Cavan at Electric Picnic #3

One time half of Dead Can Dance,Brendan Perry, solo for over 10 years now, minus a world tour in 2005, is still making waves in the music world.

Now based in Belturbet, Brendan Perry and his band play The Cosby Stage at the Electric Picnic on Saturday.

Fans can expect some blasts from the past, some old Dead Can Dance material, but mainly material from the most recent album and a taste of material that will be on his new album next year.

Brendan's music has a moody, atmospheric quality that fits his description of his music as "painting soundscapes".

"I incorporate a lot of different elements into the music," he says. "Atmosphere and ambience would be influenced by working on film soundtracks and scores. Also, from a theatrical background, I like the music to lend itself to being cinema-like in its scope."

Among his credentials: he wrote soundtracks for Sunset Heights, Child Of The Moon and Baraka; forming Dead Can Dance, he and Lisa Gerrard secured a record contract with 4AD releasing nine albums to considerable public and critical acclaim over a period of 16 years; they built up a significant cult audience worldwide, and Brendan's delighted with "how the audience has stayed with us over the years".

There's a world music feel to his work, and the influences are many-fold. A lot of Brendan's inspiration is internal."It comes from the imagination, as opposed to what affects me outside," he says, but the countryside gives "a peace and meditative-like ambience to my life that cities do not offer". "I draw from any given time or epoch. We're certainly not fashionable, we go with what turns us on. In that sense we make music for ourselves first, not for the market," he says.

Also performing with him will be fellow Belturbet musician, Peter Sheridan, together with the other band members, Astrid Williamson, Dan Gresson and Rory O'Brien.

Brendan Perry plays Belturbet Railway Station on Friday, September 3, at 8.30pm. Tickets at €15 are available from Multisound or 086-1275310. He plays The Cosby Stage at the Electric Picnic on Saturday, September 4, at 9.15pm.

© Anglo Celt