David J And The Gentleman Thieves To Release “Gentrification Blues”
7″ Split Single With Darwin B-side Via Starry Records On April 22nd
Trump-Themed Cover Art By Satirical Street Poster Artist Robbie Conal
Video Premieres Today On Innocent Words
“A cure for urban blight at the cost of soul and it’s such a sorry sight and the death knell tolls for me and you.” — lyrics from “Gentrification Blues”
David J and The Gentleman Thieves will release their debut single “Gentrification Blues” via Starry Records on April 22nd. The protest song calls out the soul-sucking influx of corporate affluence into urban neighborhoods, which are often the lifeblood of artistic communities. The split single, which includes the haunting, ethereal track “Horrible Cocoon” by Darwin as the b-side, features appropriately unflattering, Donald Trump-themed cover art by legendary satirical street poster artist Robbie Conal. Both tracks were produced by the artists themselves along with noted producers Brian Liesegang (NIN, Filter, Billy Corgan) and Kerry Brown (Smashing Pumpkins, Ziggy Marley, Courtney Love, Miley Cyrus).
Innocent Words premiered the video for “Gentrification Blues” today. Watch the clip, directed by Linda Strawberry Coloma, here: http://innocentwords.com/innocent-words-video-premiere-david-j-and-the-gentleman-thieves-gentrification/
“‘Gentrification Blues’ is a new track that addresses the downside of avaricious gentrification. A Damoclean sword that looms over present day Bohemia,” explains David J. “It has already fallen in New York City, San Francisco, Paris, London and beyond, decimating artistic communities which simply cannot afford to survive let alone thrive as in former golden days.
“When David J wrote this great tune, ‘Gentrification Blues,’ and asked me to collaborate on designing the cover art, I instantly agreed, says Conal. “I’m definitely feeling that! Cathartically speaking, collaborating with David on this project was a natural blast.”
“I grew up in New York — Manhattan, to be precise,” Conal elaborates. “Lately whenever I go back, it’s all giant cranes and empty glass skyscrapers everywhere, with older buildings now reduced to rubble in gigantic dusty pits. They seem to scream ‘down with funk, up with giant corporate greed.’ (Check out the demon in the dark clouds above the wreckage in our artwork.) Ditto L.A., San Francisco, London, and all over the world for that matter. We can’t just sit around and watch. We gotta do what we can. Here’s a little taste of that.”
David J and The Gentleman Thieves are:
David J – Lead vocals, Guitar and Bass,
Darwin Meiners – Bass Guitar, Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tommy Dietrick – Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Joel Patterson – Drums
Chris Vibberts – Keyboard, Sitar, Horns and Percussion
About David J and the Gentleman Thieves:
Formed amidst the swirling psychedelic prairie dust of The Desert Stars Festival in Joshua Tree in 2013, The Gentleman Thieves is the first full on, down and dirty rock n’ roll band that Bauhaus / Love and Rockets founding member, David J has fronted since the twin shooting stars of his former highly influential bands burned out a decade ago.
Invited to play at the annual festival by organizer and guitarist, Tommy Dietrick, David took up Tommy’s offer of having himself plus stalwart drummer, Joel Patterson augment the line up of solid bassist, Darwin Meiners to make up a four-piece band. Something clicked that night and the band’s set went down a storm. Recently, the group added an especially lustrous jewel to the Thieves’ crown in the form of the prodigiously talented, Chris Vibberts. A brilliant multi-instrumentalist, ‘Mr. V’ has brought a great soulful virtuosity and strong stage presence to bear on the proceedings. The ferocious five piece has since been blazing a trail, playing incendiary shows that have been impressing new converts and old fans alike. http://www.davidjonline.com/
About Darwin:
The music of Darwin offers a subdued tone that nevertheless commands attention. On “Horrible Cocoon,” the California-based artist immerses listeners in a wholly unique experience that crosses the boundaries of genre and compositional tropes, crafting a sound that is both nuanced and expansive. Darwin also plays bass in David J and The Gentleman Thieves. http://www.darwinmeiners.com
About Robbie Conal:
Robbie Conal grew up on the upper west side of Manhattan. Raised by union organizers who considered the major art museums to be day care centers for him, he spent his formative years immersing himself in art history at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other great local art institutions of New York City. He attended High School of Music and Art, and later received his BFA at San Francisco State University (1969), and his Masters of Fine Arts from Stanford University (1978).
In 1986, angered by the Reagan Administration’s rabid abuse of political power in the name of representative democracy, he began making satirical oil portraits of politicians and bureaucrats and turning them into street posters. He gradually developed an irregular guerrilla army of volunteers, who helped him poster the streets of major cities around the country. Over the past 24 years, Conal has made more than 80 street posters satirizing politicians from both political parties, televangelists and global capitalists. He has also taken on subjects like censorship, war, social injustice, and environmental issues.
Conal is considered one of the country’s foremost satirical street poster artists. His work has been featured on “CBS This Morning”, “Charlie Rose” and in Time, Newsweek, The New York Times, the LA Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, People Magazine, Interview, and the Washington Post-which dubbed him, “America’s foremost street artist”. He’s received a National Endowment for the Arts Individual Artist Grant, a Getty Individual Artist Grant and a Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Individual Artist’s Grant (COLA).
Most recently, his work has been collected by-and featured in exhibitions at — LACMA and MOCA in Los Angeles, the San Jose Museum of Art, and his beloved hometown favorite, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. He has authored three books: Art Attack: The Midnight Politics of a Guerrilla Poster Artist, 1992 (HarperCollins); Artburn, 2003 (Akashic Books), and , with wife Deborah Ross, 2009 (Art Attack Press). He currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. http://robbieconal.com
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