Burning Image
Encyclopedia
Burning Image are an American deathrock
band formed in Bakersfield, California
in 1982. Burning Image first released a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" in the summer of 1984. The compilation 1983-1987 in 2004 and album Fantasma (2009) were both released on Alternative Tentacles
, record label owned by former Dead Kennedys
singer, Jello Biafra
, with album Oleander (2011) being self-published.
Burning Image is one of the original bands of the early eighties California Deathrock scene, along with 45 Grave
and Christian Death
, playing shows with bands including Specimen
, Dead Kennedys, Butthole Surfers
, and Timothy Leary
.
and Paul Burch were playing in the band Public Art at a backyard party, when Adame and Bonanno, who were at the party, decided that night that both Burch and Sparks needed to be in The Pictures. Burch and Sparks joined shortly thereafter with Bonanno switching to bass. The band immediately started writing songs and playing shows, with "Time Is Running Out", "The Lower Walks" and "You've Changed" being the first batch of songs written as a new band. After playing a few shows, the band decided that The Pictures was no longer fitting as a band name, as the direction of the band began to be more inspired by darker themes in the music of Bauhaus
, The Cure
, Christian Death and the California hardcore punk scene.
In 1983, Burning Image recorded a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" which was recorded at Casbah Recording Studio
in Fullerton, California
, by Chaz Ramirez, producer and engineer of Mommy's Little Monster
by Social Distortion
. The artwork for the 7" single was done by Art Morales, creator of the artwork for Mommy's Little Monster. After the release of the single, Burch and Sparks went to Berkeley, California
to promote the record on the local college radio station. Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys was in the radio station doing his own show when he heard the song "The Final Conflict" and asked who the band was playing the song and liked the song so much that he invited Burning Image to open a show for them in San Francisco.
Burning Image returned to the studio to record the songs "Love Mask" and "Hives". After one more recording session which produced the songs "Prey", "Shadows", and "The Image", the band ceased to exist in the summer of 1987. Both Burch and Sparks moved to San Francisco and Bonanno left the music scene.
After the show, the band once again went their separate ways. Strobelight Records contacted Adame about including a Burning Image song on a compilation that they were releasing in 2006 titled Kaliffornian Deathrock. A new song, "Haunted" was submitted for the compilation. Burning Image featuring original members Adame, Bonanno and Burch with returning bass player Leyva, played the Wake the Dead festival in spring 2007, along with Ausgang
, Cinema Strange, Tragic Black
, Scarlet's Remains and Pins and Needles. On November 12, 2007, Burning Image opened a show for Christian Death 1334 featuring original members James McGearty and Rik Agnew as well as former Shadow Project
founder, Eva O
.
After those shows, Burning Image began writing material for their next album Fantasma, released on Alternative Tentacles in 2009. Fantasma was later described by Allmusic reviewer Tim DiGravina as "must-listen material for fans of death or goth rock" and nominated for Album of the Year 2009 on Deathrock.com. Burning Image played shows in California soon after, culminating with the Alternative Tentacles 30th anniversary show at the Great American Music Hall
in San Francisco, in which they opened for Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
, Alice Donut
and Victims Family.
2011 release Oleanders source of inspiration was the Lords of Bakersfield cases
, Adame stated in an interview: "It’s like a local thing I’ve known about since I was a teenager. What it is is apparently, allegedly, higher-ups in Bakersfield, we’re talking like, judges and cops and business owners, apparently they used to, allegedly, have this secret society, called the Lords of Bakersfield, and before that it was called the White Orchid Society. Basically what they would do is have parties and have young guys come to the parties and have them “service” these higher-ups, you know what I mean? To me it was always this local folklore kind of deal, so what happened was that Sean Penn
had narrated a documentary called Witch Hunt
based on the early ‘80s molestation charges upon dozens of people in town and that was led by the local prosecutor of the time. Sean Penn apparently asked Jello if he knew about what was happening in Bakersfield, so that’s why Jello asked my wife, “Hey, do you know anything about the Lords of Bakersfield?”...So after we told Jello, his jaw dropped to the floor...he asked me again, “Moe, so are you guys going to write a new album?”...He says, “That sounds like some intense subject matter, maybe you should write about that.” I really didn’t give it a second thought that night, but the more I thought about it, I thought wow...the possibilities."
Deathrock
Deathrock is a term used to identify a sub-genre of punk rock incorporating horror elements and spooky atmospherics, that emerged on the West Coast of the United States in 1979.-Characteristics:...
band formed in Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
in 1982. Burning Image first released a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" in the summer of 1984. The compilation 1983-1987 in 2004 and album Fantasma (2009) were both released on Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...
, record label owned by former Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys
Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1978. The band became part of the American hardcore punk movement of the early 1980s. They gained a large underground fanbase in the international punk music scene....
singer, Jello Biafra
Jello Biafra
Jello Biafra is an American musician, spoken word artist and leading figure of the Green Party of the United States. Biafra first gained attention as the lead singer and songwriter for San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys...
, with album Oleander (2011) being self-published.
Burning Image is one of the original bands of the early eighties California Deathrock scene, along with 45 Grave
45 Grave
45 Grave are an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1979. The original group broke up in 1985 but vocalist Dinah Cancer subsequently revived the band. 45 Grave are noted as one of the first bands to mix punk rock with horror-themed lyrics, thereby positioning them as...
and Christian Death
Christian Death
Christian Death is an American deathrock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979. The band was founded and fronted by Rozz Williams. Christian Death is most notable for their first album Only Theatre of Pain....
, playing shows with bands including Specimen
Specimen
A specimen is a portion/quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study.BiologyA laboratory specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, a plant, part of a plant, or a microorganism, used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or...
, Dead Kennedys, Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers
Butthole Surfers is an American alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary in San Antonio, Texas in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been consistent since 1983. Teresa Nervosa served as second...
, and Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
.
1980s
The first incarnation of what became Burning Image was The Pictures, which played their first shows in Bakersfield in early 1982, and featured Moe Adame (guitar,vocals) Tony Bonanno (guitar,vocals) Brad Higgins (bass) and a host of drummers. After the departure of Higgins, Adame and Bonanno decided to look for a bassist and a drummer. Joe SparksJoe Sparks
Joe Sparks is an American video game developer, animator, songwriter, web publisher, and multimedia consultant from San Francisco, California....
and Paul Burch were playing in the band Public Art at a backyard party, when Adame and Bonanno, who were at the party, decided that night that both Burch and Sparks needed to be in The Pictures. Burch and Sparks joined shortly thereafter with Bonanno switching to bass. The band immediately started writing songs and playing shows, with "Time Is Running Out", "The Lower Walks" and "You've Changed" being the first batch of songs written as a new band. After playing a few shows, the band decided that The Pictures was no longer fitting as a band name, as the direction of the band began to be more inspired by darker themes in the music of Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
, The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, Christian Death and the California hardcore punk scene.
In 1983, Burning Image recorded a 7" single with the songs "The Final Conflict" and "Burning Image, Burning" which was recorded at Casbah Recording Studio
Casbah Recording Studio
The Casbah Recording Studio or simply Casbah is a recording studio in the Orange County suburb of Fullerton, California that helped to spawn several highly successful acts, including Berlin, Stacey Q, and Social Distortion....
in Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
Fullerton is a city located in northern Orange County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 135,161.It was founded in 1887 by George and Edward Amerige and named for George H. Fullerton, who secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway...
, by Chaz Ramirez, producer and engineer of Mommy's Little Monster
Mommy's Little Monster
Mommy's Little Monster is the first album by American punk rock band Social Distortion, released in 1983 .The album was critically acclaimed but was, however, not commercially successful...
by Social Distortion
Social Distortion
Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. The band currently consists of Mike Ness , Jonny Wickersham , Brent Harding and David Hidalgo, Jr...
. The artwork for the 7" single was done by Art Morales, creator of the artwork for Mommy's Little Monster. After the release of the single, Burch and Sparks went to Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
to promote the record on the local college radio station. Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys was in the radio station doing his own show when he heard the song "The Final Conflict" and asked who the band was playing the song and liked the song so much that he invited Burning Image to open a show for them in San Francisco.
Burning Image returned to the studio to record the songs "Love Mask" and "Hives". After one more recording session which produced the songs "Prey", "Shadows", and "The Image", the band ceased to exist in the summer of 1987. Both Burch and Sparks moved to San Francisco and Bonanno left the music scene.
1990s-2010s
Adame continued to play in Bakersfield with several bands while starting up a new band called I Viscera in 1996, with Burch back on drums and newest member Anthony Leyva on bass. I Viscera played a show in Los Angeles with Penis Flytrap in the summer of 2000, as well as some Bakersfield shows. I Viscera disbanded in 2002.The Return of Burning Image
Adame went to Los Angeles to see Jello Biafra perform a spoken word show at the Echo Lounge. After the show, Biafra invited Adame and his wife backstage to talk and to get reacquainted. Biafra asked Adame if he had any more Burning Image music and Adame told him that he had masters for every recording they had done. Biafra asked Adame if he would allow him to release a collection of Burning Image music on Alternative Tentacles . The collection, titled 1983-1987, was released in 2004. Burning Image played a reunion show in Bakersfield at the Maestri Gallery on June 19, 2004.After the show, the band once again went their separate ways. Strobelight Records contacted Adame about including a Burning Image song on a compilation that they were releasing in 2006 titled Kaliffornian Deathrock. A new song, "Haunted" was submitted for the compilation. Burning Image featuring original members Adame, Bonanno and Burch with returning bass player Leyva, played the Wake the Dead festival in spring 2007, along with Ausgang
Ausgang
-History:Ausgang formed from the ashes of previous band Kabuki. Some members had also been members of another band, The Solicitors. Max , Cub and Matthew were all previously in Kabuki, the band releasing one single before splitting up...
, Cinema Strange, Tragic Black
Tragic Black
Tragic Black is a five piece deathrock band from Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The band was formed in summer 2000 by core members Vision and Vyle.-Current members:*Johno Varoz — lead and rhythm guitar/vocals*Kyle Leary — rhythm and lead guitar/vocals...
, Scarlet's Remains and Pins and Needles. On November 12, 2007, Burning Image opened a show for Christian Death 1334 featuring original members James McGearty and Rik Agnew as well as former Shadow Project
Shadow Project
Shadow Project were a deathrock band formed in the early 1990s with Rozz Williams, Eva O and Paris Sadonis. The band's first album included bassist Jill Emery and drummer Thomas Morgan....
founder, Eva O
Eva O
Eva Ortiz better known as Eva O is a music artist most notable for her previous works in Christian Death and a band she formed with her then husband Rozz Williams called Shadow Project...
.
After those shows, Burning Image began writing material for their next album Fantasma, released on Alternative Tentacles in 2009. Fantasma was later described by Allmusic reviewer Tim DiGravina as "must-listen material for fans of death or goth rock" and nominated for Album of the Year 2009 on Deathrock.com. Burning Image played shows in California soon after, culminating with the Alternative Tentacles 30th anniversary show at the Great American Music Hall
Great American Music Hall
The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater...
in San Francisco, in which they opened for Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine
Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine is a punk rock band led by Jello Biafra. They released their debut album, The Audacity of Hype in October 2009.-Biography:...
, Alice Donut
Alice Donut
Alice Donut is a punk rock band from New York City. Formed in 1986, disbanded in 1996, and re-formed in 2001. Between 1989 and 1996 the band toured vigorously in the US, Europe and Japan and played over 1000 live performances...
and Victims Family.
2011 release Oleanders source of inspiration was the Lords of Bakersfield cases
Kern County child abuse cases
The Kern County child abuse cases started the day care sexual abuse hysteria of the 1980s in Kern County, California. The cases involved claims of Satanic ritual abuse that were performed by pedophile sex rings with as many as 60 children testifying they had been abused. At least 36 people were...
, Adame stated in an interview: "It’s like a local thing I’ve known about since I was a teenager. What it is is apparently, allegedly, higher-ups in Bakersfield, we’re talking like, judges and cops and business owners, apparently they used to, allegedly, have this secret society, called the Lords of Bakersfield, and before that it was called the White Orchid Society. Basically what they would do is have parties and have young guys come to the parties and have them “service” these higher-ups, you know what I mean? To me it was always this local folklore kind of deal, so what happened was that Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
had narrated a documentary called Witch Hunt
Witch Hunt (film)
Witch Hunt is a 2008 documentary produced and narrated by Sean Penn about the Kern County child abuse cases in Kern County, California in the early 1980s.-External links:*...
based on the early ‘80s molestation charges upon dozens of people in town and that was led by the local prosecutor of the time. Sean Penn apparently asked Jello if he knew about what was happening in Bakersfield, so that’s why Jello asked my wife, “Hey, do you know anything about the Lords of Bakersfield?”...So after we told Jello, his jaw dropped to the floor...he asked me again, “Moe, so are you guys going to write a new album?”...He says, “That sounds like some intense subject matter, maybe you should write about that.” I really didn’t give it a second thought that night, but the more I thought about it, I thought wow...the possibilities."
Compilation appearances
- Let's Die (Mystic RecordsMystic RecordsMystic Records is a record label and music production company that was based in Hollywood CA one block south of Hollywood and Vine and later moved to Oceanside, California...
1985) - Cultivation 91 (Independent 1991)
- Kaliffornian Deathrock (Strobelight RecordsStrobelight RecordsStrobelight Records is a record label and mail-order seller based in Götzis, Austria. The label specializes in gothic rock and death rock music....
2006)