Donald J. Bonebrake (born December 8, 1955) is an American musician who first emerged as the drummer of the punk rock band the Eyes (also featuring

Charlotte Caffey Charlotte Irene Caffey (born October 21, 1953) is an American guitarist, best known for her work in the rock band the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing "We Got the Beat". Career Caffey began her musical career playing bass guitar in the ...

the Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belind ...

). He is best known as an original member of and drummer for punk band X, of which he is still an active member.

Career

Bonebrake, born in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

, and having spent his youth in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

, is the only founding member of X from California (the other three are from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

). Bonebrake also performed with two of the band's side projects: the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

/punk band

the Knitters ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(with his bandmates

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often ...

and

Exene Cervenka Exene Cervenka (born Christene Lee Cervenka; February 1, 1956) is an American singer, artist, and poet. She is best known for her work as a singer in the California punk rock band X. Music career The 21-year-old Cervenka met 23-year-old ...

), and

Auntie Christ Auntie Christ is a late-1990s punk rock band, containing Exene Cervenka and D.J. Bonebrake of the band X and Matt Freeman Matthew "McCall" Freeman (born Roger Matthew Freeman; April 23, 1966) is an American musician, singer and songwrite ...

(with Cervenka). While a member of X, Bonebrake briefly guested as the drummer for

the Germs ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, and during 1981, he and Doe served as members of

the Flesh Eaters The Flesh Eaters are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1977. They are the most prominent of the bands which have showcased the compositions and singing of their founder, punk poet Chris Desjardi ...

, performing on that band's second album, '' A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die''. In 2010, Bonebrake joined the Rancid side project

Devil's Brigade The 1st Special Service Force was an elite American–Canadian commando unit in World War II, under the command of the United States Fifth Army. The unit was organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana ...

. In 2013, Bonebrake joined the World Takes, helmed by Stephen Maglio. The band released an album, ''Love Songs for eX's'', and toured with the

Meat Puppets Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothers ...

. In 2021, Dave Grohl revealed that he and Bonebrake are cousins through Grohl's grandmother. Although most of his work has been within the punk genre, Bonebrake heads two jazz ensembles: the Bonebrake Syncopators, who play early

jazz standards Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive list ...

in a swing and

western swing Western swing music is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the Western United States, West and Southern United States, South among the region's Western music (North America), Western string bands. It is dan ...

style; and Orchestra Superstring who play

Afro-Cuban jazz Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban music has deep roots in African ritual and rhythm.{{cite web, Cuba: Son and Afro-Cuban ...

and

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, whic ...

. In both jazz groups, Bonebrake plays

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

rather than a drum kit. Bonebrake has also performed as timpanist with the Palisades Symphony. His marimba playing goes back at least as far as his first work with the Flesh Eaters.

References

External links

*
Revolution Rock audio interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonebrake, D.J. Living people American punk rock drummers American male drummers X (American band) members The Knitters members Musicians from California 1955 births American rock drummers 20th-century American drummers The Flesh Eaters members Germs (band) members 20th-century American male musicians Devils Brigade (band) members