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Douglas Pearce (born 27 April 1956), known professionally asDouglas P., is a British musician, best known for hisneofolk projectDeath in June. He was born inSheerwater inWoking,Surrey and lives inAustralia, which has been his home since the mid-1990s.

Pearce was born on 27 April 1956 and grew up inSheerwater, a suburb ofWoking inSurrey which he said was a "white, working-class ghetto"; his father worked as a courier for the military and had served inWorld War II. Both of his parents were English, though his mother claimedScots-Irish ancestry.His father died of a heart attack at age 56, when Pearce was 14. He grew up in what he describes as "a very militaristic environment, surrounded by war"; he says that he "had a natural attraction to war". At the age of 18 Pearce left home, went hitchhiking around Europe and "came home a changed man".^[1]

As a child, Pearce was exorcised by his parents for allegeddemonic possession, and after his father died, his mother and he would "muck around with aOuija board". Pearce believes in theparanormal andoccult, and claims to have had contact with various entities saying "I believe in gods, demons, angels whether they're from the inner psyche, another dimension or whatever. I've heard them and I've seen them. I've even felt them touch me".^[2] For a while, he was involved with theInternational Marxist Group.^[3]

In 1977 Pearce began his musical career in a Britishpunk band called Crisis.^[4] After Crisis disbanded in 1980, Pearce formed Death in June with Crisis bandmateTony Wakeford (currently of the Englishfolk noir band,Sol Invictus) andPatrick O'Kill né Leagas (now a member of the English band Mother Destruction).

In 1985 Douglas P. became the sole constant member of Death in June, with rotating guest musicians serving as collaborators and live band members. Pearce continues to work under the Death in June moniker.

Pearce has released numerous recordings of musical work of his own and others under hisNew European Recordings label since 1981.

Pearce was highly influential in the creation of a musical movement often referred to asneofolk, often collaborating and playing live with various artists within the genre. He was a guitarist, drummer and occasional vocalist for experimental music groupCurrent 93.^[5]

Douglas P. is openly gay,^[6] and says that "being gay is fundamental to Death in June"; he expresses discontent with that side of Death in June not being explored in interviews. His literary influences includeYukio Mishima andJean Genet, whose work he admires not only for its brilliance but also for their shared identity as gay men.^[7]

• 1956 births
• Living people
• English male singer-songwriters
• English LGBTQ songwriters
• English LGBTQ singers
• English gay musicians
• Gay songwriters
• Gay singers
• English people of Ulster-Scottish descent
• English occultists
• Exorcised people
• Current 93 members
• Death in June members
• 20th-century English LGBTQ people
• 21st-century English LGBTQ people
• English emigrants to Australia

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
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• Use dmy dates from July 2023
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