Tim Perfect Complexion Photo by Howard Rosenberg Peter Murphy now on tour! click here for comments, setlists, photos September 8, 1999 A dead Red Ant... From Charmaine and Aileen We have been loyal listeners since Bauhaus. We have seen every concert that you have performed in the Miami, Florida area. Our questions to you are: 1. "We eagerly await your next album and wondered when shall we expect your new release?" 2. "Will you support your latest endeavor with a tour?" 3. "Do you foresee any musical reunion with Bauhaus in regards to new material?" My best friend, Charmaine and I (Aileen) find your music to be inspirational. Nothing gets us through the day like the soul searching sound of your beautiful voice. It speaks to our souls and echoes through our lives. We found ourselves to be extremely fortunate to have been able to experience the Bauhaus 1998 tour as if God looked down upon us. We don't want to sound like silly teenage girls but we truly love your work and are always looking for new ways and venues to keep you constant in our lives. We certainly hope this email effort finds you in good health and spirits and hope that you will respond to us. Thank you for sharing a little piece of yourself with the world and making it a better place. Dear ladies in waiting, I've been carrying my next album around in my body for a while now, with me a moment comes that feels right and I deliver with very little labour pain, I'm looking to see how I can get it out. Of late and because of certain legalities I have not been able to publicly explain at least one of the reasons why I have not released anything since the Recall EP. This being due to the fact that Red Ant Records have been in danger of folding to the point where they as my record company refused to finance the recording sessions for an album that I had organised to begin a year ago. In effect, Red Ant's position seemed to be, 'We won't let you record, but we won't let you go either'. Trapped in a void of celluloid, I have therefore spent a year in the legal extraction process and am delighted to announce that as of this week I am free to fly away. On a creative note, I have many ideas that I will be exploring this month in North Carolina and Montreal, as well as a project very close to my heart (throat -just along the jugular -come to that) that you'll hear of soon enough. Touring /performing, it goes without saying is for me a reflex as is breathing..................... 'Just watch me now' Bauhaus and new material? A year after the dream tour! All I can say is - that dog's a vapour belched by earth. Lastly, oh loyal and felicitous ladies, thank you for your love and affections. ................ See you there From QuiffPunk Peter I was just curious about the influence of punk rock on your early work...were the Pistols/Johnny Lydon and early PIL an influence on Bauhaus at all? The Pistols and punk rock served to simply opened up the possibility of having greater access to the recording industry, for that I'm grateful, but in short the Pistols extravaganza drew no more of my attention than the weather report. David, Daniel and Kevin apparently took the bait, but for me the real revolution happen back in the early seventies with the complete subversive work of, NOT Glam rock, (because that included a host of cheap drag acts) but the divine, or so it seemed, presence of such luminaries as Bolan, That man who sold the world, the wild eyed boy from Free Cloud, Ziggy, 1st & 2nd album Roxy Music / Ferry-Eno, Patti Smith, Doris Day (oops! sorry) and Daniel Ash. Was it a recording session or a cocktail party? Also, is it true that you once auditioned (pre- bauhaus) to replace Dave Vanian in the Damned? Apparently their story and plan in retrospect was to put it around that I had auditioned for the Damned, but if the truth be known, I suspect that they had imagined that Bauhaus were in some way plagarising their own hammer horror mimic, and decided to set me up. In their laddish and very intelligent manner, they called me to say that their vocalist had skipped the boat and as they were committed to a US tour would I 'stand in for the chap' the idea being that no one would know the difference! .......... get the picture? It goes without saying that I declined their offer with the greatest of courtesy. It transpired that the guitarist and bass player turned up at one of our very early shows in London 'The Music Machine' backstage to, as it seemed, intimidate us. However, the guitarist, whose name I forget, but who was nevertheless, a very nice chap underneath, upon being welcomed by us all with such a no-nonsense and congenial manner, saw better of his assumptions about us and actually apologised for their 'bad attitude'. We parted on a warm note. I'm sure the answer to this one will be "no",but are you familiar at all with the current US punk scene or "The New Wave Of Old School" as its called? There are bands here doing somewhat interesting things with the basic form of '77 style punk. Thank you, I'll check them out when I visit America. Finally,have you seen the film "Velvet Goldmine",(scandalous "unofficial" version of the Ziggy Stardust story)??? If so, what did you think? Yes, and I think I'd rather hear it from the horse's mouth, and I look forward to the day when David Bowie (with an 'O' as in holes) makes THE film. It didn't completely stand up. A kind of -just out of film school- dilettantism. July 31, 1999 The Ink is set From Erika While in high school, I was fortunate enough to view MTV's world premiere of All Night Long...one look at the gorgeous, complex black and white photography and your sleeping cap, and I was hooked on your solo projects...what inspired the landscape of this dreamworld in your video? Dear Erika, Dreams, and where they take you. Life in the sleep world Alpha Beta A singing bejeweled feather Causing awe of the bird it came from. A debt to Davud who let me in. From Michael I read on the web site that this here be the place to write yon messages to Peter and the gang. [ I must admit I like this web page far better than the page Red Ant put up for Peter, which has not been updated in a very long time.] At any rate, brevity being the soul of wit, I shan't bore you with the same old questions and praises. I've been a fan for a very long time. Peter I've followed through his entire solo career. Bauhaus broke up when I was only 14 and I hadn't as yet gotten into their music. But in the later part of my High school career I had the pleasure of being introduced to their music. And thusly, I've been a fan ever since. Currently I am awaiting Peter's next solo album. Cascade was an amazing album, and to this day it is one of my very favorite music works all around. It is quite obvious that alot of work went into its production. Each song is very vivid and heartfelt. It is also quite apparent how much love Peter feels for his wife, and I find that simply wonderful in itself. But, I would like to know when Peter plans on releasing his next album. Recall left me with hanging, waiting for news of the next great work =) I would also like to know if there is to be a Bauhaus reunion album. [ Of course, everyone is wanting to know that. I don't expect a ready answer. ] To conclude, this email was mostly to thank Peter for his wonderful work and memorable songs. I would like to thank you most of all for Marlene Dietrich's Favourite Poem which remains my favorite Peter Song ever. Dear Michael, Firstly thank you for your encouraging message, I'm glad to hear (as you would expect) such genuine compliments, it does make a difference. My next album, suffice it to say, is going to appear one way or the other as soon as I can make it happen, some things just have their own way of doing themselves if you know what I mean. I am looking forward to the full term of pregnancy to be up! Bauhaus?.........God only knows...... "the ink is set, the pen will write no more".... From V Thank you for sharing the poetry.Let me share a few lines of Shustari with you: After extinction I came out, and I Eternal now am, though not as I. Yet who am I, O I, But I? I have been looking for the complete text of this but have thus far been unsuccessful. My question for you, if it is not too personal, is a question of faith. I see Sufi ideas in your poetry samples. How was it you stepped onto this path? I hear it reflected in your music, I see it in the words you write in reply to your fans questions. Was this a slow turning for you? Or was it a sudden "Knowing"? Was it a path you had walked all along but only realized it when you where shown where it was you walked? Is it difficult integrating your spiritual side with the material world of the music industry? I am curious. These beliefs are seldom shared in the West, and never addressed in popular music. The way you weave this faith delicately between the strains of your music is mesmerizing. I respect your honesty in belief. I see in you a strength in character, a genuine caring nature. I have met you on two separate occasions (Meetings by chance. Though I don't expect you to remember) and these traits shone through. Both times you seemed genuinely interested in the opinion of a stranger. This is a rare quality. Yet, those whom I have met who follow similar paths also possess these qualities. I do not, nor will I ever, know you as an individual. All I know is the "image". Yet, I respect the parts of you that show through in your music. My existence hath come to naught in my vision, and I have parted From the "I" of my vision, effacing it, not affirming it. I embraced what I perceived, and effaced mine own perceiving.... - Ibn al-Farad "If you wish to behold Me , look into the eyes of my servant" Koran Azimushan July 30, 1999 Swing the Heartache From Tim Oliwiak in 'swing the heartache', there is a line: "I now possess quasi success". it is obvious that you do not say that. I am curious as to what exactly you do say, and what "I now possess quasi success" really means. I would appreciate an answer so much... Swing the heartache is primarily a satirical look at the kind of 'Star' that is so self absorbed that her every word becomes mythologised, or so she imagines, to the point where her sense of reality is dependent on the maintenance of her fame, where she declares with utter satisfaction the (quasi) divine utterance; 'I now possess (even) quasi success'...............   Click here for older answers from Peter     NEWS | TOURDATES | TOUR NOTES | BIO | PHOTOS | MERCHANDISE | MAILING LIST | LINKS