Billy Childish

Billy Childish
Childish at The Aquarium L-13 in 2007
Childish at The Aquarium L-13 in 2007
Background information
Birth nameSteven John Hamper
Also known as
  • William Charlie Hamper
  • Bill Hamper
  • Bill Hamper-Childish
  • Guy Hamper
  • Jack Ketch
  • Gus Claudius
  • Danger Bill Henderson
Born (1959-12-01) 1 December 1959 (age 64)
Chatham, Kent, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • guitarist
  • record producer
  • artist
  • painter
  • author
  • poet
  • photographer
  • filmmaker
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1977–present
Labels
Member of
  • Wild Billy Childish & CTMF
Formerly of
SpouseJulie Hamper
Websitebillychildish.com

Billy Childish (born Steven John Hamper; 1 December 1959) is an English painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, Childish has been prolific in creating music, writing and visual art. He has led and played in bands including the Thee Milkshakes, Thee Headcoats, and the Musicians of the British Empire, primarily working in the genres of garage rock, punk and surf and releasing more than 100 albums.

He is a consistent advocate for amateurism and free emotional expression. Childish co-founded the Stuckism art movement with Charles Thomson in 1999, which he left in 2001. Since then a new evaluation of Childish's standing in the art world has been under way, culminating with the publication of a critical study of Childish's working practice by the artist and writer Neal Brown, with an introduction by Peter Doig, which describes Childish as "one of the most outstanding, and often misunderstood, figures on the British art scene".[1] He is a visiting lecturer at Rochester Independent College.[2] In July 2014 Childish was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts Degree from the University of Kent.[3]

He is known for his explicit and prolific work – he has detailed his love life and childhood sexual abuse, notably in his early poetry and the novels My Fault (1996), Notebooks of a Naked Youth (1997), Sex Crimes of the Futcher (2004) – The Idiocy of Idears (2007), and in several of his songs, notably in the instrumental "Paedophile" (1992) (featuring a photograph of the man who sexually abused him on the front cover) and "Every Bit of Me" (1993). From 1981 until 1987 Childish had a relationship with artist Tracey Emin.[4]

Thirty years after Childish's first musical releases with Thee Milkshakes and Thee Mighty Caesars, a crop of lo-fi, surf rock and punk groups with psychedelic subtexts has surfaced referencing the aesthetic established by Childish in both their band names and in various aspects of their sonic aesthetic:[5] Thee Oh Sees, Thee Open Sex,[6] Thee Tsunamis,[7] Thee Dang Dangs, and many others.

  1. ^ Brown, Neal (2008). Billy Childish: A Short Study. [London]: The Aquarium; ISBN 978-1-871894-23-3
  2. ^ "UK Day & Boarding School, Rochester, Kent". Rochester-college.org. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Honorary degrees for July – Campus online – for current staff – University of Kent". Kent.ac.uk. 7 July 2014. Archived from the original on 24 December 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  4. ^ Kessler, Ted (3 July 2024). "'To be totally the focus of someone, who was really into sex, was fantastic': Tracey Emin and Billy Childish on their blazing romance". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Thee "Thees"". Joyful Noise Journal. Archived from the original on 24 August 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  6. ^ Spicer, J. "Thee Open Sex: I Do Not Know". Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  7. ^ Spicer, J. "Thee Tsunamis: A GoodBad Man is Hard To Find". Tiny Mix Tapes. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 27 August 2013.