Bon Harris | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | 12 August 1965 |
Origin | Chelmsford, Essex, England [1] |
Genres | EBM, industrial rock |
Occupation(s) | Composer, record producer, musician, songwriter, singer |
Years active | 1983–present |
Labels | Mute Geffen |
Bon Harris (born Vaughan David Harris; 12 August 1965 in Chelmsford, Essex, England) [1] is an English composer, producer, singer and songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He is a founding member of the British EBM group Nitzer Ebb, programming Nitzer Ebb's signature sound. [2] He also played drums and synthesizers for Nitzer Ebb, [3] as well as lending his voice to several tracks such as "Let Beauty Loose."
Since Nitzer Ebb's 1995 release, Harris has become an in-demand collaborator working with Depeche Mode, The Smashing Pumpkins, [4] Evanescence, AFI, Avril Lavigne, Bush, and Billy Corgan, who asked Bon to co-produce his solo album, TheFutureEmbrace . Harris's band, Maven, is on hold as he works on other projects.
Harris also worked closely with Marilyn Manson, programming electronics and recording for his 2000 album Holy Wood . [5] [6] Manson appears as a guest on Maven's cover of Nick Cave's "Hard On For Love" and had this to say of his collaborator and some-time inspiration:
"Bon was someone I had always respected and even interviewed in 1989 and was completely blown away by his musical ability and voice. I was fortunate that he took time away from Maven to work with me on my project. He became sort of a sixth member of the group and I don't use that term lightly. I think Maven adds genius songwriting to electronic music in a totally original way."
Harris resides in Los Angeles and continues to work as a film and TV composer. He worked on Bravo's popular shows Project Runway and Top Chef , as well as NBC's Treasure Hunters .
Nitzer Ebb embarked on a worldwide tour in 2006 that continued until 2008 when Harris returned to the studio to work on the album Industrial Complex which was released in 2009.
In July 2020, Harris did a streaming live set from his yard in Eagle Rock, CA, titled “Songs: From the Lemon Tree,” consisting of solo cover songs. [7]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris and Douglas McCarthy got together to work on a side project called D-R-A-G. [7]
In November 2021, Harris performed on lead vocals for a Nitzer Ebb show in Palm Beach, Florida and Toronto, Ontario due to bandmate McCarthy falling ill and going to the hospital. [8]
Harris primarily uses vintage analog and modular synthesizers, including Roland System 100M modular, Doepfer A100, Clavia Nord Modular, Korg MS-10 and Oberheim Xpander. He has also used digital synthesizers Roland D50 and Kurzweil K2000. [4] His first synthesizer was an EDP Wasp, which he bought by selling his Mongoose bicycle. [9] On Nitzer Ebb albums he has used the Roland System 700 and System 100M, RSF Kobol and various analog synths of the 70's and the 80's. [9]
Electronic body music (EBM) is a genre of electronic music that combines elements of industrial music and synth-punk with elements of dance music. It developed in the early 1980s in Western Europe, as an outgrowth of both the punk and the industrial music cultures. It combines sequenced repetitive basslines, programmed dance music rhythms, and mostly undistorted vocals and command-like shouts with confrontational or provocative themes.
Vincent John Martin, known professionally as Vince Clarke, is an English synth-pop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been the main composer and musician of the band Erasure since its inception in 1985, and was previously the main songwriter for several groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, and the Assembly. In Erasure, he is known for his deadpan and low-key onstage demeanour, often remaining motionless over his keyboard, in sharp contrast to lead vocalist Andy Bell's animated and hyperactive frontman antics.
Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) is the fourth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on November 11, 2000, by Nothing and Interscope Records. A rock opera concept album, it is the final installment of a triptych that also included Antichrist Superstar (1996), and marked a return to the industrial metal style of the band's earlier work, after the glam rock-influenced production of Mechanical Animals (1998). After its release, the band's eponymous vocalist said that the overarching story within the trilogy is presented in reverse chronological order: Holy Wood, therefore, begins the narrative.
VNV Nation, also known as Victory Not Vengeance, are a British-Irish electronic music group formed in London and led by Ronan Harris in the roles of singer, songwriter and producer, with live members being keyboardists Mike Wimer and David Gerlach and percussionist Chris Roberts.
The Golden Age of Grotesque is the fifth studio album by American rock band Marilyn Manson. It was released on May 13, 2003, by Nothing and Interscope Records, and was their first album to feature former KMFDM member Tim Sköld, who joined after longtime bassist Twiggy Ramirez amicably left the group over creative differences. It was also their final studio album to feature keyboardist Madonna Wayne Gacy and guitarist John 5, who would both acrimoniously quit before the release of the band's next studio album.
Nitzer Ebb are an English EBM group formed in 1982 by Essex school friends Vaughan "Bon" Harris, Douglas McCarthy (vocals), and David Gooday (drums). The band were originally named La Comédie De La Mort but soon discarded that and chose the name Nitzer Ebb by cutting up words and letters and arranging them randomly to create something Germanic without using actual German words.
The Roland SH-101 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation between 1982 and 1986. Though it was something of a commercial failure during the time of its manufacture, it later became a staple of electronic music in the 1990s, particularly house music.
TheFutureEmbrace is the debut solo album by American musician Billy Corgan, frontman of the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Released in June 2005, the album's sound was markedly different from most of Corgan's earlier work, eschewing his characteristic "drums, bass, (and) big-guitars sound" in favor of an electronic sound punctuated with heavily distorted guitar parts reminiscent of shoegaze.
Alan Charles Wilder is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer and member of the electronic band Depeche Mode from 1982 to 1995. After his departure from the band, the musical project Recoil became his primary musical enterprise, which initially started as a side project to Depeche Mode in 1986. Wilder has also provided production and remixing services to the bands Nitzer Ebb and Curve. In 2020, Wilder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Depeche Mode. He is a classically trained musician.
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer and established the analog synthesizer concept.
Michael James Beinhorn is a North American record producer, composer, author, and musician. He has produced albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Soundgarden, Hole, Korn, and Marilyn Manson.
"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by British synth-pop duo Eurythmics. It was released as the fourth and final single from their second album of the same name in January 1983. It was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in March 1983, and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 six months later; it was their first single released in the US.
Showtime is the third album by the British EBM group Nitzer Ebb. It featured the singles "Lightning Man" and "Fun to Be Had", the latter of which was later remixed by George Clinton. "Getting Closer" was also released as a single. Nitzer Ebb supported the album by touring with Depeche Mode.
Ebbhead is the fourth album of the British EBM group Nitzer Ebb. Co-produced by Depeche Mode's Alan Wilder in collaboration with Flood, it was released by Mute Records on 30 September 1991. The album features a continuation of their industrial sound with the inclusion of metal guitars for the first time, notably featured on the single Godhead as well as the Family Man remix. According to the band, the guitar parts featured were recorded samples.
"Remember Me" is a 1970 single recorded and released by singer Diana Ross on the Motown label and was included on her 1971 album Surrender. The song was released as the album's first single on December 8, 1970 by the label. It was written and produced by Ashford & Simpson. In the US, the song was Ross' third top forty pop hit within a year, peaking at number 16 on the Hot 100 chart and number 10 on the soul chart. It was also Diana Ross' third entry on the Easy Listening chart, where it went to number 20. It gave Diana her third gold single in a year and her third top 10 charting single in Cash Box, peaking at number eight. Overseas, "Remember Me" reached the top ten in the UK, where it reached number seven. It was the lead single from Ross' 1971 album, Surrender.
The Roland System-100M was a modular analog synthesizer manufactured by the Roland Corporation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the successor of the Roland System-100, a semi-modular keyboard.
Douglas John McCarthy is an English vocalist whose work covers a range of electronic music genres.
The Roland System 100 was an analog semi-modular synthesizer manufactured by Japan's Roland Corporation, released in 1975 and manufactured until 1979. It consisted of the following products:
As Is is an EP by Industrial / EBM group Nitzer Ebb, released prior to their fourth album Ebbhead on LP, Compact Disc, and cassette by Mute Records in the United Kingdom and Geffen/MCA Records (GEF-21658) in the United States. It features four tracks, each mixed by a different artist / producer. The first track, "Family Man" is the only one to feature on Ebbhead and appears here in a different form to that on the album. It was mixed by Jaz Coleman, vocalist and frontman of English post-punk band Killing Joke. The second track, "Lovesick" was mixed by Flood who produced the band's second and third albums, Belief and Showtime as well as the previously mentioned Ebbhead. The third track, "Come Alive" was mixed by Alan Wilder of Depeche Mode, who would eventually be drafted in to co-produce Ebbhead. The last track, "Higher" was mixed by Barry Adamson and PK. Barry Adamson was the bassist for Howard Devoto's Magazine and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and PK is an engineer/producer who has worked mainly for Mute Records on various Depeche Mode and Flood projects.
The RSF Kobol is a French monophonic synthesizer released in 1978, described by some as "the French Minimoog". It could process external sounds through the envelope and filter section. It was created by Ruben and Serge Fernandez. Fewer than 200 were made as they were not mass-produced. The Kobol is a very versatile instrument, offering many sought-after features of other analogue synthesizers of its time.