Mont Campbell
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Hugo Martin Montgomery Campbell, formerly known as Mont Campbell, now Dirk Campbell (born 30 December 1950 in Ismalia, Egypt) is a British progressive rock musician, best known as a member of Egg.
Campbell was born to Mary Elizabeth Shaw ("Jackie") and Lt Col. Hal Montgomery Campbell RTR ("Archie"). He was named Martin after his grandfather, the composer Martin Shaw. The family moved to Kenya in 1951, and lived there until their return to the UK in 1962, their son having preceded them by a year. In 1966 the family moved from Brighton to London, and Mont attended City of London Boys School where he met Steve Hillage and Dave Stewart, and with them formed the band Uriel in early 1968. Following Hillage's depature, the band changed its name to Egg. Campbell played bass guitar and was the main composer for the band, citing Igor Stravinsky as his main influence.
By 1972, Campbell had become interested in Eastern mysticism, joining an Indonesian sect called Subud. He left Egg and attended the Royal College of Music, studying the French horn and composition – re-uniting with his Egg bandmates for their final album "The Civil Surface" in 1974, consisting of unreleased material from 1971-72, including what many view as his masterpiece in the progressive rock canon, "Enneagram". He also played in and composed for the Ottawa Music Company, a larger ensemble co-led by Dave Stewart and Chris Cutler which brought together members of Egg, Henry Cow and Khan, plus other composers and instrumentalists.
In 1975, following a brief stint with Gilgamesh, he re-united with Stewart in the original line-up of National Health, composing several pieces for it, including "Paracelsus", "Agrippa", "Zabaglione" and "Starlight On Seaweed". Campbell left in June 1976 following a UK tour, a radio session for the BBC and a one-off French festival (which turned out to be his final appearance with the band), before NH had secured a recording contract. His compositions finally appeared twenty years later on the archive collection "Missing Pieces".
In 1977, he changed his name to Dirk Campbell and moved away from rock music. His first solo album, Music from a Round Tower, was released in 1996 and he has in recent years been focusing on world music, including with The World Wind Band. He has also done music for film (including performing on the score for "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire") and television.
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[edit] Discography
[edit] Solo:
- Music from a Round Tower (Resurgence RES-120-CD, 1996) U.K.
- Music from a Round Tower (East Side Digital ESD 81212, 1997) U.S.
[edit] With Egg:
- Egg (Deram POCD-1843, March 1970)
- The Polite Force (Deram POCD-1844, February 1971)
- The Civil Surface (Virgin VJD-5026, 1974)
[edit] With National Health:
- National Health Complete (East Side Digital ESD 80402/412, 1990)
- Missing Pieces (East Side Digital ESD 81172, 1996)
