Wednesday, 23 September, 2009
That quest for utopia still propels Peter in everything he does. It started with The Libertines - Peter ‘n’ Carl on the good ship Albion, sailing devotedly through a life with no restrictions, where “if you’ve lost your faith in love and music then the end won’t be long”. Millions joined the adventure - spellbound, enraptured and completely won over by the idealism of an enterprise so impulsive and exciting that it changed the course of British music at the turn of the new millennium. London was radiant in the splendour of The Libertines’ reign, and Peter Doherty was the people’s poet.
After Peter and Carl went their different ways, Peter found himself canonized by other artists who saw in him the heart of a bohemian with the face of a cherub. He became the muse for fashion designers inspired by the romantic notions of a new and elegantly wasted England - Hedi Slimane, Dior’s then head of menswear, shot and documented Peter for a year, calling him a “genuine and different talent”; Gio-Goi, meanwhile, invited Peter to create his own collection for their spring/summer ’07 range. Peter became a fashion icon in his own right, effortlessly mixing vintage chic with high-end couture.
With Babyshambles, Peter Doherty is free to test the limits of his creativity. His band - sometimes capricious, always electrifying - swagger through styles and sounds to create the perfect blend of organised chaos as a backdrop to Pete’s studied lyrics; the distillation of his thirst for poetry and literature. Two albums in (with a third on the way, a “belter” according to Peter), Babyshambles have defied their critics to become everything that rock and roll in the 21st Century should be: dangerous, provocative, edgy and unpredictable. With Doherty at the helm, what else could they be?
Born in Northumberland, Peter’s childhood was dislocated , an Army father meant numerous hometowns and schools , therefore finding and keeping friends proved difficult. His passions gave him comfort - QPR, Hancock’s Half Hour, Billy Liar - while his inspirations kept him company - Dickinson, Baudelaire, Orwell, Rimbaud, Verlaine. The Smiths opened his ears to music, and The Strokes sealed his fate. A guitar would always be the only friend he’d ever need.