MARTY WILLSON-PIPER

Marty was born in Stockport, Greater Manchester, six miles from the city centre on the 7th May 1958 and grew up as a teenager in Thingwall on The Wirral about seven miles from Liverpool’s city centre. He has a brother who is seven years older and his mother had another child in between who died soon after birth who was named Robin. Marty also has a sister. When he was three years old the family moved from Compstall, where his parents had a pub called The Commercial, to a house just outside Marple Bridge near Glossop. Sometime around 1970 the family moved again to Birch Vale in Derbyshire, a small village between New Mills and Hayfield where his parents took on another pub after his father lost his job when the company, he worked for went bankrupt. The pub was called The Grouse Hotel.

Unfortunately, this period of his life was short-lived, as his dad got a job in Liverpool and the family packed up from this old pub in the country and moved into a small flat in Thingwall on the Wirral Peninsula between Heswall and Arrowe Park. At 14 he was taught the guitar by his brother who was a member of a cabaret band called The Hiltons. Marty soon started his own band called Uncle Rufus with school friends Dare and David Mason. After leaving school at 18, Marty worked various jobs including stints at Walls ice cream factory and being a door-to-door salesman. He soon travelled to mainland Europe (France, Spain and Germany) busking outside train stations and working odd jobs such as grape collecting. Moving to London and still busking he was persuaded to go to Australia and arrived in Sydney in April 1980 aged 21. Marty went along to see an early performance of The Church (then a three-piece) and was asked to join the band a few days before his 22nd birthday in May 1980.

On May 6, 1980, Willson-Piper joined The Church on guitar, vocals and bass guitar, alongside Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes and Nick Ward. Willson-Piper's sound was influenced by guitarists such as Tom Verlaine and Bill Nelson. Willson-Piper contributed to most of the Church's studio releases and was a member almost continuously from 1980 to 2013. The only exception is the 1997 album 'Pharmakoi/Distance-Crunching Honchos with Echo Units', which only featured Kilbey, Koppes and drummer Tim Powles and was released as "The Refo:mation". Willson-Piper's last release with the Church was the 2014 live album 'A Psychedelic Symphony: Live at Sydney Opera House', recorded in 2011.

Kilbey announced on the band's Facebook page that former Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug had replaced Willson-Piper, who Kilbey explained was "not available" for the recording of a new album and subsequent touring. Entitled 'Further/Deeper', the Church's first album without Willson-Piper was released in October 2014. Willson-Piper has maintained a steady solo output since the mid-1980s, having released six solo studio albums and three live solo albums. He released his latest solo album, 'Nightjar', in March 2009 on Second Motion Records. Three of his albums are collaborations with long-time friend Andy 'Dare' Mason (who has produced and played on Willson-Piper's solo releases) under the name Noctorum. In September 2015, Willson-Piper's band Acres Of Space embarked on a tour of the United States. During the spring and summer of 2016, Acres of Space toured the Eastern half of the United States. In December 2016 / January 2017 Acres Of Space played four shows in Chile. Marty and his wife have toured as an acoustic duo, playing shows in Uruguay, Argentina, the United States, Germany and the UK.

References

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Willson-Piper#Albums