Biography
Hugo Race stands out as a key contributor to Australia’s post-punk landscape, maintaining an active solo path while collaborating with many of the region’s most prominent artists. Born Hugo Justin Race in Melbourne on May 23, 1963, he first encountered music at home, where his mother performed on piano and his father collected classical works alongside musical theater. When punk and new wave reached Australia, Race formed Dum Dum Fit in 1978, handling guitar and lead vocals. He moved in 1980 to the regionally active new wave-noise outfit Plays with Marionettes, remaining until 1983, when he accepted an invitation from the Birthday Party’s singer to join a new endeavor. Initially called Nick Cave: Man or Myth, the band soon became Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds; Race appeared on its first two releases, From Her to Eternity in 1984 and Kicking Against the Pricks in 1986.
After leaving the Bad Seeds in 1987, he started the Wreckery, a blues-rooted group that also featured former Plays with Marionettes member Edward Clayton-Jones. The Wreckery issued three albums—Yeh My People, Here at Pains Insistence, both from 1987, and 1988’s Laying Down Law—before disbanding, at which point Race launched Hugo Race & the True Spirit. The ensemble, whose style Race labeled “Trance Industrial Blues,” produced thirteen albums from 1988 to 2015, becoming his most extensive undertaking even as he pursued additional ventures. Sepiatone, a partnership with Italian musician Marta Collica, yielded three albums that began with 2001’s In Sepiatone. That same year Race joined forces with the Italian ambient collective Sacri Cuori to form Hugo Race & Fatalists, whose debut, We Never Had Control, arrived in 2011. With Chris Eckman of the Walkabouts he created Dirtmusic, responsible for four albums issued between 2007 and 2013. In 2014 Race gave the first live performance of Long Distance Operators, a project with Belgian artist Catherine Graindorge; the pair delivered their self-titled album in early 2017.
After leaving the Bad Seeds in 1987, he started the Wreckery, a blues-rooted group that also featured former Plays with Marionettes member Edward Clayton-Jones. The Wreckery issued three albums—Yeh My People, Here at Pains Insistence, both from 1987, and 1988’s Laying Down Law—before disbanding, at which point Race launched Hugo Race & the True Spirit. The ensemble, whose style Race labeled “Trance Industrial Blues,” produced thirteen albums from 1988 to 2015, becoming his most extensive undertaking even as he pursued additional ventures. Sepiatone, a partnership with Italian musician Marta Collica, yielded three albums that began with 2001’s In Sepiatone. That same year Race joined forces with the Italian ambient collective Sacri Cuori to form Hugo Race & Fatalists, whose debut, We Never Had Control, arrived in 2011. With Chris Eckman of the Walkabouts he created Dirtmusic, responsible for four albums issued between 2007 and 2013. In 2014 Race gave the first live performance of Long Distance Operators, a project with Belgian artist Catherine Graindorge; the pair delivered their self-titled album in early 2017.
Albums
