Don Joyce (musician)
Donald S. Joyce (February 9, 1944 – July 22, 2015) was an American musician who was a member of the experimental music group Negativland. He also hosted a weekly radio program called Over the Edge on the Berkeley, California, radio station KPFA, for more than 30 years.[1]
Don Joyce | |
---|---|
Birth name | Donald S. Joyce |
Born | Keene, New Hampshire, United States | February 9, 1944
Died | July 22, 2015 71) Oakland, California | (aged
Genres | Experimental Sound collage Plunderphonics |
Occupation(s) | Culture Jamming |
Instruments | Fidelipac Turntable Tape recorder Booper |
Website | https://archive.org/details/ote |
Joyce was born in Keene, New Hampshire. Originally a visual artist, he earned a master's degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design before moving to the Bay Area, where he lived most of his life. While working at KPFA hosting a more mainstream type music show, he encountered Ian Allen and other members of Negativland. Don was a master at tape editing and he began developing his sound collage techniques using radio and television broadcasts captured on tape and blending them into layered mixes, each with a unique theme.[2]
[3] Heavily influenced by Bob and Ray and the Firesign Theater, Joyce developed a number of continuing characters whom he would portray in the more theatrical episodes of Over The Edge.[3][4]
In 1984, he coined the phrase culture jamming.[2] Using his alter ego, cultural reviewer Crosley Bendix, he presented an explanation of culture jamming and its importance on the 1984 album Over the Edge Vol. 1: JAMCON'84:
As awareness of how the media environment we occupy affects and directs our inner life grows, some resist. The skillfully reworked billboard . . . directs the public viewer to a consideration of the original corporate strategy. The studio for the cultural jammer is the world at large.[5][6]
Death
Joyce died of heart failure in Oakland, California on July 22, 2015 at the age of 71.[7][2] He was cremated, and the band packaged two grams of his remains with the first 1000 CD copies of Negativland's 2016 album Over the Edge Vol. 9: The Chopping Channel.[8] 750 of his O.T.E. and live show Fidelipac audio carts were also sent along with those ashes. Don's remains became a viral story on the internet.[9]
References
- Raggett, Ned. "Biography: Negativland". AMG. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
- Kory Grow, Don Joyce, Negativland Sound Collagist and Radio DJ, Dead at 71. Rolling Stone, 2015-07-23.
- "Don Joyce (9 February 1944 – 22 July 2015)". Negativworldwidewebland. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
- Ned Raggett, Don Joyce, radio maverick and member of Negativland, dies at 71. SFGate, July 23, 2015.
- Don Joyce as Crosley Bendix, "Crosley Bendix Reviews Jam Art and Cultural Jamming." JamCon '84, track 2. CD release on Seeland Records 004, 1986.
- Mark Dery, The Merry Pranksters And the Art of the Hoax. New York Times, 1990-12-23.
- Lynch, Joe (July 23, 2015). "Negativland's Don Joyce Dead at 71". Billboard. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
- Hilton, Robin. "New Negativland Album Comes With A Bag Of A Band Member's Remains". NPR.org. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
- Dan Weiss, Why Negativland Packaged Late Bandmate's Remains With New LP. Clrvynt, December 9, 2016.
External links
- Interview with Don Joyce from Some Assembly Required blog (August 2009)
- A few words on Don Joyce, by Jon Leidecker, a fan, a friend, and long-time collaborator
- Interview with Don Joyce from Perfect Sound Forever (June 2000)