Guy Hoffman
Encyclopedia
Guy Hoffman is a drummer
and vocalist, formerly of such bands as Oil Tasters
, BoDeans
, Violent Femmes
and Absinthe. He is a composer
for such films as Field Day and a founding member of Radio Romeo
.
public school system. From 1972 to 1976, Hoffman concentrated on watercolor painting
and drawing under professor Laurence Rathsack in the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) Fine Arts programs. He also played popular music with local bands at live music venues throughout Wisconsin. From 1977 to 1978, Hoffman studied graphic arts
with Leon Travanti and graduated from UWM with a BA in fine art and visual communications.
roots rock band, BoDeans
. He performs on the BoDeans 1986 debut album "Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams
" (reissued in 2009 as a CD/DVD set). Hoffman performs in BoDeans videos for the songs "She's A Runaway" and "Fadeaway." He reunited with BoDeans singer/songwriter Sam Llanas
to form the band Absinthe and released A Good Day To Die in 1998.
Hoffman joined the Violent Femmes
in 1993. Two versions of "Blister In The Sun," the Femmes' signature song, were recorded with Hoffman for Grosse Pointe Blank
motion picture soundtrack in 1997. Hoffman appears with Violent Femmes in film concerts and television productions such as "Woodstock '94
," "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
," "VH-1 Hard Rock Live," "MTV
" and others. He appeared on numerous music videos and late-night talk shows in the U.S.
, UK
, Canada
, Europe
and Australia
. In 2005, Hoffman's contributions were included on two Violent Femmes reissued CD/DVD compilations. Hoffman also designed the cover for the album New Times by the Violent Femmes.
Hoffman plays drums on the CD Jeanne Spicuzza. The track "Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me" appears in the movie Field Day.
In 2005, Hoffman formed Radio Romeo
, a Los Angeles
-based rock band.
In 2006, he returned to performing shows with Violent Femmes in Southern California. Their latest CD, Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101
, showcases the trio's unique acoustic approach, with Hoffman on snare drum and backing vocals.
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and vocalist, formerly of such bands as Oil Tasters
Oil Tasters
Oil Tasters were an early 1980s band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. They are one of the city's best remembered post-punk groups. They were not, however, easy to fit into the spectrum of post-punk music...
, BoDeans
BoDeans
The BoDeans are a rock band formed in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1983 by Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas . In 1985, after adding a drummer and a bassist, the band signed a contract with Slash Records and recorded their first album...
, Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
and Absinthe. He is a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
for such films as Field Day and a founding member of Radio Romeo
Radio Romeo
Radio Romeo is a rock and roll band based out of Los Angeles, California. Their eponymous debut album was engineered and produced by Andy Johns and co-engineered by Brandon Henegar...
.
Life
Guy Hoffman began playing drums at the age of nine. He developed skills in music and art under the direction of Eddie Allen, Sylvia Spicuzza, LeRoy Augustine, and Joe Ferrara within the ShorewoodShorewood, Wisconsin
Shorewood is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 13,763 at the 2000 census. Howell Raines of The New York Times said in 1979 that "[t]his maplestudded town on Lake Michigan dotes on its reputation as Milwaukee's most liberal suburb."-Geography:Shorewood is...
public school system. From 1972 to 1976, Hoffman concentrated on watercolor painting
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
and drawing under professor Laurence Rathsack in the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UWM) Fine Arts programs. He also played popular music with local bands at live music venues throughout Wisconsin. From 1977 to 1978, Hoffman studied graphic arts
Graphic arts
A type of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of art forms. Graphic art is typically two-dimensional and includes calligraphy, photography, drawing, painting, printmaking, lithography, typography, serigraphy , and bindery. Graphic art also consists of drawn plans and layouts for interior...
with Leon Travanti and graduated from UWM with a BA in fine art and visual communications.
Music career
Hoffman was a founding member of The Haskels and Oil Tasters, bands in Milwaukee's punk scene. He was an original member of MilwaukeeMilwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
roots rock band, BoDeans
BoDeans
The BoDeans are a rock band formed in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1983 by Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas . In 1985, after adding a drummer and a bassist, the band signed a contract with Slash Records and recorded their first album...
. He performs on the BoDeans 1986 debut album "Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams
Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams
Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams is a music album of BoDeans songs released in May 1986 on Slash/Warner Bros. The album was produced by T-Bone Burnett...
" (reissued in 2009 as a CD/DVD set). Hoffman performs in BoDeans videos for the songs "She's A Runaway" and "Fadeaway." He reunited with BoDeans singer/songwriter Sam Llanas
Sam Llanas
Sam Llanas is a singer, acoustic guitarist, and songwriter in several rock and roots rock bands active from the 1980s to the 2000s, including the BoDeans and Absinthe...
to form the band Absinthe and released A Good Day To Die in 1998.
Hoffman joined the Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes
Violent Femmes were an American alternative rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, initially active between 1980 and 1987 and again from 1988 to 2009...
in 1993. Two versions of "Blister In The Sun," the Femmes' signature song, were recorded with Hoffman for Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 American Black comedy film, directed by George Armitage, and starring John Cusack and Minnie Driver.In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted Grosse Pointe Blank the 21st greatest comedy film of all time. The film's soundtrack features mainly independent music hits...
motion picture soundtrack in 1997. Hoffman appears with Violent Femmes in film concerts and television productions such as "Woodstock '94
Woodstock '94
Woodstock '94, often called the "commercial Woodstock" or "Mudstock", was a music festival organized to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock Festival of 1969...
," "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
Sabrina the Teenage Witch is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a teenage fictional character named Sabrina Spellman. The character was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo. The comic's characters have also appeared in various other media...
," "VH-1 Hard Rock Live," "MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
" and others. He appeared on numerous music videos and late-night talk shows in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, 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...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In 2005, Hoffman's contributions were included on two Violent Femmes reissued CD/DVD compilations. Hoffman also designed the cover for the album New Times by the Violent Femmes.
Hoffman plays drums on the CD Jeanne Spicuzza. The track "Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me" appears in the movie Field Day.
In 2005, Hoffman formed Radio Romeo
Radio Romeo
Radio Romeo is a rock and roll band based out of Los Angeles, California. Their eponymous debut album was engineered and produced by Andy Johns and co-engineered by Brandon Henegar...
, a Los Angeles
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...
-based rock band.
In 2006, he returned to performing shows with Violent Femmes in Southern California. Their latest CD, Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101
Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101
Archive Series No. 2: Live In Chicago Q101 is a live broadcast 'studio' album performed in Chicago on April 22, 2000 and released by Violent Femmes in 2006...
, showcases the trio's unique acoustic approach, with Hoffman on snare drum and backing vocals.
Discography
- Oil Tasters (1980)
- Love & Hope & Sex & DreamsLove & Hope & Sex & DreamsLove & Hope & Sex & Dreams is a music album of BoDeans songs released in May 1986 on Slash/Warner Bros. The album was produced by T-Bone Burnett...
(1986) - New Times (1994)
- Woodstock '94 (1994) CD and VHS
- Rock!!!!!Rock!!!!!Rock!!!!! is an album released by Violent Femmes in 1995. It was originally released only in Australia, but is now available in the rest of the world...
(1995) - Grosse Pointe Blank: Music from the Film (1997)
- The Great Lost Brew Wave Album (1997)
- A Good Day To Die (1998)
- Viva WisconsinViva WisconsinViva Wisconsin is a live album released by Violent Femmes in 1999. The songs were recorded on a six-date acoustic concert tour of their home state of Wisconsin...
(1999) - Freak MagnetFreak MagnetFreak Magnet is the eighth and final studio album released by the Violent Femmes. It was released on February 22, 2000, and the featured single was "Sleepwalkin'." Originally scheduled for a 1998 release on Interscope Records, Freak Magnet was pulled when the band was dropped from the label,...
(2000) - History in 3 Chords (2001)
- Something's WrongSomething's WrongSomething's Wrong is a compilation album of studio recordings and unreleased live tracks by the Violent Femmes in 2001. Tracks 1 and 3-12 are studio recordings from 1995-1997. Some songs are alternate versions...
(2001) - Jeanne Spicuzza (2001)
- Permanent Record: The Very Best of Violent FemmesPermanent Record: The Very Best of Violent FemmesPermanent Record: The Very Best Of is a greatest hits album by the band Violent Femmes. It was released on July 12, 2005 .-Track listing:All songs by Gordon Gano unless otherwise noted.#"Gimme the Car" – 5:08...
(2005) - Permanent Record - Live & OtherwisePermanent Record - Live & OtherwisePermanent Record - Live & Otherwise is a DVD released by the Violent Femmes on July 12, 2005. The first thirteen tracks were filmed during a live concert at The Boat House in Norfolk, Virginia on July 21, 1991. Tracks 14 through 20 are music videos...
(2005) DVD - Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101Archive Series No. 2: Live In Chicago Q101 is a live broadcast 'studio' album performed in Chicago on April 22, 2000 and released by Violent Femmes in 2006...
(2006) - Radio RomeoRadio RomeoRadio Romeo is a rock and roll band based out of Los Angeles, California. Their eponymous debut album was engineered and produced by Andy Johns and co-engineered by Brandon Henegar...
(2007) - "Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams Collector's Edition" (2009) CD/DVD Set