| David Tibet | |
|---|---|
David Tibet performing with Current 93 in 2007. |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Michael Bunting |
| Born | 5 March 1960 |
| Origin | England |
| Genres | Apocalyptic folk, neofolk |
| Labels | Durtro, Jnana, Coptic Cat |
| Associated acts | Current 93, Psychic TV, Death in June |
| Website | www.copticcat.com www.jnanarecords.com |
David Tibet (born David Michael Bunting, 5 March 1960 in Batu Gajah, Malaysia) is a British poet and artist who founded the music group Current 93, of which he is the only full-time member. He had earlier collaborated with Psychic TV and 23 Skidoo. He was given the name "Tibet" by Genesis P-Orridge, and in January 2005 he announced that he would revert to the name David Michael, although he continues to use the well-known "Tibet" in his public career to date.
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Tibet left Psychic TV in 1983 and founded Current 93 the same year. He has worked with Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound (of which band he is a member), Michael Cashmore, Douglas P. (of Death In June, on whose albums he has appeared several times), Steve Ignorant of Crass (using the name "Stephen Intelligent"), Boyd Rice, Little Annie, Björk, Nick Cave, Rose McDowall, and Ian Read of Fire and Ice.
Tibet's lyrical subject matter reflects a consistent preoccupation with all aspects of apocalypse. He has long been a student of Christian eschatology. At a precocious age, he developed a strong interest in Aleister Crowley and the Ordo Templi Orientis. He joined the Typhonian Ordo Templi Orientis and borrowed the term "93 Current", the current of Thelema or Agape, from Crowley. His initial recording as Current 93, LAShTAL, was, according to Tibet, "the invocation of Malkunofath on the Nightside of Eden, the reverse of the Tree of Life". He has long proclaimed a virtual anathema to Crowleyism (despite a strong appreciation for Crowley as an individual) and instead has embraced at various intervals, Tibetan Buddhism and esoteric Christianity. His projects continue to focus on the multifaceted aspects of apocalypse, mainly death, loss and destruction. Progressively, his works are tempered by Christian mysticism and an increasingly strong faith in the end of the world.
Other influences include Noddy, Gnosticism, Austin Osman Spare, Stock, Aitken and Waterman, Bobby Beausoleil, and a variety of occult topics.
In April 2006, Ordo Templi Orientis formed the International OTO Cabinet, an advisory, non-voting panel made up of both OTO Initiates and Non-Initiates. David Tibet was named among the initial non-member appointments.[1]
He is an established Outsider artist and painter with much of his work in well-known galleries such as the Henry Boxer Gallery and Isis Gallery.[2] Tibet is interested in the work of Count Stenbock, whose writings he has worked to republish. He also ran the Durtro publishing imprint and record label (1988–2010) which has since been replaced by an earlier label, Coptic Cat, where many Durtro releases continue to be available.[3] He attended Newcastle University.[4]