J. G. Thirlwell

James George Thirlwell (born January 29th 1960), aka Clint Ruin, aka Frank Want, aka Jim Foetus, is a rock vocalist, composer and producer whose work can be broadly categorised in the No Wave and Industrial music genres.

Biography

Thirlwell was born in Melbourne, Australia. He briefly studied Fine Art at Melbourne State College (now part of the University of Melbourne) before moving to London, England in 1978, where he played with the post-punk band prag VEC and formed the first of his numerous musical projects, Foetus. He released his first 7" single, OKFM/Spite Your Face, in 1981, on his own Self-Immolation record label. Over the next three years, he would release two more singles, a 12" EP, and three full-length albums, Deaf, Ache, and Hole, the latter his first release on Some Bizzare Records.

In 1983 Thirlwell moved to New York, where he is still based between his frequent tours. Since his move he has released six singles, fourteen EPs, including Stinkfist, with fellow New York artist Lydia Lunch, and seventeen full length albums, as well as remixing numerous pieces for such diverse artists as Nine Inch Nails, Front 242, The The, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Marilyn Manson, and Voivod. In the 1980's, under the pseudonym Clint Ruin, Thirlwell contributed to some releases by Nurse With Wound.

Since 2000 Thirlwell has become more active as a composer, having written commissions for Bang on a Can and Kronos Quartet and scored the Adult Swim cartoon The Venture Bros. He also began two cinematic instrumental projects, Steroid Maximus and Manorexia.

Alter egos and split personalities

Throughout the span of his career, Thirlwell has toyed with his own identity by releasing music in the guise of numerous alter egos. During the earliest phases of his recording, Thirlwell's "groups" were comprised of a plethora of fictional characters: Foetus Under Glass supposedly consisted of Frank Want, Phillip Toss and two Brazilian statistics collectors; Scraping Foetus off the Wheel was claimed to be the work of Want and Clint Ruin. Furthering the confusion, Thirlwell adopted these personas outside of his own recordings; for example, Frank Want can be found on The The's Soul Mining.

Thirlwell's persona of Clint Ruin was particularly notable. During the mid-1980s and early-1990's Thirlwell exclusively went by this pseudonym, even conducting interviews as Ruin. As Ruin, Thirlwell was a member of Wiseblood and Flesh Volcano, recorded two collaborative EPs with Lydia Lunch, and starred in and scored films of Richard Kern. Ruin is also credited on numerous releases for a variety of roles with Boss Hog, Coil, Fur Bible, Annie Hogan, Nurse With Wound, Pigface, Sonic Youth, Workdogs and others.

This practice seems to have been discontinued prior to 1995, and "J. G. Thirlwell" is credited on all subsequent musical recordings. However, Thirlwell currently makes DJ appearances under the pseudonym DJ OTESFU.

Music

J. G. Thirlwell's music - under his various project names: Foetus, Wiseblood, Steroid Maximus, Baby Zizanie, Manorexia and others - includes elements of punk rock, 20th century classical music, big band, Americana, African and Cuban percussion, and epic/horror film soundtracks. Much of Thirlwell's aural output is built on a percussive, rock music-type structure, though to call it rock music would be inaccurate and a gross understatement. Thirlwell prefers not to categorize music in general, and this is evidenced in the way his music renders genres meaningless: by means of accomplished studio-as-instrument craftsmanship, Thirlwell combines percussion, strings, distortion, brass, electric guitars, electronic sounds and voice into a single, frenzied, epic symphony of hate, pain, violence, grief, beauty and fury - at once powerful, complex and primal. Recurring lyrical themes include destruction, persecution, anxiety, abuse, incest, masochism, angst, self-destruction, self-abuse, lust, prejudice, murder, failure and machismo, often expressed using American colloquialism and black humour.

Musical projects

Foetus — Thirlwell’s main project. Since 1990, all Foetus songs feature lead vocals.
Steroid Maximus — Primary instrumental project.
Manorexia — Experimental instrumental project.
DJ OTESFU — DJ work.
Wiseblood — Collaboration with Roli Mosimann.
Flesh Volcano — Collaboration with Marc Almond.
Baby Zizanie — Collaboration with Jim Coleman.
Garage Monsters — Collaboration with skater artist the P!zz.
The Immaculate Consumptive — Touring ensemble with Lydia Lunch, Nick Cave, and Marc Almond
The Venture Bros. — Musical score by Thirlwell.

Partial discography

Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch — Stinkfist (EP, 1987)
Garage Monsters — Powerhouse! (7" single, 1990). A cover of Raymond Scott's "Powerhouse" This recording was later credited to Steroid Maximus.
Clint Ruin & Lydia Lunch — Don't Fear the Reaper (EP, 1991)
Garage Monsters — Safari To Mumbooba! (10" single, 1992)

Other projects' discographies are available on their respective main articles: Foetus, Steroid Maximus, Manorexia, Wiseblood, Flesh Volcano, Baby Zizanie

External links