Guy Hoffman (born May 20, 1954 in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

) is a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...

and

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, formerly of such bands as

Oil Tasters The Oil Tasters were an early 1980s band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. The band comprised bassist and vocalist Richard LaValliere, saxophonist Caleb Alexander, and drummer Guy Hoffman. The trio, founded on Milwaukee's East Side ...

BoDeans BoDeans is an American rock band formed in Waukesha, Wisconsin. BoDeans came to prominence in the 1980s. The band's sound encompasses multiple rock genres, including roots rock, heartland rock, and alternative rock. The band's biggest hit to da ...

Violent Femmes Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 2004 ...

and Absinthe. He is a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

for such films as ''Field Day'' and a founding member of Radio Romeo.

Life

Hoffman began playing drums at the age of nine. He developed skills in music and art under the direction of Eddie Allen, Sylvia Spicuzza, LeRoy Augustine, and Joe Ferrara within the Shorewood public school system. From 1972 to 1976, Hoffman concentrated on

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the U ...

and drawing under professor Laurence Rathsack in the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

(UWM) Fine Arts programs. He also played popular music with local bands at live music venues throughout Wisconsin. From 1977 to 1978, Hoffman studied

graphic arts A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface.

with Leon Travanti and graduated from UWM with a BA in fine art and visual communications.

Music career

Hoffman was a founding member of The Haskels and Oil Tasters, bands in Milwaukee's punk scene. He was an original member of

roots rock band,

. He performs on the BoDeans 1986 debut album "

Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams ''Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams'' is the debut studio album by the American rock band BoDeans, released on 16 April 1986 on Slash/ Warner Bros. The album was produced by T-Bone Burnett. The album title comes from the lyrics to the Rolling Stones son ...

" (reissued in 2009 as a CD/DVD set). Hoffman performs in BoDeans videos for the songs "She's A Runaway" and "Fadeaway." He reunited with BoDeans singer/songwriter

Sam Llanas Samuel J. Llanas (born 1961) is an American singer, acoustic guitarist, and songwriter in several rock and roots rock bands active from the 1980s to the 2000s, including BoDeans and Absinthe. Career Llanas was one of the founding members of th ...

to form the band Absinthe and released ''A Good Day To Die'' in 1998. Hoffman joined

in 1993. Two versions of "Blister In The Sun," the Femmes' signature song, were recorded with Hoffman for ''

Grosse Pointe Blank ''Grosse Pointe Blank'' is a 1997 American black comedy action film directed by George Armitage from a screenplay by Tom Jankiewicz, D. V. DeVincentis, Steve Pink and John Cusack. It stars Cusack, Minnie Driver, Alan Arkin and Dan Aykroyd and follo ...

'' motion picture soundtrack in 1997. Hoffman appears with Violent Femmes in film concerts and television productions such as "

Woodstock '94 Woodstock '94 was an American music festival held in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival of 1969. It was promoted as "2 More Days of Peace and Music". The poster used to promote the first concert was r ...

," "

Sabrina, the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...

," "

VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communic ...

Hard Rock Live," and others. He appeared on numerous music videos and late-night talk shows in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. In 2005, Hoffman's contributions were included on two Violent Femmes reissued CD/DVD compilations. Hoffman also designed the cover for the album ''New Times'' by Violent Femmes. Hoffman plays drums on the CD '' Jeanne Spicuzza''. The track "Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me" appears in the movie ''Field Day''. In 2002, he was replaced in the Femmes by returning original drummer Victor DeLorenzo. He continued working with other projects and in 2006, he played a few select shows with the Violent Femmes once more. In 2005, Hoffman formed Radio Romeo, a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

-based rock band. In 2006, he returned to performing shows with Violent Femmes in Southern California. Their latest CD, '' Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101'', showcases the trio's unique acoustic approach, with Hoffman on snare drum and backing vocals.

Discography

*''

The Haskels (album) The Haskels ''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 ...

'' (1979/2019) LP/CD *''

Oil Tasters (album) Oil Tasters The Oil Tasters were an early 1980s band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. The band comprised bassist and vocalist Richard LaValliere, saxophonist Caleb Alexander, and drummer Guy Hoffman. The trio, founded on Milwaukee's East Side ...

'' (1982/2005) LP/CD *''

'' (1986) *'' New Times'' (1994) *''Woodstock '94'' (1994) CD and VHS *''

Rock!!!!! ''Rock!!!!!'' is an album released by Violent Femmes in 1995. It was originally released only in Australia, but is now available in the rest of the world. It features cover photography by David LaChapelle. This was the first Violent Femmes album n ...

'' (1995) *''Grosse Pointe Blank: Music from the Film'' (1997) *''The Great Lost Brew Wave Album'' (1997) *''A Good Day To Die'' (1998) *''

Viva Wisconsin ''Viva Wisconsin'' is a live album by Violent Femmes. It was released in November, 1999. The songs were recorded on a six-date acoustic concert tour of their home state of Wisconsin in October 1998. The album was reissued by Shout! Factory on Ma ...

'' (1999) *''

Freak Magnet ''Freak Magnet'' is a studio album by Violent Femmes, released in 2000. It contains the single "Sleepwalkin'". Originally scheduled for a 1998 release on Interscope Records, ''Freak Magnet'' was pulled when the band was dropped from the label. A ...

'' (2000) *''History in 3 Chords'' (2001) *'' Something's Wrong'' (2001) *'' Jeanne Spicuzza'' (2001) *'' Permanent Record: The Very Best of Violent Femmes'' (2005) *''

Permanent Record - Live & Otherwise ''Permanent Record: Live & Otherwise'' is a DVD released by Violent Femmes on July 12, 2005. The first thirteen tracks were filmed during a live concert at The Boat House in Norfolk, Virginia on July 21, 1991. Tracks 14 through 20 are music video ...

'' (2005) DVD *'' Archive Series No. 2: Live in Chicago Q101'' (2006) *'' Radio Romeo'' (2007) *'' Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams Collector's Edition'' (2009) CD/DVD Set

References

External links

Guy Hoffman's homepageField Day
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Guy American rock drummers University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Musicians from Milwaukee Living people 1954 births Violent Femmes members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers BoDeans members