Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Who is in Portishead?
The name Portishead?
Who else plays with Portishead?
What is "To Kill a Dead Man"?
Awards
The PNYC video
What is Trip Hop?
Who has Portishead sampled from?
Who sampled Isaac Hayes first, Tricky or Portishead?
Who is Portishead influenced by?
What is a Theremin?
Where can I get MP3s?
Where can I buy Portishead songs from?
What movies/tv shows contain Portishead songs?
About the Portishead mailing lists
What other artists do Portishead fans recommend?
What books are available on Portishead?
Where can I get videos/posters?
What fonts have Portishead used on their albums?
What is a 'Mysteron'?
Contacts
Credits

Who is in Portishead?

The members of Portishead are:

Beth Gibbons (Singer, lyricist, song writer)
Geoff Barrow (Song writer, decks, drummer)
Adrian Utley (Guitar, moog, song writer)
Dave McDonald (Sound engineer)

The name Portishead

One of the first questions is often why the name Portishead? Portishead is Geoff's home town on the River Severn, just outside Bristol, UK. The story goes that Geoff was known at the studios as "that guy from (the town) Portishead" when he first began making music. The idea for the band name grew out of that.

Who else plays with Portishead?

Live performances

John Baggot (keyboards)
Jim Barr (bass)
Dave Ford (trumpet)
Will Gregory (oboe)
Andy Hague (trumpet)
Ben Waghorn (alto flute)
Clive Deamer drummer
Andy Smith- decks (Official Portishead DJ)
*note: more information about these musicians can be found at the Official Portishead website http://www.portishead.co.uk

On the Albums

Sean Atkins contributes additional vocals to 'Cowboys' and 'Western Eyes'.
John Baggot contributes his organ skills on 'Only You' and piano on 'Elysium'.
Gary Baldwin contributes his Hammond skills on Dummy's 'Wandering Star', 'It's a Fire', and 'Numb'.
S. Cooper contributes the violin part on 'Half Day Closing'.
J. Cornick contributes a horn part on 'All Mine' and a trombone part on 'Mourning Air'.
Clive Deamer contributes his drumming on numerous Portishead tracks: On Dummy: 'Mysterons', 'Strangers', 'Wandering Star', 'Numb', 'Roads', 'Pedestal', and 'Biscuit'. On Portishead: 'Cowboys', 'Humming', 'Seven Months', 'Western Eyes' and (additional drums) 'Undenied'.
Andy Hague contributes the trumpet part on 'Pedestal' and 'All Mine'.
Richard Newell contributes a drum programme on 'It Could Be Sweet'.
Neil Solman contributes his Rhodes/Hammond skills on 'Sour Times' and 'Roads'.
B. Waghorm contributes a horn part on 'All Mine'.

What is "To Kill a Dead Man"?

"To Kill a Dead Man" is a short film based upon an original idea by Portishead. Geoff had always wanted to score a movie soundtrack and rather than wait for one to come around, he decided to create his own. And since this venture was their own, it allowed him the creative freedom that he was after.

The plot of the film is typical of the film-noir spy genre. It opens with an assassin assembling his rifle on the roof of a building and waiting for his target. Once the target appears, a shot is fired and the target collapses. The assassin then flees, while the shot man and his female acquaintance are whisked away in separate vehicles. From there, the story gets very interesting as hints of a conspiracy are revealed while the female character tries to come to grips with what has happened.

Various band members have roles in the film: Geoff plays an assassin, Adrian plays the target of the assassin, Beth plays Adrian's female acquaintance, etc. The film runs approximately 10 minutes and is available in two versions: the cinematic release in colour and the commercial release in black and white.

Awards

In 1995, Britain's prestigious Mercury music prize was awarded to Portishead for their debut album, 'Dummy'. For anyone who saw them collect the award, it should dispel the myth that Beth is a shy retiring creature.

The PNYC Video

PNYC refers to the gig that Portishead gave in New York City to mark the release of their second album. The show was at the Roselands Ballroom and was filmed. The film was shown at various cinemas around the time Portishead was released and has now been made in to a video that is available in good record stores.

From the Polygram Press Release:
"The whole look of it was inspired by this old Gil Evans and Miles Davis film I have at home," explains Adrian Utley. "Shots with cameras moving slowly or having to look through cymbals to see Geoff across the room. Not your usual rock'n'roll camera work, we wanted it to have a slowed down, drifting across the room feeling." Interspersed among the Roseland footage are the documentary scenes of Portishead and the show filmed during the week-long rehearsal and show.

The video features 16 tracks taken from "Dummy" and "Portishead" and in addition, a short film "Road Trip" and an exclusive booklet with stills form the show and information on the performers.

"Road Trip" directly precedes the Roseland performance and the 10 minute film is accompanied by a soundtrack comprising a mix of Portishead instrumentals spliced together by the group's touring DJ, Andy Smith. "Road Trip" was shown as the introduction to each of the group's live shows on the world tour.

What is "trip hop"?

Trip Hop was a word invented by the media to refer to the type of music which is typified by Portishead, Massive Attack, etc. It is a term which the members of Portishead disapprove of, as they feel that the sounds coming from Bristol are all unique and don't need to be labelled. The term Trip Hop is a spin on Hip Hop, from America. Music such as Portishead is also referred to as Slow Beat and Bristol Sound, and whole load of other strange terms.

Who has Portishead sampled from?

Portishead has sampled from the following artists (Portishead song in parentheses):
Lalo Schifrin from "More Mission Impossible" ('Sour Times')
Smokey Brooks from "Spin It Jig" ('Sour Times')
Weather Report from "Elegant People" ('Strangers')
War from "Magic Mountain" ('Wandering Star')
Johnnie Ray from "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" ('Biscuits')
Isaac Hayes from 'Ike's Rap II' off his album "Black Moses" ('Glory Box')
Ken Thorne from "Inspector Clouseau" ('Only You')
The Pharcyde from "She Said" ('Only You')
Black Sheep from "Butt in the Meantime" off their album "A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" ('Lot More' on Sour Times single)
*note: Sean Atkins is a friend of Portishead, however, 'Sean Atkins Experience' (as credited on Portishead) does not exist.)

Who sampled Isaac Hayes first, Tricky or Portishead?

Both 'Glory Box' and 'Hell is Round the Corner' sampled from 'Ike's Rap II' without knowledge of the other. Tricky's album Maxinquaye came first, but Glory Box was written first.

Who is Portishead influenced by?

The Official website contains sections for each of the members of Portishead. See Adrian's lists of his favourite films and musicians. http://www.portishead.co.uk

What is a "Theremin"?

Basically it is a signal beamed between two nodes, which the player interrupts by interposing his/her hand or some other object to break the beam. Then the theremin generates a tone. It makes lots of spooky, wavering tones. Check out "Art's Theremin Page" http://home.att.net/~theremin1/ for useful links. The classic Theremin sound is used in Humming, but I believe that this was produced using a Moog Synsither, and certainly a Moog is used when playing live, as theremins are very sensitive to things like humidity and therefore it is difficult to achieve consistent sounds.

Where can I get MP3s of Portishead songs from the web?

Hey remember that MP3s might be illegal in the country you live in, and that Portishead lose money when you pirate songs, but then again they did sell about 8 million copies of Dummy world-wide, so they are hardly poor. Also about 80% of the money of an album goes straight up an executives nose at the record company.

??Gnutella
Gnutella is a distributed file system that allows you to swap any file with anyone else on the system. Can get some good results.

Napster
Napster is similar to Gnutella, but it is commercially owned and being sued at the moment so may not be working.

http://www.scour.net
A rather reliable directory of computers containing all sorts of media files. Album tracks, live tracks, as well as B-sides available.

http://www.findfiles.com/
This search requires the user to download files directly from FTP servers. While Netscape or IE usually work, an FTP program like Cute FTP or WS-FTP may be required for some servers. A search for "Portishead" returned 82 files here.

http://MP3.BOX.SK/
Unlike the previous two sites, this search engine requires the use of an FTP program like Cute FTP to download the files from FTP servers (further instructions and download sites are on the page). A search for "Portishead" returned 'more than 30' files (an exact number is not given).

In addition to these three search engines, many Warez sites contain MP3s, but usually with many broken links and hard-to-follow organisation techniques. If you still can't find the song you are looking for at the above sites, try doing a search for "Warez" "MP3" and "Portishead" on a major search engine, and be prepared to wade through sites.

Where can I buy Portishead's music on the web?

The members of the Portishead mailing list have purchased Portishead albums and singles from these particular webstores:
http://www.compactdiscovery.com
http://www.southlandcd.com
http://sirencd.com

In which movies/TV shows can Portishead songs be found?

Movies with Portishead in the soundtrack:
Nadja - Roads/Strangers
Tank Girl - Roads
The Confessional - Numb
Stealing Beauty - Glory Box
The Craft - Glory Box
Love Walked In - Sour Times
Killing Time - Sour Times

TV Shows that had audio clips of Portishead:
Millennium - Roads
Central Park - Glory Box

About the Portishead mailing lists

The Portishead Discussion mailing list was established April, 1998. Anything and everything related to Portishead is discussed. It is preferred that posts stay on topic. Sign up at http://www.Mailing-List.net/list/portishead/portis.htm The list is administered by jules (jules@idsonline.com) and is available in both digest and non-digest forms.

The Portishead News list is for people who don't want the amount of mail generated by the discussion list, but still want to be informed of Portishead events. Posts are monitored and sporadic (usually once a month or so), and consist only of confirmed news. Sign up at http://www.personal.psu.edu/mjf195/portishead/mailinglist.html The list is administered by Melissa (mjf195@psu.edu).

What other artists do Portishead fans recommend?

What books are available on Portishead?

books, there is:
Johnson, Phil. "Straight Outta Bristol: Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky & the roots of Trip Hop".
Sceptre Books. ISBN 0 340 675217. Published as a trade paperback. Author Phil Johnson uses the approach of an social historian to give the reader a sense of what the town of Bristol is like and the unique conditions that allowed trip-hop to develop.
Also, see the Portishead entry in "Musichound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide to Martini Music & Easy Listening".

How can I get Portishead bootlegs/videos/posters?

Post to the mailing list with specifics (ie. what is being sought and in which area of the world --this is an international list) and someone will surely offer suggestions. For posters, the best bet is to dig deep at obscure music stores or to check out http://www.concertposter.com. For more information about discography/bootlegs/promos/videos, go to the Unofficial Portishead Discography site at http://www.room101.com/scorn.

Which fonts have Portishead used on their albums?

If you can convert fonts to other types then please email it to me.

Dummy used Haettenschweiler (true-type 27K)

Portishead used Compacta BT (truetype 24K)

What is a 'Mysteron'?

A sci-fi show named 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons', which first aired in 1967, may have been an influence on a young Geoff or Beth. The show contained a dark and twisted premise and some very creepy overtones, making it deemed unfit for children in many countries. The Mysterons (modelled heavily on the Martians in Ray Bradbury's 'Martian Chronicles') become sadistic tormentors of the human race, but instead of destroying Earth outright, they wage a war of nerves against the human race. The Mysterons are far more powerful, but the humans begin to develop technology to fight back. In this show, the Mysterons are never seen, but are disembodied voices that 'possess' radios or television sets, uttering proclamations of doom that may be referred to in the Portishead song of the same name.

In addition, the Portishead song contains an uncredited sample from the show's "Theme From the Mysterons".

Contact

Please direct all comments and additions about the FAQ itself to:
Melissa and Grace: mjf195@psu.edu and gracie.leung@utoronto.ca

Please direct all comments about the Portishead Discussion Mailing-list to:
Jules: jules@idsonline.com

Please direct all comments about the Portishead News Mailing-list to:
Melissa: mjf195@psu.edu

Please direct all comments about Portishead discography to:
Jenn: jwallen@wdni.com

Please direct all comments about the Portishead webring to:
Lake Palester: palester@geocities.com

To contact Portishead's American Label:
http://www.polygram.com/

To contact Portishead, go to their official website:
http://www.portishead.co.uk

Credits

This Portishead FAQ version 1.5 was last updated on June 16 and is found at http://portishead.underworld.net.

© Sour Times 2000 - Last updated 16 August, 2000