Skinny Pelembe Last updated June 09, 2025 Musical artist
Doya Beardmore (born 26 August 1990), known professionally as Skinny Pelembe , is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He has released two albums Dreaming is Dead Now (2019) and Hardly the Same Snake (2023).
Early life Beardmore was born in Johannesburg , South Africa to an English father from Birmingham and a Mozambican mother. Concerned about Apartheid, under which interracial relationships were illegal and stigmatised, the family relocated to Doncaster , South Yorkshire when Beardmore was three. [ 1]
Career As a teenager, Beardmore played in garage bands . He taught himself guitar and production. [ 2]
Beardmore self-released his debut single "Mindset is Fear" in 2016 followed by his debut EP Seven Year Curse in 2017. [ 3] After joining Gilles Peterson 's Future Bubblers programme, Beardmore's second EP Sleep More, Make More Friends was released in 2018 via Peterson's label Brownswood Recordings , [ 4] featuring collaborations with Yazmin Lacey, Hejira , Bernardo, and Emma-Jean Thackray , as well as the single collection "Spit/Swallow" and "Toy Shooter". Beardmore featured on the BBC Music Introducing stage at Reading and Leeds . [ 5] He also played at the Great Escape Festival , [ 6] Latitude Festival , and the BBC Radio 6 Music Festival and had gigs supporting Nightmares on Wax and Unkle , and at Rough Trade with Dry Cleaning and Dana Gavanski . [ 7]
Produced with Malcolm Catto and via Brownswood Recordings, Beardmore released his debut album Dreaming is Dead Now in May 2019 [ 8] and the single "I'll Be On Your Mind". [ 9] He played at the Green Man Festival [ 10] and Sŵn in Wales and had headline dates supported by Elsa Hewitt. [ 11] He recorded a cover of Andrew Hill 's "Illusion (Apparition)" for the Blue Note Records tribute jazz album Blue Note Re:imagined in 2020. [ 12] He was commissioned to write a song for South Yorkshire in 2021. [ 13]
Beardmore moved to Partisan Records in 2022. [ 14] In 2023, Beardmore released his sophomore album Hardly the Same Snake [ 15] and third EP Deadman Deadman Deadman , the singles "Oh, Silly George" [ 16] and "Don't Be Another", and a rendition of Leonard Cohen 's "Who by Fire " with Beth Orton . [ 17] Beardmore made his Glastonbury Festival debut that summer. [ 18] He also performed at Bluedot Festival , [ 19] Deer Shed Festival and London Calling , returned to Reeperbahn and Sŵn, and embarked on tour. [ 20] [ 21] The music video for "Don't Be Another", directed by Jai Moseley, was nominated for Best Alternative Video – UK at the 2024 UK Music Video Awards . [ 22]
Artistry Beardmore's sound has been described as an eclectic "collage" of different genres and "genre agnostic", [ 23] and that "singling out any one influence… is an impossible task". [ 20] During Beardmore's childhood, his father would play folk and country acts, his brothers introduced him to hip-hop, while his maternal family influenced him towards Afro-soul. [ 3] Beardmore first drew upon drum and bass , [ 24] developed as an artist on the UK garage scene and studied the Beatles and the Beach Boys . [ 25]
In 2017 and 2019, Beardmore named Fela Kuti , Neil Young , CAN , Madlib , [ 3] My Bloody Valentine and IG Culture as influences, [ 26] as well as The Lijadu Sisters and Andrew Hill . [ 2]
Other artists Beardmore has praised include The Only Ones , René Aubry , Frank Zappa , [ 27] The Jam , The Style Council , Blossom Dearie , and The Animals . [ 28]
Discography Albums Dreaming is Dead Now (2019)Hardly the Same Snake (2023)EPs Seven Year Curse (2017)Sleep More, Make More Friends (2018)Deadman Deadman Deadman (2023)Single "Mindset is Fear" (2016) "Spit/Swallow" / "Toy Shooter" (2018) "I'll Be On Your Mind" (2019) "Illusion (Silly Apparition)" (2020) (Andrew Hill cover) "Like a Heart Won't Beat" (2022) "Oh, Silly George" (2023) "Don't Be Another" (2023) "Who by Fire " (2023) with Beth Orton References ↑ Daniel Dylan Wray (1 May 2023). " 'A big chunk of my motivation is vengeance': Skinny Pelembe, the musical don of Doncaster" . The Guardian . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . 1 2 Ravens, Chal. "Skinny Pelembe on Sample-Mining, Madlib & Studio Experiments" . Spitfire Audio . Retrieved 18 January 2024 . 1 2 3 Thomas, Katie (10 October 2017). "Skinny Pelembe is a Globe-Trotting Singer, Producer, and MC With a Psychedelic Sound" . Complex . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ Spice, Anton (1 August 2018). "Skinny Pelembe announces new Brownswood EP on limited vinyl" . The Vinyl Factor . Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ "Skinny Pelembe - Spit/Swallow (Reading + Leeds 2018)" . BBC Reading + Leeds . Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ Hobbs, Mary Anne (11 August 2018). "Skinny Pelembe on Doncaster" . BBC Radio 4 . Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ "Skinny Pelembe Concert History" . Concert Archives . Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ Taylor, Chris (24 May 2019). "Skinny Pelembe's Dreaming Is Dead Now is a chameleonic thrill" . The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ Kalia, Ammar (16 March 2019). "One to watch: Skinny Pelembe" . The Guardian . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ Auton, James (3 August 2019). "Festival Report: Green Man 2019" . God is in the TV . Retrieved 7 October 2019 . ↑ "New Skinny Pelembe dates this autumn" . Brownswood Recordings . 2 September 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ "Poppy Adjudha, Nubya Garcia, Skinny Pelembe and more on the lasting legacy of Blue Note" . Crack . 15 October 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ Bateman, Stephanie (18 March 2021). "Five minutes with: Skinny Pelembe - recognising the positive role of community choirs" . Doncaster Free Press . Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ Farrell, Margaret (23 November 2022). "Skinny Pelembe Shares a Vibrantly Soulful New Single "Like a Heart Won't Beat" " . Flood Magazine . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ Alex James Taylor (1 March 2023). "Skinny Pelembe's new record sees him step out of his comfort zone and into the beat" . Hero . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ Murray, Robin (18 January 2023). "Skinny Pelembe's 'Oh, Silly George' Is Exhilarating" . Clash . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ Grow, Kory (14 September 2023). "Beth Orton and Skinny Pelembe Find New Skin for the Old Ceremony in Leonard Cohen Cover" . Rolling Stone . Retrieved 5 December 2024 . ↑ "amz Supernova with live music from Nova Twins, Weyes Blood and Skinny Pelembe" . BBC Radio . 25 June 2023. Retrieved 30 June 2023 . ↑ Ivens, Charlie (27 July 2023). "Young Fathers bring the soul to Jodrell Bank Observatory for Bluedot Festival" . The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 18 January 2025 . 1 2 Nugent, Annabel (15 October 2023). "Doncaster musician Skinny Pelembe: 'Not everything needs to be such a woe-is-me thing' " . The Independent . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ Potton, Ed (4 May 2023). "Skinny Pelembe review — this Doncaster boy will change lives" . The Times . Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ "UK Music Video Awards 2024: all the nominations for this year's UKMVAs" . Promonews . 25 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024 . ↑ "Skinny Pelembe" . Boogie Drugstore . 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ Todd, Bella (18 February 2019). "Meet Brownswood Recordings' latest star, Skinny Pelembe" . Redbull . Retrieved 18 January 2025 . ↑ Vinti, Mike (22 May 2019). "Rising Music Star Skinny Pelembe Introduces Himself and His Debut Album" . Another Man . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ Finnamore, Emma (30 April 2019). "Against The Grain: Meeting Skinny Pelembe" . Clash . Retrieved 21 November 2024 . ↑ "Fifteen Questions Interview with Skinny Pelembe" . Fifteen Questions . Retrieved 20 January 2025 . ↑ "Skinny Pelembe, Musician – Doncaster" . Fred Perry . Retrieved 20 January 2025 . This page is based on this
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