Chris Freeman (born Christopher Mark Freeman, August 8, 1961 in Seattle, Washington [1] ) is an American bassist, best known as a member of the band Pansy Division.
Chris Freeman (born Christopher Mark Freeman, August 8, 1961 in Seattle, Washington [1] ) is an American bassist, best known as a member of the band Pansy Division.
Freeman was born in Seattle and attended Weatherwax High School in Aberdeen, Washington. At school he got beaten up routinely and tried to hide his homosexuality. [2] At age 19 he was going to marry a girl that he played in a band with, before breaking it off and admitting he was gay. [3]
Freeman eventually left Washington and moved to San Francisco. In 1991 he met Jon Ginoli through an ad Ginoli placed in the San Francisco Weekly looking for "gay musicians into the Ramones, Buzzcocks and early Beatles". [4] With Freeman playing bass, and Ginoli guitar, Pansy Division went through a series of drummers before settling on Luis Illades, who has been in the band since 1996.
They became known as one of the founders of the queercore genre of punk rock, and received mainstream recognition by being Green Day's opening act for their first arena tour in 1994. [5]
After Freeman moved to Los Angeles in 2001, he later joined a band of gay musicians who started a Go-Go's tribute band called The Gay-Gays, which lasted for 10 years. Freeman started another band with guitarist Karl Rumpf and drummer Brian Welch in 2013 called GayC/DC, an all-gay tribute to Australian hard rock band AC/DC.
The band met their guitarist Steve McKnight after Freeman found an ad he posted on the gay personals site, DaddyHunt. They also added former Best Revenge bassist Glen Pavan. [6]
McKnight, Pavan and Freeman also formed a side project called Mary and performed at Palm Springs Pride in Palm Springs, California on November 3, 2019.
In 2000 Freeman moved to Los Angeles to attend film school. One of his classmates was Michael Carmona, who would go on to direct the 2008 documentary film Pansy Division: Life In a Gay Rock Band, which Freeman edited and co-produced. [7] [8] He was also in the 1997 documentary Queercore: A Punk-U-Mentary and appeared as an actor in the 2002 film Luster . [9]
Freeman has also written for various magazines and publications including Frontiers .
Queercore is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community. Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film.
Pansy Division are an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, United States, in 1991 by guitarist and singer-songwriter Jon Ginoli along with bassist Chris Freeman.
Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. The band made a significant impression on the DIY punk movement queercore, which gave voice through zines and music to the passions and concerns of LGBT people in the punk scene.
Sister George were an English band from London, recognised as being significant in the 1990s Queercore scene, who formed in 1993.
Outpunk enjoys the distinction of being the first record label entirely devoted to queer punk bands.
Sta-Prest was a multi-racial queercore and riot grrrl band from San Francisco that was active in the 1990s. The group members included Aloofah and D.M. Feelings.
Leslie Mah is an American musician and performer.
Undressed is the debut album by American queercore band Pansy Division, released in March 1993 on Lookout! Records.
Deflowered is the second studio album by American queercore band Pansy Division, released in 1994 on Lookout! Records.
Pile Up is a compilation album by American queercore band Pansy Division, released on February 16, 1995, by Lookout! Records. The album compiles various singles, b-sides, cover songs and compilation appearances recorded between 1992 and 1995.
Wish I'd Taken Pictures is the third studio album, fourth album overall, by American queercore band Pansy Division, released on February 13, 1996 by Lookout! Records and Mint Records.
The Essential Pansy Division is a compilation album by American queercore band Pansy Division, released on January 24, 2006 by Alternative Tentacles.
Absurd Pop Song Romance is the fourth studio album, sixth album overall, by American queercore band Pansy Division, released on September 8, 1998 by Lookout! Records.
Cypher in the Snow were an American all women queercore band from San Francisco, California, United States.
Martin Sorrondeguy is the singer of American hardcore punk bands Los Crudos and Limp Wrist, the founder of the DIY record label Lengua Armada Discos, and a prominent figure in both the straight edge scene and the queercore scene. He currently does vocals in the band Needles.
Jon Latimer Ginoli is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is best known as a member of Pansy Division, a band that was founded by Ginoli and Chris Freeman in 1991. He is openly gay. Pansy Division is known as one of the founding examples of the queercore genre of punk rock, and has released seven studio albums, first on Lookout Records and later on Alternative Tentacles.
That's So Gay is an album by the American queercore band Pansy Division. It was released on March 31, 2009, by Alternative Tentacles.
Lost Gems & Rare Tracks is a compilation of singles, unreleased tracks, demos and other rare songs by queercore band Pansy Division. It was released exclusively on iTunes in 2010. The album follows the band's two other rarities albums 1995's Pile Up and 1997's More Lovin' from Our Oven.
Quite Contrary is the seventh studio album, ninth album overall, by American queercore band Pansy Division, it was released on September 9, 2016 by Alternative Tentacles.
The discography of Pansy Division, a San Francisco, California-based queercore band, consists of seven studio albums, five compilations and thirteen 7" singles, among other releases.