Kneel Cohn (born January 12, 1976) in
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
is the primary
songwriter
A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...
, lead
singer
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
and
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...
for
Warshow Angels, and
The Dead Stars On Hollywood, known for the songs "Prozac Smile" and "Flaunt it Like This". He has performed with, produced songs and done
remix
A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...
ing and production work with bands including
Collide, Contagion,
Patti Rothberg, and members of
Crass
Crass was an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977 who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestyle, and a resistance movement. Crass popularized the anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, ...
,
Buzzcocks
Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Manchester in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. The ...
,
The Dandy Warhols
The Dandy Warhols are an American psychedelic rock, psychedelic/ band, formed in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia Mc ...
,
Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish Rock music, rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. By 1984, the band was considered to be on the verge of an international breakthrough when ...
,
UK Subs
U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. One of the first hardcore pu ...
,
Consolidated,
Black 'n Blue
Black 'N Blue is an American glam metal band from Portland, Oregon. The current members are lead vocalist Jaime St. James, bassist Patrick Young, drummer Pete Holmes, and guitarists Brandon Cook and Mick Caldwell. The band is best known for ...
and Sin Corporation.
He appears in the film ''
Blast'', starring
Liesel Matthews,
Adam LaVorgna and
PJ Soles, a cameo in the documentary ''
Vegucated''. and the CFEI documentary "Home On The Range" (2016).
Cohn is
vegan
Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...
and known for his involvement in animal rights issues. He regularly performs and DJs on behalf of many animal rights organizations including
Farm Sanctuary, Animals Asia, and CFEI. In April 2009 he designed and launched Vegetable Slut, a line of
animal rights activist
The animal rights movement, sometimes called the animal liberation, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a social movement that advocates an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, ...
pinback buttons and t-shirts.
He produced Home On The Range, a farm animal benefit compilation CD and documentary film for the non-profit organization CFEI (Compassionate Farming Education Initiative). The album includes songs by
Moby
Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...
,
Joan Jett
Joan Jett (born Joan Marie Larkin; September 22, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music#J, Godmother of Punk", she is regarded as a Pop icon, rock icon and ...
,
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...
,
Bright Eyes,
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...
,
Nellie McKay
Eleanora Marie McKay (born April 13, 1982) is an English–American singer and songwriter. She made her Broadway debut in ''The Threepenny Opera#United States 2, The Threepenny Opera'' (2006).
Early life and education
McKay was born in London ...
,
Howard Jones,
Princess Superstar and
Warshow Angels.
Biography
Personal life
Kneel's former girlfriend Barbara Swan is the cousin of
Kathleen Hanna
Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. She is the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill and fronted the electropunk band Le Tigre ...
of the bands
Bikini Kill
Bikini Kill is an American punk rock band formed in Olympia, Washington, in October 1990. The group originally consisted of singer and songwriter Kathleen Hanna, guitarist Billy Karren, bassist Kathi Wilcox, and drummer Tobi Vail.
The band pio ...
(credited for starting the
riot grrrl
Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington, and the greater Pacific Northwest, and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. A subcultural movement ...
movement) and
Le Tigre
Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...
.
[Deadstarsonhollywood.com](_blank)
Kneel is credited for the skating name of roller derby all-star "Baby Ruthless" of New York City's
Gotham Girls Roller Derby. The original Baby Ruthless, Cohn's ex-girlfriend, is featured in the UK band
Towers Of London's music video for their song "How Rude She Was".
Towers Of London at Myspace.com
/ref>
References
*Armstrong, Carter (music editor). ''V/A View''. The Album Network, December, 1998.
*Black, Jett. ''Unleashing Anthems''. In Music We Trust, October 2008
*Brown, Tiffany Lee. ''Kill Your Television?''. Portland Mercury, March 1, 2001.
*Rosen, Johnathan (editor). ''Virtually Alternative''. The Album Network, November, 1999.
*Black Velvet, Shari ''Futuristic Sparkly Glam Pop''. Black Velvet Magazine's Save A Scream, November 2008
Other websites
The Official Warshow Angels website
The Official Home On The Range benefit website
The Official Dead Stars On Hollywood website
The Official Dead Stars On Hollywood myspace
The Official Discogs website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohn, Kneel
1976 births
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
American rock singers
American rock songwriters
American male singer-songwriters
Singer-songwriters from New York (state)
Living people
Musicians from the Bronx
Singers from Portland, Oregon
Singer-songwriters from Oregon
Guitarists from Oregon
Guitarists from New York (state)
21st-century American singer-songwriters
21st-century American guitarists
21st-century American male singers