Peter Simpson, former member of The Dubrovniks and The Spectre’s Revenge, has stepped back into the spotlight with a new single, “Letter to London”.
Described as “a piece of ragged rock/pop”, “Letter to London” ruminates on a long-distance relationship that has run its course. Simpson plays guitar and sings, bass is by Marco Gal and Dom Simpson plays drums.
It’s been a long, stop-and-start journey for Simpson, who was a keyboardist in Perth pop band Teeny Weenys when he relocated to Sydney in 1980. The band broke up despite Double Jay airplay and Simpson performed in various groups before switching to guitar and fronting The Spectre’s Revenge.
Playing an eclectic style of rock that drew on everything from surf instrumentals to acoustic ballads to a kind of punk jazz. The band’s only official release, 1985’s “No Moon at Midnight “b/w “(I wanna be like) Maynard G Krebbs”, reached number one on the alternative charts in Sydney and Melbourne.
In the meantime, various other Perth expatriates had gathered in Sydney in bands such as The Scientists and Hoodoo Gurus. In 1987, Simpson got together with some ex-members of these bands to form The Dubrovniks.
A couple of hit indie singles and an ARIA-award-nominated debut album made The Dubrovniks bigger than anyone had anticipated, and they were soon touring Europe, recording a second album, and even breaking into the mainstream Top 40.
As they prepared to record their third album, "Chrome", Simpson decided that he couldn’t give The Dubrovniks the dedication they deserved and left. He returned to record a fourth album, "Medicine Wheel", in 1994 but by then other members were also finding that other commitments made it harder to function as a band and The Dubrovniks drifted apart.
Over the next 20 years, Simpson played an occasional acoustic spot but effectively disappeared from the music scene. In 2012, The Spectre’s Revenge reformed for two nights only at Sydney’s Excelsior Hotel. In 2015 and 2016 The Dubrovniks reformed and undertook two sold-out tours of Europe.
His musical passion rekindled, Peter recorded and released the EP “Return of the Dilettante” in 2017. Two years later, he formed Peter Simpson and the Vanity Project, who played only a few times before COVID lockdowns hit.
Peter Simpson has since returned to the studio and recorded a full album “Good Times Gone Bad” and “Letter to London” is the first track from it.
