"Black Rebel Motorcycle Club" has been added to your list of bookmarked artists
close
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Biography
The seed that became Black Rebel Motorcycle Club -- or B.R.M.C. for short -- was planted back in 1995, when Robert Turner and Peter Hayes met while attending high school in their hometown of San Francisco. They formed a solid friendship and camaraderie based on a mutual love of early-'90s U.K. bands like Ride and the Stone Roses and a few on the successful Creation Records label (the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine). They ultimately decided to put their as-yet-unnamed project on hold, and joined other bands while still attempting to keep in touch with each other; frequently they would attend each other's gigs. In 1998, after both had fled their previous groups, they rejoined, this time adding new drummer Nick Jago. (Jago, originally from England, had finished art school to move to the States in 1996). They began performing live in November 1998. Originally calling themselves the Elements -- they quickly changed it after discovering many other bands had shared the same title -- they purloined their new name from the Marlon Brando-led biker gang who stormed into that dusty California hamlet in The Wild One.

By 1999, B.R.M.C. had recorded a polished 16-track demo CD that began making the rounds (they sold all 500 copies at their shows), and relocated to Los Angeles.