Idiot Flesh
Idiot Flesh was a band formed in Barrington Hall,[1] a student co-op at the University of California at Berkeley. They formed in 1985 under the name Acid Rain, and their demo album "We Were All Very Worried" was released as a cassette-only edition in 1987. They changed their name to Idiot Flesh prior to the release of their first album.
The band was known to tour the US in a converted city bus with Rathbun as the driver/mechanic, with the windshield destination banner set for "HELL." Their work was characterized by its "rock against rock" attitude and defied classification with marching band routines, puppet shows, and the playing of household items as tuned instruments.[2]
Idiot Flesh appear in the movie Oakland Underground. The DVD chapter is called “some sort of music event”. It has around three minutes of a secret Idiot Flesh show. The band is playing live, but the movie uses a studio version of "Twitch" that has crowd noise added. There is more footage of Idiot Flesh symbols at the end and the queen of Oakland (Penny) is seen several times. Gene and Nils both have bit parts.
Idiot Flesh disbanded in 1998. Work is currently underway on their final album, which is as yet unnamed. It is rumored a more professional DVD video is in the works. A semi-official DVD called View the Body was temporarily available. It was a combination of multiple shows with incomplete and spliced together songs of varying quality. A rumor following the group alleged that when the band was offered a record contract from a label, that it would disband before selling out. Their final show was held on a Friday the 13th.
Members
Core Members
- Captain Dragon (Gene Jun) – guitar, percussion, violin, vocals, arranger
- Hyena Boy (Wes Anderson) – drums, percussion, marimba, multi-instruments, talking, vocals, bassoon, trash cans (1993–98)
- The Improver (Dan Rathbun) – bass, multi-instruments, saw, talking, horn, vocals, trombone, cello, megaphone, engineer
- Pin (Nils Frykdahl) – flute, saxophone, percussion, castanets, vocals, guitar, cover design, graphics
- Chuck Squier – drums, cover art (1985(?)–94)
- David Shamrock – drums (late '80s). Drummer in Acid Rain only.
Notes on Core Members
- Frykdahl, Rathbun, and Anderson were all members of the "Charming Hostess Big Band".
Filthy Rotten Excuse Chickens
Filthy Rotten Excuse Chickens was a name given to additional stage performers at live Idiot Flesh performances:[3] "a motley bunch that enhances the Idiot Flesh experience with a variety of acrobatics, dancing and pantomime",[3] who went by the names:
- The Minotaurs of Baal
- Beefra The Cook
- Helpy The Hamburger Bee
- Mr. Punch
- Hatcha & Datcha The Siamese Twins
- Ming Tsao: Professor of Black Math
- Uro Butoh
- El Evil
- Ward C. Picnic
- The Queen of Oakland
- Mumble
Other Players & Contributors
- Penny Allman (Fancy: Photography; The Nothing Show: Voices)
- Mantra Ben Y'akova (Fancy: Vocals; The Nothing Show: Choir, Chorus)
- Erik Carter (Fancy: Guitar)
- Angela B. Coon (Fancy: Vocals)
- Katherine Copenhaver (Teen Devil Worshipper: Photography. Also: Band Photo at top of page.)
- Paul Dal Porto (Fancy: Horn, Assistant Engineer, Sitar)
- Jindra Dolansky (Fancy: Saxophone)
- Jewlia Eisenberg (The Nothing Show: Choir, Chorus)
- Matt Embrie (Fancy: Synthesizer, Piano)
- Per Frykdahl (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death, Teen Devil Worshipper, Fancy& The Nothing Show: Cover Art)
- Jab (Fancy: Trumpet)
- Peter Josheff (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Clarinet)
- Kris Langan (The Nothing Show: Choir, Chorus)
- Rance Mannion (The Nothing Show: Percussion; Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Engineer)
- Lorrieann Murray (Fancy: Design, Photography)
- Daniel Roth (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Piano, Saxophone, Drums, Metal Percussion)
- Mark Stichman (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Producer, Engineer; Fancy: Assistant Engineer)
- Danny Tunick (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Chimes, Glockenspiel)
- William Winant (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Glockenspiel, Marimba)
- Tom Yoder (The Nothing Show: Tin Whistle)
Discography
- (1986) Drip Demo (4 songs) (as Acid Rain)
- (1987) We Were All Very Worried demo (as Acid Rain)
- (1988) Rite of Spring/Gelatinous Goats demo (as Acid Rain)
- (1990) Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death (LP only)
- (1994) The Nothing Show (CD)
- (1995) Teen Devil/Twitch also known as Teen Devil Worshipper (7" EP)
- (1997) Fancy (CD)
The Nothing Show is available from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's website store (as is an Idiot Flesh T-Shirt). Other recordings are out of print. Especially rare is the metal jewel case sold with the album "Fancy."
Filmography
- (1997) Oakland Undergound (DVD) Appear as themselves in Club scene playing to a studio version of Twitch.
References
- ^ Meister, Todd (December 26, 2001). "Voodoo Muck: From the mixed-up files of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum". East Bay Express. http://www.eastbayexpress.com/music/voodoo_muck/Content?oid=283046. Retrieved 16 February 2009. ""...it helps to know that two of its members are from the now-defunct "art rock" band Idiot Flesh, a highly theatrical band that developed at Berkeley's infamous Barrington Hall in the mid-'80s.""
- ^ Prestianni, Sam (July 24, 1996). "Avant Starred". SF Weekly. http://www.sfweekly.com/1996-07-24/music/avant-starred/. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Carnival of Flesh". Metroactive Music. Metro Publishing Co.. 1998-01-29. http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/01.29.98/idiotflesh-9804.html. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
External links