David Thomas (musician)

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David Thomas
David Thomas
Background information
Birth name	David Lynn Thomas
Born	1953
Origin	Miami, FL, USA
Genre(s)	rock
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1975–present

David Lynn Thomas (born 1953 in Miami, Florida) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.

He was one of the founding members of the short-lived protopunkers Rocket From The Tombs (1974-1975) and of post-punk group Pere Ubu (1975 - present, intermittently). He has also released several solo albums. Though primarily a singer, he sometimes plays melodeon, trombone, guitar or other instruments.

Thomas has described his artistic focus as being the "gestalt of culture, geography and sound". [1] Common themes crop up throughout much of his work, such as the US Interstate Highway system, images of roadside or "junk" tourist culture, Brian Wilson, AM Radio, and many others.

Something of a cult figure, Thomas's high pitched voice is one of the most distinctive in rock music; Emerson Dameron memorably described Thomas's singing as "Jimmy Stewart trapped in an oboe"[2], while Greil Marcus writes that "Mr Thomas's voice is that of a man muttering in a crowd. You think he's talking to himself until you realize he's talking to you."[3]

1 Biography
2 Current solo career
3 Discography
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Though born in Flordia, Thomas was raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area. He cofounded Rocket From the Tombs, which disbanded after about a year, then he formed Pere Ubu, which was originally active from 1975 to 1982.

Afterwards, Thomas worked with a variety of musicians including guitarists Richard Thompson and Philip Moxham, and Henry Cow alumni bassonist/oboist Lindsay Cooper and drummer Chris Cutler. Initially, his solo recordings eschewed Pere Ubu's "rock" focus. Lindsay Cooper's bassoon was often prominent, and, when Richard Thompson's guitar was not featured, guitar would be absent (such as the entirety of 1985's More Places Forever). Thomas's lyrics became increasingly whimsical, with birds being a common theme:

Somewhere along the line I wrote a song that had birds in it. And then by pure coincidence, another. Some critic asked, "Why all these songs about birds?" And I said to myself, "You think that's a lot of songs about birds?!? I'll show you a lot of songs about birds!" So, for awhile, I stuck birds in everywhere I could. [4]

Eventually, several former members of Pere Ubu gravitated into Thomas's group, and by the time of 1987's Blame the Messenger, were sporting a sound distinctly similar to the former band. This fact along with other considerations led directly into the official reformation of Pere Ubu in 1987, which has continued intermittently to tours in early 2007.

[edit] Current solo career

Thomas's solo activities were diminished, though not extinguished by the reformation of Pere Ubu. Throughout the 80s, Thomas maintained a rotating trio dubbed The Accordion Club, which at various times included John Kirkpatrick, Chris Cutler, Garo Yellin, and Ira Kaplan. While these groupings tended to share a repertoire with Pere Ubu, the focus was smaller. Thomas stated: "I often use the same songs in both projex ... I can explore the stories behind the songs. I can extend/expand/interpolate those stories."[5] Though The Accordion Club never recorded, it led to the formation of Thomas's current "solo" project, the Two Pale Boys. Devoted to "spontaneous song generation", they feature Keith Moliné on guitar and Andy Diagram on "trumpet through electronics;" both make frequent use of MIDI, giving them a broader palate than might be expected from two instruments. In addition to singing Thomas frequently plays melodeon. Says Thomas:

"Pere Ubu is a big rock experience, often overwhelming in its power and intensity of dataflow. It's a Hollywood blockbuster on a cinemascopic screen. Projex like the [Two Pale Boys] are intended as indy arthouse films." [6]

Thomas typically has a large number of ongoing projects at any one time. He has performed in theatrical productions, including several productions by Hal Willner, and a London West End production of Shockheaded Peter. He has delivered his lecture "The Geography of Sound In The Magnetic Age" at Clark University and UCLA, among other venues. He has staged his "improvisational opera" Mirror Man [7], at venues in Europe and North America, featuring at various times contributions from many of his previous collaborators, as well as Linda Thompson, Bob Holman, Robert Kidney, Van Dyke Parks, Frank Black, George Wendt, and Syd Straw.

Most recently he has alternated recording and performances primarily between Pere Ubu, David Thomas and Two Pale Boys, and the reunited Rocket from the Tombs.