Joaquin "Jack" Brewer is an American musician known as the singer and lyricist for the Los Angeles post-hardcore band

Saccharine Trust Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza descri ...

which he cofounded with guitarist Joe Baiza.

Biography

Brewer was born in Havana, Cuba in 1958. As a child, his family moved often living in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, San Pedro,

Harbor City Harbor City is a highly diverse neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, with a population upward of 36,000 people. Originally part of the Rancho San Pedro Spanish land grant, the Harbor City was brought into Los Angeles as ...

, and Wilmington. Brewer began playing guitar in his early teens His first band was called The Obstacles which played new wave pop. Brewer met Joe Baiza in Wilmington one summer and Baiza began attending band rehearsals. Baiza joined the band as bass player and slowly started moving the band from a pop sound to something more

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

. One by one band members left until it was just Brewer and Baiza. After spending almost a year attempting to put together a new lineup which included a failed audition by Mike Watt, the freshly renamed Saccharine Trust played their first gig in 1980 with Minutemen. The lineup consisted of Baiza on guitar, Brewer on vocals, Luis Maldonado on bass, and Richie Wilder on drums. The band took the name Saccharine Trust from a line in the

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

song "

The Bewlay Brothers "The Bewlay Brothers" is a song written by English singer-songwriter David Bowie in 1971 for the album ''Hunky Dory''. One of the last tracks to be written and recorded for the LP, the ballad has been described as "probably Bowie's densest and mo ...

" on ''

Hunky Dory ''Hunky Dory'' is the fourth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 17December 1971 through RCA Records. Following the release of his 1970 album, '' The Man Who Sold the World'', Bowie took time off from recording and tourin ...

''. Brewers lyrics often featured Biblical imagery and a fascination with

Gene Scott William Eugene Scott (August 14, 1929 – February 21, 2005) was an American minister and teacher who served for almost 50 years as a pastor and broadcaster in Los Angeles, California. He pastored the Faith Center and Wescott Christian Center ...

. Brewer's performances have been noted for his "stuttering, enunciated vocals". Brewer wrote the lyrics for Minutemen's "God Bows to Math" from their ''

Double Nickels on the Dime ''Double Nickels on the Dime'' is the third album by American punk trio Minutemen, released on the California independent record label SST Records in 1984. A double album containing 45 songs, ''Double Nickels on the Dime'' combines elements of p ...

'' album. Saccharine Trust were first active in the early to mid-1980s, after which Brewer formed the Jack Brewer Band and in the 1990s recorded several albums with jazz trio

Bazooka Bazooka () is the common name for a man-portable recoilless anti-tank rocket launcher weapon, widely deployed by the United States Army, especially during World War II. Also referred to as the "stovepipe", the innovative bazooka was among the ...

. Brewer and Baiza both performed with

Unknown Instructors Unknown Instructors are an all-star improvisational rock outfit that features the former rhythm section of Minutemen and fIREHOSE, bassist Mike Watt and drummer George Hurley; Saccharine Trust members, guitarist Joe Baiza and vocalist Jack Br ...

and reformed Saccharine Trust in 1996 and have been active to the present. Brewer joined Baiza, Watt, and George Hurley (Minutemen) to record vocals for ''

The Way Things Work ''The Way Things Work'' is a 1988 nonfiction book by David Macaulay with technical text by Neil Ardley. It is an entertaining introduction to everyday machines and the scientific principles behind their operation, describing machines as simple ...

'' by

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

band

. Brewer was one of the subjects, along with Mike Watt, of

Jim Sikora Jim Sikora is a Chicago based American film director, writer, and producer and is considered a pioneer in DV filmmaking. Sikora is best known for his independent micro-budgeted feature films ''Walls in the City,'' starring Paula Killen, Bill Cus ...

's ''My Char-Broiled Burger With Brewer'' which Sikora describes as a "portrait of an old and enduring friendship between two musicians—one who is very successful (Mike Watt of the Minutemen and the Stooges) and the other (Jack Brewer of Saccharine Trust) who is sliding into obscurity."

References

Living people American punk rock singers Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-singer-stub