John Balance
709954
225400036
2008-07-13T14:05:12Z
90.197.35.15
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{{for|the 19th-century New Zealand premier|John Ballance}}
{{Infobox musical artist
|Name = John Balance
|Img = Gefftwbeech-BW.jpg
|Img_capt =
|Background = solo_singer
|Birth_name = Geff Rushton
|Alias = John Balance, Jhonn Balance, Jhon Balance
|Born = {{birth date|1962|2|16|mf=y}}
|Died = {{death date and age|2004|11|13|1962|2|16|mf=y}}
|Origin = [[Mansfield, England|Mansfield]], [[England]]
|Instrument = Vocals, Keyboard, Bass Guitar, Chapman Stick, Organ, Violin
|Genre = [[Industrial music]]
|Occupation = Musician
|Years_active = [[1979]] - [[2004]]
|Label = [[Chalice (record label)|Chalice]], [[Threshold House]], [[Eskaton]]
|Associated_acts = [[Coil (band)|Coil]]<br>[[Psychic TV]]
}}
'''John Balance''' (first name also spelled ''Jhon'' and ''Jhonn''; born Geff Rushton/Geoffrey Laurence Burton; [[February 16]], [[1962]] – [[November 13]], [[2004]]), born in [[Mansfield, England|Mansfield]], [[England]], was the founder of the experimental music group [[Coil (band)|Coil]], along with his partner [[Peter Christopherson]].<ref name="guardian">{{citation |title= Obituary: John Balance |first=Richard |last=Smith |date=[[2004-12-11]] |periodical=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=[[2007-08-22]] |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1371372,00.html}}.</ref> He was responsible for vocals, lyrics, chants, synthetics and various esoteric sound-making instruments and devices. Outside of Coil he collaborated with [[Nurse With Wound]], [[Death In June]], [[Psychic TV]], [[Current 93]], [[Thighpaulsandra]], and produced a couple of [[Nine Inch Nails]] remixes. His early work and wide-ranging collaborations made him one of the most influential figures in the [[industrial music|industrial]], experimental [[minimal music|minimalist]] and [[neofolk]] music scenes.
==Magick==
Balance had strong interest in [[Magick|magickians]] and [[occultists]] such as [[Brion Gysin]], [[John Dee]], [[William Burroughs]], [[Aleister Crowley]] and [[Austin Osman Spare]]. He was inspired by the works of Crowley, Dee, Spare, Ex-[[the Velvet Underground|Velvet Underground]] member/mystical poet/percussionist [[Angus Maclise]], poet/painter [[William Blake]] and [[Surrealism|Surrealist]] painter/sculptor [[Max Ernst]]. Balance expressed interest in belief systems such as [[Shamanism]], [[Christianity]], [[Buddhism]], [[Paganism]], [[Hermeticism]] and [[Gnosticism]] and applied certain aspects of these to his musical projects. Balance referenced magick devices such as [[sigil (magic)|sigils]].
==Alcoholism and death==
He had long struggled with [[alcoholism]], which was cited as one of the major contributing factors to the breakup of his long-standing relationship with [[Industrial Records]]' co-founder [[Peter Christopherson]], and was a recurring theme in his later musical work. Balance died after tipping over the banisters at his home[http://www.thresholdhouse.com/departures.html] while under the influence of alcohol.
==Discography==
Balance's first known track is under the alias "Merderwerkers" titled "Blue Funk (Scars For E)" on the cassette compilation ''Standard Response''. Balance also published a magazine called "Stabmental" and released a track titled, "A Thin Veil Of Blood" under the alias Stabmental, on the cassette compilation ''Deleted Funtime - Various Tunes For Various Loons''. Balance then joined up with Peter Christopherson and [[Boyd Rice]] recording ''[[Nightmare Culture]]'' under the alias "The Sickness of Snakes" and performed alongside Christopherson in [[Psychic TV]] before the duo formed Coil. A short collaboration between [[Zos Kia]] produced the album [[Transparent (album)|Transparent]]. The album was dually credited and marked Coil's first release.
During the 23 year career of Coil, Balance collaborated with many other artists such as [[Thighpaulsandra]], [[Current 93]], and [[CoH (musician)|CoH]], appearing on many albums other than Coil's.
===With Psychic TV===
*''[[Dreams Less Sweet]]''
*''[[Just Drifting]]''
*''[[Berlin Atonal Vol. 2]]''
*''[[N.Y. Scum]]''
*''[[Thee City Ov Tokyo/Thee City Ov New York]]''
*''[[Mein-Goett-In-Gen]]''
===With Coil===
{{main|Coil discography}}
===Other groups===
*Merderwerkers: "Blue Funk (Scars For E)" on [[Sterile Records]] compilation ''[[Standard Response]]''. (1979)
*Stabmental: "A Thin Veil Of Blood" on compilation ''[[Deleted Funtime - Various Tunes For Various Loons]]''. (1980)
*Sickness of Snakes: ''[[Nightmare Culture]]'' (1985)
*[[Rosa Mundi]]: "The Snow Man" on compilations ''[[The Final Solstice]]'', ''[[The Final Solstice II]]'' and split album ''Grief'' (1999)
===Other contributions===
{| class="wikitable" border="1"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
! Date of first pressing !! Song title !! Released on !! Group name released under !! Musical Role
|-
|1981
|"Yellowsong"
|[[Video Rideo]]
|[[Cultural Amnesia]]
|organ and violin
|-
|1982
|
|[[Endzeit (compilation album)|Endzeit]]
|(various)
|compiled songs on compilation
|-
|1983
|"Here to Go"
|[[Sinclair's Luck]]
|Cultural Amnesia
|wrote lyrics, also designed packaging and sleeve notes for album
|-
|1983
|"Scar For E"
|[[The Uncle Of The Boot]]
|Cultural Amnesia
|wrote lyrics
|-
|1983
|
|[[Music For Hashashins]]
|[[Vagina Dentata Organ]]
|created wolf growl sample (along with Peter Christopherson) and helped in the recording process of the album
|-
|1984 January
|
|[[LAShTAL]]
|[[Current 93]]
|featuring
|-
|1985
|
|[[Bar Maldoror]]
|Current 93
|bass guitar, miscellaneous
|-
|1985
|
|Live At Bar Maldoror: Gyllensköld, Geijerstam And Friends
|[[Nurse With Wound]]
|featuring
|-
|1985
|
|[[The Sylvie And Babs Hi-Fi Companion]]
|Nurse With Wound
|featuring
|-
|1986
|
|[[Happy Birthday Pigface Christus]]
|Current 93
|featuring
|-
|1986
|
|[[In Menstrual Night]]
|Current 93
|featuring
|-
|1987
|"Europa: The Gates of Heaven"
|[[To Drown A Rose]]
|Death In June
|vocals
|-
|1987
|"We Are The Lust"
|[[Brown Book (album)|Brown Book]]
|Death In June
|co-wrote and appears on track
|-
|1987
|
|[[Dawn (Current 93 album)|Dawn]]
|Current 93
|bass guitar, miscellaneous
|-
|1987
|
|[[Imperium (album)|Imperium]]
|Current 93
|
|-
|1988
|
|[[Earth Covers Earth]]
|Current 93
|performer
|-
|1988
|"Anti-Christ Anti-Christian"
|[[Peyrere]]
|Current 93
|performer
|-
|1988
|
|[[Swastikas For Noddy]]
|Current 93
|featuring
|-
|1988
|
|[[The Red Face Of God]]
|Current 93
|featuring
|-
|1989
|
|[[Crooked Crosses For The Nodding God]]
|Current 93
|vocals
|-
|1991
|
|[[A Document Of Early Acoustic & Tactical Experimentation]]
|[[Lustmord]]
|featuring
|-
|1992
|"LAShTAL", "Salt"
|[[Nature Unveiled]]
|Current 93
|performer
|-
|1992
|"All The Stars Are Dead Now", "Rosy Star Tears From Heaven"
|[[Thunder Perfect Mind (album)|Thunder Perfect Mind]]
|Current 93
|vocals
|-
|1993
|
|[[The Nodding Folk]]
|[[The Apocalyptic Folk In The Nodding God Unveiled]]
|
|-
|1993
|"Great Black Time I (Excerpt)", "Sucking Up Souls (Excerpt)", "Great Black Time II (Excerpt)", "Great Black Time III (Excerpt)", "Maldoror Is Ded Ded Ded Ded"
|[[Emblems: The Menstrual Years]]
|Current 93
|featuring
|-
|1993
|"Hitler As Kalki (SDM)", "Christ And The Pale Queens Mighty In Sorrow"
|[[Hitler As Kalki]]
|Current 93
|featuring
|-
|1994
|"Lucifer Over London Parts I & II"
|[[Lucifer Over London]]
|Current 93
|vocals
|-
|1995
|"Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight)"
|[[Where The Long Shadows Fall (Beforetheinmostlight)]]
|Current 93
|vocals
|-
|1996
|"The Long Shadow Falls", "Twilight Twilight Nihil Nihil", "The Inmost Light Itself"
|[[All The Pretty Little Horses]]
|Current 93
|vocals
|-
|1998
|"To Drown A Rose"
|[[Kameradschaft]]
|Death In June
|provides vocals, this is an outtake version of the song
|-
|1999
|"Grief"
|[[Borderlands]]
|Tactile
|provides vocals
|-
|1999
|"The Snow Man"
|[[The Final Solstice]]
|[[Rosa Mundi]]
|provides vocals
|-
|1999
|"Lucifer Over London"
|[[Calling For Vanished Faces]]
|Current 93
|vocals
|-
|1999
|"Misery Farm"
|[[Misery Farm]]
|Current 93
|featuring
|-
|2000
|"Silence Is Golden"
|[[Vox Tinnitus]]
|[[CoH (musician)|CoH]]
|wrote lyrics
|-
|2000 March 01
|"Black Nurse", "Tudor Fruits"
|[[Some Head EP]]
|Thighpaulsandra
|vocals
|-
|2001
|"Love's Septic Domain (Health & Dificiency)"
|[[Love Uncut]]
|CoH
|provides vocals, duet with Louise Weasel
|-
|2001
|
|[[Cats Drunk On Copper]]
|Current 93
|featuring
|-
|2001 August 06
|Fouled
|[[The Michel Publicity Window E.P.]]
|[[Thighpaulsandra]]
|"vocals and text", album art
|-
|2001
|Optical Black
|[[I, Thighpaulsandra]]
|[[Thighpaulsandra]]
|"vocals and text"
|-
|2003 June 23
|"He Tastes Of The Sea"
|[[Double Vulgar]]
|Thighpaulsandra
|featuring
|-
|2004
|"Lucifer Over London"
|[[Sixsixsix Sicksicksick]]
|Current 93
|vocals
|-
|2004
|"E2 = Tree 3"
|[[Toilet Chants]]
|[[Black Sun Productions]]
|provides vocals
|-
|2005
|"Fj Nettlefold", "Make Room For The Mushrooms"
|[[A Nature Of Nonsense]]
|[[Danny Hyde|Aural Rage]]
|vocals, written by
|-
|2005
|"A List of Wishes"
|[[operettAmorale]]
|[[Black Sun Productions]]
|vocals
|-
|2005 December 23
|"Christ's Teeth"
|[[...It Just Is]]
|Thighpaulsandra
|vocals
|-
|2006 February
|"Star Malloy"
|[[Not Alone]]
|Thighpaulsandra
|[[ARP 2600]] synthesizer
|-
|2006 July 01
|"A Tree Now"
|[[The Impossibility of Silence]]
|[[Black Sun Productions]]
|provides vocals (howling)
|-
|2007 July
|"Fetish for Today", "Scars for E", "Here to Go"
|[[Enormous Savages]]
|[[Cultural Amnesia]]
|wrote lyrics
|-
|2007 November
|"Hot in the House", "Scars For E (Alternate Take 2)", "Spoilt Children"
|[[Press My Hungry Button]]
|[[Cultural Amnesia]]
|wrote lyrics
|-
|2007 November
|"Scars For E (Alternate Take 1)"
|[[Still Hungry (Cultural Amnesia album)|Still Hungry]]
|Cultural Amnesia
|wrote lyrics
|}
==References==
<references />
* [http://www.thresholdhouse.com/departures.html Peter Christopherson's announcement of John's death]
==External links==
* [http://www.heathenharvest.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20041209134726123 John Balance Heathen Harvest Memorial]
* [http://www.brainwashed.com/coil The Solar Lodge]
* [http://www.thresholdhouse.com/ Threshold House] memorial site
* [http://www.13t.org/decondicionamiento/forum/viewtopic.php?t=182 John Balance long biography (spanish)]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1371372,00.html The Guardian's obituary of John Balance]
[[Category:1962 births|Balance, John]]
[[Category:2004 deaths|Balance, John]]
[[Category:Accidental deaths from falls|Balance, John]]
[[Category:British experimental musicians|Balance, John]]
[[Category:British industrial musicians|Balance, John]]
[[Category:Chaos magicians|John Balance]]
[[Category:English songwriters|Balance, John]]
[[Category:English male singers|Balance, John]]
[[Category:Gay musicians|Balance, John]]
[[Category:LGBT people from England|Balance, John]]
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[[ru:Джон Бэланс]]