Glen Meadmore
Encyclopedia
Glen Meadmore is a Canadian musician, actor and performance artist currently residing in Los Angeles
. He has been described as "...the world's greatest exponent of the genre known as gay Christian punk". He is sometimes referred to as "Cowpunk
".
, Manitoba
, Canada
. As a teenager, Meadmore played bass and sang with Winnipeg punk band The Psychiatrists. He later became involved in performance art, and appeared on local community television
on his own cable show. Glen is 6'8" tall.
Meadmore moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s. He continued working as a performance art
ist, appearing at the famed punk, avant garde, artist scenester hangout nightclub the Anti-Club where he became renowned for his outrageous performances. During this time, he met African American queer political performance artist Vaginal Davis
and the two formed the band Pedro, Muriel and Esther, also known as PME, one of the earliest queer punk
bands to emerge. Both Meadmore and "Vag" performed with the band in drag
, and were photographed in drag for the cover of their EP on Amoeba Records. Meadmore also utilized his drag persona for underground film
s he was making with director John Aes-Nihil, such as The Drift. He abandoned this persona in his later films, once again playing male roles.
Meadmore developed a "Christian country punk" persona for solo albums he began recording in 1985. Glen's first two albums blended country stylings and country-style "yodeling
" with new wave
synthpop production popular at the time, which proved to be an odd and striking mélange.
Glen's third album, Boned, dropped the synths and moved into loud, grungy country punk territory, with lots of feedback
.
On his fourth album, Hot, Horny and Born Again, produced by Jack Curtis Dubowsky
, Glen showed off improved musicianship and performances, and some of these songs were included in the Bruce LaBruce
film Hustler White
. During the 1980s Glen had corresponded with serial killer
John Wayne Gacy
. Gacy did several paintings of Glen, one of which appears on the cover of his album Hot, Horny and Born Again.
Meadmore's most recent recording, Cowboy Songs For Lil Hustlers, produced by Steve Albini
, continues in the vein set by Hot, Horny and Born Again. Glen continues to tour and perform as a three-piece in the style of these last two albums, which are a culmination of his unique style.
Glen has performed and recorded with other artists and performers, including Helot Revolt. Glen's band includes Dave Kendrick a former drummer of Devo
.
June 2007 saw the reissue of Meadmore's first two LPs on CD.
In February and March 2008 Glen did his first tour, playing concerts in Germany
, Austria and Switzerland with the Munich rockband The Lazy and fan and radiomoderator Fritz Ostermayer
as support on two concerts.
for obscenity related to a performance at UCSB's Pub as part of UCSB's Gay Awareness Week. He was initially charged with indecent exposure, but this was reduced to Disorderly Conduct pertaining to "Lewd and Dissolute Behavior," according to the newspaper The Independent. His attorney was Public Defender Rick Barron. The case was heard by Municipal Court Judge Frank Ochoa. Glen was found not guilty. This was during the 1980s when many queer performance artists were being tried for their work and having their grants taken away.
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. He has been described as "...the world's greatest exponent of the genre known as gay Christian punk". He is sometimes referred to as "Cowpunk
Cowpunk
Cowpunk or Country punk is a subgenre of punk rock and New Wave that began in the UK and California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New Wave with country music, folk music, and blues in sound, subject matter, attitude, and style...
".
Biography
Glen Meadmore was born in WinnipegWinnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. As a teenager, Meadmore played bass and sang with Winnipeg punk band The Psychiatrists. He later became involved in performance art, and appeared on local community television
Community television
Australia's Community Television is a form of Citizen media much like Public Access Television in the United States and the Community Channel in Canada...
on his own cable show. Glen is 6'8" tall.
Meadmore moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s. He continued working as a performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
ist, appearing at the famed punk, avant garde, artist scenester hangout nightclub the Anti-Club where he became renowned for his outrageous performances. During this time, he met African American queer political performance artist Vaginal Davis
Vaginal Davis
Vaginal Davis is an American genderqueer performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, and writer. Davis's name is a homage to activist Angela Davis.-Life and career:Davis is often associated with the formation of the Queer-Core Zine Movement...
and the two formed the band Pedro, Muriel and Esther, also known as PME, one of the earliest queer punk
Queercore
Queercore is a cultural and social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of punk. It is distinguished by being discontent with society in general and its rejection of the disapproval of the gay, bisexual, and lesbian communities and their "oppressive agenda"...
bands to emerge. Both Meadmore and "Vag" performed with the band in drag
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
, and were photographed in drag for the cover of their EP on Amoeba Records. Meadmore also utilized his drag persona for underground film
Underground film
An underground film is a film that is out of the mainstream either in its style, genre, or financing.-Definition and history:The first use of the term "underground film" occurs in a 1957 essay by American film critic Manny Farber, "Underground Films." Farber uses it to refer to the work of...
s he was making with director John Aes-Nihil, such as The Drift. He abandoned this persona in his later films, once again playing male roles.
Meadmore developed a "Christian country punk" persona for solo albums he began recording in 1985. Glen's first two albums blended country stylings and country-style "yodeling
Yodeling
Yodeling is a form of singing that involves singing an extended note which rapidly and repeatedly changes in pitch from the vocal or chest register to the falsetto/head register; making a high-low-high-low sound.The English word yodel is derived from a German word jodeln meaning "to...
" with new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
synthpop production popular at the time, which proved to be an odd and striking mélange.
Glen's third album, Boned, dropped the synths and moved into loud, grungy country punk territory, with lots of feedback
Feedback
Feedback describes the situation when output from an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or occurrences of the same Feedback describes the situation when output from (or information about the result of) an event or phenomenon in the past will influence an occurrence or...
.
On his fourth album, Hot, Horny and Born Again, produced by Jack Curtis Dubowsky
Jack Curtis Dubowsky
Jack Curtis Dubowsky is a San Francisco-based American composer who has scored four independent feature films and composed music for television, advertising, and public performance. His music has been performed by the San Francisco Choral Artists, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, the...
, Glen showed off improved musicianship and performances, and some of these songs were included in the Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce is a Canadian writer, filmmaker, photographer and underground gay porn director based in Toronto, Ontario.-Biography:...
film Hustler White
Hustler White
Hustler White is a 1996 film by Bruce LaBruce and Rick Castro, a satiric black sex comedy about gay hustlers and their customers in Santa Monica, California. It stars Tony Ward and LaBruce in an addition to the Queer Cinema canon, which is also an homage to classic Hollywood cinema...
. During the 1980s Glen had corresponded with serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was an American serial killer, rapist and clown who sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Gacy buried 26 of his victims in the crawlspace of his home, buried three others elsewhere on his property, and discarded the...
. Gacy did several paintings of Glen, one of which appears on the cover of his album Hot, Horny and Born Again.
Meadmore's most recent recording, Cowboy Songs For Lil Hustlers, produced by Steve Albini
Steve Albini
Steven Frank Albini is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman, and Flour, and is currently a member of Shellac...
, continues in the vein set by Hot, Horny and Born Again. Glen continues to tour and perform as a three-piece in the style of these last two albums, which are a culmination of his unique style.
Glen has performed and recorded with other artists and performers, including Helot Revolt. Glen's band includes Dave Kendrick a former drummer of Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...
.
June 2007 saw the reissue of Meadmore's first two LPs on CD.
In February and March 2008 Glen did his first tour, playing concerts in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Austria and Switzerland with the Munich rockband The Lazy and fan and radiomoderator Fritz Ostermayer
Fritz Ostermayer
Fritz Ostermayer , lives and works in Vienna as popular radio broadcaster , author, DJ and musician.Ostermayer compiled a highly acclaimed CD about funeral marches: "Dead & Gone"...
as support on two concerts.
Obscenity Trial
Glen was arrested February 3, 1989 in Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
for obscenity related to a performance at UCSB's Pub as part of UCSB's Gay Awareness Week. He was initially charged with indecent exposure, but this was reduced to Disorderly Conduct pertaining to "Lewd and Dissolute Behavior," according to the newspaper The Independent. His attorney was Public Defender Rick Barron. The case was heard by Municipal Court Judge Frank Ochoa. Glen was found not guilty. This was during the 1980s when many queer performance artists were being tried for their work and having their grants taken away.
Albums
- Chicken & Biscuits, 1987, Amoeba Records; 2007 Pervertidora Records (reissue)
- Squaw Bread, 1988 Amoeba Records; 2007 Pervertidora Records (reissue)
- Boned, Amoeba Records
- Hot, Horny, and Born Again, 1993 Pervertidora Records
- Cowboy Songs for Lil Hustlers, 2002 Pervertidora Records
Compilations
- The Ma Barker Story Soundtrack & Compilation, 1990
- Keep On The Sunny Side: A Tribute to the Carter Family CD, Amoeba Records, 1993
- Prayer Is The Answer cassetteCassette cultureCassette culture, or the cassette underground , refers to the practices surrounding amateur production and distribution of recorded music that emerged in the late 1970s via home-made audio cassettes...
, 777 was 666, 1998 - God Came Between Us limited edition CD, 777 was 666, 2005
As PME
- "PME", 7" vinyl EP, Amoeba Records, 1991
- The White To Be Angry CD, Spectra Sonic Records, 1998
Also Appears On
- Helot Revolt, In Your Face, Up Your Butt (guitar), De Stijl Records (1992)
- Songs from Hot, Horny and Born Again are used in the film Hustler White (soundtrack unreleased)
Films
- Americans, by Cameron Hartsfield, 1987
- The Drift, by John Aes-Nihil, 1989
- The Goddess Bunny Channels Shakespeare, by John Aes-Nihil, 1989
- The Ma Barker Story, by John Aes-Nihil, 1990
- Hustler WhiteHustler WhiteHustler White is a 1996 film by Bruce LaBruce and Rick Castro, a satiric black sex comedy about gay hustlers and their customers in Santa Monica, California. It stars Tony Ward and LaBruce in an addition to the Queer Cinema canon, which is also an homage to classic Hollywood cinema...
by Bruce LaBruceBruce LaBruceBruce LaBruce is a Canadian writer, filmmaker, photographer and underground gay porn director based in Toronto, Ontario.-Biography:...
and Rick CastroRick CastroRick Castro is an American photographer, motion picture director and stylist whose work focuses on bondage and sado-masochistic sex.-Early life:Rick Castro was born in Los Angeles, California....
, 1996 - The Goddess Bunny, by Nick Bougas, 1998
- The White To be Angry by Vaginal DavisVaginal DavisVaginal Davis is an American genderqueer performing artist, painter, independent curator, composer, and writer. Davis's name is a homage to activist Angela Davis.-Life and career:Davis is often associated with the formation of the Queer-Core Zine Movement...
, 1324
Sources
- Ciminelli, David; Knox, Ken (2005) HomoCore: The Loud and Raucous Rise of Queer Rock, Alyson Books, ISBN 1555838553, ISBN 978-1555838553 http://www.amazon.com/dp/1555838553/
- Young, Paul (2002) L.A. Exposed: Strange Myths and Curious Legends in the City of Angels, p. 130, St. Martin's Griffin, ISBN 0312206461, ISBN 978-0312206468 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312206461/
- Mullen, Brendan (2006) Whores: An Oral Biography of Perry Farrell And Jane's Addiction, p. 186, (Glen as Performance artist.) Perseus Books Group, ISBN 0306814781, ISBN 978-0306814785 http://www.amazon.com/dp/0306814781/
- The Independent May 18, 1989. Page 7. Article title: "Do the Funky Chicken." (On obscenity charge and trial.)
- Goldberg, Dan, "Performer Arrested in Pub for Overexposure" Daily Nexus February 6, 1989
External links
- Glen Meadmore at Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Glen Meadmore on Tribe.net
- Glen Meadmore on Queer Music Heritage
- PME