James Bergstrom is an American musician best known as the drummer for the rock band

Second Coming The Second Coming (sometimes called the Second Advent or the Parousia) is the Christianity, Christian and Islam, Islamic belief that Jesus, Jesus Christ will return to Earth after his Ascension of Jesus, ascension to Heaven (Christianity), Heav ...

. Before that, he played drums for the band

Sleze Sleze were a short-lived American glam metal band from Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, formed in 1984. Although Sleze were mostly a cover band and went through several lineup changes before changing their name to Alice N' Chains in 1986 ...

(later renamed Alice N' Chains), which also featured future

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

vocalist Layne Staley.

Career

Sleze and Alice N' Chains

In 1984, Bergstrom co-founded a

garage band Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

called

, whose jam room was set up in his parents' basement.Prato, Greg. "Grunge is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music." p. 214. April 2009. At the suggestion of his friend Ken Elmer, Bergstrom and his bandmates recruited Elmer's stepbrother Layne Staley, who back then also went by the surname Elmer, as vocalist. They performed live at various high schools, playing

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

and

Armored Saint Armored Saint is an American heavy metal band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1982. Since 1990, the band has consisted of John Bush on lead vocals, Joey Vera on bass, Jeff Duncan on guitar and the Sandoval brothers (Gonzo and Phil) on ...

covers. This band went through several lineup changes before changing their name to Alice N' Chains.Prato, Greg (April 2009). ''Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music''. pp. 215–216. The group continued to tour throughout the Seattle area and recorded two

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...

before they broke up around 1987, which was the year that Bergstrom graduated from Shorewood High. Staley went on to form the band

whose 1990 debut album ''

Facelift A facelift, technically known as a rhytidectomy (from the Ancient Greek () 'wrinkle', and () 'excision', the surgical removal of wrinkles), is a type of cosmetic surgery procedure intended to give a more youthful facial appearance. There are ...

'' lists Bergstrom as one of the people they wished to thank.

Nick Pollock Nicholas Pollock (born November 22, 1967) is an American guitarist and singer best known for his work with the Seattle grunge band My Sister's Machine. He has also played in various bands with other notable musicians, including Alice in Chains ...

, another former member of Sleze/Alice N' Chains, became lead singer of the band My Sister's Machine, which also thanked Bergstrom within the liner notes of their 1992 debut album ''

Diva Diva (, ) is the Latin word for a goddess. Diva is a name from Roman mythology, and is associated with the nouns divus, diva, which means god, goddess, and the adjective divinius, which means divine or heavenly. It has often been used to refer t ...

''.

Second Coming

Meanwhile, Bergstrom co-founded the band

sometime in the early 1990s and was eventually joined by his childhood friend

Johnny Bacolas Johnny Bacolas (Greek: Γιάννης Μπάkολας; classical transcription ''Yiannis Bacolas'') (born March 3, 1969) is an American musician. He is best known for his work with the post-grunge band Second Coming (band), Second Coming, where ...

, who had also been a member of Sleze/Alice N' Chains. This band also went through several lineup changes throughout its history with Bergstrom as the sole constant member before breaking up in 2008. Their catalog consists of three studio albums and one acoustic EP, all of which feature both Bergstrom and Bacolas. In 1994, they independently released their debut album '' L.O.V.Evil'', which features a guest appearance by Layne Staley on the track "It's Coming After". Four years later, they signed on to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

and released their eponymous second album ''

''. This album produced two singles titled "Soft" and "Vintage Eyes", the latter of which had a music video. Another track titled "Unknown Rider" was included on the soundtrack for the blockbuster film ''

The Sixth Sense ''The Sixth Sense'' is a 1999 American psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist whose patient ( Haley Joel Osment) claims he can see and talk to the dead. Released ...

''. The band split from Capitol Records in 2001 after the departure of Gary Gersh, the president who signed them to the label.Stav, Stev
The Second Coming of Second Coming
"Intermittent Signals" September 1, 2001. Retrieved on June 8, 2011. Following the split, they independently released an EP titled '' Acoustic'' and third studio album '' 13''. Second Coming were purportedly working on a fourth album that was due to be released in 2007. However, the band has since broken up. While the other members of Second Coming have continued to record and perform with other acts, Bergstrom has largely focused on family life but he still keeps in touch with his former bandmates.

Discography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergstrom, James Alice N' Chains members Second Coming (band) members Living people American rock drummers Drummers from Seattle Year of birth missing (living people) American male drummers