Killing Joke

Killing Joke biography

Killing Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.
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• Founding members Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards) and Geordie Walker (guitars) have been the only constant members.

  A key influence on industrial rock, their early music was described by critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and John Dougan as "quasi-metal ... dancing to a tune of doom and gloom", which gradually evolved over the years, incorporating elements of electronic music, synthpop, gothic rock, and alternative rock, though always emphasising Coleman's "savagely strident vocals".

  Finding modest commercial success, Killing Joke have influenced many later bands, such as Nirvana, Ministry, Amen, Lamb of God, Nine Inch Nails, Porcupine Tree, Napalm Death, Behemoth, Amebix, Big Black, Opeth, Murderdolls, Godflesh, Scorn, Hole, Dead by April, Tool, Prong, Metallica, Franz Ferdinand, Primus, Jane's Addiction, Soundgarden, Foo Fighters, Faith No More, Nick Harper, Blacklist, Shihad, Pitchshifter, Das Oath, Rammstein, and Korn, all of whom have at some point cited some debt of gratitude to Killing Joke.
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    • History

      1978-1982

      "Big" Paul Ferguson was drummer in the Matt Stagger Band when he met Jeremy "Jaz" Coleman (from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) in Notting Hill, London. In October 1978 (or early 1979), after Coleman was briefly keyboard player in that band, he and Ferguson left to form Killing Joke. They placed an advertisement in the music press which attracted guitarist Kevin "Geordie" Walker and bassist Martin "Youth" Glover. According to Coleman, their manifesto was to "define the exquisite beauty of the atomic age in terms of style, sound and form".

      By September 1979, shortly before the release of their debut EP, Turn to Red, they began the Malicious Damage record label with graphic artist Mike Coles as a way to press and sell their music; Island Records distributed the records, until Malicious Damage switched to E.G. Records (then aligned with Virgin Records) in 1980. The songs on Killing Joke's early singles were primitive punk rock sometimes mixed with electronic ("Nervous System" and "Turn to Red"). Turn to Red came to the attention of legendary DJ John Peel, who was keen to champion the band's urgent new sound and gave them extensive airplay. They quickly progressed this sound into something denser, more aggressive, and more akin to heavy metal, as heard on their first two albums, Killing Joke (1980) and the more abrasive What's THIS For...! (1981). They toured extensively throughout the UK during this time, and both fans of post punk and heavy metal took interest in Killing Joke through singles such as "Follow the Leaders" (1981).

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