Categories: Profiles

Band Profile – Brainiac

Dayton, Ohio based Brainiac were described in a thousand different ways – some called them Pixies of their day. Musically there’s little in common between those bands, but, indeed, there was the same creative spirit/impulse, at least in my opinion.
Musically, Brainiac combined 70s Bowie with the sound of Moog synthesizer and pseudo-industrial/experimental tones. All in all, they managed to record plenty of albums, singles and compilation tracks, before their career was cut short due to Tim Taylor’s death in a car accident in 1997.
Consider this an odd or morbid coincidence, but shortly before his own death, Jeff Buckley talked about this story to his fans (http://www.pennyarcade.tv/friends/jeff_buckley.html):
“”At Jeff Buckley’s last gig at Barrister’s, a tiny hole in the wall Memphis bar on Monday June 26th, his first words on stage were “Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead, he’s fucking dead, the guy from Brainiac is fucking dead. I want this to mean something to every fucking one of you.” He began to play “Terminal Cancer” a song that includes the line “The world has eternal cancer”. “I guess that’s how the guy from Brainiac felt,” he continued as he segued into “Hallelujah” in requiem for Brainiac’s Tim Taylor who had died in a solo car crash. Over the next hour and a half, Jeff joked with the audience, pointing out that there was free red wine at the bar that he had brought in for the audience. “Free,” he said, “that’s spelled f-r-e-e.” He continued with the rest of his set which included “Corpus Christi Carol,” a song he hadn’t performed live in over two years. “Is that how you like your rock heroes – dead?” he demanded.
After the show a fan waiting to have Buckley autograph her copy of “Grace” asked how Taylor had died. “He blew up!,” he shouted as he grabbed a beer bottle off the bar, threw it across the room without breaking it and walked away to the jukebox on the other side of the room. Gayle Kelemen, creator of Jeff’s unofficial web page, who had introduced Jeff to Brainiac’s music and had been previously unaware of Taylor’s death, followed Buckley to the jukebox. “Are you upset about one of your favorite musicians dying?,” he snarled at her. “I hope you are, I hope you are because that’s why I create music.”
Members:
John Schmersal (Enon)
Juan Monasterio (Model / Actress)
Tyler Trent
Tim Taylor
Michael Bodine (Shesus)
Discography:
Superduperseven 7″ (1992)
I Could Own You / Love Thing (Split with Bratmobile) 7″ (Twelve-Vex-Twelve, 1992)
Smack Bunny Baby CD (Grass, 1993)
Bonsai Superstar CD (Grass, 1994)
Dexatrim / Nothing 7″ (Split with Lazy) (Simple Solutions, 1994)
Internationale 7″ (Touch And Go, 1995)
Internationale CD-Single (Touch And Go, 1995)
Hissing Prigs in Static Couture LP/CD (Touch And Go, 1996)
Electro Shock For President CD / 12″ EP (Touch And Go, 1997)
Compilation Tracks:
“Smack Bunny Baby” on Buy This Use Compact Disc (Dutch East India Trading, 1993)
“Cookie Doesn’t Sing” on Dope-Guns-‘N’-F%%ing in The Streets Volume 10 / 8-11 (Amphetamine Reptile, 1994 /1997)
“Noth1ng 3v3r Chan935” on Mind The Gap Volume 8 (Gonzo Circus Magazine, 1996)
“Indian Poker Pt. 1″ on Opscene 50 (Gap Recordings, 1996)
“Go!” on Jabberjaw Pure Sweet Hell (Mammoth, 1996)
“Petrified” on Ubu Dance Party – A Tribute To Pere Ubu (Datapanik, 1997)