David Anthony Healy (born 14 January 1962), who performs as David Virgin, is an Irish-born Australian musician, songwriter and record producer. In the 1980s he was a member of punk industrial noise group SPK, and later formed a post-punk band, Sekret Sekret. He was active in the 1990s and 2000s touring Australia and Europe. He performed and recorded both as a solo artist and as a member of numerous bands. Virgin is the owner of Beardfire Recording Studios in Dublin, Ireland where he has produced music for artists including Ailsha, All The Queen's Horses, RUNAH, Patricia Lalor, and SPK.
History
Early career - Broken Toys
David Virgin was born in North Dublin on 14 January 1962. As a child he emigrated to Australia with his family. He grew up in Sydney and attended Christian Brothers College, Burwood. In 1978, at the age of 16, Virgin formed his first band The Broken Toys as bass player and main songwriter. He was joined by Peter Mullany (of Johnny Dole & The Scabs) on lead guitar, Andrew Campbell on rhythm guitar and vocals and Virgin's brother John on drums, who was later replaced by Paul Cosgrove. The Broken Toys played 60's pop inspired melodic punk in the style of the Buzzcocks and performed regularly at the Grand Hotel, Broadway, Sydney.
Early career - SPK
In 1979 Virgin joined Graeme Revell, Neil Hill and guitarist Dan Rumour as bassist for the industrial noise group SPK, where he co-wrote and produced the early 7" records "No More", "Kontakt", "Factory", "Germanik", "Retard", "Slogun" and "Mekano". In a 2018 interview with Pantograph Punch magazine Graeme Revell acknowledged the original SPK lineup, and their contribution "'Over all these years, I would never correct any rumour that developed. But now I know there are some people who were in the band early on that wanted a bit of credit for what they did, so I’ll give it to them.' Revell took the name Operator, and Steven Hill the name Ne/H/il. In Sydney, they met a couple of younger guys who completed the live setup (Danny Rumour and David Virgin, each who went on to be successful musicians in their own right)." In 1984 a compilation album was released called The Industrial Records Story and featured SPK (band)'s 1979 recording "Mekano" alongside Throbbing Gristle, William S. Burroughs, Cabaret Voltaire (band), Leather Nun and Elisabeth Welch. The early SPK recordings that featured Virgin were also referenced in the landmark publication RE/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook
In 2006, the SPK song Slogun was sampled in the song Hakai (Deathtroy) by Kyono, and DJ Starscream (real name Sidney George Wilson of the band Slipknot (band)). The song appeared on the official tribute album 'The Songs for Death Note the movie～the Last name Tribute～' which was released alongside the film Death Note 2: The Last Name and published by Sony Music Distribution (Japan)
Early career - Sekret Sekret
The Broken Toys disbanded in 1979 and shortly after that Virgin formed The Ugly Mirrors with Dan Rumour, Des Devlin and Peter McGregor. The Ugly Mirrors quickly became Sekret Sekret with the final line up including Colin Ellis on drums and Peter Mullany on second guitar who came over from Johnny Dole & The Scabs. Sekret Sekret performed and recorded for six years earning 5 number one singles on the Australian independent charts including the "noted underground classic New King Jack". Sekret Sekret gained national exposure performing live on the likes of Seven Network's Sounds and interviewed by host Donnie Sutherland, and were played on high rotation on Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Double J and performed a live to air concert on Triple J, some of which appears on 2008 record Sekret Sekret – Happy Town Sounds (Singles, Live & Rare). Sekret Sekret's final line up included Ken Gormley (The Cruel Sea) on bass and James Elliot (The Cruel Sea) on Drums with Des Devlin moving to share the lead guitar duties with Dan Rumour. In 1985 Sekret Sekret released their last single "Just to Love You", disbanding shortly after. Three of the members of Sekret Sekret went on to form Australian rock band The Cruel Sea with singer Tex Perkins.
Solo career to present
In 1984, Virgin recorded and released a split single with Leonard Samperi titled "Possession/Give It Up" through Waterfront Records. The single was co-produced and engineered by Clive Shakespeare of Australian pop, rock group Sherbet who also engineered a number of Sekret Sekret singles including "Girl With a White Stick/Chimes" and "Just To Love You/Waterbirds".