David Devant & His Spirit Wife
Encyclopedia
David Devant and His Spirit Wife are an indie
/art rock
band from Brighton
, England
. They are named after the English magician and early film exhibitor, David Devant
(1868–1941).
s employed by the onstage "Spectral Roadies", such as carrots grated into their hair during performance of the song "Ginger". The band's first album, Don Spirit Specs Now! was released on cassette in 1993.
In 1996, Devant were the house band
for the single-series sitcom Asylum, performing segments in every episode from their Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous album, released the following year. The lead-in track "Ginger" provided the programme's title music.
The band were behind a short film, Light On The Surface, in the early nineties set in a motorway service station and featuring the original pop video to their first single, "Cookie". They were also the subject of a Channel 4
documentary in the late nineties which followed them on tour with Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous and finished ominously with their lead singer, The Vessel
, burning his Bela Lugosi
-style wig as they planned to change their uniquely theatrical performances, possibly as a result of a cutting NME
review which implied they were "hiding behind" the theatrics.
Lead guitarist, Foz Foster
also known as Foz? (Foz Questionmark), left and was briefly replaced by John Pope during the 2000 recording of Shiney On The Inside. By the release of their second album, Shiney on the Inside, the band's live theatrics had been scaled back. Foz? returned to the band after this and was involved in the recording of the 2004 album Power Words For Better Living, writing the music for the track "Social Comet".
The friendship between Vessel and Eddie Argos, lead singer of the art rock band, Art Brut
, saw the two bands unite for a gig at the Tate Britain
in 2004.
began collaborating with Jyoti Mishra in 2001, under the band name of Carfax. The duo released two albums, Memento From The Digital Age and Minky Pauve.
While the band continue to do live performances, Georgeson launched a solo career under the pseudonym of Mr Solo. In November 2005, Mr Solo took part in a benefit show for War Child
at Oxford House
of Bethnal Green
on the same bill as comedian Richard Herring
and Chris Difford
of Squeeze. Solo kicked off the evening with a version of "Whole Wide World" and also sang the old Devant favourite, "Pimlico". His next performance was as the support act for a David Devant show at Brighton's Komedia club in July 2006. Mr Solo has since gone on to perform regularly at venues across London, and released an album All Will Be Revealed in 2007, including several tracks ("Three Wishes", "Genius") which were previously recorded for Minky Pauve. In 2010 he released a second album, Wonders Never Cease.
Performing as Mr Solo, Georgeson has also made a number of appearances as part of This Happy Band, a loose collective of artists, poets and musicians who have performed together at art events including 'Dead Season / Live Art' for Limbo Arts in Margate and Nunhead Open Exhibition 2009 and 2011. Mr Solo is also a member of The Glam Chops, a side project of Art Brut's Eddie Argos who have appeared on Mark Reilly's 6 Music show.
Georgeson is a lecturer at the University of East London, and has produced artwork shown by Sartorial Contemporary Art
and Dulwich Picture Gallery
.
James Foster is part of a performance art musical double act, Foster and Gilvan, who perform regularly by themselves and as part of Badstock Puppets and the Karaoke Circus
. Both Foster and Georgeson have made a number of special guest appearances with Martin White's Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra.
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
/art rock
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, with influences from art, avant-garde, and classical music. The first usage of the term, according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, was in 1968. Influenced by the work of The Beatles, most notably their Sgt...
band from Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. They are named after the English magician and early film exhibitor, David Devant
David Devant
David Devant was an English magician, shadowgraphist and film exhibitor. He was born David Wighton in Holloway, London...
(1868–1941).
History
David Devant and His Spirit Wife formed in Brighton in the early 1990s. At this time the band were known for outlandish onstage antics and elaborate propTheatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
s employed by the onstage "Spectral Roadies", such as carrots grated into their hair during performance of the song "Ginger". The band's first album, Don Spirit Specs Now! was released on cassette in 1993.
In 1996, Devant were the house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
for the single-series sitcom Asylum, performing segments in every episode from their Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous album, released the following year. The lead-in track "Ginger" provided the programme's title music.
The band were behind a short film, Light On The Surface, in the early nineties set in a motorway service station and featuring the original pop video to their first single, "Cookie". They were also the subject of a Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
documentary in the late nineties which followed them on tour with Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous and finished ominously with their lead singer, The Vessel
Mikey Georgeson
Mikey Georgeson is an artist, working in various media. He is a painter and illustrator, who regularly exhibits his work at Sartorial Contemporary Art and other galleries. As ‘the Vessel’, he is songwriter and singer of the cult art-rock band, David Devant and his Spirit Wife...
, burning his Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
-style wig as they planned to change their uniquely theatrical performances, possibly as a result of a cutting NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
review which implied they were "hiding behind" the theatrics.
Lead guitarist, Foz Foster
Foz Foster
James 'Foz' Foster is a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the lead guitarist in the art-rock band, David Devant and his Spirit Wife, and in the 1983-5 incarnation of The Monochrome Set. Foster also plays guitar, musical saw and vibraslap in the house band of Karaoke Circus...
also known as Foz? (Foz Questionmark), left and was briefly replaced by John Pope during the 2000 recording of Shiney On The Inside. By the release of their second album, Shiney on the Inside, the band's live theatrics had been scaled back. Foz? returned to the band after this and was involved in the recording of the 2004 album Power Words For Better Living, writing the music for the track "Social Comet".
The friendship between Vessel and Eddie Argos, lead singer of the art rock band, Art Brut
Art Brut (band)
Art Brut are a Berlin-based English and German indie rock band. Their debut album, Bang Bang Rock & Roll, was released on 30 May 2005, with its follow up, It's a Bit Complicated, released on 25 June 2007...
, saw the two bands unite for a gig at the Tate Britain
Tate Britain
Tate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
in 2004.
Side projects
Mikey GeorgesonMikey Georgeson
Mikey Georgeson is an artist, working in various media. He is a painter and illustrator, who regularly exhibits his work at Sartorial Contemporary Art and other galleries. As ‘the Vessel’, he is songwriter and singer of the cult art-rock band, David Devant and his Spirit Wife...
began collaborating with Jyoti Mishra in 2001, under the band name of Carfax. The duo released two albums, Memento From The Digital Age and Minky Pauve.
While the band continue to do live performances, Georgeson launched a solo career under the pseudonym of Mr Solo. In November 2005, Mr Solo took part in a benefit show for War Child
War Child (charity)
War Child is a non-governmental organisation founded in the UK 1993, which focuses on providing assistance to children in areas of conflict and post-conflict. They use their film and entertainment background to raise money for aid agencies operating in former Yugoslavia...
at Oxford House
Oxford House (settlement)
Oxford House in Bethnal Green, London was established in September 1884 as one of the first "settlements" by Oxford University as a High-Anglican Church of England counterpart to Toynbee Hall, established around the same time at Whitechapel.- History :...
of Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
on the same bill as comedian Richard Herring
Richard Herring
Richard Keith Herring is a British comedian and writer, whose early work includes his involvement in the double-act, Lee and Herring...
and Chris Difford
Chris Difford
Chris Difford is a singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer....
of Squeeze. Solo kicked off the evening with a version of "Whole Wide World" and also sang the old Devant favourite, "Pimlico". His next performance was as the support act for a David Devant show at Brighton's Komedia club in July 2006. Mr Solo has since gone on to perform regularly at venues across London, and released an album All Will Be Revealed in 2007, including several tracks ("Three Wishes", "Genius") which were previously recorded for Minky Pauve. In 2010 he released a second album, Wonders Never Cease.
Performing as Mr Solo, Georgeson has also made a number of appearances as part of This Happy Band, a loose collective of artists, poets and musicians who have performed together at art events including 'Dead Season / Live Art' for Limbo Arts in Margate and Nunhead Open Exhibition 2009 and 2011. Mr Solo is also a member of The Glam Chops, a side project of Art Brut's Eddie Argos who have appeared on Mark Reilly's 6 Music show.
Georgeson is a lecturer at the University of East London, and has produced artwork shown by Sartorial Contemporary Art
Sartorial Contemporary Art
Sartorial Contemporary Art is a contemporary art gallery in central London, England.- Overview :The gallery was founded in 2005 as a project-led space in an 18th century Georgian house on Kensington Church Street in London, England...
and Dulwich Picture Gallery
Dulwich Picture Gallery
Dulwich Picture Gallery is an art gallery in Dulwich, South London. England's first purpose-built public art gallery, it was designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane and opened to the public in 1817. Soane arranged the exhibition spaces as a series of interlinked rooms illuminated naturally...
.
James Foster is part of a performance art musical double act, Foster and Gilvan, who perform regularly by themselves and as part of Badstock Puppets and the Karaoke Circus
Karaoke Circus
Karaoke Circus is a British Karaoke night where guest singers from the world of comedy compete alongside members of the public for a coveted prize. Sometimes called 'Ward & White's Karaoke Circus', the show was started by composer Martin White and stand-up comedienne Danielle Ward in October 2008...
. Both Foster and Georgeson have made a number of special guest appearances with Martin White's Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra.
Personnel
- The VesselMikey GeorgesonMikey Georgeson is an artist, working in various media. He is a painter and illustrator, who regularly exhibits his work at Sartorial Contemporary Art and other galleries. As ‘the Vessel’, he is songwriter and singer of the cult art-rock band, David Devant and his Spirit Wife...
(Mikey Georgeson, also known by pseudonym Mr Solo) (lead vocals, keyboards, guitar) - Foz?Foz FosterJames 'Foz' Foster is a composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the lead guitarist in the art-rock band, David Devant and his Spirit Wife, and in the 1983-5 incarnation of The Monochrome Set. Foster also plays guitar, musical saw and vibraslap in the house band of Karaoke Circus...
(James Foster) (guitar) - The Colonel (Jem) (bass)
- Professor Rimschott (Graham) (drums)
- ICEman (Nick Curry) (spectral roadie)
- Cocky Young'un (Gary) (spectral roadie)
- Lantern (projections)
- John Pope (Jon Klein)
Albums
- Don Spirit Specs Now! (1993) [Cassette Only]
- Work, Lovelife, Miscellaneous (1997)
- Shiney On The Inside (1998)
- Power Words For Better Living (2004)
- The Lost World Of David Devant (2006)
Singles
- "Pimlico" Humbug Records HUM4 1995
- "Cookie"
- "Ginger"
- "This Is For Real"
- "Lie Detector"
- "Radar"
- "Space Daddy"
- "Contact" Outstanding RecordsOutstanding RecordsOutstanding Records is a record company based in London, England, which also manages many of the bands on the label.-Roster:* The Pinker Tones* David Devant & His Spirit Wife* Veldt* Mr Solo* Ovni* Pecker-External links:* home page...
OSTRS002 10 May 2004 - "About It" Outstanding RecordsOutstanding RecordsOutstanding Records is a record company based in London, England, which also manages many of the bands on the label.-Roster:* The Pinker Tones* David Devant & His Spirit Wife* Veldt* Mr Solo* Ovni* Pecker-External links:* home page...
OSTRS003 8 November 2004