Jeff Muendel is an

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

ist/keyboardist, and

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

ist who has written several novels and played with bands including

Rattlebone Rattlebone was an American punk/hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, United States, in 1992. The group was signed by label president Peter Paterno at Hollywood Records that same year. They recorded two albums with veteran producer Da ...

Backbiter

Circus of Power Circus of Power is an American hard rock band formed in New York City in 1987. They disbanded in 1995 and reformed in 2014. To date, they have released four studio albums and three EPs. Overview With a sound similar to Alice in Chains, AC/DC ...

Masters of Reality Masters of Reality is an American rock band formed in 1981 by frontman Chris Goss and guitarist Tim Harrington in Syracuse, New York, United States. They took the name for the band from a misprinted label of the third Black Sabbath album. Goss ...

The Silos The Silos is an American rock band formed by Walter Salas-Humara and Bob Rupe in New York City, United States in 1985. History Prior to starting the Silos, Salas-Humara had been a member of The Vulgar Boatmen, and Bob Rupe was in Florida ban ...

Hum Machine
an
Instead We Smile

Early life and education

Muendel grew up in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, Wisconsin.

Music career

Muendel began playing in cover bands at age 18. In 1991, he moved to

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, and he began playing music with neighbor and bass player Roger Deering. Deering had previously been in a Florida punk band called The Drills. He and drummer Kerry Furlong had moved from

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to start a new band. The three musicians added

Brendon McNichol Brendon McNichol (born November 1969), is a lap-steel/guitar player, who has played with bands including Queens of the Stone Age, Masters of Reality. Biography In 1990 Brendon lived in Hollywood, California. The Drills released a 5-song EP in 199 ...

on guitar and the band was established

The Drills

The early shows were performed under the old name, The Drills, because of the reputation they had developed with that name, including one album release. The group was "discovered" by producer

Dave Jerden Dave Jerden is an American record producer, engineer, and mixer who has worked with artists in various genres including alternative rock, punk rock and metal. However, Jerden has stated that he dislikes the term "producer", preferring to refer ...

, who is also credited with discovering and developing

Jane's Addiction Jane's Addiction is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins and bassist Eric Avery. Jane's Addiction was one of the first bands from t ...

, Alice in Chains, and The Offspring.

Rattlebone

The group was signed to

Hollywood Records Hollywood Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label focuses in pop, rock, alternative, hip hop, and country genres, as well as specializing in mature recordings not suitable for the flagship Walt Disney Records l ...

, and at the label's request, the group changed its name to

. With Jerden at the helm, they released a 5-song EP in 1992 and recorder a full-length LP in 1993/94 that was never released. McNichol left Rattlebone in 1995 when the record label dropped the band in response to the grunge movement. The remaining group split in 1996.

Backbiter

Muendel went on to briefly join a version of

and then spent three years in the L.A. punk group Backbiter. He played on one release by Man's Ruin Records.

The Motor Primitives

From 2006 - 2009, Muendel played organ and guitar i
The Motor Primitives
a band based in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

featuring former members of

Tar Babies Tar Babies was an American band from Madison, Wisconsin, United States, that released several albums on SST Records. Critic Steve Huey of Allmusic describes them as a minor player on SST, with an intriguing sound rooted in hardcore punk but touch ...

an
The Appliances SFB

Instead We Smile

Since 2014, Muendel has been the guitarist in Instead We Smile, a hard rock band based in

with Ed Feeny o
The Appliances SFB

Writing

In 1998, Muendel left California to attend graduate school on the East Coast. He has published two novels set in the world of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

including
The Volume Tribes
His books often deal with themes within the world of

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

, and his work is often categorized as "Rock Lit". He is also an editor fo
Maximum Ink Magazine
and continues to compose, play and record as an organist and guitarist. {{DEFAULTSORT:Muendel, Jeff Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American heavy metal keyboardists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American keyboardists The Silos members