Background
Patrick Duff was born in Bristol, England, to an Irish father and a Welsh mother on 30 June 1966.
Patrick Duff was born in Bristol, England, to an Irish father and a Welsh mother on 30 June 1966.
After dropping out of school and spending time as a street busker, he became lead singer of the alternative rock band Strangelove, who were signed to Food records, Parlophone/Electric and Music Industries. The band released three critically acclaimed albums between 1991 and 1998. After Strangelove Patrick briefly formed another band, Moon, who split up after nine months having released only one single, "Anaesthesia". Then for two years Patrick lived somewhere in a forest outside Bristol.
Between 2000 and 2004 he went on to travel the world as a solo artist with WOMAD Festival, collaborating with a number of artists, most notably the then 81-year-old veteran African master storyteller and musician Madosini, with whom he lived and worked in the township of Langa, in Cape Town, South Africa.
On returning to the United Kingdom, Patrick released his first solo album Luxury Problems, produced by Adrian Utley of Portishead and Alex Lee (Goldfrapp/ Placebo / Suede / Strangelove). The album was released on Electric and Music Industries’s legendary Harvest Records label – once home to Patrick’s childhood hero Syd Barrett – in June 2005.
The following year Patrick was commissioned by Bristol City Council to write a Christmas choral symphony, intended for a one-off exclusive performance at Bristol Cathedral, which he subsequently recorded over six weeks in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 90-minute piece, entitled "Seven Sermons to the Dead", was considered inappropriate by the council and was never staged, but instead, released as an album in December 2013.
The Mad Straight Road was produced by Stew Jackson, and recorded at Robot Club Studios in Bristol.
lieutenant was released in early 2010. Since 2010 Patrick has begun to play many concerts in Europe as a one man show where he has gathered a large and ever growing following. On August 9, 2013 Patrick released his third album Visions Of The Underworld.
The album was recorded in the furthest reaches of wildest Dartmoor in a cottage owned by the composer Nigel Shaw.
On listening to the record, which was released on 12 inch vinyl, the sounds of the wilderness surrounding the cottage can be plainly heard in the background. Patrick plays and sings each of the ten songs completely live and there is no overdubbing or editing on the album.
The recordings have a mysterious ghostly atmosphere and the songs tell the stories of its various characters. This is his most intimate offering to date and has been warmly received.
Duff then proceeded to tour extensively throughout the United Kingdom, and Europe, appearing more frequently on radio shows, and in magazine articles
The album features, alongside Patrick, a host of acclaimed musicians, including drummer Damon Reece of Massive Attack, pianist John Baggott (of Robert Plant"s Sweet Sensation, Massive Attack and Portishead), Phantom Limb’s bass player Dan Brown (who also provided backing vocals) and pianist Dan Moore, members of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Alex Lee, who plays the bowed saw on "Dead Manitoba Singing".