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Peter Martin Christopherson (also known as Sleazy, 27 February 1955 – 25 November 2010)[1] was an English musician, video director, commercial artist, designer and photographer, and former member of British design agency Hipgnosis.

He also founded the Industrial Records band Throbbing Gristle (TG). After the disbandment of Throbbing Gristle, he participated in the formation of Psychic TV along with Genesis P-Orridge and Geoff Rushton—Rushton later changed his name to John Balance.

After his short time in Psychic TV, Christopherson formed Coil with Balance, which lasted for just under 23 years, until Balance died of a fall in the Weston-super-Mare home he shared with Christopherson.[1] Christopherson participated in the reunification of Throbbing Gristle and, after his relocation to Thailand in 2005, composed an album for his solo endeavour The Threshold HouseBoys Choir...

Christopherson was born on 27 February 1955 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. His father, Derman Christopherson, was a professor of engineering who became master of Magdalene College, Cambridge prior to receiving a knighthood. Following school, Christopherson studied computer programming, theatre design and video at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY Buffalo) in New York, United States (US)

..Coil consisted of Christopherson and Balance, while Steven E. Thrower occasionally played bass guitar and drums. Balance was the lyricist and also played Chapman Stick and some keyboards.

Over two decades, Coil released myriad recordings, in addition to contributing to the work of other artists. They recorded parts of the album The New Backwards at Nothing Studios in New Orleans, owned by musician Trent Reznor at the time. In the liner notes of the 2008 CD release, Christopherson wrote: "Thanks to everyone there, especially Trent Reznor who made it all possible...

n 2007 Christopherson released the debut album of The Threshold HouseBoys Choir. The album, Form Grows Rampant, consists of five "parts" or songs, and includes a DVD of the album set to video footage of Thai rituals in Krabi, Thailand.[9][10] One tour promoter who organized a Threshold HouseBoys Choir concert described it as "easily the most shocking thing I have ever experienced"..

In 2008 Christopherson and Ivan Pavlov (aka CoH) started a new project called Soisong. The band officially premiered in Tokyo on 9 March 2008 and later performed several shows in Europe, having self-released their debut EP. As part of the tour, Soisong performed a live soundtrack to Derek Jarman's film Blue in Rovereto, Italy. In April of the same year, Christopherson and Pavlov, alongside David Tibet, Othon Mataragas and Ernesto Tomasini, also performed a live soundtrack for The Angelic Conversation in Turin, Italy....

In 2010 Christopherson started collaborating with Hirsute Pursuit, featuring Harley Phoenix and Bryin Dall, via email. They finished two songs together, "One Sleazy Night in Bangkok" and "One Sleazy Night in New Orleans", for the album Tighten That Muscle Ring. The album was signed to Cold Spring Records, but Christopherson died prior to its release. Boyd Rice was also a contributor and his vocal appearance opens the album with a cover version of David Bowie's "Boys Keep Swinging". Writing for the Quietus online publication, Luke Turner claimed that the album was "the most sexy and perverted album of 2012"...

Also in 2010, Christopherson was sent an iPad by musician Trent Reznor that contained music for a potential collaboration. Reznor had asked for his blessing to use the moniker "How to Destroy Angels" for a musical project that Reznor was creating with his wife (Christopherson had used the phrase in 1982, as the title of the first recording released by Coil). Christopherson responded amenably, suggesting that they could potentially collaborate as part of the project. Christopherson explained that Reznor was a "perfect gentleman" in regard to the way in which the matter was negotiated; however, Christopherson died before he was able to resend the iPad back to Reznor with his contribution..

Prior to his musical projects, Christopherson was a commercial artist, designer, and photographer. Notably, he was one of the three partners of the album cover design group Hipgnosis, which was responsible for many notable album covers of the 1970s, such as those of Pink Floyd (Wish You Were Here) and Peter Gabriel (first three albums).[3] He also designed the logo of UK fashion label BOY London.[16]

As a freelance photographer, Christopherson shot the first promotional images of the Sex Pistols in 1976. He later provided design work for SEX, the fashion boutique owned by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood...

Although the subject matter of Christopherson's photography – usually boy models with simulated injuries – was considered too shocking for publication, their technical quality earned him a job with Hipgnosis, the design team best known for producing Pink Floyd's album sleeves, on his return to England in 1974...They also impressed Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti of the transgressive performance art group COUM Transmissions, who Christopherson met at an event in Kennington, south London, the same year. Such was Christopherson's enthusiasm for the sexual aspects of COUM's performances, which often featured nudity and self-mutilation, and took inspiration from Tutti's "day job" as a pornographic model and stripper – that the pair affectionately called him Sleazy, a nickname that stuck. He began participating in their performances the following year, while continuing to design album sleeves and work as a photographer. In the latter capacity, one of his clients was a then-unknown band called the Sex Pistols, who Christopherson shot in the toilets of a YMCA, styled as rent boys, an image rejected as too shocking by their manager, Malcolm McLaren.

He was educated privately until, at age 14, he was sent to Sherborne School in Dorset..

In 1941, during World War II, Christopherson was appointed as a Scientific Officer in the Ministry of Home Security, working in the research and experimental department with Sir Reginald Stradling. His work involved investigating the effects of explosives on buildings, shelters, and firefighting (he worked with Solly Zuckerman and Hugh Cairns on researching helmet designs.. Most of Christopherson's research was conducted at the University of Oxford (1937–41), the University of Cambridge (1945–49), and the University of Leeds (1949–55). ..

Christopherson was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1960.[1] He was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He was Vice-Chancellor and Warden of the University of Durham (1960–1979) and then Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge (1978–1985).

Sherborne Preparatory School is a non-selective coeducational preparatory school in the town of Sherborne, Dorset in southern England. It is an independent preparatory school which merged with Sherborne School in April 2021. It benefits from close links with the nearby Sherborne School and Sherborne Girls..

Historical abuse allegations
Sherborne Prep featured in an ITV documentary Boarding Schools: The Secret Shame with broadcaster and journalist Alex Renton in February 2018. Three survivors of child abuse spoke about their experience of Robin Lindsay who practised abuse across three decades or more while headmaster at the school.[3] The MP for West Dorset, Rt Hon Sir Oliver Letwin, has supported calls for an inquiry into the handling of the allegations by the police and authorities.[4] In April 2018 Dorset's Police and Crime Commissioner ruled out an inquiry saying he did not believe a new inquiry would "further justice".[5] A 1993 report by Dorset Social Services was released by Dorset County Council in April 2018 following a Freedom of Information request by Somerset Live. The report confirmed that the Department for Education and police department had records regarding complaints about Lindsay's behaviour towards boarders in 1974, 1982, 1985 and 1986. The report raised questions regarding his suitability as headmaster, yet despite this Lindsay remained in post for another five years. A later report in 1997 said to be "damning in the extreme" was lost or destroyed.[6] He was banned from teaching in 1998 by the Department for Education which found him to be a ‘fixated paedophile’.[7]

A teacher at the school went to the police in 1985 to report allegations of abuse by Lindsay. He also approached the Independent Association of Preparatory Schools. But the chair at the time, Robin Peverett, did not assist, and according to reports in Devon Live the teacher was “warned off and threatened”. Peverett, headmaster of Dulwich Preparatory School until his retirement in 1990, later admitted nine counts of indecent assault on girls and a boy aged 11 to 13 between 1969 and 1978 and received an 18-month suspended sentence.

Sherborne Prep was founded in 1858 by Reverend A C Clapin, who was a housemaster at Sherborne School. The Headmaster Hugo Harper had asked him to establish a junior house at the school to educate younger boys. The school outgrew its premises over the next few decades. In 1885, it moved out to its own premises and became a fully independent preparatory school..

On 5 October 2018 it was announced by IICSA the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse, that Sherborne Prep would be one of the schools investigated within the Residential Schools Investigation

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..Formed in the early 1980's out of the ashes of industrial music founders, Throbbing Gristle, and later Psychic TV by the long time due of John Balance (aka Jhonn Balance) and Peter Christopherson, formerly of both aforementioned groups. Many today should be familiar with Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson or at least his creations as a video director for many modern day bands, particularly Nine Inch Nails' 'Pinion', 'Wish', 'Help Me I Am In Hell', 'Happiness In Slavery' and on the 'Closure' home video box set. In the group's later years before the untimely demise of John Balance on November 13, 2004 the band were briefly signed to Nothing Records, with many of the songs on their last album 'The Ape of Naples' being recorded in New Orleans in the Nothing studios, in addition to providing remixes for Nine Inch Nails since 1992...

..The group, particularly John Balance, was incredibly deep in the occult and esoteric. Not just limited to imagery alone but moreso during the song creation process where such methods as attempting to channel spirits, Enochian calling, experimentation with mind altering substances to translate the experience into music and at times 10 to 16 minute compositions for the purpose of the composition playing an integral role in ritual magick and the evocation of energies...

In 1984 Coil released a video for their version of 'Tainted Love' off the album Scatology. Marc Almond of Soft Cell has always remained a friend / collaborator of the group and only some three years prior Peter Christopherson directed their original cover the track. Coil's version however is an incredibly dark and harrowing reinterpretation whose melody is played with church bells. The single dually was the first ever music video which was added to the permanent video collection of the Museum of Modern Art and was also the first ever single whose profits would be donated solely to AIDS awareness charities.

..Additionally to the theme, the video contains several phantasmagoric and subliminal images, all of which relate to occultism and specifically to Aleister Crowley and The Law Of Thelema, who is himself something of an icon to the more esoteric gay community as being an early bisexual pioneer and author of early homosexual poetic writing, the most well known of which is 'White Stains'.

Many of the symbols appearing in the video are below:

Coil, archangels of chaos, fronted by John Balance and Peter Christopherson have been around a while now producing some of the finest and most exquisite recordings you're ever likely to hear. From their debut album "Scatology" to the dark record that is "Horse Rotorvator" it is clear that very few bands have their aims and ideas as well thought out as Coil...

Coil use a lot of symbolism both aurally and visually. How important to you is this?
Just the way we think. The Black Sun is a weird one, it's what I call the "Millennial Emblem". I've noticed it in a lot of other people's stuff. All About Eve's video ended with a black sun and the Shamen have been using it in weird ways. It's like this strange shape is appearing and I don't know why.
Where did you take it from?
Well, the one we used is taken from Aleister Crowley, originally. He drew it as a cipher for something. Then we used the chaos symbol which sort of dovetailed to the use of that in Chaos magic. We are going to do a book on expanding it all to see how many we can come up with. I'm going to get as many people in; just everything I can find on it. I've got a file on it but I know if I ask as many people as possible it could go on forever. It will be out by the autumn or something.
How To Destroy Angels was designed specifically "for the accumulation of male sexual energy", yet so was Loves Secret Domain. In what way was this?
This is like one of those weird press releases that was going around. It was part of this misleading thing. We never said that.
How To Destroy Angels was an actual ritual piece, though...
Yeah, it was. It was designed, if you break it down there was like five gongs we used and the piece was 17 minutes which was associated with Mars. There was lots of things with that we couldn't do, on the original one as it had to fit in. When we did the CD, the new version, we've expanded it out a bit...

It's based on magical structures and specific timing, how did you work it out?
For Mars there's load of numbers associated with it, and the metals and the colours and we used male orientated instruments, like gongs that was the metal part of the iron, bullroarers which are used in male initiation rites, which we covered in blood and symbols and stuff and we didn't let anybody see them. The way you're supposed to use them...

What were the ideas behind Loves Secret Domain?
Electricity and drugs. It's about sound sensations, physical sensations and frequencies...

Coil are looking for contributions for a book they will be publishing on the symbol of the Black Sun. Anyone with material relating to this symbol, be it archive references in books, paintings, etc. are invited to contact Coil with details (text, photographs) for future publication at the following address:
BM Codex
London
WC1N 3XX
UK

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