In class 7 we will focus on musician biographies. Why do we read musician biographies? Does it support the music in any way to know the background of a particular musician? What information is interesting to know about a musician?
Homework:
Pick a musician, write their biography. (You could even write your own autobiography!) Due after intensives week: Tuesday, March 11, before 9am.
Links:
Bootsy Collins: http://tinyurl.com/2cqyeg
Kurt Cobain: http://tinyurl.com/2d2koa
Resources:
http://www.musicianguide.com/
http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Michael Gira
Michael Gira was born 1954 in Los Angeles, California. He is a musician, writer and artist. He was the leader of the band Swans during their duration and now is the leader of the Angels of Light and the head of Young God Records.
Gira was born to a businessman father and an alcoholic mother, who he lived with for the first years of his life, until his father took him to live with him in Indiana. At the age of 13, the two of them moved to Paris where Gira ran away from home and joined a group of hippies traveling through the country. Gira eventually hitchhiked his way to Amsterdam where he was arrested (for what reason I’m not sure) and put in an adult prison. It was at this point that his father located him thru Interpol and, learning of his situation, instructed the authorities in charge of the prison to leave him there for two weeks. Apparently, this was done to teach him a lesson. When Gira was released and his father gave him a choice, go to school or work in a factory. Gira chose the factory, but his father decided to put him in school anyway. This prompted Gira to run away again; he was 14 years old. This time, after spending some time with hippies in Istanbul selling hash, Gira found himself in Kibbutz, Israel, working in a copper mine.
Gira’s plan was to go to Africa, but his mind was changed by Lena, a Persian Jewish woman who had taken him in and eventually convinced him to contact his father and go home. Gira’s father, who at this point was living in Germany, sent him back to California to live with his mother. He enrolled in high school but immediately dropped out; he was 17. After a number of odd jobs he managed to get into art school where he thought he was going to be a graphic artist but again dropped out. At this point, Gira traveled to New York, intent on joining the local art scene, specifically the No Wave scene. Inspired by the work of artists like Suicide, Glenn Branca and James Chance he formed his first band: the Little Cripples. The band didn’t last long, and soon after Gria formed the band Swans in 1982, which would be his main creative outlet for the next fifteen or so years. Swans generated a slow, loud cacophony over which Gira barked tales of misery and pain the likes of which De Sade himself would cringe at.
Early on, the band was known for playing so loud that shows were often ended by the police arriving to stop the band from playing. While the band had a revolving membership, with Gira the only consistent member, there were members who became more permanent. One of these was Jarboe; whose ethereal vocals and synths lent a change to the Swans brutal sound. She and Gira also became romantically involved for a time. Over time, the project evolved from being Gira’s outlet for single-minded rage to being an artier, more textured project, its sound growing more and more sophisticated. Swans final albums where devoted to sound experimentation and noisescapes that would go on to influence the works of Post-Rock artist like Godspeed You! Black Emperor. During all this time though, Gira was leading a tough existence. Swans was a difficult project to direct, let alone live off of. So after spending his time unhappily leading the band and trying to make ends meet, Gira disbanded them in 1997.
In 1990, Gira had been unable to find a record label that was willing to host Swans. To remedy this, he formed Young God Records to release their material. After Swans ended, Gira continued running the label, which has hosted such artist’s as Devendra Banhart, Ulan Bator, Akron/Family and Lisa Germano among others. The Label also became the home of Gira’s current project, the Angels of Light, a folk band with a much less brutal sound than that of Swans. Gira continues running the label these days, producing records and touring with the Angels of Light. His early life has often shown through in his works, a recent Angels of Light album having featured “Lena’s Song” which was written for the woman who in effect, had saved Gira’s life when she convinced him to leave Israel.
Paul McCartney Facts
Did you know, His real name is James Paul McCartney? Not just Paul McCartney.
He has four guitars, he has a, Hofner bass, Rickenbacker bass, and he also has a Gibson Les Paul, well of course Les (PAUL) , and an Epiphone Casino guitar.
Paul’s first wife Linda McCartney was in his band The Wings Denny Laine was also in the band.
The song Yesterday was one of the most covered song and it was played more than 7,000,0000, times on national TV.
The wings were actually a popular band, not as popular as The Beatles though. The Beatles were and still are one of the most popular bands in history. Sure there are some people that don’t care for Beatles but hey, it is there opinion. You cant really “make” someone like a band they don’t like.
Between his work with The Beatles and as a solo artist and leader of Wings, McCartney has written or co written more than 50 Top Ten singles. With and without Wings, McCartney has been extremely prolific, averaging an album a year since the appearance of McCartney. Moreover, he's been eclectic as well, not only recording pop and rock but also dabbling in various classical forms and ambient dance music. In the post-Beatles era McCartney has cracked the Top Forty 35 times. When combined with The Beatles 49 Top Forty U.S. singles, it is a matter of statistical fact that Paul McCartney is the most successful pop-music composer ever and the second greatest hit maker, behind Elvis Presley. Without question he is one of the most important musicians of the 20th century. The End. Sponsors: Verizon Network
hnnnnm,wdfsfrn,wsfhjsxwoifgikikweieikcfgcfewcxjfeyhfjcdhfdjxhfjcxwsfhjsl;zvsl;zajms;z.jmdlx,szjs;z.jmszdfjsjmfvjmfmjjmrjmjmfcmjrfmkrfckfcjkcmfmmcfjjfjjjfjfjfjdkdkfjvnfhjvejofwncvfvrrjgjgheriufgurejfggjfhgghhhhghjfghjfhgfjghjfghfjhgjfhgjfhgjfhgfjghfjghfjghfjggfjggfjhhfjghfjhhfgjhhgjhgjhhgjhhgjhhgjhhgjhghhjhghjhghjhgjhhgjhgjhhgjhhgjhhgjjhgjjhghhjhhgjhgjhjgjhjgjhjgjhjgjhjgjhjgjhjgjhjgjhjhjgjhjgjhjgjhjgjjghgjggjhhgjhhgjhjgjhjgjhjjgkhkglhlg;;h;g;h'g''hgkhkkghjjgjhjgjhjjfjjfjfjjdjjddjdjdjdjsssjsddjfjfjfff
Glen Hansard was born in Dublin, Ireland on April 21, 1970. He decided to drop out of school at the age of 13. His headmaster was a radio DJ and encouraged Hansard to drop out and pursue his passion for music. In 1990 he formed a band called The Frames, who would later on tour with Bob Dylan. Hansard wasn’t widely noticed by the public until he played guitar as Outspan Foster in the film “The Commitments” in 1991.
Glen was presented on a widely viewed television show in the UK in 2003, which helped him grow more famous. Hansard released his first solo album with collaboration with Czech singer and multi- instrumentalist Marketa Irglova. Also in 2006 Hansard spent much of his time in front of the camera filing “Once,” which also starred Marketa Irglova. This music charged film hit America in the Sundance Film Festival and took home the World Cinema Audience Award. During the filming of “Once” Irglova and Hansard started dating.
A piece the two wrote together, “Falling Slowly,” won an Oscar for Best Song in 2008. Many great musicians including Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan have influenced Hansard. Hansard says Bob Dylan is his main influence in his music.
Post a Comment