David Yow | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | David Lambeth Yow |
Born | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | August 2, 1960
Genres | |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, actor |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, bass |
Years active | 1982–present |
Labels | Joyful Noise Records Rabid Cat Touch and Go Capitol |
David Yow (born August 2, 1960) is an American musician and actor born in Las Vegas, Nevada and best known as the vocalist for the noise rock bands Scratch Acid and the Jesus Lizard. Yow's debut solo album, Tonight You Look Like a Spider , was released in June 2013 on Joyful Noise Records.
In 1982, Yow formed the Austin, Texas–based punk/noise rock group Scratch Acid. The group's initial lineup featured Steve Anderson (vocals), David Wm. Sims (guitar), Brett Bradford (guitar), Yow (bass), and Rey Washam (drums). Anderson was kicked out of the band early in their career, prompting Yow to move to vocals and Sims to move to bass. After releasing three albums and developing a strong following, the group disbanded in 1987.
Yow and Sims next formed the Jesus Lizard in 1987 with guitarist Duane Denison. The trio relocated to Chicago, Illinois, in 1989. They used a drum machine for their earliest recordings and performances before adding drummer Mac McNeilly after recording their first EP Pure . Yow achieved wide notoriety for playing shows completely drunk and incoherent. Of touring with Jesus Lizard, Yow said: "I enjoyed writing songs and acting like an idiot with those guys to make enough money to support ourselves." The Jesus Lizard eventually landed a spot on the Lollapalooza tour and signed to Capitol Records, despite earning little commercial success. During the course of their career, the Jesus Lizard released six studio albums, three EPs and a live album before breaking up in 1999.
In 1995, Yow collaborated with Helmet on a cover version of "Custard Pie" for Encomium: A Tribute to Led Zeppelin .
In 2006, Yow, Sims, Washam and Bradford reformed Scratch Acid for the Touch and Go Records 25th Anniversary Festival in Chicago. They also performed a series of reunion shows in Austin, Chicago, and Seattle.
In late 2006, Yow officially joined the two-piece Los Angeles band Qui as a full-time member, after playing several shows as a "special guest." Of his two bandmates, Yow said: "Well, they're both just fucking brilliant, y'know? I have never in all my years in the music industry encountered two guys with more talent, more vision ... and who are as driven to greatness as these two are." On January 25, 2008, Yow was hospitalized in Pittsburgh with a collapsed lung, following a Wrekmeister Harmonies performance at the Andy Warhol Museum. [1] He was released from hospital a few days later. [2]
In 2008, the Jesus Lizard reformed with the classic lineup and embarked on several tours. They again lapsed into inactivity at the end of the following year.
In 2015, Yow performed two shows with Flipper, substituting for vocalist Bruce Loose who had to retire from live performance due to health issues. Yow reprised his role with Flipper for the band's 40th Anniversary Tour in 2019, with the shows being openly billed as Flipper with David Yow.
Yow has also appeared live with other bands, including Cop Shoot Cop, Shellac, the Dicks, the Melvins, Girls Against Boys and has contributed vocals to various albums and recordings by Helmet, Pigface, and others.
Yow has appeared in two music videos for punk supergroup OFF!, 2014's "Hypnotized" (as a Hollywood street performer) and 2021's "Holier Than Thou" (as a corrupt Catholic priest).
According to his close friend and recording engineer Steve Albini, Yow is an accomplished cook and has worked in several restaurants in Austin and Chicago. [3] Yow also has an extensive resume of graphic design work. He is known in his field for retouching photographs and is a former employee of Upshot, an advertising agency. Yow also recorded a commentary track for Tool's DVD single "Schism" in 2005. He appears as an actor in a few movies, including I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore , Southbound , Entertainment , Dinner in America , Under the Silver Lake and Big Money Rustlas , with Insane Clown Posse.
His first New York solo art show opened at Fuse Gallery in August 2011 and ran until September 21, 2011.
In 2013, Yow released a solo album that had been in production for almost 15 years on Joyful Noise Recordings. The album—titled Tonight You Look Like a Spider —was released in a limited edition, where the vinyl album was delivered inside of a concrete monolith, instead of a normal record sleeve. Yow stated that he'd been inspired to do the album by Mike Patton, and described his compositional process in an amusing anecdote:
"I rented a saxophone for 2 months, I borrowed some guitars and some drums, I rummaged through the kitchen, I squeezed a fat cat, I poked and prodded and ended up with my very own music. It’s real good, if you like that kind of shit. I named it Tonight You Look Like A Spider after a spider I saw one night." [4]
Yow is an avid cat lover and has drawn cats for the last 30 years. In 2014, Akashic Books released a compilation of Yow's cat illustrations called Copycat: And a Litter of Other Cats. [5] Yow also exclusively interviewed Lil Bub for The A.V. Club . [6]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2010 | Big Money Rustlas | Piano Player | |
2015 | Southbound | Danny | |
2017 | I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore | Marshall | |
2018 | Under the Silver Lake | Homeless King | |
2019 | Rattlesnake | Charlie | |
2020 | Dinner in America | Eddie Sorvino | |
2021 | "Holier than Thou" | Preacher | Music video for the band OFF! |
2023 | The Toxic Avenger | Guthrie Stockins | |
2024 | Cover Your Ears | Himself | documentary directed by Sean Patrick Shaul |
Rapeman was a short-lived American noise rock band founded in 1987 and disbanded in 1989. It consisted of Steve Albini on guitar and vocals, David Wm. Sims (formerly of Scratch Acid on bass and Rey Washam on drums. In the years since their brief tenure, Rapeman’s sound has also been described as post-hardcore.
Steve Albini is an American musician, audio engineer and music journalist, whose many recording projects have exerted an important influence on independent music since the 1980s. Most of his projects from 1997 onwards were recorded at the Electrical Audio studios in Chicago. Albini is occasionally credited as a record producer, though he dislikes the term to describe his work, preferring the term "recording engineer" when credited, and refuses to take royalties from bands recording in his studio, as he feels it would be unethical to do so.
Danielson is an American rock band from Clarksboro, New Jersey, that plays indie pop gospel music. The group consists of frontman Daniel Smith and a number of various artists with whom he collaborates. Smith has also released solo work as Brother Danielson.
David William Sims is an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist of the bands Scratch Acid, Rapeman, and The Jesus Lizard. He has also recorded or performed with Sparklehorse, Rhys Chatham, Shivaree, Pigface, Flour, and others. Sims currently performs experimental solo electric bass as Unfact.
The Jesus Lizard is an American rock band formed in 1987 in Austin, Texas and based in Chicago, Illinois. They were "a leading noise rock band in the American independent underground…[who] turned out a series of independent records filled with scathing, disembowelling, guitar-driven pseudo-industrial noise, all of which received positive reviews in underground music publications and heavy college-radio play."
Flipper is an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1979, continuing in often erratic fashion until the mid-1990s, then reuniting in 2005. The band influenced a number of grunge, punk rock and noise rock bands. Their slowed-down, bass-driven and heavily distorted style of punk is considered to have inspired bands such as the Melvins and Nirvana, whose bass player Krist Novoselic played with the band in the 2000s.
Scratch Acid was an American post-hardcore/noise rock band from Austin, Texas, formed in 1982. One of the pioneers of noise rock in the 1980s, the band is best remembered as a stepping stone for its frontman David Yow, and bass player David Wm. Sims, both later of The Jesus Lizard.
Steve Albini is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer, and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, Flour, and is part of Shellac. He is the founder, owner, and the principal engineer at Electrical Audio, a recording studio complex in Chicago. In 2018, Albini estimated that he had worked on several thousand albums over his career. He has worked with acts such as Nirvana, Pixies, the Breeders, PJ Harvey, Gogol Bordello, and former Led Zeppelin members Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.
The Greatest Gift is a posthumously-released compilation album by the American noise rock band Scratch Acid. It contains all of the material they released throughout their career, in chronological order of release.
Shot is an album by the band The Jesus Lizard, its first release on Capitol Records. Some copies of the album were accompanied by a documentary titled "Sho(r)t".
Down is an album by the Chicago band The Jesus Lizard. It was their last album for Touch and Go records and the last to be produced by Steve Albini.
Two Nuns and a Pack Mule is the only studio album by the Chicago noise rock band Rapeman, released by Touch & Go Records on August 23, 1988. The CD re-release contained the Budd extended play in its entirety.
Scratch Acid is the self-titled debut by the Austin, Texas noise rock band Scratch Acid. It was only released on vinyl, but now can be found as the first 8 tracks on the compilation album The Greatest Gift.
Just Keep Eating is the only full-length album by the Austin, Texas noise rock band Scratch Acid. Although it was only released on vinyl, it can be found as tracks 9-21 on the compilation album The Greatest Gift.
Berserker is an EP, the final release by the Austin, Texas, noise rock band Scratch Acid. The songs can also be found as tracks 22-27 on the compilation album The Greatest Gift.
Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label with headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on many of the label's first releases. Joyful Noise maintains an active roster of over 30 bands playing various musical styles, though according to the label, each artist "in one way or another bridges the gap between pop and noise."
Qui are a rock group formed in 2000 in Los Angeles by Paul Christensen (drums/vocals) and Matt Cronk (guitar/vocals). A combination of punk, noise and experimental rock, they released their first full-length album Baby Kisses in 2003.
Dumb Numbers is the musical project of Adam Harding. Harding selects musicians for each Dumb Numbers project from a large group of friends and collaborators.” Lou Barlow, Dale Crover, Bobb Bruno and others contributed to the first two studio albums.
Tonight You Look Like a Spider is the debut album of David Yow, released on June 25, 2013 by Joyful Noise Recordings.
Springtime is the eponymous debut album from Australian supergroup Springtime, consisting of Gareth Liddiard, Chris Abrahams and Jim White. Recorded over 15 days at Liddiard's home studio in Nagambie, the largely-improvised album features lyrics from his uncle Ian Duhig, in addition to a Will Oldham cover and a reworking of a track by The Drones. It was released in Australia through TFS Records and in the US through Joyful Noise Recordings to largely positive reviews.