Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948, in Ealing, West London, … Read Full Bio ↴Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948, in Ealing, West London, England) is a singer-songwriter, and a founding member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano. He also acts as a record producer for his own recordings, and occasionally for other artists.
With an extensive solo career spanning dozens of albums, Peter Hammill is certainly more than just the front-man and leader of Van Der Graaf Generator (VdGG). His literate, soul-examining lyrics and his often-anguished vocal delivery make his music perhaps an acquired taste, but his uncompromising artistic vision has shone since his first release, Fool's Mate, back in 1971.
Stylistically, he has forged his own path, touching on progressive rock, punk (before it was even called that), electronic experimentation, intimate singer-songwriter settings, and even opera/musical theatre (with his adaptation of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher).
Hammill's solo career has coexisted with VdGG's activities. The band was offered a contract by Mercury Records in 1968, that only Hammill signed. When VdGG broke up in 1969 he wanted to record his first solo-album. In the summer of 1969 Hammill had a residency at The Lyceum and played weekly solo-concerts there. Eventually the intended solo-album was released under the VdGG-banner as their first album (The Aerosol Grey Machine). Hammill's first official solo-album was Fool's Mate (1971), containing songs from the early (1967/68) VdGG-days.
When VdGG broke up again in August 1972, Hammill resumed his solo-career. Songs that were intended for VdGG, now ended up on his solo-albums, notably "(In The) Black Room (Including 'The Tower')" (on Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night) and "A Louse Is Not A Home" (on The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage). This to some extent makes it difficult to separate Hammill's solo work during the 1970s from his work with the band (for the majority of both his solo-songs and the band's songs he is credited as the sole songwriter, and some of his solo albums feature all the members of Van der Graaf Generator). In general, however, solo Hammill is concerned with more personal matters, while the band's songs deal with broader themes.
Hammill's Nadir's Big Chance (1975} was a great change from the preceding album, In Camera. Whilst In Camera is characterized by extremely intense and complex songs and even has some musique concrete on it, Nadir's Big Chance is notable for its anticipation of punk rock. In a 1977 radio interview, John Lydon of the Sex Pistols played two tracks from the album and expressed his admiration for Hammill in glowing terms: "Peter Hammill's great. A true original. I've just liked him for years. If you listen to him, his solo albums, I'm damn sure David Bowie copied a lot out of that geezer. The credit he deserves, just has not been given to him. I love all his stuff"
Over (1977) contains very personal songs about the break-up of a long-term relationship.
Hammill's first solo-album after the 1978 break-up of Van der Graaf was The Future Now. With the next albums, pH7 and A Black Box, the sound got more compact, more new wave. On those albums, Hammill played the drums himself. What followed was 'the K-group'. In later years Hammill would sometimes refer to the band as a "beat group". The K-group consisted of Hammill himself on guitars and piano, with John Ellis on lead guitar, Nic Potter on bass, and Guy Evans on drums and percussion. They recorded the albums Enter K and Patience.
Hammill's early records, like the VdGG albums, were released on Charisma Records. He parted company with them after pH7 (1979), and then released albums on a number of small labels. A Black Box came out on S-Type, a label run by Hammill and his manager Gail Colson. Enter K and Patience appeared on Naive, Skin and Margin on Foundry and In A Foreign Town, Out of Water and Room Temperature: Live on Enigma Records. In 1992 he formed his own label, Fie!, on which all his albums since Fireships have been released. The label's logo is the Greek letter phi (Φ), a pun on PH-I. Ever since the 1970s he has also had his own home recording studio, appropriately called Sofa Sound (his website was later named after the studio).
Musically, Hammill's work ranges from short simple riff-based songs to highly complex lengthy pieces. Mainly because of his refusal to make anything resembling middle-of-the-road music, and the general absence of any smooth or glamorous sounds in his music, there is much debate amongst his admirers whether Hammill is to be considered a part of the so-called progressive rock scene. In many interviews however Hammill himself has stated that he does not want to be put in the progressive rock music label, or any music label at all.
His output is prolific. Many different styles of music appear in his work, among them artful complexity (for instance Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night), avant-garde electronic experiments (Loops & Reels), opera (The Fall of the House of Usher), solo keyboard accompaniment (And Close As This), solo guitar accompaniment (Clutch), improvisation (Spur of the Moment), film music (Sonix), band recordings (Enter K), and slow, melancholic balladry (None of the Above).
Hammill survived a heart attack in December 2003, less than 48 hours after having finished the recording of Incoherence. In 2005, Hammill announced the reformation of Van der Graaf Generator. In 2004 they had recorded a new album, Present, which was released in April 2005, and from May until November 2005 played a series of well received concerts.
Between 2005 and 2007 Hammill has overseen the remastering of almost all of his pre-Fie! releases, and has also started similar work on his more recent catalogue. The last of the Charisma remasters was released in September 2007.
Hammill's solo-career did not end because of the VdGG-reunion. He released his new album Singularity in December 2006. It was the first solo-album he completed after his heart attack, and for a large part it deals with matters of life and (sudden) death.
In 2007 several gigs by Van der Graaf Generator as a trio (minus David Jackson) have taken place in Britain and the rest of Europe, and their new album Trisector was released in March 2008. Hammill's new solo album, Thin Air came out 8th June 2009. Hammill and the band are touring extensively in USA, Japan and Europe these days.
With an extensive solo career spanning dozens of albums, Peter Hammill is certainly more than just the front-man and leader of Van Der Graaf Generator (VdGG). His literate, soul-examining lyrics and his often-anguished vocal delivery make his music perhaps an acquired taste, but his uncompromising artistic vision has shone since his first release, Fool's Mate, back in 1971.
Stylistically, he has forged his own path, touching on progressive rock, punk (before it was even called that), electronic experimentation, intimate singer-songwriter settings, and even opera/musical theatre (with his adaptation of Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher).
Hammill's solo career has coexisted with VdGG's activities. The band was offered a contract by Mercury Records in 1968, that only Hammill signed. When VdGG broke up in 1969 he wanted to record his first solo-album. In the summer of 1969 Hammill had a residency at The Lyceum and played weekly solo-concerts there. Eventually the intended solo-album was released under the VdGG-banner as their first album (The Aerosol Grey Machine). Hammill's first official solo-album was Fool's Mate (1971), containing songs from the early (1967/68) VdGG-days.
When VdGG broke up again in August 1972, Hammill resumed his solo-career. Songs that were intended for VdGG, now ended up on his solo-albums, notably "(In The) Black Room (Including 'The Tower')" (on Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night) and "A Louse Is Not A Home" (on The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage). This to some extent makes it difficult to separate Hammill's solo work during the 1970s from his work with the band (for the majority of both his solo-songs and the band's songs he is credited as the sole songwriter, and some of his solo albums feature all the members of Van der Graaf Generator). In general, however, solo Hammill is concerned with more personal matters, while the band's songs deal with broader themes.
Hammill's Nadir's Big Chance (1975} was a great change from the preceding album, In Camera. Whilst In Camera is characterized by extremely intense and complex songs and even has some musique concrete on it, Nadir's Big Chance is notable for its anticipation of punk rock. In a 1977 radio interview, John Lydon of the Sex Pistols played two tracks from the album and expressed his admiration for Hammill in glowing terms: "Peter Hammill's great. A true original. I've just liked him for years. If you listen to him, his solo albums, I'm damn sure David Bowie copied a lot out of that geezer. The credit he deserves, just has not been given to him. I love all his stuff"
Over (1977) contains very personal songs about the break-up of a long-term relationship.
Hammill's first solo-album after the 1978 break-up of Van der Graaf was The Future Now. With the next albums, pH7 and A Black Box, the sound got more compact, more new wave. On those albums, Hammill played the drums himself. What followed was 'the K-group'. In later years Hammill would sometimes refer to the band as a "beat group". The K-group consisted of Hammill himself on guitars and piano, with John Ellis on lead guitar, Nic Potter on bass, and Guy Evans on drums and percussion. They recorded the albums Enter K and Patience.
Hammill's early records, like the VdGG albums, were released on Charisma Records. He parted company with them after pH7 (1979), and then released albums on a number of small labels. A Black Box came out on S-Type, a label run by Hammill and his manager Gail Colson. Enter K and Patience appeared on Naive, Skin and Margin on Foundry and In A Foreign Town, Out of Water and Room Temperature: Live on Enigma Records. In 1992 he formed his own label, Fie!, on which all his albums since Fireships have been released. The label's logo is the Greek letter phi (Φ), a pun on PH-I. Ever since the 1970s he has also had his own home recording studio, appropriately called Sofa Sound (his website was later named after the studio).
Musically, Hammill's work ranges from short simple riff-based songs to highly complex lengthy pieces. Mainly because of his refusal to make anything resembling middle-of-the-road music, and the general absence of any smooth or glamorous sounds in his music, there is much debate amongst his admirers whether Hammill is to be considered a part of the so-called progressive rock scene. In many interviews however Hammill himself has stated that he does not want to be put in the progressive rock music label, or any music label at all.
His output is prolific. Many different styles of music appear in his work, among them artful complexity (for instance Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night), avant-garde electronic experiments (Loops & Reels), opera (The Fall of the House of Usher), solo keyboard accompaniment (And Close As This), solo guitar accompaniment (Clutch), improvisation (Spur of the Moment), film music (Sonix), band recordings (Enter K), and slow, melancholic balladry (None of the Above).
Hammill survived a heart attack in December 2003, less than 48 hours after having finished the recording of Incoherence. In 2005, Hammill announced the reformation of Van der Graaf Generator. In 2004 they had recorded a new album, Present, which was released in April 2005, and from May until November 2005 played a series of well received concerts.
Between 2005 and 2007 Hammill has overseen the remastering of almost all of his pre-Fie! releases, and has also started similar work on his more recent catalogue. The last of the Charisma remasters was released in September 2007.
Hammill's solo-career did not end because of the VdGG-reunion. He released his new album Singularity in December 2006. It was the first solo-album he completed after his heart attack, and for a large part it deals with matters of life and (sudden) death.
In 2007 several gigs by Van der Graaf Generator as a trio (minus David Jackson) have taken place in Britain and the rest of Europe, and their new album Trisector was released in March 2008. Hammill's new solo album, Thin Air came out 8th June 2009. Hammill and the band are touring extensively in USA, Japan and Europe these days.
Petient
Peter Hammill Lyrics
We have lyrics for these tracks by Peter Hammill:
(No More) The Sub Mariner In my youth, I played at trains: now all steam…
(On Tuesdays She Used to Do) Yoga On Tuesday she used to do yoga, while I'd sit and…
A Better Time As surely as the countdown begins our time is not our…
A Better Time (a cappella) As surely as the countdown begins our time is not our…
A Louse Is Not a Home Sometimes it's very scary here; sometimes it's very sad; Som…
A perfect date A perfect date to hesitate, I hope it won't be too…
A Way Out Out of joint, out of true, out of love, out of…
Accidents This meeting is a coincidence which deserves a second look:…
After the Show He made a bit of money, that's something you might like…
Airport I stand on the tallest building and stare down at the…
Alice When you told me that you loved me I had no…
All Greek Fried up the brain with rhetorical questions dictionary ga…
Always And A Day Always and a day we swore in common vow that tomorrow we…
Always Is Next Ill met, ill starred, the sweat, the scars, the back seat…
Amnesiac I can't think of anything I did or was doing, I…
Auto Here's a sensation I wouldn't trade – pinpoint in the onrus…
Autumn So here we are, alone - Our children have grown up…
Babel Words upon words stack the tower of Babel brick on brick o…
Bareknuckle Trade And when you feel you can't go on what kind…
Been Alone So Long Been alone so long that I've forgotten what it's like to fee…
Betrayed When I began I was full of altruistic dreams, believed in…
Birthday Special I've got something to say, and it ain't the usual sort…
Black Room I was thinking about thinking but it really didn't get…
Breakthrough The visitors find the children gone from school: Aged relati…
Bubble Let's begin at the top: there's no reason to think that…
Call That A Conversation? Oh, spit it out, there's no way we'll see eye…
Can Do When you're fingered by self-doubt, my dear, no-one is inno…
Candle Look at the candle, as it's life is bought, as the…
Careering I don't know, can't you see I'm just passing through, fast…
Careering - 2006 Digital Remaster I don't know, can't you see I'm just passing through, fast…
Celebrity Kissing Celebrity kissing, this has got to stop; yeah, they're swar…
Central Hotel I found myself lying on the balcony, Stripling terror, naked…
Child I don't know quite what's happening and my eyes don't see…
Come Clean There's no getting back to how it started and the next…
Comfortable She likes to keep God out of church, especially when she…
Comfortable? She likes to keep God out of church, especially when she…
Confidence Behind the smile of confidence somewhere you'll find the wa…
Crossed Wires "I don't know, somehow our wires got crossed: you've been…
Crying Wolf You turn out the lights and sit alone, Trying to pretend…
Curtains Well, Tommy woke that morning with a headfull of rocks and S…
Der Lärm Ich liebte Lärm, den Atem-Strom; Lärm hob die Leere auf, …
Dich zu finden Kaninchenstarre vor dem Schlangenblick, Scheinwerferschock …
Die Kälte Killt Den Kuß Er wünscht sich, du nennst ihn glücklich: der Original-Self…
Die Prominenz Küßt Sich Die Prominenz küßt sich, wie verbraucht das ist: eine Schme…
Die Tinte verlischt Folg den Instruktionen, Probleme ersten Grads. Ja, wir war…
Diminished Was it only my imagination or were we once agreed, in…
Don You don't have to say a thing, The silence is sweet, We've…
Don't Tell Me You don't have to say a thing, The silence is sweet, We've…
Driven "I know you haven't got the thread of the story…
Dropping the Torch We play games and every move is noted down as a…
Earthbound My heart flew in my mouth the moment that your eyes…
Easy To Slip Away My, friends, I never really thought you'd go, But, then, we…
Edge Of The Road The lady was in waiting for whatever story might unfold anti…
Empire Of Delight Memory extends its empire, Holds the frame but blurs the lin…
Empress She's here now, perfume coiled like a thuggie scarf - Such…
Energy Vampires Hunched in the corner of the dressing-room, trying to get b…
Enough To live, to be alive and to consider the plane that…
Everyone You Hold Everyone you hold takes a piece of you away; everyone you…
Evidently Goldfish Check the honesty of what's on offer, true detective or a…
Faculty X Hope by and by, hope by and by – motes in…
Faint Heart and the Sermon With my face drained of colour And my brain of blood Like…
Faint-Heart and the Sermon With my face drained of colour And my brain of blood Like…
Faith Each moment is precious those that I spend with you are…
Falling Open I see what isn't there and what might be: all the pages…
Far-flung Alone beneath a foreign sky I wonder could I be any…
Favorit Bleifuß drückt das GTi Cabriolet zu der Villa in der Sonne…
Fed To The Wolves And they said "They shall all be fed, all the weak…
Ferret and Featherbird Time has come between us: In the passing months I've felt…
Film Noir He casts himself as an adventurer, all foot on floor and…
Fireships There's a smokescreen on the horizon, fireships under sail …
Flight Flying Blind I alway forget how crazy things are So sometime…
Fogwalking Everything clumsy slow-motion, I look for the source. Buildi…
Forsaken Gardens Where are all the joys of yesterday? Where, now, is the…
Four Pails Four pails of water and a bag full of salts. That…
Friday Afternoon Why wait for life to happen, when right before our eyes blin…
From the Safe House This is not the final call, and this is not a…
Gaia Butterflies on the wheel of a world that turns unyieldingly…
German Overalls Manheim; rainy Saturday with no money nor friend, Only Tequi…
Ghosts Of Planes The air is thin, the air is thin, The Top of…
Given Time There's no time for dull regrets no-one underwrites your de…
Glue Halfway between the zoo And the temple of your Art... But …
Gog Some call me SATAN others have me GOD some name me…
Gog Magog In Bromine Chambers There can be no mercy, No bitter flagell…
Golden Promises Besieged in the battlements of Babylon, Still looking for t…
Golden Promises - 2006 Digital Remaster Besieged in the battlements of Babylon, Still looking for a …
Green Fingers He'll be young forever if he keeps this up... so the…
Happy How was it that we first met? ...I forget, all I…
Hemlock Here it comes up on the screen, the propaganda of the…
Here Come The Talkies Hair in the gate, let's take a minute to find out…
Hesitation This is no time to hesitate, The line slips into overload; T…
His Best Girl Foot down in the GTi Cabriolet to the villa in the…
I Dared Not Speak Usher Yes, I hear it! Yes, I have heard it long, lo…
I Once Wrote Some Poems I once wrote some poems of stillness and silence, standing b…
I Will Find You Trapped like a rabbit by the future glare, onrushing headlig…
If I Could Oh, you must be crazy to stay here And I'll be…
If Language Explodes And if language explodes in our faces like shrapnel all se…
If We Must Part Like This Already there's no case for special pleading, no points to …
Imperial Walls Strange to behold is the stone of this wall broken by fate…
Imperial Zeppelin Pack your bags, we're leaving earth, where hate is seething;…
In I just can't see why you can't see what I…
In Slow Time Dance the dance Till show time ... The show goes on Dance th…
In the End I promise you, I won't leave a clue: no tell-tale remark,…
Incomplete Surrender Sweetheart, I want to hold back nothing, sweetheart, I want …
Invisible Ink Follow the instructions, the envelope is sealed: we're wai…
Jargon King He prescribes the subject He proscribes outsiders His terms …
Jeunesse D'Orée The youth are voting with their feet - Such a shame…
Just A Child This is more than merely wrong, as sin on sin's…
Just Good Friends Drawing back the curtains, sluggish city daylight in the aft…
Kaufhaus Europa Kaufhaus Europa! Lob der Masse, Triumph der Kasse,…
Labour Of Love You don't remember all the things I've done; you never catc…
Losing Faith in Words I just can't see why you can't see what I…
Lost And Found (Even the wolf can learn, even the sheep can turn, even th…
Lunatic In Knots Unchain me from this lunatic before he drags me to my…
Man-Erg The killer lives inside me: yes, I can feel him…
Material Possession Every loss a legacy, Every gain ill-gotten, The golden apple…
Mirror Images If I'm the mirror and you're the image then what's the…
Modern Jericho's strange, throbbing with life at its heart - peopl…
My Experience It was nothing, it came from nowhere at all, it…
My Favourite In my time I've told a lie or two, I've been…
My Favourite - 2006 Digital Remaster In my time I've told a lie or two, I've been…
My Room Searching for diamonds in a sulphur mine, Leaning on props w…
Nadir's Big Chance I've been hanging around, waiting for my chance to tell you…
Nightman At the dead of night, I woke with the sense that…
No Moon in the Water So if it's just so then where is it now when I find…
Nobody's Business Look out through your dark hair, tell me the colour of…
Not for Keith In Germany, his days finally caught him; I won't insult his…
Not the Man There are so many questions, there are so many doubts – th…
Nothing Comes Consternation out of the box as the conversation runs onto …
Now Lover In the here and now... Between sensation at the nerve-ends …
Now More Than Ever Between coma and consciousness no hard and fast line, no ch…
Oase Im Weiher silbert das Wasser, gespeist aus dunklem Grund, d…
Oasis Beside the pool of clear water Fed by a secret spring,…
Offensichtlich Goldfisch Prüf die Ehrlichkeit der Angebote, Freund und Helfer oder B…
On the Surface On the surface phosphorus gleaming; deep down we carry on …
Once You Called Me I wish that I remembered better. You've grown so fast…
Open Your Eyes I was sitting in the dance-hall, but my mind was far…
Ophelia That token drag on your cigarette, That well-known face in t…
Other Old Clichés I might as well give you all there is, I might…
Our Eyes Give It Shape I'm getting the idea, I haven't got a clue. As my…
Our Oyster This one's authentic, son of a gun, a soundtrack from Chin…
Paradox Drive The thought crossed my mind - how curious, Why should…
Patient A system in the making, self-healing for the blind, sitting …
People You Were Going To Your father has just left your mother, Gone off to live…
Personality Not the same, we are changed and we are changing still; I'…
Phosphorescence Across the ocean of the night you turn and look into…
Planet Coventry You find you're standing alone – not so splendid, isolation.…
Pompeii The golden dream, the seat of all decorum, A satellite to…
Porton Down Won't hear a sound at Porton Down, The clear liquids keep…
Primo On The Parapet He crawled on hallowed ground without a map; he walks on…
Pushing Thirty Seems the fashion's for one-liners these days, the kind tha…
Pushing Thirty - 2006 Digital Remaster Seems the fashion's for one-liners these days, The kind that…
Ram Origami Here's the lost boy with the brittle smile, plastered panst…
Re-awakening If you catch me running along by the sea, with…
Red Shift Once, all the stars in the sky were bright, now…
Reprise We think we're fireproof, we never think that we'll get bur…
Re‐awakening If you catch me running along by the sea, with…
Rock and Role Watch for the silent moments, only waiting to be saved Wait…
Rubicon I lay down beside you : I am a unicorn,…
Schlaft Nun Schlaft nun – ein alter Tag sagt euch Kindern Adieu, doch…
Sci-Finance You got some shares in a speculative venture, you got some…
Seven Wonders Well, it must have been here somewhere, that which the cult…
She Wraps It Up You know that she's got something she wants to give; hard…
Shell Turn a card, turn a page, the action sure to start, second…
Shingle You can see in the 1st light that's graced as…
Sign Wrong drink to order. Suspicion grows, Wrong situation... Oh…
Silver You lay your plans, I take them as they come, I…
Since the Kids It was simple, we were man and wife; something happened to…
Sitting Targets We can talk about it in the car; We can talk…
Skin There's a shiver down the spine of the body map... how…
Skinny Nobody knows what she sees, no-one can get behind that…
Sleep Now Sleep now: another day in your young lives is done, go to…
Slender Threads I saw your picture in the Evening Standard: You were wearin…
Smile The jokes are everywhere, The secret deal's complete – Mon…
and many more tracks by Peter Hammill.
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