Anton Newcombe

Anton Newcombe

Anton Newcombe performing with BJM
Background information
Birth name Anton Alfred Newcombe
Born (1967-08-29) August 29, 1967
Origin Newport Beach, California, United States
Genres Psychedelic rock, Experimental, Anti-folk, Shoegaze, folk
Instruments Guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, sitar, tambura, keyboards
Years active 1990–present
Labels Bomp! Records, TVT Records, Tee Pee Records, A Records, 12 Tónar

Anton Alfred Newcombe (born August 29, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer, founder of the music group, The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Music

Besides his own group, Newcombe has worked with a number of bands, most notably The Dandy Warhols, The High Dials, The Manvils, Innaway, and The Quarter After. He recorded and produced Dead Meadow's album Got Live if You Want It, and has recorded a cover of Ewan MacColl's song 'Dirty Old Town' with Lorraine Leckie on her 2008 album Four Cold Angels.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Newcombe founded The Brian Jonestown Massacre in San Francisco, California, in 1990. Core members in the early years included Matt Hollywood, Jeffrey Davies, Joel Gion, Travis Threlkel, Peter Hayes (BRMC), Patrick Straczek, Ricky Maymi, Brian Glaze, Elise Dye and Dean Taylor, though the line up was subject to frequent changes. Newcombe wrote the majority of songs, with Hollywood collaborating or contributing others on occasion until his departure in 1998, whereupon Newcombe's name became almost synonymous with the BJM. Newcombe was also heavily involved in the post-production of his albums, often engineering and mixing them on his own. A prolific artist, he authored over 150 songs in a fifteen-year period.[1]

The Committee to Keep Music Evil

Newcombe founded his own record label which has released albums by The Brian Jonestown Massacre (Bravery, Repetition and Noise and the re-release of Spacegirl and Other Favourites), The Lovetones' (Be What You Want), and Dead Meadow's (Got Live if You Want It). According to the official website, the purpose of the label is to "...release BJM music not available through other channels, and to record new bands which we will be producing from time to time, while pursuing the goal of making the world unsafe for rock and roll".[2] Many of the releases on this label are produced or engineered by Rob Campanella.

Personal life

Part of his life is featured prominently in the documentary film Dig! which focuses on the tense relationship between The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols as both bands struggle for success. Newcombe no longer drinks alcohol,[3] and is married.[4] He lives in Berlin with his wife Katy and their son Wolfgang and actively works on his musical project. His latest works include "Musique de Film Imaginé" released by The Brian Jonestown Massacre in April 2015 and "I Declare Nothing", an album written in collaboration with Canadian singer Tess Parks which saw the light in June 2015.[5] [6]

In recent years, Anton has mostly worked from his own recording studio in Berlin, where he produced albums for other artists, including Dead Meadow[7] and remixed tracks for The Vacant Lots.[8]

Anton Newcombe Gear

Despite the fact the Brian Jonestown Massacre were known for a "retro" sound, Anton uses a mix of modern and old gear, digital and analogue. He's been using Pro-Tools for many years now, as well as a vintage Roland RE-201 Space Echo. He's got a predilection for vintage Ribbon mics and uses a 1937 RCA microphone on most recordings, as well as vintage Neumann and Cole models. Other equipment includes a 16-channels Chandler EMI mixer, some Vintage King gear, URI and Anthony DeMaria Labs compressors.

Live, his main guitar is a vintage Vox Cheetah semi-acoustic with built-in wah, fuzz and repeater effects. Some of his fx pedals include Boss RE-20 Space Echo, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, Z-Vex Mastroton fuzz, Z-Vex Super Duper and Electro-Harmonix Little Big Muff. His main choice for amps is the Fender Twin Reverb.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Neo-Psych Out". EW.com. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "The Committee to Keep Music Evil/Bomp! Mailorder". n.d. Archived from the original on 19 July 2006. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
  3. ↑ "The Quietus - Features - A Quietus Interview - The Brian Jonestown Massacre: An Anton Newcombe Interview". The Quietus. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "The Brian Jonestown Massacre: enraging Anton, unintentionally". DrownedInSound. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "ANTON NEWCOMBE (of The Brian Jonestown Massacre) outlines his plans to keep music evil". DORFDISCO BERLIN. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Newcombe is going to tour Australia with BJM at the end of 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.xemu.com/deadmeadow_artist.html
  8. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/records/n34cxv
  9. ↑ http://www.pmtonline.co.uk/blog/2015/10/08/interview-with-brian-jonestown-massacres-anton-newcombe/

External links

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