the daughter of hippie parents who exposed her to art rock artists
such as Captain Beefheart and folk singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan at an early age. After growing up
on their farm in Dorset and playing saxophone with an eight-piece
instrumental group, she wrote her first songs as part of the
Polekats, a folk trio who toured local pubs, in which she was only
just old enough to drink. Afterwards, she attended an art foundation
course before joining Somerset-based band Automatic Dlamini for two
and a half years (from whom would come several future collaborators).
Over this period she contributed saxophone, guitar and vocals, and
toured Europe twice, also appearing on the chorus of local band
Grape's "Baby In A Plastic Bag" single, and singing backing vocals on
Bristol-based Family Cat's "Colour Me Grey'. Bored with playing other
people's material, she moved to London, ostensibly to attend a course
in sculpture (her other love), and elected to work with bass player
Ian Olliver and drummer and backing vocalist Rob Ellis (b. 13
February 1962, Bristol, Avon, England), both fellow Automatic Dlamini
travellers. Together they played live for the first time in April
1991, using the name PJ Harvey. Independent label Too Pure Records,
home of Th" Faith Healers and Stereolab, were so convinced by these
nebulous performances that they mortgaged their home to finance the
debut single "Dress".
Olliver left to be replaced by Stephen Vaughan (b. 22 June 1962,
Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England) on five-string fretless bass,
after the record's release. Together with the impressive "Sheela-Na-
Gig" and her 1992 debut Dry, it was enough to bring her to the
attention not only of Island Records but also the mainstream press.
Subverting the traditions of the female singer-songwriter with
outbreaks of fire-and-brimstone guitar, Harvey possessed the sort of
voice which, while not cultured in the traditional sense, offered a
highly emotive cudgel. Allied to lyrics that laid naked her own
relationships and feelings, her revisionary attitude to feminism was
demonstrated by the New Musical Express cover on which she appeared
topless, with her back to the photographer. An evocative and
disturbing songwriter, most considered that she would leave too
bitter an aftertaste for a mass audience, a truism that was partially
dispelled by support slots to U2, but hardly by the choice of
producer for Rid Of Me, Big Black/Rapeman controversialist Steve
Albini. A vicious stew of rural blues, with Harvey's voice and guitar
sounding almost animalized by the production, its title track
centrepiece offered one of the most fearsome declarations ("You're
not rid of me") ever articulated in rock music. Obsessive, haranguing
imagery accompanied by stunning, committed musical performances
(especially the distinctive drumming of Ellis), this was an album of
such vehemence that its follow-up, by necessity, was forced to lower
the extremity threshold.
In the interim, PJ Harvey (now officially a solo artist) made a
memorable appearance at the 1994 BRIT Awards, duetting with Bj"rk on
a remarkable cover version of the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction". For
To Bring You My Love, Harvey abandoned some of the psychosis,
replacing it with a haunting, sinister ambience. With U2 producer
Flood working in tandem with namesake Mick Harvey (of the Bad Seeds),
Harvey left behind some of the less pleasant subject matter of yore
(bodily dysfunction, revenge). The new approach was typified by the
video to promotional single "Down By The Water", evocative of Ophelia-
like madness and sacrifice. Her band now consisted of guitarist John
Parish (another former colleague from Automatic Dlamini), Jean-Marc
Butty (b. France; drums), Nick Bagnall (keyboards, bass), Joe Gore
(b. San Francisco, California, USA; guitar, ex-Tom Waits' band) and
Pere Ubu's Eric Feldman (b. San Francisco, California, USA;
keyboards) - all musicians Harvey had met on previous travels. It was
obvious, however, that she was still having problems with her public
perception: "If I hadn't been tarred with the angst-ridden old bitch
cow image, it'd be something else. Now it's, oh, she's gone back to
the farm'. Harvey also appeared on acclaimed albums by Nick Cave and
Tricky, and in 1996 collaborated with Parish on the theatrical Dance
Hall At Louse Point. That album's oblique musical reference points
informed 1998"s starkly beautiful Is This Desire?. The same year she
made her acting debut in Hal Hartley's The Book Of Life. Her sixth
album, the aptly-titled Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea,
juxtaposed thrashy alternative rock ("Big Exit", "Kamikaze") with
dark, sensual ballads ("This Mess We're In", "We Float"). The album
was awarded the UK's Mercury Music Prize in September 2001.
some girls are bigger than others
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