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The Brian Jonestown Massacre
Anton Newcombe & BJM - Live at Coachella
Background information
Also known as	BJM The BJM
Origin	San Francisco, California, United States
Genres	Psychedelic Rock, Experimental, Shoegaze, Folk Rock (Thank God For Mental Illness)
Years active	1990 – present
Labels	Bomp! Records TVT Records Tee Pee Records
Associated acts	Black Rebel Motorcycle Club The Out Crowd The Dilettantes
Website	http://www.brianjonestownmassacre.com
Members
Anton Newcombe Matt Hollywood Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson Collin Hegna Will Carruthers Ricky Maymi Daniel Allaire Joel Gion Rob Campanella
Former members
see below

The Brian Jonestown Massacre (BJM) is a neo-psychedelic rock band, led by Anton Newcombe. The group was founded by Newcombe, Matt Hollywood, Ricky Rene Maymi, Patrick Straczek and Travis Threlkel in the early 1990s in San Francisco. Current members also include Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson, Collin Hegna, Dan Allaire, Rob Campanella, Will Carruthers and Joel Gion.

Name

Band leader Anton Newcombe is influenced by the post-modernist technique of cut ups and the re-contextualization of images; "Brian Jonestown Massacre" itself being a portmanteau of The Rolling Stones' guitarist Brian Jones and the infamous mass cult suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. The band's name has been noted likely to be a reaction against a late 80s and early 90s trend toward monosyllabic band names such as Blur, Loop, Bush and Ride (citation needed!). The band has become so successful that they have been described as " the godfathers of alternative rock" - Barney Chunn.

Music

The band have recorded albums that could fit into a variety of musical genres across their history. 1995's Methodrone approximates the UK shoegazing sound of the time, a sound they would return to with the band's 2008 album, My Bloody Underground.

Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request from 1996 reflects a pastiche of '60s psychedelia that continues to characterize the BJM sound to the present day. Newcombe defines the term 'psychedelic' as "mind-expanding," and BJM's output is generally referred to as such because of the revivalist nature of the music.^[1][2] Elements of Middle Eastern and Brazilian music are also apparent along with influences by 1960s artists such as The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, Donovan, The Byrds and Bob Dylan. The song "Jesus" is reminiscent of Spacemen 3's The Perfect Prescription. The album's title is an homage to Their Satanic Majesties Request by The Rolling Stones.

Thank God for Mental Illness displays a country and rhythm and blues oeuvre with voice and acoustic guitar dominating the overall sound. This is a format that Newcombe occasionally resorts to when presenting live material during times of transition in the band. A further country/folk approach was applied to the Bringing It All Back Home - Again, the title itself an homage to Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home.

Electronic music crept into 2003's And This Is Our Music, evidencing more contemporary influences as well as name-checking the identically-titled albums This Is Our Music, each by the artists Galaxie 500 and Ornette Coleman. In 2005 the band released the EP We Are the Radio on Newcombe's label The Committee to Keep Music Evil, which featured a close collaboration with indie singer-songwriter Sara Beth Tuceck.

My Bloody Underground was released on Cargo Records in 2008, and demos were available since September 2007 from the band's website^[3]. The title has been interpreted to be a name-check to the bands My Bloody Valentine, and The Velvet Underground as well as referencing BJM's endless procession of bandmates and the "scene" they collectively created. Newcombe has down-played such interpretations, however.^[4] Music videos of the songs on the album have also been released, including a music video compilation DVD entitled 'Book of Days'.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre recorded both One EP and Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? in Iceland and Berlin in 2009. The One EP was released in November 2009. Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? was released in February 2010. The album features musicians such as Unnur Andrea Einarsdottir (who recorded vocals on the previous BJM album) and Felix from the Russian band Amazing Electronic Talking Cave, as well as other musicians from France, Germany, and Iceland. Will Cruthers and Matt Hollywood also return to the line-up on this album.

Newcombe's interest in cults like that of Jim Jones and Charles Manson is well known,^{[citation needed]} and made apparent by the band's name, and songs such as "The Ballad of Jim Jones" and "Arkansas Revisited" (a rework of Charles Manson's song "Arkansas" (which appeared on the album Lie: The Love & Terror Cult). Similar interests include a fascination with the Masons.^{[citation needed]}

Members

BJM has undergone many personnel changes, with Anton Newcombe being the only consistent member.

Current BJM line-up:

• Anton Newcombe – leader, guitar and vocal. (1990–present)
• Matt Hollywood – bass, guitar, vocal. (1990–1999, 2009–present)
• Joel Gion – percussion. (1994–1999, 2001, 2004–present)
• Ricky Maymi – guitar (formerly drums & bass). (1990–1993, 2003–present)
• Frankie "Teardrop" Emerson – six and twelve string guitar. (2000–present)
• Rob Campanella – keyboard, organ (formerly guitar). (2000–present)
• Dan Allaire – drums. (2002–present)
• Collin Hegna – bass/guitar. (2004–present)
• Will Carruthers – bass. (2008–present)

Notes on some former BJM members:

• Jeff Davies – guitar. Member of BJM from 1992–1999 and 2001–2003. Currently with the country-pop/folk rock band The Burlington Family. Previously with Dead Meadow, The Tulips and Smallstone.
• Dean Taylor – guitar. Currently contributes to Tokyo Raid (formerly The Mandarins). Left BJM permanently in 1999.
• Peter Hayes – guitar. Was a member circa 1996. A founding member of alternative rock trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
• Brad Artley – drums. A touring member circa 1996–1997. Former member of punk rock band The Richmond Sluts.
• Travis Threlkel – guitar. A founding member. Is leader of psychedelic/experimental rock band The Imajinary Friends.
• Miranda Lee Richards – guitar and vocal. Currently a solo recording artist.
• Brian Glaze – drums. Founding member. Currently a solo recording artist and member of The Gris Gris.
• Bobby Hecksher – bass and guitar. A member circa 2000–2001. Is currently leader and founding member of The Warlocks.
• Jeff Levitz – guitar. Previously with The Warlocks.
• Lenny Pops – guitar. Founding member of The Red Hearts and The Snakes.
• Sune Rose Wagner – guitar. Founding member of The Raveonettes, Psyched Up Janis and The Tremolo Beer Gut.
• Irina Yaikowski – drums. Replaced original drummer Ricky Maymi.
• Tommy Dietrick – bass. Currently with Sky Parade.
• Tony O'Neill – organ. Former member of Southpaw and currently a published author.
• Christian Omar Madrigal Izzo – drums. Member of BJM in 1998. Previously involved with Chokebore, Shadow Project and Christian Death 1334.
• Johnny Haro – drums. Formerly of Freak of Nature and currently with The Dreaming.
• Matthew J. Tow – guitar. Leader of Australian band The Lovetones. Previously with indie rock bands Drop City and Colorsound.
• Dave Koenig – guitar. Currently with Spindrift and The Clean Prophets.
• Robert Desmond – guitar and vocal. Previously with Pusher, The Minstrels and currently with BJ & The Green Apples' Corps. Involved in the Viper Room showcase brawl featured in DiG!.

Comprehensive line-up history

Sustained collaborative relations

Many former BJM members continue to collaborate musically with Newcombe. Newcombe was briefly a drummer in Bobby Hecksher's The Warlocks. Rob Campanella produces many of The Committee to Keep Music Evil's releases. Joel Gion is an occasional member of the touring lineup of BJM. Ricky Maymi returned to BJM as a guitarist after a multi-year hiatus from his original role as drummer and is also an occasional member. Matt Hollywood performed with BJM for their entire set at the 2005 Lollapalooza festival, and Anton and Matt sat in with the Dandy Warhols for "Oh Lord" and "Jesus", with Matt remaining on stage for part of "It's a Fast Driving Raveup with the Dandy Warhols Sixteen Minutes".

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 Parties
• The Out Crowd
• The Warlocks
• Free Thee International Molecules
• Astral
• The Lovetones
• Sarah Beth Tuceck
• The Cindys

The band has also influenced many other indie bands noted in the Brian Jonestown Massacre Covers Project.^[5]

Discography

• 1993 Spacegirl & Other Favorites
• 1995 Methodrone
• 1996 Take It from the Man!
• 1996 Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request
• 1996 Thank God for Mental Illness
• 1997 Give It Back!
• 1998 Strung Out in Heaven
• 1999 (Bringing It All Back Home – Again)
• 2001 Bravery, Repetition and Noise
• 2003 ...And This Is Our Music
• 2008 My Bloody Underground
• 2010 Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?

Soundtrack and television

• The BJM and former friends/rivals The Dandy Warhols were the subject of the acclaimed documentary DiG!.^[6]
• "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.^[7]
• "Going to Hell" appeared in the 1999 film American Pie.^[8]
• "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" appeared in Habitat's 2008 skateboard film Inhabitants, in Austyn Gillette's section.
• "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.
• One of the first few tracks from Bravery Repition & Noise appeared on J.J. Abrams's TV show Fringe.
• A number of Jonestown songs were used in the improvisational film by Zak Penn entitled The Grand.
• All but one song in the 2007 film Broken,^[9] consisted of music by The Brian Jonestown Massacre.
• "The Way It Was" appeared in the 08 Fallen video "Ride the Sky", in Gilbert Crockets section.
• "Anenome" appeared in "Boss Ballin 3" in Christian Maloufs section

References

External links

• Official Website
• MySpace page
• Anton Newcombe's personal MySpace profile
• BJM Archives
• BJM Covers Project