Idiot Flesh was a band formed in Barrington Hall, a student co-op at the University of California at Berkeley. They formed in 1985 under the name Acid Rain, and their demo album "We Were All Very Worried" was released as a cassette-only edition in 1987. They changed their name to Idiot Flesh prior to the release of their first album.

The band was known to tour the US in a converted city bus with Rathbun as the driver/mechanic, with the windshield destination banner set for "HELL

Hell

In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...

." Their work was characterized by its "rock against rock" attitude and defied classification with marching band routines, puppet shows, and the playing of household items as tuned instruments.

Idiot Flesh appear in the movie Oakland Underground. The DVD chapter is called “some sort of music event”. It has around three minutes of a secret Idiot Flesh show. The band is playing live, but the movie uses a studio version of "Twitch" that has crowd noise added. There is more footage of Idiot Flesh symbols at the end and the queen of Oakland (Penny) is seen several times. Gene and Nils both have bit parts.

Idiot Flesh disbanded in 1998. Work is currently underway on their final album, which is as yet unnamed. It is rumored a more professional DVD video is in the works. A semi-official DVD called View the Body was temporarily available. It was a combination of multiple shows with incomplete and spliced together songs of varying quality. A rumor following the group alleged that when the band was offered a record contract from a label, that it would disband before selling out. Their final show was held on a Friday the 13th.

Core Members

• Captain Dragon (Gene Jun) – guitar, percussion, violin, vocals, arranger
• Hyena Boy (Wes Anderson) – drums, percussion, marimba, multi-instruments, talking, vocals, bassoon, trash cans (1993–98)
• The Improver (Dan Rathbun) – bass, multi-instruments, saw, talking, horn, vocals, trombone, cello, megaphone, engineer
• Pin (Nils Frykdahl
  Nils Frykdahl
  Nils Frykdahl is an American musician most known for his work with the bands Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and the now-defunct band Idiot Flesh. He has a bachelor's degree in music from UC Berkeley, which he received in 1989. He also is a member of the bands Faun Fables and Darling Freakhead, and used...
  
  ) – flute, saxophone, percussion, castanets, vocals, guitar, cover design, graphics
• Chuck Squier – drums, cover art (1985(?)–94)
• David Shamrock – drums (late '80s). Drummer in Acid Rain only.

Filthy Rotten Excuse Chickens

Filthy Rotten Excuse Chickens was a name given to additional stage performers at live Idiot Flesh performances: "a motley bunch that enhances the Idiot Flesh experience with a variety of acrobatics, dancing and pantomime", who went by the names:

• The Minotaurs of Baal
• Beefra The Cook
• Helpy The Hamburger Bee
• Mr. Punch
• Hatcha & Datcha The Siamese Twins
• Ming Tsao: Professor of Black Math
• Uro Butoh
• El Evil
• Ward C. Picnic
• The Queen of Oakland
• Mumble

Other Players & Contributors

• Penny Allman (Fancy: Photography; The Nothing Show: Voices)
• Mantra Ben Y'akova (Fancy: Vocals; The Nothing Show: Choir, Chorus)
• Erik Carter (Fancy: Guitar)
• Angela B. Coon (Fancy: Vocals)
• Katherine Copenhaver (Teen Devil Worshipper: Photography. Also: Band Photo at top of page.)
• Paul Dal Porto (Fancy: Horn, Assistant Engineer, Sitar)
• Jindra Dolansky
  Jindra Dolanský
  Jindra Dolanský is a Czech musician. He was the saxophone player, backup vocalist and co-composer for the Czech avant garde punk rock group Už Jsme Doma from 1985–2001....
  
   (Fancy: Saxophone)
• Jewlia Eisenberg
  Jewlia Eisenberg
  Jewlia Eisenberg is an American composer. As founder and bandleader of Charming Hostess she coined the term "Nerdy-Sexy-Commie-Girly" to describe her genre of music which spans an eclectic range of styles....
  
   (The Nothing Show: Choir, Chorus)
• Matt Embrie (Fancy: Synthesizer, Piano)
• Per Frykdahl (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death, Teen Devil Worshipper, Fancy& The Nothing Show: Cover Art)
• Jab (Fancy: Trumpet)
• Peter Josheff (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Clarinet)
• Kris Langan (The Nothing Show: Choir, Chorus)
• Rance Mannion (The Nothing Show: Percussion; Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Engineer)
• Lorrieann Murray (Fancy: Design, Photography)
• Daniel Roth (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Piano, Saxophone, Drums, Metal Percussion)
• Mark Stichman (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Producer, Engineer; Fancy: Assistant Engineer)
• Danny Tunick (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Chimes, Glockenspiel)
• William Winant
  William Winant
  William Winant is an American percussionist.In addition to his work in contemporary classical music -- notably performing Lou Harrison's compositions—Winant has worked in a variety of genres, including noise rock, free improvisation and jazz. Notable collaborators include Glenn Spearman, Thurston...
  
   (Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death: Glockenspiel, Marimba)
• Tom Yoder (The Nothing Show: Tin Whistle)

Discography

• (1986) Drip Demo (4 songs) (as Acid Rain)
• (1987) We Were All Very Worried demo (as Acid Rain)
• (1988) Rite of Spring/Gelatinous Goats demo (as Acid Rain)
• (1990) Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death
  Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death
  Tales of Instant Knowledge and Sure Death is the debut album by the now-defunct avant-garde rock band Idiot Flesh.-Track listing:# "Something" - 6:33# "Thinking of a Number Above 17" - 2:56# "Meditation" - 6:45...
  
   (LP only)
• (1994) The Nothing Show (CD)
• (1995) Teen Devil/Twitch also known as Teen Devil Worshipper (7" EP)
• (1997) Fancy (CD)

The Nothing Show is available from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum's website store (as is an Idiot Flesh T-Shirt

T-shirt

A T-shirt is a style of shirt. A T-shirt is buttonless and collarless, with short sleeves and frequently a round neck line....

). Other recordings are out of print. Especially rare is the metal jewel case sold with the album "Fancy."

Filmography

• (1997) Oakland Undergound (DVD) Appear as themselves in Club scene playing to a studio version of Twitch.

External links

• "Idiot Song" music video - short film from 1997.
• Idiot Flesh Videos at YouTube