Bruce Moreland

Bruce "Ravens" Moreland (D.O.B. January 22) is an American rock musician. This singer, songwriter, and guitarist has worked with such bands as Wall of Voodoo (with his brother Marc Moreland), The Weirdos, Nervous Gender, and Concrete Blonde among others. As of 2011, his current project is known as Ravens Moreland.

EARLY LIFE AND MUSICAL BEGINNINGS

Bruce and brother Marc Moreland, grew up in the 60's in West Covina, a suburb in the San Gabriel Valley region of Southern California. Influenced in their early teens, the brothers copied Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop and wore spiked hair and clothes that looked like dresses (To quote Bruce: "We did anything that would shock people...") and started playing music. While attending West Covina High School, they started the "space glitter" rock band Sky People when Bruce was 13 years old. Sky People also featured Randy Jones (singer) of Stormer and London, and Audie Desbrow, future drummer of Great White.

Marc and Bruce left the San Gabriel Valley in the late 70's and slept in a broken down van on Gower and Selma Street in Hollywood jamming with bands like The Dogs and Arthur "Killer" Kane, until Bruce settled in at upstart LA underground punk club The Masque with Brendan Mullen. Bruce became known as "Bruce Barf" and would MC the club's punk nights introducing the first shows of The Germs, The Go-Go's, The Dickies, The Skulls (American band), The Weirdos (who Bruce joined on bass in '77) and many other influential Los Angeles punk bands. During Bruce's one year tenure with The Weirdos they recorded such songs as I’m Not Like You and Teenage. Bruce also did shows with his Brother Marc with The Skulls (American band) as well as The Controllers (band).

MORE MUSIC, SUBSTANCE ABUSE, RECOVERY AND LOSS

In late 1977, Bruce joined his brother Marc and Stan Ridgway along with drummer Joe Nanini of Black Randy and the Metrosquad and The Plugz to start the iconic post punk group Wall of Voodoo, who did their first show in '78 opening for The Cramps at the Save The Masque benefit show in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, Wall of Voodoo obtained worldwide success. Bruce would later venture in and out of Wall of Voodoo recording on four of their albums; he sights chemical dependencies, emotional instability and hospital stays for the periods he missed during that time. In May 1995, some of Bruce's experiences with heroin and methadone were chronicled in an article published in Hustler Magazine entitled Turning Junkies Into Junkies: America's Methadone Treatment Program by Scott Schalin.

In 1986 Bruce started several other music projects, including the rock band Black Cherry with Paul Black of L.A. Guns. Bruce also merged fellow Wall of Voodoo Members Marc Moreland, Chas Grey and Ned Leukhardt into the avant-garde noise group Nervous Gender, and performed with them for several years. Bruce would also team up with longtime friend Johnette Napolitano to write the song Sky is a Poisonous Garden for Bloodletting (Concrete Blonde album). Bruce spent several years after this period getting help for substance abuse and helping others to do the same. He also spent time with his sick Brother Marc in Paris until his death in 2002 following a failed liver transplant.

NEW BAND

Following his Brother's death, Bruce focused on songwriting and producing the recordings of his own band Ravens Moreland; “Ravens” was to be his new nickname. After primarily playing bass and keyboards throughout his musical career, he switched to lead vocals and guitar in live performance while still playing bass and keyboards on many of the recordings. David Bianco, former producer of albums by Danzig (band), Ozzy Osbourne and The Damned (band), shares production credits on the first two Ravens Moreland albums Lock up Your Mothers and Sin Has A Soundtrack. Bruce would later self produce the third album Candy Bad And Pretty Things. A new album released in the summer of 2011 The Dirt on You is available only on 12” Vinyl. Ravens Moreland has featured drummers Brian Head, Jared Shavelson, and most recently Jarrod Alexander of My Chemical Romance and Death by Stereo. The band has also featured Chas Stopnik and mainstay Tara Belle on Bass.

DISCOGRAPHY

FULL STUDIO ALBUMS

Ravens Moreland -

Lock Up Your Mothers (Raven Records) 2007

Sin Has A Soundtrack (Raven Records) 2008

Candy Bad And Pretty Things (Raven Records) 2009

The Dirt On You (Raven Records) 2011

INSTRUMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Wall of Voodoo -

(Self Titled) (Index Records LTD.) 1980

Dark Continent (album) (I.R.S. Records) 1981

Big City(I.R.S. Records) 1984