Peter Kirkpatrick

Biography

And so it starts

I started taking piano lessons at the age of 5, and it almost killed me. I hated practicing by myself. My mother still tells the story of how I demanded that she listen while I play. If there wasn't an audience for the music, or at least someone to share it with, then what was the point?

I still feel that way to this day.

I joined the Burlington Teen Tour Band when I was 13, and that made all the difference. All of a sudden music played second fiddle (pun intended) to the friends I made while playing it.

The band that shall remain nameless

At the age of 15 while working as a busboy at Zoo's Restaurant in Burlington, I made friends with a few guys that played instruments. I don't know that I would have called them musicians at the time, but they did play. They all assumed that if I could play tuba (which I did) that I could play bass guitar (which I did not). "They're in the same family, right?", they asked me. "Sort of" I replied. And with those two words, I was booked for my first gig.

Two weeks and about a thousand listens to "Never Mind the Bullocks" and the Clash's first album later, I played with the group at a staff party. It was a somewhat less than stellar performance I admit, but I don't think I have had more fun at a show since. This was my first introduction to the world of DIY. No lessons, no teachers, no talent, no fears.

Blank Expression

I spent most of the rest of my high school years playing bass in an 8-piece ska reggae band (which Phil Main played guitar for BTW) called Blank Expression. Not only did this give me the opportunity to make friendships that have lasted almost a lifetime, I got my first taste of songwriting. I came to realize that there is no better buzz than seeing a crowd of people swinging their hips to music that you penned.

Blank Expression lasted for about 5 years, during which time we played at many luxurious establishments, like the El Macombo, Larry's Hideaway, and Kingston Penitentiary, to name a few.

After failing out of my York University computer science program, I decided to try my luck at music as a full time endeavor, well full time in the sense that it dominated my non-minimum wage earning time.

Heimlich Maneuver

After a brief stint in a Bauhaus-esque band that operated under the name Story for Sara, I became one third of the Heimlich Maneuver. This was my first stretch in a serious band. From 1986 - 1989 we played almost every weekend at the Rivoli in Toronto, and shared stages around Ontario, Quebec, and into the states on one occassion with bands like the Cowboy Junkies, the Doughboys, No Means No, Shadowy Men, Change of Heart, Dread Zepplin, the Meat Puppets, the Pursuit of Happiness, Mudhoney, and even Nirvana. During our stretch our song "In My Head" won a place on the CFNY Modern Rock album and in the film feature "Revenge of the Radioactive Reporter" (which was passed up for an oscar!) and we were even nominated for a CASBY award in the category of best new artists.

We thought we had a chance to do something really big with the band. It was an interesting time as record execs could see all of these great bands were around, but were not sure of how to market them. We had countless letters of interest from companies like Capitol, Geffen and a few others if I remember correctly, but they were all at a loss to categorize us as they were with many other groups of the time. Of course after Nirvana's "Nevermind" came out, that all changed. We unfortunately missed that bus.

Heimlich Maneuver imploded in June of 1990, after which guitarist Kevan Byrne went on to form the successful group King Cobb Steelie, for whom I had the chance to work on the artwork for their first CD (more on this later).

Tristan Psionic

After finishing a graphic design program at Sheridan College, getting married and having my daughter Madlyn (okay so I skipped a bit to keep on track here), I was asked to sit in with Tristan Psionic, the band that also owns and operates Sonic Unyon out of Hamilton. Their bass player had left the group and they had an important showcase to play at SXSW in Austin Texas. I made the trip with them and stuck around long enough to play five or six local shows, and help write and record their album TPA Flight 028, my first time on CD!

No Strings

After that, I took a radical turn musically and joined a local swing band called No Strings Attached. No Strings plays everything from big band oldies like Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman up to the more recent stuff like Cherry Poppin' Daddies and Brian Setzer.

This band was a perfect fit for my increasingly busy home life because, as the name implies, the level of commitment was low. If you could not make it out, you just had to arrange for a suitable substitute. I still play with this group to this day. We do community events and parties, etc., and every few years make a trip to play at the Canada Day festival in Myrtle Beach. It's a hoot, and it is great to be able to keep up my sight reading chops.

So, that brings us up to the point I am at now. If you made it this far you are either a sad, sad individual (kidding), or you were looking to see if your name or the name of the act we played in together, was included which means you have been part of my lifelong love of performance, and I thank you for that!