Born on August 21: Budgie (Banshees), the art of rhythm in all its facets

He was born in 1957 in St Helens in Merseyside, England. Peter Edward Clarke was his real name, but he soon adopted the nickname Budgie.

Coming from a working-class background, he discovered music at a young age and initially settled for a discreet role as a backing vocalist. As a teenager, he quickly realised that drums and percussion would become his instruments of choice. While studying art, he enthusiastically immersed himself in the Liverpool punk scene and made his debut in the Spitfire Boys and Big in Japan, the city's cult band. He made his first recording with "Cut" (1979), an album by the boisterous feminist punk band The Slits. He replaced Palmolive and was the only male member of the quartet.

In September 1979, Budgie joined Siouxsie and the Banshees, where he initially served as a backup for the then-drummer. But he quickly became a key player in the band until their final disbandment in 1996 (with the exception of a short-lived reformation in 2002). He participated in nine Banshees studio albums, including "Kaleidoscope" (1980), "Kiss In The Dreamhouse" (1982), and "Hyaena" (1984).

In 1981, he co-founded The Creatures with Siouxsie Sioux, a percussion-focused project. On the albums "Feast" (1983) and "Boomerang" (1985), he notably used a number of Japanese percussion instruments, such as the taiko (a large tambourine used for ritual ceremonies in the Land of the Rising Sun), the shime-daiko (a small drum used in conjunction with the taiko), and hioshigi (wooden blocks). I recommend listening to "Miss The Girl" to immerse yourself in this percussive world...

In an interview for "Modern Drummer" (1990), Budgie also discusses his playing of the Mexican marimba on "Hyaena," particularly on "Swimming Horses": "I discovered that I liked the repetitive and hypnotic music of Philip Glass. Since I always tend to do things in a linear way, I used that in the covers of "Through The Looking Glass." I also love John Cale's song "Gun" (with whom he played in 1998). It's just the same notes placed in a different tempo."

Brought to the forefront by his peers, such as Larry Mullen Jr. (U2) and Stewart Copeland (The Police), Budgie has also become something of a historian of the post-punk movement, having recorded a series of podcasts on the subject alongside Lol Tolhurst (former drummer of The Cure). Together, they also gave a series of concerts in the United States.

In June 2025, at the age of 67, Budgie decided to compile his memories in an autobiography entitled "The Absence - Memoirs of a Banshee Drummer." A fascinating book full of previously unpublished anecdotes...

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo : © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Budgie (left) with Siouxsie Sioux (center) and Steve Severin (right) in Brussels, Belgium, on March 9, 1987