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Stevenson Sedgwick is an American musician, record producer, author, programmer and professional gambler, most known for his compositions as the songwriter for the post-punk, experimental, deathrock group The Phantom Limbs, [1] [2] and as one of the principal songwriters for Black Ice. [3] He is also known for work as producer assistant and mixer for artists including electronic music pioneer Gary Numan. [4]
Stevenson Sedgwick was the founder and composer for the post-punk/deathrock band The Phantom Limbs, which gained noterity in the San Francisco bay area and later internationally (including two world tours) for Stevenon's unique keyboard-driven compositions, and the outrageous stage behavior of their singer, Hopeless (aka Loto Ball). They garnered the attention of Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys fame to his Alternative Tentacles label, which put out their critically acclaimed [5] debut Applied Ignorance as well as the subsequent Displacement and Accept the Juice albums. Upon their demise, Biafra wrote that he "missed them more than any band in recent history" [6]
Sedgwick, along with Skot B, also a member of The Phantom Limbs, formed Black Ice, a more experimental group that also became notable in the San Francisco Bay area and later internationally. [7]
Sedgwick was also a member of San Francisco-based groups The Holy Revolver Society, The Electrocution Boys and the Los Angeles-based Factory of Angst and Bloody Malynda. [8] [9]
Sedgwick has provided commentary to the zines 'I Like Tuesdays', 'Not Peace But a Sword' as well as fiction to 'The Utne Reader', and 'Youth Writes' magazine. [10]
Sedgwick is a founder of Mungaso.com, a home for his bands and related bands as well as a site for other interests, such as exploits into thoroughbred handicapping skills. The site provides tools free of charge to assess overlays in thoroughbred wagering. [11]
Sedgwick, along with Sasha Bokor is a founder of "Polish American History Quarter", designated as the first three months of the year, dedicated to Polish-Americans contributions to American.
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.
Eric Reed Boucher, better known by his professional name Jello Biafra, is an American singer and spoken word artist. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys.
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 in San Francisco, California. It was used by Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles". After realizing the potential for an independent label, they released records for other bands as well. Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray and vocalist Jello Biafra formed Alternative Tentacles, but Biafra became the sole owner in the mid-1980s. Alternative Tentacles no longer owns the rights to Dead Kennedys recordings after a 2000 lawsuit.
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables is the debut studio album by the American punk rock band Dead Kennedys. It was first released on September 2, 1980, through Cherry Red Records in the United Kingdom, and later issued by Jello Biafra's own Alternative Tentacles label in the United States. It is the only Dead Kennedys album to feature drummer Bruce Slesinger and guitarist Carlos Cadona.
Raymond John Pepperell, better known by his stage name East Bay Ray, is an American musician best known as the guitarist for the San Francisco Bay area-based punk band Dead Kennedys. His guitar work was heavily influenced by surf music, jazz and rockabilly. Alongside Jello Biafra's astute lyrics and unique vibrato-based vocal style, East Bay Ray's playing was one of the defining factors of the music of the Dead Kennedys, and by extension, of the "second wave" of American punk. He is also the only Dead Kennedy to remain a constant member of the band since its formation.
Plastic Surgery Disasters is the second full-length album released by punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Recorded in San Francisco during June 1982, it was produced by the band and punk record producer Thom Wilson, with Geza X getting a "special thanks" underneath the DK's/Wilson credit for additional production. The album is darker and more hardcore-influenced than their debut album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables as a result of the band trying to expand on the sound and mood they had achieved with their 1980 single "Holiday in Cambodia". It was the first full-length album to feature drummer D.H. Peligro, and is frontman Jello Biafra's favorite Dead Kennedys album.
TheCrucifucks were an American punk band formed in 1981 in Lansing, Michigan. They were noted for their political agitation, provocative lyrics, and unusually shrill vocals by band leader Doc Corbin Dart. Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra signed them to his independent Alternative Tentacles label.
Lard is an American hardcore punk/industrial band founded in 1988 as a side project by Jello Biafra, Al Jourgensen, Paul Barker, and Jeff Ward. Over the years, several other members of Ministry played with Lard, namely Bill Rieflin, Mike Scaccia, and Rey Washam.
Winston Smith is an American artist, illustrator, and cover designer who primarily uses the medium of collage. He is probably best known for the artwork he has produced for the American punk rock group Dead Kennedys. He also designed the Motéma Music logo.
Black Ice is an American no wave/deathrock band formed in 1999 Oakland, California, by members of The Phantom Limbs, Stevenson Sedjwick and Skot Brown. Additionally, Sedjwick has played in Factory Of Angst, Bloody Melinda and other bands; while Brown has been a member of Anal Kitties, Oliver Klossoff And The Applicators, and Holy Revolver Society.
The Phantom Limbs were a post-punk/deathrock band formed in Oakland, California, in 1999. The group combined the unusual keyboard-driven compositions of Stevenson Sedgwick with an aggressive, punk-influenced rhythm section and a very odd singer, Loto 'Hopeless' Ball, whose howled lyrics and unpredictable stage behavior quickly gained them an infamous reputation in the SF Bay Area.
Victims Family is a hardcore punk band formed in 1984 in Santa Rosa, California, by bass guitarist Larry Boothroyd and guitarist and vocalist Ralph Spight. Devon VrMeer completed the trio as drummer. Their sound blended punk, heavy metal and jazz, making them difficult to categorize into a single genre. Allmusic says, "Since its inception, the trio has refused to be pigeonholed to any single musical style — incorporating elements of hardcore punk, jazz, funk, hard rock, and noise into its challenging sound". They were known as one of the most musically diverse bands in the San Francisco underground music scene. Over the years, Victims Family went through four drummers and two break-ups. Their name was taken from a piece by the cartoonist B. Kliban.
Fleshies is an American punk rock band from Oakland, California, United States, that released three albums on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles, Kill the Dreamer's Dream, The Sicilian, and Scrape the Walls. Fleshies have also released albums on Recess Records, Adeline Records, Life is Abuse Records, Thrillhouse Records and S.P.A.M. Records, as well as singles, 7" records and splits on a variety of labels. They are known for their outlandish stage presence, their left-wing politics and their non-stop world touring schedule from 1999 to 2006. From their inception, they were an influential presence at events such as Geekfest, held in the late 1990s, The Fest in Gainesville, Florida, and Wantage Records' Total Fest. As of May 2019, the band released Introducing The Fleshies on Portland's Dirt Cult Records, its first album in ten years.
Dash Rip Rock is an American rock band. Originally playing rockabilly and country music, the band is best known for its cowpunk sound, which mixes punk rock, rockabilly, hard rock, country and boogie. The New York Times stated that Dash Rip Rock combines “fluency in American roots music with a robust dose of punk-rock spirit.” Bill Davis, Dash Rip Rock's founder and frontman, is a songwriter known for his blistering guitar work. Spin praised Dash Rip Rock as “undeniably the South’s greatest rock band.” In 2012, Dash Rip Rock was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame.
Life After Life was an American self-described gypsy punk band, active from 1993–1998 and based in San Francisco, California, United States. The group featured Jim Čert, an accordion-playing folk singer originally from the Czech Republic, Jaroslav Erno Šedivý, a Czech drummer noted for his collaborative work with Plastic People of the Universe, and four American musicians involved in the Bay Area rock scene.
Milking the Sacred Cow is a compilation album by San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Released in 2007, it comprises songs recorded between 1979 and 1985 that originally appeared on the band’s various studio albums and singles. The compilation also contains two previously unreleased live versions of songs from the band’s Frankenchrist album. Notably, Milking the Sacred Cow contains no material from the Dead Kennedys’ final studio album, Bedtime for Democracy.
M.I.A. is an American 1980s punk rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. The band's sound is generally hardcore and thrasher, though they produced more melodic and progressive sounds in their later albums. AllMusic called the band "one of the 50 best So-Cal punk bands of the great early-'80s second wave explosion."
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine is a punk rock band led by Jello Biafra. They released their debut album, The Audacity of Hype in October 2009.
Burning Image are an American deathrock band formed in Bakersfield, California in 1982. Burning Image first released a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" in the summer of 1984. The compilation 1983-1987 in 2004 and album Fantasma (2009) were both released on Alternative Tentacles, record label owned by former Dead Kennedys singer, Jello Biafra, with album Oleander (2011) being self-published. Burning Image celebrates 39 years as a band, in 2021, with a new album.
DUH was a San Francisco-based alternative and noise rock supergroup. The band comprised an ever-rotating line-up that featured members of Steel Pole Bath Tub, Faith No More, Models, Fang, Milk Cult, Phantom 309, Pansy Division and Despise You.