Janine Rainforth is a singer-songwriter who co-founded original post-punk band

Maximum Joy Maximum Joy are an English post-punk band from Bristol, England,Strong, Martin C.: ''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', 1999, Canongate, formed in 1981 and reunited in 2015. ''Pitchfork'' compared their sound to "one of the Slits ba ...

. She returned to performing her solo music in 2014 and also formed an offshoot of Maximum Joy MXMJoY in 2016.

Biography

Rainforth was born in Somerset, UK. She co-founded original Bristol post punk band

when she was 18 years old. The band released 4 singles, the last produced by

Dennis Bovell Dennis Bovell (born 22 May 1953Huey, Steve"Dennis Bovell Biography" Allmusic. Retrieved 27 December 2014.) is a Barbados-born reggae guitarist, bass player and record producer, based in England. He was a member of the British reggae band Mat ...

and an album on

Y Records Y Records was a British independent record label set up in 1980 by Dick O'Dell in the United Kingdom, and distributed by Rough Trade. History Artists included the Slits, Shriekback and a number of groups that were associated with the Bristo ...

an album part produced by

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958, London, England) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing techniqu ...

in 1982. Her career in music at that time and with her band Maximum Joy was cut short by a serious violent sexual attack from within her close professional circle. She subsequently lost her performing nerve so eventually retreated from her music career. In 2014 Janine managed to overcome this and returned to performing her music in public and she released her first solo EP. In 2015 she spearheaded reforming Maximum Joy for Simple Things Bristol. The band carried on initially under the name of MXMJoY, they made a new album P.E.A.C.E. it was released in 2018 and released EP, Joy Again in 2022. Her father is

John Rainforth John Rainforth (born 10 December 1934) is a British bobsledder. He competed in the two-man and the four-man events at the 1956 Winter Olympics The 1956 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games ( it, VII Giochi Ol ...

– who competed in the Italian winter Olympics.

Career

Rainforth was original founder of

aged 18 years old along with the sax player of

Glaxo Babies Glaxo Babies are a Bristol-based post-punk band, formed in late 1977.Strong, Martin C: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, There were three distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, ...

. They recruited ex-Glaxo Babies players and an ex Pop Group player joined them in the initial line up. The line up changed several times – a new bassist, percussionist and keyboard/ trumpet player joined them and eventually Rainforth left the band after a serious sexual assault upon her within her close musical professional circle gave her no choice but to do so. She then formed Leonard & The Cats a band with ex-members of

the Cortinas The Cortinas were a Bristol-based punk rock band, originally active between 1976 and 1978. Guitarist Nick Sheppard went on to play with the Clash. In 2001, the band's debut single, "Fascist Dictator" (originally released in June 1977), was i ...

and

Pigbag Pigbag were a British post-punk band, best known for their instrumentals, active between 1980 and 1983. Origin and formation Pigbag were formed in Cheltenham in late 1980 by Chris Hamlin, a fashion student at Cheltenham Art College. Hamlin ...

– they recorded one single (which has not been formally released). Despite this she found she could no longer perform, and so eventually retreated from making music publicly until 2014 when she made a return as a solo artist under her surname, Rainforth. In 2015 she spearheaded the reforming of Maximum Joy for a couple of concerts, including at Simple Things Bristol. Rainforth and Maximum Joy drummer Charlie Llewellin started making an album straight after this and it was released in 2018. They also have played various gigs and festivals since – including Dimensions and the inaugural We Out Here

Works

* Stretch –

* White and Green Place – Maximum Joy * In the Air – Maximum Joy * Man of Tribes – Maximum Joy * Station MXJY – Maximum Joy * Have Brave Heart – Rainforth * Rumination of Us – Rainforth * Beast – Rainforth * Blood of Life – Rainforth * Chimera – featuring Mark Stewart and Janine Rainforth –

Textbeak ''Michael Szewczyk'' (born 1973), known as DJ Textbeak, is an American DJ, artist and record producer. DJ Textbeak is known internationally for his varied style of dark and experimental music including remixes for ∆AIMON, Cyanotic, 3Teeth, Arch ...

* P.E.A.C.E. – MXMJoY

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rainforth, Janine Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English women singer-songwriters 20th-century English singer-songwriters 21st-century English singer-songwriters 20th-century English women singers 21st-century English women singers English punk rock singers British women punk rock singers Musicians from Somerset British keyboardists British women keyboardists