Mark Eitzel (born January 30, 1959) is an American musician, best known as a songwriter and lead singer of the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

band

American Music Club American Music Club was an American, San Francisco-based indie rock band, led by singer-songwriter Mark Eitzel. Formed in 1983, the band released seven albums before splitting up in 1995. They reformed in 2003 and released two further albums. ...

Biography

Eitzel spent his formative years in a military family living in Okinawa, Taiwan,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He moved to America in 1979, and

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as gay in 1985. He started making music while he was a teenager in Southampton, England. His first band was a punk band called the Cowboys when he moved to Columbus, Ohio, at 19. They released one single in 1980. His second band was called

The Naked Skinnies The Naked Skinnies were a new wave band from Ohio that featured Mark Eitzel, guitar and vocals, Nancy Kangas, organ; John Hricko, bass and Greg Bonnell, drums. The band was active from 1981 to 1982 in Columbus, Ohio and San Francisco, Californi ...

and they released one single in 1981. He moved to San Francisco with The Naked Skinnies in 1981 where they disbanded in 1982. Eitzel formed American Music Club (AMC) in San Francisco in 1982. The band performed and created albums for twelve years. At one point, Eitzel also sang with San Francisco's Toiling Midgets, and often recorded solo work while involved in AMC. American Music Club disbanded in 1994, and Eitzel focused on his solo career, releasing '' 60 Watt Silver Lining'' in 1996. Also in 1996, Eitzel contributed to the AIDS benefit album '' Offbeat: A Red Hot Soundtrip'' produced by the

Red Hot Organization Red Hot Organization (RHO) is a not-for-profit, 501(c) 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture. Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilati ...

. Following this, he released ''

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

'' in 1997, co-writing all of the songs with the R.E.M. guitarist

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his c ...

, with whom he also toured. He followed up with ''

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'', assisted by Steve Shelley of

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of th ...

and the

Yo La Tengo Yo La Tengo (YLT; Spanish for "I have her") is an American indie rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals), Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals), and James McN ...

bass guitarist

James McNew James McNew is an American musician. He has been the bass player for the rock band Yo La Tengo since their 1992 album, '' May I Sing with Me''. He was previously a member of the band Christmas, being featured on their third album ''Vortex''. ...

. Eitzel released more music in 2001, beginning with a more electronic turn in ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells. Originally serialized in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a scientist who has devo ...

'' on Matador Records. This was followed by two covers projects in 2002: '' Music for Courage and Confidence'', which was material written by other songwriters, and '' The Ugly American'', an album which included reinterpretations of American Music Club songs performed with a band of traditional and non traditional Greek musicians. American Music Club reformed in 2003 for a sold out show at the

South Bank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nation ...

in London. In the following year, they released '' Love Songs For Patriots'' and toured both the United States and Europe several times. The album received glowing reviews across the world. In 2008, the band line-up changed again and the band released ''

The Golden Age Golden Age refers to a mythological period of primeval human existence perceived as an ideal state when human beings were pure and free from suffering. Golden Age may also refer to: * Golden age (metaphor), the classical term used as a metaphor ...

'' which ''

Uncut Uncut may refer to: * ''Uncut'' (film), a 1997 Canadian docudrama film by John Greyson about censorship * ''Uncut'' (magazine), a monthly British magazine with a focus on music, which began publishing in May 1997 * '' BET: Uncut'', a Black Enter ...

'' magazine said was their best since Mercury with a 5 star album of the month review. Eitzel released a compilation album of electronic soundtrack material in 2005, '' Candy Ass''. In 2009, ''

Klamath Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups * Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon **Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon * Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States ...

'' was released on Decor Records. ''Uncut'' magazine said it was his best solo album yet. In 2010, the musical ''

Marine Parade Marine Parade is a planning area and residential estate located in the Central Region of Singapore. Straddling the tip of the southeastern coast of Pulau Ujong, Marine Parade serves as a buffer between the Central and East regions of the ci ...

'' was premiered in the 2010

Brighton Festival Brighton Festival is a large, annual, curated multi-arts festival in England. It includes music, theatre, dance, circus, art, film, literature, debate, outdoor and family events, and takes place in venues in the city of Brighton and Hove in Engl ...

. The musical was written by

Simon Stephens Simon Stephens (born 6 February 1971) is an English playwright and Professor of Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University. Having taught on the Young Writers' Programme at the Royal Court Theatre for many years, he is now an Artistic ...

and Eitzel wrote all of the music and used two of the songs from ''Klamath''. It received good reviews. He also contributed a cover version of the

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

song "

'S Wonderful "S Wonderful" is a 1927 popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics written by Ira Gershwin. It was introduced in the Broadway musical ''Funny Face'' (1927) by Adele Astaire and Allen Kearns. The song is considered a standard and h ...

" to the soundtrack of ''

Vidal Sassoon Vidal Sassoon (17 January 1928 – 9 May 2012) was a British hairstylist, businessman, and philanthropist. He was noted for repopularising a simple, close-cut geometric hairstyle called the bob cut, worn by famous fashion designers including Ma ...

- The Movie''. The film was directed by Craig Teper, and the soundtrack was produced by

David Spelman David Spelman (born 1966 in Washington, D.C., United States) is an American, New York-based, record producer and curator working in recordings, films and live events Early life Spelman was educated at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins Un ...

. The soundtrack also included music by the post-rock chamber ensembles Clogs (featuring Padma Newsome and

Bryce Dessner Bryce David Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, as well as a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother Aaron is also a member of the group. Together they write the music, in col ...

of The National), Redhooker, and the

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member ...

side project Bell Orchestre. The film had its premiere at the 2010

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...

. In addition to the above albums, Eitzel has also released many mail order tour CDs, his most recent being the limited edition (500 copies) '' Brannan St.'', which is available at his concert dates and at the Decor records website. His eleventh solo studio album, '' Don’t Be a Stranger'', was released in October 2012 on

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded ...

and produced by Sheldon Gomberg.

Discography

Cowboys *"Supermarket"/"Teenage Life" (7") (Tet Offensive, 1980)

*"All My Life"/"This Is the Beautiful Night" (7") (Naked House, 1981)

* ''

The Restless Stranger ''The Restless Stranger'' is the first album by American Music Club, released in 1985. It is considered to be the first slowcore album to be released. Track listing All songs written by Mark Eitzel. Tracks 13-15 are bonus tracks on the CD reissu ...

'' (LP) (Grifter, 1985) * ''

Engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

'' (LP) (

Frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts ...

, 1987) * ''

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

'' (LP) (Frontier, 1988) * ''

'' (LP) ( Demon, 1989) * '' Everclear'' (CD) ( Alias, 1991) * '' Mercury'' (CD) (

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any repe ...

, 1993) * ''

'' (CD) (Reprise, 1994) * '' Love Songs for Patriots'' (CD) (

Cooking Vinyl Cooking Vinyl is a British independent record label, based in Acton, London, England, founded in 1986 by former manager and booking agent Martin Goldschmidt and business partner Pete Lawrence. Goldschmidt remains the current owner and chairma ...

, 2004) * ''

'' (CD) (

Merge Merge, merging, or merger may refer to: Concepts * Merge (traffic), the reduction of the number of lanes on a road * Merge (linguistics), a basic syntactic operation in generative syntax in the Minimalist Program * Merger (politics), the com ...

, 2008) * ''

Atwater Afternoon ''Atwater Afternoon'' was a limited edition CD released by the band American Music Club and initially sold on the tour to promote their album ''The Golden Age''. Half of it was a recording of the band rehearsing songs for the tour and the other h ...

'' (CD) Toiling Midgets * '' Son'' (CD) (

Matador A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...

, 1992) Solo * '' Mean Mark Eitzel Gets Fat'' (self-released cassette, 1982) * '' Songs of Love'' (CD) (Diablo, 1991) * '' 60 Watt Silver Lining'' (CD) ( Warner Bros., 1996) * ''Lover's Leap USA'' (CD) (self-released, 1997) * '' Words and Music'' (CD) (1997) * ''

'' (CD) (Warner Bros., 1997) * ''

Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby #REDIRECT Caught in a Trap and I Can't Back Out 'Cause I Love You Too Much, Baby {{R from other capitalisation ...

'' (CD) (Matador, 1998) * ''Live on WFMU'' (CD) (self-released, 2001) * ''Superhits International (Demos 1999)'' (CD) (self-released, 2001) * ''

'' (CD) (Matador, 2001) * '' Music for Courage and Confidence'' (CD) ( New West, 2002) * '' The Ugly American'' (CD) (Soul Sister/Tongue Master/Thirsty Ear, 2003) * '' Candy Ass'' (CD) (

, 2005) * ''Demos Before Love Songs'' (CD) (self-released, 2005) * ''

'' (CD) (Decor, 2009) * ''Brannan Street'' (CD) (self-released, 2010) * '' Don't Be a Stranger'' (CD) (2012) * ''Glory'' (CD) (self-released, 2013) * ''The Konk Sessions'' (self-released, 2013) * ''Hey Mr. Ferryman'' (CD) (Merge/Decor, 2017) * ''Copenhagen'' (CD) (self-released, 2017) In collabaration * ''Mark Eitzel &

: Words + Music'' (CD) (Warner Bros., 1997)

References

External links

*
American Music Club official web siteMark Eitzel interview
on RocknRollDating *Sean Body, ''Wish The World Away: Mark Eitzel and the American Music Club'', SAF Publishing, Ltd. (April 1999), , {{DEFAULTSORT:Eitzel, Mark 1959 births Living people American rock singers American male singer-songwriters American rock songwriters American LGBT musicians LGBT people from California Musicians from the San Francisco Bay Area The Minus 5 members Singer-songwriters from California American Music Club members Merge Records artists Thirsty Ear Recordings artists Cooking Vinyl artists New West Records artists Matador Records artists