Brent Belke

Last updated
Brent Belke
Also known asBunt
Born (1965-02-01) February 1, 1965 (age 59)
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Genres Punk rock, alternative rock, jazz, classical, avant garde
Instrument(s) Guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, electronics
Years active1981–present
Labels Epitaph Records, BYO Records

Brent Belke (born February 1, 1965, in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian guitarist and composer. After playing in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and The Wheat Chiefs between 1981 and 1998, Belke began a career composing music for film and television.

Contents

Career

SNFU and the Wheat Chiefs (1981–1998)

Belke formed Live Sex Shows with his twin brother Marc, also a guitarist, and singer Ken Chinn in 1981 after they met through the skateboarding subculture in Edmonton, Alberta. [1] The band was short-lived, but the three founded a new group called Society's No Fucking Use (better known by the acronym SNFU) later that year. With a rotating rhythm section, SNFU released four LPs and served as catalysts for the skate punk movement in addition to influencing the punk rock scene at large before disbanding temporarily in 1989. After the group's first breakup, Marc and Brent founded the Wheat Chiefs, whose sound reflected power pop and melodic hardcore influences not immediately apparent in SNFU's material.

In 1991, offers for touring and significant record deals helped lead to SNFU's reformation, and the two bands, now located in Vancouver, British Columbia, operated in tandem for the next seven years. SNFU signed to Epitaph Records, released three further studio and one live album, and toured extensively; the Wheat Chiefs were less active, releasing only the Redeemer album in 1996.

Belke left rock music in 1998 to focus on scoring in film and television, accruing university degrees in jazz and classical composition. SNFU continued in his absence, while the Wheat Chiefs permanently disbanded.

Work in composition, recent activity (1998–present)

Belke has composed music for the films Cries in the Dark and The Accidental Witness, the television shows Road Hockey Rumble (for which he received a Leo Award nomination in 2008), So Weird , The Stagers , and numerous other works.

He performed a one-off concert with SNFU in 2001, and also played on one track on SNFU's 2004 album In the Meantime and In Between Time , their only release after his departure. His newest project is Existential Angst Party, an experimental avant-garde group. [2] [3] They released a full-length album in 2005.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SNFU</span> Canadian hardcore punk band

SNFU was a Canadian hardcore punk band formed in Edmonton in 1981, relocated to Vancouver in 1992, and disbanded in 2018. They released eight albums, two live records, and one compilation amid many lineup changes and several temporary breakups. Vocalist Ken Chinn led the group, which included twin-brother guitarists Brent and Marc Belke for much of its career.

<i>If You Swear, Youll Catch No Fish</i> 1986 studio album by SNFU

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<i>Something Green and Leafy This Way Comes</i> 1993 studio album by SNFU

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<i>The Last of the Big Time Suspenders</i> 1991 compilation album by SNFU

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<i>Lets Get It Right the First Time</i> 1998 live album by SNFU

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Kendall Steven Chinn, known under the stage name Mr. Chi Pig, was a Canadian punk rock vocalist and artist born in Edmonton and long residing in Vancouver. He fronted the hardcore punk band SNFU from 1981 until their hiatus in 2018. Other, short-lived groups that he led included The Wongs, Little Joe, and Slaveco.

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Marc Belke is a Canadian musician and former radio personality. He played guitar in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and The Wheat Chiefs, and sang lead vocals in the latter. He was later an on-air personality with Rogers based in Victoria, British Columbia.

David Rees is an American-Canadian musician and television editor currently based in Montreal, Quebec. Rees played drums in the punk rock band SNFU and the alternative rock band Wheat Chiefs, and served for a time as the touring drum tech for Bad Religion.

Robert Arthur Johnson is a Canadian musician currently based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He played bass guitar in the punk and alternative rock bands SNFU and the Wheat Chiefs, in addition to recording his own hip hop and hard rock music in various incarnations.

Matt Warhurst is a Canadian musician and record producer. He has played bass guitar in the punk rock group SNFU and the industrial rock band Jakalope.

Shane Smith is a Canadian drummer. He has performed with the punk rock bands SNFU and Slaveco., and the alternative industrial rock bands Neurosonic and Jakalope.

Curtis Creager is an American-Canadian bass guitarist, best known as a former member of the punk rock band SNFU and alternative rock band the Wheat Chiefs.

<i>Shes Not on the Menu</i> 1986 EP by SNFU

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<i>Redeemer</i> (Wheat Chiefs album) 1996 studio album by Wheat Chiefs

Redeemer is an album by the Canadian punk-influenced alternative rock band the Wheat Chiefs. The album is a collection of songs from three separate recording sessions held between 1992 and 1994, and was released by BangOn Records, a subsidiary of the Canadian label Cargo Records, and the band's own Hom Wreckerds Music imprint. It is the only official release by the Wheat Chiefs.

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References

  1. ↑ Chris Walter. ...What No One Else Wanted to Say. Vancouver: GFY Press, 2012
  2. ↑ "Existential Angst Party explores joy of angst". Straight.com. November 17, 2005. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Canadian New Music Review". earsay.com. June 6, 2006. Archived from the original on March 2, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
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