Nick Laird-Clowes
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Nick Laird-Clowes (born 5 February 1957, London, England) is a musician, most famous for his membership as the lead singer and one of the principal songwriters for the band called The Dream Academy. His most famous songs from this classic era include "Life in a Northern Town", "The Love Parade", "The Edge of Forever", "This World", "Indian Summer", "Power to Believe", and "12/8 Angel."
He was also a presenter for the first series of the Channel 4 music show, The Tube.
He was a member of "Alfalpha" and "The Act" which pre-date The Dream Academy.
Laird-Clowes also descended deeper into drug abuse, finally getting clean during a stay at a Himalayan monastery.[1]
His solo album Mona Lisa Overdrive was released under the name Trashmonk in 1999 under Alan McGee's famous Creation Records then subsequently rereleased a few years later with two exclusive tracks ("Mr Karma" and "Fur Hat") under the reinvented PopTones label, again by McGee.
A friend of David Gilmour, he co-wrote several lyrics on Pink Floyd's album The Division Bell. As Trashmonk, he opened for some of Gilmour's performances in the early 2000s.
In recent years, he has been heavily involved in movie soundtracks, producing the score for The Invisible Circus, and is listed as the musical consultant for The Dreamers. His next soundtrack was for Fierce People, a 2005 film starring Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland.
Nick Broomfield's hard-hitting film Battle For Haditha - premiered at the London Film Festival in 2007, also featured a Laird-Clowes soundtrack.[2]
He is currently finishing a second solo album due for release in 2008 on his own label.[2].
