Michael Hampton (punk musician)

Michael Hampton
Michael Hampton
Origin	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Genres	Hardcore punk ; emo ; post-hardcore ;
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1980—2005
Labels	Dischord
Associated acts	The Extorts; State of Alert ; The Faith ; Embrace ; One Last Wish ; The Snakes ; Paco ;

Last updated April 24, 2019

For the Funkadelic guitarist see Michael Hampton

Michael Hampton is a guitarist in the Washington, D.C., hardcore punk scene.

A guitarist is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar by singing or playing the harmonica.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington or D.C., is the capital of the United States. Founded after the American Revolution as the seat of government of the newly independent country, Washington was named after George Washington, first President of the United States and Founding Father. As the seat of the United States federal government and several international organizations, Washington is an important world political capital. The city is also one of the most visited cities in the world, with more than 20 million tourists annually.

Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk scenes in San Francisco and Southern California which arose as a reaction against the still predominant hippie cultural climate of the time. It was also inspired by New York punk rock and early proto-punk. New York punk had a harder-edged sound than its San Francisco counterpart, featuring anti-art expressions of masculine anger, energy, and subversive humor. Hardcore punk generally disavows commercialism, the established music industry and "anything similar to the characteristics of mainstream rock" and often addresses social and political topics with "confrontational, politically-charged lyrics."

Biography

His first notable effort was playing guitar in The Extorts in early 1980. There are a few live recordings and a demo tape as evidence of their existence. After The Extorts broke up, Hampton and Henry Garfield (later to become Henry Rollins) formed a new group called S.O.A. (State of Alert) and they released a 7" on Dischord records. When S.O.A. split up, Henry Garfield changed his surname to Rollins and moved to Los Angeles as singer of Black Flag.

Henry Rollins American singer-songwriter

Henry Lawrence Garfield, better known by his stage name Henry Rollins, is an American musician, actor, writer, television and radio host, and comedian. He hosts a weekly radio show on KCRW, and is a regular columnist for Rolling Stone Australia and was a regular columnist for LA Weekly.

State of Alert was an American hardcore punk group formed in Washington, D.C. in October 1980, and disbanded in July 1981. S.O.A. was fronted by Henry Rollins, then using his original surname Garfield.

An extended play record, often referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single, but is usually unqualified as an album or LP. Contemporary EPs generally contain a minimum of three tracks and maximum of six tracks, and are considered "less expensive and time-consuming" for an artist to produce than an album. An EP originally referred to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play (SP) and LP, but it is now applied to mid-length CDs and downloads as well.

Hampton then joined fellow D.C. punks Alec MacKaye (brother of Ian MacKaye), Eddie Janney, Chris Bald and Ivor Hanson and formed The Faith who released two recordings on the Dischord label - a split LP with VOID and the Subject to Change 12". This group broke up in 1983. Hampton soon joined Ian Mackaye, Ivor Hanson and Chris Bald in another D.C. group called Embrace. Along with Rites of Spring, Embrace is credited as a seminal emo group, however Ian Mackaye found the term "emocore" disgusting and did not accept the label. A posthumously released album appeared on Dischord in 1987, after they had split up.^[1]

Alec MacKaye is an American singer and musician best known as a member of the DC hardcore bands Untouchables, The Faith, and Ignition. In the mid-1990s Alec joined the band The Warmers as a vocalist and guitarist. Mondo James Dean, an anthology of poetry and short-fiction edited by Richard Peabody and Lucinda Ebersole, was dedicated to MacKaye.

Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, musician, record label owner and producer. Active since 1979, MacKaye is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label and the frontman of the influential hardcore punk band Minor Threat and the post-hardcore band Fugazi. MacKaye was also the frontman for the short-lived bands The Teen Idles, Embrace and Pailhead, a collaboration with the band Ministry. MacKaye is a member of The Evens, a two-piece indie rock group he formed with his wife Amy Farina in 2001.

The Faith was an early American hardcore punk band, from Washington D.C., with strong connections to the scene centered on the Dischord label. Along with Minor Threat, The Faith were key players in the early development of hardcore, with a (later) melodic approach that would influence not just associated acts like Rites of Spring, Embrace and Fugazi, but also a subsequent generation of bands such as Nirvana, whose Kurt Cobain was a vocal fan.

Hampton then joined a short lived project called One Last Wish, composed of three ex members of Rites of Spring. This band lasted only a matter of months, but they had recorded one demo which was released some years later on Dischord.

One Last Wish was a short-lived post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. It was formed in May 1986 by members of Rites of Spring, and split up in January 1987.

Rites of Spring American hardcore punk and emo band

Rites of Spring was an American post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C., in the mid-1980s, known for their energetic live performances. Along with Embrace, and Beefeater, they were one of the mainstay acts of the 1985 Revolution Summer movement which took place within the Washington, D.C. hardcore punk scene. Musically, Rites of Spring increased the frenetic violence and visceral passion of hardcore while simultaneously experimenting with its compositional rules. Lyrically, they also shifted hardcore into intensely personal realms and, in doing so, are often considered the first emo band but Rites of Spring itself rejected any association between themselves and emo genres.

Demo (music) song or group of songs recorded for limited circulation or reference use rather than for general public release

A demo is a song or group of songs recorded for limited circulation or reference use rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed format, such as cassette tape, compact disc, or digital audio files, and to thereby pass along those ideas to record labels, record producers, or to other artists.

Concurrent with One Last Wish, Hampton was involved in another project with Simon Jacobson called The Snakes. This group was primarily a recording project, and rarely played live. The Snakes released two albums on Dischord.

In 1990 Hampton teamed up with Ivor Hanson and Bert Queiroz to form Manifesto who were influenced by the English music of the time. They released one album and one 7" to critical acclaim in the UK, but records sales did not follow and soon Hampton's itchy feet made him leave. He has spent the years after producing soundtrack music for many TV programmes, video games and films.

Hampton lately performs in a band called Paco along with fellow members Dominique Durand, Andy Chase and Gary Maurer. This group released an album in May 2004 called This Is Where We Live on Unfiltered Records.^[2]^[3]

Paco was an American indie rock band consisting of musicians Dominique Durand, Andy Chase, Michael Hampton and Gary Maurer. Their 2004 album This Is Where We Live was released by Chase's Unfiltered Records and was ranked in the lower positions of CMJ New Music Monthly's "Top 200 Radio" chart in mid-2004. The group formed during Durand's first pregnancy when she, Chase and Adam Schlesinger had completed work on their 2000 album Long Distance.

Andy Chase is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and label owner. He formed the band Ivy with his wife, Dominique Durand, and Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. Andy has two children with Dominique: a daughter, Justine, and a son, Julien. Chase owns Unfiltered Records and co-owned Stratosphere Sound studio with Schlesinger and James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins. He has written and produced music for television and movies, including Shallow Hal and That Thing You Do!.

Unfiltered Records was an American independent record label based in New York City and founded in 2003. It was owned by producer, singer-songwriter, and musical entrepreneur Andy Chase in association with New York City label manager Michael Galbe.

Related Research Articles

Fugazi is an American punk rock band that formed in Washington, D.C. in 1987. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally and drummer Brendan Canty.

Embrace were a short-lived hardcore punk band from Washington, D.C., which lasted from the summer of 1985 to the spring of 1986. Along with Rites of Spring, and Beefeater, it was one of the mainstay acts of the 1985 Revolution Summer movement, and was one of the first bands to be dubbed in the press as emotional hardcore, though the members had rejected the term since its creation. The band included lead vocalist Ian MacKaye of the defunct hardcore punk act Minor Threat and three former members of his brother Alec's band, the Faith: guitarist Michael Hampton, drummer Ivor Hanson, and bassist Chris Bald. Hampton and Hanson had also previously played together in S.O.A. The band played their first show in July 28, 1985 at Food for Thought, a former restaurant and music venue located on Washington, D.C.'s Dupont Circle; their ninth and final show was held at the 9:30 Club in March 1986. The only recording released by the quartet was their posthumous 1987 self-titled album, Embrace, being influenced by the Faith EP Subject to Change.

Dag Nasty is an American punk rock band from Washington D.C., formed in 1985 by guitarist Brian Baker of Minor Threat, drummer Colin Sears and bassist Roger Marbury, both of Bloody Mannequin Orchestra, and vocalist Shawn Brown. Their style of less aggressive, melodic hardcore was influential to post-hardcore; their sound was partly influenced by The Faith and their 1983 EP Subject to Change.

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References

↑ "Mike Hampton - Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
↑ "Michael Hampton - Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
↑ "Paco - Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2019.

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[1] "Mike Hampton - Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2019.

[2] "Michael Hampton - Songs". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2019.

[3] "Paco - Biography, Albums, Streaming Links". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 March 2019.