John Munson

John Munson is a Minneapolis musician who is best known as the bass player for Semisonic. He was also a member of Trip Shakespeare during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Trip Shakespeare

Matt Wilson, lead vocalist of Trip Shakespeare, recalled how Munson joined that band in 1985:

cquote|Back in Minneapolis, we started trying out bass players. John is somebody that I'd played with in a band a few years earlier, so we already knew each other. But John was not that good of a bass player when I had known him before, so it didn't really occur to me to try him out.

But he came over anyway and played, and he'd improved a lot. And I don't believe it's because he kept active, either. I don't know what it is. He's not a major practicer.

Elaine [Harris] and I, together, were very weak. John was by far the best player. We ended up begging him to just give it a try and stay around. We didn't even know he could sing at the time, either. [Craig MacInnis, Behold Pop's Extravagant Toolmasters, "Toronto Star", October 18, 1991, p. D3.]

emisonic

When Trip Shakespeare dissolved, Munson and fellow band member Dan Wilson--Matt's brother--formed a new band called Pleasure, which later became Semisonic.

Current projects

Currently Munson is working on several different projects, including working with former Trip Shakespeare mate Matt Wilson on new songs, and also on the New Standards, a band that plays covers of a wide variety of music in a jazz format. Other members of the New Standards include Chan Poling (formerly of Minneapolis dance pop band the Suburbs) and Steve Roehm.

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