Kristian Hoffman is an American musician. His sister is writer Nina Kiriki Hoffman.
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Singer/songwriter Kristian Hoffman first emerged during the late 1970s as songwriter and keyboardist for New York City cult favorite the Mumps, and was also an active figure in the No Wave, performing alongside the likes of Lydia Lunch and the Contortions, and playing keys and singing on the James White and the Blacks LP Off White [1]. As a member of Bleaker St. Incident, with Ann Magnuson and Robert Mache, he spearheaded the "anti-folk" movement. Concurrently he was in the lounge rock band The Swinging Madisons [2], and was the original musical director for Klaus Nomi, writing many of Nomi's best known songs [3][4].
Hoffman later played in Kid Congo Powers' group Congo Norvell [5]. By the 1990s, Hoffman was performing regularly as a solo artist; in 1993, he issued his debut I Don't Love My Guru Anymore, followed four years later by Earthquake Weather. For the remainder of the decade, Hoffman worked with Dave Davies and El Vez on various projects and also served as music director for Ann Magnuson and Rufus Wainwright. In 2002, he and producer Earle Mankey crafted a third album of duets, &. [6]
& includes collaborations such as "Get It Right This Time" with that dog.'s Anna Waronker, "Scarecrow" with Rufus Wainwright[7], and "Devil May Care" with Russell Mael of Sparks. "Revert to Type" features string arrangements from industry legend Van Dyke Parks. "Madison Avenue" is a duet with El Vez, "The Mexican Elvis." There is also a guest appearance from Pee Wee Herman AKA Paul Reubens. There are team-ups with the Three O'Clock's Michael Quercio, Maria McKee of Lone Justice, Lydia Lunch, and Ann Magnuson. [8]
Hoffman is also an artist who has designed album cover art for such musicians as The Voltaires, Andrew, and legendary Los Angeles punk band X, and for releases such as eggBERT Records' Hollies tribute "Sing Hollies In Reverse," as well as his own "He Means Well" limited addition 45 cover. Hoffman's art was also highlighted in the books "Two Blocks East of Vine" by Iris Berry [9] and "Incriminating Evidence" by Lydia Lunch[10]. His most famous art composition to date probably remains the notorious "Bendover Girl" from an insert in the original edition of the New York Dolls' first album [11] [12], since reproduced on tee shirts, tattoos and drum heads all over the world.
In 2005, Hoffman was featured in two separate one-man art shows in Los Angeles galleries—the first an extensive retrospective of thirty years of illustrative work, and the other a showing of several new larger format works. He also designed the poster for the Green Day Documentary Heart Like a Hand Grenade.
In late 2005, a documentary on Klaus Nomi, The Nomi Song, directed by Andrew Horn, was released and received wide critical praise and several awards. The documentary has since come out on DVD (a Palm Pictures Release). It features extensive interviews with Hoffman and many of Nomi's other key collaborators, as well as footage of many rare concert and television appearances by Nomi. Four of Hoffman's compositions for Nomi are featured in the film, as well as some original incidental music and some clips of Mumps songs. The DVD extras include an extended interview with Hoffman wherein he details the genesis and thoughts behind each song he composed for Nomi.
Also released in 2005 was How I Saved the World, a newly remastered Mumps compilation, with all the tracks on the original 1995 eggBERT release plus ten extra unreleased tracks, all composed by Hoffman. The compilation also includes a full color 24 page booklet and a companion DVD of vintage Mumps performances at CBGBs and other venues, with optional commentary by Hoffman. This double-disc compilation was released by Sympathy For The Record Industry Records. Press and other historical information can be found at the Mumps official website www.mumpsmusic.com. [13][14]
Hoffman spent much of the first half of 2006 producing a new full length CD for long-time collaborator Ann Magnuson, called "Pretty Songs and Ugly Stories." Besides playing on the album with his band The Rock Gods, Hoffman also co-wrote ten of the songs with Magnuson. Rufus Wainwright added a one-man chorale to the CD's "Whatever Happened To New York." Other songs on the CD feature performances by the Chapin Sisters, Jonathan Lea of the Jigsaw Seen, DJ Bonebrake of X, and Heather Lockie of Listing Ship. The album was released December 2006. The record release party in the Disney Concert Hall's Redcat Theater was sold out, necessitating the addition of a second show. Guest artists for the shows included Candypants' Lisa Jenio, as well as Prince Poppycock, aka John Quale, who plays Jesus in the award winning Musical "The Beastly Bombing." Two sold out shows at L.A.'s Steve Allen Theater followed quickly thereafter. [15]
Throughout 2007, Hoffman continued to be Ann Magnuson's musical director as she played select dates around the country to promote "Pretty Songs."
Hoffman has also served as a regular member of the Mink Stole band, the Abby Travis band, the Carolyn Edwards band, and the Jane Wiedlin lounge combo Downtown Sensation. In addition, he has appeared as a session musician on albums by Andrew, the Jigsaw Seen, Carolyn Edwards, Blow Up (with Deborah Harry), and El Vez.
For over three years, Hoffman was the keyboard player for the popular Velvet Hammer Burlesque house band, led by the Millionaire (of Combustible Edison fame). The Velvet Hammer Burlesque ran monthly at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles until director/producer Michelle Carr relocated to Germany. The band occasionally played original Hoffman compositions. Hoffman's original compositions were also featured in the film documentary "The Velvet Hammer Burlesque," by filmmaker Augusta. Other regular solo and duet appearances by Hoffman included a series at Hollywood's late Parlour Club, hosted by performance artist Vaginal Creme Davis.
Hoffman reported on his official website, as well as his Myspace and Facebook pages, that he had finished recording his new 17 song album, Fop, in late 2008; that it was being mixed by Earle Mankey; and that its release was expected in mid-2009. [16] [17] [18] It released in October 2010. On July 27, 2010, the classical-crossover phenomena Timur and the Dime Museum [19] released their album, The Collection: Songs from the Operatic Underground,[20] containing five cover songs by Kristian Hoffman, with Kristian Hoffman, playing the piano on Total Eclipse. [21] [22] LA Weekly compared Kristian Hoffman's lyrics in the song Lite of the World, as "dark lyrics that wouldn't be out of place on a Thom Yorke album". [23]
Hoffman has also served as a DJ on Internet radio station LuxuriaMusic.com. [24]
Compilations:
Other Projects:
L.A. Weekly Interview [25]
Trouser Press Swinging Madisons Entry [26]
Encyclopedia.com Congo Norvell entry [27]
Kristian Hoffman interviewed by Queer Music Heritage [28]
Rolling Stone review [29]
Discogs Discography [30]
All Music Guide entry [31]
All Music Guide Mumps entry [32]
Reference.com on Kristian Hoffman [33]
Kristian Hoffman obituary for Klaus Nomi from the East Village Eye [34]
Kristian Hoffman reviewed in Pop Matters [35]
Los Angeles Times Calendar Article [36]