His first record release was a single "Mind Made" by the British new wave band,
Thieves Like Us (1980).[4] In 1982, he formed the band Automatic Dlamini, with
Rob Ellis. The changing line-up of Automatic Dlamini included
Polly Harvey from 1988 until 1991. Automatic Dlamini recorded three albums: The D is For Drum (1987),[5]Here Catch Shouted his Father (1990 – unreleased but available as a bootleg), and From A Diva to a Diver (1992).[6] By the time From A Diva to a Diver was released, Harvey had left to form the PJ Harvey trio with ex-Dlamini members
Rob Ellis and Ian Olliver, and Parish was playing guitar with
Marc Moreland's band The Ensenada Joyride.[7]
In 1986 Parish had begun a parallel career as a record producer working with UK bands including
The Chesterfields,
The Brilliant Corners,
The Caretaker Race and The Becketts. In 1995 he co-produced PJ Harvey's "
To Bring You My Love", on which he also played guitar, drums, percussion and organ.[8] He co-wrote and produced
The Eels album Souljacker (2001), and played guitar on the world tour that accompanied its release. He has produced and/or played on a number of
Howe Gelb /
Giant Sand albums and frequently appears onstage with them.[9] Parish produced the
Giant Sand album Chore of Enchantment (2000), and a photograph of his wedding in Tucson in 1998 was used as the cover for the 2011 re-release of the record.
He also began working as a film composer in 1998, writing the score for Belgian director
Patrice Toye's debut film, Rosie.[10] Parish's score won the Jury Special Appreciation prize at the 1999 Bonn Film & TV Music Biennale. He has since scored another ten soundtracks.
He has produced and played on two albums by New Zealand singer-songwriter
Aldous Harding, two
This Is the Kit albums and two albums by Malian artist
Rokia Traoré. He has also collaborated several times with two established European stars, the Italian singer
Nada and Belgian singer
Arno.