Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band
Godflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...
, one of the first bands to combine elements of
extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tra ...
and
industrial music.
Following Godflesh's initial breakup in 2002, Broadrick formed the band
Jesu
Jesu may refer to:
*Jesus (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30/33), Jewish religious leader and central figure of Christianity
**Jesu (name), vocative and poetic form of Jesus' name
Music
* Jesu (band), a British experimental band formed by Justin Broadrick
** ...
.
He was briefly in the English
grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. ...
band
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...
when he was a teenager in the mid-1980s, writing and recording guitar for their debut album, ''
Scum''. Broadrick has also maintained a parallel career as a producer, producing records and remixes for groups such as
Pantera
Pantera () is an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas formed in 1981, and currently comprised of vocalist Phil Anselmo, bassist Rex Brown, and touring musicians Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante. The group's best-known lineup consist ...
,
Isis
Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...
,
Mogwai
Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). ...
and
Hydra Head labelmates
Pelican
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...
. Since the 1990s he has worked with Kevin Martin as
Techno Animal
Techno Animal is an electronic duo formed in 1990 in London, England by British musicians Justin Broadrick (of the band Godflesh) and Kevin Martin (aka the Bug, of the band God). The duo released six LPs beginning with their 1991 debut '' Gho ...
making various genres of electronic music and hip hop. Since 2012, he has been releasing hard
techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
music under the solo moniker
JK Flesh. Broadrick has set up record labels such as HeadDirt,
Avalanche Recordings
Avalanche Recordings is an independent record label, founded by English musician Justin Broadrick in 1999. It is named after Broadrick's own recording studio, Avalanche Studios, and mainly releases Justin Broadrick's side projects.
The first r ...
, Post Mortem Productions (briefly renamed Uprising Productions), Lo Fibre and Heartache.
Biography
Childhood and first recordings (1969–1983)
Broadrick was born on 15 August 1969, in a
council estate
Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...
of inner
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
.
For the first four years of his life, Broadrick was raised by his mother Gabrielle Fern (a.k.a. Lucy Nation) and stepfather Robert Fern (a.k.a. Bob Allcock) in a hippie commune in
Shard End
Shard End is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also a ward within the formal district of Hodge Hill. Shard End borders Castle Bromwich to the north and Kingshurst to the east which are situated in the northern part of the neighbouring ...
. In the late '70s, Broadrick's mother and stepfather were members of
Anti-Social, a band infamous for live shows involving blood and faecal matter, as well as for soliciting people to commit suicide via guillotine live on stage. Anti-Social were dubbed "the world's most violent rock group" and released one single, ''Traffic Lights/Teacher Teacher'' which is now one of the rarest UK punk record releases.
During a period of heroin addiction, Broadrick's biological father was mostly absent from the family home. According to Broadrick, his maternal grandmother from Germany was a "witch" who was into the occult and black magic.
By the age of ten, Broadrick was surrounded by the punk-rock that his parents listened to. "There was
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are c ...
and
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped de ...
, but it was always the stuff that wasn't so standard that grabbed me. I was always playing things like
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...
's ''
Metal Machine Music
''Metal Machine Music'' (subtitled ''*The Amine β Ring'') is the fifth studio album by American rock musician Lou Reed. It was recorded on a three-speed Uher machine and was mastered/engineered by Bob Ludwig. It was released as a double album ...
'' when I was about eight! Stuff like
Can, the weirdest parts of
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
,
Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...
", says Broadrick. "The first thing I probably heard out of the house, when I was about 11 years old, was
Crass
Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk sub ...
", says Broadrick. Shortly after seeing them as his first concert, he recorded his first demo tape at the age of 11. "By the age of 12 I fell into early industrial music, stuff like
Throbbing Gristle
Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pioneers of industrial music. Evolv ...
,
Whitehouse Whitehouse may refer to:
People
* Charles S. Whitehouse (1921-2001), American diplomat
* Cornelius Whitehouse (1796–1883), English engineer and inventor
* E. Sheldon Whitehouse (1883-1965), American diplomat
* Elliott Whitehouse (born 1993) ...
". Broadrick began to play with his stepfather's guitar, who was then into
Roxy Music
Roxy Music are an English rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera (guitar), Andy Mackay (saxophone and ...
and
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
.
In 1982, he started publishing tapes with his friend Andy Swan, who had a synthesizer. The first name they went under was Atrocity Exhibition, named after a
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.
Sumner and Hook formed the band after att ...
track (which, itself, takes its name from
a book by
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass me ...
). Their first recording was titled ''Live in the Studio'' and was the first catalogued release on their cassette label Post Mortem Rekordings. Shortly after, the project was named Smear Campaign, after a
Nocturnal Emissions track. This was the name they went under at their first live performance on 7 July 1984 in The Mermaid in Birmingham. Promptly after the show they settled on the name
Final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
* Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...
. Final was then inspired lyrically and musically by acts such as Throbbing Gristle and Maurizio Bianchi. "We were pretty heavily into the whole industrial tape culture and fanzines of the very early '80s", Broadrick says. The project developed to embrace the
power electronics
Power electronics is the application of electronics to the control and conversion of electric power.
The first high-power electronic devices were made using mercury-arc valves. In modern systems, the conversion is performed with semiconducto ...
subgenre of
industrial music in 1983, releasing material by them and other industrial projects on Post Mortem Rekordings (which was renamed Uprising Productions in 1985) such as Family Patrol Group, Mental Health Act, Ashenden, The Grey Wolves, Con-Dom, Death Magazine 52, Fern and Un-Kommuniti. Final went under numerous lineup changes during its lifetime, including musicians like Philip Timms, Daniel Johnson, Paul Neville, Nicholas Bullen, Graham Robertson and Guy Pearce. "I had about 50 Final releases over about a year and a half", he says. Other project names Broadrick recorded under included Last Exit, Crusade and Dead Pulp. Broadrick also had a short-lived progressive punk band called The Blakk Korridor with
Diarmuid Dalton and Dan.
Fall of Because and Napalm Death (1984–1986)
In 1984, Broadrick joined the group
Fall of Because G. Christian Green and Paul Neville (musician)">Paul Neville
Paul Neville may refer to:
* Paul Neville (politician) (1940–2019), Australian politician
* Paul Neville (musician), British industrial metal guitarist
* Paul Neville (actor) in '' Full Speed Ahead''
{{hndis, Neville, Paul ...
in 1982 initially named O.P.D. (Officially Pronounced Dead)] as a drummer and additional vocalist. The group recorded the ''Extirpate'' demo cassette in 1986, which contained a number of songs which were later re-worked as songs for Godflesh (including "Life Is Easy", "Mighty Trust Krusher" and "Merciless"). The group disbanded in 1988. The ''