The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Brian Jonestown Massacre


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Background = group_or_band
Alias = BJM
The BJM
Origin = San Francisco, California, U.S.
Genre = Psychedelic rock, shoegaze
Years_active = 1990–present
Label = Bomp! Records
TVT Records
Tee Pee Records
Associated_acts = Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The Out Crowd
The Dilettantes
URL = http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com
Current_members = Anton Newcombe
Collin Hegna
Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson
Ricky Maymi
Daniel Allaire
Joel Gion
Rob Campanella
Past_members = Matt Hollywood
Dean Taylor
Dave Koenig
Kirpatrick Thomas
Mike Sharperson
Jeffrey Davies
Miranda Lee Richards
Peter Hayes
Matthew J. Tow
Reggie Shumway
Bobby Hecksher
Raugust

The Brian Jonestown Massacre (frequently abbreviated as "BJM" or "The BJM") are a neo-psychedelic rock band, founded in San Francisco, California, in the early 1990s, led by Anton Newcombe.

The BJM's music can mostly be described as "neo-psychedelic", since it is generally perceived to be "mind-expanding" music, and because it can be seen as being a "continuation" of music from the 1960s.

Line-up

Since its formation, the band has undergone a large number of personnel changes. Multi-instrumentalist and main songwriter Anton Newcombe is the only member who has stayed with the Brian Jonestown Massacre since its beginning, when it was founded by Newcombe and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Matt Hollywood.

The line-up of The BJM consists of members:

* Ricky Rene Maymi, a guitarist and founding member of The BJM. Ricky started out in the original line-up for the band as a drummer. (He was recently replaced by Irina Yaikowsky, who was in turn replaced by Ricky again).
* Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson; a member since March, 2000. A multi-instrumentalist, notable for his 12-string guitar playing in The BJM. He is also involved with bands, Spindrift, The Situation, The Cold Water Direction and others.
* Rob Campanella, a Los Angeles-based studio producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist. He plays organ, guitar and keyboard for The BJM. He has worked with bands such as The Tyde, Beachwood Sparks, Dead Meadow, Mia Doi Todd, Frausdots, Scarling., and his own band, The Quarter After.
* Collin Hegna, a bass guitarist, also a song-writer/musician in his own band, Federale [ [http://www.flomotions.com/0701/itv-Federale.html FLOmotions - Interview - Collin Hegna, Federale, Portlznd, Oregon, 14.12.2006 ] ] .
* Dan Allaire, a drummer, most noticeable for his powerful style of drumming.

It should be noted that Tambourine man, Joel Gion, is also performing with the band on their current tour. Also, Will Carruthers, an acclaimed bass player who is well-known as a member and for his contributions in the highly influential experimental rock bands; Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized, played bass guitar for the BJM on their most recent world tour.

There are at least two dozen musicians who have been in The Brian Jonestown Massacre at one point or another. Former members include:

* Joel Gion, an early BJM member, Tambourine Man and "Spokesperson for the Revolution", a founding member and currently the front-man and primary leader of the San Francisco-based 60's revivalist indie/garage rock band; The Dilettantes. Gion clocked the most time with Newcombe and has quit and rejoined the band more times than anyone else. He now performs with The BJM as an on/off member.
* Matt Hollywood, a founding member and primarily a bass guitarist in the band for roughly seven years. Hollywood was also a founding member of Portland-based indie rock band, The Out Crowd, before going on to create his newest band, The Rebel Drones.
*Jeff Davies, a founding member and guitarist for The BJM from 1992 to 1999, rejoining in 2001, only to quit again in 2003. He is currently a guitarist in the folk rock/country/pop group, The Burlington Family. He has also been involved with the bands, The Tulips, and Smallstone.
* Dean Taylor, an early member and guitarist for the band, he is currently a member of the shoegaze/indie rock band; The Mandarins. Taylor left The BJM permanently in 1998.
* Peter Hayes, a guitarist for the band. Hayes is a founding member of San Francisco-based rock trio, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
* Brad Artley, an early member and prominent drummer for The BJM. Artley is easily recognisable for his blonde Brian Jones-hairstyle and his appearances in DiG!. He was also a former member for the post-punk rock band, The Richmond Sluts.
* Miranda Lee Richards, a part time member providing vocals and guitar accompaniment. She is also a solo recording artist.
* Brian Glaze, an original member and drummer for The BJM. He is currently a solo artist and member of the psych rock band, The Gris Gris.
* Tommy Dietrick, an early member and former bassist for The BJM. He is currently a member of the band, Sky Parade.
* Jeff Levitz, a short-term member and guitarist for the band, is also involved with The Warlocks.
* Sune Rose Wagner, a part-time member, a founding member of The Raveonettes, Psyched up Janis and The Tremolo Beer Gut.
* Will Carruthers, an acclaimed bass player who is well-known as a member and for his contributions in the highly influential experimental rock bands; Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized, played bass guitar for the BJM on their most recent world tour. He has also released solo work under the moniker "Freelovebabies", which also features collaborations with other musicians.
* Bobby Hecksher, a part-time member, he is a founding member of Los Angeles-based neo-psychedelic/hard rock band, The Warlocks.
* Matthew J. Tow, a part-time member/collaborator, a founding member of Australia's answer to The BJM, Melbourne-based neo-psychedelic rock band, The Lovetones. He was also a former member of the band, Drop City.
* Dave Koenig, a part-time member, he is also a member of the neo-psychedelic rock band, Spindrift and The Clean Prophets.
* Lenny Pops, a short-term member, is also a founding member of rock band The Red Hearts and The Snakes.
* Christian Omar Madrigal Izzo, a short-term member and drummer in 1998. He is also a member of the rock bands, Chokebore, Shadow Project, and Christian Death 1334.
* Tony O'Neill, a short-term member and keyboardist/organist for the band. He was also a former member of the band, Southpaw, and is now a published author.
* Johnny Haro, a short-term member and drummer for The BJM, was a former member of Freak of Nature and is currently the drummer for The Dreaming.

Much has been made of the fact that Newcombe is head-strong and has just one vision in mind: his own. However, many of the musicians who quit his band have stayed in his orbit and continue working with him in some capacity. Newcombe was, at one point, a drummer in Hecksher's band, The Warlocks. Rob Campanella produces and engineers many of the records on Newcombe's record label, The Committee to Keep Music Evil/'a records'. Gion is forever showing back up shaking the tambourine at BJM shows. Ricky Rene Maymi was a drummer in an early incarnation of the band, then came back playing guitar several years later, and has since quit and rejoined the band at least once. Even The Dandy Warhols - whose falling out with Newcombe was documented in the film DiG! - appear to have buried the hatchet with Newcombe, as he joined them onstage at Lollapalooza in July 2005, with Matt Hollywood.

Name

Newcombe's art is heavily influenced by the surrealist techniques of pastiche and image appropriation, and this influence is readily apparent in the name and logo of the band. The Brian Jonestown Massacre is a portmanteau of the name of original member and guitarist of The Rolling Stones, Brian Jones, and the infamous mass cult suicide at Jonestown, Guyana. The name was also a reaction against a trend toward monosyllabic band names at the time, in particular the British bands Ride, Lush and Blur. Fact|date=May 2007

Newcombe's interest in cults like that of Jim Jones and Charles Manson is well known, and made quite plain by songs such as "The Ballad of Jim Jones" and "Arkansas Revisited" (a rework of Charles Manson's song "Arkansas", which appeared on the album ) Similar interests include a fascination with the Masons.

Music

The first BJM album, 1995's "Methodrone", approximates the UK shoegazing genre, however by their second album, "Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request" (a homage to the Stones' 1967 album entitled "Their Satanic Majesties Request"), they began the pastiche of '60s psychedelia that has characterized most of their music. Even the incorporation of influences from world music such as Middle Eastern and Brazilian music seem to be filtered through the matrix of their '60s heroes, who also include The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, Donovan, The Byrds and Bob Dylan.

The album track "Jesus" from "Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request" is extremely reminiscent of the early Spacemen 3 sound on "The Perfect Prescription" and may be the best collection of songs assembled yet, and an excellent album for the uninitiated. A true concept piece, the listener metaphorically takes a dose with the band and spends the trip expounding on relationships, God and religion, finally adjourning to the bedroom. The band's back catalog is available on Bomp!/ Tangible Records, with most recent releases on TeePee and Cargo.

Stylistic divergences have occurred. A country/roots rock approach was applied to the "Bringing It All Back Home - Again" EP (another homage title, this time to Dylan), and electronic music crept into 2003's "And This Is Our Music", whose title (a reference to a 1990 album by Galaxie 500, which in turn was a reference to an Ornette Coleman album) betrays much more recent influences. "Thank God for Mental Illness" displays a stripped-down country/rhythm n' blues sound, relying mostly on voices, and acoustic guitars. This is a format that Newcombe has occasionally resorted to presenting live during times of transition in the band.

In 2005 the band released the EP "We Are the Radio", on Newcombe's record label The Committee to Keep Music Evil.

The band released a new studio album titled "My Bloody Underground", on Cargo Records in 2008. In yet another homage to indie music, this foray name checks 90's Irish dirge-psych darlings 'My Bloody Valentine', while also poking fun gently at Newcombe's endless procession of ex-bandmates, and the scene they collectively spawned. On September 3, 2007, the band released rough recordings from the album for download from their website. [cite web |url=http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com/bandinfo.html|title=The Brian Jonestown Massacre official website|publisher =The Brian Jonestown Massacre|accessdate=2008-01-04] Music videos of the songs on the album have also been released, including a music video compilation DVD entitled 'Book of Days'.

oundtrack and television

* The BJM and former friends/rivals The Dandy Warhols were the subject of the acclaimed documentary "DiG!". [cite web |url =http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388888/|title=IMDb page|publisher =IMDb|accessdate=2008-01-04]

* "You Look Great When I'm Fucked Up" was featured in the last minutes of Episode 5 of Series 1 of the British comedy/drama television series "Skins", which was shown on E4.

* "Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth" appeared in the Jim Jarmusch film "Broken Flowers". [cite web |url =http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412019/soundtrack/|title=IMDb soundtrack page|publisher =IMDb|accessdate=2008-01-04]

* "Going to Hell" appeared in the 1999 film "American Pie". [cite web |url =http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163651/soundtrack|title=IMDb soundtrack page|publisher =IMDb|accessdate=2008-01-04]

* "Going to Hell" appeared in the 1998 film "Dead Man's Curve."

* "Going to Hell" appeared in "Faith, Hope & Trick", the third episode from season 3 of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV Series)

* "Going to Hell" also appeared in Habitat's 2008 skateboard film "Inhabitants."

* "Open Heart Surgery" appeared on the soundrack to the TV series "Rescue Me."

* "13" appeared on the episode "The Devil's Threesome" of the TV series "Californication."

Related acts

* The Dandy Warhols
* The Black Angels
* Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
* Dead Meadow
* The Dilettantes
* The Quarter After
* Miranda Lee Richards
* Spindrift
* Sky Parade
* The Out Crowd
* The Warlocks

The band has also influenced many other indie bands noted in the Brian Jonestown Massacre Covers Project. [cite web |url =http://hellospaceman.com/bjmcovers/|title=Brian Jonestown Massacre Covers Project page|publisher =N/A|accessdate=2008-01-04]

Lineups

The Brian Jonestown Massacre frequently change their lineup.

Discography

"See Brian Jonestown Massacre discography"

References

External links

* [http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com Official Website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/brianjonestownmassacre MySpace page]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1502652,00.html Interview with Anton Newcombe]
* [http://www.turntablebluelight.com/2005/12/the_brian_jonestwon_massacre.html Band synopsis]
* [http://www.bjmarchives.com BJM Archives]
* [http://hellospaceman.com/bjmcovers/ BJM Covers Project]
* [http://gigguide.aloud.com/2008/03/brian_jonestown_massacre_part.html Interview with Anton Newcombe for Aloud.com]
* [http://www.zoom-in.com/spotlights/rehearsal_space_anton_newcombe Rehearsal Space: Anton Newcombe] a 2008 video featurette