Pitchfork was an American

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band formed in 1986 in

San Diego, California 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 States ...

and disbanded in 1990. They are most well known as the first "real" band (after high school effort Conservative Itch/Coitus Interruptus) of guitarist

John Reis John Reis, also known by the pseudonyms Speedo, Slasher, and the Swami is an American musician, singer, guitarist, record label owner, and disc jockey. He is best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band Rocket from the Crypt, which ...

, who would later gain fame as the frontman in Rocket from the Crypt, and as the first collaboration between Reis and singer

Rick Froberg Eric "Rick" Froberg (born January 1968, also known by the pseudonyms Rick Fork and Rick Farr) is an American musician and visual artist. He was born in Los Angeles, lived in Encinitas, California, and currently resides in Brooklyn. In his musical ...

(the two would later form

Drive Like Jehu Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995. It was formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis, ex-members of Pitchfork, along with bassist Mike Kennedy and ...

and

Hot Snakes Hot Snakes are an American post-hardcore band led by Rick Froberg and John Reis, formed in 1999 in San Diego, California. Reis and Froberg had previously performed together in Pitchfork (band), Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu, after which Reis had f ...

). As an aspiring visual artist and illustrator, Froberg provided most of the band's artwork while Reis developed his studio skills by acting as producer on their records.

Band history

Pitchfork formed in 1986 in San Diego. The initial lineup consisted of John Reis on

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, Don Ankrom on bass and Joey Piro on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. Rick Froberg (who would sometimes use the stage name Rick Farr or Rick Fork) soon joined on vocals. Their musical influences included

Mission of Burma Mission of Burma was an American post-punk band from Boston, Massachusetts. The group formed in 1979 with Roger Miller on guitar, Clint Conley on bass, Peter Prescott on drums, and Martin Swope contributing audiotape manipulation and acting as ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

and others. In 1988 they recorded their first and only vinyl 7", ''

Saturn Outhouse ''Saturn Outhouse'' is an EP by the San Diego, California post-hardcore band Pitchfork, released in 1989 by Nemesis Records. It is the band's only EP and is currently out of print. All 3 tracks were included on the 2003 CD re-release of the band ...

'', consisting of three songs and released the following year. In 1989 Ankrom left the band and was replaced by Nick Frederick. They entered

Radio Tokyo , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestria ...

studios and recorded their only album, ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

'', which was released the following year on local label

Nemesis Records Nemesis Records was an American independent record label which released the Offspring's debut studio album, ''The Offspring'', in 1989 as well as their 1991 EP ''Baghdad''. Nemesis was founded by Frank Harrison, distributed by Cargo Records fro ...

. Froberg provided artwork for the album while Reis acted as producer. The band broke up shortly thereafter. Following the breakup of Pitchfork Reis and Froberg formed

, in which they performed until 1995. Reis simultaneously formed Rocket from the Crypt, which he performed in until 2005. During the 1990s he also released a solo effort under the name Back Off Cupids, and from 2000-2007 performed in the

Sultans Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it c ...

. From 1999-2005 Reis and Froberg again reunited as the

. In 2003 Reis re-released ''Eucalyptus'' and ''Saturn Outhouse'' as a single CD through his record label

Swami Records Swami Records is a San Diego-based independent record label specializing in punk rock and rock music. The label was founded in 2000 by John Reis, who also has his own radio show, ''Swami Sound System'', on station 94.9FM KBZT KBZT (94.9 FM, ...

. After Frobits joined

Obits Obits was an American Rock music, rock band formed in 2006 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. The band members are veterans of other independent rock bands: Guitarist/singing, vocalist Rick Froberg was previously a member of Pitchfork (band), ...

from 2006 to 2015, Reis formed The Night Marchers in 2007. The Hot Snakes now continue after a 2011 reunion.

Band members

(aka Rick Farr, Rick Fork) – vocals *

–

*Don Ankrom – bass (1986–1989) *Nick Frederick – bass (1989–1990) *Joey Piro –

Discography

Albums

EPs

External links

Pitchfork band page at Swami Records

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitchfork American post-hardcore musical groups Musical groups from San Diego Swami Records artists