Derek Thompson, of Irish background but born and raised in London, is for all intents and purposes the Hoodlum Priest, his self-chosen moniker for his work as a producer and engineer, using hip-hop, industrial, and techno influences as the source of material for his sounds. While Thompson had done a brief stint with the Cure, his major musical background through the late '70s and '80s was with avant-garde industrialists SPK, which he co-founded in 1978. He continued with the band through the end of the '80s, departing after newer member Graeme Revell took the group to what Thompson felt was too commercial of a direction. His initial goal with Hoodlum Priest, one of several musical projects he explored during the '90s and beyond, was to draw in both film influences on his work -- primarily via dialogue but also musically -- and hip-hop with a specific goal of recruiting a London-based MC. He was introduced to one, Sevier, at a club performance in 1989, and the two worked together for awhile, but Sevier's strong Christian background and Thompson's more free-thinking philosophy and darker musical approach eventually led to the MC's departure. Thompson continued on his own, interspersing his background work (notably with Apollo 440) with occasional album releases such as 1994's Beneath the Pavement and 1998's Hoodlum Priest. ~ Ned Raggett