Russell Senior
| Russell Senior | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Russel Senior |
| Born |
18 May 1961 Sheffield, England |
| Genres | Alternative rock, post-punk, Britpop, indie rock, indie pop, art rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar, violin, vocals |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Associated acts | Pulp |
Russell Senior (born 18 May 1961) is the guitarist and violinist of the band Pulp.
Senior was born and grew up in Sheffield. Whilst at University in Bath, he formed the "Dada Society" (also known as the "New Wave Society") and appeared as the lead role in a dramatic adaptation of Kafka's The Trial. He also had a band called The Bath Bankers and arranged for a gig at the University featuring his friends from Sheffield - Pulp. He obtained a 2.1 honours degree in Business Administration, and went back to Sheffield to join Pulp. During the Miner's strike of 1984 he acted as a Flying picket, taking part in industrial action including the Battle of Orgreave.
Senior first met Pulp in 1980 when he reviewed a show of theirs for his fanzine, also called The Bath Banker. He joined the third line-up of the band in 1983, the other members being Jarvis Cocker (vocals/guitar), Magnus Doyle (drums) and Peter Mansell (bass). During the mid-1980s he was a central member of the group, often taking vocal duties. He also played the violin on a number of tracks.
As the band became successful, Senior became dissatisfied with the touring, recording and publicity treadmill the band found themselves on after their long-awaited success, and on 20 January 1997 he left Pulp to work on other projects. He commented that he did not like the Cocker-led song "Help the Aged", and that he didn't feel it was a worthy follow-up to "Common People", and so deliberately tried to sabotage it in the studio. Soon afterwards, feeling his unhappiness was leading the atmosphere in the band to become poisonous, he told Cocker he was quitting. In an interview he said that "I was very proud of being in Pulp. I thought it was the best band in the world when I was in it, but I want to be able to move on from it at some point."
...
Wikipedia