Neil Burke is an American musician and artist. He is known as a former member of several

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 ...

and

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

bands, most notably

Born Against Born Against was an American hardcore punk band from New York active between 1989 and 1993. Though Born Against received little media exposure while still together, they have since been described as "legendary" by the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ...

and

Men's Recovery Project Men's Recovery Project was an American experimental noise rock band formed by Sam McPheeters and Neil Burke in Richmond, Virginia, active from 1993–2002. The group's post-modern absurdist musical attitude resulted in a diverse and consisten ...

. Burke is currently a musician, poster artist, graphic designer and screen printer working out of

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania. Burke also ran Lungcast Records, a sporadically active independent record label.

Musical career

Burke began his career as a bassist in

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

bands in the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and New York City areas. After playing with the group Dead Fist, Burke formed

Life's Blood Life's Blood was an American hardcore punk band formed by four first-year college students in New York City in 1987. It consisted of Adam Nathanson on guitars, Neil Burke on bass, John Kriksciun on drums, and Combined Effort all ages shows pr ...

, who played a politicized form of

New York hardcore New York hardcore (also known as NYHC) is both the hardcore punk music created in New York City and the subculture and lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle associated with that music. The scene established many aspects that are fixtures of hardcore ...

. Life's Blood was extant from 1987–1989. Although he co-founded the follow-up band

with guitarist Adam Nathanson, he left early in its career, appearing only on its demo cassette and first compilation track. Burke next joined the short-lived

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

group Menace Dement, playing bass on their debut EP and posthumous album. In 1993, Burke relocated to

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, with Nathanson and Born Against vocalist

Sam McPheeters Sam McPheeters (born 1969) is an American singer, artist, journalist, novelist, and performer. Early life Raised in Albany, New York, Albany, New York (state), New York, he became a published author at age 12, with ''Travelers' Tales'', a collect ...

. He played in the first lineup of Nathanson's

folk punk Folk punk (known in its early days as rogue folk) is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was popularized in the early 1980s by the Pogues in England, and by Violent Femmes in the United States. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in t ...

group

(Young) Pioneers (Young) Pioneers (alternately stylized as Young Pioneers or The (Young) Pioneers) was an American folk punk band from Richmond, Virginia, active from 1993 to 1999. Composed of members of Born Against, Avail, and Universal Order of Armagedd ...

, but appeared only on the group's debut EP. Around this time, he and McPheeters co-founded

, an

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

band, who released several albums and toured extensively over the next ten years before disbanding. Burke also embarked on a solo project called Sinking Body, which played its own brand of brash noise rock.

Work as artist

In addition to playing on many of its recordings, Burke did extensive graphic design work for

Vermiform Records Vermiform Records was an American independent record label that specialized in releasing punk rock music from 1990 until 2002. Vermiform released 58 albums and relocated many times, being headquartered in New York (state), New York, New Jersey, Vi ...

and helped create the label's distinct look. His work with Monoroid, the design and printing company he runs, continues in this stylistic direction. Neil has designed many album covers aside from

and Sinking Body. Some bands include Hail Mary,

Amps for Christ Amps For Christ is the current music project of Man Is the Bastard and Bastard Noise veteran and metal/noise pioneer Henry Barnes. The project is based out of Claremont, California. Concept Conceptually, Amps for Christ originated in 1996, wh ...

and

The Locust The Locust was an American hardcore punk band from San Diego, California, known for their mix of grindcore aggression and new wave experimentation. The band has been noted for their use of insect costumes when performing live. History Prio ...

. In 2007, one of his prints was chosen for the 81st Annual International Competition: Printmaking, at The Print Center in

. His work has been exhibited worldwide in many group and solo shows. He is currently designing record covers, graphic tees and posters for bands and creating illustrations for various magazines when not working on his own music and art.

References

External links

Monoroid web pageDiscogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Neil American punk rock musicians Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from New York City Musicians from Richmond, Virginia Musicians from Philadelphia Men's Recovery Project members Born Against members (Young) Pioneers members 1968 births