BUDGIE – KOMEDIA, BRIGHTON 16.7.25
This evening we are in the company of Budgie, who was born Peter Edward Clarke on 21st August 1957 in St Helens, Merseyside. We are at Komedia Brighton which is situated in the heart of North Laine, and this evening’s event is a civilized affair that has been organised by Resident Brighton. We are here for the launch of Budgie’s new book ‘The Absence: Memoirs Of A Banshee Drummer’, which is officially launched tomorrow, 17th July. It’s a hardback cover publication which has been published by White Rabbit, and it runs to 320 pages.
The patrons this evening are mainly a mature crowd, which interestingly is equally split between men and women. The downstairs main room of the Komedia thankfully has the temperature at just the right level so there’s no sweating or freezing. The format of the event is an hour discussion from 8:15pm to 9:15pm with Budgie and Brighton’s very own Simon Price of ‘Spellbound’ club fame, followed by a 15 minute Q & A session.
Budgie is famed as being Siouxsie and the Banshees drummer as well as one half of The Creatures with Siouxsie Sioux, (who I saw live at ‘Latitude’ festival two years ago – Review HERE) but as we learn, there is much more to him than just this. The Banshees were on the case from 1976 to 1996, along with a brief reappearance in 2002. Budgie was their drummer from 1979 to 1996 having previously drummed for The Slits. He was a member of The Creatures from 1981 to 2004.
Budgie and Siouxsie were married from 1991 to 2006 and a year into their marriage they emigrated to the south west of France. Budgie has since remarried and now has two children who were born in 2012 (a daughter) and 2014 (a son).
Simon takes to the stage first and then introduces Budgie who informs us that he has a nice dressing room in the Komedia which even has a bathroom. Within seconds he’s name-dropped ‘Siouxsie’ and the famed Liverpool club ‘Eric’s’ (where he used to rehearse) and I’m rather hoping he is not going to be on a Trump ego trip (Chelsea fans will understand). Thankfully, he comes across as a really decent fella throughout the event and it’s fair to say the whole room warmed to him. He has a pleasant manner and to be honest still looks younger than his actual 67 years.
I had always wondered how he had got his nickname and very early into proceedings we learned that Budgie received this early on in life as he used to breed budgerigars in his early teens. This came about as his mother sadly passed away suddenly overnight when he was a mere 12 years old, and so his father quite rightly felt that his son should be afforded as many distractions as possible. They knew people that used to breed and sell canaries, and the monetary side of things was of interest to the young Peter.
Although born a short distance to Liverpool, we learned that he had a budgie called Bobby after Bobby Moore, and George Best and other Manchester United players of that era were mentioned, clearly his allegiances lied further afield. Budgie told us that his birds used to play Subbuteo and that he didn’t have to show them how to “kick” the ball as they would naturally do it with their beaks. This raised a few laughs from the attentive audience. Clearly he was the manager as he would transfer his players elsewhere for some remuneration.
When Budgie was growing up, his Saturday night’s consisted of going to “the offy” (office licence) to buy some cider and returning back home and getting into listening to music. The amount of cider increased over time. He then flags up the Cardiff heavy metal band called ‘Budgie’ who were a part of his formative years. We were told that Budgie was also a choirboy and that he enjoyed singing, but he didn’t learn to read music.
Simon then talks about the “family tree” of the bands around the Liverpool scene during the late 1970’s to mid 1980’s and discusses with Budgie the members of each of these outfits, with a majority of them going onto bigger and better things. The list is seriously impressive and Budgie’s name is quoted on a number of occasions. There was The Spitfire Boys which featured Budgie and Paul Rotherford, who later went onto great success with Frankie Goes To Hollywood; and Big In Japan amongst those name-checked. Big In Japan being the starting point for Holly Johnson, who later was the frontman of Frankie Goes To Hollywood; Bill Drummond, later member of The KLF; Ian Broudie, known for his Britpop/alternative band The Lightning Seeds; and of course Budgie, they were fronted by the shaven-headed Jayne Casey who used to perform with a lampshade on her head. Dalek I Love You were also cited on the account of OMD’s Andy McCluskey having been in them. The Mystery Girls were another outfit that were mentioned as it featured Pete Burns (later of Dead Or Alive), Julian Cope (later of The Teardrop Explodes), and Pete Wylie (of Wah!). When Simon asked Budgie what the scene was like his comical reply was “bitchy”, which made the crowd laugh.
I was endeavouring to make notes as the evening progressed without disturbing those around me, and I seem to recall Budgie stating that he had initially met The Slits as Paul Rotherford’s mother used to put them up, and he met them there when he was in The Spitfire Boys with Paul. Budgie and The Slits obviously got on well as he went out on his first tour as The Slits drummer when they supported The Clash, and he admitted that he would watch Topper Headon (in admiration) each night, Topper being The Clash’s drummer.
Simon then went on to steer Budgie to talk about his first involvement with Siouxsie and the Banshees. Vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steven Severin met at a Roxy Music concert in September 1975 and from February 1976, Siouxsie, Severin and some friends (loosely dubbed the “Bromley Contingent) began to follow an unsigned band, the Sex Pistols, and the rest as they say is history. The Banshees came into being with future Pistol Sid Vicious on drums. In September 1979 Banshees were on a tour to promote their second album ‘Join Hands’ and a few nights into the tour, the band were at an instore signing and they all got into a heated argument and guitarist John McKay (who I witnessed live only a few weeks ago at the inaugural ‘Forever Now’ festival in Milton Keynes (Review HERE) and drummer Kenny Morris quit the band mid-tour. Siouxsie and Severin recruited Budgie, but they simply couldn’t get a guitarist and so Robert Smith of The Cure was the temporary replacement. Budgie said his first gig with the band was at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall where he was thrown in the deep end.
The subject of the romance between Budgie and Siouxsie then raised its head during tonight’s proceedings. I believe that Budgie said that Severin was Siouxsie’s first boyfriend, and then “Nils”. Which would have been Nils Stevenson (RIP) the Banshees manager and former road manager for the Sex Pistols. A name I’m familiar with as my partner Jordan Mooney (RIP) mentioned him on a number of occasions when we were together. In fact, she mentioned a majority of the names within this review, and that’s what raised my interest in attending this evening, in order to learn more.
Budgie then informed us that he was getting rather good at discovering the various hotels back stairs in order to covertly sneak into Siouxsie’s various rooms, as their relationship was still under wraps, but with the release of The Creatures 5-track ‘Wild Things’ EP in 1981, there certainly wasn’t any mystery any more. The photos of erotic cover artwork were taken in a Newcastle city hotel.
Budgie then informed us that The Banshees seventh studio album, ‘Tinderbox’ (1986) was recorded at the Hansa Studios in Berlin, which was a real buzz for the band as that’s where David Bowie recorded his iconic ‘Low’ album. Budgie then told us that Berlin is where he resides today. Not all memories of Berlin were exciting though, as he told us that at that time his blood alcohol levels were off the scale and he ended up in hospital, and at the same time Siouxsie had cut her foot on a glass table in her hotel room and there was loads of blood everywhere, when folk entered the room and found her on the bed. She has gone to sleep instead of going to hospital.
Siouxsie’s change of goth haircut to the bob was mentioned, which seriously threw her fans at the time. I think Budgie said that Dutch photographer and filmmaker Anton Corbijn had the first exclusive shots of said new hairdo.
Simon asked why had Budgie written his ‘The Absence: Memoirs Of A Banshee Drummer’ book and he said that he had never felt true to himself and his feelings and so he did the book, with “the absence” referring to his mother.
Simon then mentioned about Budgie pushing the boundaries of drumming and where did the inspiration come from regarding the other instruments he played on The Creatures material. Budgie answered that it was when he saw Japanese kodo drummers on ‘Blue Peter’ and also the drumming on the classic ‘Zulu’ film, which I too totally get. He added that he had liked The Glitter Band as they had two drummers.
The time was now 9:15pm and the houselights went up to reveal the packed audience and so it was question time. They had a wireless microphone for those asking questions and this took us through to 9:30pm, after which the punters would queue up and get their copies of the book signed by Budgie as well as a brief chat.
There were some interesting questions raised by the punters. The choice one’s being:
Q: “Of all the bands you’ve been in which were the most fun?”. This was a tricky question to answer and so endeavouring to offer a diplomatic answer he cited various instances during his time in The Banshees and The Slits. Thinking he had answered the question, the punter then reiterated his question, which worked a treat as Budgie finally confessed it was The Slits that were the ones with the most fun.
Q: “Do you see your career running alongside, as in writing books and making music?”. Yes, that’s where he sees his options going, and he namechecks The Indigo Girls here, where Siouxsie was invited on their December 1992 tour. Budgie said that he still has the bug and it won’t leave him and it’s doing this (in reference to this evening) and still drumming that he loves.
We then learned that Severin now resides in Edinburgh and 2002’s ‘Seven Year Itch’ reformation tour was briefly discussed in reference of Siouxsie and the Banshees getting back together again, but as Budgie pointed out that in 2002, the tour quickly developed into things more important than being in the band. So there won’t be another Siouxsie and the banshees reform.
Budgie was asked what music does he listen to nowadays. He then discussed that as he drives his 13 year old daughter to school, they listen to Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and the like. He added that he liked M.I.A (of ‘Paper Planes’ fame), Gwen Stefani and OutKast.
I think he said that he has also started lecturing at BIMM, but I’m not sure where. It’s 9:30pm and that’s it for me. Whilst the punters quietly queue up, I head off into the night in order to catch Moon Idle’s headline set at Alphabet.
Purchase your signed copy of ‘The Absence: Memoirs Of A Banshee Drummer’ from the Resident store HERE whilst stocks last.
