Rio Goldhammer
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Rio Sebastian Justin Goldhammer (born 17 May 1990) is an English musician, filmmaker, and writer from Yorkshire. He is best known for fronting the Bradford post-punk band
1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (later Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off th ...
since their reformation in 2014. Goldhammer started on the Leeds underground scene in the mid 2000s, eventually setting up Bunnysnot Records in 2011 as a vehicle for releasing his early work.


Early life

Goldhammer grew up in a non-religious Jewish family in North Yorkshire. His grandfather was from Poland, while the family also has roots in Austria. Goldhammer attended a local Church of England primary school.


In Music


1919

In 2014, Goldhammer started working with 1919's founding guitarist Mark Tighe as he set about re-forming the group. Not wanting to waste time, the pair released a video for their demo of ''Revenge'' as a transitional line-up in which Goldhammer performed bass in addition to vocals. Whilst this video would ultimately catch the eye of Mick Reed and see Tighe's ambition for a 1919 renaissance realised, the interim period saw the pair join up with legendary Leeds producer Will Jackson on a project called Circle of the Absurd (COTA). COTA though, was indefinitely shelved when the 1919 reunion got into full swing. The band self-released a live CD, ''2015: "The Madness Continues" Sessions'' (subsequently released on vinyl by Old Skull in 2018), which contained classic 1919 songs alongside four new tracks which would become the ''Death Note'' EP. Amidst a busy touring schedule over the next year, 1919 signed to Westworld Recordings to release their second studio album, ''Bloodline'', which was well received by fans and critics. This was followed up by the ''D.N.A'' EP, the inaugural physical release on the band's Cry Wolf label, after Tighe's death in 2017. During Tighe's illness, Goldhammer re-started work on the COTA album hoping that his bandmate would be able to hear some of it finished. Thanks to the hard work of producer Jackson, who also provided programming and synths for the album, and filmmaker Carl Arnfield (who had made the ''Revenge'', ''Death Note'', and ''Bloodline'' videos), Goldhammer was able to release the eponymous
Circle of the Absurd
' video just days before losing his friend to cancer. The first four completed COTA tracks were released as a limited edition cassette on Bunnysnot Records later that year, and Goldhammer's video for ''A Hymn to the Night'', the second A-side track on D.N.A, featured performances from Tighe's daughters in a moving tribute to their late father. In 2018, 1919 signed to Los Angeles label
Cleopatra Records Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label that has the sub-labels Hypnotic Records, Goldenlane, Stardust, Purple Pyramid, Deadline and X-Ray Records. History Founded in January 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in go ...
for their third studio album, ''Futurecide'' (Goldhammer's second with the group). In a 2021 interview with Goth Haus LA, he revealed the band would be releasing their new album, Citizens of Nowhere, later that year.


Solo career

On 21 September 2018, Goldhammer released his debut solo EP, ''RUSSIA*IRAN*DISCO*SUCK'' (the name is taken from
Thomas Frank Thomas Carr Frank (born March 21, 1965) is an American political analyst, historian, and journalist. He co-founded and edited '' The Baffler'' magazine. Frank is the author of the books '' What's the Matter with Kansas?'' (2004) and '' Listen, L ...
's ''What's The Matter With Kansas''?), at Minicave festival,
Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
, as part of a short solo tour where he also performed songs from Circle of the Absurd. The subsequent album, ''Peur Rouge'', was made available to order with the release of a new video, "Breathe", on 25 October.


Outside music

In 2016 Goldhammer won a Carnegie Faculty studentship to research at
Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LMU) and before that as Leeds Polytechnic, is a public university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has campuses in the Leeds city centre, city centre and Hea ...
. Previously, Goldhammer had completed a BA (Hons) in
Cultural Studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...
and an MA in
Political Theory Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from d ...
at the
University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...
. In 2018 Goldhammer's debut short documentary, ''Punk Rock Politics'', was released on
Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...
. Filmed in 2016, the film documents the final days of Goldhammer's unsuccessful campaign to be elected to council in a provincial ward of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, where he was a candidate for The Labour Party. The film was an official selection in 2017 for the ''Workers Unite Film Festival'' in New York and the ''London Labour Film Festival'', with the latter awarding it a Highly Commended status as the runner-up for its Short Documentary prize. In 2020, Goldhammer ran for the Labour candidacy for
Mayor of West Yorkshire The mayor of West Yorkshire is a directly elected mayor responsible for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire in England. The mayor chairs and leads the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and assumes the office and powers of the West Yorks ...
. Despite making it through the first round, he fell short of the final shortlist and the candidacy was ultimately won by
Batley and Spen Batley and Spen was a constituency in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The most recent MP was Kim Leadbeater, a Labour Party (UK), Labour politician, who was elected in 2021 Batley and Spen by-el ...
MP
Tracy Brabin Tracy Lynn Brabin (born 9 May 1961) is a British politician who has been the Mayor of West Yorkshire since the office was established on 10 May 2021. She was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Batley and Spen from 2016 to 2021 under ...
. His platform included rent control, migrant rights, and Yorkshire Devolution. As a writer Goldhammer has covered a broad range of subjects relating to art, identity, and politics. His work has been published in ''Sounds and the City'' (Palgrave), Metal Music Studies (Intellect), and in international news publications such as ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...
'' and ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''. He is also a regular contributor to ''Souciant'' and
The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...
.


References


External links

*
Discogs
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldhammer, Rio 1990 births Living people Academics of Leeds College of Music Alumni of Leeds Beckett University Alumni of the University of Leeds English people of Austrian-Jewish descent English people of Polish-Jewish descent English punk rock bass guitarists English punk rock singers Jewish English musicians Musicians from Yorkshire