The Von Bondies

The Von Bondies

The Von Bondies are an American alternative rock band. The current members are Jason Stollsteimer on vocals and lead guitar, Christy Hunt on rhythm guitar and Leann Banks on bass guitar.

The original line-up formed at the 1997 Cramps/Guitar Wolf show by Stollsteimer and Marcie Bolen. They went through a variety of member changes and band names, including The Baby Killers, before settling on 'The Von Bondies' in 2000. Don Blum joined the band around 1999 after attending numerous Baby Killers shows, while Leann Banks was picked via an audition. The Von Bondies got their break by playing a New Year's Eve show in Detroit, MI in 2000. In attendance at the show was Long Gone John, owner of the Sympathy for the Record Industry label. This led to Sympathy releasing the band's debut album Lack of Communication in 2001.

In 2003, the band released the live Raw and Rare through Dim Mak Records, which was followed by their 2004 breakthrough release, Pawn Shoppe Heart, on Sire Records. Met with glowing reviews, Pawn Shoppe was produced by Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads and co-produced by singer Jason Stollsteimer.

The album reached a peak of #36 in the UK and #8 on Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart and stayed in the chart for eight weeks. The big single from this release was "C'mon C'mon," which reached #25 on the Billboard Singles chart and garnered national radio play for the band.

A shortened version of "C'mon C'mon" is the theme song to the TV series Rescue Me and is performed live by the band in Michael Winterbottom's film 9 Songs. MLB Network also uses a brief clip of the song as the opening of their new show 30 Clubs in 30 Days.

In 2008, the band signed with indie label Majordomo Records, joining label mates The Airborne Toxic Event and Earlimart. Their label debut, Love, Hate and Then There's You, was released in February 2009 featuring the single "Pale Bride."

Known as a touring act, The Von Bondies have headlined tours of the United Kingdom/Europe, Australia, and the United States, taking along supporting bands like The Kills, Kasabian, Franz Ferdinand, Modey Lemon, SSM, The Subways, The Stills, Hot Panda and The Donnas. They have also appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Last Call with Carson Daly and CD:UK.

The Von Bondies song "C'mon C'mon" was announced to appear as a downloadable track for the music video game series Rock Band on March 31, 2009.

Biography

Early days

In 2000 Jason Stollsteimer attended a concert by Japanese garage punk band Guitar Wolf with Marcie Bolen. At the time, Stollsteimer was working a job as a bowling alley bartender and Marcie as a hair dresser. The performance spurred him to create his own band, The Baby Killers, which toured with fellow Detroit bands The Detroit Cobras, The Go and The White Stripes. After recruiting Lauren Wilcox on bass and Don Blum on drums the band changed their name to the Von Bondies.

While playing a handful of shows in the Detroit area, the quartet recorded singles "It Came From Japan," an ode to Guitar Wolf, and "Nite Train." Jim Diamond produced the Von Bondies' debut album, Lack of Communication, in late 2001. It was recorded in only three days.

Lack of Communication (2001-2002)

Lack of Communication is the band's first album, released in 2001 by Sympathy for the Record Industry, and released in the UK by Sweet Nothing Records. Much darker than subsequent directions undertaken by the band, the album was said at the time to have been produced by Jack White of The White Stripes. However, since a highly-publicized altercation between Stollsteimer and White, the band now says that Jim Diamond was the album's producer. In addition to Detroit garage rock, the album also displayed other influences, such as the jazzy showtune-esque song "No Sugar Mama." The tracks "Shallow Grave" and "Nite Train" both display surf rock passages, amidst their heavy pummeling and lyrical morbidity. "Cass and Henry" is a sparse, almost spoken word narrative of a nocturnal encounter with a tall stranger. "In the Act" and "Sound of Terror" contain droning slide guitar and considerably slow tempos. On the last track, after a silence following the song Rock 'n' Roll Nurse, there's a hidden bonus track: a cover of Sam Cooke's Bring It On Home to Me, with Marcie Bolen on lead vocals. The band said this is the least expensive album they made.

Pawn Shoppe Heart (2003-2005)

The group relocated to a San Francisco recording studio in early 2002 with producer Jerry Harrison to begin work on Pawn Shoppe Heart. "We were really insistent about finding our own sound," Jason recounts. "We were never happy with our first record. It's always been a challenge to capture the power of our live show but I think we've come a lot closer this time."

Broken ties

On the evening of December 13, 2003, an altercation occurred between Stollsteimer and the White Stripes frontman Jack White during the record release party for the band Blanche at The Magic Stick (a Detroit music club.) Stollsteimer was treated for injuries at Detroit Receiving Hospital.

Love, Hate And Then There's You (2009-Present)

The Von Bondies have finished recording their new album. It is called Love, Hate and Then There's You and was released on February 3, 2009. They are currently touring in anticipation of their album, and in the meantime will release a limited-edition 7-inch single of "Pale Bride" from the forthcoming album, backed with the non-album song "Falling In Love."

The Von Bondies celebrated their 9th year together with the release of their third full length record, Love, Hate And Then There's You. This new record sense includes the first single “Pale Bride” and the anthemic leadoff track “This Is Our Perfect Crime,” plus pounders like “I Don’t Wanna” and “Chancer.” A limited-edition 7-inch single featuring the song “Pale Bride” and the non-album B-side “Falling In Love” was released in advance of the album. Also of note is that this is the first Von Bondies release on which Don Blum co-writes with Stollsteimer. Love, Hate was produced by Jason Stollsteimer, three songs by Butch Walker (Hot Hot Heat, The Donnas, All-American Rejects) and 3 songs by Rick Parker (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club). All songs were written by Jason Stollsteimer, except "Blame Game" and "Earthquake" co-written by Stollsteimer and Blum.

Members

• Jason Stollsteimer: Vocals and guitar
• Leann Banks: Bass guitar and vocals
• Christy Hunt: Guitar and vocals
• Don Blum: Drums and percussion

Past members

• Lauren Wilcox: Bass guitar (2001)
• Carrie Ann Smith: Bass guitar and vocals, (2001-2004)
• Yasmine Smith: Bass guitar and vocals, touring member (2004-2006)
• Marcie Bolen: Guitar, (2001-2006)
• Alicia Gbur: Guitar, keyboards, vocals, touring member (November 2007-March 2008)
• Matt Lannoo: Guitar, touring member (November 2007-March 2008)

Discography

Albums

• Lack of Communication (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2001)
• Raw and Rare (Intheact Records/Dim Mak Records, 2003)
• Pawn Shoppe Heart (Sire Records, 2004)
• Love, Hate and Then There's You (Majordomo Records, 2009)

Year	Album	U.S. Billboard 200	UK Albums Chart
2001	Lack of Communication	-	-
2003	Raw and Rare	-	-
2004	Pawn Shoppe Heart	197	36
2009	Love, Hate and Then There's You	-	-

EP's

• "We Are Kamikazes" (Intheact Records, 2008)

Singles

• "Nite Train 7" (D wreckED hiT Records, 2000)
• "It Came From Japan" 7" (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2001)
• "It Came From Japan" CD Single (Sweet Nothing, 2002)
• "Tell Me What You See" 7" (Must Destroy Music, 2002)
• "C'mon C'mon" 7" (WEA international, 2004)
• "C'mon C'mon" CD Single (WEA International, 2004)
• "Tell Me What You See" CD Single Part 1 (WEA International, 2004)
• "Tell Me What You See" CD Single Part 2 (WEA International, 2004)
• "Tell Me What You See" 7" (Sire Records, 2004)
• "Pale Bride" 7" (Majordomo Records, 2008)

Year	Song	Chart positions				Album
		U.S. Hot 100	U.S. Modern Rock	U.S. Main- stream Rock	UK Singles Chart
2004	"C'mon C'mon"	-	25	-	21	Pawn Shoppe Heart
	"Tell Me What You See"	-	-	-	43	Pawn Shoppe Heart

Compilations

• Sympathetic Sounds Of Detroit LP/CD (Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2001, SFTRI 623)
• X-Mas Surprise Package Volume 4 7" (Flying Bomb Records, 2001, FLB-118)
• New Blood - The New Rock N Roll Vol 2 CD (Artrocker, 2002, RRR 33003)
• X-Ray CD01 (Swinstead Publishing Limited, 2002, CD01)
• Rough Trade Shops Rock And Roll 2xCD (Mute, 2002, CDStumm 212)
• The New Rock Revolution CD (NME Magazine, 2002, NME CD 02-?)
• Dim Mak 2003 Sampler CD (Dim Mak, 2003, DM 045)
• X-Mas Surprise Package (The Collector's Edition) CD (Flying Bomb Records, 2002, FLB-122)
• Smash Music Sampler CD (Smash Music, 2004, smash 008)
• Sympathy For The Download 00 CD (Record Collection Music, 2004)
• House of Wax Soundtrack (Maverick Records, 2005)
• Rescue Me Soundtrack (Nettwerk Records, 2006)
• Lost Boys: The Tribe Soundtrack (Adrenaline Records, 2008)

Videography

Music Videos:

• It Came From Japan
• C'mon C'mon
• Tell Me What You See
• Pale Bride

DVDs featuring the Von Bondies:

• 9 Songs - Features a live performance of "C'mon C'mon" as one of the nine songs. (2004)
• In Her Shoes - Features the song "C'mon C'mon" (2005)
• Later With Jools Holland - Louder - Features a live performance of "Lack of Communication".

Media Usage

• C'mon C'mon is the opening theme used for the FX series Rescue Me.
• C'mon C'mon has been used in the PlayStation 2 game Burnout 3: Takedown.
• C'mon C'mon has been used in the PlayStation Portable game Gretzky NHL.
• C'mon C'mon has been used in the MVP Baseball series of video games.
• C'mon C'mon is featured as a download for the console game Rock Band/Rock Band 2.
• C'mon C'mon has been modified to fit into the video game Tribes: Vengeance on the MTV2 television show Video Mods.

Interviews

• love for The Von Bondies - From Torontomusicscene.ca

External links

• The Von Bondies Website