.gif)
Warren Ellis (musician)
Encyclopedia
Warren Ellis is an Australian multi-instrumentalist
and composer, best known for his work with Dirty Three
, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
and Grinderman
and his soundtrack scores with Nick Cave
. He plays violin
, piano
, bouzouki
, guitar
, flute
, mandolin
, and tenor guitar
. Ellis is also known for his excessive and eccentric, though amusing banter between songs during Dirty Three live shows.
Ellis currently lives in Paris
with wife Delphine Ciampi and their two children Rosco and Jackson.
, Victoria
, Australia
. Ellis moved from Ballarat, in regional Victoria, to Melbourne
, and completed a Diploma of Education
in Music and English; studied classical violin, traveled, busked, and performed chamber music. He spent a few years teaching in secondary schools before resigning; wrote music for theatre
groups and performed at art openings and plays in Melbourne and then begun playing with Melbourne bands. Before forming in 1992, the Dirty Three
, with Jim White
and Mick Turner
, Ellis played with several groups and individuals: Paranoid; the Nursing Mothers; The Slub, which also included Mick Turner; These Future Kings, Charlie Marshall & The Body Electric, The Blackeyed Susans
, and Dave McComb
of The Triffids
.
In 1995, Ellis was invited to play with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
on a recording; he remained with the band and continues to play and record with the Bad Seeds, and Grinderman
, formed as a spin-off group from the Bad Seeds, who have released two albums.
In 2002, Ellis released a solo album on King Crab records called Three Pieces for Violin. Since 2005 he has played on several Marianne Faithfull albums, and collaborated with Nick Cave exclusively; the two composed the award-winning score of the film The Proposition
, and then collaborated again on the score of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
.
In 2009, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis released White Lunar - an album that includes other soundtrack scores.
Ellis has appeared on the front cover of the first issue of popular London fanzine
The Freaky Jason, and was photographed for Scott Schuman's, the Sartorialist.
As of 2009 Ellis continues to perform in The Dirty Three, the Bad Seeds, and Grinderman.
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
and composer, best known for his work with Dirty Three
Dirty Three
Dirty Three are an instrumental trio consisting of Warren Ellis , Mick Turner and Jim White , originating from Melbourne, Australia. Since the Dirty Three formed in 1992, they have spent a lot of time overseas...
, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...
and Grinderman
Grinderman
Grinderman is an alternative rock band formed by Nick Cave , Warren Ellis , Martyn P. Casey and Jim Sclavunos in London, United Kingdom in 2006...
and his soundtrack scores with Nick Cave
Nick Cave
Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
. He plays violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, and tenor guitar
Tenor guitar
1932 Martin 0-18 T Sunburst Tenor Guitar|thumb|rightThe tenor guitar or four-string guitar is a slightly smaller, four-string relative of the steel-string acoustic guitar or electric guitar. The instrument was developed so that players of the four-string tenor banjo could double on the guitar...
. Ellis is also known for his excessive and eccentric, though amusing banter between songs during Dirty Three live shows.
Ellis currently lives in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with wife Delphine Ciampi and their two children Rosco and Jackson.
Life and career
Ellis was born in BallaratBallarat, Victoria
Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Ellis moved from Ballarat, in regional Victoria, to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, and completed a Diploma of Education
Diploma of Education
The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom...
in Music and English; studied classical violin, traveled, busked, and performed chamber music. He spent a few years teaching in secondary schools before resigning; wrote music for theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
groups and performed at art openings and plays in Melbourne and then begun playing with Melbourne bands. Before forming in 1992, the Dirty Three
Dirty Three
Dirty Three are an instrumental trio consisting of Warren Ellis , Mick Turner and Jim White , originating from Melbourne, Australia. Since the Dirty Three formed in 1992, they have spent a lot of time overseas...
, with Jim White
Jim White (drummer)
Jim White is an Australian drummer . He is the drummer for the Dirty Three, a band formed in Melbourne, but he has also played with a number of other groups, including:*Tren Brothers, consisting of Jim White and Mick Turner, guitarist of the Dirty Three....
and Mick Turner
Mick Turner
Mick Turner is an Australian musician and painter best known as the guitarist for Dirty Three.Prior to his work with Dirty Three, Turner was a member of several Melbourne-based rock bands: Sick Things , The Moodists , Fungus Brains , and Venom P...
, Ellis played with several groups and individuals: Paranoid; the Nursing Mothers; The Slub, which also included Mick Turner; These Future Kings, Charlie Marshall & The Body Electric, The Blackeyed Susans
The Blackeyed Susans
The Blackeyed Susans are an Australian rock band, formed in Perth in 1989, based in Melbourne since 1992.-Perth 1989-1990:The original line-up consisted of David McComb on vocals and guitar, Alsy MacDonald on drums , Phil Kakulas on bass guitar , Rob Snarski on vocals and guitar, and...
, and Dave McComb
David McComb
David Richard McComb was an Australian rock musician. He was the singer-songwriter of the Australian band, The Triffids.-Early years in Perth:...
of The Triffids
The Triffids
The Triffids were a seminal Australian alternative rock and pop band formed in Perth, Western Australia, in May 1978 with charismatic, David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist. They achieved negligible success in Australia, but greater success in the U.K...
.
In 1995, Ellis was invited to play with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian alternative rock band, formed in Melbourne in 1983. The band is fronted by Nick Cave and has featured international personnel throughout their career.-Formation and early releases :...
on a recording; he remained with the band and continues to play and record with the Bad Seeds, and Grinderman
Grinderman
Grinderman is an alternative rock band formed by Nick Cave , Warren Ellis , Martyn P. Casey and Jim Sclavunos in London, United Kingdom in 2006...
, formed as a spin-off group from the Bad Seeds, who have released two albums.
In 2002, Ellis released a solo album on King Crab records called Three Pieces for Violin. Since 2005 he has played on several Marianne Faithfull albums, and collaborated with Nick Cave exclusively; the two composed the award-winning score of the film The Proposition
The Proposition
The Proposition is a 2005 western film directed by John Hillcoat and written by screenwriter and musician Nick Cave. It stars Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, John Hurt, Danny Huston and David Wenham. The film's production completed in 2004 and was followed by a wide 2005 release in...
, and then collaborated again on the score of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American Western drama film. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt portraying Jesse James and Casey Affleck as his killer, Robert Ford.Filming took place in rural Alberta and Winnipeg, Manitoba...
.
In 2009, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis released White Lunar - an album that includes other soundtrack scores.
Ellis has appeared on the front cover of the first issue of popular London fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
The Freaky Jason, and was photographed for Scott Schuman's, the Sartorialist.
As of 2009 Ellis continues to perform in The Dirty Three, the Bad Seeds, and Grinderman.
Collaborations/as a band member
- The Blackeyed SusansThe Blackeyed SusansThe Blackeyed Susans are an Australian rock band, formed in Perth in 1989, based in Melbourne since 1992.-Perth 1989-1990:The original line-up consisted of David McComb on vocals and guitar, Alsy MacDonald on drums , Phil Kakulas on bass guitar , Rob Snarski on vocals and guitar, and...
' album All Souls AliveAll Souls AliveAll Souls Alive is the second studio album by The Blackeyed Susans, released in December 1993 on the independent record label, Torn and Frayed, and distributed by Shock Records.... - Kim SalmonKim SalmonKim Leith Salmon is an Australian indie rock musician and songwriter, who attained fame in June 2004, when he was inducted into the West Australian Music Industry Association Hall of Fame....
's album "Hey Believer" - David McCombDavid McCombDavid Richard McComb was an Australian rock musician. He was the singer-songwriter of the Australian band, The Triffids.-Early years in Perth:...
's album Love of WillLove of WillLove of Will is the debut album by David McComb, released in March, 1994. The album was recorded and mixed between June and August, 1993, at Platinum Studios with additional mixing at Metropolis and Sing Sing Studios... - "Hell's Coming Down" from the album Riot City Blues, with Primal ScreamPrimal ScreamPrimal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
. - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert FordThe Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (soundtrack)The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is the official soundtrack album to the movie of the same name...
soundtrack, with Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
. - The PropositionThe Proposition (soundtrack)The Proposition is a soundtrack recorded by Nick Cave in collaboration with Warren Ellis, and was produced for the film The Proposition, released in October 2005.-Music style:...
soundtrack, with Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
. - Soundtrack to WoyzeckWoyzeckWoyzeck is a stage play written by Georg Büchner. He left the work incomplete at his death, but it has been variously and posthumously "finished" by a variety of authors, editors and translators. Woyzeck has become one of the most performed and influential plays in the German theatre...
, adaptation by Gísli Örn Gardarsson, with Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
. - "Crazy Love" by Marianne FaithfullMarianne FaithfullMarianne Evelyn Faithfull is an award-winning English singer, songwriter and actress whose career has spanned five decades....
/Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
, with Isabelle HuppertIsabelle HuppertIsabelle Anne Madeleine Huppert is a French actress who has appeared in over 90 film and television productions since 1971. She has had 14 films in official competition at the Cannes Film Festival, and won the Best Actress Award twice, for Violette Nozière and La pianiste . She is also the most...
. - Slight DelaySlight DelaySlight Delay is the second album from Australian singer/songwriter Loene Carmen. It was released in 2004 on Chiquita Records through Reverberation in Australia...
album by Loene CarmenLoene CarmenLoene Carmen is an Australian singer/songwriter and actress.-Background:Carmen's father is rock/jazz/blues pianist Peter Head... - Also performed with the ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
burlesqueBurlesqueBurlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
queen Maya Sinstress in early 2000. - The English SurgeonThe English Surgeon (film)The English Surgeon is a film, which premiered at the London Film Festival on 1 October 2007.-Synopsis:The English Surgeon is shot in a Ukrainian hospital full of desperate patients and makeshift equipment, but it is ultimately not a medical film—it is about a man, Henry Marsh, and his partnership...
soundtrack, with Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
. - The Road soundtrack, with Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
. - The Girls of Phnom Penh soundtrack, with Nick CaveNick CaveNicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...
.
Awards
- 2005 AFI AwardsAustralian Film Institute AwardsThe Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award, known as the AACTA Award , is an accolade presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts . The awards recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry and television industry, including directors,...
: Best Original Music Score (The Proposition) - 2005 Inside Film AwardsInside Film AwardsThe Inside Film Awards is an annual awards ceremony and broadcast platform for the Australian film industry, a format created by Australian Producer Andrew Dillon...
: Best Music (The Proposition) - 2005 Film Critics Circle Of Australia Awards: Best Musical Score (The Proposition)
- 2010 [(Kermode Awards)]: Best Score (The Road)