John Balance
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| John Balance | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Geff Rushton |
| Also known as | John Balance, Jhonn Balance, Jhon Balance |
| Born | February 16, 1962 |
| Origin | Mansfield, England |
| Died | November 13, 2004 (aged 42) |
| Genre(s) | Industrial music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Keyboard, Bass Guitar, Chapman Stick, Organ, Violin |
| Years active | 1979 - 2004 |
| Label(s) | Chalice, Threshold House, Eskaton |
| Associated acts | Coil Psychic TV |
John Balance (first name also spelled Jhon and Jhonn; born Geff Rushton/Geoffrey Laurence Burton; February 16, 1962 – November 13, 2004), born in Mansfield, England, was the founder of the experimental music group Coil, along with his partner Peter Christopherson.[1] He was responsible for vocals, lyrics, chants, synthetics and various esoteric sound-making instruments and devices. Outside of Coil he collaborated with Nurse With Wound, Death In June, Psychic TV, Current 93, Thighpaulsandra, and produced a couple of Nine Inch Nails remixes. His early work and wide-ranging collaborations made him one of the most influential figures in the industrial, experimental minimalist and neofolk music scenes.
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[edit] Magick
Balance had strong interest in magickians and occultists such as Brion Gysin, John Dee, William Burroughs, Aleister Crowley and Austin Osman Spare. He was inspired by the works of Crowley, Dee, Spare, Ex-Velvet Underground member/mystical poet/percussionist Angus Maclise, poet/painter William Blake and Surrealist painter/sculptor Max Ernst. Balance expressed interest in belief systems such as Shamanism, Christianity, Buddhism, Paganism, Hermeticism and Gnosticism and applied certain aspects of these to his musical projects. Balance referenced magick devices such as sigils.
[edit] Alcoholism and death
He had long struggled with alcoholism, which was cited as one of the major contributing factors to the breakup of his long-standing relationship with Industrial Records' co-founder Peter Christopherson, and was a recurring theme in his later musical work. Balance died after tipping over the banisters at his home[1] while under the influence of alcohol.
[edit] Discography
Balance's first known track is under the alias "Merderwerkers" titled "Blue Funk (Scars For E)" on the cassette compilation Standard Response. Balance also published a magazine called "Stabmental" and released a track titled, "A Thin Veil Of Blood" under the alias Stabmental, on the cassette compilation Deleted Funtime - Various Tunes For Various Loons. Balance then joined up with Peter Christopherson and Boyd Rice recording Nightmare Culture under the alias "The Sickness of Snakes" and performed alongside Christopherson in Psychic TV before the duo formed Coil. A short collaboration between Zos Kia produced the album Transparent. The album was dually credited and marked Coil's first release.
During the 23 year career of Coil, Balance collaborated with many other artists such as Thighpaulsandra, Current 93, and CoH, appearing on many albums other than Coil's.
[edit] With Psychic TV
- Dreams Less Sweet
- Just Drifting
- Berlin Atonal Vol. 2
- N.Y. Scum
- Thee City Ov Tokyo/Thee City Ov New York
- Mein-Goett-In-Gen
[edit] With Coil
[edit] Other groups
- Merderwerkers: "Blue Funk (Scars For E)" on Sterile Records compilation Standard Response. (1979)
- Stabmental: "A Thin Veil Of Blood" on compilation Deleted Funtime - Various Tunes For Various Loons. (1980)
- Sickness of Snakes: Nightmare Culture (1985)
- Rosa Mundi: "The Snow Man" on compilations The Final Solstice, The Final Solstice II and split album Grief (1999)
[edit] Other contributions
| Date of first pressing | Song title | Released on | Group name released under | Musical Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | "Yellowsong" | Video Rideo | Cultural Amnesia | organ and violin |
| 1982 | Endzeit | (various) | compiled songs on compilation | |
| 1983 | "Here to Go" | Sinclair's Luck | Cultural Amnesia | wrote lyrics, also designed packaging and sleeve notes for album |
| 1983 | "Scar For E" | The Uncle Of The Boot | Cultural Amnesia | wrote lyrics |
| 1983 | Music For Hashashins | Vagina Dentata Organ | created wolf growl sample (along with Peter Christopherson) and helped in the recording process of the album | |
| 1984 January | LAShTAL | Current 93 | featuring | |
| 1985 | Bar Maldoror | Current 93 | bass guitar, miscellaneous | |
| 1985 | Live At Bar Maldoror: Gyllensköld, Geijerstam And Friends | Nurse With Wound | featuring | |
| 1985 | The Sylvie And Babs Hi-Fi Companion | Nurse With Wound | featuring | |
| 1986 | Happy Birthday Pigface Christus | Current 93 | featuring | |
| 1986 | In Menstrual Night | Current 93 | featuring | |
| 1987 | "Europa: The Gates of Heaven" | To Drown A Rose | Death In June | vocals |
| 1987 | "We Are The Lust" | Brown Book | Death In June | co-wrote and appears on track |
| 1987 | Dawn | Current 93 | bass guitar, miscellaneous | |
| 1987 | Imperium | Current 93 | ||
| 1988 | Earth Covers Earth | Current 93 | performer | |
| 1988 | "Anti-Christ Anti-Christian" | Peyrere | Current 93 | performer |
| 1988 | Swastikas For Noddy | Current 93 | featuring | |
| 1988 | The Red Face Of God | Current 93 | featuring | |
| 1989 | Crooked Crosses For The Nodding God | Current 93 | vocals | |
| 1991 | A Document Of Early Acoustic & Tactical Experimentation | Lustmord | featuring | |
| 1992 | "LAShTAL", "Salt" | Nature Unveiled | Current 93 | performer |
| 1992 | "All The Stars Are Dead Now", "Rosy Star Tears From Heaven" | Thunder Perfect Mind | Current 93 | vocals |
| 1993 | The Nodding Folk | The Apocalyptic Folk In The Nodding God Unveiled | ||
| 1993 | "Great Black Time I (Excerpt)", "Sucking Up Souls (Excerpt)", "Great Black Time II (Excerpt)", "Great Black Time III (Excerpt)", "Maldoror Is Ded Ded Ded Ded" | Emblems: The Menstrual Years | Current 93 | featuring |
| 1993 | "Hitler As Kalki (SDM)", "Christ And The Pale Queens Mighty In Sorrow" | Hitler As Kalki | Current 93 | featuring |
| 1994 | "Lucifer Over London Parts I & II" | Lucifer Over London | Current 93 | vocals |
| 1995 | "Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight)" | Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight) | Current 93 | vocals |
| 1996 | "The Long Shadow Falls", "Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil", "The Inmost Light Itself" | All The Pretty Little Horses | Current 93 | vocals |
| 1998 | "To Drown A Rose" | Kameradschaft | Death In June | provides vocals, this is an outtake version of the song |
| 1999 | "Grief" | Borderlands | Tactile | provides vocals |
| 1999 | "The Snow Man" | The Final Solstice | Rosa Mundi | provides vocals |
| 1999 | "Lucifer Over London" | Calling For Vanished Faces | Current 93 | vocals |
| 1999 | "Misery Farm" | Misery Farm | Current 93 | featuring |
| 2000 | "Silence Is Golden" | Vox Tinnitus | CoH | wrote lyrics |
| 2000 March 01 | "Black Nurse", "Tudor Fruits" | Some Head EP | Thighpaulsandra | vocals |
| 2001 | "Love's Septic Domain (Health & Dificiency)" | Love Uncut | CoH | provides vocals, duet with Louise Weasel |
| 2001 | Cats Drunk On Copper | Current 93 | featuring | |
| 2001 August 06 | Fouled | The Michel Publicity Window E.P. | Thighpaulsandra | "vocals and text", album art |
| 2001 | Optical Black | I, Thighpaulsandra | Thighpaulsandra | "vocals and text" |
| 2003 June 23 | "He Tastes Of The Sea" | Double Vulgar | Thighpaulsandra | featuring |
| 2004 | "Lucifer Over London" | Sixsixsix Sicksicksick | Current 93 | vocals |
| 2004 | "E2 = Tree 3" | Toilet Chants | Black Sun Productions | provides vocals |
| 2005 | "Fj Nettlefold", "Make Room For The Mushrooms" | A Nature Of Nonsense | Aural Rage | vocals, written by |
| 2005 | "A List of Wishes" | operettAmorale | Black Sun Productions | vocals |
| 2005 December 23 | "Christ's Teeth" | ...It Just Is | Thighpaulsandra | vocals |
| 2006 February | "Star Malloy" | Not Alone | Thighpaulsandra | ARP 2600 synthesizer |
| 2006 July 01 | "A Tree Now" | The Impossibility of Silence | Black Sun Productions | provides vocals (howling) |
| 2007 July | "Fetish for Today", "Scars for E", "Here to Go" | Enormous Savages | Cultural Amnesia | wrote lyrics |
| 2007 November | "Hot in the House", "Scars For E (Alternate Take 2)", "Spoilt Children" | Press My Hungry Button | Cultural Amnesia | wrote lyrics |
| 2007 November | "Scars For E (Alternate Take 1)" | Still Hungry | Cultural Amnesia | wrote lyrics |
[edit] References
- ^ Smith, Richard (2004-12-11), “Obituary: John Balance”, The Guardian, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1371372,00.html>. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
