Justin Bond
Encyclopedia
Justin Vivian Bond formerly simply Justin Bond, is an American singer-songwriter, performance artist, occasional actor and Radical Faerie. Described as a "fixture of the New York avant-garde
", Bond arose to notability playing the role of Kiki DuRayne in the drag cabaret act Kiki and Herb
from the early 1990s through to 2004. Born physically male, Bond is transgender
and eschews gender-specific honorifics and pronouns, preferring "Mx." and "V" respectively.
Born in Hagerstown, Maryland
, Bond went on to study theater at Adelphi University
before moving to San Francisco after graduating in 1985. It was here that v met Kenny Mellman
, and they began a cabaret act together, which would eventually lead to them creating the characters of Kiki and Herb. Bond designed Kiki to be an elderly alcoholic woman who would perform covers of pre-existing songs in her own distinct style. Bond decided to bring an end to the Kiki character in 2004, subsequently embarking on a solo career, and starring in John Cameron Mitchell
's film Shortbus
(2006) as vself before releasing vs first EP, Pink Slip (2009), and then an album, Dendrophile (2011). That same year also saw the publication of a memoir, entitled Tango: My Childhood Backwards and in High Heels.
Bond self describes vs voice as being "kind of woody and full with a lot of vibration". For vs musical work, Bond has received numerous accolades including the Obie Award
(2001), Bessie Award (2004), and Ethyl Eichelberger
Award (2007). Bond was also nominated for a Tony Award
in 2007.
, Bond's experiences with being queer began at an early age.
In 1969, Bond began attending elementary school, where v first became aware that v was unlike the other little boys, preferring to play with the girls, causing some concern from his teachers, who deemed it to be abnormal behavior. It was during the first grade that v began wearing his mother's lipstick, something which she put a stop to as soon as she found out.
Bond has described feeling "invisible" in high school. The local Church of the Brethren served as an early creative outlet, where Bond sang in the youth choir. Bond was active in community theater, performing in Brigadoon
, Kiss Me, Kate
, and The Sound of Music
with the Potomac Playmakers. Bond began voice lessons at age 13. Bond pursued a theater degree at Adelphi University
, graduated in 1985, and later moved to New York City.
. The character of Kiki is a "boozy octogenarian" and bitter chanteuse known for her raucous and edgy medleys of unusual song covers. Bond performed the role in drag
, alongside Kiki's piano-playing sidekick Herb, played by Kenny Mellman
. The Kiki and Herb cabaret
act came out of the queer activist and underground scenes in San Francisco, with initial performances in the 1990s at Eichelberger's. Bond moved to New York City in 1994 and the act developed, the duo went so far as to create a fictional biography.
Kiki and Herb became a successful stage act, leading one of Bond's interviewers, John Russell, to remark that Kiki had become "an icon to rival Hedwig
." One of those particularly influenced by Bond's act was Jake Shears
, who would go on to found the band Scissor Sisters
, largely inspired by the Kiki and Herb Christmas Show. Bond and Shears would become friends, with the Scissor Sisters being invited to support Kiki and Herb at The Knitting Factory club, and the latter later returned the favour when the band went on their first big tour after their eponymous debut album
(2004) went platinum in the United Kingdom.
The show, fronted by Bond, met with more critical acclaim with each successive appearance and developed a cult following. They performed extensively, namely in London's Soho Theatre and Queen Elizabeth Hall and New York's The Knitting Factory and Carnegie Hall
, as well as a host of other venues worldwide. Their show Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway was nominated for a 2007 Tony for Special Theatrical Event. After over a decade of performing as Kiki however, Bond decided to give up the stage act, later relating that "it comes to a point when you think, well is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?... I decided it was time for a career change."
In addition to Kiki and Herb shows, Bond performed with backup band The Freudian Slippers until 2001. In 2004
Bond appeared in Imaginary Heroes
alongside Sigourney Weaver
, singing a song at a Christmas party. Bond appeared as Kiki in Paul Festa
's Apparition of the Eternal Church (2006).
in October 2006, Bond staged Re:Galli Blond (A Sissy Fix), "a self-penned musical spectacle of transgender oppression and uplift."
Bond then starred in Shortbus
(2006), a film directed by fellow Radical Faerie John Cameron Mitchell
. In it, v played vself as the mistress of the eponymous Shortbus, an avant-garde nightclub, and appeared in the final scene singing the song "In the End", written by Scott Matthews
. One journalist commented that this expressed "in just one scene that heightened sense of simultaneous hope and despair in post–9/11 downtown New York City."
In June 2006 he also appeared in a one-off informal show at Bush Hall, London, entitled When David Met Justin and during which he chatted and shared music with English cabaret performer David Hoyle. In December 2008 Bond appeared in the Tiger Lillies
show Sinderella on London
's South Bank
, and is credited in the band's album of the same name.
. The result came in July 2009, when Bond released a five track EP
entitled Pink Slip, featuring four original songs ("The New Depression," "May Queen," "The Puppet Song," "Michael in Blue") and a cover of Radiohead
's "Arpeggi/Weird Fishes". V related to one interviewer that v had chosen to release an EP rather than a full-length album because "I had this goal of getting something out and I wasn't really sure how. So I decided I was gonna put an EP out to demystify the process." V went on to relate that Pink Slip was recorded at Le Poisson Rouge and that v hoped the income from it would help fund the recording of an album.
In July 2009 Bond made an appearance on the Logo
comedy series Jeffery & Cole Casserole, playing a Catholic nun
who serves as the principal of the show's all-girl Catholic school.
In December 2010, Bond opened a new show at the Abrons Arts Center
, New York City, entitled simply Justin Bond: Christmas Spells. Based upon a short story that had been written by Bond's friend, the novelist Kate Bornstein
, Dixie Belle: The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn "imagines Huck Finn as a tranny hooker in a brothel in New Orleans after the Civil War
. It's written as a letter Huck writes on Christmas Eve to Tom Sawyer
to catch him up. So I start out as Huck, who's now Sassy Sarah working in Madame Violet's Parlor of Elysian Delights." With Bond starring as Finn, v sung both Christmas carols and some of vs own songs, with the other characters being acted out by a drag troup called the Pixie Harlots.
Soon after, Bond decided to clarify v's identity as a transperson by undergoing hormone treatment in order to feminize vs appearance, although v decided not to undergo gender reassignment surgery, telling one journalist that "I like my penis, and I am keeping it, but I am creating a transbody -- a physical record on my body and a medical record that I am a transgendered person." Bond also adopted the middle name of 'Vivian', something which v had taken from vs uncle Vivian Francis and subsequently presented vself as "Justin Vivian Bond" rather than just "Justin Bond".
In April 2011 Bond released vs first full-length solo album, Dendrophile, a collaboration with pianist/producer Thomas Bartlett from the band Doveman
. V had chosen the title from vs interest in dendrophilia
, the sexual attraction to trees. Dendrophile contained a mix of original compositions and covers, with Bond telling one reporter that "I wanted it to be sort of like an early-'70s folk-pop variety album, because my favorite singers are people who aren't easy to pigeonhole, like Judy Collins
, who introduced me to the music of Jacques Brel
, Leonard Cohen
, old British folk songs, contemporary pop songs and show tunes. She refused to be stuck in one genre."
n, and world-weary all at the same time."
song "Hot Topic" from the band's eponymous debut album
.
|date=18 September 2004 |work=The New York Times |publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=Cal04}}
|date=15 May 2007 |work=Playbill |publisher= |location= |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=Gan07}}
|date=3 January 2011 |work=Queerty |publisher= |location= |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=JD11}}
|date=06 April 2011 |work=Paper
|publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=25 September 2011 |ref=Ang11}}
|date=24 March 2010 |work=The Guardian
|publisher=Guardian Media Group |location=London |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=Wal10}}
|coauthors= |date=23 July 2009 |work=Edge New York |publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=RusBon09}}
|coauthors= |date=July 2009 |work=The Advocate |publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=5 August 2011 |ref=VosBon09}}
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
", Bond arose to notability playing the role of Kiki DuRayne in the drag cabaret act Kiki and Herb
Kiki and Herb
Kiki and Herb are an American drag cabaret duo. Bond portrays Kiki DuRane, an aging, alcoholic, female lounge singer...
from the early 1990s through to 2004. Born physically male, Bond is transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
and eschews gender-specific honorifics and pronouns, preferring "Mx." and "V" respectively.
Born in Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, and, by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the...
, Bond went on to study theater at Adelphi University
Adelphi University
Adelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York, United States. It is the oldest institution of higher education on Long Island. For the sixth year, Adelphi University has been named a “Best Buy” in higher education by the Fiske Guide to...
before moving to San Francisco after graduating in 1985. It was here that v met Kenny Mellman
Kenny Mellman
Kenny Mellman is an artist living in New York City. He was one half of Kiki and Herb. A co-creator of Our Hit Parade. He is currently in the band The Julie Ruin....
, and they began a cabaret act together, which would eventually lead to them creating the characters of Kiki and Herb. Bond designed Kiki to be an elderly alcoholic woman who would perform covers of pre-existing songs in her own distinct style. Bond decided to bring an end to the Kiki character in 2004, subsequently embarking on a solo career, and starring in John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...
's film Shortbus
Shortbus
Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by...
(2006) as vself before releasing vs first EP, Pink Slip (2009), and then an album, Dendrophile (2011). That same year also saw the publication of a memoir, entitled Tango: My Childhood Backwards and in High Heels.
Bond self describes vs voice as being "kind of woody and full with a lot of vibration". For vs musical work, Bond has received numerous accolades including the Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
(2001), Bessie Award (2004), and Ethyl Eichelberger
Ethyl Eichelberger
Ethyl Eichelberger was an American drag performer, playwright, and actor. He became an influential figure in experimental theater and writing, and performed nearly forty plays...
Award (2007). Bond was also nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
in 2007.
Early life: 1963-1988
Growing up in the remote suburbs of Hagerstown, MarylandHagerstown, Maryland
Hagerstown is a city in northwestern Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Washington County, and, by many definitions, the largest city in a region known as Western Maryland. The population of Hagerstown city proper at the 2010 census was 39,662, and the population of the...
, Bond's experiences with being queer began at an early age.
In 1969, Bond began attending elementary school, where v first became aware that v was unlike the other little boys, preferring to play with the girls, causing some concern from his teachers, who deemed it to be abnormal behavior. It was during the first grade that v began wearing his mother's lipstick, something which she put a stop to as soon as she found out.
Bond has described feeling "invisible" in high school. The local Church of the Brethren served as an early creative outlet, where Bond sang in the youth choir. Bond was active in community theater, performing in Brigadoon
Brigadoon
Brigadoon is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. Songs from the musical, such as "Almost Like Being in Love" have become standards....
, Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
, and The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...
with the Potomac Playmakers. Bond began voice lessons at age 13. Bond pursued a theater degree at Adelphi University
Adelphi University
Adelphi University is a private, nonsectarian university located in Garden City, in Nassau County, New York, United States. It is the oldest institution of higher education on Long Island. For the sixth year, Adelphi University has been named a “Best Buy” in higher education by the Fiske Guide to...
, graduated in 1985, and later moved to New York City.
Kiki and Herb: 1989-2004
Bond is best known for the role of Kiki DuRane, one half of the lounge duo Kiki and HerbKiki and Herb
Kiki and Herb are an American drag cabaret duo. Bond portrays Kiki DuRane, an aging, alcoholic, female lounge singer...
. The character of Kiki is a "boozy octogenarian" and bitter chanteuse known for her raucous and edgy medleys of unusual song covers. Bond performed the role 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...
, alongside Kiki's piano-playing sidekick Herb, played by Kenny Mellman
Kenny Mellman
Kenny Mellman is an artist living in New York City. He was one half of Kiki and Herb. A co-creator of Our Hit Parade. He is currently in the band The Julie Ruin....
. The Kiki and Herb cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
act came out of the queer activist and underground scenes in San Francisco, with initial performances in the 1990s at Eichelberger's. Bond moved to New York City in 1994 and the act developed, the duo went so far as to create a fictional biography.
Kiki and Herb became a successful stage act, leading one of Bond's interviewers, John Russell, to remark that Kiki had become "an icon to rival Hedwig
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Hedwig and the Angry Inch may refer to:* Hedwig and the Angry Inch * Hedwig and the Angry Inch...
." One of those particularly influenced by Bond's act was Jake Shears
Jake Shears
Jake Shears is the lead male vocalist for the American music group Scissor Sisters.-Early life and education:...
, who would go on to found the band Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
, largely inspired by the Kiki and Herb Christmas Show. Bond and Shears would become friends, with the Scissor Sisters being invited to support Kiki and Herb at The Knitting Factory club, and the latter later returned the favour when the band went on their first big tour after their eponymous debut album
Scissor Sisters (album)
-Personnel:* Jake Shears – lead vocals* Babydaddy – bass guitar, keyboards, guitar, backing vocals* Ana Matronic – lead vocals* Del Marquis – guitar, bass guitar* Paddy Boom - drums, percussion-Release dates:-Charts:-References:...
(2004) went platinum in the United Kingdom.
The show, fronted by Bond, met with more critical acclaim with each successive appearance and developed a cult following. They performed extensively, namely in London's Soho Theatre and Queen Elizabeth Hall and New York's The Knitting Factory and Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, as well as a host of other venues worldwide. Their show Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway was nominated for a 2007 Tony for Special Theatrical Event. After over a decade of performing as Kiki however, Bond decided to give up the stage act, later relating that "it comes to a point when you think, well is this what I want to do for the rest of my life?... I decided it was time for a career change."
In addition to Kiki and Herb shows, Bond performed with backup band The Freudian Slippers until 2001. In 2004
2004 in film
The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...
Bond appeared in Imaginary Heroes
Imaginary Heroes
Imaginary Heroes is a 2004 American drama film written and directed by Dan Harris. It focuses on the traumatic effect the suicide of the elder son has on a suburban family.-Plot:...
alongside Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
, singing a song at a Christmas party. Bond appeared as Kiki in Paul Festa
Paul Festa
Paul Festa is a San Francisco-based writer, filmmaker and violinist. He was born and raised in San Francisco where he currently lives with his husband James Harker.- Writing :...
's Apparition of the Eternal Church (2006).
Solo career and Shortbus: 2005-2008
Performing with the House of Whimsy Players at The KitchenThe Kitchen
The Kitchen is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary art and performance space located at at 512 West 19th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City...
in October 2006, Bond staged Re:Galli Blond (A Sissy Fix), "a self-penned musical spectacle of transgender oppression and uplift."
Bond then starred in Shortbus
Shortbus
Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by...
(2006), a film directed by fellow Radical Faerie John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell
John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:...
. In it, v played vself as the mistress of the eponymous Shortbus, an avant-garde nightclub, and appeared in the final scene singing the song "In the End", written by Scott Matthews
Scott Matthews
Scott Matthews , is a singer/songwriter from Wolverhampton, England.His first album Passing Stranger was released on 13 March 2006 on San Remo Records before being re-released on Island Records later in the year. Janice Long was the first of the BBC DJs to play his music...
. One journalist commented that this expressed "in just one scene that heightened sense of simultaneous hope and despair in post–9/11 downtown New York City."
In June 2006 he also appeared in a one-off informal show at Bush Hall, London, entitled When David Met Justin and during which he chatted and shared music with English cabaret performer David Hoyle. In December 2008 Bond appeared in the Tiger Lillies
Tiger Lillies
The Tiger Lillies are a three-piece band, formed in 1989 and based in London. They have toured worldwide and won acclaim with their opera Shockheaded Peter....
show Sinderella on London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's South Bank
South Bank
South Bank is an area of London, England located immediately adjacent to the south side of the River Thames. It forms a long and narrow section of riverside development that is within the London Borough of Lambeth to the border with the London Borough of Southwark and was formerly simply known as...
, and is credited in the band's album of the same name.
Pink Slip, Christmas Spells and Dendrophile: 2009-present
Moving on from vs role as Kiki, Bond began writing vs own lyrics, and although nervous about doing so, v was encouraged to do so by vs songwriting friends Our Lady J, Taylor Mac and Jake ShearsJake Shears
Jake Shears is the lead male vocalist for the American music group Scissor Sisters.-Early life and education:...
. The result came in July 2009, when Bond released a five track EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
entitled Pink Slip, featuring four original songs ("The New Depression," "May Queen," "The Puppet Song," "Michael in Blue") and a cover of Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
's "Arpeggi/Weird Fishes". V related to one interviewer that v had chosen to release an EP rather than a full-length album because "I had this goal of getting something out and I wasn't really sure how. So I decided I was gonna put an EP out to demystify the process." V went on to relate that Pink Slip was recorded at Le Poisson Rouge and that v hoped the income from it would help fund the recording of an album.
In July 2009 Bond made an appearance on the Logo
Logo (TV channel)
Logo is an American digital cable television channel owned by Viacom's MTV Networks division. Launched in June 2005, the channel's programs are geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community...
comedy series Jeffery & Cole Casserole, playing a Catholic nun
Nun
A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her to live a spiritual life. She may be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent...
who serves as the principal of the show's all-girl Catholic school.
In December 2010, Bond opened a new show at the Abrons Arts Center
Abrons Arts Center
The Abrons Arts Center is the performing and visual arts program of Henry Street Settlement. It mounts exhibitions and productions in music, dance and theater and provides arts training for children and adults....
, New York City, entitled simply Justin Bond: Christmas Spells. Based upon a short story that had been written by Bond's friend, the novelist Kate Bornstein
Kate Bornstein
Kate Bornstein is a Jewish-American author, playwright, performance artist, and gender theorist.-Biography:Born in Neptune City, New Jersey, Bornstein studied Theater Arts with John Emigh and Jim Barnhill at Brown University . Bornstein joined the Church of Scientology but later became...
, Dixie Belle: The Further Adventures of Huckleberry Finn "imagines Huck Finn as a tranny hooker in a brothel in New Orleans after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. It's written as a letter Huck writes on Christmas Eve to Tom Sawyer
Tom Sawyer
Thomas "Tom" Sawyer is the title character of the Mark Twain novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . He appears in three other novels by Twain: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , Tom Sawyer Abroad , and Tom Sawyer, Detective .Sawyer also appears in at least three unfinished Twain works, Huck and Tom...
to catch him up. So I start out as Huck, who's now Sassy Sarah working in Madame Violet's Parlor of Elysian Delights." With Bond starring as Finn, v sung both Christmas carols and some of vs own songs, with the other characters being acted out by a drag troup called the Pixie Harlots.
Soon after, Bond decided to clarify v's identity as a transperson by undergoing hormone treatment in order to feminize vs appearance, although v decided not to undergo gender reassignment surgery, telling one journalist that "I like my penis, and I am keeping it, but I am creating a transbody -- a physical record on my body and a medical record that I am a transgendered person." Bond also adopted the middle name of 'Vivian', something which v had taken from vs uncle Vivian Francis and subsequently presented vself as "Justin Vivian Bond" rather than just "Justin Bond".
In April 2011 Bond released vs first full-length solo album, Dendrophile, a collaboration with pianist/producer Thomas Bartlett from the band Doveman
Doveman
Doveman is a band founded by Thomas Bartlett. Originally from Vermont, Bartlett studied piano in London with Maria Curcio before moving to New York City to attend Columbia University. He attended Columbia for one year, when he left to focus on his studies of classical music. After leaving Columbia,...
. V had chosen the title from vs interest in dendrophilia
Dendrophilia (paraphilia)
Dendrophilia literally means "love of trees". The term may sometimes refer to a paraphilia in which people are sexually attracted to or sexually aroused by trees. This may involve sexual contact or veneration as phallic symbols or both....
, the sexual attraction to trees. Dendrophile contained a mix of original compositions and covers, with Bond telling one reporter that "I wanted it to be sort of like an early-'70s folk-pop variety album, because my favorite singers are people who aren't easy to pigeonhole, like Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, who introduced me to the music of Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, old British folk songs, contemporary pop songs and show tunes. She refused to be stuck in one genre."
Personal life
In v's memoir, Tango, Bond admitted to having been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder by a psychiatrist whilst an adult, and only then coming to understand much of v's childhood behavior.Performance style
Journalist Mike Albo, writing for Out magazine, described Bond's shows as being "hilarious, heart-wrenching, vulnerable, sardonic, WiccaWicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
n, and world-weary all at the same time."
Recognition and influence
Bond was namechecked in the 1999 Le TigreLe Tigre
Le Tigre is an American electroclash band, formed by Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman in 1998. It also featured Sadie Benning from 1998 until 2001, and JD Samson for the rest of the group's run...
song "Hot Topic" from the band's eponymous debut album
Le Tigre (album)
Le Tigre is the debut studio album of American feminist electroclash trio Le Tigre.The song "Deceptacon" was featured in the 2006 Norwegian film Reprise and the 2003 skateboarding film Yeah Right!...
.
Discography
| Title | Year | EP or album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do You Hear What We Hear? | 2000 | Album | Performed with Kenny Mellman as the Kiki and Herb drag duet. |
| Kiki and Herb Will Die for You: Live at Carnegie Hall Kiki and Herb Will Die for You: Live at Carnegie Hall -Track listing:Act One / Disc One#"Close to it All" – 2:01#Medley: "Note to Self: Don't Die / Flamingo / When Doves Cry" – 5:23#"Opening Remarks" – 2:32#"Why" – 4:05#"Hoochie Coochie" – 4:35#"Sex Bomb" – 3:11... |
2005 | Album | Performed with Kenny Mellman as the Kiki and Herb drag duet. |
| Pink Slip | 2009 | EP | |
| Dendrophile | 2011 | Album | |
Filmography
| Title | Year | Director | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imaginary Heroes Imaginary Heroes Imaginary Heroes is a 2004 American drama film written and directed by Dan Harris. It focuses on the traumatic effect the suicide of the elder son has on a suburban family.-Plot:... |
2004 | ||
| Shortbus Shortbus Shortbus is a 2006 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Cameron Mitchell. The plot revolves around a sexually diverse ensemble of colorful characters trying desperately to connect in New York City. The characters converge in a weekly Brooklyn artistic/sexual salon loosely inspired by... |
2006 | John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell John Cameron Mitchell is an American writer, actor, and director. He is best known for his motion pictures Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus and Rabbit Hole.- Early life:... |
Performed as vself, running an avant-garde club named Shortbus in New York City. |
| Apparition of the Eternal Church | 2006 | Paul Festa Paul Festa Paul Festa is a San Francisco-based writer, filmmaker and violinist. He was born and raised in San Francisco where he currently lives with his husband James Harker.- Writing :... |
|
Books
|year=2011 |publisher=The Feminist Press |location=New York |isbn=978-155861747-6 |nopp=|ref=Bon11}}News and magazine articles
|date=11 April 2011|work=Out |publisher= |location= |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=Alb11}}|date=18 September 2004 |work=The New York Times |publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=Cal04}}
|date=15 May 2007 |work=Playbill |publisher= |location= |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=Gan07}}
|date=3 January 2011 |work=Queerty |publisher= |location= |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=JD11}}
|date=06 April 2011 |work=Paper
Paper (magazine)
Paper magazine is a New York City–based independent magazine covering and discovering cultural movements with a focus on fashion, design, pop-culture, nightlife, music, art and film. The magazine covers trends, new creative talent, urban American lifestyle as well as international lifestyles and...
|publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=25 September 2011 |ref=Ang11}}
|date=24 March 2010 |work=The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
|publisher=Guardian Media Group |location=London |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=Wal10}}
Interviews
|coauthors= |date=7 December 2010 |work=T |publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=MurBon10}}|coauthors= |date=23 July 2009 |work=Edge New York |publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=8 July 2011 |ref=RusBon09}}
|coauthors= |date=July 2009 |work=The Advocate |publisher= |location=New York City |accessdate=5 August 2011 |ref=VosBon09}}
External links
- Bond's official website
- "The Official Justin Bond", cover story of OutOut (magazine)Out is a popular gay and lesbian fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any gay monthly publication in the United States. It carries itself in a similar editorial manner to Details, Esquire, and GQ. Out was published by PlanetOut Inc...
, April 2011 - "The Story of V", feature story in New YorkNew York (magazine)New York is a weekly magazine principally concerned with the life, culture, politics, and style of New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to The New Yorker, it was brasher and less polite than that magazine, and established itself as a cradle of New...
, May 2011 - BroadwayWorld.com interview with Justin Bond, June 9, 2007