Drumming with Dead Can Dance: and Parallel Adventures

by Peter Ulrich

Ulrich recounts his experiences as drummer/percussionist with Dead Can Dance through the 1980s, contributor to This Mortal Coil, and guest on other 4AD recordings. After leaving DCD for family reasons, he tracks their parallel paths—DCD’s demises and rebirths; solo careers of Lisa Gerrard, Brendan Perry, and his own; Gerrard’s co-creation of the 'Gladiator' soundtrack; and Ulrich’s collaboration with producer Trebor Lloyd and a host of artists from the New York scene. Packed with detail from the formative period of Dead Can Dance, a fan’s-eye view of the later years (with the advantage of a backstage pass), and a broad sweep through just about every corner of the wider musical landscape.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir

248 pages, Hardcover

Published November 15, 2022

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brendan and Lisa's creative processes were very different. Lisa wrote and performed in an almost trancelike state. Everything came from deep within her — spontaneous and straight from the heart or soul. Brendan was meticulous and analytical in his study of music and in his composition. He also wrote and performed with great passion and intensity, but always controlling it, while Lisa's performances were like an out-of-body experience, like she was astral travelling on another plane. In those early days of rehearsals, I was frequently struck by the bizarre juxtaposition of our drab, grey surroundings in the Barkantine Hall in a bleak London winter with this soaring, glorious music enveloping me.
[34]

[Tim White · Rating 4 out of 5]

"In those early days of rehearsals, I was frequently struck by the bizarre juxtaposition of our drab, grey surroundings in the Barkantine Hall in a bleak London winter with this soaring, glorious music enveloping me."

Thanks to a chance phone call in December, 1982, an instance of being in the right place at the right time, Peter Ulrich found himself at a rehearsal with newly arrived neighbors, Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, trying out to become the new drummer for their incipient band, Dead Can Dance. Ulrich begins this book with that fateful moment, then takes us back to his origins and first interest in music, up through his time with Dead Can Dance and eventually branching off into his own solo career.

I've long been enamored with the music of Dead Can Dance, along with the music that Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard have created separately and with other collaborators over the years. Prior to reading this book, I had a fairly good foundation of knowledge about the band, but also much that was only hazily understood. And honestly, I didn't know much of anything about Peter Ulrich. So I was excited to pick up this book, to read detailed, firsthand accounts from someone who was enmeshed in the creation of this music, and I'm happy to say that I relished reading this.

Peter Ulrich's account of his time with the band is replete with interesting details and recollections of indelible moments. To pluck out a few random moments that left a vivid impression:

-while rehearsing the song, "East of Eden", which is described as incorporating a "flam" effect, with two drum hits striking almost simultaneously, but with a slight, though discernible gap, Peter notes how Brendan would notice if one hit was ever slightly off. At an error that Peter made, he describes seeing Brendan's ear twitch, his first recognition of what was termed "Perry Ear", where Brendan would somehow notice the smallest error in someone else's part, despite being engrossed in his own playing.

-Peter describes how the track "Frontier" was originally recorded while Brendan and Lisa were living in Australia. On the track, Brendan had been drumming on some empty oil drums which had been hammered to create different notes, and which were disintegrating as he played, while he used a broken pair of chair legs as drumsticks. The drum sound was one that he later tried to recreate in England for the studio session to record their debut album, but though he searched for the right drum source in England, they were never able to recapture the sound of that original.

-Peter tells of how Brendan Perry was nearly electrocuted on stage once, in their early days, when his guitar lost its ground and went live, and how Lisa almost ran to grab him, which could've electrified her as well, and how only an expertly timed karate kick from a member of their crew knocked the guitar free from Brendan's hands.

Peter Ulrich's musical fortunes are bound up tightly with Dead Can Dance for awhile. He is their main drummer, while also taking on the de facto role of tour manager in the early days. He therefore has a unique overview of this formative period for the band. He's integral to the recording of their debut album, and gives detailed recollections of how each of the tracks on that debut took shape. His musical path gradually separates from the band, though- at first, in small ways (he is less involved in the actual recording of the next few albums, though he remains fully involved in live performances). Eventually his distance from the band becomes more absolute as he and his wife welcome their first child, and then their second. Family concerns become prominent, including caring for an ailing father. By the time Dead Can Dance release their album, "Aion", in 1990, and embark on their first tour of the United States, Peter remains at home in England. He then only reappears for a rare percussion cameo on their "Spiritchaser" album in 1996.

He straddles a unique position of being at various times both inside, and outside, the music of Dead Can Dance. On the one hand, he was undeniably integral to the early sound of the band, being fully involved in the recording of their debut album, and being immersed in their tours in the early years. On the other hand, he was absorbed into the band only after they had already formed, and became their drummer even though he had mostly abandoned the idea that he'd have a career as a musician. He further admits that, with Brendan and Lisa already established as the fulcrum, Dead Can Dance was bursting at the seams with creative power and they didn't need another dominant musical voice. Peter relates how his drum parts were essentially written and directed by Brendan, who had worked out how all of the musical pieces would fit together, and therefore Peter had a limited, though still crucial role.

This book begins by mostly tracing the arc of Dead Can Dance's early years, with the bulk of the first half, roughly speaking, focused on the band. As Peter's career diverges from the band, though, the book eventually becomes more about his solo career, while only occasionally reconnecting with Dead Can Dance: he sees them perform at occasional tour stops in the U.K. and in NYC, and once in a while meets up again with Brendan and Lisa. His response to their later albums over the past decade or so is essentially that of a fan totally removed from the creative process, responding freshly to the work, and he is an admirer of these last two albums as well.

So, the first part of the book, focusing on Dead Can Dance, is generally the story of an ascent: from a struggling, hardscrabble beginning on the Isle of Dogs in east London, to relatively quickly launching into a record deal, a debut album, opening for the Cocteau Twins, drawing strong praise from critics and rapidly building a devoted fan base. The band continually gains critical attention and a dedicated following, gradually reaching a commercial apex with the release of their album "Into the Labyrinth" selling half a million copies. And during the long gap of time between the release of the "Spiritchaser" and "Anastasis" albums, the enraptured fan base grows even further.

The arc of Peter's solo career, meanwhile, is much more mired by struggles and near-anonymity. His first noteworthy solo contribution is auspicious: a percussive track which he titles "At First, And Then", the creation of which is described in fascinating detail. The track makes it onto the second "This Mortal Coil" album and also becomes a regular part of Dead Can Dance sets. But as Peter eventually attempts to launch his solo career, post Dead Can Dance, he struggles to be picked up by a label, to get press attention or a sizable following, and always seems relegated to semi-obscurity. Even during the heyday of Peter's time with Dead Can Dance, he describes how he and Lisa Gerrard appeared in person for an album signing session at a record store in Paris, for the release of the "Serpent's Egg" album. A line of fans snakes out the door and around the block, awaiting the chance for an in-person moment with the musicians, but Peter admits that everyone was there to see their heroine, Lisa, and that he was mostly there to offer what he humorously refers to as moral support.

In a sense, though, this aspect of things makes Peter's account more relatable probably for most. He is an artist who has faced his share of rejection and disappointment, while his creative peaks have been hard-won and seldom met with much recognition. He also happened to be a member of a highly revered band that has ultimately performed everywhere from Radio City Music Hall to the Hollywood Bowl, from Royal Albert Hall to the Odeon, in front of the Acropolis in Athens. He is an integral part of the story of that band, while also separate from much of that story, and there is an interesting interplay in this book between these tensions, between the dovetailing of these different trajectories.

[Theediscerning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a suitably lively and entertaining memoir, and even if it doesn't have the rampant rockstar OTT of something, say, Fleetwood Mac-based, that's not the author's fault. Starting with his initiation into the Dead Can Dance troupe, on account of the main two creatives living in the same estate as him, Peter Ulrich then goes back to reveal his formative years and musical influences, before it's on with the progression of DCD. And this, despite torrid venues in France, and the lead singer being electrocuted about four songs into their European tour debut show, is generally routine stuff, of positive leading to positive and success building on success. That first tour, eight nights in the Netherlands, certainly yielded little negative, although as they were support to a Cocteau Twins fresh from winning zero fans supporting OMD round Britain and western Europe months earlier, it's little wonder they managed to look good.

So yes, there is little edge here to brighten things up – again, if that's what you need. There's no sexual tension as he falls irrevocably for Lisa – he didn't; there's no Talking Heads-styled arsiness between them – there wasn't. What this is instead is really quite forensic, with sterling levels of recall, real or otherwise. We get all the tour itineraries of DCD, even the gigs that got shelved through the lurgy or logistics, and this way after he'd left for different amicable reasons; we get the first names of his daughter's formative boyfriends when they get subjected to their belles' old man's old troupe for the first time. Is it any wonder we have such minutiae from a man who can use about six gazillion different instruments, and whose recent projects include three creatives minimum per track for a trio of albums borne from an untourable virtual spawning ground of ethnic West Coast rock meets olde Englishe folkie?

This is a real success, irregardless of the lack of dark depths and everything else the genre normally throws up (the most negativity is delivered, and rightly, to an utterly inept distributor, whose antics need to be read to be believed). It makes the man sound incredibly appealing as a musical aesthete and performer, it makes all the records he put out sound like your next favourite discovery, and DCD fan or not he shines a pleasantly sunny light on the fact he got to work with some geniuses and didn't come up short in comparison. I think the only thing he's not got the ability to play is second fiddle. A voluminous, lengthy, extensive five stars.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Red Hen Press for an advanced copy of this biography about a man, a band, his music and what he learned along the way.

Before CD burners and file sharing I worked for a number of years in an independent record shop that was well known not only for our musical selection, but the musical snobbery of our staff. Again this was before the Internet, so knowledge was gained from reading British music magazines, ICE for bootlegs and what we picked up at shows or from our customers. The store had a large import section and the label that sold the best and had the most turnover was 4AD. Import singles, 12 inch, vinyl, bootlegs, it didn't really matter. They were a label of quality, and people were willing spend to find out. Import CDs usually weren't sealed so we could play pretty much anything and that is how I first heard Dead Can Dance. Their music was like a soundscape, sort of like the musical soundtracks they would later be known for. The sounds, the beats, the vocalizations everything was different, and wonderful. They were a band ahead of their time. And Peter Ulrich was there as they found their sound. Drumming with Dead Can Dance and Parallel Adventures tells the story of the band as he saw it, his life before and after, and a lot about music and percussion.

Peter Ulrich was unhappy and needing a change from his job when he received a call out of the blue to audition for a band that he had never heard of, but happened to live in the same estate that he was living at in London. Ulrich had been in bands but had been away from music for awhile, and thought that nothing would come of it. The music he was asked to play along with was difficult and different, and thought he had botched it until the woman said well I guess he is in the band. Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry had started the band, Dead Can Dance in Australia, had some success, came to London and lost two members, and had to start on the bottom. Soon Ulrich was drumming and beginning to look at music in a totally different way as the band worked their way up, finally signing with 4AD and gaining a reputation. However life doesn't stop for music, and Ulrich had to step away from the band. That is when is life really began.

Peter Ulrich is not only a good drummer, and a fine composer, but Ulrich is a really good writer. I have never really read a band story that didn't have blow out fights, drunken fights, or egos getting in the way of the story, especially getting in the way of the story. Ulrich tells the story like it was, or in the case of a night buying dinner, lets the other person tell their version. I have read a lot of books about music, bands, and history, and usually there is some grudge settling, or a spat from 40 years ago that no one remembers except the writer or source, but Ulrich is that rare person who seems to have enjoyed his time, left for good reasons, and stayed friendly with everyone. The book is a fascinating look at a band on the rise, touring in the 80's and 90's and what it took to prepare, and how they did so. Except for stories about other bands starting fights, or tossing televisions out the window, this is not a story of excess. Just a story about a guy, his friends, and a life about music, and his family.

A really good book about a band that really was unique. There is a lot about different percussion instruments, techniques and equipment. Plus the appendix offers a nice guide to world music for those who are interested. One of most informative, without gossip or grudges books on music that I have read.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

While Dead Can Dance gained fame as the esoteric duo of Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, it started as an ordinary post-punk band. Peter Ulrich signed on as the band’s drummer once Perry, Gerrard, and bassist Paul Erikson made the move from Australia to London without their original drummer, and he continued with DCD for about half of its initial run. These are Ulrich’s memoirs about his life performing with Dead Can Dance, and then his struggles to continue a career in music after that.

We get a lot of detail about the formation of London-era Dead Can Dance on a housing estate in the Isle of Dogs area, then the making of Dead Can Dance’s self-titled debut for 4AD, earliest tours, and the Garden of Arcane Delights EP. During this period, in 1982–1984, songs were still written and recorded in a fashion collaborative enough that Ulrich had some input. But from the next year on, Perry and Gerrard were largely working alone in the studio, and Ulrich served only as a tour musician, his last tour being in 1990. Thus, the bulk of the chapters on 1985–1990 are an account of DCD on tour, with Ulrich trying to reconstruct every tour date and recounting all the typical crazy stories of a band on tour: problems with equipment, squalid hotels, and disputes with promoters.

Ulrich left after the Aion tour in order to focus on raising a family. Rather oddly, the book goes on trying to chart every DCD tour and album release from 1990 to 2021, even though Ulrich was no longer part of it. This feels rather like padding; Ulrich knew that he wouldn’t have a whole book’s worth of material otherwise, and his own solo career has been so low-key that the book’s target audience will be DCD fans. That said, even though I myself have little interest in Ulrich’s solo projects, a reader can’t help but feel sympathy with him as he pours his own money into recording, only to be screwed over by dishonest label executives and ignored by the music press.

I found that there was enough interesting trivia here about DCD that I could give the book a middling review. Maybe two stars is about right, but I have added a third just because Ulrich comes across as such an underdog. The great downside of the book is that it got little editing, and reads more or less like a self-published project. There are egregious typos here, as well as a failure to do basic fact-checking before publication (give the book to a few fans first!). For example, Ulrich claims that Brendan and Lisa were inspired by the “choral arrangements” of Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa but that is a purely instrumental album, and he expresses admiration of 4AD labelmate Heidi Berry, but then gets her release history very wrong.

There are quite a lot of details here about Perry and Gerrard that seem personal. Not personal in the sense that Ulrich is breaching confidence – he got the approval of both of his old bandmates before publishing – but the sort of things that one would have expected to appear in Perry or Gerrard’s own memoirs. I suspect that means that neither of the duo expects to publish their own memoirs, and therefore Ulrich’s book, flawed as it is, serves as the sole autobiography we can expect from Dead Can Dance.

[Elspeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This memoir by the original drummer of English experimental band Dead Can Dance has got namedropping down to a science ;)

Even though I knew that DCD was on the 4AD label, I didn't realize quite what that meant. In this memoir, Ulrich discusses not only the beginning of DCD and how he came to be involved, but all the bands, most of the 4AD band if not all, that he toured with and even worked with. On one of their first tours they were the support band for the Cocteau Twins! Ulrich was one of the two drummers in the 4AD universe, and he was called to drum for Modern English and other bands on some recordings.

This introduction to the history of Dead Can Dance was not only the story of the band itself but also a point in time, and a documentation of a seminal record label. I really enjoyed hearing more about Dead Can Dance and their experiences with some of the best musicians of the 1980s.

I received a promotional copy and am giving an honest review.

[Sam Denson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyable exploration of the history of Dead Can Dance as well as Ulrich's career. A great jumping off point for those interested in related artists and genres as well, as the author has been involved in music since the late 70s.

[Aaron Badgley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ulrich is not only an amazing drummer, he is a brilliant writer. Great book that is truly entertaining and informative.

[Jennifer Thompson-Thalasinos · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only recently became aware of Lisa Gerrard after seeing her perform at Hans Zimmer Live. Her performance moved me so much I began looking into more information about her which led me to this book. Peter Ulrich was the drummer for Dead Can Dance, Lisa’s duo with Brenden Perry. Peter recalls his time working with them on albums and on tour. I particularly liked how he went into detail of Lisa’s language that she made up as a child to communicate with the divine as well as a few snippets about her faith. She sings in this language and the results are incredible. I feel like I’m in the presence of angels upon hearing her sing. I enjoyed learning more about her in this book.

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel bad rating this so low since I am not the audience for this book. It was picked by a person in my book club so I read it even though I had never heard of the band. I thought when starting the book that maybe that would be fine, that there would be fun, lurid rock-n-roll stories. Nope. Totally wrong. The author sounds like a great guy with his head on his shoulders. No one in the band did stereotypical crazy rock star stuff. They were normal people focused on making music. While this would make me in real life want to hang out with the author and be his friend, as a reader I was disappointed in the lack of craziness.

If you are a fan of this band or if you like world music or if you are a musician, I think you would enjoy this book. I am none of those things so was bored and struggled to finish it in time for our book club meeting.