| Jeff Ott | |
|---|---|
| Born | Berkeley, California |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Occupations | Singer, Author, Activist, Musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar |
| Associated acts | Fifteen, Crimpshrine |
Jeff Ott is an activist, musician, author, and longtime member of the Berkeley punk community, having fronted such bands as Crimpshrine, and Fifteen.[1]
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At age 12 he started playing music with his friends Jesse Michaels and Aaron Elliot. Since releasing his first 7" at the age of 17, he has released 27 albums and 7"s under various names/groups. His most noteworthy groups included Crimpshrine and Fifteen, Phallucide, Phone Bill, The Tescoflex 7. As of the year 2000, Ott has been unwilling to endure a tour. However, he has toured and performed as a solo artist since then, albeit rarely and for limited durations. He is married and has two children and one granddaughter.
Ott's lyrics are politically influenced and he writes about such controversial subjects as racism, homophobia, misogyny/male supremacy, classism, drug abuse, needle exchange, and civil rights. Other topics frequently the subject of his lyrics include gender roles, homelessness, addiction, environmentalism, social injustice, conspiracy, and rape.
Since becoming a solo artist, Ott has traded punk's tearing guitars and rapid tempos for traditional singer/songwriter fare (i.e. a single acoustic guitar). His lyrical content, charged starkly with his removal of drug-use from his life, shedding metaphor almost completely for very literal meanings. His solo work uses many of the same songs and lyrical themes as his rock-band work.
Ott has released two albums under his own name: 1998's Epithysial Union, an album also featuring songs by Amanda Ketchum (billed only as 'Amanda'), and 2003's Will Work For Diapers, his most recent musical work to date. He also published two books. His first book, My World: Ramblings of an Aging Gutter Punk (ISBN 0-9677287-0-3) consists of excerpts from his self-published zine of the same name. His 2005 book Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Real War on Terror (ISBN 0-9677287-1-1), focuses on domestic violence, police brutality, sexual abuse, and how he sees these issues as more urgent and credible than the War on Terror. Both books are published by Sub City Records, a sub-label of Hopeless Records.