Donald J. Bonebrake (born December 8, 1955) is an American musician who first emerged as the drummer of the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band the Eyes (also featuring

Charlotte Caffey Charlotte Irene Caffey (born October 21, 1953) is an American guitarist and pianist, best known for her work in the rock band the Go-Go's in the 1980s, including writing " We Got the Beat". Career Caffey began her musical career playing bass g ...

the Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American all-female Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar ...

). He is best known as an original member of and drummer for punk band X, of which he is still an active member.

Career

Bonebrake, born in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

, and having spent his youth in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

, is the only founding member of X from California (the other three are from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

). Bonebrake also performed with two of the band's side projects: the

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

/punk band

the Knitters The Knitters are a Los Angeles-based band who play country music, country, rockabilly and folk music. The Knitters' name is a play on the name of the folk group The Weavers. Background The Knitters formed in 1982 as a side project to the band ...

(with his bandmates

John Doe John Doe (male) and Jane Doe (female) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law ...

and

Exene Cervenka Exene Cervenka (born Christene Lee Cervenka; February 1, 1956) is an American singer, artist, and poet. She is best known for her work as a singer in the California punk rock band X. Music career The 21-year-old Cervenka met 23-year-old m ...

), and Auntie Christ (with Cervenka). While a member of X, Bonebrake briefly guested as the drummer for

the Germs ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

, and during 1981, he and Doe served as members of

the Flesh Eaters The Flesh Eaters are an American punk rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1977. They are the most prominent of the bands which have showcased the compositions and singing of their founder, punk poet Chris Desjardins ...

, performing on that band's second album, '' A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die''. In 2010, Bonebrake joined the Rancid side project

Devil's Brigade The 1st Special Service Force (FSSF) was an elite joint American–Canadian commando unit in World War II, formed by Lieutenant Colonel Robert T. Frederick of the Operations Division of the U.S. General Staff. During the Italian campaign of ...

. In 2013, Bonebrake joined the World Takes, helmed by Stephen Maglio. The band released an album, ''Love Songs for eX's'', and toured with the

Meat Puppets Meat Puppets are an American rock band formed in January 1980 in Phoenix, Arizona. The group's original lineup was Curt Kirkwood (guitar/vocals), his brother Cris Kirkwood (bass guitar/vocals), and Derrick Bostrom (drums). The Kirkwood brothe ...

. In 2021,

Dave Grohl David Eric Grohl (; born January 14, 1969) is an American musician. He founded the rock band Foo Fighters, of which he is the lead singer, guitarist, principal songwriter, and only consistent member. From 1990 to 1994, he was the drummer of th ...

revealed that he and Bonebrake are cousins through Grohl's grandmother. Although most of his work has been within the punk genre, Bonebrake heads two jazz ensembles: the Bonebrake Syncopators, who play early

jazz standards Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive List ...

in a swing and

western swing Western swing, country jazz or smooth country is a subgenre of American country music that originated in the late 1920s in the West and South among the region's Western string bands. It is dance music, often with an up-tempo beat, which att ...

style; and Orchestra Superstring who play

Afro-Cuban jazz Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Afro-Cuban music has deep roots in African ritual and rhythm. The genre emerged in the early 1940s ...

and

Latin jazz Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin American rhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave (rhythm), clave, and Afro-Brazil ...

. In both jazz groups, Bonebrake plays

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

rather than a drum kit. Bonebrake has also performed as timpanist with the Palisades Symphony. His marimba playing goes back at least as far as his first work with the Flesh Eaters.

References

External links

*
Revolution Rock audio interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonebrake, D.J. Living people American punk rock drummers American male drummers X (American band) members The Knitters members Drummers from California 1955 births American rock drummers 20th-century American drummers The Flesh Eaters members Germs (band) members 20th-century American male musicians Devils Brigade (band) members