John Parish | |
|---|---|
 Parish performing live in July 2011 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 11 April 1959 Yeovil, England |
| Origin | Bristol, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, experimental rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, composer, producer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, keyboards, drums, bass guitar, trombone, percussion, vocals |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | Thrill Jockey, Dreamboat |
| Website | john-parish.com |
John Parish (born 11 April 1959) is an English musician, songwriter, composer and record producer.
Parish is best known for his work with singer-songwriter PJ Harvey.[1] He has also worked with such artists as Eels, Aldous Harding, Tracy Chapman, Giant Sand, and Sparklehorse. His sister is the actor Sarah Parish.[2] Parish was born in Yeovil, Somerset and lives in Bristol. In 1980s, his girlfriend was Maria Mochnacz.[3]
His first record release was a single "Mind Made" by the British new wave band, Thieves Like Us (1980).[4] In 1982, he formed the band Automatic Dlamini, with Rob Ellis. The changing line-up of Automatic Dlamini included Polly Harvey from 1988 until 1991. Automatic Dlamini recorded three albums: The D is For Drum (1987),[5] Here Catch Shouted his Father (1990 – unreleased but available as a bootleg), and From A Diva to a Diver (1992).[6] By the time From A Diva to a Diver was released, Harvey had left to form the PJ Harvey trio with ex-Dlamini members Rob Ellis and Ian Olliver, and Parish was playing guitar with Marc Moreland's band The Ensenada Joyride.[7]
In 1986 Parish had begun a parallel career as a record producer working with UK bands including The Chesterfields, The Brilliant Corners, The Caretaker Race and The Becketts. In 1995 he co-produced PJ Harvey's "To Bring You My Love", on which he also played guitar, drums, percussion and organ.[8] He co-wrote and produced The Eels album Souljacker (2001), and played guitar on the world tour that accompanied its release. He has produced and/or played on a number of Howe Gelb / Giant Sand albums and frequently appears onstage with them.[9] Parish produced the Giant Sand album Chore of Enchantment (2000), and a photograph of his wedding in Tucson in 1998 was used as the cover for the 2011 re-release of the record.
He also began working as a film composer in 1998, writing the score for Belgian director Patrice Toye's debut film, Rosie.[10] Parish's score won the Jury Special Appreciation prize at the 1999 Bonn Film & TV Music Biennale. He has since scored another ten soundtracks.
Parish has now worked on seven albums with Harvey, including two co-written albums: Dance Hall at Louse Point (1996) and A Woman A Man Walked By (2009). He played in the PJ Harvey touring band (guitar/drums/keyboards) from 1994 to 1999, from 2009 to 2012 and from 2015 to 2017.[11] He co-produced and played on To Bring You My Love (1995), White Chalk (2007), the Mercury Prize winning Let England Shake (2011), The Hope Six Demolition Project (2016) and I Inside the old year Dying (2023).
He has produced and played on two albums by New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding, two This Is the Kit albums and two albums by Malian artist Rokia Traoré. He has also collaborated several times with two established European stars, the Italian singer Nada and Belgian singer Arno.
