Anton Alfred Newcombe (born August 29, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter,

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

, producer, and founder of the music group

The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American musical project and band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called '' Dig!'', and have gained media not ...

. Newcombe was the subject of the 2004 documentary film '' Dig!'', along with

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

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

The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford. H ...

Music

Newcombe started in the 1980s recording with a band called Homeland. Besides his own group, Newcombe has worked with a number of bands, most notably

The High Dials The High Dials are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band started out playing a brand of pop music strongly influenced by 1960s British mod styles, but their sound has broadened to incorporate power pop, psychedeli ...

The Manvils The Manvils are a Canadian rock band from Vancouver. The band consists of the singer, songwriter and guitarist Mikey Manville, bass guitarist Dave Fenton and drummer Jay Koenderman. The Manvils have appeared on stage with Stereophonics, Suici ...

, Innaway, and The Quarter After. He recorded and produced

Dead Meadow Dead Meadow is an American psychedelic rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1998 and currently composed of vocalist and guitarist Jason Simon, bassist Steve Kille, and drummer Mark Laughlin. The band have released seven studio albums, two li ...

's album '' Got Live if You Want It'', and recorded a cover of Ewan MacColl's song "

Dirty Old Town "Dirty Old Town" is a song written by Ewan MacColl in 1949 that was made popular by The Dubliners and The Pogues. History The song was written about Salford, Lancashire, England, the city where MacColl was born and brought up. It was original ...

" with Lorraine Leckie on her 2008 album ''Four Cold Angels''.

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Newcombe founded the musical group

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

in 1990. Core members in the early years included

Matt Hollywood Matt Hollywood (born June 11, 1973) is an American indie rock guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and leader of the Portland-based indie rock band The Out Crowd, as well as a founding member of the psychedelic rock band The Brian J ...

, Jeffrey Davies,

Joel Gion Joel Gion (; born ) is an American musician, best known as the tambourine player for the psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. He was a guest star on the U.S. television show ''Gilmore Girls'', where he played the tambourine in th ...

, Travis Threlkel, Peter Hayes, Patrick Straczek,

Ricky Maymi Ricky Rene Maymi (; is an American rock musician, best known as an original member of the psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on p ...

, Brian Glaze, Elise Dye and Dean Taylor, although the line up was subject to frequent changes. Newcombe wrote most of the group's songs, with Hollywood collaborating or contributing others on occasion. Following Hollywood's departure from the group in 1998, Newcombe's name became almost synonymous with The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Newcombe was also heavily involved in the post-production of his albums, often engineering and mixing them on his own. A prolific artist, he authored over 150 songs in a 15-year period. In 2016, he composed the soundtrack for British indie film ''Moon Dogs'', directed by Philip John.

Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe

Newcombe recorded two albums with Toronto singer-songwriter Tess Parks: ''I Declare Nothing'' in 2015, and the eponymous ''Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe'' in 2018.

L’Épée

In 2019, Newcombe founded the musical group L’Épée along with French film star

Emmanuelle Seigner Emmanuelle Seigner (born 22 June 1966) is a French former fashion model, singer, and actress. She is known for her roles in '' The Diving Bell and the Butterfly'' (2007), '' The Ninth Gate'' (1999) and '' Frantic'' (1988). She has been nominat ...

and The Limiñanas.

A Recordings Ltd

Newcombe founded the record label A Recordings Ltd., where he releases records for

and other artists including

and the Vacant Lots.

Personal life

Part of Newcombe's life is featured prominently in the documentary film '' Dig!'' which focuses on the tense relationship between

and

as both bands struggle for success. Newcombe has battled drug addiction, alcoholism and depression. He lives in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

with his wife, Katy, and their son, Wolfgang.

References

External links

Official Band Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newcombe, Anton 1967 births Living people American expatriates in Germany Singer-songwriters from California People from Greater Los Angeles American male singer-songwriters American multi-instrumentalists American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock singers American rock songwriters The Brian Jonestown Massacre members Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century multi-instrumentalists 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American singers