| Jack Grisham |
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Jack Grisham |
| Also known as |
Jack Loyd Grisham, Jack Loyd Jones, Jack Greggors, Alex Morgan, Jack Ladoga, James DeLauge, Jim Woo |
| Born |
July 22, 1962 (1962-07-22) (age 47)
Hayward, California, U.S. |
| Origin |
Long Beach, California |
| Genres |
Hardcore punk
Anarcho-punk
Deathrock
Horror punk |
| Instruments |
Vocals, Piano, Sax |
| Years active |
1979–present |
| Associated acts |
T.S.O.L.
Cathedral of Tears
Tender Fury
The Joykiller
Jack Grisham and the West Coast Dukes |
Jack Grisham is an American rock musician, raconteur and aspiring politician. He is the vocalist for the punk band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), which emerged from the 1980s Los Angeles punk rock scene, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks and Social Distortion. Grisham has also fronted the bands The Joykiller, Tender Fury and Cathedral of Tears. He currently records with T.S.O.L. and Jack Grisham and the West Coast Dukes.
Grisham was a candidate for Governor of California in the 2003 recall election. In 2004, he ran for governor of California on a social democratic platform.
Biography
Early life
Grisham was born in the East Bay area of Northern California. His father, who died in 1984, was a career military man who spent 30 years in the Navy and Coast Guard. Grisham's mother was a military housewife. Grisham was one of five children and has an older sister, two older brothers, and a younger sister.
Grisham credits his older sister, who was part of the hippie subculture (or as he calls it, "Late 60's protest crap"), for exposing him to his first creative influences. As a result, by the time he was six years old, Grisham was reading publications like Fritz the Cat and Zap Comix, and listening to albums by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. Grisham cites the albums We're Only in it for the Money and Let it Bleed as two of his musical influences.
In his early life, Grisham's family moved to Long Beach, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Growing up, he was a rebellious youth heavily into surfing, skateboarding, and in his words "causing trouble."[1]
While in high school, he met future T.S.O.L. drummer Todd Barnes through a girlfriend. Grisham and Barnes became friends, and took off with the girlfriend's guitar and amplifier and began playing around with sounds. In the beginning, Grisham claims, "All we did was make a bunch of noise and yell,"Fuck the neighbors" all day."[1]
Adult life
While still in his teens, Grisham started experimenting with substances. Soon he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. He recalled, "I was a nut. I used to think I didn’t have a problem because I didn’t shoot up and I didn’t take acid."[2]
After several minor tangles with the law stemming from his drug and alcohol abuse, Grisham married a 16 year-old girl in Mexico, which he claims got him on the road to sobriety. When asked how he got sober in a 2008 interview, Grisham said, "Actually, I married an underage girl. I wanted her to get clean. I said I would support her. I was like, "Hey, I’ll support you so you can get help. I’ll go to the meetings too. Then she ended up leaving and I ended up staying."[2]
Grisham cleaned up his act on January 8 (Elvis' birthday) in 1989 and has been sober ever since. He is married to wife Maggie and has two daughters, Anastasia and Georgia. He and his family reside in Huntington Beach, California.[3] When not working on a music project, Grisham is employed as a Personal Recovery Assistant (PAL).
True Sounds of Liberty (T.S.O.L.)
Childhood friends Grisham and Barnes were joined by Ron Emory and Mike Roche to form T.S.O.L. The original line-up of the band was vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes.
T.S.O.L.'s initial line-up gained a fans from the hardcore punk, art punk, death punk, horror punk, and goth genres. During his time with T.S.O.L., the band was notorious for their controversial, transgressive, and political lyrics.
The original T.S.O.L. broke up in 1983, and Ron Emory and Mike Roche enlisted vocalist Joe Wood (Grisham's brother-in-law at the time) and drummer Mitch Dean into the band, playing hair metal, touring and recording under the name T.S.O.L.
The original T.S.O.L. reformed in 1989, but lost Todd Barnes who died of a brain aneurysm in 1999.[4] T.S.O.L. has been touring and recording steadily since 1999.
The Joykiller
Grisham and Ron Emory formed The Joykiller in 1995 along with Billy Persons (The Weirdos/Gun Club) on bass, Ronnie King on keyboards, and Chris Lagerborg on drums. The Joykiller released three albums on Epitaph records prior to disbanding in 1998 and had a minor radio hit in Holland with the song "Go-Bang." They later released their "Greatest Non-Hits" in 2005.
Jack Grisham and Hypnotherapy
Currently, Grisham has received full certification as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master NLP Practitioner. He has an office in Huntington Beach over-looking the Pacific and is taking select clients [1]
Film
Grisham appeared as himself in the movies American Hardcore and the Geza X film Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)(he also wrote the title track "Spit Up the Rage"). In the 1984 Penelope Spheeris film Suburbia, he appeared with T.S.O.L. performing "Wash Away" and "Darker My Love."
Politics
In the early years of TSOL, Grisham was an outspoken[citation needed] anarchist, and his lyrics were often highly critical of the government. Songs such as "Abolish Government/Silent Majority," "Peace Thru Power," and "Property Is Theft" were standard in TSOL's song sets. Grisham later changed his anti-government stance, stating, "What I realized about anarchy is that we are not responsible enough to be anarchist. There’s no way possible. We’re not responsible enough to be that. That’s a heavy concept."[2]
In 2004, Grisham ran for Governor of California on a social democratic platform after incumbent Democratic governor Gray Davis was recalled.[5] During his campaign, he stressed health care and education, and supported the teaching of religious tolerance in school.[6] Other notable candidates competing for the vacancy left by Gray Davis included Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler magazine, Gary Coleman, actor, Leo Gallagher, comedian, Mary "Mary Carey" Cook, porn star, and the winner of the election, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. He Placed 37th with about 0.03% of the vote.
Trivia
- Grisham once played saxophone live onstage with the band Butthole Surfers.
- He appeared in the Kottonmouth Kings video for their cover of TSOL's song "Peace Not Greed."[7]
- In keeping with his "Robin Hood" methodology, when T.S.O.L. was touring with the Vans The Warped Tour, Grisham sold his allotted backstage passes for each show on eBay and allowed high bidders to join T.S.O.L. on-stage to sing with the band. The money was all given to charity but the practice was quickly halted by officials for the tour.
- Heavy Metal band Slayer covered two T.S.O.L. songs in a limited release EP released by Sup Pop Records in 1996. Slayer's version of Abolish Government/Superficial Love can be heard on the A-side of the album, and the original T.S.O.L. versions are on the B-side.
- Grisham was once jailed briefly for driving a car backwards on the Pacific Coast Highway. Not driving down the wrong side of the street - driving the car backwards, in reverse, steering with one hand, sprawled across hood of the car, while a friend pushed the gas pedal.
Discography
T.S.O.L.
LPs
- Dance With Me - (1981)
- Beneath The Shadows - (1982)
- Disappear - (2001)
- Divided We Stand - (2003)
- Who's Screwin' Who? - (2005)
- Live From Long Beach - (2007)
- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Free Downloads - (2009)
EPs
- T.S.O.L. EP - (1981)
- Weathered Statues - (1982)
Singles
Compilations
Bootlegs
Movie Soundtracks
- Suburbia (1984) Soundtrack
- American Hardcore: The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986
- Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)
Filmography
- Suburbia (1984) / a Roger Corman film
- American Hardcore: The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986
- Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)
- Punks not Dead
- Let it Rock
- Live In Hawaii (DVD) - (2004)
- Live In OC (DVD) - (2001)
- The Early Years / T.S.O.L. Live MVD release
The Joykiller
- The Joykiller (1995) on Epitaph Records
- Static (1996) on Epitaph Records
- Three (1997) on Epitaph Records
- Ready Sexed Go! (2003) on Epitaph Records
Tender Fury
- Tender Fury (Posh Boy) 1988
- Garden of Evil (Triple X) 1990
- If Anger Were Soul, I'd Be James Brown (Triple X) 1991
Cathedral of Tears
- Cathedral of Tears (Enigma) 1984
Jack Grisham/Mike Roche/Ron Emory/Todd Barnes
- Live 1991 (Triple X) 1991
TSOL/Slayer
- Abolish Government EP7 (Sub Pop) 1996
External links
Official links
Unofficial links
References
