Kenny Morris, drummer and founding member of Siouxsie and The Banshees, has died

Kenny Morris, the first drummer of Siouxsie And The Banshees and a central figure in the English band's early days, has died at 68. Active in the group between 1977 and 1979, Morris played a decisive role in shaping their sound, leaving a deep mark despite a relatively brief tenure.

His drumming features on the first two albums, “The Scream” (1978) and “Join Hands” (1979), records that were fundamental to the aesthetic of British post-punk. His dry, obsessive, hammering style became one of the defining elements of the Banshees' first incarnation, so much so that it was cited as a direct influence by Stephen Morris, drummer of Joy Division and New Order.

In the book “Goth”, Lol Tolhurst of The Cure credits Morris with a key role in shaping the Banshees' image and sound: “The Banshees as a band had a kind of monochrome power that came mainly from Kenny Morris's drums and John McKay's guitar, underpinned by Steven Severin's pulsing bass. The fact that the drum kit was big and black, like most of the instruments, helped. No hippie wind-chime instruments for the Banshees!”.

His passing was also remembered by Murray Chalmers, former head of communications at Emi Records, in a post shared on his Instagram profile.

 

 

 

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A post shared by @murraychalmers

Born in London in 1957 to Irish parents, Morris was studying art and film when, in 1976, he briefly joined Flowers Of Romance, Sid Vicious's band. That same year he took part in the famous 100 Club Punk Festival, organized by Malcolm McLaren. On that occasion, Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin performed a semi-improvised set alongside Marco Pirroni and Sid Vicious himself, delivering an extreme, roughly twenty-minute-long version of the “Lord's Prayer”. Struck by that experience, Morris officially joined Siouxsie And The Banshees in January 1977. By mid-year the lineup was completed with guitarist John McKay. The ties with The Cure were close: when Morris and McKay left the band in 1979, after a violent argument during an in-store performance, it was Robert Smith who temporarily stepped in for McKay on guitar. Budgie of The Slits then took over on drums.

In the wake of the traumatic split from the Banshees, Morris left the band together with guitarist John McKay and moved to London, resuming an independent creative path. During that period he shaped works such as “La Main Morte”, a project in which Dorothy Lalanne's narration intertwined with music he composed together with John Maybury and Jean-Michel Baudry. After spells of activity in France and South America, he decided to settle permanently in Ireland, where he continued his career as a visual artist and art teacher.

In recent years he had returned to playing with the Dublin post-punk band Shrine Of The Vampyre. During the pandemic he had finished writing his memoirs, due to be published later this year. A final chapter closing out a low-key but essential trajectory in the history of British post-punk.

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