David J
Encyclopedia
David John Haskins better known as David J, is a British
alternative rock
musician
. He was the bassist for the gothic rock
band Bauhaus
and Love and Rockets
.
He is the older brother of Kevin Haskins
, also a musician and member of Bauhaus.
"). He sang backing vocals on many songs, and sang lead on "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?". He began writing music for a solo career while still in the band, and continued after the band's breakup, releasing the dark Etiquette of Violence and Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh, and played bass on two Jazz Butcher
albums (A Scandal in Bohemia and Sex and Travel). J was also a part of the very short-lived band The Sinister Ducks, which included saxophonist Alex Green and comics writer Alan Moore
. He also released a collaborative single, "Armour" / "Nothing" with artist and poet Rene Halkett, of the original Weimar Bauhaus school of art and design.
In 1985, J, his brother Kevin Haskins
and Daniel Ash
formed Love and Rockets
: J once again played bass guitar and also shared songwriting and vocal duties with guitarist Daniel Ash. His most notable lead vocal from this period was the minor hit "No New Tale to Tell". J maintained his solo career during breaks from Love and Rockets, releasing Songs from Another Season and Urban Urbane after his band's success with the single "So Alive". He also released one of the first #1 hits from the newly created Modern Rock Tracks
charts, with "I'll Be Your Chauffeur". J participated in a Bauhaus reunion in 1998. Love and Rockets broke up in 1999, after seven albums. Following what was billed as a one-off performance of Bauhaus at the 2005 Coachella
concert festival, the band reformed for a successful tour of the Americas in late 2005 and Europe in early 2006.
J has also appeared on releases by Porno for Pyros
and Jane's Addiction
. J joined Joyce Rooks and Don Tyler to make up the instrumental ensemble Three, who released their first album, Evocations in late 2005. He played bass guitar for several tracks on the electro musician Mount Sims' 2005 release Wild Light.
In 2003, J started work on the instrumental score for an independent film about Elizabeth Short directed by Ramzi Abed
, entitled The Devil's Muse. The soundtrack included guest artists and singers such as Ego Plum, Johnny Dowd
, Abby Travis
and Nora Keyes. He has also regularly shown his art in galleries across the globe, as well as being a resident DJ at numerous Hollywood hot-spots like The Standard Hotel, Kung Pao Kitty, and Knitting Factory
. In 2005 he composed the original music for a stage production of Samuel Beckett
's Cascando. In 2008, J wrote and directed a play, Silver for Gold (The Odyssey of Edie Sedgwick
). J also released Go Away White
with his Bauhaus bandmates and reformed Love and Rockets, who played at Coachella Music & Arts Festival that same year.
In 2011, J played bass for Voltaire
's album Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children!
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
. He was the bassist for the gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
band Bauhaus
Bauhaus (band)
Bauhaus was an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978. The group consisted of Peter Murphy , Daniel Ash , Kevin Haskins and David J . The band was originally Bauhaus 1919 before they dropped the numerical portion within a year of formation...
and Love and Rockets
Love and Rockets (band)
Love and Rockets were an English alternative rock band formed in 1985 by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash , David J , and Kevin Haskins . Former Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy had embarked on a solo career after Bauhaus split in 1983...
.
He is the older brother of Kevin Haskins
Kevin Haskins
Kevin Haskins also known as Kevin Michael Dompe is a drummer best known from the British rock group Bauhaus. He was also a member of Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets...
, also a musician and member of Bauhaus.
Life and work
David J wrote the lyrics of several Bauhaus songs (including their first single, "Bela Lugosi's DeadBela Lugosi's Dead
"Bela Lugosi's Dead" is a gothic rock song written by the band Bauhaus. The song was the band's first single, released in August 1979, and is often considered to be the first gothic rock record released. It did not enter the UK charts. The b-side features the song "Boys" and some versions also...
"). He sang backing vocals on many songs, and sang lead on "Who Killed Mr. Moonlight?". He began writing music for a solo career while still in the band, and continued after the band's breakup, releasing the dark Etiquette of Violence and Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh, and played bass on two Jazz Butcher
Jazz Butcher
The Jazz Butcher, also known as The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy and The Jazz Butcher And His Sikkorskis From Hell, are a British musical group founded by Pat Fish.-History:...
albums (A Scandal in Bohemia and Sex and Travel). J was also a part of the very short-lived band The Sinister Ducks, which included saxophonist Alex Green and comics writer Alan Moore
Alan Moore
Alan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
. He also released a collaborative single, "Armour" / "Nothing" with artist and poet Rene Halkett, of the original Weimar Bauhaus school of art and design.
In 1985, J, his brother Kevin Haskins
Kevin Haskins
Kevin Haskins also known as Kevin Michael Dompe is a drummer best known from the British rock group Bauhaus. He was also a member of Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets...
and Daniel Ash
Daniel Ash
Daniel Gaston Ash is the guitarist for Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets, and solo projects.-Life and work:After going to concerts in his teenage years, Ash made a decision to be on a stage in some way...
formed Love and Rockets
Love and Rockets (band)
Love and Rockets were an English alternative rock band formed in 1985 by former Bauhaus members Daniel Ash , David J , and Kevin Haskins . Former Bauhaus vocalist Peter Murphy had embarked on a solo career after Bauhaus split in 1983...
: J once again played bass guitar and also shared songwriting and vocal duties with guitarist Daniel Ash. His most notable lead vocal from this period was the minor hit "No New Tale to Tell". J maintained his solo career during breaks from Love and Rockets, releasing Songs from Another Season and Urban Urbane after his band's success with the single "So Alive". He also released one of the first #1 hits from the newly created Modern Rock Tracks
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...
charts, with "I'll Be Your Chauffeur". J participated in a Bauhaus reunion in 1998. Love and Rockets broke up in 1999, after seven albums. Following what was billed as a one-off performance of Bauhaus at the 2005 Coachella
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a three-day annual music and arts festival, organized by Goldenvoice and held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Inland Empire's Coachella Valley...
concert festival, the band reformed for a successful tour of the Americas in late 2005 and Europe in early 2006.
J has also appeared on releases by Porno for Pyros
Porno for Pyros
Porno for Pyros was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1992, following the initial break-up of Jane's Addiction...
and Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band's original line-up featured Perry Farrell , Dave Navarro , Eric Avery and Stephen Perkins . After breaking up in 1991, Jane's Addiction briefly reunited in 1997 and again in 2001, both times...
. J joined Joyce Rooks and Don Tyler to make up the instrumental ensemble Three, who released their first album, Evocations in late 2005. He played bass guitar for several tracks on the electro musician Mount Sims' 2005 release Wild Light.
In 2003, J started work on the instrumental score for an independent film about Elizabeth Short directed by Ramzi Abed
Ramzi Abed
Ramzi Abed is the founder of "Bloodshot Pictures" and also the founding member of the electronic group, Elektracity.-Biography:...
, entitled The Devil's Muse. The soundtrack included guest artists and singers such as Ego Plum, Johnny Dowd
Johnny Dowd
Johnny Dowd is an American alternative country musician from Ithaca, New York. Typical of his style are experimental, noisy breaks in his songs and strong gothic elements in the lyrics as well as in the music...
, Abby Travis
Abby Travis
Abby Travis is an American musician, songwriter, and performer. She is the daughter of Alice Travis Germond, the current Secretary of the Democratic National Committee and Emmy award winning cameraman Larry Travis.Abby Travis began her performance career in 1986 as the bassist in Los Angeles band...
and Nora Keyes. He has also regularly shown his art in galleries across the globe, as well as being a resident DJ at numerous Hollywood hot-spots like The Standard Hotel, Kung Pao Kitty, and Knitting Factory
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
. In 2005 he composed the original music for a stage production of Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's Cascando. In 2008, J wrote and directed a play, Silver for Gold (The Odyssey of Edie Sedgwick
Edie Sedgwick
Edith Minturn "Edie" Sedgwick was an American actress, socialite, model and heiress. She is best known for being one of Andy Warhol's superstars. Sedgwick became known as "The Girl of the Year" in 1965 after starring in several of Warhol's short films in the 1960s...
). J also released Go Away White
Go Away White
Go Away White is the fifth and final studio album by British gothic rock band Bauhaus. Released on 3 March 2008, it is the band's first album of new material since 1983...
with his Bauhaus bandmates and reformed Love and Rockets, who played at Coachella Music & Arts Festival that same year.
In 2011, J played bass for Voltaire
Voltaire (musician)
Voltaire , is a popular dark cabaret Cuban-American musician...
's album Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children!
Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children!
Riding a Black Unicorn Down the Side of an Erupting Volcano While Drinking from a Chalice Filled with the Laughter of Small Children! is the eighth studio album by Cuban American dark cabaret/Dark Wave singer Voltaire. It was released on September 1, 2011, initially via digital download on the...
.
Studio albums
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1983 | Etiquette of Violence
|
| 1986 | Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh
Glass Records Glass Records was a British independent record label which operated from 1981 to 1989, if GLASS 001 and GLASS 002 were issued in 1979 and 1980 respectively.Glass was one of the circuit of key London-based indie labels of the 1980s... |
| 1989 | Songs from Another Season
Beggars Banquet Records Beggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin, and is part of the Beggars Group of labels... |
| 1992 | Urban Urbane
|
| 1995 | The Birth Caul
|
| 1996 | The Moon and Serpent Grand Egyptian Theater of Marvels
Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label.- History :Founded in 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in gothic rock, hard rock, heavy metal and reissues of out-of-print music... |
| 2003 | Estranged
|
EPs
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1983 | "The Promised Land"
|
| 1984 | "V for Vendetta"
Glass Records Glass Records was a British independent record label which operated from 1981 to 1989, if GLASS 001 and GLASS 002 were issued in 1979 and 1980 respectively.Glass was one of the circuit of key London-based indie labels of the 1980s... |
| 1985 | "Blue Moods Turning Tail"
Glass Records Glass Records was a British independent record label which operated from 1981 to 1989, if GLASS 001 and GLASS 002 were issued in 1979 and 1980 respectively.Glass was one of the circuit of key London-based indie labels of the 1980s... |
| 2002 | "The Guitarman"
|
| 2003 | "Mess Up"
|
Singles
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1981 | "Nothing/Armour"
|
| 1983 | "March of the Sinister Ducks"
|
| 1983 | "Joe Orton's Wedding"
|
| 1984 | "I Can't Shake This Shadow Of Fear"
|
| 1990 | "I'll Be Your Chauffeur"
|
| 1990 | "Fingers On The Grease"
|
| 1992 | "Candy On The Cross"
|
| 1992 | "Space Cowboy"
|
| 1992 | "Some Big City"
|
| 2010 | "Hank Williams To The Angel Of Death"
|
| 2010 | Tidal Wave of Blood Single
|
Compilations
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 1986 | On Glass
|
| 1998 | On Glass: The Singles
Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label.- History :Founded in 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in gothic rock, hard rock, heavy metal and reissues of out-of-print music... |
| 2003 | Embrace Your Dysfunction
|
External links
- Official website
- [ AllMusicGuide entry]
- Myspace Page
- SuicideGirls interview with David J of Bauhaus
- David J on Combat Radio
- LA Weekly interview
- Los Angeles Stage Times preview of The Chanteuse and the Devil's Muse
- Interview about spectacles for Kirk Originals
- Blog about Not Long For This World, The Chanteuse and the Devil's Muse, Silver for Gold, and David's living room shows
- Interview about Chanteuse
- Hybrid magazine interview about Bauhaus reunion
- Billy Corgan's Starry Records artist page
- Redcat official website page for Silver for Gold