| Bernard Butler
|
| Background
information |
| Born |
May 1, 1970 (1970-05-01) (age 37) |
| Origin |
 Stamford
Hill, East London, England |
| Genre(s) |
Alternative
Rock, Britpop |
| Occupation(s) |
Singer-songwriter,
Guitarist |
| Instrument(s) |
Guitar, Piano, Violin. |
| Years active |
1989 - present |
Associated
acts |
Suede
The
Tears
McAlmont and Butler |
| Website |
http://www.bernardbutler.com/ |
Bernard Butler (born 1 May 1970, in Stamford
Hill, East London) is an English musician and record
producer.
Career
He first achieved fame in 1992 as the guitarist
with Suede, at the time an instant
phenomenon in UK pop music. He co-wrote and played guitars
on every track until 1994, when he left Suede over personal tensions
within the band during the recording of their
second album,
Dog
Man Star. He was replaced by Richard Oakes.
After an abortive collaboration with former All
About Eve singer
Julianne
Regan and spending one week as a member of The
Verve after their guitarist, Nick
McCabe, temporarily left the band, Butler formed the duo McAlmont and Butler
with David McAlmont, a soul
singer with a three-octave range. They released two singles,
"Yes" and "You Do", before splitting up acrimoniously. A compilation
album, The Sound of McAlmont and Butler, was
released after the split. He went on to release two albums under his
own name, People Move On and Friends and
Lovers, before making up with McAlmont for a second McAlmont
and Butler album, Bring it Back, and two singles,
"Falling" and "Bring it Back". Butler was also considered for Oasis
after their founding member Paul Arthurs left.
Since then Butler has healed his rift with former Suede singer
Brett
Anderson, forming a new band, The
Tears. The Tears released their highly anticipated debut LP,
Here Come The Tears,
produced
by Butler, in June 2005. Singles include "Refugees",
which reached #9 in the UK Singles Chart, and "Lovers".
In between his own projects he has played on and produced
records by Aimee
Mann, Sparks,
Edwyn
Collins, Neneh Cherry, Tim Booth
(formerly of James), the Manic Street Preachers,
Eddi
Reader, Hopper,
Roy
Orbison, Bert
Jansch, The Libertines, Heather
Nova, The
Veils, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, The
Cribs, Pretenders, The On-Off's, 1990s
and The Mescalitas. He created the soundtrack to the 1997 film The
James Gang and played on the soundtrack of Velvet
Goldmine, alongside Thom
Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.
He has played live with The Cranberries, Paul
Weller, Teenage Fanclub and The Manic Street
Preachers.
Butler names former Smiths guitarist Johnny
Marr as his major inspiration. Other probable influences
include guitarists Peter Green, George
Harrison and Steve Howe, Bert
Jansch, and producer Phil Spector. Whilst playing live he is
often compared to Neil Young, although Young's rough-edged,
stripped down sound could hardly be more different from Butler's
elaborately layered studio, "Wall of Sound" arrangements: Creation
Records boss Alan McGee, promoting Butler's first solo
album, used Young as an example of a former sideman successfully moving
to centre-stage.
Butler is often seen performing, and associated with, a Cherry
Red Gibson ES-355
TD SV (Stereo Varitone) with a Bigsby Tremelo arm.
Selected discography
- 1993 - Suede
- Suede (Mercury
Music Prize winner)
- singles: "The Drowners", "Metal
Mickey", "Animal Nitrate", "So Young"
- 1994 - Suede
- Dog Man Star
- singles: "We are the Pigs", "The
Wild Ones", "New Generation"
- 1995 - McAlmont and Butler - The
Sound of McAlmont and Butler
- 1997 - Suede
- Sci-Fi Lullabies
- (collection of Suede B-sides)
- 1998 - Bernard Butler - People
Move On
- singles: "Stay", "Not Alone", "A Change of Heart"
- 1999 - Bernard Butler - Friends
and Lovers
- singles: "Friends and Lovers", "You Must Go On"
- 2002 - McAlmont and Butler - Bring
it Back
- singles: "Falling", "Bring it Back"
- 2005 - The
Tears - Here Come The Tears
- singles: "Refugees", "Lovers"
- 2006 - McAlmont and Butler
External links
