Torquil Campbell
Quick Facts
Biography
Torquil Campbell (born 17 March 1972) is the co-lead singer and a songwriter for the Montreal-based indie rock band Stars. In addition to singing, he also plays the melodica, trumpet, synthesizer, and tambourine. Campbell is a co-host of The Basement Revue Podcast, along with musician Jason Collett and poet Damian Rogers. He was previously a regular contributor to the CBC radio program Q.
Music career
Torquil is involved in a solo project, called Dead Child Star, created in March 2008. The first album from Dead Child Star came out in January 2011, titled Cold Hands, Warm Heart. He is a member of the band Memphis. They have released three albums, the latest of which, Here Comes A City, was released in 2011 by Arts and Crafts. Their fourth album is due in 2017. In addition to his involvement in these projects, he occasionally records and performs with Broken Social Scene, a Canadian indie rock band and musical collective.
Theatre career
He worked as an actor for much of his life, appearing onstage throughout North America, playing roles as diverse as Gary, the teenage prostitute in the original New York production of the controversial play Shopping and Fucking, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the title role in Shakespeare's Henry V.
He has directed theatre, including a production of Romeo and Juliet for the Hamptons Shakespeare Festival. Campbell has also had numerous acting roles in Canadian television series and TV movies, including the role of Bill Badger in the animated series, Rupert, Pray for Me, Paul Henderson, and guest appearances in Sex and the City and Law & Order. He has also appeared in several feature films. He has also designed music and sound for theatre.
Campbell will be performing in a play co-created with Chris Abraham about convicted murderer and imposter, Christian Gerhartsreiter, in April 2017. Entitled True Crime, the play will be mounted at Toronto's Crow's Theatre, with plans to tour Canada.
Personal life
Campbell was born in Sheffield, England and came to Canada during childhood with his family. He is the son of the late actor Douglas Campbell and his wife, Moira Wylie. He attended and graduated from Jarvis Collegiate Institute in Toronto before going onto study theatre. Torquil is married and has one child. He and his family live in both Vancouver, and Niagara-on-the-Lake (the latter for the duration of the annual Shaw Festival, where his wife is an ensemble member).