Kenny Morris | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Kenny_Morris_musician_1979.jpeg) Morris performing live with Siouxsie and the Banshees, June 1979 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Kenneth Ian Morris |
| Born | 1 February 1957 |
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Genres | Post-punk (music) Experimental (film) |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, painter, drawer, filmmaker |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Website | Official website |
Kenneth Ian Morris (born 1 February 1957), known professionally as Kenny Morris, is an English drummer, songwriter and visual artist. He was the first studio drummer of Siouxsie and the Banshees. He joined the band in January 1977; he had attended their first live appearance at the 100 Club a few months earlier and had been impressed by their performance. Morris's first studio recording with the group was in November 1977 when they recorded their first John Peel session for BBC radio. Music journalist Kris Needs said : "Like as a rhythm machine for feet and guts Kenny Morris' drumming is unorthodox, primitive (in a tribal sense) and far removed from the clicking hi-hats of the fly-strength paradiddle merchants".[1]
He played mostly toms. He has been cited as a major influence by several drummers of the post-punk era including Stephen Morris of Joy Division,[2] Kevin Haskins of Bauhaus,[3] and Paul Ferguson of Killing Joke.[4]
During the recording of the band's debut single "Hong Kong Garden", producer Steve Lillywhite suggested to him to record the drums separately. Morris did the bass drum and the snare drum first. He did the cymbals and the tom-toms later.[5] Lillywhite also added echo on the drums, adding significant space to the entire recording. NME wrote that Lillywhite's work with Morris "revolutionis[ed] the post-punk band's sound with an innovative approach to laying down the drums".[6]
Morris played on the albums The Scream (1978) and Join Hands (1979). He left the band a few hours before a concert in Aberdeen at the beginning of the Join Hands tour, on 7 September 1979.
- ^ Needs, Kris (December 1978). "Overboard For... Funtime?". ZigZag.
- ^ Morris, Stephen (2019). Record Play Pause: Confessions of a Post-Punk Percussionist: The Joy Division Years Volume I. Constable. ISBN 978-1472126207.
It would be Siouxsie and the Banshees to whom I most felt some kind of affinity. [...] the bass-led rhythm, the way first drummer Kenny Morris played mostly toms. In interviews Siouxsie would claim the sound of cymbals was forbidden [...] The Banshees had that [...] foreboding sound, sketching out the future from the dark of the past. [...] hearing the sessions they'd done on John Peel's show and reading gigs write-ups, I had to admit they sounded interesting.
"Joy Division". Record Collector. 2020.Morris – a young Hawkwind/krautrock fan whose revolving drum patterns were inspired by Can's Jaki Liebezeit and the Banshees' Kenny Morris.
- ^ Lyon, Judy (20 October 2018). "Bauhaus' Kevin Haskins On His Involvement with Foxes Tv". Torchedmagazine. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
At the time there were two drummers who had an influence on me namely, Steven Morris from Joy Division and Kenny Morris from Siouxsie And The Banshees. With Kenny [Morris], I loved how he would use the tom tom drums rather than hi hats and cymbals.
- ^ Garcia, Jane. "If Joke Could Kill [Jaz Coleman interview]". New Music News (14 June 1980).
[The Banshees ?] Paul, the drummer, likes them.
- ^ Tassell, Nige (12 January 2012). "Tori Amos, Kristin Hersh, Anton Corbin and more recall their big career firsts". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
- ^ "The 50 Best Producers Ever: #40 – Steve Lillywhite". NME. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2014.