Richard Reed Parry (born October 4, 1977) is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching between guitar, double bass, drums, celesta, keyboards, and accordion.
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Early life and education
Parry comes from a musical family. His late father was David Parry of the folk band Friends of Fiddler's Green. His mother, Caroline Balderston Parry, was a poet and musician, and his sister, Evalyn Parry, is a theatre artist, songwriter, and spoken word performer. Parry's family is Quaker and Parry grew up attending Toronto Monthly Meeting.
Parry attended Canterbury High School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and was one of a dozen members of the Literary Arts program (first generation). His classmates include Stargate: Atlantis writer Martin Gero and The Holmes Show comedian Kurt Smeaton.
In the mid 1990s, he worked summers at a vegetarian camp in near Chelsea, Quebec, called Camp Au Grand Bois.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he studied electroacoustics and contemporary dance at Concordia University in Montreal.
Career
The Bell Orchestre was formed in 2005, along with Sarah Neufeld, Tim Kingsbury as well as Stefan Schneider and French horn player Pietro Amato. Parry primarily plays double bass and is the de facto producer. Bell Orchestre released As Seen Through Windows with Arts & Crafts Records on March 10, 2009. It was recorded with John Mcentire in Soma Electric Studios in Chicago, Illinois. The album won a 2011 Juno Award for best instrumental album.
A long-time core member of Arcade Fire, he co-produced and collaborated on the debut EP, Arcade Fire, before the first lineup of the band fell apart. Helping to reform and recreate the band, Parry brought in Bell Orchestre bandmate Sarah Neufeld, and New International Standards bandmates, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara.
He has also made musical contributions to albums by The National, Little Scream, Sufjan Stevens, The Unicorns and Islands. On the latter's critically acclaimed 2006 album Return to the Sea, he played several instruments, sang background vocals and arranged strings, and appeared with the band's 2016 10-year-anniversary shows where they played the album in full.
Parry has also performed in a cover band called Phi Slamma Jamma along with Arcade Fire bandmates Will Butler, Jeremy Gara, and Tim Kingsbury. The group performed at the 2011 POP Montreal Festival as well as the 2012 Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival.
On January 20, 2007, Parry returned to Canterbury High to perform a concert with Arcade Fire in the school's cafeteria. Only 400 students and staff were permitted to attend the show. Beforehand, those chosen had the opportunity to preview new, unreleased songs from the Arcade Fire's upcoming album. After the show, there was a brief autograph period and the students met with the band members.
He was also formerly a member of the band the New International Standards, with Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. His first work for Orchestra, entitled For Heart, Breath and Orchestra. It was recorded by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, on their 2011 album From Here on Out alongside pieces by Jonny Greenwood and Nico Muhly. He has also written commissioned works for Kronos Quartet, yMusic and Bryce Dessner, and his chamber works also have been performed by the Calder Quartet and Warhol Dervish.
Personal life
Parry married Laurel Sprengelmeyer, better known as the musician Little Scream, in October 2019.
Discography
Solo albums
Music For Heart and Breath (2014) (with Kronos Quartet, yMusic, Bryce and Aaron Dessner, Nadia Sirota)
Quiet River of Dust Vol.1: This Side of the River (2018)
Quiet River of Dust Vol. 2: That Side of the River (2019)
Heart and Breath: Rhythm and Tone Fields (2022) (with Susie Ibarra
First Sounds (2024) (with Sarah Neufeld and Rebecca Foon)
Were the Watchtowers (2026) (with Dallas Good
Film scores
The Nest (2020)
Eileen (2023)
The Iron Claw (2023)
Adrianne + The Castle (2024)
The Actor (2025)
Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire (EP, Merge, 2003)
Funeral (LP, Merge, 2004)
Neon Bible (LP, Merge, 2007)
The Suburbs (LP, Merge, 2010)
Reflektor (LP, Merge, 2013)
Everything Now (LP, Sonovox, 2017)
We (LP, Sonovox, 2022)
Pink Elephant (LP, Columbia, 2025)
Bell Orchestre
Bell Orchestre, (demo, 2002)
Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light, (album, 2005)
As Seen Through Windows, (LP, released on March 10, 2009)
Who Designs Nature's How, (EP, released on August 25, 2009)
House Music (2021)
Appearances
Full track appearances
Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell (2 tracks on compilation LP), (Yep Roc, 2012)
From Here on Out, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, (LP, Analekta, 2012)
Spirit of Talk Talk, (track on compilation LP, Fierce Panda, 2012)
Have Not Been the Same, (track on compilation LP, Zunior, 2012)
Little Scream
The Golden Record, (LP, Secretly Canadian, 2011)
Cult Following, (LP, Merge, 2016)
The National
Trouble Will Find Me, (LP, 4AD, 2013)
High Violet, (LP, 4AD, 2010)
Barr Brothers
Sleeping Operator, (LP, Secret City Records, 2014)
Islands
Return to the Sea, (LP, Rough Trade, 2007)
The Unicorns
Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?, (LP, Rough Trade, 2004)
Leonard Cohen
Thanks for the Dance, (LP, Columbia, 2019)
Neko Case
Neon Grey Midnight Green, (LP, ANTI, 2025)