Breakfast with Amy was an American
Christian alternative rock band, formed in 1986 in
La Habra, California at the La Habra Four-Square church. At that time, the band consisted of vocalist David Koval, bassist Jeff "Tennessee Beans" Beahn, guitarist Christopher Colbert, and drummer Paul Pellegrin. The pastor of the church was throwing a Saturday night concert. A band had backed out and he needed a replacement. David, Christopher, Paul and Jeff quickly formed "Friends of Amy" to perform.
The band was later joined by Caryn Barker (married the guitarist Christopher Colbert about 1989, divorced about 1996) on guitar and Charlotte Stripland on bass. Charlotte was later permanently replaced in 1989 by Bob "Edwin" Wohler. Brothers Eric and Jeremy Wood filled in on Bass and Drums respectively in the final days of the band.
The band initially released an independent demo tape in 1987. It featured three songs (Funeral, Ferris Wheel and Love Song) and was recorded at Half Moon Studio by engineer Dan Bush. For the demo, the line-up featured Rich Berger on Drums. In 1988 the band released a professionally recorded demo tape (see side B of the Narrowpath release). In 1989, Breakfast with Amy was approached by Greg Sostrom of Narrowpath Records and subsequently signed by him in 1990. This led to the formal release of their studio album ''
Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt''. The album was recorded at Casbah studios in
Fullerton, California
Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617.
Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...
during two sessions about a year apart. The A side featured new material recorded at the time the band signed with Narrowpath Records of
Concord, California. It was produced by Chaz Ramierez, who is known for his work in the Orange County New Wave and Punk scenes. The B side featured their first studio tracks (previously sold at concerts). After limited release through Narrowpath, the band signed with Michael Knott's
Blonde Vinyl Records
Blonde Vinyl was an independent record label founded in 1990 by Michael Knott. The ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music'' describes the label as "one of Christian music's first true indie labels."
Background
Blonde Vinyl signed bands w ...
in 1991. With a new label that could better represent the band's progressive music and image, Breakfast with Amy quickly moved to the forefront of the underground Christian rock scene that had been taking shape in Southern California since the early 80's. During the short lifespan of Blonde Vinyl, Breakfast with Amy released 2 studio albums. After the collapse of Blonde Vinyl Records (largely due to a poor distribution network, ill-equipped to handle "new" music in the Gospel market) the band dissolved. In 1995, they released their final album (a live compilation), ''Live At The Hawleywould Bowl!'', under
Flying Tart Records Flying Tart was an independent record label based in Nashville, Tennessee. It was started by Alex Parker, formerly of R.E.X. Records, and operated from 1990 until 1996 when it was purchased by Light Records.
Bands
*Aleixa (aka Sorrow of Seven)
*Bre ...
. The band never truly found a mainstream audience in or out of Christian circles.
In 1995, Gray Dot records re-released their first album with completely re-mastered tracks and
four bonus demo tracks (culled from their original demo). Today, Breakfast with Amy is remembered by fans of the fledgling alternative Christian rock scene as one
of the staples of Blonde Vinyl Records, being present on nearly all of their compilation CDs (as well as other alternative Christian rock compilations) and being one of only a few artists on the label to make a music video.
["Breakfast with Amy bio" ]
Artist Profile at Blonde Vinyl Tribute Page
.
For those lucky enough to have seen them live, the band may be best remembered for their outlandish stage shows. A typical performance featured costumes,
Go go dancing, flaming
taxidermy, and movie projectors used as stage lighting. Shows often ended with instrument destruction and a five-minute wall of
feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...
. Due to these factors, the band was rarely invited back to a venue be it a club or a church.
Stylistically, the band is best described as
Post-punk, mixing elements of
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
,
Art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
, and
Punk rock into an odd amalgam. Some of the songs have decidedly
Pop music melodies, while others feature layer after layer of guitar
dissonance and
feedback
Feedback occurs when outputs of a system are routed back as inputs as part of a chain of cause-and-effect that forms a circuit or loop. The system can then be said to ''feed back'' into itself. The notion of cause-and-effect has to be handled ...
. Musical influences include
U2,
Echo & the Bunnymen,
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...
,
The Who, The
Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...
, The
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
and The
New York Dolls
New York Dolls were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1971. Along with the Velvet Underground and the Stooges, they were one of the first bands of the early punk rock scenes. Although the band never achieved much commercial succe ...
.
Members
Band members
*David Koval — vocals, electric sitar, acoustic guitar, bass, keyboards, mandolin
*Jeff "Tennessee Beans" Beahn - bass guitar
*Charlotte Stripland - bass guitar
*Bob "Edwin" Wohler — bass guitar
*Eric Wood - bass guitar
*Christopher "Chrissy" Colbert — guitar
*Caryn Colbert — guitar
*Rich Berger - drums
*Paul Pellegrin — drums
*Jeremy Wood - drums
Stage hands
Chris *Mr. Rhumba" Rumbaugh -
Team captain and
babysitter (band manager)
*Nathan Pellegrin -
Projectionist
*Trish the Dish -
Go Go dancer
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins. The bar's name was taken ...
*LaLa Nellie -
Go Go dancer
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins. The bar's name was taken ...
*Beth -
Go Go dancer
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins. The bar's name was taken ...
*Gina -
Go Go dancer
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins. The bar's name was taken ...
*Sonja -
Go Go dancer
Go-go dancers are dancers who are employed to entertain crowds at nightclubs or other venues where music is played. Go-go dancing originated in the early 1960s at the French bar Whisky a Gogo located in Juan-les-Pins. The bar's name was taken ...
*Margaret the Bubble Girl
Happy fun Clown- Ken Bower (VEEPEE @ BV/VofY)
Discography
Studio albums
* ''
Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt'' (1990)
* ''
Dad
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
'' (1991)
* ''
Love Gift
''product # bvcd 3482 (love gift)'' or ''Love Gift'' is the third and final studio album by the Christian alternative rock band Breakfast with Amy, released in 1992. Love Gift was the band's last release on Blonde Vinyl Records, and ended up bei ...
'' (1992)
Live albums
* ''Live At The Hawleywould Bowl!'' (1995)
Compilations
* ''Blonde Vinyl Teaser II: Food for Thought'' (1991)
* ''Radioactive Hits: The Definitive Blonde Vinyl Collection'' (1993)
* ''Live Long and Perspire: Sub Tart Vol. 1'' (1995)
* ''Afters'' (1997)
* ''Toast and Olive. "Friends of Tomorrow"'' (1998)
Videos
* ''Me'' (music video)
* ''The Sound of One Hand Snacking''
nreleased documentary
Other
*''Breakfast with Amy'' (custom demo)
*''Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt'' (custom demo)
*''Tuck in Your Love Gift''
nreleased album from Vox Vinyl(1991)
*''Everything Was Beautiful and Nothing Hurt''
eissue(gray dot #gdr 9503CD) (1995)
See also
*
Blonde Vinyl Records
Blonde Vinyl was an independent record label founded in 1990 by Michael Knott. The ''Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music'' describes the label as "one of Christian music's first true indie labels."
Background
Blonde Vinyl signed bands w ...
References
External links
The Unofficial Breakfast with Amy WebpageArtist Profile at Blonde Vinyl Tribute PageDiscography Information at drindustrial
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breakfast With Amy
Christian rock groups from California
Musical groups from Orange County, California
La Habra, California
Musical groups established in 1986
1986 establishments in California
Musical groups disestablished in 1992
1992 disestablishments in California