THE TIGER LILLIES

This extraordinary trio is fronted by the magnificent singer Martyn Jacques who trained as an opera singer with castrato voice. He is accompanied by drummer Adrian Huge whose appearance was described by David Byrne as a 'James Joyce on drums', and double bass player Adrian Stout.

Martyn Jacques (vocals, accordion) is the founder of The Tiger Lillies and spent much of his formative years training his voice while living in London’s Soho. His songs describe pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts, losers and other weird characters in lurid detail. He is the musical director of Shockheaded Peter and his adaptation of the text is now published as a book called The Ultimate Shockheaded Peter. He once placed a pig’s head with a cigarette in its nose on an altar of a church in Wales and had to leave the village at night for fear of being lynched by an angry mob.

Adrian Huge (drums, percussion, toys) is a 'James Joyce on drums' as exclaimed David Byrne when he saw Adrian Huge in The Tiger Lillies. Adrian had worked in butcheries, at pie shops, banks, motorcycle shops and as a car mechanic before co-founding Doverís only surreal comedy ensemble, Uncle Lumpy And The Fish Doctors.

The group floundered shortly after arriving in London in 1989. This coincided with the formation of The Tiger Lillies and the start of his bashing re-cycled drums, toys and kitchen-ware.

Adrian Stout (double bass, vocals) had played blues, jazz and country music in various well- and lesser-known bands throughout the UK, Europe and India. He recorded two albums for blues diva, Dana Gillespie, before being co-opted by The Tiger Lillies for the 1995 Edinburgh Festival. A once serious musician has since found himself dancing in Lederhosen, making love to inflatable sheep and dressing as a cheap prostitute. He designed and maintains the websites of The Tiger Lillies and Shockheaded Peter.