Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (sometimes abbreviated to BRMC) is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. The group originally consisted of Peter Hayes (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Robert Levon Been (vocals, bass, guitar), and Nick Jago (drums). Jago departed the band in 2008 and was replaced by Leah Shapiro.
"BRMC" redirects here. For the album, see B.R.M.C. (album).
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
They have released eight studio albums: B.R.M.C. (2001), Take Them On, On Your Own (2003), Howl (2005), Baby 81 (2007), The Effects of 333 (2008), Beat the Devil's Tattoo (2010), Specter at the Feast (2013) and Wrong Creatures (2018), as well as several EPs, and live albums.
History[edit]
Formation and early years (1998–1999)[edit]
The band was formed in 1998, originally called The Elements. After discovering that another band had the same name, the members changed the name to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, after Marlon Brando's motorcycle club in the 1953 film The Wild One.[1]
Bassist Robert Levon Been and guitarist Peter Hayes met at high school in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Lafayette and formed a band, Hayes having recently left The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Been has said in interviews that Hayes had a turbulent home life and would park and sleep in his car outside the Been household. After about a year of doing this, Been and his father Michael persuaded Hayes to live with them. Later, the pair started looking for a drummer. They met Nick Jago, from Devon, England, who had moved to California to be with his parents after spending some time at Winchester School of Art, where he was studying fine art. The vocals are shared between Been and Peter Hayes.
B.R.M.C. and Take Them On, On Your Own (2000–2003)[edit]
The band's first two records B.R.M.C. (2001) and Take Them On, On Your Own (2003) were indebted to classic hard rock influenced by Led Zeppelin and also encompassed slower-paced psychedelic rock, space rock, and noise pop influences from bands such as The Verve, Loop, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Their second album (recorded with producer Rik Simpson) has several songs such as "Generation" and "US Government" that are critical of the United States government.
Been used the pseudonym 'Robert Turner' on the first two records, in an attempt not to be linked to his father (Michael Been of The Call). He later dropped this identity when promoting Howl. The senior Been later toured with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club as part of their sound crew.
Current members
Former members