GEOFF BARROW
Drummer, composer, producer and record label boss Geoff Barrow has forged a resolutely independent creative pathsince the success of Portishead’s debut album thrust him head-first into the limelight in 1994. He grew up in the small coastal town of, funnily enough, Portishead, in a family devoid of musical interest. Barrow’s first attempts at making music came as a 12-year-old, when he would drum along to the likes of Hawkwind’s lysergic classic Silver Machine. His first job, as tea-boy-turned-tape-op at Coach House Studios in Bristol, saw him assist Massive Attack and co-write a track for Neneh Cherry. His love of hip hop and soundtracks would converge to great effect when he teamed up withBethGibbons and Adrian Utley to form Portishead.