Jonathan Segel

Jonathan Segel (b. September 3, 1963 in Marseilles, France) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He has played with Camper Van Beethoven, Sparklehorse, Eugene Chadbourne, Sideways and Dieselhed, among others.

Growing up in Davis, California and Tucson, Arizona, Jonathan went to college at UCSC in Santa Cruz, CA where he studied under Peter Elsea and experimental music pioneer Gordon Mumma. In Santa Cruz he hooked up with Camper Van Beethoven, apparently for life. He moved to San Francisco, CA in 1989, where he worked with many bands including his own Hieronymus Firebrain and Jack & Jill, moved to Los Angeles in 1997 to work for Dane Davis at Danetracks, a film sound post production facility, then back to Oakland, CA in 2001, where received a Master's Degree in Music Composition at Mills College, studying with Fred Frith, Pauline Oliveros, Alvin Curran and Joelle Leandre. He is the son of Irwin Segel, biochemistry professor at University of California, Davis and author of Biochemical Calculations.

Today he performs improvising acoustic/digital solo (and previously in the duo Chaos Butterfly with Dina Emerson), in a revivified Camper Van Beethoven and as a rock & roll band leader in his eponymous band.

Common name misspellings include: Jonathan Segal, Jonathan Siegel, or Johnathan Segel.

Discography

A comprehensive Segel Discography can be found here and there on the Magnetic Records site.

Solo or as Hieronymus Firebrain or Jack & Jill

playing Guitar, singing, etc.

• Storytelling (1988)
• Acoustic Music Project benefit for Open Hand (1990)
• Hieronymus Firebrain "Hieronymus Firebrain" (1991)
• Dr. Firebrain's Plane Crash Tape, Vol.1 (1993)
• Hieronymus Firebrain "There" (1994)
• Hieronymus Firebrain "Here" (1994)
• Pushing the Norton -- the Ace Cafe Compilation(1994)
• Jack & Jill "Chill and Shrill" (1995)
• Jack & Jill "Fancy Birdhouse" (1997)
• Scissors and Paper (2000)
• Edgy Not Antsy (2003)
• Honey (2007)

with Camper Van Beethoven

playing violin, guitar, keyboards, singing, etc...

• Telephone Free Landslide Victory (1985)
• II & III (1986)
• Camper Van Beethoven (1986)
• Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (1988)
• Vampire Can Mating Oven (1987)
• The Virgin Years (1993) (by Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker)
• Camper Vantiquities (1993) Rarities Compilation
• Camper Van Beethoven Is Dead. Long Live Camper Van Beethoven (2000) Rarities Compilation
• Cigarettes & Carrot Juice: The Santa Cruz Years (2002) Box Set. Includes Telephone Free Landslide Victory, II & III, Camper Van Beethoven, Camper Vantiquities, & Greatest Hits Played Faster, a bonus live disc.
• Tusk (2002)
• New Roman Times (2004)
• In the Mouth of the Crocodile - Live in Seattle (2004) Live Album
• Discotheque CVB: Live In Chicago (2005) Live Album
• Look at All the Love We Found (2005) Sublime Tribute

with Eugene Chadbourne

playing violin, mandolin, slide guitar, keyboards, toys...

• Camper Van Chadbourne (1987)
• Eddie Chatterbox Double Trio Love Album (1988)
• Eugene Van Beethoven's 69th Sin-Funny (1991)
• Used Record Pile (1999)
• Revenge of Camper Van Chadbourne (1999)
• PsyCHADelidoowop (2001)

as Chaos Butterfly

• Live at Studio Fabriken, Gothenburg, SE - with Biggi Vinkeloe (2005)
• threelivingthings (2005)
• Radio (2005)

other electronic/electro-acoustic

• Non-Linear Accelerator (2003)
• Rauk (2005)
• Amnesia/Glass Box (2005)
• Summerleaf (2006)
• Underwater Tigers (2007)

improvisation

• Fred Frith/Joelle Leandre/Jonathan Segel "Tempted to Smile" (2003)
• Jonathan Segel/Shoko Hikage "Gen" (2003)
• various artists/Jon Raskin + Myles Boisen "Music + One" (2006)

Rastascan Records

other projects

playing violin, guitar, etc.

• "A Love Restrained" by Granfaloon Bus (1992)
• "Dieselhed" by Dieselhed (1994)
• Dent "Stimmung" (1995)
• "BaltimorePearlCrescentWhiteAdmiralSisterMeadowPaintedGodWillVisitYou" by the Lords of Howling (1997)
• Dent "Verstärker" (1998)
• "The Way You Shine" by The Shimmers (2006)

with John Kruth

• "Toast" by the Electric Chairmen (John Kruth) (1996)
• "MoonDog Girl" by the Noodle Shop (John Kruth, Elliot Sharp, Atilla Engin and Jonathan Segel) (1999)

with Clyde Wrenn

• "The Container" by the Container (1998)
• Clyde Wrenn "Long Day's Journey into Night" (1999)
• Clyde Wrenn "The Blue Cliff Record" (2001)

also appears on

• Yo "Once in a Blue Moon" (1986)
• Frontier Wives "Rockinghorse Violins" (1987)
• Spot 1019 "This World Owes me a Buzz" (1987)
• Young Fresh Fellows "the Men Who Loved Music" (1987)
• Walkabouts "Cataract" (1988)
• Overwhelming Colorfast "Overwhelming Colorfast" (1991)
• Big City Orchestra "Greatest Hits and Test Tones" (1998)
• Loud Family "Days for Days" (1998)
• Magnet "Sharkbait" (1999)
• Sparklehorse "Distorted Ghost" (1999)
• Alison Faith Levy "My World View" (2000)
• Victor Krummenacher "Bittersweet" (2000)
• Mike Levy "Fireflies" (2000)

Film Soundtracks:

• The Invisibles directed by Noah Stern (1999)
• Bunny directed by Mia Trachinger (2000)
• Kickin' Chicken directed by Joy Phillips (2001)
• 100% Human Hair directed by Ann Kaneko (2001)
• Love Will Travel directed by Teddi Bennett (2002)
• Bill's Run directed by Richard Kassebaum (2004)

External links

• Magnetic Motorwerks is Segel's Official Site, the site of his own record label, Magnetic, and the official site of some of his associates and collaborators.
• Jonathan Segel collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive