PORTISHEAD
| Formed 1991 in Bristol, United
Kingdom.
Genre:
Trip hop, alternative rock, electronica, modern
jazz.
Similar
artists: Massive Attack, Tricky,
Martina Topley-Bird, Lamb, Goldfrapp, Moloko, Zero 7, Mandalay, Broadcast,
Saint Etienne, Laika, Kemopetrol, Roni Size, Stereolab, The Cinematic Orchestra,
Sneaker Pimps, Everything But The Girl, U.N.K.L.E.,
DJ Shadow, Jay-Jay Johanson, Cocteau Twins, Björk, Radiohead.
History of the
band: When Geoff Barrow ran
into Beth
Gibbons in '91 at an
Enterprise Training Scheme, a course for
starting enterprisers, they hardly got along.
They listened to each others home-made tapes
and immediatly came to the conclusion that it
wouldn't work as they wanted different
things. "Pretty soon it was: nice to
meet you, bye" says Beth looking back on
their first encounter. But when her singing
career didn't go as planned she thought of
Geoff again. They finished one of her songs
and the outcome was "It Could Be Sweet".
From that moment on the cooperation was a
fact. After experienced jazz guitarist Adrian Utley and
technician Dave
McDonald joined them Portishead
was finally born. The name
"Portishead" came from the West
Coast shipping suburb of Bristol where Geoff
Barrow was raised. The story goes that Geoff
was known as "that guy from (the town)
Portishead" when he first began making
music on the first Massive Attack album. The
idea for the band name grew out of that.
Word began to spread
about Portishead, and they ultimately
succeeded in landing a deal with the UK label
Go! Discs, in 1993. Their debut album "Dummy"
was released a year later to great critical
and commercial success. Nowadays Portishead are
regarded as one of the pioneers of the so
called "trip hop" movement and also
as one of the most influential British bands
of the 90s.
Band members:
People tend to see Geoff as the sounds-man,
Adrian as the jazz guitarist and Beth as the
gloomy singer but in practice the functions
and interests are much more scattered. Learn
more about the faces behind Portishead below.
Geoff
Barrow | Beth Gibbons | Adrian Utley | Dave McDonald
Touring
band: Andy Smith | Clive Deamer |
John Baggot | Jim Barr
