Torquil Campbell

Last updated

Torquil Campbell
Torquil Campbell performing live with Stars.jpg
Campbell performing with Stars in 2010
Background information
Also known asDead Child Star
Born (1972-03-17) March 17, 1972 (age 52)
Sheffield, England
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Indie rock
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • actor
  • broadcaster
Instrument(s)
Labels
Member of

Torquil Campbell (born March 17, 1972) is the co-lead singer and a songwriter for the Montreal-based indie rock band Stars. In addition to singing, he also plays the melodica, trumpet, synthesizer, and tambourine. [1] Campbell is also an actor and playwright, most recently co-creating and starring in the play True Crime, produced by Crow's Theatre in Toronto. [2]

Contents

He is a co-host of Soft Revolution, a podcast about the intersection of art, culture, and politics, along with Toronto-based actor Ali Momen. [3] Previously, Campbell was the co-host of The Basement Revue Podcast, along with musician Jason Collett and poet Damian Rogers, [4] as well as a regular contributor to the CBC radio program Q .

Music career

Campbell is the cofounder of the indie rock band Stars, formed in 2000. He is involved in a solo project called Dead Child Star, created in March 2008. Dead Child Star's debut album, titled Cold Hands, Warm Heart, came out in January 2011. [5] [ citation needed ] Campbell is also one half of the musical duo Memphis. They have released four albums to date: I Dreamed We Fell Apart (2004), A Little Place in the Wilderness (2006), Here Comes a City (2011), [6] and Leave with Me (2019). This album was financed through a crowdfunding campaign. [7] In addition to his involvement in these projects, Campbell occasionally records and performs with Broken Social Scene, a Canadian indie rock musical collective. [8]

In 2024, he composed music for the drama film We Forgot to Break Up . [9]

Theatre career

Campbell has worked as an actor for much of his life, appearing onstage throughout North America, playing roles as diverse as Gary, the teenage prostitute, in the original New York production of the controversial play Shopping and Fucking , [1] starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the title role in Shakespeare's Henry V .

He has directed theatre, including a production of Romeo and Juliet for the Hamptons Shakespeare Festival.[ citation needed ] Campbell has also had numerous acting roles in Canadian television series and TV movies, including the role of Bill Badger in the animated series Rupert , the television films Heaven on Earth and Pray for Me, Paul Henderson , and guest appearances in Sex and the City and Law & Order . [1] Additionally, he has designed music and sound for theatre. [10]

Campbell toured a play across Canada, co-created with Chris Abraham, [11] about convicted murderer and imposter Christian Gerhartsreiter. Entitled True Crime, the play has been performed in various large and small venues across the nation. [2]

Personal life

Campbell was born in Sheffield, England and came to Canada during childhood with his family. [1] He is the son of actor Douglas Campbell and his wife, Moira Wylie. He attended and graduated from Jarvis Collegiate Institute in Toronto, before going on to study theatre in New York City. [12] He resides in Vancouver with his family. [13]

Discography

as Dead Child Star

with Stars

with Memphis

with Broken Social Scene

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Imperioli</span> American actor (born 1966)

Michael Imperioli is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama The Sopranos (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broken Social Scene</span> Canadian indie rock band

Broken Social Scene is a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning in 1999. Alongside Drew and Canning, the other core members of the band are Justin Peroff (drums), Andrew Whiteman (guitar) and Charles Spearin (guitar).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Cera</span> Canadian actor (born 1988)

Michael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor. Known for portraying awkward, shy, and offbeat characters, his most recognized roles include Evan in Superbad and Scott Pilgrim in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Spicoluk</span> Canadian musician

Mark Spicoluk is a Canadian content creator, yoga instructor, musician, podcaster, and entrepreneur. He is best known as co-creator and yoga teacher for the lifestyle brand Boho Beautiful, his time as bass player with Avril Lavigne, and as the vocalist and bassist for the punk rock band Closet Monster. From 2012 to 2015 he appeared as a judge on YTV's The Next Star. He is also known as the founder of the indie record label Underground Operations, and his production credits on albums by artists such as Protest the Hero, Abandon All Ships, Stereos and DVBBS. Along with his musical and business accomplishments, he is also a strong animal rights and social justice advocate.

<i>Broken Social Scene</i> (album) 2005 studio album by Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene is the third studio album by Broken Social Scene, released on October 4, 2005. In addition to the musicians who contributed to the band's prior release You Forgot It in People, new contributors on Broken Social Scene include k-os, Jason Tait and Murray Lightburn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stars (Canadian band)</span> Canadian indie rock band

Stars is a Canadian indie pop/rock band based in Montreal, Quebec. Since forming in 2000, they have released nine albums and a number of EPs. Their music has been nominated for two Juno Awards and two Polaris Music Prizes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarvis Collegiate Institute</span> High school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Jarvis Collegiate Institute is a high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is named after Jarvis Street where it is located. It is a part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Prior to 1998, it was within the Toronto Board of Education (TBE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Millan</span> Canadian musician

Amy Millan is a Canadian indie rock singer and guitarist. She records and performs with the bands Stars and Broken Social Scene as well as having a successful solo career. Her second solo album, Masters of the Burial, was released by Arts & Crafts Productions in September 2009.

<i>Nightsongs</i> (Stars album) 2001 studio album by Stars

Nightsongs is the first album by Canadian indie rock band Stars, released in 2001 on Le Grand Magistery. At this time, Stars consisted only of Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman, although both Amy Millan and Emily Haines of Metric make appearances. There is also a very rare vinyl pressing of the record on the Japanese label Syft, which has since gone out of business. The vinyl pressing also has 2 additional tracks not featured on the CD version.

Keram Malicki-Sánchez is an actor, musician, writer, filmmaker, interactive media and virtual reality developer, multimedia artist, and event producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Thorburn</span> Canadian musician

Nicholas Thorburn, also known by his stage name Nick Diamonds, is a Canadian musician originally from Campbell River. He has fronted numerous bands such as The Unicorns, Th' Corn Gangg, Islands, Reefer, and Human Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamara Hope</span> Canadian actress and musician

Tamara Lindeman, also known by the name Tamara Hope, is a Canadian actress and musician. Her starring roles include Guinevere Jones and The Nickel Children, as well as a recurring role on CTV's Whistler as Leah McLure. In her music career, in which she is credited as Tamara Lindeman, she has worked with the band Bruce Peninsula and has her own music project, The Weather Station.

Douglas Campbell, CM was a Canadian-based stage actor. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis (band)</span> Canadian-American musical duo

Memphis is a musical duo consisting of longtime friends Torquil Campbell and Chris Dumont.

<i>In Our Bedroom After the War</i> 2007 studio album by Stars

In Our Bedroom After the War is the fourth studio album by Stars, released digitally on July 10, 2007 and physically on September 25 on the Arts & Crafts record label. It was released to digital retailers in an attempt to battle the album's leak. The title was announced by Amy Millan in an interview with the Toronto Star, and the release date was previously announced by Torquil Campbell on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Campbell Bower</span> English actor, singer and model (born 1988)

James Metcalfe Campbell Bower is an English actor, singer and model. He made his feature film debut in 2007 with a supporting role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He went on to feature in The Twilight Saga, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, and as the young Gellert Grindelwald in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In 2022, Bower featured as Henry Creel / Vecna in the fourth season of the Netflix series Stranger Things, for which he received critical acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atticus Mitchell</span> Canadian actor

Atticus Dean Mitchell is a Canadian actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Benny Weir in the television film My Babysitter's a Vampire and series of the same name, and Gabe LaViolet in the film Radio Rebel.

<i>No One Is Lost</i> 2014 studio album by Stars

No One Is Lost is the seventh studio album by Canadian indie pop band Stars, released on October 14, 2014, by Soft Revolution / ATO Records.

Karen Knox is a Canadian director, actor, and writer. She is the show runner of Slo Pitch, and Homeschooled on CBC, which she wrote, directed, and starred in. Her directorial feature film debut, Adult Adoption, premiered at the 2022 Glasgow Film Festival prior to its theatrical release in North America with Level Film. Knox's notable roles include Ginger in Paramount's All I Didn't Want opposite Academy Award nominee Gabourey Sidibe, Holly Frost in Syfy's Letters to Satan Claus, Veronica Vale in KindaTV's Barbelle, and Boris in IFC Slo Pitch.

Art of Time Ensemble is a Toronto-based musical collective of leading Canadian musicians from the worlds of jazz and classical music.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Baumgarten, Suzanne (February 5, 2009). "Heavenly Music: The Sun Interviews Torquil Campbell of Stars". The Cornell Daily Sun . Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "True Crime: On Tour - Streetcar Crowsnest".
  3. "Soft Revolution Podcast Home Page". Archived from the original on April 22, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  4. "The Basement Revue". iTunes. 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  5. "Stars' Torquil Campbell Releases New Album as Dead Child Star". exclaim.ca. January 6, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
  6. "Stars' Torquil Campbell Releases Side Project LPs". Pitchfork. January 10, 2011. Archived from the original on November 6, 2011. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  7. "new memphis album!". indiegogo. 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
  8. "Stars Co-Frontperson Torquil Campbell Bluntly Ranks the Band's Eight Albums". vice.com. November 21, 2018. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  9. "Motel Pictures filming queer indie music film We Forgot to Break Up". playbackonline.ca. November 14, 2022. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  10. "Creating Hamlet's Playlist". Bard on the Beach. June 5, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  11. "Artistic Director Chris Abraham – Streetcar Crowsnest". crowstheatre.com.
  12. "Why I Love Jarvis Collegiate Institute: Back to school". whyilovetoronto.tumblr.com. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  13. "Music | Torquil Campbell". Torquilcampbell.bandcamp.com. February 7, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2022.