Elvis Perkins

Elvis Brooke Perkins was born on February 9, 1976, in New York City, the son of actor Anthony Perkins and photographer and actress Berry Berenson. He grew up in Los Angeles and Manhattan alongside his older brother, Oz Perkins. Perkins was introduced to music at a young age, initially learning the saxophone before focusing on the guitar during high school, where he received lessons from Prescott Niles. He pursued both rock music and classical guitar composition, laying the groundwork for his future musical career. He attended Brown University after graduating from Harvard-Westlake School in 1994.

Perkins’ musical career gained significant traction with the independent release of his debut studio album, “Ash Wednesday,” in 2006, which was subsequently re-released globally by XL Recordings in 2007. Following this, he formed the band Elvis Perkins in Dearland with multi-instrumentalists Brigham Brough, Wyndham Boylan-Garnett, and Nick Kinsey, releasing their self-titled debut album in 2009. His involvement in film scoring began to develop, contributing to the soundtrack of “Awake My Soul,” which featured a cover of the Sacred Harp song “Weeping Pilgrim.” His song “Doomsday” from “The Doomsday EP” was notably featured in an episode of the HBO series “Enlightened.”

Perkins continued to release original music, including his third full-length album, “I Aubade,” in 2015, under his own label, MIR. This was followed by the “Label Pop Session EP” in 2016, recorded for France Musique Radio. In recent years, Perkins has expanded his work as a composer for film, collaborating with his brother, Oz Perkins, on scores for movies such as “The Blackcoat’s Daughter” (2017) and “Longlegs” (2024), where he used the pseudonym Zilgi. His most recent album, “Creation Myths,” was released in 2020.