Brendan Kelly (musician)
This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (September 2020) |
Brendan Kelly | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Brendan Kelly |
Born | September 8, 1976 |
Origin | St. Louis, Missouri, United States (born in Missouri) |
Genres | Punk rock |
Occupation(s) | Bassist, musician, songwriter, writer, television host |
Instruments | Vocals, Bass, Guitar |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels | Fat Wreck Chords Asian Man Records Red Scare Industries |
Associated acts | The Lawrence Arms Slapstick Broadways The Falcon JBTV |
Brendan Kelly (born September 8, 1976) is the bassist/vocalist of Chicago-based punk band The Lawrence Arms, as well as guitarist/lead vocalist in The Falcon and . Kelly's former bands include Slapstick and The Broadways. He is known for his raspy vocals, drunken demeanor, and onstage witticisms.
Kelly also appeared on The Daily Show in a correspondent piece by Ed Helms entitled "The Clash" in which he criticized Michale Graves for being a Republican.
Early life and education[]
He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in Radio, Television, and Film.
Career[]
Kelly boycotts the Warped Tour on the belief that it ruins the original system for underground bands of touring and supporting larger bands, as well as ruining business for small venues. He along with The Lawrence Arms were banned for life for spreading this belief to the audience whilst participating in the Warped Tour.
Kelly provided backup vocals for the songs "The Company," "Stuck in Summertime," and "Unsatisfied" on The Copyrights' third full-length album, 2007's Make Sound, released on Red Scare Industries, a label owned and operated by Tobias Jeg, a close friend of Kelly. Kelly (along with Chris McCaughan, co-vocalist of The Lawrence Arms) also provided back-up vocals on Common Rider's This is Unity Music album.
In 2010, Kelly released a split album with Joe McMahon of punk rock band Smoke or Fire, entitled . Kelly's half of the split contained acoustic versions of Lawrence Arms songs (both his and McCaughan), as well as a cover of "Kiss the Bottle" by Jawbreaker.
In 2011, Kelly released a three-song EP, , with new band the Wandering Birds. A full length, , followed in 2012. The Wandering Birds are generally darker in tone than Kelly's earlier musical output. He also created a short film, The Spirit of Transparency, to promote the project.
During the periods of inactivity of his musical projects, Brendan has been joined by fellow punk rock singers Laura Jane Grace and Brian Fallon in maintaining a blog, . The blog is a mixture of scatological humor, social commentary, and stories of life in music. Kelly also co-hosts iconic music television program JBTV in Chicago.
Kelly also provided guest vocals on the Alkaline Trio song "I Wanna Be A Warhol" on their 2013 release My Shame Is True.
Kelly is also now part of Punk Rock Weddings [1] which is the Brainchild of Mike Park founder of Asian Man Records
Nihilist Arby's[]
In 2015, Kelly started a Twitter account, Nihilist Arby's, which garnered a huge following with its "absurdist, death-and-doom tweeting"[2] about Arby's and life in general.
Discography[]
Slapstick[]
- Albums
- Lookit! (Dill Records, 1995)
- Slapstick (AKA: 25 Songs / Discography) (Asian Man Records, 1997)
- Other Releases
- Slapstick / Tommyrot (Split, Banter Records, 1993)
- Superhero (7" EP, Self-Released, 1995)
- Crooked (7" EP, Dyslexic Records, 1995)
The Broadways[]
- Albums
- Broken Star (Asian Man Records, 1998)
- Broken Van (Asian Man Records, 2000)
- Other Releases
- We All Know That You Can Do It (7" EP, Bicycle Records, 1997)
- Big City Life (7" EP, Asian Man Records, 1998)
- Where's the Beef? (Drive Thru Records, 1997)
The Lawrence Arms[]
- Albums
- A Guided Tour of Chicago (Asian Man Records, 1999)
- Ghost Stories (Asian Man Records, 2000)
- Apathy and Exhaustion (Fat Wreck Chords, 2002)
- The Greatest Story Ever Told (Fat Wreck Chords, 2003)
- Oh! Calcutta! (Fat Wreck Chords, 2006)
- Metropole (Epitaph Records, 2014)
- (Epitaph Records, 2020)
- Other Releases
- Shady View Terrace / The Lawrence Arms (Split, Asian Man Records, 2000)
- Present Day Memories (Split w/ The Chinkees, Asian Man Records, 2000)
- Fat Club (7" EP, Fat Wreck Chords, 2001)
- Cocktails & Dreams (Compilation, Asian Man Records, 2005)
- Buttsweat and Tears (7" EP, Fat Wreck Chords, 2009)
- News From Yalta (7" EP, Epitaph Records, 2014)
- We Are the Champions of the World (Compilation, Fat Wreck Chords, 2018)
The Falcon[]
- Albums
- Unicornography (Red Scare Industries, 2006)
- Gather Up the Chaps (Red Scare Industries, 2016)
- Other Releases
Solo[]
- Other Releases
- Wasted Potential (Split w/ Joe McMahon, , 2010)
Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds[]
- Albums
- I'd Rather Die Than Live Forever (Red Scare Industries, 2012)
- Keep Walkin' Pal (Red Scare Industries, 2018)
- Other Releases
- European Vacation (Split w/ Dan Andriano in the Emergency Room, Red Scare Industries, 2012)
See also[]
References[]
- ^ "About Us". Punkrockweddings.net. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
- ^ "Meet the Twisted, Brilliant Copywriter Behind Twitter's Nihilist Arby's". Adweek.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
External links[]
- 1976 births
- Living people
- American male singers
- American rock bass guitarists
- American punk rock singers
- Singers from Chicago
- Northwestern University School of Communication alumni
- Guitarists from Chicago
- American male bass guitarists
- 21st-century American singers
- 21st-century American bass guitarists
- 21st-century male singers
- The Lawrence Arms members
- The Falcon (band) members
- The Broadways members