Red Temple Spirits were an American

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

band from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, formed in 1987.

History

Forming in 1987, the group's original lineup consisted of vocalist William Faircloth, guitarist Dallas Taylor, bass guitarist Dino Paredes and drummer Thomas Pierik. Faircloth, an immigrant from England, had previously sung for trio Ministry of Love, who released the ''Wide Awake and Dreaming'' EP in 1987 on the label Underworld. Paredes had previously played with Kelly Wheeler of

Psi Com Psi Com was an American post-punk band of the early 1980s, consisting of Perry Farrell (vocals), Aaron Sherer (drums and percussion), Vince Duran (guitar) and Kelly Wheeler (bass). Prominent in the underground Los Angeles music scene, the group ...

. Pierik and Taylor had earlier been members of the Web, along with bassist Johann Schumann (later of

Christian Death Christian Death is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles County, California, in 1979 by Rozz Williams. With major line-up changes over the years, Christian Death has retained "a relentlessly confrontational stand against organized religion ...

). Red Temple Spirits' name was inspired by the song "Two Headed Dog (Red Temple Prayer)" by

Roky Erickson Roger Kynard "Roky" Erickson (July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019) was an American musician and singer-songwriter. Called an "outsider genius," he was a founding member and the leader of the 13th Floor Elevators and a pioneer of the psychedelic r ...

, whom they admired. Other influences ranged from

bands such as

the Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

and

Savage Republic Savage Republic (originally named Africa Corps) is an American, Los Angeles–based post-punk band, formed in the early 1980s and known for lengthy songs with an emphasis on percussion and droning guitars. The group reformed in 2002 and remains ...

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluci ...

artists like

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

(they covered " The Nile Song" and "

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd, appearing on their second album, ''A Saucerful of Secrets'' (1968). It was written by Roger Waters, taking lyrics from a Chinese poetry book, and features ...

" on their releases), melded with Native American and Tibetan mysticism. Red Temple Spirits released two albums on the Nate Starkman & Son label, distributed by Fundamental Records: double-LP set '' Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon'' (1988) and '' If Tomorrow I Were Leaving for Lhasa, I Wouldn't Stay a Minute More...'' (1989). Their sole single, an elaborately packaged release (a limited-edition, numbered edition of 1,200 copies) on

Independent Project Records Independent Project Records (IPR) is an independent record label based in Bishop, California. It was founded by Bruce Licher in 1980 in Los Angeles, then moved to Sedona, Arizona, between 1992 and 2009. The label started when the ''Project 197'' 7� ...

to benefit

Tibet House Tibet Houses are an international, loosely affiliated group of nonprofit cultural preservation organizations established at the request of the Dalai Lama. They work to preserve, present, and protect Tibet's ancient traditions in philosophy, mi ...

, featured

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

"New Land" (recorded in 1987 as part of the band's first demo) and B-side "Exodus from Lhasa" (recorded in 1989). Red Temple Spirits began to garner more attention in late 1989 after a promo video for "City of Millions" was shown on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's ''

120 Minutes ''120 Minutes'' is a television program in the United States dedicated to the Alternative rock, alternative music genre, that originally aired on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then aired on MTV's associate channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003. After it ...

'' and they performed at the 1989

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

Music Marathon in New York City.https://www.facebook.com/pg/redtemplespirits/about/ With new drummer Scott McPherson, the band toured the United States in early 1990 to promote ''If Tomorrow I Were Leaving for Lhasa'', garnering significant press and a devoted cult fanbase, but lapsed into inactivity later that year following a serious van accident in California. They disbanded in 1992, with Faircloth and Taylor relocating to

Sedona Sedona ( ) is a city that straddles the county line between Coconino and Yavapai counties in the northern Verde Valley region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,031. The city is within the Coconino Nati ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. Paredes, who had worked as an art director for music labels Triple X, Priority and

Chameleon Chameleons or chamaeleons (Family (biology), family Chamaeleonidae) are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of Old World lizards with 200 species described as of June 2015. The members of this Family (biology), family are best known for ...

, later became vice president of A&R for

Rick Rubin Frederick Jay Rubin (, ; born March 10, 1963) is an American record producer. He is a co-founder of Def Jam Recordings, founder of American Recordings, and former co-president of Columbia Records. Rubin helped popularize hip hop by produci ...

's American Recordings, where he signed System of a Down and

Wesley Willis Wesley Lawrence Willis (May 31, 1963 – August 21, 2003) was an American musician and visual artist. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1989, Willis began a career as an underground singer-songwriter in the outsider music tradition. Will ...

among others. While in Sedona, Faircloth (a printer for Independent Project Press) and Taylor recorded a cassette-only album, ''The Alien Host'', under the name Invisible Opera Company of Tibet. It was released in 1996 by

Parasol Records Parasol Records is an American independent record label based in Urbana, Illinois. The label was founded by Geoff Merritt as an outgrowth of the catalog Parasol Mail Order (which was started in 1991). The Parasol Records banner also includes the ...

. The pair briefly revived the name Red Temple Spirits in 1998, but did not release any new material. Alex Koffler (great-nephew of

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

and later the musician behind the projects the Beauty Above and Blackswan) played keyboards in this lineup. After nearly a decade of dormancy, Faircloth, Taylor and Pierik discussed a reformation in 2007, but plans to record a third album did not come to fruition and the band remained inactive. Independent Project Records remastered the first two albums and reissued them as a limited-edition two-disc box set in 2013, with three bonus tracks: both sides of the "New Land" 7" and a previously unreleased remake of "New Land". The first 300 copies in IPR's numbered edition also included a bonus third disc featuring four remastered tracks from the band's 1987 demo. Guitarist and founding member Dallas Taylor died Feb 10th, 2023.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon'' (1988, Nate Starkman & Son/Fundamental) *'' If Tomorrow I Were Leaving for Lhasa, I Wouldn't Stay a Minute More...'' (1989, Nate Starkman & Son/Fundamental)

Singles

*"New Land"/"Exodus from Lhasa" 7" (1989,

)

Compilation albums

*''Red Temple Spirits'' box set (2013, Independent Project Records)

References

External links

* {{Authority control American post-punk music groups American art rock groups American experimental rock groups Musical groups disestablished in 1992 Musical groups established in 1987 Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups reestablished in 2007 American musical quartets Psychedelic rock music groups from California