Edward Ka-Spel


Edward Ka-Spel is an English singer/songwriter and musician residing in Nijmegen, Netherlands. He is best known for his work with the band The Legendary Pink Dots, which he co-founded. He is also known for his work on The Tear Garden with Skinny Puppy's cEvin Key. In 2017, he collaborated with Amanda Palmer on the album I Can Spin a Rainbow.

Biography

Edward Ka-Spel is best known as the lead singer, keyboard and electronics player, songwriter and co-founder of the band The Legendary Pink Dots, in which he was initially known as D'Archangel, Prophet Q'Sepel and other pseudonyms. He has also released numerous solo albums, and has worked in various side projects, including The Tear Garden, and Mimir. He is now recording an album with 48 Cameras, "Songs from the marriage of heaven & hell" according to William Blake.
Ka-Spel's solo albums range from abstract electronic noise to more traditional pop songs, incorporating diverse elements of psychedelia, industrial, avant garde, experimental electronic, art pop, classical music, folk, sampling, noise, collage, music concrete, etc. His lyrics have been described as mystically bizarre and ambiguous, and incorporate recurrent themes from his own personal mythos. Ka-Spel's songwriting has been compared to that of Syd Barrett and early Pink Floyd, though the artist describes the comparison as being a coincidence, not a direct influence. Ka-Spel has cited Iannis Xenakis, The Beatles, Nurse With Wound, David Bowie, Brainticket, Can, The Residents, Magma, and Throbbing Gristle as significant influences.
Ka-Spel often appears on stage barefoot, wearing a long scarf and either pink or black optic glasses. Early in his career, he drew black lines on his face and arms, which Phil Knight has referred to as "his cracks", presumably as they resemble the cracked lines of a china doll, an image very present in his early albums.

Discography (selected)

Albums