Alan Vega
Encyclopedia
Alan VegaFor several years other sources stated that he was born in 1948 – see 'Myth' section is an American vocalist, primarily known for his work with electronic
protopunk
duo, Suicide
. He is also an established sculptor.
, Brooklyn
.Vega has claimed a Catholic mother – see 'Myth' section In the late 1950s he attended Brooklyn College
, where he studied both physics and fine art, studying painting and drawing under Ad Reinhardt
and Kurt Seligmann
and graduating in 1960. In the 60s he became involved with the Art Workers' Coalition
, a radical artists group that harassed museums, once barricading the Museum of Modern Art
. In 1969 funding from the New York State Council on the Arts
made possible the founding of MUSEUM:A Project of Living Artists – an artist-run 24 hour multimedia gallery at 729 Broadway in Manhattan. Calling himself Alan Suicide, he graduated from painting to light sculptures,"I started as a painter. The first time I did a light piece was when I was working on a very big purple painting. There was one light bulb in the room and as I walked around I noticed how the painting acquired different aspects. I wanted it to be one color so I said, "Fuck this, man!" I took the light out of the ceiling and really stuck it on the painting." Alan Vega, 1993 – 100,000 Watts of Fat City © Anna Polerica. many constructed of electronic debris. He gained a residency at the OK Harris Gallery
in SoHo
where he continued to exhibit until 1975. Barbara Gladstone
continued to show his work into the 80s.
Seeing Iggy Pop
perform at the New York State Pavilion in August 1969 was an epiphany for Vega."It showed me you didn't have to do static artworks, you could create situations, do something environmental. That's what got me moving more intensely in the direction of doing music. Compared with Iggy, whatever I was doing as an artist felt insignificant." Reynolds, Village Voice.Jan 29 2002 In 1970 he began experimenting with music with Martin Rev
erby. Together, they formed Suicide
, along with guitarist Paul Liebgott. The group played twice at the gallery before moving on to the OK Harris Gallery. Calling himself "Nasty Cut", he used the terms "Punk Music" and "Punk Music Mass" in flyers to describe their music which he adopted from an article by Lester Bangs
. In 1971 the group dropped Paul Liebgott and added Mari Reverby on drums, though she didn't play in their live performances. With Bermowitz finally settling on Alan Suicide as a working name, they began to play music venues. Suicide went on to perform at the Mercer Arts Center
, Max's Kansas City
, CBGB
and ultimately, achieve international fame.
In 1980, Vega released his eponymous first solo record, which contained "Jukebox Babe", defining the rockabilly style that he would use in his solo work for the next several years. In 1985, he released the more commercially viable Just a Million Dreams, which nevertheless proved unsuccessful.
Vega teamed up with Martin Rev again in the late eighties and released the third Suicide album, A Way of Life, in (1988). Shortly thereafter he met future wife and music partner Liz Lamere, while piecing together sound experiments that would evolve into his fifth solo album, Deuce Avenue (1990). Deuce Avenue marked his return to minimalistic, electronic music, similar to his work with Suicide, in which he combined drum machines and effects with free-form prose. Over the next decade he would release several more solo records as well as perform with Suicide. In 2002, he constructed Collision Drive, an exhibition of sculptures combining light with found objects and crucifixes. 2007 saw the release of Vega's tenth solo album, Station, on Blast First
Records, being "his hardest, heaviest album for quite a while, all self-played and produced."
In 2002 Deitch Projects
mounted "Collision Drive", the first exhibit of Vega's art in 20 years.
In 2008, British label Blast First Petite
released a limited edition Suicide 6-CD box set and monthly tribute series of 10" Vinyl EP's, to mark the occasion of Alan Vega's 70th birthday Musicians who contributed to the tribute series included The Horrors
, Lydia Lunch
, Primal Scream
, and Miss Kittin
.
In 2009, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon
, France, mounted Infinite Mercy – a major retrospective exhibit of Vega's art. This included the screening of two short documentary films: Alan Vega (2000) by Christian Eudeline, and Autour d’Alan Vega (extraits) (1998) by Hugues Peyret.
He is married to Elizabeth Lamere, an entertainment attorney. The two have one son together.
on The Ed Sullivan Show
(1956) as a "little kid". A 1983 Los Angeles Times
article refers to him as a 35 year old. Several other sources also list 1948 as his birthdate.
Two 2009 articles confirm the 1938 birth date, one in Le Monde
about the Lyon exhibit and one in the magazine, Rolling Stone
.
Vega also long claimed to be half-Catholic, but later, in a 2008 interview with The Jewish Chronicle
, admitted he lied to "fuel the myth".
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
protopunk
Protopunk
Protopunk is a term used retrospectively to describe a number of musicians who were important precursors of punk rock in the late 1960s to mid-1970s, or who have been cited by early punk musicians as influential...
duo, Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
. He is also an established sculptor.
Career
Alan Bermowitz was raised in a Jewish household in BensonhurstBensonhurst, Brooklyn
Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of...
, Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.Vega has claimed a Catholic mother – see 'Myth' section In the late 1950s he attended Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
, where he studied both physics and fine art, studying painting and drawing under Ad Reinhardt
Ad Reinhardt
Adolph Frederick Reinhardt was an Abstract painter active in New York beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1960s. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists and was a part of the movement centered around the Betty Parsons Gallery that became known as Abstract Expressionism...
and Kurt Seligmann
Kurt Seligmann
Kurt Seligmann was a Swiss-American Surrealist painter and engraver. He was known for his fantastic imagery of medieval troubadors and knights engaged in macabre rituals and inspired partially by the carnival held annually in his native Basel, Switzerland.He was born Kurt Leopold Seligmann in...
and graduating in 1960. In the 60s he became involved with the Art Workers' Coalition
Art Workers' Coalition
The Art Workers' Coalition was an open coalition of artists, filmmakers, writers, critics, and museum staff that formed in New York City in January 1969. Its principal aim was to pressure the city's museums – notably the Museum of Modern Art – into implementing various reforms...
, a radical artists group that harassed museums, once barricading the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
. In 1969 funding from the New York State Council on the Arts
New York State Council on the Arts
The New York State Council on the Arts is an arts council serving the U.S. state of New York. It was established in 1960 through a bill introduced in the New York State Legislature by New York State Senator MacNeil Mitchell , with backing from Governor Nelson Rockefeller, and began its work in 1961...
made possible the founding of MUSEUM:A Project of Living Artists – an artist-run 24 hour multimedia gallery at 729 Broadway in Manhattan. Calling himself Alan Suicide, he graduated from painting to light sculptures,"I started as a painter. The first time I did a light piece was when I was working on a very big purple painting. There was one light bulb in the room and as I walked around I noticed how the painting acquired different aspects. I wanted it to be one color so I said, "Fuck this, man!" I took the light out of the ceiling and really stuck it on the painting." Alan Vega, 1993 – 100,000 Watts of Fat City © Anna Polerica. many constructed of electronic debris. He gained a residency at the OK Harris Gallery
OK Harris Gallery
The OK Harris Gallery is an art gallery located at 383 West Broadway in SoHo, New York City.Previously located at 485 West Broadway, in the early 1970s it hosted exhibits by Alan Vega, some of which were advertised as "Punk Music" predating the later Punk rock by some years.-History:Ivan C...
in SoHo
SoHo
SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...
where he continued to exhibit until 1975. Barbara Gladstone
Barbara Gladstone
Barbara Gladstone is an American gallery owner and art dealer. She owns the Gladstone Gallery on W. 24th St in New York City which was designed by Selldorf Architects, and she represents many popular contemporary artists, including Shirin Neshat, Anish Kapoor, Sarah Lucas, and Matthew Barney...
continued to show his work into the 80s.
Seeing Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop
Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
perform at the New York State Pavilion in August 1969 was an epiphany for Vega."It showed me you didn't have to do static artworks, you could create situations, do something environmental. That's what got me moving more intensely in the direction of doing music. Compared with Iggy, whatever I was doing as an artist felt insignificant." Reynolds, Village Voice.Jan 29 2002 In 1970 he began experimenting with music with Martin Rev
Martin Rev
Martin Rev is an American musician and the instrumentalist in the electronic proto-punk band, Suicide. He also has a solo career and has released several solo albums for a number of labels, including ROIR and Puu...
erby. Together, they formed Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
, along with guitarist Paul Liebgott. The group played twice at the gallery before moving on to the OK Harris Gallery. Calling himself "Nasty Cut", he used the terms "Punk Music" and "Punk Music Mass" in flyers to describe their music which he adopted from an article by Lester Bangs
Lester Bangs
Leslie Conway "Lester" Bangs was an American music journalist, author and musician. He wrote for Creem and Rolling Stone magazines, and was known for his leading influence in rock 'n' roll criticism....
. In 1971 the group dropped Paul Liebgott and added Mari Reverby on drums, though she didn't play in their live performances. With Bermowitz finally settling on Alan Suicide as a working name, they began to play music venues. Suicide went on to perform at the Mercer Arts Center
Mercer Arts Center
The Mercer Arts Center was a group of live theaters on Mercer Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, and was part of the Broadway Central Hotel until its collapse on August 3, 1973....
, Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
, CBGB
CBGB
CBGB was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.Founded by Hilly Kristal in 1973, it was originally intended to feature its namesake musical styles, but became a forum for American punk and New Wave bands like Ramones, Misfits, Television, the...
and ultimately, achieve international fame.
In 1980, Vega released his eponymous first solo record, which contained "Jukebox Babe", defining the rockabilly style that he would use in his solo work for the next several years. In 1985, he released the more commercially viable Just a Million Dreams, which nevertheless proved unsuccessful.
Vega teamed up with Martin Rev again in the late eighties and released the third Suicide album, A Way of Life, in (1988). Shortly thereafter he met future wife and music partner Liz Lamere, while piecing together sound experiments that would evolve into his fifth solo album, Deuce Avenue (1990). Deuce Avenue marked his return to minimalistic, electronic music, similar to his work with Suicide, in which he combined drum machines and effects with free-form prose. Over the next decade he would release several more solo records as well as perform with Suicide. In 2002, he constructed Collision Drive, an exhibition of sculptures combining light with found objects and crucifixes. 2007 saw the release of Vega's tenth solo album, Station, on Blast First
Blast First
Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label, Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticist journal Blast, published by Wyndham Lewis in 1914...
Records, being "his hardest, heaviest album for quite a while, all self-played and produced."
In 2002 Deitch Projects
Deitch Projects
Deitch Projects was a contemporary art gallery in New York City founded by Jeffrey Deitch.-History:Since opening with a performance by Vanessa Beecroft in February 1996, the gallery has presented nearly one hundred and eighteen solo exhibitions and projects, ten thematic exhibitions, and a few...
mounted "Collision Drive", the first exhibit of Vega's art in 20 years.
In 2008, British label Blast First Petite
Blast First
Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label, Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. It was named after a phrase taken from the first number of the radical Vorticist journal Blast, published by Wyndham Lewis in 1914...
released a limited edition Suicide 6-CD box set and monthly tribute series of 10" Vinyl EP's, to mark the occasion of Alan Vega's 70th birthday Musicians who contributed to the tribute series included The Horrors
The Horrors
The Horrors are an English band from Southend on Sea, formed in 2005. Their debut Strange House, was released in 2007 and reached number thirty-seven on the UK Albums Chart, their second album Primary Colours was released in 2009 and peaked at number 25 in the UK...
, Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
, Primal Scream
Primal Scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
, and Miss Kittin
Miss Kittin
Miss Kittin is an electronic music DJ, vocalist, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worked with other musicians such as Chicks on Speed, Felix da Housecat and Golden Boy...
.
In 2009, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....
, France, mounted Infinite Mercy – a major retrospective exhibit of Vega's art. This included the screening of two short documentary films: Alan Vega (2000) by Christian Eudeline, and Autour d’Alan Vega (extraits) (1998) by Hugues Peyret.
He is married to Elizabeth Lamere, an entertainment attorney. The two have one son together.
Myth
Prior to the announcement of the 70th birthday release in 2008, Vega was thought to have been ten years younger. The 2005 book Suicide: No Compromise lists 1948 as his birth year and quotes a 1998 interview in which Vega talks about watching Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
on The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
(1956) as a "little kid". A 1983 Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
article refers to him as a 35 year old. Several other sources also list 1948 as his birthdate.
Two 2009 articles confirm the 1938 birth date, one in Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
about the Lyon exhibit and one in the magazine, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
.
Vega also long claimed to be half-Catholic, but later, in a 2008 interview with The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Chronicle is a London-based Jewish newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world.-Publication data and readership figures:...
, admitted he lied to "fuel the myth".
Quotations from Alan Vega
- "... I never heard anything avant-garde. To me it was just New York City Blues." (1980)
- "Suicide was always about life. But we couldn't call it Life. So we called it Suicide because we wanted to recognize life." (1985)
- "Where I grew up in Brooklyn, man, a punk was like a wuss, the guy who ran away from the fight. “You’re a punk. You’re a weasel. You’re nothing.” Now it has this connotation of being the tough-guy thing. The revolution, are you kidding? So I liked the word and used the term “punk music mass,” maybe inadvertently trying to turn it into something else. One day I wake up and there’s the word punk all over the place. That’s when it became meaningless to me. Somebody said that Suicide had to be the ultimate punk band because even the punks hated us." (2008)
Discography
- For recordings made with Suicide, please see Suicide discography.
Albums
- Alan Vega (1980) Reissued as "Jukebox Babe"
- Collision Drive (1981)
- Saturn StripSaturn StripSaturn Strip is an album by Alan Vega, released in 1983 on Elektra Records. The album was produced by Ric Ocasek and features musical contributions from Al Jourgensen. "Kid Congo" is a homage to Kid Congo Powers...
(1983) - Just a Million Dreams (1985)
- Deuce Avenue (1990)
- Power on to Zero Hour (1991)
- New Raceion (1993)
- Dujang Prang (1995)
- Getchertiktz (1996) With Ric OcasekRic OcasekRic Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....
and Gillian McCain - Cubist Blues (1996) With Alex ChiltonAlex ChiltonWilliam Alexander "Alex" Chilton was an American songwriter, guitarist, singer and producer, best known as the lead singer of the Box Tops and Big Star...
and Ben VaughnBen VaughnBen Vaughn is an American musician, music producer and a longtime Rambler enthusiast.Vaughn grew up in Collingswood, New Jersey, and his interest in music began at age 6 when his uncle gave him a Duane Eddy record. The "Ben Vaughn Combo" released two albums and toured the U.S. from 1983 to 1988... - Endless (1998) With Pan SonicPan sonicPan Sonic was a Finnish experimental electronic music duo consisting of Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen.-Music:...
as Vainio Väisänen Vega - Righteous Lite™ (1998) With Stephen Lironi as Revolutionary Corps of Teenage Jesus
- Re-Up (1999) With Étant Donnés, Lydia LunchLydia LunchLydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
and Genesis P-OrridgeGenesis P-OrridgeGenesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,... - Sombre (1999) Original score to the film by Philippe GrandrieuxPhilippe GrandrieuxPhilippe Jesus Grandrieux is a French film director born in 1954.- Biography :He studied movies at the INSAS in Brussels and started his career as a moviemaker by shooting fictional films and documentaries. Grandrieux then worked as an experimental filmmaker in Belgium where he exhibited his...
- 2007 (1999)
- Resurrection River (2004) With Pan SonicPan sonicPan Sonic was a Finnish experimental electronic music duo consisting of Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen.-Music:...
as VVV - Station (2007)
- Sniper (2010) With Marc Hurtado (Étant Donnés)
Compilations
- 2006 – Silver Monk TimeSilver monk timeSilver Monk Time is both a tribute record to the German-American beat band The Monks and the soundtrack to the award winning film Monks: The Transatlantic Feedback. The record was produced and compiled by the filmmakers Dietmar Post and Lucia Palacios. It was released in October 2006. The official...
– A Tribute to the Monks (29 bands cover The MonksThe MonksMonks are a garage rock band, formed by American GIs who were based in Germany in the mid to late 1960s. They reunited in 1999 and have continued to play concerts, although no new studio recordings have been made...
) label play loud! productions - 2006 – The Wiretapper 16 free cd issued to subscribers of The WireThe Wire (magazine)The Wire is a British avant garde music magazine, founded in 1982 by jazz promoter Anthony Wood and journalist Chrissie Murray. The magazine initially concentrated on contemporary jazz and improvised music, but branched out in the early 1990s to various types of experimental music...
and available on some over the counter issues, but not all. - 2008 – Alan Vega 70th Birthday Limited Edition EP Series (covers of Vega's work by Bruce SpringsteenBruce SpringsteenBruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Primal ScreamPrimal ScreamPrimal Scream are a Scottish alternative rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie and Jim Beattie and now based in London. The current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes , Martin Duffy , and Darrin Mooney...
, Peaches, GrindermanGrindermanGrinderman is an alternative rock band formed by Nick Cave , Warren Ellis , Martyn P. Casey and Jim Sclavunos in London, United Kingdom in 2006...
, SpiritualizedSpiritualizedSpiritualized are an English space rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire by Jason Pierce after the demise of his previous outfit, space-rockers Spacemen 3...
, The HorrorsThe HorrorsThe Horrors are an English band from Southend on Sea, formed in 2005. Their debut Strange House, was released in 2007 and reached number thirty-seven on the UK Albums Chart, their second album Primary Colours was released in 2009 and peaked at number 25 in the UK...
, Sunn 0))+Pansonic, Julian CopeJulian CopeJulian Cope is a British rock musician, author, antiquary, musicologist, poet and cultural commentator...
, Lydia LunchLydia LunchLydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, and actress whose career was spawned by the New York No Wave scene...
, Vincent GalloVincent GalloVincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
, LIARS and Klaxons.
Books
- Cripple Nation – 2.13.61 (1994)
- 100,000 Watts Of Fat City – Editions Anna Polerica (2000)