Notable People and August Institutions

Saying Nice Things About SRB

Angelo Moore: That's the best shit in the world, man! It's inspiring me. You got it goin' on, muthafucka!

Jello Biafra: Parts of your tape are so hilarious, I nearly drove off the road while listening to it!

The Fabulous Bud E. Luv: You guys are great.

Mirv: You are a wierdo.

Lisa Carr, Music Expert: I caught SRB with Fishbone, and they just knocked me for a loop. Not only are they funny, but just damned good musicians, and fun to watch.

Scott Matthews, Producer: Probably the most original package I've ever seen. Come over to my Tiki Town Studios and we'll party heavily.

SF Chronicle:...performance artist, noted percussionist, terrific drummer...

Herb Caen: ...space alien, and a top-ranked drummer.
SF Examiner: ...a wonderful command of the English language....king of wry...Nutty but extremely talented

SF Bay Guardian: Frank Zappa lives, and he's gone Stark Raving Brad.

SF Weekly: You see, Brad is the kind of performer you do not dare bring onstage until the end of a set, for fear that he will steal your thunder and then ask you not to blame him for his goony charisma.
Palo Alto Weekly: ...the best part of the Prophets' live show is percussionist Stark Raving Brad. SRB plays with an abandon not seen since The Who's Keith Moon.

BAM Magazine: Stark Raving Brad might be the single most interesting performerve ever seen.

Les Claypool: Actually, I couldn't really hear your set from backstage.

SRB - WTF?

Well, here's what: Pure one-of-a-kind SF freakery.

It started in late 1991, on a winter day in San Francisco. His roomie brought a four-track home, Brad had a brand new bag, and that was that: he quickly retreated to the basement with the new toy. When he emerged 6 months later (having subsisted entirely on insanity, inspiration, and slow-moving vermin), he had his true identity and a disturbing yet compelling batch of tunes. Stark Raving Brad had arrived, and the world was to forever be a more colorful place.

A band was whipped into shape, to provide the foundation for DNA-altering live shows. The gigs were uniquely themed musical and theatrical extravaganzas that could only be assembled every two months, and the fan base increased steadily, keeping pace with the anticipation. Cassette EPs were released, and even purchased by fans. Life was swell.

'Round about '94, SRB's outstanding percussive talents and nuclear stage presence began to earn him much critical praise in the Bay Area, and solicitations from quality outfits started to pour in. He joined premier wack-hoppers The Marginal Prophets, and SF's second-wave two-tone kings,Undercover S.K.A.He drummed up a steady pop beat for Emperor Norton's eclectic Virgin-Whore Complex. DRUM! Magazine called on him to write a back-page humor column for their fast-growing international publication. The Pro-Mark drumstick company offered him a lucrative endorsement deal. He occasionally funked things up forBoomshanka, CHUB and The Psychokinetics. In 2001, The Hellbillysenlisted him to pound satanic tubs in their evil little psychobilly gang, and a high-octane tour of France and Germany spiced up the summer of 2003. Also, with Pansy Division's Jon Ginoli, he formed The Planning Commission,an indiepunkpop quartet dedicated to humorous, angry and topical songs about SF government, playing many a sidewalk and political fundraiser for progressive (and successful) candidates. ZERO Magazine offered him the SF Music Scene Review column.And along with Marcus Henderson (from DRIST; also the guitar hero behind the smash video game Guitar Hero), he kept the funk alive and very much kicking for The Motivators, spending summer 2004 rocking French asses from Bordeaux to Champagne. It's a wonder he's had any time to do laundry.

CMJ, NAMM, SXSW, NXNW, SF0SF0 1, 2 and 3, EAT'M, New Music West, Nadine's Wild Weekend,, he's done 'em all, and more than once, toots. Onstage, he has performed with Fishbone's Angelo Moore, Neville Staples, from The Specials, Clarence Clemons (E Street Band), Dave Shul (Spearhead), Pansy Division, MIRV (well, briefly, before Kehoe had him booted), !Tang, flanelhed, the Kirby Grips, Beat Senseless, the Mac Swanky Trio, Simon Stinger, Radio Noise, One Pump Chump, Nefertiti Jones, Monkey, One Nation Underground, Slender, 35R, Sean Leahy's Group De Jour, and probably quite a few others (long nights with cleaning fluids can affect memory retention, as any red-blooded American knows). In 1997, his band was selected over 600 others to be finalists in the Discmakers Unsigned Band contest, and, while he didn't win (even though BAM Magazine said he should have, and they of course were never wrong), he did join Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwaite as the only people to jump off the balcony of the Great American Music Hall and live to tell the tale. He also played the Fillmore butt-ass naked. Life continued its basic swellness.

As of 2006, he has been deeply absorbed into MUTAYTOR, LA's madly spectacular percussive circus (THE MUTAYTOR), so they do the collective freakout thing whenever schedules magically coincide. And, of course, he keeps up the good work on upcoming projects: an updated version of his zine, GQ (Gerbils Quarterly), another Dysfunctional Family Circus booklet, and the inevitable release of his ludicrously overdue debut album, Requiem For A Gerbil. Fiendish plans for the resurrection of the SRB band are afoot, as well.

His name is Stark Raving Brad, and he loves you.