J Church (band)

Last updated
J Church
Origin San Francisco, California, United States
Genres Punk rock, pop punk
Years active1992–2007
MembersLance Hahn
Gardner Maxam
Aaron Olson
Adam Pfahler
Brendan Murdoch
Wade Driver
Reed Burgoyne
Andee Connors
Scott Bradley
Jeff Bursley
Ben White
Chris Pfeffer
David DiDonato

J Church was an American punk rock band from San Francisco, California, formed by the guitarist and vocalist Lance Hahn and bassist Gardner Maxam in 1992, after the demise of their former band Cringer. [1] The group continued through numerous line-up changes and released a number of vinyl records and CDs before Hahn's death in 2007.

Contents

History

Hahn and Maxam had played together in Cringer from the band's inception in 1985 to its demise in 1991. This group, whose additional members changed frequently in its short career, was initially based in Hahn and Maxam's native Hawaii before relocating to Los Angeles where Maxam was attending college. [2]

After Cringer disbanded, the pair's new three-piece group, J Church, began. The band was named for the San Francisco Muni Metro J Church line that Hahn took down Church Street to band practice and to work every day. They went through a large number of drummers in their career; a noteworthy early player was the former Jawbreaker drummer Adam Pfahler. From its inception, J Church embarked upon writing and recording what became an extensive discography including numerous singles and splits with fellow punk rock bands including Discount and Less Than Jake. The group has released an estimated 150 records. [2]

Maxam played in the band until 1998, when he became overwhelmed by the rigors of touring and decided to leave. [2] In 2002, the band relocated to Austin, Texas, and the group's final line-up included bassist Ben White and drummer Chris Pfeffer of Severed Head of State, Storm the Tower and Signal Lost.

Hahn had become active as a "punk rock history writer", writing many pieces for Maximum Rock 'n' Roll , the long-running San Francisco punk zine, and working on a book compiling various writings on anarcho-punk groups. He also ran the independent record label Honey Bear Records.

Hahn had been suffering from kidney-related medical problems since 1999, and the problems worsened during the following decade. On July 7, 2007, a benefit entitled "Let's Do It For Lance!" was released to help defray the cost of his medical bills. He died on October 21, 2007, aged 40, after falling into a coma nine days earlier due to complications from kidney dialysis.

Members

Touring musicians
Timeline
J Church (band)

Partial discography

The following partial discography of full-length albums is derived from the J Church fan web site. [3]

Studio albums

Singles collections

Split albums

Miscellaneous full-length releases

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Unseen (band)</span> American street punk band

The Unseen is an American street punk band that was formed in 1993 in Hingham, Massachusetts. One of the more prominent bands to revive street punk, The Unseen was originally called The Extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teen Idols</span> American pop punk band

The Teen Idols were a pop punk band originally from Nashville, Tennessee. They were formed in 1992 by Phillip Hill and originally broke up in 2003. The band reunited in 2008 in Chicago, Illinois, with a retooled lineup before breaking up again in 2010.

Agathocles is a Belgian political grindcore band. Founded in 1985, it is mainly known for producing a large quantity of split seven-inch EPs. They play a style of grindcore they have dubbed "mincecore". Their lyrical themes have focused on anti-fascism, animal liberation and anarchism. All of its members are vegetarians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jawbreaker (band)</span> American punk rock band

Jawbreaker is an American punk rock band that was active from 1986 to 1996, and again since 2017. The band is considered to be extremely influential to the 1990s emo and punk genre with their "poetic take on hardcore." Their influence on the punk scene has led some critics to label Jawbreaker as the best punk rock band of the 1990s.

Embodiment 12:14 were an Australia Christian metal band formed in Adelaide, as Embodiment in 1992, initially they performed death metal. They released two albums, Elements of This Man-Made Man (1998) and Inroads Out (2005), before disbanding in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.K. Subs</span> English punk rock band

U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. One of the first hardcore punk bands, elements of rhythm and blues music - including harmonica - also remained an occasional element of their work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genitorturers</span> American industrial metal band

The Genitorturers are an American industrial metal band with influences extending into the 1990s hardcore punk and electronic music. They proclaim themselves to be "The World's Sexiest Rock Band".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chixdiggit</span> Canadian pop punk band

Chixdiggit is a Canadian pop punk band formed in Calgary, Alberta. The band performed internationally, and released a number of studio albums, mainly with light-hearted pop-punk songs, usually about girls and relationships.

Cringer was an American punk rock band originally from Manoa, Hawaii, and active from 1985 to 1991. Lance Hahn and Gardner Maxam formed the group and remained its two consistent members, and later founded J Church. Cringer released a series of vinyl records and were formative in the Hawaiian punk rock community before relocating to Los Angeles and later San Francisco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discount (band)</span> American punk rock band

Discount was an American punk rock band based in Gainesville, Florida. The band originally formed in Vero Beach, Florida in 1995, but relocated to Gainesville in 1998. They performed their last show on August 19, 2000 at Market Street Pub in Gainesville, Florida. Members have gone on to form The Dead Weather, The Kills, The Kitchen, Black Cougar Shock Unit, Unitas, The Routineers, The Draft, Laserhead, Stolen Parts, Monikers, Young Ladies, and Blab School.

Ensign is an American hardcore punk band from New Jersey. They formed in 1995 and signed with Indecision Records in 1996. They signed to the larger label "next door", Dexter Holland's Nitro Records, in 1998 and finally came to rest at Blackout Records in 2003 after a brief sortie back to Indecision in 2000.

I Spy was a Canadian hardcore punk band founded in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1991, relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1994, and disbanded in 1996. Combining childish humour and politically oriented emotive hardcore, the group released several records on Recess Records and toured internationally. Front man Todd Kowalski later joined Propagandhi.

No Innocent Victim, or N.I.V., is a Christian hardcore punk band on Facedown Records. The band was formed in 1992 in San Diego, California. They released two albums, and then toured with Agnostic Front. In 1998 they signed to Victory Records and recorded the album Flesh and Blood. Many tours followed in the United States, Europe and Japan with bands like Agnostic Front, U.S. Bombs, Terror, Hatebreed, P.O.D., and Madball.

Disorder are an English street punk band that formed in the Bristol area of England in 1980, and has existed with varying line-ups. They are aligned with politically charged punk bands.

Hooton 3 Car was an English punk/melodic hardcore band, formed in 1989 and active until 1998. The band's members were Graham Williams, Chris Petty, Hywell Maggs and Jon Jesson. Their original drummer was Stephen Emm who left the band in 1992.

Oppressed Logic are an American punk band from Oakland, California, United States, who formed in 1994. Currently, the band consists of vocalist Mike Avilez, drummer Jim Redens, guitar and bassist Jake Martinez, and guitarist Mike Fuentes.

<i>One Mississippi</i> (J Church album) 2000 studio album by J Church

One Mississippi is an album by the pop-punk band J Church, released in 2000.

Monsula was an American punk rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. The band was conceived in 1988 by Pete Zetterberg and Paul Lee in an art class at Benicia High School. With many member changes over the years, they performed regularly at Berkeley's Gilman Street Project and were known for their simple East Bay pop punk style of music. The band played hundreds of live shows throughout North America before disbanding five years later in 1993.

The Blamed is an American Christian hardcore punk band currently based out of Chicago. During their tenure they have played primarily hardcore punk, pop punk, punk rock, and emo music with some influences from metal as well. They originally are from California having relocated to Illinois after guitarist Bryan Gray moved to Chicago. The band originally formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2003. Members during this era of the band included Bryan Gray, Christopher Wiitala, Trevor Wiitala, Jeff Locke, Jim Chaffin, John Hansen, and Matt Switaj. They have released three albums, with Tooth & Nail Records, 21 in 1994, Frail in 1996, and Give Us Barabbas in 2002. The band released four albums, with Grrr Records, ...Again in 1998, Forever in 1999, Germany in 2000, and Isolated Incident in 2001. The band reformed in the summer of 2016 to play a one-off set at Audio Feed music festival. This has since lead to the band reforming and recording a split EP with the Chicago hardcore band The Satire, a band sharing multiple members with the Blamed. The split EP was released in November 2018 through Indivision Music.

Bryan Gray is an American musician that has predominately performed with bands in the punk rock and hardcore punk genre, including and most notably, the Blamed, Blenderhead, Left Out, The Satire, and Rocks in Pink Cement. He also has performed in the hardcore band Six Feet Deep. Gray was best known for being the brainchild of The Blamed, which is known for their tenure on Tooth & Nail Records. He also has performed with industrial metal bands such as Mortal and Klank.

References

  1. Gethard, Chris (June 10, 2016). "UPDATED: Please Help Chris Gethard Find This Lost J Church Single". Talkhouse. Archived from the original on December 4, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 J Church Biography at j-church.com
  3. Discography at j-church.com