Nino Del Pesco (born September 6, 1959 - August 14, 2019) was a musician known for playing in various critically acclaimed and groundbreaking bands throughout his career including the Lonesome Strangers, Snake Farm, the Knights of the Living Dead, AntiProduct, and The Black Tongued Bells. In addition to being a musician, Nino was also an award winning screenwriter.

Career

Del Pesco started his career in 1978 with the

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

avant-garde band, "The Amazing Humans" which featured members of "The Young Americans," most notably multi-instrumentalist Dan Mareen who would go on to play bass clarinet for

Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...

before finally settling in Zurich. The band garnered immediate interest in the scene but was short lived. In 1979, Nino became a founding member of "The Puppies" along with Dane Conover (Trees), Richard Filaccio, James Krieger, and Irene Liberatore. The New Wave band was discovered by Kim Fowley and recorded the single, "Mechanical Beat" on the Stiff America label. The single was produced by

Liam Sternberg Liam Sternberg (born July 28, 1949 in Akron, Ohio) is an American songwriter and producer who wrote the Bangles hit "Walk Like an Egyptian". Sternberg first got noticed as part of the late 1970s " Akron Sound" which included Devo and the Waitresse ...

. From 1981–1983, Del Pesco played with " Country Dick & the Snuggle Bunnies" before moving to Los Angeles and co-founding "The Lonesome Strangers" with Jeff Rymes, Randy Weeks, and ex-

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drummer

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. The band's debut album, "Lonesome Pine", was produced by

Pete Anderson Pete Anderson is an American guitarist, music producer, arranger and songwriter. Anderson is most known for his guitar work with, and critically acclaimed production of, country music star Dwight Yoakam from 1984 through 2002, a partnership th ...

and featured such notable artists as

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and

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. The album was well received and garnered critical acclaim, but was not a commercial success for the band. Nino left the Lonesome Strangers in 1987 to form "Snake Farm" with Barry McBride (

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) and

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. Del Pesco also worked as an actor, most notably as the guitar player in

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 ...

's video for

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and

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& the Bluenotes. In 1988, Nino joined the "Knights of the Living Dead," who had demos produced by

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and

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (; January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer, songwriter, and musician. Zevon's most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", " Lawyers, Guns and Money", and " Roland the Headless Th ...

( Zevon also wrote the band's bio). Between 1991–1996, Del Pesco went on hiatus to attend college, earning himself a BA degree in psychology from UCLA in 1996. Though college was the priority during that period, Nino still found time to play with various bands and continued to do session work. Del Pesco returned to music full-time in 1997, when he co-founded AntiProduct with Alex Kane from Life, Sex & Death, and Eddie Reuter. After Kane left the band in 1999, AntiProduct became the "Black Tongued Bells" which also featured guitarist Steve Dior. Both Dior and Del Pesco left the band in 2003. Del Pesco and Dior reunited in 2007 to record "Pretty Dope Fiend" which appears in the film, "

Who Killed Nancy? ''Who Killed Nancy?'' is a British documentary film directed by Alan G. Parker. The film was produced by Ben Timlett and Christine Alderson. It had its US theatrical opening at the Cinema Village in New York City on 30 July 2010. The film exami ...

" and is featured in the opening of the official trailer. In 2005, Nino took a break from music to focus on screenwriting and in 2008 his first

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

, THE THIRD REALM, won the CineStory Screenwriting Contest, the deadCENTER Screenwriting Award, and took First Place in the Omaha Film Festival's Feature Length Screenplay category. The Third Realm was also a Finalist in Scriptapalooza and the Sweet Auburn International Film Festival’s Screenplay Category, a Semi-Finalist in Final Draft’s Big Break Contest, the ReelHeART International Film Festival, Writemovies.com Screenwriting Contest #18 and made the Top 10 in the Bare Bones International Film & Music Festival's Screenplay Competition.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Videos

References

External links

Nino Del PescoVideo for "New Waver" by the PuppiesVideo for "Dogma Eat Dogma" by the PuppiesVideo for "Public Buildings" by the PuppiesVideo for "Midnight Cove (Live)" by the Knights of the Living DeadVideo for "Smack Child" by Nino Del Pesco. Featuring Bernie Bernstein on vocals2008 Cinestory Interview with Nino Del PescoThe Delinquents – Pretty Dope Fiend (Jaden Version)
from the film "

" {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Pesco, Nino Living people 1959 births People from Santa Maria, California Folk bass guitarists American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American country rock musicians American male songwriters American male screenwriters Songwriters from California Guitarists from California 20th-century American bass guitarists Screenwriters from California Country musicians from California 20th-century American male musicians