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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Information
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'Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ' are a rock and roll band from San Francisco, California.
Biography
BRMC, as they are known for short, formed in 1998, taking their name from the 1953 film The Wild One. On their first two records they played hard driving punkish rock influenced by Iggy Pop and the Stooges, The Ramones, The Doors, Sex Pistols, and 1980s British acts like Spacemen 3 and The Jesus & Mary Chain. Their style also encompassed slower paced psychedelic dreamy grooves influenced by shoegazers like My Bloody Valentine and Ride. Recently, with their third Record Howl they developed a new Sound somewhere between Blues, Folk, Gospel and Rock, but still with their old melancholy. The vocals are shared between Robert Levon Been (Bass) and Peter Hayes (guitar). Been used the pseudonym Robert Turner on the first two Records, in an attempt to not be linked to his famous father (His father being none other than Michael Been of The Call.) He later dropped this identity when promoting "Howl".
Been and Hayes met at high-school in San Francisco and quickly formed a band, writing music and playing together. Looking for a drummer, they met Nick Jago, who hailed from Cornwall in England, who had moved to California to be with his parents.
The band were originally under the name 'The Elements' but after discovering that another band had the same name, they swiftly changed to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Caught up in the hype of the Music-press fuelled 'new rock revolution' which included The Strokes and Kings of Leon, the band quickly separated themselves from the others in both sound and image, proving they were very different to their contemporaries in quality, songwriting and touring mentality.
The band were dropped by Virgin Records in 2004, with Nick Jago leaving the band at the end of their summer tour of the same year due to "internal conflict". He was briefly replaced by ex-the Verve drummer Peter Salisbury on the tour dates.
In 2005 the band signed to Echo in the UK, and RCA in the US, with Jago also returning. Their third album "Howl" was recently released to wide spread critical acclaim.
Line-Up
*Peter Hayes: guitar, bass, vocals
*Robert Levon Been: guitar, bass, vocals
*Nick Jago: drums/percussion
Discography
Albums
* Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (April 2001) UK #25
* Take Them On, On Your Own (August 2003) US #47, UK #3
* Howl (August 2005) UK #14
Singles
* Red Eyes And Tears (February 2001)
* Rifles (March 2001)
* Screaming Gun EP (October 2001)
* Whatever Happened To My Rock'N'Roll (Punk Song) (October 2001)
* Love Burns (January 2002) UK #37
* Spread Your Love (May 2002) UK #27
* Whatever Happened To My Rock'N'Roll (Punk Song) (September 2002)
* Stop (August 2003) UK #19
* We're All In Love (November 2003)
* Ain't No Easy Way (August 2005) UK #21
* Weight Of The World (TBD 2006)
Trivia
The bands' currently has an on-going t-shirt design competition, where fans of the band and members of the website forum can enter in their own designs for a band T-shirt. The entries are judged by the band members and the winning entries are then produced for sale at gigs. Winners also have the chance to meet the band, receive signed CD's and the usual paraphernalia.
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