Career overview
In 1992, Bertram joined the indie rock band Lync, in which he played bass and sang. The band went on to release singles on Magic Pail, Candy Ass, Landspeed and K Records, and one full-length album on K Records, These Are Not Fall Colors , before disbanding in 1994. In 1997, Troubleman Unlimited and K Records collected the band's singles and unreleased tracks and released them on one compact disc, Remembering The Fireballs (Part 8).
Lync was a 1990s post-hardcore band from Olympia, Washington.
Candy Ass Records was an independent record label in Portland, Oregon that was run by Jody Bleyle, a member of the bands Team Dresch and Hazel and of the queercore bands Family Outing and Infinite Xs.
K Records is an independent record label in Olympia, Washington founded in 1982. Artists on the label included early releases by Beck, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. The record label has been called "key to the development of independent music" since the 1980s.
In early 1995, Bertram formed the band Red Stars Theory with Tonie Palmasani, Jeremiah Green and Jason Talley. Red Stars Theory never officially disbanded, but have not released a record since 2000's Touch and Go release Life in a Bubble Can Be Beautiful. Suicide Squeeze Records released a compilation CD combining the band's out-of-print Rx Remedy 7-inch and Deluxe Records 10-inch. In 2000 Suicide Squeeze released the "Naima" 7-inch, a minimalistic cover of a song from John Coltrane's Giant Steps album. The b-side of "Naima" is "North to Next (exit)", a remix by Scientific American featuring prominent samples from the first two tracks of Life in a Bubble. In 2006 the band contributed the track "Evergreen and Ivorbean" to Suicide Squeeze's 10th-anniversary compilation, the CD/LP Slaying Since 1996.
Red Stars Theory is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band was formed in early 1995 when James Bertram was looking for someone to play guitar with and found Tonie Palmasani (guitar/vocals), Jeremiah Green (drums/percussion/vocals) and Jason Talley . Later in 1995 the group released a 10-inch on Deluxe Records, the "Slow Curve/Castle Rock" 7-inch and the LP/CD But Sleep Came Slowly. The 7-inch and LP were released by the RX Remedy label, a division of Sub Pop Records. Seth Warren was asked to play violin on But Sleep Came Slowly and has since been a member of the group. The LP/CD Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful was the group's debut album for Touch and Go Records. But Sleep Came Slowly and Life In A Bubble Can Be Beautiful both featured Lois Maffeo as a guest vocalist. Sarah May Cates was a guest cellist on Life In A Bubble....
Jeremiah Martin Green is a founding member and drummer of the indie rock band Modest Mouse from 1993 to March 2003, and again from July 2004 to present.
Touch and Go Records is an American independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois. After its genesis as a handmade fanzine in 1979, it grew into one of the key record labels in the American 1980s underground and alternative rock scenes. Touch & Go carved out a reputation for releasing adventurous noise rock by the likes of the Butthole Surfers, Big Black, and The Jesus Lizard. Along with other independent American labels such as Twin/Tone, SST Records, and Dischord, Touch & Go helped to spearhead the nationwide network of underground bands that formed the pre-Nirvana indie rock scene. These labels presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging.
For a brief period after Built to Spill's There's Nothing Wrong With Love was released in 1994, Bertram and Dave Schneider joined Doug Martsch as the touring version of Built to Spill. This lineup is captured on the live track "Some" on the album The Normal Years .
Built to Spill is an American indie rock band based in Boise, Idaho. The band has released eight full-length albums. Their most recent album, Untethered Moon, was released on April 21, 2015.
Doug Martsch is an American singer and musician. He is best known for his distinctive vocals and guitar playing style in the band Built to Spill.
The Normal Years is a compilation album of singles, live songs, songs on other compilations, and previously unreleased recordings by indie rock band Built to Spill. The album consists of songs that were recorded between 1993 and 1995 by various incarnations of the band, although most feature the There's Nothing Wrong with Love lineup. Doug Martsch is the only person present on all the recordings. The Normal Years was released in 1996 on the K Records label.
In the late 1990s Bertram had a short lived solo project called Pennsy's Electric Workhorse Songs. This project released two 7" records: a self-titled four-song EP on All City Records in 1997, and a 7" single for the song "Fransse" in 1999, which was released by Suicide Squeeze Records.
Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock, pop, and metal music. Suicide Squeeze releases content on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. The label has also released comedy and performance art CD and DVDs.
In 1998 James was asked by the two members of 764-HERO, John Atkins and Polly Johnson, to play bass for a session on a radio station. The session went so well that Bertram was made a member of the band. He recorded two albums with the band, 1998's Get Here and Stay and 2000's Weekends of Sound. Bertram left 764-HERO shortly after a tour opening up for Modest Mouse in 2001. He was replaced by Robin Perringer.
764-HERO was an American indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. They were active from 1995 to 2002 and briefly reunited in 2012 and 2016. The group released three albums on Up Records, a fourth on Tiger Style Records, and several other releases, including a collaborative single with their frequent touring partners Modest Mouse.
Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1992 in Issaquah, Washington and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members are lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced by Pavement, the Pixies, XTC, and Talking Heads, the band rehearsed, rearranged, and recorded demos for almost two years before finally signing with small-town indie label K Records and releasing numerous singles.
Bertram currently runs Luckyhorse Industries, a tour merchandiser and small record label, in Seattle, Washington, with his partner Amanda Graham. He has a son who was born in 2003.
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Operation Ivy was an American punk rock band from Berkeley, California formed in May 1987. The band was stylistically important as one of the first bands to mix the elements of hardcore punk and ska into a new amalgam called ska punk and was critical to the emergence of Lookout Records and the so-called "East Bay Sound."
The Primitives are an English indie pop band from Coventry, best known for their 1988 international hit single "Crash". Formed in 1984, disbanded in 1992 and reformed in 2009, the band's two constant members throughout their recording career have been vocalist Tracy Tracy and guitarist Paul Court. Drummer Tig Williams has been a constant member since 1987 and the reformed line-up is completed by bassist Raph Moore. Often described as an indie pop or indie rock band, The Primitives' musical style can also be seen as straddling power pop, new wave and post-punk.
The Aislers Set is an American indie pop band that formed in San Francisco in 1997, after the breakup of chief songwriter Amy Linton’s former band Henry's Dress. The Aislers Set's music is influenced by C86-style British indie pop.
The Black Heart Procession is an American indie rock band from San Diego, California.
Dealership is an American indie rock band based in Berkeley, California, thought to be disbanded.
These Arms Are Snakes was an American post-hardcore band that formed in 2002 and featured former members of Botch and Kill Sadie. Before disbanding in 2009, they released three studio albums: Oxeneers or the Lion Sleeps When Its Antelope Go Home (2004), Easter (2006) and Tail Swallower and Dove (2008). Former members of These Arms Are Snakes currently play in Russian Circles, Narrows, Minus the Bear, Crypts, and Hooves.
Scratch Acid was an Austin, Texas noise rock group formed in 1982. One of the pioneers of noise rock in the 1980s, the band is best remembered as a stepping stone for its front man David Yow, and bass player David Wm. Sims, both later of The Jesus Lizard.
Samuel J. Coomes is an American musician, and one-half of the Portland-area indie band Quasi, along with his ex-wife, drummer Janet Weiss. Coomes was also a member of the mid-1980s underground pop band The Donner Party and replaced Brandt Peterson as the bassist for the 1990s Portland indie rock band, Heatmiser, playing on their final studio album, Mic City Sons.
Danielle Howle is an American singer-songwriter and music producer.
Vells is an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. The band was formed by Tristan Marcum and Ryan Kraft along with Modest Mouse drummer Jeremiah Green after his brief departure from the group in 2001. After releasing their self-titled debut EP on Seattle's Luckyhorse Industries in 2003, Vells signed with the experimental label imputor? and released their debut full-length Flight From Echo Falls on September 7, 2004. After the release of Flight From Echo Falls' and the subsequent departure of two of its founding members; Guitarist Ryan Kraft and Bassist Adam Howry, the band reformed with a new DIY approach to recording.
Psychic Emperor is a pop-electronic collaboration between Tristan Marcum and the production of Plastiq Phantom. Their debut self-titled full-length was released December 17, 2004 on imputor? Records. In December 2006, Psychic Emperor released Communications, a 6-track EP containing live tracks recorded at Los Angeles' KXLU radio station. Psychic Emperor is also known for their indie rock covers of The Misfits Songs, including Angelfuck, Where Eagles Dare, Hybrid Moments, Last Caress and more.
Page France was an American indie folk-pop band that played melodic and emotional music. Their last record deal was with Suicide Squeeze Records, before the disbandment in 2008, because of band leader Michael Nau wanting to focus his full attention on Cotton Jones.
Luckyhorse Industries is an independent record label and producer of music related artifacts and art, established in Seattle, Washington in 2001 by musician James Bertram. Bertram has played guitar, bass, and keyboards with Lync, Built to Spill, Beck, Red Stars Theory, Pennsy's Electric Workhorses, 764-Hero, and Amy Blaschke. Luckyhorse works with Modest Mouse, The Fleet Foxes, The Fiery Furnaces, Tiny Vipers, The Cave Singers, Love as Laughter, The Murder City Devils, Minus the Bear, and The Blood Brothers.
Get Here and Stay is the second full-length album by American indie rock band 764-HERO. The album was first released on Up Records on October 20, 1998.
