
John Balance (first name also spelled Jhon and Jhonn; born Geoffrey Laurence Burton, later taking his stepfather's surname of Rushton; 16 February 1962 – 13 November 2004), born in Mansfield, England, founded the experimental music group Coil, in collaboration with his partner Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (27 February 1955 – 25 November 2010). He was responsible for vocals, lyrics, chants, synthetics and various esoteric sound-making instruments and devices. Outside of Coil he collaborated with Nurse with Wound, Death in June, Psychic TV, Current 93, Chris & Cosey, Thighpaulsandra and produced several Nine Inch Nails remixes. His early work and wide-ranging collaborations made him one of the most influential figures in the industrial, experimental minimalist and neofolk music scenes.
Balance died on 13 November 2004, after falling from a two story balcony at his home. Peter Christopherson announced Balance's death on the Threshold House website, and provided details surrounding the tragedy. Balance's memorial service was held near Bristol on 23 November, and was attended by approximately 100 people. Ossian Brown, a long term collaborator and member of Coil, dedicated his first book Haunted Air to Balance.
Balance first recorded using the alias "Merderwerkers". The Merderwerkers track, "Blue Funk (Scars for E)", was included on the Sterile Records cassette compilation Standard Response. Balance also published an underground zine, Stabmental, and released a track, "A Thin Veil of Blood", also using the nom du guerre Stabmental. "A Thin Veil of Blood" was included on the cassette compilation Deleted Funtime – Various Tunes for Various Loons. Balance then joined up with Peter Christopherson and Boyd Rice to record Nightmare Culture under the moniker "The Sickness of Snakes". Balance subsequently joined Psychic TV and performed alongside Christopherson; however in 1984, Balance and Christopherson left the group to develop Coil. A short collaboration with Zos Kia produced the split tape Transparent. Credit for the album was shared, and marked Coil's first release. The original Coil / Zos Kia tape, Transparent, was released as a "His-Storical" CD reissue in 1997.
John Balance founded the experimental music group Coil, in collaboration with his partner Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson. During Coil's 23 years career, they collaborated with a number of peers, including Jim Thirlwell/Clint Ruin (Foetus), Marc Almond, Thighpaulsandra, NON, Current 93, and CoH. Balance died on 13 November 2004, after falling from a two story balcony at their Weston-Super-Mare home. After moving to Bangkok, Christopherson died in his sleep on November 25, 2010.( Read more... )Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Balance
Peter Martin Christopherson (also known as Sleazy, 27 February 1955 – 25 November 2010) was a musician, video director and designer, and former member of the influential British design agency Hipgnosis.
He was one of the original members of the Industrial Records band Throbbing Gristle. After Throbbing Gristle he participated in the foundation of Psychic TV along with Geoffrey Rushton, aka John Balance. After his short time in Psychic TV, Christopherson formed Coil along with Balance, which lasted just under 23 years, until Balance died of a fall in their Weston-Super-Mare home. Christopherson participated in the reuniting of Throbbing Gristle and he composed an album for his solo endeavour The Threshold HouseBoys Choir.
Prior to his musical career, Peter Christopherson was a commercial artist, designer, and photographer. Notably, he was one of the three partners of the album cover design group Hipgnosis, which was responsible for many notable album covers of the 1970s. Christopherson remained involved with commercial art through his later musical career as a director of music videos and television commercials.
Born in Leeds, Christopherson was a founding member of Throbbing Gristle, who are credited with creating the industrial music genre before disbanding in 1981. Throbbing Gristle members Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti formed their own group while Peter Christopherson and TG's other member Genesis P-Orridge formed Psychic TV along with other musicians. John Balance met Christopherson as a Throbbing Gristle fan and the two became partners. Christopherson worked on the first two Psychic TV albums, Force The Hand Of Chance and Dreams Less Sweet, joined by Balance on the second one. The two performed live several times with Psychic TV then formed their own project, Coil. Along with Chris Carter, Christopherson has personally documented on his MySpace blog (with photographic evidence) of having played a custom-made (for him) keyboard-triggered sampler before the first sampler (Fairlight CMI) was available in UK. While not the first sampler, this was a major step towards the use of samplers in live performance, as noted by Christopherson himself.
( Read more... )Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Christopherson( Further Readings )More Real Life Romances at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance