Richie Birkenhead | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Richard James Birkenhead |
Born | August 23, 1965 |
Genres | Rock, post-hardcore, hardcore, punk, dark ambient, alternative rock, Alternative Metal, Experimental rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, producer, Creative Director |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano |
Years active | 1986–present |
Labels | New Beginning Records, Caroline Records, Revelation Records, Hollywood Records |
Website | intoanother.com |
Richie Birkenhead (born Richard James Birkenhead; August 23, 1965) is an American rock musician and creative director. He was a singer, songwriter and guitarist of late '80s New York hardcore bands Underdog [1] [2] [3] and Youth of Today, [2] [4] [5] and went on in the 1990s to become vocalist for the American rock band, Into Another. [6]
In his early teens, while living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and attending the McBurney School, Birkenhead started a neo-rockabilly band, the Bel-Airs, with members of Buzz and the Flyers and Tav Falco's Panther Burns. Birkenhead was the Bel-Airs' guitarist, songwriter and occasional vocalist. Although they never officially released any recorded material, the band played regularly in many New York venus, including Mudd Club, Peppermint Lounge, Danceteria, The Ritz and CBGB and opened for The Cramps, The Gun Club, The Rockats and Carl Perkins.
During the mid-to-late '80s, Birkenhead fronted the hardcore bands Numskuls (1983–1985) and Underdog (1985–1989). [7] In 1986 he joined the straight edge hardcore band Youth of Today on guitar. [8] He spent time touring with the band, as well as recording the band's first full-length offering, 1986's Break Down the Walls.
Birkenhead, along with Youth of Today drummer, Drew Thomas, left the band in 1990 to form the band, Into Another, with guitarist Peter Moses and bassist Tony Bono. [9] [10] Into Another released its first self-titled full-length album in 1990 on Revelation Records, followed by two EPs and another full-length before signing with Hollywood Records in 1995. During the band's stint on Hollywood Records, Into Another released "Seemless" in 1996, in which Birkenhead and the band entered the Billboard 200 for the first time with the song "T.A.I.L.", peaking at number 39 on the mainstream rock chart. [11] [12] [13]
Conflict between Birkenhead and Hollywood Records, [14] as well as internal tensions led to the dissolution of Into Another after 1997, leaving an unreleased full-length album entitled "Soul Control". [15]
During the next 15 years, Birkenhead appeared only occasionally at solo acoustic shows.
In June 2012, as part of the Revelation Records 25th Anniversary shows, Into Another was reformed, [16] and, with Richie Birkenhead, Drew Thomas, Peter Moses, Brian Balchack and Reid Black, Into Another made its first appearance in over 15 years. [17] The band has continued to perform, and Richie Birkenhead is again fully active with Into Another and creating new music. [18]
Title | Release Date | Label |
---|---|---|
self-titled [19] | 1990 | Revelation Records |
Creepy Eepy (EP) | 1992 | Revelation Records |
Poison Fingers (EP) | 1994 | Revelation Records |
Ignaurus [19] | 1994 | Revelation Records |
T.A.I.L. (EP) | 1995 | Hollywood Records |
Seemless [19] | 1995 | Hollywood Records |
Soul Control (Unreleased) | 1996 | Hollywood Records |
Omens (EP) | 2015 | Ghost Ship Records |
Title | Release Date | Label |
---|---|---|
Break Down the Walls | 1987 | Revelation Records |
New York City Hardcore – Together (Compilation) | 1987 | Revelation Records |
Title | Release Date | Label |
---|---|---|
self-titled [19] | 1986 | New Beginning Records |
The Vanishing Point [19] | 1989 | Caroline Records |
Demos [19] | 1993 | Revelation Records |
Richie Birkenhead is the son of lyricist Susan Birkenhead.[ citation needed ] He married Samantha Kluge, style editor of Glamour magazine and daughter of late media mogul John Kluge, in 2000. [22] [ additional citation(s) needed ] The marriage ended in divorce in 2002.[ citation needed ] In 2006, Birkenhead married art dealer Jamie Harman. The couple have two children.[ citation needed ]
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 Washington D.C. and New York punk rock and early proto-punk. 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."
Moshing is an extreme style of dancing in which participants push or slam into each other. Taking place in an area called the mosh pit, it is typically performed to aggressive styles of live music such as punk rock and heavy metal.
Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release Minor Disturbance by their band The Teen Idles. With other independent American labels such as Twin/Tone, Touch and Go Records, and SST Records, Dischord helped to spearhead the nationwide network of underground bands that formed the 1980s 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.
Dag Nasty is an American hardcore punk 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. Other influences include Descendents, Buzzcocks and The Clash.
Youth crew is a music subculture of hardcore punk, which was particularly prominent during the New York hardcore scene of the late 1980s. Youth crew is distinguished from other punk styles by its optimism and moralistic outlook. The original youth crew bands and fans were predominantly straight edge and vegetarian or vegan.
Youth of Today is an American hardcore punk band, initially active from 1985 to 1990 before reforming in 2010. The band played a major role in establishing the "Youth Crew" subculture of hardcore, both espousing and evolving the philosophies of the straight edge and vegetarian lifestyles.
Judge is a New York hardcore band formed in 1987 by Youth of Today guitarist John "Porcell" Porcelly and former Youth of Today drummer Mike "Judge" Ferraro.
Gorilla Biscuits are an American hardcore punk band from New York City, New York, United States, formed in 1986. The band currently consists of Anthony "Civ" Civarelli, Walter Schreifels, Arthur Smilios and Luke Abbey, and is signed to Revelation Records. Gorilla Biscuits are part of the New York hardcore scene.
Bold is an American late 1980s youth crew hardcore band from Westchester County, New York, which, along with bands like Youth of Today and Side by Side, were a part of the Youth Crew and an influence in the late 80s straight edge hardcore scene. The band progressed to a more rock-oriented sound in its later years.
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like the term "post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad constellation of groups. Post-hardcore began in the 1980s with bands like Hüsker Dü and Minutemen. The genre expanded in the 1980s and 1990s with releases by bands from cities that had established hardcore scenes, such as Fugazi from Washington, D.C. as well as groups such as Big Black, Jawbox, Quicksand, and Shellac that stuck closer to post-hardcore's noise rock roots. Dischord Records became a major nexus of post-hardcore during this period. The genre also began to incorporate more dense, complex, and atmospheric instrumentals with bands like Slint and Unwound, and also experienced some crossover from indie rock with bands like The Dismemberment Plan. In the early- and mid-2000s, post-hardcore achieved mainstream success with the popularity of bands like At the Drive-In, My Chemical Romance, Dance Gavin Dance, AFI, Underoath, Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, The Used, Saosin, Alexisonfire, and Senses Fail. In the 2010s, bands like Sleeping with Sirens and Pierce the Veil achieved mainstream success under the post-hardcore label. Meanwhile, bands like Title Fight and La Dispute experienced underground popularity playing music that bore a closer resemblance to the post-hardcore bands of the 1980s and 1990s.
Jesse David Leach is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the metalcore band Killswitch Engage. He is also a vocalist for Times of Grace and The Weapon. Leach co-founded Killswitch Engage in 1999, but left the band in 2002; in February 2012, he rejoined the group following the departure of vocalist Howard Jones. He currently resides in the Catskill Mountains in New York. He is a devoted Christian.
Deadsy is the debut studio album by American industrial rock band Deadsy. It was scheduled for release on February 25, 1997, by Sire Records. Several promotional compact discs and compact cassettes of the album, as well as a CD-single for "The Elements", were sent out to members of the press and radio stations, but the release was pulled less than a month before its release date by distributor Elektra Entertainment Group. Sire Records eventually secured a new distribution deal through Warner Music Group but it was again shelved; the release ultimately evolved into Commencement in 1998.
American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock 1980–1986 is a documentary directed and produced by Paul Rachman and written by Steven Blush. It is based on the 2001 book American Hardcore: A Tribal History also written by Blush. It world premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was released on September 22, 2006 on a limited basis by Sony Pictures Classics. The film features some early pioneers of the hardcore punk music scene including Bad Brains, Black Flag, D.O.A., Minor Threat, Minutemen, SSD, and others. It was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on February 20, 2007.
Youth Brigade is an American hardcore punk band formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1980 by the brothers Mark, Adam, and Shawn Stern. The band subsequently founded BYO. Many later punk bands cite Youth Brigade as an influence, including The Nation of Ulysses and The Briefs.
Crossover thrash is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk. The genre lies on a continuum between heavy metal and hardcore punk. Other genres on the same continuum, such as metalcore and grindcore, may overlap with crossover thrash.
Into Another is an American rock band formed in 1990 in New York City. The original lineup consisted of vocalist Richie Birkenhead, drummer Drew Thomas, bassist Tony Bono and guitarist Peter Moses. Into Another performed their first show at New York's Pyramid Club, supporting White Zombie. Their song "T.A.I.L." hit No. 39 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in 1996. The band broke up later that year due to intra-band tensions and a deteriorated relationship with Hollywood Records. Bassist Tony Bono died in May 2002.
Straight edge is a subculture of hardcore punk whose adherents refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drugs, in reaction to the excesses of punk subculture. Some adherents refrain from engaging in promiscuous sex, follow a vegetarian or vegan diet, and do not use caffeine or prescription drugs. The term "straight edge" was adopted from the 1981 song "Straight Edge" by the hardcore punk band Minor Threat.
Seemless is Into Another's third full-length album, released on September 12, 1995 on Hollywood Records.
Don Fury is an American recording engineer and producer who owned three rehearsal and recording studios in New York City. He has recorded and produced music for a variety of punk and hardcore bands including GG Allin, Agnostic Front, Sick of It All, Youth of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, Madball, Warzone, Helmet, Into Another, and Quicksand. In 2008 Fury moved his studio to Troy, New York.
Steven Blush is an American author, journalist, record collector and film maker who is best known for his book American Hardcore and the movie of the same name. Blush has written five books, is the founder of Seconds magazine and has written articles for many magazines. Two of his books have been made into movies. Blush's work mainly specializes in hardcore punk music.