Peter Solowka

Who is Peter Solowka?

Peter Solowka, born in Leeds of Ukrainian and Irish descent, was guitarist with The Wedding Present from its inception until 1991. Solowka has explained that he was "kicked out of the band" after the recording of the Seamonsters album, and commented, "Officially this was for not being a good enough guitar player and not contributing enough to the song-writing. I'm not going to entertain this idea further by listing things that I've done. All I'll say is that I know who I am and what I've been responsible for, and I can't agree with this idea."

After leaving the Wedding Present, Solowka formed The Ukrainians with Roman Remeynes, Len Liggins and Stepan Pasicznyk. The Ukrainians have released ten albums since 1991.

Solowka's nickname is Grapper. He has explained this name in an interview: "When [The Wedding Present] first formed around 1985, I'd just come from supporting the miners during the strike. I often wore a flat cap and a Leeds United scarf. Shaun, the drummer from the south associated these with an old man's attire and the southern slang for this was 'grapper'. It also didn't help that I was the oldest in the band by four months."