listening. In some ways it can be paralleled with a sudden awareness that the wind has changed direction or turned from cool to warm, within an instant the senses awaken to a state of surrendered willingness, and so we travel without resistance to where ever the work so desires to carry us. So here we are! and there you are.
          Good Journey.


          Lance Hogan
          Lance was Born in Ireland. He's a self taught musician who has been playing and performing since he was eleven years old. After leaving school he worked as a sound engineer in various studios around Ireland, Then went on to study film at the Dunlaoire Collage of Art and Design in Dublin. He now spends his time producing soundtracks and albums, and is a member of "Kila" who are in the process of completing their follow up album to "Mind The Gap." Lance first began working with Dead Can Dance on the "Toward The Within" Tour in 1993.


          Rónán Ó Snodaigh
          Rónán was born on the first of January 1970 and grew up in an Irish speaking family in Dublin. He began playing the Bodhrán at the age of twelve and has developed a variety of musical expression since. He was an integral part of the "street music scene" that erupted in Dublin in the late 80's and has been a central member of the band "Kila" since they formed in 1985. He was in the Dead Can Dance line up for the "Toward The Within" Tour. He occasionally organises musicians to perform and record his own songs under the name of "Tonnta Ro" and has been involved in a wide variety of rhythm pageants, brightly coloured processions, dance shows and performances.


          Paskaal Japhet
          Paskaal from Madagascar, comes from a family of musicians. He played in various bands from Africa, Senegal, Guinea and Mali as a traditional drummer. He has worked in the jazz-world with Sylvin Marc, and has been involved in various film projects. He has toured with Malagasy Artists, Justin Vali, D'Gary, and Tao Ravao. His first solo album "Razana" produced by Paddy Bush was recorded in 1994 and released by Night and Day. He has been touring Madagascar for the last year, where he played with Tirke, Rossy and Backom Rasta. Paskaal is an exceptional musician who brings together the hypnotic rhythms of the Indian Ocean and the energy of Africa's West coast.


          John Bonnar
          John studied composition and conducting at the University of Wales. John's relationship with Lisa and Brendan of Dead Can Dance began when he invited them to be involved in an orchestra-based work structure called "Echoes of the Cross" which John founded in 1987. During this time, he worked with both Roger and Brian Eno, Michael Brook and John Foxx. John worked together with Lisa for four months arranging for orchestra the orchestral works for "The Mirror Pool." John also conducted the live orhestral recordings of these works. John is a composer in his own right, having written numerous works for orchestra, voices and chamber groups.


          Nigel Flegg
          Nigel Flegg was born in Dublin in 1970 and began playing drums at the age of twelve. He started off playing in rock and pop outfits before developing an interest in jazz and ethnic music. Most recently fuelled by an increasing passion for Latin and Afro-Cuban music, he concentrates on percussion, in particular, congas. He has previously studied drums and percussion in Dublin and in Madrid during the time he was living there. Most recently, in 1995, he went to the national school of art in Havana, Cuba, where he studied with Jose "Changuito" Quintana and Roberto Vizcaino among others. At the moment Nigel is based in Dublin where he works with Latin-Jazz group Saoco Brava. He also works with a variety of other Jazz and Funk groups, and teaches percussion and drums in Newpark Music Centre. This is the first time he has worked with Dead Can Dance.


          Robert Perry
          Robert grew up in New Zealand, England and Ireland and spent the last three years in Spain, where he has been gathering ideas for a future solo record. He has worked with Dead Can Dance since 1987 and is currently working with Kila, an Irish traditional group from Dublin. He now lives in County Cavan, where he produces flutes, drums and percussive instruments in his workshop resulting in hybrids from designs found during travels through South America, Spain, and Ireland. "I am happy to say that this is my tenth year touring with Dead Can Dance and I am looking forward to playing with the new line up."


          Pieter Bourke
          Pieter is a self-taught percussionist and keyboard player whose interest in rhythm and sound began at an early age. Like drummers the world over, he found rhythm in everyday objects as a child. Beginning with a small electronic drum at age twelve, he has built up a varied collection of percussion instruments from around the globe. His favourites are the Near Eastern Tar (a circular frame drum with a deep resonating sound) and the Egyptian Darabukka (a pear-shaped drum with a fish or synthetic skin stretched on it for a fast, snappy sound). Pieter worked in a variety of musical settings since beginning with the Australian group Eden in 1994. He has worked with Snog and completed a number of remixes for other artists. Pieter began working with Lisa Gerrard in 1994 performing on "The Mirror Pool" recordings and tour. He is currently a member of the group Soma in which he combines an interest in rhythm and sound manipulation, both acoustic and electronic.


          People Behind the Scenes
          Tour Manager: Rob Brenner
          Sound Engineers: Geoff Perrin & Paul Allen
          Lighting: Jean Luc Jaquinot (Rosko)
          Stage Support & Back Line: Noel Long
          Lisa's Costume Design & Personal Assistant: Andrew Hutton

          Thanks to ICM Fair Warning & William Morris Carla Sachs our Publicist in the U.S.A.

          Program Design: Chris Bigg at v23
          Photography: Kevin Westenberg
          Portraits of Brendan, Lisa & John Bonnar by Linda Elvira Piedra

          Origination: Botany Litho, Tonbridge, England
          Manufactured: James Upton Ltd, England

          P & C 1996 4AD




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