Biography
Alan Moore, David J & Tim Perkins, also referred to as The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, is a performance art/spoken word collaboration between comic book writer Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Watchmen, From Hell), musician David J (bassist for goth rock pioneers Bauhaus) and musician/producer Tim Perkins.
The group formed in the mid 1990s, as part of Moore's coming out as a magician, described by comic book writer Warren Ellis as "a return to his roots of performing from the days of the Northampton Arts Lab and the various bands along the way from there to here."
The group's performances and recordings are generally of an occult theme or practice, consisting of prose poetry set to music, sometimes accompanied by a dancer. Several of these performances have been recorded and released onto CD, the first of which was the self titled The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels, performed in 1994 and not released until 1996 on the Cleopatra label, a week after the release of The Birth Caul. It was an exploration of magic, Glycon (a Roman snake deity) and "a tour of the wild magic of the London area the piece was being performed in."
Fellow writer Warren Ellis wrote in 2000 that parts of Moore's monologue for The Moon and Serpent… "emerged first as introductory pieces to FROM HELL," Tracks from the album have been featured on other releases, such as the first track The Hair Of The Snake That Bit Me appearing in 1995 on Hexentexts, a Creation Books Sampler CD, for which Alan Moore drew the cover.
The trio's second performance, and technically their first CD release, was The Birth Caul subtitled "A Shamanism of Childhood". The performance took place at the Old County Court in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on November 18, 1995, and was released on March 5, 1996 by Charrm.
A "birth caul", which the album takes title from, itself a thin piece of the placenta sometimes present at birth, traditionally kept as a good luck charm. Moore's text treats the caul as a map of humanity. With it, he examines the connections between language, identity and perceptions of the world, regressing from early adulthood through adolescence, childhood and infancy to prenatal existence. In 1998, after completing the artwork for From Hell, Moore played the recording of The Birth Caul to artist Eddie Campbell, who immediately asked if he could do a pictorial interpretation, which was self-published by Campbell in 1999. In 2005, it was reprinted as part of Moore and Campbell's A Disease of Language.
English teacher and comics reviewer Marc Singer wrote an essay entitled "Unwrapping the Birth Caul" which examined both the text, performance and illustrations. The essay was published in 2003 in Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman, a birthday tribute to Moore.
The album The Highbury Working was performed on November 20, 1997 at The Garage in Highbury by Moore and Perkins with dancer Paule van Wijngaarden. It's subject matter dealt with an exploration of the area of Highbury, in London. The CD was designed by John Coulthart and released in November, 2000. During his study of the area, Moore looks at the building of the football stadium (and the Arsenal football team itself), construction of the underground, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and local gangsters.
With the release of The Highbury Working, CDs were released on ex-Siouxsie and the Banshees songwriter and co-former Steven Severin's record label RE:. A limited-edition print of the album cover by John Coulthart was also sold. Severin's RE: label released a number of diverse CDs over its five-year life, including three by Moore and Perkins often referred to as Moon & Serpent.
Founded in 1998, RE: was Severin's independent label created primarily to "release 3 solo albums of commissioned music" Having released three albums Severin "concentrated on developing the label by bringing on board the inestimable talents of comics legend, Alan Moore… 3 spoken word albums by Alan Moore in collaboration with his musical partner, Tim Perkins."
The next album, Snakes and Ladders, was performed on the 10th of April 1999 at Conway Hall in Red Lion Square at a meeting of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn by Moore, with music by Tim Perkins. It explored the local area and its magical associations, and dealt particularly with the disinterment of Oliver Cromwell and Elizabeth Siddell, and Arthur Machen's visionary experiences. In 2001, it was adapted into comic-form by frequent collaborator Eddie Campbell, and in 2006 was reprinted as part of the pair's comic collection A Disease of Language.
Angel Passage, released in 2003, was performed on February 2, 2001 at The Purcell rooms as part of the "Tygers of Wrath" evening of readings and performances celebrating the life of William Blake. Moore and Perkins performed alongside Jah Wobble, Billy Bragg and Fat Les. Patti Smith presented an evening of poetry and music devoted to Blake at the same event.
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