James George Thirlwell (born 29 January 1960), also known as Clint Ruin, Frank Want, and
Foetus
A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...
, among other names, is an Australian musician, composer, and record producer. He is known for
juxtaposing a variety of different musical styles.
Life and career
![Jim Thirlwell of Foetus at the Rathskeller](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Jim_Thirlwell_of_Foetus_at_the_Rathskeller.jpg)
Thirlwell was born in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, Australia. He briefly studied Fine Art at Melbourne State College (now part of the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
) before moving to London, England in 1978, where he played with the
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...
band
prag VEC and formed the first of his numerous musical projects,
Foetus
A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...
. In the 1980s, under the pseudonyms Clint Ruin and Frank Want, he contributed to various releases by
Nurse With Wound,
Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...
,
The The
() are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...
and
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He co-wrote "Wings Off Flies" on ''
From Her to Eternity
''From Her to Eternity'' is the debut studio album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, released in May 1984 on Mute. Produced by Flood and the band itself, the album's title is a pun on the James Jones novel, ''From Here to Eternity'', and its subseq ...
'', the first Bad Seeds album. Longtime Nick Cave associate
Mick Harvey
Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...
would later report that Thirlwell's time in the band was cut short, in part, by a clash between Thirlwell's highly structured studio routine as contrasted with Cave's at-the-time habit of "shambling through it" while recording.
[Daniel Dylan Wray (2014]
If This Is Heaven I'm Bailing Out: The Death Of The Birthday Party
The Quietus, accessed 05 Jan 2017
Thirlwell released his first
7-inch single, ''OKFM/Spite Your Face'', in 1981, on his own Self-Immolation record label in his first incarnation as Foetus. Over the next few years, he would release two more singles, a 12" EP, and four full-length albums, ''
Deaf
Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...
'', ''
Ache
Ache or Aches may refer to:
Ethnography
* Aché, an indigenous people of eastern Paraguay
* Aché language, the language of the Aché people
* Ache language (China)
* Aṣẹ (Cuban spelling: ''aché''), a concept in Orisha belief
People
* Ach ...
'', ''
Hole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
'' and ''
Nail
Nail or Nails may refer to:
In biology
* Nail (anatomy), toughened protective protein-keratin (known as alpha-keratin, also found in hair) at the end of an animal digit, such as fingernail
* Nail (beak), a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip ...
'' (Some Bizzare Records) . After visiting the United States during a live stint with the Immaculate Consumptive (
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...
, Nick Cave and
Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...
) Thirlwell settled in New York City, where he is still based. Since his move he has released several singles, fourteen EPs (including ''Stinkfist'', with fellow New York artist
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...
and
Thurston Moore
Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Mo ...
), and seventeen full-length albums.
In addition to being a prolific artist in his own right, Thirlwell has remixed and produced numerous pieces for artists including
Faith No More,
Nine Inch Nails,
Pantera,
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was an American three-piece rock band from New York City, formed in 1991. The group consisted of Judah Bauer on guitar, backing vocals, harmonica and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spenc ...
,
The The
() are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...
,
Zola Jesus
Nika Roza Danilova (born Nicole Rose Hummel; April 11, 1989), known professionally by her stage name Zola Jesus, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her music has been noted for combining elements of electronic, industrial, ...
,
Front 242, and
Swans
Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...
. He has also done voice-over work for
MTV and other entities.
Since 2000, Thirlwell has become more active as a composer, having written commissions for
Bang on a Can,
League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots
The League of Electronic Musical Urban Robots, or LEMUR, was a Brooklyn-based group of artists and technologists developing robotic musical instruments. Founded in 2000 by musician and engineer Eric Singer, LEMUR's philosophy was to build robotic ...
, and the
Kronos Quartet
The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
, and scoring cartoons ''
The Venture Bros.
''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on February 16, 200 ...
'' for
Adult Swim
Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...
and ''
Archer
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
'' for
FX. His most recent project was scoring the
John Hodgman
John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as '' The Areas of My Expertise'', ''More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is All'', he is known for ...
and
David Rees David or Dai Rees may refer to:
Entertainment
* David Rees (author) (1936–1993), British children's author
* Dave Rees (born 1969), American drummer for SNFU and Wheat Chiefs
* David Rees (cartoonist) (born 1972), American cartoonist and televis ...
cartoon detective show ''
Dicktown''.
He also revived his primary instrumental project,
Steroid Maximus Steroid Maximus is a musical project led by Australian composer J.G. Thirlwell. Mostly instrumental music, Steroid Maximus contains elements of jazz, big band, avant-garde, soundtrack and exotica styles.
Thirlwell is best known for his rock-oriente ...
, and initiated a more experimental instrumental project in Manorexia. He continues to write and perform regularly as a solo artist and with various ensembles. He is also a member of the freq_out sound art collective, and has created solo sound installations in Kaliningrad, Santarcangelo and Vienna.
Music
![JG Thirlwell, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/JG_Thirlwell%2C_Moderna_Museet%2C_Stockholm%2C_Sweden.jpg)
Thirlwell's music—released under his various project names of
Foetus
A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...
,
Wiseblood,
Steroid Maximus Steroid Maximus is a musical project led by Australian composer J.G. Thirlwell. Mostly instrumental music, Steroid Maximus contains elements of jazz, big band, avant-garde, soundtrack and exotica styles.
Thirlwell is best known for his rock-oriente ...
, Baby Zizanie, Manorexia and others—includes elements of
20th-century classical music,
noise
Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference aris ...
,
big band
A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...
,
Americana
Americana may refer to:
*Americana (music), a genre or style of American music
*Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States
Film, radio and television
* ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
,
punk rock, African and Cuban percussion, and epic/horror film soundtracks. Much of Thirlwell's aural output is built on a percussive, rock music-type structure, though to call it rock music would be inaccurate. His music employs elements of many genres: with an often frenzied aesthetic, Thirlwell's music combines percussion, strings, distortion, brass, electric guitars, electronic sounds and voice. Recurring lyrical themes include destruction, persecution, anxiety, abuse, incest, masochism, angst, self-destruction, self-abuse, lust, prejudice, murder, failure and machismo, often expressed using American colloquialism and
black humour
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...
.
Musical projects
*
Foetus
A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...
: Thirlwell's main project. From 1981's single "OKFM" until 2013's "Soak", most Foetus songs featured lead vocals. Though popularly known as simply "Foetus", Thirlwell released albums under diverse variations of the name, including: Foetus Art Terrorism; Foetus Über Frisco; Foetus Corruptus; Foetus In Excelsis Corruptus Deluxe; Foetus Inc.; Foetus Interruptus; Foetus Over Frisco; Foetus Under Glass; Philip and His Foetus Vibrations; Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel; The Foetus All-Nude Revue; The Foetus of Excellence; The Foetus Symphony Orchestra; and You've Got Foetus On Your Breath.
*
Steroid Maximus Steroid Maximus is a musical project led by Australian composer J.G. Thirlwell. Mostly instrumental music, Steroid Maximus contains elements of jazz, big band, avant-garde, soundtrack and exotica styles.
Thirlwell is best known for his rock-oriente ...
: Primary instrumental project. Collaboration with
Raymond Watts
Raymond Watts (also known by his former stage names Nainz, Nainz Watts and Ray Scaballero) is an English musician, the founding and sole member of the industrial music project PIG, sometimes written as <PIG>.
Watts was an early member and p ...
.
*Manorexia: Experimental instrumental project.
*
Wiseblood: Collaboration with
Roli Mosimann
Roli Mosimann is a drummer, electronic musician and record producer who has worked in genres ranging from industrial to pop. Originally from Switzerland, Mosimann first came to attention with the New York City no wave band Swans and later col ...
.
*
Flesh Volcano
The Flesh Volcano was a side project of singer Marc Almond and Clint Ruin, also known as Foetus. Its sole release was the ''Slut'' EP, which was expanded to album length in a number of reissues. Almond and Ruin were formerly bandmates in the Imma ...
: Collaboration with
Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...
.
*Baby Zizanie: Collaboration with
Jim Coleman.
*Hydroze Plus: Collaboration with
Electronicat.
*Garage Monsters: Collaboration with skater artist the P!zz. (
Sympathy for the Record Industry
Sympathy for the Record Industry (also known as Sympathy Records or Sympathy 4 the R.I.) is a mainly independent garage rock and punk label formed in 1988 by Long Gone John. The first Sympathy release was the Lazy Cowgirls' ''Radio Cowgirl'' ...
)
*
The Immaculate Consumptive
The Immaculate Consumptive was a collaborative group featuring four stars of the no wave scene, that existed for three shows in 1983.Thompson, Dave (2000) ''Alternative Rock'', Miller Freeman, , p.425 Its members were Marc Almond, Nick Cave, Lydi ...
: Touring ensemble with
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...
,
Nick Cave, and
Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...
*''
The Venture Bros.
''The Venture Bros.'' is an American adult animated action comedy TV series created by Chris McCulloch (also known as "Jackson Publick") for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Following a pilot episode on February 16, 200 ...
'': Musical score by Thirlwell.
*''
Archer
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...
'': Musical score by Thirlwell.
*Xordox: Thirlwell's new instrumental project.
*''Dicktown'': Musical score by Thirlwell. 2020 animated show with
David Rees David or Dai Rees may refer to:
Entertainment
* David Rees (author) (1936–1993), British children's author
* Dave Rees (born 1969), American drummer for SNFU and Wheat Chiefs
* David Rees (cartoonist) (born 1972), American cartoonist and televis ...
and
John Hodgman
John Kellogg Hodgman (born June 3, 1971) is an American author, actor, and humorist. In addition to his published written works, such as '' The Areas of My Expertise'', ''More Information Than You Require'', and '' That Is All'', he is known for ...
Aliases
Throughout the span of his career, Thirlwell has toyed with his own identity by releasing music in the guise of numerous
alter egos
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", "doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a different ...
. During the earliest phases of his recording, Thirlwell's "groups" were composed of a plethora of fictional characters: Foetus Under Glass supposedly consisted of Frank Want, Phillip Toss and two Brazilian statistics collectors; Scraping Foetus off the Wheel was claimed to be the work of Want and Clint Ruin. Furthering the confusion, Thirlwell adopted these personas outside of his own recordings; for example, Frank Want can be found on
The The
() are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with singer-songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles ...
's ''
Soul Mining
''Soul Mining'' is the debut album by British post-punk/ synth-pop band (the 1981 album '' Burning Blue Soul'' was originally released by the band's frontman Matt Johnson as a solo album, but later reissues credited it to ). After a bidding wa ...
'' and on releases by
Orange Juice
Orange juice is a liquid extract of the orange tree fruit, produced by squeezing or reaming oranges. It comes in several different varieties, including blood orange, navel oranges, valencia orange, clementine, and tangerine. As well as vari ...
, with whom he appeared on
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
.
Thirlwell's persona of Clint Ruin was particularly notable. During the mid-1980s and early-1990s Thirlwell exclusively went by this pseudonym, even conducting interviews as Ruin. As Ruin, Thirlwell was a member of
Wiseblood with
Roli Mosimann
Roli Mosimann is a drummer, electronic musician and record producer who has worked in genres ranging from industrial to pop. Originally from Switzerland, Mosimann first came to attention with the New York City no wave band Swans and later col ...
and
Flesh Volcano
The Flesh Volcano was a side project of singer Marc Almond and Clint Ruin, also known as Foetus. Its sole release was the ''Slut'' EP, which was expanded to album length in a number of reissues. Almond and Ruin were formerly bandmates in the Imma ...
with
Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...
. He also recorded two collaborative EPs with
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...
, and starred in and scored films of
Richard Kern
Richard Kern (born 1954) is an American underground filmmaker, writer and photographer. He first came to prominence as part of the cultural explosion in the East Village of New York City in the 1980s, with erotic and experimental films like ...
under the Ruin alias. Ruin is also credited on numerous releases for a variety of roles with
Boss Hog,
Coil, Fur Bible, Annie Hogan,
Nurse With Wound,
Pigface
Pigface is an American industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.
History
Pigface was formed from Ministry's ''The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste'' tour, which produced the '' In Case You Didn't Feel ...
,
Sonic Youth, Workdogs and others.
This practice seems to have been discontinued since 1995, and "JG Thirlwell" is credited on all subsequent musical recordings.
Discography
References
Notes
Further reading
*
*
*
*Kassaveti, Ursula-Helen (2015). Foetus-Art-Terrorism: Deciphering Genre, Intertextuality and Noise in JG Thirlwell's early Musical Corpus (1981-1988). Punk & Post-Punk 3 (2): 147–158. Retrieved from: https://www.academia.edu/17340315/Kassaveti_U.-H._2015_._Foetus-Art-Terrorism_Deciphering_Genre_Intertextuality_and_Noise_in_JG_Thirlwell_s_early_Musical_Corpus_1981-1988_._Punk_and_Post-Punk_3_2_147-158 (Last Access: 28.6.2019)
JG Thirlwell interview at The Quietus(2011)
JG Thirlwell interview at Brainwashed(2010)
JG Thirlwell interview at Allaboutjazz(2010)
JG Thirlwell interview at Popshifter(2008)
(2002)
* (2001)
JG Thirlwell Biography/Discographyat
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
(2001)
JG Thirlwell album analysis article at Dangerous Minds(2013)
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thirlwell, J. G.
1960 births
Living people
Australian male composers
Australian composers
Australian electronic musicians
Musicians from Melbourne
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds members
Pigface members
Coil (band) members
Ipecac Recordings artists
Marc and the Mambas members
The Immaculate Consumptive members
Tzadik Records artists
Thirsty Ear Recordings artists
Rough Trade Records artists