Victor Joseph Britain DeLorenzo Jr | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | October 25, 1954 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, actor |
| Instrument(s) | Drums |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Website | victordelorenzo nineteenthirteen |
Victor DeLorenzo (born October 25, 1954) is an American musician, actor and filmmaker who was the founding drummer for the folk-punk band Violent Femmes.
DeLorenzo was born in 1954, the son of Victor and Charlotte DeLorenzo, [1] grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, and has lived in Milwaukee since. He has been a drummer since the age of 16, while attending St. Catherine's High School, and has been an actor since the age of five. While attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he auditioned for and was accepted into Theatre X in 1976, and worked with them in various roles for more than 20 years. [2]
As a drummer, DeLorenzo paired up with bassist Brian Ritchie in 1980, as a rhythm section they called "Violent Femmes". When singer, guitarist, and songwriter Gordon Gano joined them in 1981, the band kept the name. [2] DeLorenzo's father loaned the band $10,000 to record their eponymous debut album in 1982. However, the band was forced to delay its release until 1983 after they signed to Slash Records.
DeLorenzo's signature sound is a result of his minimalist drum kit. He often uses nothing more than a snare drum, a tranceaphone and steel brushes. The tranceaphone consists of a metal bushel basket inverted over a tom. He favors this style of kit because the band often played on the streets in their early days.
DeLorenzo continued to act with Theatre X, and record and tour with the Femmes until 1993, when he left to devote more time to acting and to recording his own music. [2] He toured as part of Moe Tucker's band in that year. In 1996 he opened a recording studio called "Joe's Real Recording". [2] He has released three solo records since 1990. In addition to recording his own music, he has played with several side projects, including Ash Can School. [3] In 2000, he teamed up with Ritchie to put together a Femmes compilation, and subsequently rejoined the band until it disbanded again in 2009. [4] In March 2013, Gano, Ritchie and DeLorenzo reformed Violent Femmes once more and played a homecoming show at the Summerfest music festival in their native Milwaukee. Three months later, in July, the band announced a new line-up with Dresden Dolls member Brian Viglione as the band's drummer. DeLorenzo confirmed in a statement that he had left the Femmes permanently because of a failure of the band members to resolve their long-standing business disputes. [5]
DeLorenzo performs percussion in the chamber rock duo Nineteen Thirteen with cellist Janet Schiff. Nineteen Thirteen's "Hurricane Noel" recording was featured in the 2011 TED Global Conference.
Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano and Brian Ritchie, joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza, and drummer John Sparrow. Former members of the band include drummers Victor DeLorenzo, Guy Hoffman (1993–2002), and Brian Viglione (2013–2016). Violent Femmes are considered to be an integral part of the then-underground folk punk and alternative rock scenes of the 1980s, and remain influential or inspirational to the subsequent movements, particularly on folk rock, indie rock, grunge, pop punk, emo, and the late 1980s and 1990s alternative rock scene.
Violent Femmes is the debut album by Violent Femmes. Mostly recorded in July 1982, the album was released by Slash Records on vinyl and on cassette in April 1983, and on CD in 1987, with two extra tracks, "Ugly" and "Gimme the Car".
Why Do Birds Sing? is the fifth studio album by Violent Femmes, released on April 30, 1991. It was the band's last album with original drummer Victor DeLorenzo, who left two years later to devote his time to acting, and was produced by Michael Beinhorn, best-known then for his work with the Red Hot Chili Peppers on Mother's Milk and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan.
Guy Hoffman is a drummer and vocalist, formerly of such bands as Oil Tasters, BoDeans, Violent Femmes and Absinthe. He is a composer for such films as Field Day and a founding member of Radio Romeo.
Brian Ritchie is an American musician, best known as the bassist for the alternative rock band Violent Femmes. Ritchie was born and raised in the United States and is currently a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia, with his full-time residence in Australia.
Hallowed Ground is the second studio album by Violent Femmes, released on May 14, 1984. Like the band's first album, the songs were mostly written by singer/guitarist/lyricist Gordon Gano when he was in high school. "Country Death Song", for example, written by Gano during his high school classes, was inspired by the tradition of folk songs about "terrible, horrific stories". A departure from the straightforward rock style of their debut, Hallowed Ground was considerably divisive amongst fans and critics, with many at the time incorrectly thinking Gano's Christian lyrics were ironic.
The Blind Leading the Naked is the third album by Violent Femmes. It was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and released in 1986. The title is a play on the figure of speech "the blind leading the blind."
"Blister in the Sun" is a song by American rock band Violent Femmes, originally released on their 1983 self-titled debut album. It was later released as a promo single in 1997 after its inclusion in the film Grosse Pointe Blank. A live promo single was released in 1999 in promotion of the live album Viva Wisconsin.
3 is the fourth studio album by U.S. punk-folk band Violent Femmes.
Add It Up (1981–1993) is a compilation album released by Violent Femmes in 1993.
New Times is the sixth studio album released by Violent Femmes in 1994, and the first to not feature original drummer Victor DeLorenzo on drums, who'd been replaced by Guy Hoffman. "Breakin' Up," a song lead singer Gordon Gano had written years before, was the lead single. Its video received minor airplay on MTV and appears on the band's DVD, Permanent Record - Live & Otherwise. The album did not sell well, but featured many of the Femmes' most musically complex and lyrically inventive songs, including "4 Seasons," and concert staple "I'm Nothing." "I'm Nothing" appeared in the movie Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas.
Viva Wisconsin is a live album by Violent Femmes. It was released in the November of 1999. The songs were recorded on a six-date acoustic concert tour of their home state of Wisconsin in October 1998. The album was reissued by Shout! Factory on May 24, 2005. The back of the CD states “October 25-31, 1998 Violent Femmes did an acoustic tour of their home state of Wisconsin. Two guitars, two drums and three voices. Femmes back to the basics, no overdubbing, no electronics, no crap. They’re best songs, raw and intimate. This is the ultimate Violent Femmes recording.”
Gordon James Gano is an American musician who is the singer, guitarist and songwriter of American folk punk band Violent Femmes.
Permanent Record: The Very Best Of is a greatest hits album by the band Violent Femmes. It was released on July 12, 2005.
Permanent Record: Live & Otherwise is a DVD released by Violent Femmes on July 12, 2005. The first thirteen tracks were filmed during a live concert at The Boat House in Norfolk, Virginia on July 21, 1991. Tracks 14 through 20 are music videos. The last track is footage of an impromptu performance of "Kiss Off", in front of the Downer Theater in the band's hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"Gone Daddy Gone" is a song written by Gordon Gano and originally recorded by his group Violent Femmes as the first single for their first album, Violent Femmes.
This is the discography of Violent Femmes, a Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based alternative rock group, which consists of 10 studio albums, 19 singles, five live albums and four compilation albums, in addition to a number of miscellaneous appearances on soundtracks and compilations featuring various artists. This list does not include solo material by any of the bands' members.
Archive Series No. 1: Live in Iceland is a live album performed in Iceland on April 22, 2004 and released by Violent Femmes in 2006.
BBC Live is a live album by Violent Femmes recorded in May 1991 at The Town & Country Club in London for BBC Radio 1's In Concert series, and broadcast on 20 July 1991. It was released on Hux Records in 2005.
Happy New Year is an EP released by the Violent Femmes for Record Store Day on April 18, 2015. It was the first recording of original songs by the band in 15 years. The EP was released on 12-inch, 180-gram, champagne-colored vinyl, and later made available for digital download on June 2, 2015
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