Chris D.

Chris D. (Desjardins) - (born 1950) - punk poet, rock critic, singer, writer, filmmaker. Chris D. is best known as the lead singer and founder of the early Los Angeles punk/death rock band The Flesh Eaters.

Overview

While a featured writer at Slash Magazine in the late-1970s Chris D. decided to form a band. This band featured several members from the Los Angeles punk scene. John Doe, DJ Bonebrake (X), Dave Alvin (The Blasters), Bill Bateman (The Blasters) and Steve Berlin (The Blasters, Los Lobos) were friends from the scene and agreed to perform with Desjardins during this period. The ultimate result of this collbaration was The Flesh Eaters.

Producer

Chris D. worked as an A&R and in-house producer for Slash and Ruby Records from 1980 through the Spring of 1984. As well as acting as producer on all The Flesh Eaters albums, he also co-produced the debut album of The Gun Club / "Fire Of Love" with Tito Larriva in 1982. He produced debut albums of The Dream Syndicate / "Days Of Wine & Roses", Green On Red / "Gravity Talks" and The Lazy Cowgirls. He remixed The Misfits / "Walk Among Us" LP with Glenn Danzig.

Musician

In between his various stints with The Flesh Eaters, Chris D. has been the leader of The Divine Horsemen. In early 2006 it was announced Desjardins would be appearing for several dates in California and one date in London with John Doe, DJ Bonebrake, Dave Alvin, Bill Bateman, and Steve Berlin as The Flesh Eaters. This lineup of the band had not performed together publicly since 1981.[1]

Desjardins also issued a solo semi-acoustic LP on the French New Rose label, Divine Horseman later released in Australia by Dog Meat Records of Melbourne. It features many old friends as guest musicians, including Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Linda "Tex" Jones and Dave Alvin.

Desjardins issued a second, rockier solo effort entitled I Pass For Human as Stone By Stone - basically a paean of loss following the breakup with his wife and partner in The Divine Horsemen Julie Christensen. It is a harrowing piece of work, reflecting on his life, his loves, and his ongoing battles with heroin addiction.

Writer

Henry Rollins published Double Snake Bourbon, a collection of Desjardins' poetry, lyrics and prose under his 2.13.61 imprint. (Now out of print)

Desjardins has previously written for Slash and Forced Exposure magazines. He has spent most of the past decade researching and self-compiling an encyclopedia of Japanese gangster (Yakuza) films. Aptly titled YAKUZA EIGA: An Encyclopedia of Japanese Gangster Films 1956-1980, the book has been funded in part by The Japan Foundation Artist Fellowship. He has also provided liner notes and audio commentary tracks for DVDs of a variety of classic Japanese yakuza films.

In 2005, Chris Desjardins' tribute, to fringe directors of Japanese cult, action and exploitation cinema of 50s through 70s, was published by I.B. Tauris. Entitled Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film it has been embraced by Japanese film enthusiasts as a unique and detailed insight into the cinematic intentions of directors recognized only recently by Western audiences.

Chris D. is a founding contributor to the web salon New Texture ( [2] )

Quotes

“Live, Chris D. would shriek like he was conducting the last performance before Satan’s bloody rapture, and as if he just might be taking the audience down with him.” (from Heavy Punk Thunder from the Lake of Burning Fire by Jay Hinman) [3]

External links

• Flesh Eaters page at Trouser Press
• Chris D. entry in Allmusic
• Chris D. at New Texture
• Chris D. at IMDb