Important Information

Fish

BiographyDerek William Dick was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and grew up in Dalkeith. The son of Robert and Isabella, Fish was educated at King's Park primary school and then Dalkeith High School. He was inspired by the music of many of the rock artists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Genesis, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Van der Graaf Generator, The Kinks, T. Rex, David Bowie, Argent and The Alex Harvey Band. The first band he saw live was Yes at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, in 1974. As well as his love for music, he was also a voracious reader, and his literary inspirations included Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Robert Burns and Dylan Thomas.After working as a petrol pump attendant, gardener and forestry worker, Fish came to the public's attention in 1981 with the British rock group Marillion. The band achieved chart success in the UK, attaining top-ten hits in 1985 with "Kayleigh" and "Lavender", and again in 1987 with "Incommunicado". In 1988, Fish left Marillion to pursue his solo career. Many of Fish's later works contain lengthy spoken word lyrics, shorter examples of which can be heard on earlier Marillion albums. Vocally, Fish has sometimes been compared to Peter Gabriel, lead singer of Genesis in the 1970s. Music journalist David Hepworth described his voice as a "conflation of Roger Daltrey and Peter Gabriel". Peter Hammill of Van der Graaf Generator was also a major influence on his songwriting and vocal delivery, which is especially notable on the first two Marillion albums.According to Fish himself, his nickname originates from the amount of time he spent in the bathtub.On 26 August 2007, Fish performed at the 'Hobble on The Cobbles' show at the Market Square in Aylesbury, UK. He was accompanied on stage by his four former Marillion bandmates from the classic line-up (Mark Kelly, Steve Rothery, Ian Mosley and Pete Trewavas) for one song: 'Market Square Heroes'. This was the first time they had performed together in nearly two decades. In a press interview following the event, Fish denied this would lead to a full reunion, claiming that "Hogarth does a great job with the band... We forged different paths over the 19 years."His most recent studio album, 13th Star, was released on 12 September 2007 as a specially-packaged pre-release version available to order from his website. A UK tour for this album commenced in March 2008, supported by Glyder. In February 2008, Fish was confirmed to be the Friday night headline act at NEARFest X. He also appeared with BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris on GMTV to promote Childline Rocks, a charity concert.In 2008, Fish presented a Friday evening radio show "Fish on Friday" for digital radio station Planet Rock. When the station was faced with closure, Malcolm Bluemel with the help of Fish, Tony Iommi, Ian Anderson and Gary Moore helped save Planet Rock by buying the station.On 9 June 2008, Fish embarked on his first full North American tour in eleven years. At each stop, he hosted a pre-show meet-and-greet with his fans. Two days prior, he was interviewed by Vince Font of the progressive rock podcast Prog'opolis, which was aired a week later on The Dividing Line Broadcast Network (DLBN) as "My Lunch With Fish".In 2008, Fish revealed that he would be taking at least six months off from singing due to an "irregular cell growth" in his throat. This was later determined not to be cancerous.Fish is a supporter of Scottish Premier League side Hibernian F.C.In 2005, Fish won a Celebrity Music edition of The Weakest Link, beating Eggsy of Goldie Lookin Chain in the final round, sharing £18,750 with Eggsy's charity and his own.On 20 and 21 October 2012, Fish hosted Fish Convention 2012 in Leamington Spa, United Kingdom. He performed two acoustic sets and two electric sets including material from his upcoming release, Feast of Consequences. He also performed fan favourite Marillion B-Side "Grendel", twice.Record labelsFollowing a legal dispute with EMI and an unsuccessful contract with Polydor, Fish established the Dick Bros Record Company in 1993. He released a number of "official bootleg" albums to finance the company before selling it to Roadrunner Records. Another financially unsuccessful period followed before he re-established his own Chocolate Frog Records record label in 2001. In 2005, Fish signed with Snapper Music but later returned to Chocolate Frog Records.AwardsIn May 2008, Fish's Planet Rock show 'Fish on Fridays' won the Silver award in the Music Broadcaster of the Year category at the UK Sony Radio Academy Awards 2008. In June 2008, at the New York Festivals Radio Broadcasting Awards, he and Gary Moore jointly received the Gold World Medal in the Regularly Scheduled Music Program category for their respective shows on Planet Rock.ActingFish first appeared on Terrestrial television with the "The Comic Strip Presents..." episode "More Bad News" in 1988 as himself. His first acting role was as a guest star in an episode of "Zorro" called "The Newcomers" (aired 10 February 1991) but a more prominent role was as the thug "Ferguson" alongside John Sessions in Jute City, a four-part 1991 BBC drama based on a group of Masonic ruffians. In 1994, he appeared in Chasing the Deer, a film set during the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion, as "Angus Cameron". In 1998 he appeared as "David Lawson" in series 14, episode 44 of the ITV series The Bill, titled 'Manhunt' and was aired on 16 April. He played "Derek Trout", a record producer in the 1999 series, The Young Person's Guide To Becoming A Rock Star. He also appeared as "Barry Judd" in a 2000 episode of the TV detective series Rebus alongside John Hannah. Later in 2000 Fish would go on to act this time in the popular Scottish detective television programme "Taggart" episode number 48 "Skin Deep". In 2001 he auditioned (unsuccessfully) for the James Bond film Die Another Day. He then went on to appear in two episodes of Snoddy, a short lived Scottish television sitcom. In 2004 Fish played "Finlay Price" in the TV movie "Quite Ugly One Morning" alongside James Nesbitt, Eddie Marsan and Annette Crosbie.In movies Fish appeared with Steven Berkoff, Michael Praed and Carol Decker as "Old Nick" in the 2002 crime comedy "9 Dead Gay Guys". In the 2005 film, The Jacket, Fish appeared alongside Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley as a patient "Jimmy Fleischer" in a mental institution and he played "Uncle Jimmy" in the 2012 comedy drama 'Electric Man'.Personal lifeFish married his first wife Tamara Nowy who appeared on the "Kayleigh" promo video on 25 July 1987 (divorced 2003) and had one daughter, Tara Rowena (Taz) born 1 January 1991, who is currently a model for 'Colours Agency' and 2012 was Scottish model of the year nominee. Fish has a keen interest in marine science.Current live bandDerek William Dick (Fish) – Lead VocalsRobin Boult – Electric/Acoustic GuitarsSteve Vantsis – Bass Guitars; Keyboards; Backing VocalsFoss Patterson – Keyboards; Backing VocalsGavin Griffiths – Drums