PJ Harvey

PJ Harvey biography

Polly Jean Harvey (born 9 October 1969) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.

Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automatic Dlamini, featuring long-term collaborator John Parish, as a vocalist and saxophone player. In 1991, she formed an eponymous trio and subsequently began her professional career. The trio released two studio albums, Dry (1992) and Rid of Me (1993) before disbanding, after which Harvey continued as a solo artist. Since 1995, she has released a further six studio albums with collaborations from various musicians including John Parish, former bandmate Rob Ellis, Mick Harvey, and Eric Drew Feldman and has also worked extensively with record producer Flood.

Among the accolades she has received are the 2001 and 2011 Mercury Prize for Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (2000) and Let England Shake (2011) respectively-the only artist to have been awarded the prize twice- eight BRIT Award nominations, six Grammy Award nominations and two further Mercury Prize nominations. Rolling Stone awarded her 1992's Best New Artist and Best Singer Songwriter and 1995's Artist of the Year, and listed Rid of Me and To Bring You My Love (1995) on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

Early life

Harvey was born in Bridport, Dorset, on 9 October 1969 as the second child to Ray and Eva Harvey, a stonemason and sculptor respectively, and brought up on the family's sheep farm in Corscombe. During her childhood, she attended school in nearby Beaminster and her parents introduced her to music that would later influence her work, including blues music, Captain Beefheart and Bob Dylan.

As a teenager, Harvey began learning saxophone and joined an eight-piece instrumental group Boulogne, based in Somerset. She also had other musical endeavors during this time with folk trio The Polekats, in which she played guitar and with whom she wrote some of her earliest material, and as a rhythm guitarist in The Three Stoned Weaklings, a three-piece band formed by Paddy Ashdown, Gus Mackinlay and Graeme White.

Music career

Automatic Dlamini: 1988-1991

In July 1988, Harvey became a member of Automatic Dlamini, a band based in Bristol and with whom she gained extensive ensemble-playing experience. Formed by John Parish in 1983, the band consisted of a rotating line-up that at various times included Rob Ellis and Ian Olliver, two later members of the PJ Harvey Trio. Harvey met Parish through a mutual friend, Jeremy Hogg, the band's slide guitarist, in 1987. Providing saxophone, guitars and background vocals, she travelled extensively during the band's early days, including performances in West Germany, Spain and Poland to support the band's debut studio album, The D is for Drum. Parish would subsequently contribute to, and sometimes co-produce, Harvey's solo studio albums and tour with her a number of times. As a duo, Parish and Harvey have recorded two collaborative albums where Parish composed the music and Harvey penned the lyrics. Additionally, Parish's girlfriend in the late 1980s was photographer Maria Mochnacz. She and Harvey became close friends and Mochnacz went on to shoot and design most of Harvey's album artwork and music videos, contributing significantly to her public image.

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