Death in June are a neofolk group led by English musician Douglas P. (Douglas Pearce). The band was originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various collaborators. Over the band's three decades of existence, they have made numerous shifts in style and presentation, resulting in an overall shift from initial post-punk and Industrial Records influence to a more acoustic and folk music-oriented approach. Douglas P.'s influence was instrumental in sparking neofolk, of which his music has subsequently become a part.
Origin
Main article: Crisis (band)
Pearce formed Death in June in 1981 in England, along with Patrick Leagas and Tony Wakeford. Pearce and Wakeford had been members of the political punk band Crisis, which formed in 1977. Crisis had gained a substantial following in the UK punk subculture. Crisis performed at rallies for The Right to Work, Rock Against Racism, and the Anti-Nazi League.
Early Death in June (1981–1985)
Death in June soon left the punk scene behind and began to infuse their sound with electronics and martial style drumming, combined with a Joy Division-influenced post-punk sound. Then a few years later to the synth-heavy folk stuff with acoustic guitar. The synths were phased out. The later stuff had atmospheric sound loops, dialogue samples, industrial beats, etc added. Their lyrics maintained much of the poetry and political urgency of the early Crisis recordings. Tracks such as the early single sides "Holy Water" and "State Laughter" demonstrated an ongoing fascination with political systems. The new name of the band comes from an in-studio mishearing of "death and gloom," and is not simply an allusion to the "Night of the Long Knives", when Adolf Hitler had the main members of the SA arrested and some executed by the SS. Douglas P. explained on his website, "Death In June was named after I thought I heard a colleague say those words during our first recording session in 1981. It was an accident of mishearing. I have said this in countless interviews over the years since. It is merely post-rationalization to assume it refers to any one particular event, historic or otherwise." Further on, Douglas P. would abandon any overt interest in politics in favor of a more esoteric approach to his work.
Introduction of folk music
For 1984's Burial LP, Death in June began to adopt a more traditional European folk sound, using more acoustic guitars, references to ancient and contemporary European history, and combining heavy percussion with electronic soundscapes and post-industrial experimentation.
Nada! flirtation with dance music
The Nada! (1985) LP introduced a temporary dance sound to Death in June accompanied by other tracks with the previously introduced folk elements. Douglas P. would later state this period was brought about by Patrick Leagas, which is further justified by Leagas' other work as Sixth Comm and later by his joining Mother Destruction, where he would further explore themes of Germanic paganism and historically-inspired music.
Patrick Leagas departs
Patrick Leagas abruptly left the group in April 1985 after a tour of Italy, resulting in many cancelled shows in the UK and Europe due to follow that tour. Leagas, who began calling himself Patrick O-Kill, later formed Sixth Comm. Thereafter, Death in June has consisted solely of the work of Douglas P. and various collaborators.
Mid-period Death in June (1985–1996)
Creation of World Serpent Distribution
In 1991, Douglas P. named and helped form World Serpent Distribution; a British distribution company that specialized in esoteric, experimental and post-industrial music, which would distribute his NER releases until the late 1990s. During this period, Pearce collaborated with many artists who also had material distributed through the company in various ways.
Collaboration with David Tibet
David Tibet formed Current 93 in 1982. After being introduced to Douglas P. by Alan McGee of Creation Records at the Living Room Club, London in 1983, Tibet eventually began working with Death in June. Upon meeting Tibet, Douglas P. began to devote more of his time to a new circle of collaborators, who introduced him to various Thelemic, Satanic and Hermetic disciplines that markedly affected his approach to composing music. Familiar with the Runic alphabet, Douglas P. introduced them to Tibet. Tibet similarly had been long interested in magic and religion and implemented these concepts in his early recordings with Current 93.
Douglas P. introduced a folk influence to Current 93/David Tibet, who in turn contributed to Death in June's Nada! (1985) LP and its remix version titled 93 Dead Sunwheels (1989), as well as the albums The World That Summer, Brown Book, and The Wall of Sacrifice. He continued his work with Death in June, ending their collaborations with a contribution to the (1995) LP, Rose Clouds of Holocaust before their eventual split.
Collaboration with Boyd Rice begins
Experimental musician Boyd Rice was a friend of the group and had documented one of their earliest performances back in 1982. He was later invited to contribute a spoken word piece to The Wall of Sacrifice LP. From then on, a long series of recording collaborations continued between Boyd Rice and Douglas P. which included the albums Music, Martinis and Misanthropy, In the Shadow of the Sword, Heaven Sent, God & Beast, Wolf Pact, and finally Alarm Agents. Douglas P. also made a small appearance acting alongside Boyd Rice in the film Pearls Before Swine.
Collaboration with LJDLP
Les Joyaux De La Princesse collaborated with Douglas P. on the Östenbräun double cassette release. Douglas P. sent LJDLP source material, which LJDLP would remix and send back. Douglas P. would later appear live with Les Joyaux De La Princesse for a joint show in 2001.
Collaboration with John Murphy begins
Douglas P., having moved to Australia, came back into contact with John Murphy of Knifeladder and previously of SPK. Murphy began playing live percussion with Death in June during tours from 1996 onwards. From 2000, a period of very stripped down, largely acoustic live performances for Death in June began up until Douglas P. announced no further live shows in 2005. In September 2011, a European tour was announced commemorating the 30th anniversary of the group's foundation in 1981. However the tour started off in Sydney, Australia without the actual inclusion of John Murphy; Murphy died on 11 October 2015.
Contemporary Death in June (1996–present)
Collaboration with Albin Julius Martinek
After queuing to meet his idol Douglas P. backstage at a performance in Munich in December 1996, Albin Julius Martinek of Der Blutharsch later collaborated and toured throughout Europe between 1998-2000 with Death in June. Together, they produced the albums Take Care & Control and Operation Hummingbird, as well as the live album Heilige!. In comparison to previous Death In June works the material on these albums is primarily sample based, building on musical motifs from the likes of Richard Wagner, Franz Schubert, French 1960s pop icon Serge Gainsbourg, amongst others. The two albums mark a significant departure from previous or subsequent Death In June material, featuring very little by way of Pearce's guitar, and could be classified as a part of the martial music genre. This is itself a genre which Pearce had arguably invented in 1986 on The World That Summer album with tracks like "Death of a Man" and again in 1989 on The Wall of Sacrifice album with the title track and "Death is a Drummer". Pearce wrote a song loosely inspired by an untitled Der Blutharsch song for the Fire Danger Season Der Blutharsch tribute compilation. The track title was later created/revealed as "Many Enemies Bring Much Honour", which also appears on the rework and rarity album Abandon Tracks!.
Demise of World Serpent Distribution
The late 1990s marked the beginning of a court case between Death in June and World Serpent Distribution regarding payment and distribution issues with several other artists that were then on the label. This led to many artists that had sided with or had a similar experience to Pearce's leaving the distribution company and largely moving to Tesco Distribution Germany, as well as other then well established labels such as Eis & Licht. Eventually, Pearce was issued an out of court settlement for the case, which, according to him, led to the demise of World Serpent Distribution. This led to reissues of most of the major albums in the Death in June discography being made freely available, with overhauled, deluxe packaging and a considerably cheaper price.
Collaboration with Andreas Ritter
On the All Pigs Must Die LP, Pearce was assisted by Andreas Ritter of the neofolk group Forseti who played accordion on a few tracks on the first half of the LP. This marked a return to the previous folk sound of Death in June. Death in June have also appeared live with Forseti and Pearce appeared on Forseti's Windzeit LP.
After Andreas Ritter suffered a stroke and subsequent loss of memory and ability to play musical instruments, Pearce contributed acoustic versions of Death in June songs to a tribute album to Ritter entitled Forseti Lebt released in August 2006.
Collaboration with Boyd Rice ends
After completing the Alarm Agents LP, Pearce announced it would be his final collaboration with Rice, citing the decision as having been mutually decided during the recording of Alarm Agents in a studio situated in a valley in Wellington, New Zealand as helicopters flew beneath the two of them. Pearce recalls: "We turned toward each other and said, 'This is going to be the last collaboration. It can't get better than this.'" In 2013, in order to dismiss all speculation and questions about future collaborations between Pearce and Rice, Rice announced via Facebook that he had severed personal and business relationships with Pearce.
Collaboration with Miro Snejdr
In April 2009, users of the Death in June Yahoo Group pointed the YouTube videos from pianist Miro Snejdr doing covers of classic Death in June titles: "I watched the videos Miro had posted on YouTube of instrumental songs from Death In June’s The Rule of Thirds album and was very impressed. Courtesy of these members of the DIJ group we were put in contact with each other." Consequently, the piano-based album Peaceful Snow was released in November 2010, with rearrangements by Miro Snejdr of Douglas P.'s guitar-based demo recordings. Those original recordings were later released on the album The Snow Bunker Tapes in 2013. Since 2012, Snejdr is also performing live with Death in June, either on piano or accordion.
Death in June are a neofolk group led by English musician Douglas P. (Douglas Pearce). The band was originally formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as a trio, but after the other members left in 1984 and 1985 to work on other projects, the group became the work of Douglas P. and various collaborators. Over the band's three decades of existence, they have made numerous shifts in style and presentation, resulting in an overall shift from initial post-punk and Industrial Records influence to a more acoustic and folk music-oriented approach. Douglas P.'s influence was instrumental in sparking neofolk, of which his music has subsequently become a part.
Origin
Main article: Crisis (band)
Pearce formed Death in June in 1981 in England, along with Patrick Leagas and Tony Wakeford. Pearce and Wakeford had been members of the political punk band Crisis, which formed in 1977. Crisis had gained a substantial following in the UK punk subculture. Crisis performed at rallies for The Right to Work, Rock Against Racism, and the Anti-Nazi League.
Early Death in June (1981–1985)
Death in June soon left the punk scene behind and began to infuse their sound with electronics and martial style drumming, combined with a Joy Division-influenced post-punk sound. Then a few years later to the synth-heavy folk stuff with acoustic guitar. The synths were phased out. The later stuff had atmospheric sound loops, dialogue samples, industrial beats, etc added. Their lyrics maintained much of the poetry and political urgency of the early Crisis recordings. Tracks such as the early single sides "Holy Water" and "State Laughter" demonstrated an ongoing fascination with political systems. The new name of the band comes from an in-studio mishearing of "death and gloom," and is not simply an allusion to the "Night of the Long Knives", when Adolf Hitler had the main members of the SA arrested and some executed by the SS. Douglas P. explained on his website, "Death In June was named after I thought I heard a colleague say those words during our first recording session in 1981. It was an accident of mishearing. I have said this in countless interviews over the years since. It is merely post-rationalization to assume it refers to any one particular event, historic or otherwise." Further on, Douglas P. would abandon any overt interest in politics in favor of a more esoteric approach to his work.
Introduction of folk music
For 1984's Burial LP, Death in June began to adopt a more traditional European folk sound, using more acoustic guitars, references to ancient and contemporary European history, and combining heavy percussion with electronic soundscapes and post-industrial experimentation.
Nada! flirtation with dance music
The Nada! (1985) LP introduced a temporary dance sound to Death in June accompanied by other tracks with the previously introduced folk elements. Douglas P. would later state this period was brought about by Patrick Leagas, which is further justified by Leagas' other work as Sixth Comm and later by his joining Mother Destruction, where he would further explore themes of Germanic paganism and historically-inspired music.
Patrick Leagas departs
Patrick Leagas abruptly left the group in April 1985 after a tour of Italy, resulting in many cancelled shows in the UK and Europe due to follow that tour. Leagas, who began calling himself Patrick O-Kill, later formed Sixth Comm. Thereafter, Death in June has consisted solely of the work of Douglas P. and various collaborators.
Mid-period Death in June (1985–1996)
Creation of World Serpent Distribution
In 1991, Douglas P. named and helped form World Serpent Distribution; a British distribution company that specialized in esoteric, experimental and post-industrial music, which would distribute his NER releases until the late 1990s. During this period, Pearce collaborated with many artists who also had material distributed through the company in various ways.
Collaboration with David Tibet
David Tibet formed Current 93 in 1982. After being introduced to Douglas P. by Alan McGee of Creation Records at the Living Room Club, London in 1983, Tibet eventually began working with Death in June. Upon meeting Tibet, Douglas P. began to devote more of his time to a new circle of collaborators, who introduced him to various Thelemic, Satanic and Hermetic disciplines that markedly affected his approach to composing music. Familiar with the Runic alphabet, Douglas P. introduced them to Tibet. Tibet similarly had been long interested in magic and religion and implemented these concepts in his early recordings with Current 93.
Douglas P. introduced a folk influence to Current 93/David Tibet, who in turn contributed to Death in June's Nada! (1985) LP and its remix version titled 93 Dead Sunwheels (1989), as well as the albums The World That Summer, Brown Book, and The Wall of Sacrifice. He continued his work with Death in June, ending their collaborations with a contribution to the (1995) LP, Rose Clouds of Holocaust before their eventual split.
Collaboration with Boyd Rice begins
Experimental musician Boyd Rice was a friend of the group and had documented one of their earliest performances back in 1982. He was later invited to contribute a spoken word piece to The Wall of Sacrifice LP. From then on, a long series of recording collaborations continued between Boyd Rice and Douglas P. which included the albums Music, Martinis and Misanthropy, In the Shadow of the Sword, Heaven Sent, God & Beast, Wolf Pact, and finally Alarm Agents. Douglas P. also made a small appearance acting alongside Boyd Rice in the film Pearls Before Swine.
Collaboration with LJDLP
Les Joyaux De La Princesse collaborated with Douglas P. on the Östenbräun double cassette release. Douglas P. sent LJDLP source material, which LJDLP would remix and send back. Douglas P. would later appear live with Les Joyaux De La Princesse for a joint show in 2001.
Collaboration with John Murphy begins
Douglas P., having moved to Australia, came back into contact with John Murphy of Knifeladder and previously of SPK. Murphy began playing live percussion with Death in June during tours from 1996 onwards. From 2000, a period of very stripped down, largely acoustic live performances for Death in June began up until Douglas P. announced no further live shows in 2005. In September 2011, a European tour was announced commemorating the 30th anniversary of the group's foundation in 1981. However the tour started off in Sydney, Australia without the actual inclusion of John Murphy; Murphy died on 11 October 2015.
Contemporary Death in June (1996–present)
Collaboration with Albin Julius Martinek
After queuing to meet his idol Douglas P. backstage at a performance in Munich in December 1996, Albin Julius Martinek of Der Blutharsch later collaborated and toured throughout Europe between 1998-2000 with Death in June. Together, they produced the albums Take Care & Control and Operation Hummingbird, as well as the live album Heilige!. In comparison to previous Death In June works the material on these albums is primarily sample based, building on musical motifs from the likes of Richard Wagner, Franz Schubert, French 1960s pop icon Serge Gainsbourg, amongst others. The two albums mark a significant departure from previous or subsequent Death In June material, featuring very little by way of Pearce's guitar, and could be classified as a part of the martial music genre. This is itself a genre which Pearce had arguably invented in 1986 on The World That Summer album with tracks like "Death of a Man" and again in 1989 on The Wall of Sacrifice album with the title track and "Death is a Drummer". Pearce wrote a song loosely inspired by an untitled Der Blutharsch song for the Fire Danger Season Der Blutharsch tribute compilation. The track title was later created/revealed as "Many Enemies Bring Much Honour", which also appears on the rework and rarity album Abandon Tracks!.
Demise of World Serpent Distribution
The late 1990s marked the beginning of a court case between Death in June and World Serpent Distribution regarding payment and distribution issues with several other artists that were then on the label. This led to many artists that had sided with or had a similar experience to Pearce's leaving the distribution company and largely moving to Tesco Distribution Germany, as well as other then well established labels such as Eis & Licht. Eventually, Pearce was issued an out of court settlement for the case, which, according to him, led to the demise of World Serpent Distribution. This led to reissues of most of the major albums in the Death in June discography being made freely available, with overhauled, deluxe packaging and a considerably cheaper price.
Collaboration with Andreas Ritter
On the All Pigs Must Die LP, Pearce was assisted by Andreas Ritter of the neofolk group Forseti who played accordion on a few tracks on the first half of the LP. This marked a return to the previous folk sound of Death in June. Death in June have also appeared live with Forseti and Pearce appeared on Forseti's Windzeit LP.
After Andreas Ritter suffered a stroke and subsequent loss of memory and ability to play musical instruments, Pearce contributed acoustic versions of Death in June songs to a tribute album to Ritter entitled Forseti Lebt released in August 2006.
Collaboration with Boyd Rice ends
After completing the Alarm Agents LP, Pearce announced it would be his final collaboration with Rice, citing the decision as having been mutually decided during the recording of Alarm Agents in a studio situated in a valley in Wellington, New Zealand as helicopters flew beneath the two of them. Pearce recalls: "We turned toward each other and said, 'This is going to be the last collaboration. It can't get better than this.'" In 2013, in order to dismiss all speculation and questions about future collaborations between Pearce and Rice, Rice announced via Facebook that he had severed personal and business relationships with Pearce.
Collaboration with Miro Snejdr
In April 2009, users of the Death in June Yahoo Group pointed the YouTube videos from pianist Miro Snejdr doing covers of classic Death in June titles: "I watched the videos Miro had posted on YouTube of instrumental songs from Death In June’s The Rule of Thirds album and was very impressed. Courtesy of these members of the DIJ group we were put in contact with each other." Consequently, the piano-based album Peaceful Snow was released in November 2010, with rearrangements by Miro Snejdr of Douglas P.'s guitar-based demo recordings. Those original recordings were later released on the album The Snow Bunker Tapes in 2013. Since 2012, Snejdr is also performing live with Death in June, either on piano or accordion.
川公网安备 51019002004889号
