Jason Pierce

Last updated

Jason Pierce
Spir2.jpg
Jason Pierce, 1998
Background information
Birth nameJason Andrew Pierce
Also known asJ. Spaceman
Born (1965-11-19) 19 November 1965 (age 58)
Origin Rugby, England
Genres Alternative rock, space rock, neo-psychedelia, art rock, experimental rock
Occupation(s)Musician, singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, percussion, banjo, dulcimer, autoharp, harmonica
Years active1982–present

Jason Andrew Pierce [1] (born 19 November 1965 in Rugby) is an English musician. Currently the frontman and sole permanent member of the band Spiritualized, he previously co-fronted the alternative rock band Spacemen 3 with Peter Kember from 1982 until 1991. He has worked under the name J. Spaceman.

Contents

Music

In between his work with Spiritualized and Spacemen 3, Pierce has been active with a network of free jazz players and improvisers, collaborating with acclaimed artists, including Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Dr. John, Primal Scream, Daniel Johnston and Yoko Ono.[ citation needed ]

In 2006, Pierce released his first solo album, Guitar Loops , a limited release on Coxon and Wales's Treader record label. Also in 2006, he composed the original score for an art installation called "Silent Sound" [2] by British artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. The live performance at St. George's Hall in Liverpool was recorded and released as a limited edition signed and numbered CD. A second performance of Silent Sound took place in 2010 as part of the AV Festival, at Middlesbrough Town Hall. A second limited edition, a signed and numbered CD, was released.

Between 6 and 8 February 2007, Pierce performed in a series of benefit concerts for the HOPING Foundation for Palestinian children.

He provided some of the soundtrack for Harmony Korine's 2007 film Mister Lonely .

In July 2008, Pierce sat down for an interview with NPR before a concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Both the interview and the concert can be heard on the NPR website. [3]

He released a collaboration with Matthew Shipp entitled Spaceshipp on the Treader label in 2008.

Pierce has worked on various solo projects, including the remixing of singles by LFO, Global Communication, and the 22-20's.

His song "Lay It Down Slow" was used for the finale of the hit US drama series Prison Break .

In 2015, he played guitar on the Ariel Pink song "Dayzed Inn Daydreams". [4]

Personal life

Jason lives with his partner and two children in the East End of London. [5]

In the 1990s, Pierce was in a relationship with Kate Radley, who was also a member of Spiritualized. In 1995, Radley married Richard Ashcroft, the then lead singer of the Verve. [6]

Pierce was seriously ill with pneumonia in 2005. [7] Both his lungs had filled with liquid; the 5′ 11″ (180 cm) musician's weight plunged to seven stone (44.5 kg; 98 lbs), and his heart stopped beating twice. [8]

In an early 2012 interview, [9] Pierce mentioned he had been under chemotherapy during the recordings of the 2012 Spiritualized album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light . He does not specify the diagnosis for this treatment, but he jokes about it, saying that these are drugs he does not recommend to anybody.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spacemen 3</span> English alternative rock band

Spacemen 3 were an English rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psychedelia" consisting of heavily distorted guitar, synthesizers, and minimal chord or tempo changes.

Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drumming, languid vocals, synthesizers, and lyrical themes of outer space and science fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spiritualized</span> English space rock band

Spiritualized are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce, formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centered on Pierce, Doggen Foster (guitar) and Kevin Bales with revolving bassists and keyboard players. The band's current bassist, James Stelfox, has been playing with the band since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Ashcroft</span> English singer-songwriter (born 1971)

Richard Paul Ashcroft is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He formed the alternative rock band The Verve in 1989 and served as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist throughout the band's lifetime. Ashcroft was the sole songwriter of the group. ". In 1997, The Verve released the UK number one album Urban Hymns, that in present day is the 18th most sold album in the UK. In 1998, Ashcroft was awarded the Ivor Novello award for Songwriter of the Year. Following The Verve's disbandment in 1999, Ashcroft embarked on a successful solo career, releasing six UK top-three solo albums, namely Alone With Everybody, Keys to the World and These People.

<i>Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space</i> 1997 studio album by Spiritualized

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space is the third studio album by English space rock band Spiritualized, released on 16 June 1997. The album features guest appearances from the Balanescu Quartet, The London Community Gospel Choir and Dr. John.

<i>Lazer Guided Melodies</i> 1992 studio album by Spiritualized

Lazer Guided Melodies is the debut studio album by English space rock band Spiritualized. The album was recorded by the inaugural line up of the band, consisting of Jason Pierce, Mark Refoy (guitars), Will Carruthers (bass), Jonny Mattock (drums) and Kate Radley (keyboards) from 1990 to 1991, and mixed by Pierce in London in January 1992. The album was first released on Dedicated Records in March 1992, on cassette, Compact Disc and Vinyl.

<i>Playing with Fire</i> (Spacemen 3 album) 1989 studio album by Spacemen 3

Playing with Fire is the third studio album by Spacemen 3, released in February 1989. The original CD version included two live bonus tracks recorded in the Netherlands, and an ensuing release on Taang! Records included two more b-sides from the "Revolution" single. A reissued version from 2001 has an entire extra disc of demos and rarities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Kember</span> Musical artist

Peter Kember, also known by his stage name Sonic Boom, is an English singer-songwriter, composer and record producer. He was a founding member, vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist of alternative rock band Spacemen 3, lasting from 1982 until the band's dissolution in 1991. He is now based in Sintra, Portugal.

<i>Pure Phase</i> 1995 studio album by Spiritualized

Pure Phase is the second studio album by Spiritualized, released on 28 March 1995. The album was recorded in the Moles Studio in Bath, and features contributions from The Balanescu Quartet. Initial CD copies were sold in a glow-in-the-dark, encapsulated CD case.

<i>Royal Albert Hall October 10 1997</i> 1998 live album by Spiritualized

Royal Albert Hall October 10, 1997 is a live album by the English space rock group Spiritualized, recorded during an October show at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of their 1997 tour of the United Kingdom. The album was released in late 1998.

Kate Radley is an English keyboard player, best known for her work with the British rock band Spiritualized. She was a member during the time period which saw the release of the Lazer Guided Melodies, Pure Phase and Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space albums, before leaving the band in 1997.

Will Carruthers is a musician, best known for playing bass in the influential alternative rock bands Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized.

<i>Songs in A&E</i> 2008 studio album by Spiritualized

Songs in A&E is the sixth studio album by English rock band Spiritualized and is their first since 2003's Amazing Grace. It was released on 26 May 2008 in the UK on Sanctuary Records and on 27 May in the USA on Fontana Records. It was released on standard CD worldwide, as well as a limited edition book and double 12" vinyl in the UK. The album's first single was "Soul on Fire," released on 19 May 2008 in the UK. Frontman Jason Pierce has said that the album is "the work of The Devil...with a little guidance from me."

<i>Guitar Loops</i> 2006 studio album by J Spaceman

Guitar Loops is the first solo album by Spiritualized frontman Jason Pierce under the pseudonym J Spaceman. It was recorded in one continuous take at Amazing Grace Studio in London, a few days before he was taken ill with pneumonia. Spaceman plays a Fender Jaguar through a Fender Superchamp and percussion. It was originally released in a limited edition signed printing on John Coxon's Treader record label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Pink</span> American musician, singer, and songwriter (born 1978)

Ariel Marcus Rosenberg, professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi aesthetic and home-recorded albums proved influential to many indie musicians starting in the late 2000s. He is frequently cited as "godfather" of the hypnagogic pop and chillwave movements, and he is credited with galvanizing a larger trend involving the evocation of the media, sounds, and outmoded technologies of prior decades, as well as an equal appreciation between high and low art in independent music.

<i>Sweet Heart Sweet Light</i> 2012 studio album by Spiritualized

Sweet Heart Sweet Light is the seventh studio album by Spiritualized. It was released on 16 April 2012, on Double Six Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturgill Simpson</span> American country music singer-songwriter

John Sturgill Simpson, also known as Johnny Blue Skies, is an American country music singer-songwriter and actor. As of February 2022, he has released seven albums as a solo artist. Simpson's style has been met with critical favor and frequent comparisons to outlaw country.

<i>Pom Pom</i> (album) 2014 studio album by Ariel Pink

Pom Pom is the tenth studio album by American recording artist Ariel Pink, released on November 17, 2014 through 4AD. It was his first release credited solely to himself, and his last on 4AD. Several of its songs were co-written with the ailing Kim Fowley, who died the following January. Critics generally gave the album positive reviews. Only one single was issued from the album: "Put Your Number in My Phone".

<i>Dedicated to Bobby Jameson</i> 2017 studio album by Ariel Pink

Dedicated to Bobby Jameson is the eleventh studio album by American recording artist Ariel Pink, released on September 15, 2017, through Mexican Summer. It is the follow-up to 2014's pom pom and features a narrative Pink described in a press release as "a battery of tests and milestones, the first of which sees him [the protagonist] reborn into life out of death." It peaked at number 193 on the Billboard 200 and received generally positive reviews from music critics.

<i>Everything Was Beautiful</i> 2022 studio album by Spiritualized

Everything Was Beautiful is the ninth studio album by Spiritualized, released under Fat Possum Records on April 22, 2022. The album contains influences from psychedelic music, gospel music, and classic rock.

References

  1. [ permanent dead link ]
  2. "Silent Sound". 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011.
  3. "Spiritualized In Concert". Npr.org. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. "Ariel Pink - 'Pom Pom'". Nme.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  5. "Jason Pierce on drugs and mortality". Thetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  6. "Spiritualized, The Verve, and 1997's Biggest Secret Love Triangle". Vice.com. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  7. Montgomery, James. "Spiritualized's Pierce Recovering After Brushes With Death". MTV News. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  8. Simpson, Dave (17 November 2006). "Dave Simpson interviews Jason Pierce". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  9. ""Spiritualized on Embracing Pop, Undergoing Chemo"". YouTube. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2020.