Shannon Selberg | |
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Birth name | Shannon Scott Selberg |
Born | Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | June 3, 1960
Genres | Noise rock, punk blues |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, bugle, keyboards |
Years active | 1987–present |
Labels | Amphetamine Reptile, Rubric, Treehouse |
Shannon Scott Selberg (born June 3, 1960) is a noise/punk rock musician known for his unusual antics on stage. Formerly the frontman for the Minneapolis-based group The Cows, Selberg provided lead vocals, trumpet, bugle and hardcore guitar. [1] [2] After the dissolution of The Cows in 1998, Selberg, described by Pitchfork Media as "the Crispin Glover of the noise rock community", moved on to New York City noise-rock band, The Heroine Sheiks, [3] where he has added keyboards to his repertoire. [4]
In its biography of Cows, Allmusic credits Selberg's "squealing, shrieking, and general lunacy" as "the bizarre, often engaging, focus" of the band. [1] He is known for his "legendary" antics on stage, described by the Detroit Metro Times as a "demented roadside attraction". [5] His onstage behavior has included performing naked except for strategically placed shaving cream, performing with mousetraps "dangling from his ears", [3] wearing a business suit with stuffed animals at the crotch and a skin suit made from a love doll. [2] In a 1992 review, The New York Times assessed Selberg's stage wear as a visual counterpart to the music of his then band, Cows, "merging defiance, pain and dark comedy". [6] Selberg's general presentation with Cows was described as a mingling of "requisite menace and a disarmingly arch, lowbrow wit..., leveling both barrels at the oozing backalley/trailerpark underbelly of life." [4]
No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene that emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and roll clichés, no wave musicians instead experimented with noise, dissonance, and atonality, as well as non-rock genres like free jazz, funk, and disco. The scene often reflected an abrasive, confrontational, and nihilistic world view.
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, and also known as Iggy and the Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexander. Initially playing a raw, primitive style of rock and roll, the band sold few records in their original incarnation and gained a reputation for their confrontational performances, which often involved acts of self-mutilation by Iggy Pop.
The White Stripes were an American rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White and Meg White. They were a leading group of the 2000s indie rock and garage rock revival.
Amphetamine Reptile Records is a record label founded in 1986 by Tom Hazelmyer in Washington state. The label specializes in noise rock and also released Strap It On, the debut album by alternative metal band Helmet which sold more than 40,000 records. According to Hazelmyer, the success of the album was vital to keeping AmRep going throughout the 1990s, as it "helped support the other things that sold less." The label was the subject of the 2015 documentary The Color of Noise.
Cows were a noise rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota who formed in 1986 and disbanded in 1998. The band’s music mixed punk rock with surreal humour and copious amounts of noise played through distorted amplifiers and trumpet bleats, codifying them as a noise rock band. Throughout their career Cows released nine studio albums, all but one on the Minneapolis-based label Amphetamine Reptile Records. A star in honor of the Cows is on the outside mural of First Avenue.
Norman Westberg is a guitarist from Detroit best known for his work with Swans. Present through almost the entirety of the band's existence, Westberg was brought on for Swans' debut album Filth (1983) and appeared on every album through 1991's White Light from the Mouth of Infinity. Westberg became a full-time Swans member once again when Michael Gira reactivated the group in 2010.
Cunning Stunts is the fifth studio album by the Minneapolis-based noise rock band Cows, released in 1992 by Amphetamine Reptile Records. It was their first album where they began developing real melodies and patterns instead of their usual blasts of noise. The switch to producer Iain Burgess brought an increase in sound quality from previous albums. It was long since out print; however, MVD Audio reissued and distributed the album on CD and a limited edition "Blue Opaque" vinyl LP in 2016.
Maureen Herman is an American musician and writer. She rose to prominence as the second bassist of the alternative rock band Babes in Toyland, which she joined in 1992, replacing original bassist Michelle Leon. After Herman quit the band in 1996, she became a writer and remained out of the public light for several years. In 2015, she reunited with Babes in Toyland and embarked on an international tour before she was fired later that year.
Paik is a post-rock/space rock band, originally from Toledo, United States, currently living in Detroit, Michigan, United States, that includes Rob Smith and Ryan Pritts. Bassist Ali Clegg left the band in 2005, and has since been replaced by San Francisco native Anthony Petrovic (E-Zee-Tiger). Terms used when describing Paik's music include: post-rock, shoegaze, and space rock.
Jim Diamond is an American music producer, studio engineer, and bass guitar player based in Detroit, Michigan. He worked on the first two White Stripes albums and played bass with The Dirtbombs.
Metro is a concert hall in Chicago, Illinois, United States, that plays host to a variety of local, regional and national emerging bands and musicians. The Metro was first opened in 1982. The capacity is 1,100, divided between the main floor and the balcony. The building housing Metro also houses Smart Bar underneath the main venue.
The Heroine Sheiks was an American Noise Rock band based in New York. It began in 1999, as a collaboration of Shannon Selberg, George Porfiris, Norman Westberg and John Fell. Selberg emerged as a major songwriter in the complete history of the band whose sound was darker and more sinister than his previous work in The Cows. With several references to the writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline, the band explored a thematic quality of black comedy.
John Fell is an American drummer. Born in New York City in 1961 to academic parents, he came into prominence in the early 1980s playing with rock/reggae/Latin band from Miami named "Watchdog". He is the co-owner of Main Drag Music located in Williamsburg. There, he creates custom snares, and repairs and sells drums. He has been listed on a number of lists of great drummers.
Rape on the Installment Plan is the first album by The Heroine Sheiks. It was released on September 20, 2000, by Reptilian Records.
Siamese Pipe is the second album by The Heroine Sheiks. It was released on October 1, 2002, by Rubric Records.
We Have You Surrounded is the fourth album by the American rock music group The Dirtbombs.
God Bullies is an American noise rock band from Kalamazoo, Michigan. The God Bullies original lineup was Tommy Shannon guitar, Adam Berg drums, Mike Hard vocals, Mike Corso on bass. Additionally some members changed through time with the addition of David Livingstone also on guitar, Eric Polcyn took over bass for a short time and Adam Berg was briefly replaced with Tony Oliveri of Cows fame on drums. They were active from 1986–1995, and were on hiatus for a time. Most recently in the summer of 2010 reunited to coincide with the Amphetamine Reptile Records' 25th Anniversary concert. This 2010 tour was known as the "War On Peace" tour and featured core members David B. Livingstone, Mike Hard (vocals), Mike Corso (bass) & Adam Berg (drums) with Johnnie Johnson on guitar.
Rick Lober is an American musician who was the original keyboardist for the psychedelic rock band the Amboy Dukes in the 1960s. The group is known for its only hit "Journey to the Center of the Mind". His bandmates were Ted Nugent, Steve Farmer, John Drake, Dave Palmer and Bill White.
Peacetika is the fourth studio album by the Minneapolis-based noise rock band Cows. It was released on March 25, 1991, by Amphetamine Reptile Records. The band supported the album with a North American tour.
Whorn is the eighth album by the Minneapolis-based noise rock band The Cows. It was released on March 26, 1996, by Amphetamine Reptile Records.