John Parish

Biography

John Parish first hit public consciousness as a collaborator with PJ Harvey, co-producing and playing on To Bring You My Love and Is This Desire? While he subsequently staked out an enigmatic solo career, the tale of his rise in music is entwined with that of Harvey. Raised in Yeovil, England, Parish's first recording experience came with a new wave band called Thieves Like Us in 1980. Following that, he started the group Headless Horseman, which evolved into Automatic Dlamini, an experimental band that would survive into the early '90s -- and that would eventually include P.J. Harvey. Parish also began his producing career in the mid-'80s, working with acts such as the Becketts, the Brilliant Corners, and Grape. In 1987, Automatic Dlamini member Jeremy Hogg met the young P.J. Harvey at a party. The group made fast friends with Harvey, who gave some tapes of her songs to John Parish. She was soon added to the band, staying on until 1991. After Automatic Dlamini broke up, Parish went on to produce more albums and serve as a college lecturer.

In the meantime, P.J. Harvey had released two successful albums. She had worked with producer Steve Albini previously, but was looking for a new sound, so she enlisted the help of Parish. The result, 1995's To Bring You My Love, was her biggest success to date and initiated a fruitful collaboration between the two. Besides working on Harvey's albums, the two also released a duo album, 1996's Dance Hall at Louse Point, on which Polly added vocals and lyrics to compositions that John had initially devised for a theater production.

Parish's first "solo" release came in 1998 with the soundtrack to the film Rosie. He also contributed to albums by acts such as Sparklehorse, Giant Sand, Sixteen Horsepower and the Eels. 2002 saw the release of Parish's second solo effort, How Animals Move, a highly experimental work that featured sound snippets, lush orchestrations by a 12-piece band, and such ephemera as field recordings of Spanish girls singing and murmured conversation serving as vocals. Harvey and Giant Sand's Howe Gelb appear on the album, which was released on Thrill Jockey. The much more stripped down effort, Once Upon a Little Time, was issued in September 2005. ~ Erik Hage, All Music Guide