Warren Ellis (musician)

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Warren Ellis
Warren Ellis, musician (2006).JPG
Background information
Born 1965 (age 47–48)
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Occupations Musician and Composer
Instruments Violin, piano, bouzouki, guitar, flute, mandolin, tenor guitar
Labels Anchor & Hope
Bella Union
Associated acts Dirty Three
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Grinderman
Notable instruments
Fender "Mandocaster" (Electric Mandolin)
(Fender) Squier Classic Vibe Duo-Sonic
Eastwood Warren Ellis Signature Tenor Guitar

Warren Ellis (born 1965) is an Australian multi-instrumentalist and composer, best known for his work with Dirty Three, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman, and his film scores with Nick Cave. He plays violin, piano, bouzouki, guitar, flute, mandolin, and tenor guitar. Ellis is also known for his excessive and eccentric, though amusing banter between songs during Dirty Three live shows.[1]

Ellis has lived in Paris since 1998 with French wife Delphine Ciampi and their two children Roscoe and Jackson.[2][3]

Contents

Life and career [edit]

Warren Ellis of the Dirty Three performing at WOMADelaide 2012

Ellis was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. Ellis has said that his ancestors were English, two of his ancestors came from Birmingham, England.[4] He won a scholarship to a private high school,[5] then studied classical violin, worked briefly as a schoolteacher in regional Victoria after completing a degree – a Diploma of Education in Music and English; traveled and busked in Greece, Hungary, Scotland and Ireland; wrote music for theatre groups and performed at art openings and plays in Melbourne and then begun playing with Melbourne bands.[6][7] Before forming in 1992, the Dirty Three, with Jim White and Mick Turner, Ellis played with several groups and individuals: Paranoid; the Nursing Mothers; The Slub, which also included Mick Turner; These Future Kings, Charlie Marshall & The Body Electric, The Blackeyed Susans, and Dave McComb of The Triffids.

In 1995, Ellis was invited to play with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on a recording;[8] he remained with the band and continues to play and record with the Bad Seeds, and Grinderman, formed as a spin-off group from the Bad Seeds, who have released two albums. In 2002, Ellis released a solo album on King Crab records called Three Pieces for Violin. Since 2005 he has played on several Marianne Faithfull albums, and collaborated with Nick Cave exclusively; the two composed the award-winning score of the film The Proposition, and then collaborated again on the scores of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and The Road.

In 2009, Nick Cave & Warren Ellis released White Lunar – an album that includes other soundtrack scores.

Collaborations [edit]

Film and theatre scores with Nick Cave [edit]

Awards [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]