Jump to content

Bill Rieflin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Radiosaltbird (talk | contribs) at 13:42, 26 September 2013 (+ {{King Crimson}}). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Bill Rieflin
William Rieflin played drums live with R.E.M.
William Rieflin played drums live with R.E.M.
Background information
Birth nameWilliam Rieflin
Born (1960-09-30) September 30, 1960 (age 64)
GenresIndustrial rock, experimental metal
OccupationDrummer
InstrumentDrums

William "Bill" Rieflin (born September 30, 1960) is an American musician.

In the past, Rieflin has worked with many notable groups in the industrial rock, experimental metal and related genres, including Ministry, the Revolting Cocks, Lard, KMFDM, Pigface, Swans, Chris Connelly, Nine Inch Nails, R.E.M., King Crimson, and many others. Rieflin lives in Seattle, is married to the artist Francesca Sundsten, and is one of the founders of the independent music label First World Music.

History

Rieflin began his professional career in his hometown of Seattle. In 1975, he was in The Telepaths, a band which played backup for a couple of live gigs by the pre-The Screamers band The Tupperwares.[1] He played drums for The Blackouts starting in 1979. His bandmates included his brother Raymond, Paul Barker, Roland Barker and Erich Werner. Eventually that band dissolved and Paul Barker joined the nascent Ministry. Rieflin's earliest collaboration with Al Jourgensen was on the second single by the Revolting Cocks, You Often Forget. Later, he participated in the creation of Ministry's ground-breaking album The Land of Rape and Honey. He was noted for his performance in the live video In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (Live), which featured not only his precision percussion (alongside fellow drummer Martin Atkins), but Rieflin's genteel fashion sense. His work with Ministry and its side projects lasted through to the mid-Nineties, though he notes that he was never credited as a member of Ministry proper, always as an "other" musician. Therefore, when he parted ways with the band during the Filth Pig sessions, he didn't really quit since he was never an official member.[2]

Rieflin helped Atkins kick off Pigface, the industrial collective that would grow to incorporate hundreds of artists, formed a friendship with labelmate Chris Connelly and founded First World Music. Like Connelly, Rieflin's work has grown beyond his industrial roots. They have collaborated on several recordings; two in particular, The Ultimate Seaside Companion (as "The Bells") and Largo, showcase Rieflin's frequently overlooked keyboard skills.

Living in Seattle gave Rieflin the opportunity to build relationships with other prominent musicians including Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn of King Crimson, Scott McCaughey of the Young Fresh Fellows, Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM and Peter Buck of R.E.M. Fripp contributed to Rieflin's solo debut, Birth of a Giant, which also featured Rieflin singing in something other than a background role. Improvisations from these sessions turned up later on the CD The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior.

Rieflin appeared on all KMFDM records released from 1995–2003 as a drummer, programmer, vocalist and keyboardist. He toured with the band as a bassist in 2002 in support of its comeback album, Attak. He also drummed for McCaughey's band, The Minus 5, which occasionally included Peter Buck. Eventually Buck offered Rieflin the opportunity to sit in with R.E.M., who were missing a permanent drummer since the 1997 departure of Bill Berry. The band gave him the live drummer slot in its 2003 tour. They later announced that Rieflin would fill the role indefinitely, though once again as an "other" musician rather than as an official member. In recordings, Rieflin also contributed bouzouki, keyboards and guitars to the group, serving as an auxiliary member until R.E.M. disbanded in 2011.

Rieflin maintained a weblog through the end of 2004. In it, he ruminated on his day-to-day doings and mental state, recounted the exploits of his two cats, Pim and the Egg, and obliquely referred to his fellow musicians.

Rieflin is involved in a music collaboration project entitled The Humans, which consists of him, Chris Wong, Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox. The band performed a series of live dates in Estonia in Autumn 2007 and 2009, and released their debut album We are the Humans on May 1, 2009.

Rieflin contributed to the Swans' 2010 album My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky and the 2011 KMFDM album, WTF?!.[3]

In early 2012, Rieflin produced the single Crush Vaccine for Atomic Bride. On December 15th 2012, Rieflin performed live with Atomic Bride for a sold-out show at Crocodile Cafe in downtown Seattle.

In a diary entry dated September 6, 2013, Robert Fripp announced a new lineup for King Crimson that included Rieflin as one of the band's members.[4]

Band affiliations

Solo discography

References

  1. ^ a b c Reighley, Kurt (2002-05-08), "The Screamers", Seattle Weekly, retrieved 2010-02-19
  2. ^ "Ink19 Interview from November 1999". Ink19.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  3. ^ "Metropolis Mail Order // WTF?!". January 21, 2011. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
  4. ^ "Robert Fripp's Diary for Friday, September 6, 2013". Discipline Global Mobile. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  5. ^ "The Slow Music Project homepage". Slowmusicproject.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.
  6. ^ "Ten Seconds - Ten Seconds (CD, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2011-10-26.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Rieflin&oldid=574603789"