Jack Grisham
| Jack Grisham | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jack Grisham |
| Also known as | Jack Loyd Grisham, Jack Loyd Jones, Jack Greggors, Alex Morgan, Jack Ladoga, James DeLauge, Jim Woo |
| Born |
July 22, 1961 Long Beach, California |
| Origin | Long Beach, California |
| Genres |
Punk rock Hardcore punk Anarcho-punk Deathrock Horror punk |
| Instruments | Vocals, Piano |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Associated acts |
T.S.O.L. Cathedral of Tears Tender Fury The Joykiller Jack Grisham and the West Coast Dukes |
Jack Grisham (born 1961) is a rock musician, raconteur and political activist from Southern California. He is the vocalist for the punk band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), which emerged from the late 1970s Los Angeles hardcore punk rock scene, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Bad Religion. Grisham has also fronted the bands, Vicious Circle (who were more like a huge gang of hundreds of people), The Joykiller, Tender Fury and Cathedral of Tears. He currently records with T.S.O.L. and the Manic Low
Biography
Early life
Grisham was born in Hayward, CA and then moved to Long Beach. Grisham's father, a career military man with 30 years in the Navy and Coast Guard, died in 1984. Grisham's mother was a military housewife. Grisham was one of five children and has an older sister, two older brothers, and a younger sister.
Grishams older sister was part of the hippie subculture (or as he calls it, "Late 60's protest crap"). As a result, by the time he was six years old, Grisham was reading publications like Fritz the Cat and Zap Comix, and listening to albums by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, The Beach Boys, The Ventures, etc. Grisham cites the albums We're Only in it for the Money and Let it Bleed as two of his musical influences.
In his very early life, Grisham's family moved back to Long Beach, California. He was identified in elementary school as a gifted student. Growing up, he was a rebellious youth heavily into surfing, skateboarding, and in his words "causing trouble."[1]
While in high school, he met future T.S.O.L. drummer Todd Barnes through a girlfriend. Grisham and Barnes became friends, and took off with the girlfriend's guitar and amplifier and began playing around with sounds. In the beginning, Grisham claims, "All we did was make a bunch of noise and yell,"Fuck the neighbors" all day."[1]
Adult life
While in his teens, Grisham started experimenting with mood altering substances. Soon he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. He recalled, "I was a nut. I used to think I didn’t have a problem because I didn’t shoot up and I didn’t take acid."[2]
After several minor tangles with the law stemming from his drug and alcohol abuse, Grisham married a 16-year-old girl in Mexico, which he claims got him on the road to sobriety. When asked how he got sober in a 2008 interview, Grisham said, "Actually, I married an underage girl. I wanted her to get clean. I said I would support her. I was like, "Hey, I’ll support you so you can get help. I’ll go to the meetings too. Then she ended up leaving and I ended up staying."[2]
Grisham cleaned up his act on January 8, 1989, and has been sober ever since. He has two daughters, Anastasia and Georgia, and resides in Huntington Beach, California.[3] When not working on a music project, Grisham writes and practices Hypnotherapy
True Sounds of Liberty (T.S.O.L.)
Childhood friends Grisham and Barnes were joined by Ron Emory and Mike Roche to form T.S.O.L. The original line-up of the band was vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes.
T.S.O.L.'s initial line-up gained fans from the hardcore punk, art punk, death punk, deathrock, horror punk, and goth genres. During his time with T.S.O.L., the band was notorious for their controversial, transgressive, and political lyrics.
The original T.S.O.L. broke up in 1983, and Ron Emory and Mike Roche enlisted vocalist Joe Wood (Grisham's brother-in-law at the time) and drummer Mitch Dean into the band, playing music that started as punk rock but with each new album changed to blues inspired hair metal (hair metal). They spent several years touring and recording under the name T.S.O.L.
The original T.S.O.L. reformed in 1989, but lost Todd Barnes who died of a brain aneurysm in 1999.[4] T.S.O.L. has been touring and recording steadily since 1999.
The Joykiller
Grisham and Ron Emory formed The Joykiller in 1995 along with Billy Persons (The Weirdos/Gun Club) on bass, Ronnie King on keyboards, and Chris Lagerborg on drums. The Joykiller released three albums on Epitaph records prior to disbanding in 1998 and had a minor radio hit in Holland with the song "Go-Bang." They later released their Greatest Non-Hits in 2005.
Jack Grisham and the Manic Low
In the Fall of 2011, Grisham launched into another musical endeavor with his band "the Manic Low". Their debut album, Songs For An Up Day, was released on Moonlight Graham Records in June 2012.
Jack Grisham's LOST Soul
In 2012, Grisham began auditioning a few additional musicians for a new project band called Jack Grisham's LOST Soul, mainly to get together, and have fun, playing gigs covering T.S.O.L. and The Joykiller songs. This has proven to be a successful, nostalgic take on songs that have not have been played live for quite some years. Grisham leads vocals; T.S.O.L.'s Anthony “Tiny” Biuso is on drums; on guitar, D.I.'s lead, Clinton Calton; on bass, Trevor Lucca; and on keyboards, Greg Kuehn. Quite the able and capable line-up, they have played more than a few gigs together now, and the shows are tight. The reviews have been great and well-deserved. Well-worth a look-see.
Hypnotherapy
Grisham has received full certification as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master NLP Practitioner. He has an office in Huntington Beach.[http://www.jackgrisham.com.]
Film
Grisham appeared as himself in the movies American Hardcore and the Geza X film Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)(he also wrote the title track "Spit Up the Rage"). In the 1984 Penelope Spheeris film Suburbia, he appeared with T.S.O.L. performing "Wash Away" and "Darker My Love."
Politics
In the early years of T.S.O.L., Grisham was an outspoken anarchist, and his lyrics were often highly critical of the government. Songs such as "Abolish Government/Silent Majority," "Peace Thru Power," and "Property Is Theft" were standard in T.S.O.L.'s song sets.[5] Grisham later changed his anti-government stance, stating, "What I realized about anarchy is that we are not responsible enough to be anarchist. There’s no way possible. We're not responsible enough to be that. That's a heavy concept."[2]
Grisham was one of 135 candidates who ran for governor in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election, receiving 2,200 votes. He ran on a social democratic platform as incumbent Democratic governor Gray Davis was recalled.[6] During his campaign, he stressed health care and education, and supported the teaching in school of religious tolerance.[7]
Writing
In 2011, Grisham released his first novel An American Demon: A Memoir.[8] This book has received favorable reviews by several sources.[9]
Grisham is currently working on an illustrated book of short stories, anxiously awaited by avid fans of his first novel.
Bibliography
Novel
- An American Demon: A Memoir (2011)
Discography
Vicious Circle
- Vicious Circle (TKO) 2013, originally recorded in 1978
T.S.O.L.
LPs
- Dance with Me – (1981)
- Beneath The Shadows – (1982)
- Disappear – (2001)
- Divided We Stand – (2003)
- Who's Screwin' Who? – (2005)
- Live From Long Beach – (2007)
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Free Downloads – (2009)
EPs
- T.S.O.L. EP – (1981)
- Weathered Statues – (1982)
Singles
- "Anticop" – (2001)
Compilations
- Thoughts of Yesterday 1981–1982 – (1988)
- Weathered Statues – (1997)
Bootlegs
- 1980 Demo – (1980)[10]
Movie soundtracks
- Suburbia (1984) Soundtrack
- American Hardcore: The History Of American Punk Rock 1980–1986
- Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)
Filmography
- Suburbia (1984) / a Penelope Spheeris film
- American Hardcore: The History Of American Punk Rock 1980–1986
- Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)
- Punks not Dead
- Let it Rock
- Live In Hawaii (DVD) – (2004)
- Live In OC (DVD) – (2001)
- The Early Years / T.S.O.L. Live MVD release
The Joykiller
- The Joykiller (1995) on Epitaph Records
- Static (1996) on Epitaph Records
- Three (1997) on Epitaph Records
- Ready Sexed Go! (2003) on Epitaph Records
Tender Fury
- Tender Fury (Posh Boy) 1988
- Garden of Evil (Triple X) 1990
- If Anger Were Soul, I'd Be James Brown (Triple X) 1991
Cathedral of Tears
- Cathedral of Tears (Enigma) 1984
Jack Grisham/Mike Roche/Ron Emory/Todd Barnes
- Live 1991 (Triple X) 1991
T.S.O.L./Slayer
- Abolish Government EP7 (Sub Pop) 1996
Rob Dukes lead singer for the metal band Exodus did background vocals on the Joykiller albums Static and Three. Rob is a friend of Jack's and credits him as being one of the people who helped save him from a drug and alcohol death.
The Manic Low
Jack released, with his group the Manic Low, a 17-song album entitled Songs for an Up Day. The record was released on Moonlight Graham Records in June 2012. The album features Jack's old Joykiller partner, Sean Greaves, on guitar and bass, Rob MiLucky from the Devil's Brigade on guitar and Paul Roessler on keyboards.
External links
- Jack's personal site
- the Manic Low website
- Jack on Myspace
- Jack's 2008 interview with Ro Hurley from ZZZlist.com
- Comedian Neil Hamburger's extensive interview with Jack on Tom Green's website
- Jack Grisham for Governor Benefit Show
- The Orange County Register article on Grisham's recall race
- Trouser Press synopsis of TSOL personnel transitions
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 ZZZlist.com Journalist Ro Hurley
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2008 ZZZlist.com Interview
- ↑ Blank, Alan (January 13, 2009). "TSOL singer reflects on rise of music and surf industry". Huntington Beach Independent.
- ↑ Todd Barnes' page on the official TSOL website
- ↑ (http://www.setlist.fm/setlists/tsol-73d68e11.html)
- ↑ MTV News Article
- ↑ LA City Beat Article
- ↑
- ↑ (http://www.riotfest.org/news/2011/apr/01/jack-grisham-tsol-wrote-memoir)
- ↑ The Original TSOL: Discography
| ||||||||||||||||||||