Porno for Pyros is an American
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...
band formed in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, United States in 1992, following the break-up of
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands fr ...
.
The band currently consists of former Jane's Addiction members
Perry Farrell (vocals) and
Stephen Perkins
Stephen Andrew Perkins (September 13, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. A drummer and percussionist, he currently plays with Jane's Addiction and Hellride.
Following the dissolution of Jane's Addiction, Perkins continued to play w ...
(drums), alongside founding members
Peter DiStefano
Peter DiStefano (born July 10, 1965, in Santa Monica, California, U.S.) is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work in the alternative rock band Porno for Pyros (the Jane's Addiction offshoot featuring vocalist Perry Farrell ...
(guitar) and
Martyn LeNoble (bass). Bass guitarist
Mike Watt was a member of the band from 1995 until 1998, and again for one-off appearances in 2020 and 2022.
The band released two studio albums, ''
Porno for Pyros'' (1993) and ''
Good God's Urge'' (1996), before going on hiatus in 1998.
In 2009, the original line-up reunited for a one-off appearance at frontman Perry Farrell's 50th birthday party. In 2020, the Watt-era line-up of the band reunited for Lolla2020, a free
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
broadcast event taking place amidst global
COVID-19 lockdowns
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countri ...
. Following the appearance, members of the group continued to work on new material together,
and in 2022, Farrell and Perkins reunited Porno for Pyros for their first large-scale public performances in over twenty-four years, leading to a full reunion of the band's original line-up.
History
1992–1994: Formation and ''Porno for Pyros''
Following the demise of the critically and commercially successful
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands fr ...
, frontman
Perry Farrell and drummer
Stephen Perkins
Stephen Andrew Perkins (September 13, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. A drummer and percussionist, he currently plays with Jane's Addiction and Hellride.
Following the dissolution of Jane's Addiction, Perkins continued to play w ...
formed Porno for Pyros after acquiring guitarist
Peter DiStefano
Peter DiStefano (born July 10, 1965, in Santa Monica, California, U.S.) is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work in the alternative rock band Porno for Pyros (the Jane's Addiction offshoot featuring vocalist Perry Farrell ...
and bass player
Martyn LeNoble.
Farrell named the band after seeing an ad for fireworks in a pornographic magazine. The name has also been connected through song lyrics to the
LA riots which occurred in the band's hometown around the time of Porno for Pyros' inception. Prior to releasing their
eponymous first album, Porno for Pyros embarked on a nationwide tour to support the new band.
By the time the band's debut album was released in 1993, anticipation surrounding the project was enough to briefly drive the album to the No. 3 position on the
Billboard top 200 list. The video for the album's second single, "Pets", received heavy airplay on
MTV. Following the album's release, Porno for Pyros continued a heavy touring schedule, including an appearance at
Woodstock '94
Woodstock '94 was an American music festival held in 1994 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the original Woodstock festival of 1969. It was promoted as "2 More Days of Peace and Music". The poster used to promote the first concert was r ...
along with a cameo on HBO's ''The Larry Sanders Show''.
Unlike the relatively straight-ahead rock shows that were the hallmark of live Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros live shows relied heavily on props, extras
and special effects (including pyrotechnics).
1995–1998: ''Good God's Urge'' and break-up
For the band's follow-up album, ''
Good God's Urge'', bass player LeNoble quit after completing the majority of the bass tracks. Ex-
Minutemen bassist
Mike Watt was brought in to finish up the album tracks and join the band on tour. The album also featured the post-Jane's reunion of Farrell with guitarist
Dave Navarro, who made a guest appearance on "Freeway", along with Red Hot Chili Peppers' bass player Flea. The band again set forth on a heavy touring schedule with Watt on bass, then with Flea on bass with Perkins and Farrell's former Jane's Addiction bandmate Dave Navarro on guitar. In reality, the end of Porno For Pyros bled into the "relapsed Jane's Addiction" situation, as Jane's guitarist Dave Navarro and his Red Hot Chili Pepper bandmate Flea guested on 2 songs from the Good God's Urge sessions, "Freeway" and "Hard Charger." As "Hard Charger" was released and charted as a single from the Howard Stern Private Parts movie, the final touring dates for Porno For Pyros featured 3/4 of Jane's Addiction Dave Navarro and Flea onstage with Peter DeStefano and touring members Sunny Reinhart and Thomas "TJ" Johnson. On several tour stops Porno for Pyros played "Mountain Song", a popular Jane's Addiction tune, a foreshadowing of the later Jane's Addiction reunion efforts. Further touring by the band was scuttled when DiStefano was diagnosed with
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
.
Perkins and Watt subsequently formed the jazz-punk improvisation group
Banyan
A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...
and, along with DiStefano, occasionally perform sets of
Stooges cover versions in the Los Angeles area under the band name
Hellride.
2009–2019: One-off reunion and rumours
In April 2009, the original lineup of Farrell, Perkins, DiStefano, and LeNoble performed at Farrell's 50th birthday party. In April 2011, Farrell wrote on his
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account: "One day, more Porno For Pyros", suggesting that the band would reunite in the future. On September 3, 2012, DiStefano stated that the band would be active in 2013, which was later also announced by Farrell on his Facebook page on July 6, 2013. In 2018, the band were rumoured to be part of an immersive entertainment experience in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, named Kind Heaven, created by Farrell, which never came to fruition.
2020–present: Full reunion
On July 27, 2020, it was announced that for the first time in 22 years, Porno for Pyros (featuring the lineup of Perry Farrell, Stephen Perkins, Mike Watt and Peter DiStefano) would be reuniting to play Lolla2020, a free four-night
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
broadcast event taking place on the original dates of the 2020 Chicago-based
Lollapalooza festival, Thursday, July 30 through Sunday, August 2.
On July 20, 2021, DiStefano announced on his Facebook page that he, Farrell and Perkins were working on what will be new material from Porno for Pyros in over two decades.
On May 18, 2022, Farrell shared Jane’s Addiction will not be playing
Welcome to Rockville
Welcome to Rockville is a four-day hard rock and heavy metal music festival. The festival is held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
History
The first Welcome to Rockville was a one-day event held on Moth ...
concert in Daytona Beach, Florida, on May 22 due to guitarist
Dave Navarro suffering from a “long bout” of COVID-19, but is reuniting his band Porno for Pyros for the performance. “The gang and the government are no different. That makes me 1%. Rockville, although we are blue that Jane’s cannot be with you at this time due to Dave’s long bout with COVID, I am still coming to Daytona, bringing to you for the first time in 26 years Porno For Pyros Featuring myself, Perry Farrrell, Stephen Perkins, Peter DiStefeno and Mike Watt. We’ll play some Jane’s songs for you as well, but for now let’s recall: My boat’s capsized it’s gonna sink to the bottom. I can see the lights on the shore…” noted Farrell on the Welcome to Rockville
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...
page.
Drummer Stephen Perkins was replaced by his drum tech Mike Cryciuk for the performance due to a stomach virus, with Nick Maybury, formerly of Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts on additional guitar.
For the band's subsequent summer shows and appearance at
Lollapalooza, founding bassist Martyn LeNoble rejoined the band. The band has since confirmed on Instagram that they are working on new material.
Members
;Current members
*
Perry Farrell – vocals, harmonica, tambourine
(1992–1998, 2009, 2020, 2022–present)
*
Stephen Perkins
Stephen Andrew Perkins (September 13, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. A drummer and percussionist, he currently plays with Jane's Addiction and Hellride.
Following the dissolution of Jane's Addiction, Perkins continued to play w ...
– drums, percussion, backing vocals
(1992–1998, 2009, 2020, 2022–present)
*
Peter DiStefano
Peter DiStefano (born July 10, 1965, in Santa Monica, California, U.S.) is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for his work in the alternative rock band Porno for Pyros (the Jane's Addiction offshoot featuring vocalist Perry Farrell ...
– guitar, backing vocals
(1992–1998, 2009, 2020, 2022–present)
*
Martyn LeNoble – bass, backing vocals
(1992–1996, 2009, 2022–present)
;Former members
*
Mike Watt – bass, backing vocals
(1995–1998, 2020, 2022)
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
*''Rhino Hi-Five : Porno for Pyros'' (2007)
Singles
* "Tahitian Moon" (Single with two additional unreleased tracks)
Charting singles
Music videos
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*Browne, David
"Burning Addiction" ''Entertainment Weekly'', May 7, 1993. Accessed April 27, 2008.
*Farley, Christopher
''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'', May 31, 1993. Accessed April 27, 2008.
External links
*
janesaddiction.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porno For Pyros
Alternative rock groups from California
Musical groups established in 1992
Musical groups disestablished in 1998
Musical groups reestablished in 2018
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Warner Records artists
Musical quartets