Michael Hampton is a

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 ...

in the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

scene.

Biography

His first notable effort was playing guitar in The Extorts in early 1980. There are a few live recordings and a demo tape as evidence of their existence. After The Extorts broke up, Hampton and Henry Garfield (later to become

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

) formed a new group called S.O.A. (State of Alert) and they released a 7" on

Dischord records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release '' Minor Disturbance'' by their band the Teen Id ...

. When S.O.A. split up, Henry Garfield changed his surname to Rollins and moved to Los Angeles as singer of Black Flag. Hampton then joined fellow D.C. punks Alec MacKaye (brother of

Ian MacKaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label, and the frontman of hardcore pu ...

), Eddie Janney, Chris Bald and Ivor Hanson and formed The Faith who released two recordings on the Dischord label - a split LP with VOID and the Subject to Change 12". This group broke up in 1983. Hampton soon joined

Ian Mackaye Ian Thomas Garner MacKaye (; born April 16, 1962) is an American musician. Active since 1979, he is best known as the co-founder and owner of Dischord Records, a Washington, D.C.–based independent record label, and the frontman of hardcore pu ...

, Ivor Hanson and Chris Bald in another D.C. group called Embrace. Along with

Rites of Spring Rites of Spring was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in late 1983. Along with Embrace and Beefeater, they were one of the mainstay acts of the 1985 Revolution Summer movement Andersen, Mark; Jenkins, Mark ( Soft Skul ...

, Embrace is credited as a seminal

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

group, however Ian Mackaye found the term "emocore" disgusting and did not accept the label. A posthumously released album appeared on Dischord in 1987, after they had split up. Hampton then joined a short lived project called

One Last Wish One Last Wish was a short-lived post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C. It was formed in May 1986 by members of Rites of Spring and Embrace, and split up in January 1987. History Amidst the breakup of Rites of Spring in 1986, three of its fo ...

, composed of three ex members of

. This band lasted only a matter of months, but they had recorded one demo which was released some years later on Dischord. Concurrent with One Last Wish, Hampton was involved in another project with Simon Jacobson called The Snakes. This group was primarily a recording project, and rarely played live. The Snakes released two albums on Dischord. In 1990 Hampton teamed up with Ivor Hanson and Bert Queiroz to form Manifesto who were influenced by the English music of the time. They released one album and one 7" to critical acclaim in the UK, but records sales did not follow and soon Hampton's itchy feet made him leave. He has spent the years after producing soundtrack music for many TV programmes, video games and films. Hampton lately performs in a band called Paco along with fellow members Dominique Durand, Andy Chase and Gary Maurer. This group released an album in May 2004 called ''This Is Where We Live'' on Unfiltered Records.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, Michael American punk rock guitarists Year of birth missing (living people) Living people One Last Wish members The Faith (American band) members