Dead Can Dance's Peter Ulrich to release his memoirs

(Image credit: Press)

Former Dead Can Dance percussionist Peter Ulrich is to release his memoirs on November 15 through Red Hen Press. Drumming With Dead Can Dance & Parallel Adventures recounts his time with the neoclassical band in the 1980s and 90s, his solo career and the parallel solo careers of his former bandmates, Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry.

"I was given great help in compiling the book by both Brendan and Lisa, and Lisa has also contributed the foreword," he explains. "The memoir offers fans a deeper insight into the creation of DCD's wide-ranging back catalogue and the nature of the protagonists, and features well-known photographs and illustrations alongside some rarities excavated from our private archives. It also takes a broad sweep through just about every corner of the wider musical landscape."

London-born Ulrich joined Dead Can Dance in 1982 and has contributed to some of their best-known albums including Within The Realm Of A Dying Sun. Although he left due to "family reasons", he's remained in close contact with Gerrard and Perry. As an instrumentalist, he's also contributed to Ivo Watts-Russell's dreampop collective, This Mortal Coil, as well as Greek neoclassical band Daemonia Nymphe.

"As a teenager of the 70s, I spent many a Sunday night in the Chalk Farm Roundhouse absorbing the sounds that would also crop up on Whispering Bob's [Old Grey] Whistle Test," he tells Prog. "Favourites included Nektar, Man, Caravan and Gabriel-era Genesis. Forays into African and Arabic music followed, alongside the post-punk of Joy Division then, in a sudden twist of fate in late 1982, I found myself on the drum stool of Dead Can Dance, just a few months before we would sign our first record deal with 4AD and head out on tour with Cocteau Twins – heady days. My memoir tells this story."

book cover for Drumming with Dead Can Dance & Parallel Adventures — (Image credit: Press)

Contributing to Prog since the very first issue, writer and broadcaster Natasha Scharf was the magazine’s News Editor before she took up her current role of Deputy Editor, and has interviewed some of the best-known acts in the progressive music world from ELP, Yes and Marillion to Nightwish, Dream Theater and TesseracT. Starting young, she set up her first music fanzine in the late 80s and became a regular contributor to local newspapers and magazines over the next decade. The 00s would see her running the dark music magazine, Meltdown, as well as contributing to Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Terrorizer and Artrocker. Author of music subculture books The Art Of Gothic and Worldwide Gothic, she’s since written album sleeve notes for Cherry Red, and also co-wrote Tarja Turunen’s memoirs, Singing In My Blood. Beyond the written word, Natasha has spent several decades as a club DJ, spinning tunes at aftershow parties for Metallica, Motörhead and Nine Inch Nails. She’s currently the only member of the Prog team to have appeared on the magazine’s cover.