Carl Barât

Carl Ashley Raphael Barât (June 6, 1978) is a British musician, leader of the extinct group Dirty Pretty Things, who currently co-leads the well-known band The Libertines with Pete Doherty, leader and vocalist from the band Carl Barat and the Jackals

Biography

Carl Barât was born in Basingstoke, England on June 6, 1978, and grew up in neighboring Whitchurch, England. According to a September 2004 interview, he is of French, Polish, and Russian ancestry. Other sources mention Barât's Spanish origins. His parents divorced when he was 6 years old, and he divided his youth between his father, Colin, a worker in an arms factory and his mother, Chrissie, who was part of a commune and organizations pacifists. He spent much of his childhood on a Somerset commune. He has a sister, Lucie Barât, an actress turned singer, who played a handmaid to Helen of Troy in the movie Troy and is the singer of The Fay Wrays , as well as several stepbrothers.

In 1996, Barât was studying drama at Brunel University in Uxbridge. He was disillusioned with his classmates but got along with a girl named Amy-Jo, who happened to be Pete Doherty's sister. Through Amy-Jo, Barât met Doherty.[1] Initially, Barât hated Doherty, who used to be rude and irreverent when he met people, but over time they developed a very intense friendship (which some have described as sexual attraction or love) - the two built a mythical vision of the English arcadia and "The Albion," a ship sailing for Arcadia and manned by Dickensian gentlemen and low-class London black marketeers. The Libertines subsequently formed with bassist John Hassall and drummer Gary Powell, with Barât and Doherty sharing songwriting and performances (instances of which can be heard on almost every song).

The Libertines

Set to achieve unprecedented success with their debut album 'Up The Bracket', the band quickly became famous for their volatile performances, characterized by sharing the microphone almost romantically with Doherty, and bickering between the two members. This parallelism in their relationship progressed in a dysfunctional and abusive way, with Barât and Doherty being competitive and possessive of each other.

In 2003, after numerous problems with drugs, Doherty is expelled by Barât. Despite Doherty not being in the lineup of The Libertines, the Band went on Tour to Japan and performed at the Reading & Leeds where a substitute guitarist was used and John Hassall Towards Doherty's parts on some songs, Pete Doherty upon learning that the band had gone on tour without him, got upset and broke into Barât's flat in Mayfair, taking various items: including an old guitar and an NME award.

After the sentence, Doherty was sent to prison for two months, and reconciled by correspondence with Barât, who came to pick him up on the day of his release. After the dissolution of the band after the release of their second album "The Libertines", in February 2004. Subsequently, Barât became involved in various projects forming various bands and a solo career, while Pete Doherty formed The Babyshambles.

In March 2010, The Libertines announced they would headline the Reading & Leeds, from which a documentary called There Are No Innocent Bystanders was made showing the preparations the band made for this festival.

He is currently married to Cornelia.

Dirty Pretty Things

After disbanding The Libertines, Carl founded "Dirty Pretty Things" with Gary Powell, the drummer of The Libertines, Didz Hammond and Anthony Rossomando, who later dissolved in 2008. Two studio albums were released under this formation, Waterloo to Anywhere (2006) and Romance at Short Notice (2008).

Solo Race

On October 4, 2010, he released his first solo album, which bears his own name, Carl Barât (album). In it he breaks with his line to date, being more introspective and stylistically diverse than his previous works.

The Bottletop Band

He is part of the supergroup The Bottletop Band, along with DrewMcConell (Babyshambles), Matt Helders (Drummer of The Arctic Monkeys) and Andy Nicholson (ex-bassist of The Arctic Monkeys) and Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals). His first single, The Fall of Rome, was released in December 2010.

Writer

In September 2010, he published the book Threepenny Memoir: The Lives Of A Libertine, where he narrates his experiences in The Libertines and Dirty Pretty Things.

His last performance was at the FIB, in Spain.

References