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Warren Ellis

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Warren Ellis is an Australian musician and composer, born in Ballarat, Victoria, in 1965. By his own account he came to music by chance: on the rubbish dump he found an abandoned accordion, which he took to school. Later he learned classical violin and flute and studied violin in Melbourne. In 1988 he travelled through Europe, playing as a street musician. After his return he wrote music for theatre groups and played in bands. In 1992 he founded the Dirty Three with the guitarist Mick Turner and the drummer Jim White.

Music and breakthrough

In 1993 he was asked to join a small string group on Let Love In, the 1994 album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He soon became a permanent member, at first on violin, later on many more instruments, including piano, accordion, bouzouki, guitar, flute and mandolin. He co-wrote many of the band's songs and played in Grinderman, a side project of the Bad Seeds. In 2002 his solo album Three Pieces for Violin was released.

Influence

With Nick Cave, Ellis made film music for, among others, The Proposition from 2005, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Road, Lawless and Hell or High Water. Without Cave he wrote, among other things, the music for Mustang. He has lived in Paris since 1998. Ellis shows that a violinist from a rock band can carry a film score with few notes, plenty of atmosphere and a raw, often repeated sound.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a piece from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and notice the violin and the slow, repeated piano notes. Can you hear how few instruments it takes to create a tense atmosphere?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists