Brainiac, the electro punks from Dayton, Ohio, are making their return to the San Francisco bay area after not visiting for nearly 30 years! The untimely passing of frontman and vocalist Timmy Taylor in 1997 meant a lengthy hiatus for the band, pumping the brakes on a project that was just starting to gain momentum, major label support, and a passionate fanbase.
However, a documentary on the band released in 2022 coupled with a smattering of live performances and even a European tour supporting Mogwai has revived interest in the band, enabling a West Coast tour to happen this month. This includes a stop at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on Saturday, January 18th!
Why should you care about Brainiac? Well, whether or not they influenced a ton of bands is up for debate. But one thing is certain: their sound was ahead of its time and still sounds fresh to this day. Their combination of gritty and frantic electronic production mixed with a punk rock energy and playing style are incredibly comparable to recent acts such as Fat Dog or Lip Critic. And Trent Reznor says that the band’s EP “Electro Shock for President” was actually used as a sound reference for the production of the Nine Inch Nails album With_Teeth. Desperate to know more we reached out to the Brainiac team with a handful of questions, and we even brought in assistance from our friend Adam Williams over at alternative music site amodelofcontrol. He was lucky enough to catch the band both in their heyday and somewhat recently in the UK and is providing some photos for us as well.
Adam Williams (amodelofcontrol): Was there a particular moment in recent times that influenced the recent reunion phase: I know there was the Bell House, Brooklyn show in 2017, with guest vocalists, but what inspired you to tour?
Brainiac (John): It was all baby steps, I guess you would say. We did a [show] in Dayton, OH. with friends’ bands singing as guests before the Bell House show, which was a benefit concert. All of that coincided with being interviewed for the documentary, and all of us being in recent touch with each other. The Bell House show was in fact a concept of the documentary director Eric Mahoney. After we had done all of that, we decided to do a show in Dayton when the documentary came out – also with guest singers – and did one more [show] with the documentary showing in Los Angeles with Fred Armisen [of Portlandia, Devo, etc] as our guest, and he performed one song with us. By then, we had a little more confidence and practice, and felt able to cover all of the vocal duties ourselves between myself and our friend and new recruit [touring musician] Tim Krug.
Then the pandemic happened, and I got invested in the archival demo project [of Brainiac demos, “Attic Tapes” and “From Dayton Ohio”], which became releases and compilations that Touch and Go Records put out a few years ago. When things opened up post-pandemic there was more and more interest in the band. Many people had seen the documentary and there were more young fans discovering our music, either through the documentary, their own interest, or perhaps the surfacing of the archival stuff. When the last archival release was about to come out, I ran into the guys in Mogwai at a festival I was playing[…]. A few weeks after seeing them, they wrote to me and asked if we would be interested in supporting them on their upcoming UK tour. I think that was really got the ball rolling for us. We were enjoying hanging out like a gang again, and forgot how fun that was, even without [original vocalist] Tim. The Mogwai tour kind of really got us going on the live treadmill again, and the response was so overwhelmingly positive from pretty much everyone that we’ve decided to stick with it while the atmosphere felt good.
Adam: The London show in 2023 was a remarkable show. I first saw Brainiac in 1996 with Girls Against Boys in Leeds (UK), and that was a wild show (one that I can still remember a lot about). But the 2023 show return felt like it was an outpouring of pent-up energy by both the band and crowd, and you seemed to be having great fun again. How has it felt to be doing this again – do you feel like the madcap spirit of Tim is with you in doing so?
Brainiac (John): Yeah! As I was just saying, we’ve been enjoying our reignited chemistry and it has been natural to feed off of the crowd’s enthusiasm. I personally had a lot of hang ups about singing, even though I’ve played that role in other bands of my own, it was the size of the shoes to fill and also for some songs, doing that while playing my own original parts didn’t seem possible or was too complicated. Took some time to adjust, but Tim Krug and I were both already doing a handful of the singing duties when we had the guest singers earlier. So it was just a matter of digging in there. I do feel like Timmy is with us as he is so naturally the fulcrum of the creation of that music. I try to be mindful of the idea that I’m more like a vessel for singing these songs rather than me or Krug taking over as the ‘new singers’. We are doing this as much for the music itself as we are enjoying spending time with one another. There is something very specific about our sense of humor that has never gone away. The way that we are connected.
Adam: It’s remarkable how Brainiac’s music, even around three decades on, still sounds ahead of it’s time. How do you feel about your influence and how the music stands, with the benefit of time and experience?
Brainiac (John): I’m probably a little too inside [the situation] to answer this question. I’m really pleased that this music is still so important to certain people. We are not a massive band but the people who are excited about our music are fanatical and that is a pretty great thing to experience. Especially because it translates across generations. It’s exciting to see the same excitement in 20-something-year-olds today as the ones when we were also 20-somethings. As far as time and experience, I don’t think we were equipped to have done this type of thing until now, mentally, the remainder of us. Which is cool that it took over 20 years to come to that. Therefore it doesn’t feel forced or desperate at all. We are all just trying to have fun and do it while we are still able to play this music at a level that we still think is exceptional.
Geoffrey Smith (SF Sonic): What is your process for selecting which songs will go into a setlist?
Brainiac (John): When we did the early shows with friends guest singing, it was more like a career spanning Brainiac music revue haha! and Michelle whom I replaced was even involved. After the archival releases, and when we started just playing again as a 4 piece, we wanted to put on a show that might more closely resemble a set the band would have been performing toward the end/peak of the time before it ended. So it is a bit more electronic and there are some unreleased songs mixed in. So that is still mostly the goal although we did revive some Smack Bunny Baby songs when the anniversary vinyl release of that came out again a year or so ago.
Geoffrey: What is your favorite track to perform live, and why?
Brainiac (John): I suppose that changes for me as the set evolves and we add and subtract songs from the set. In many ways, I actually still enjoy when Tim [Krug] is singing and I get to concentrate on my guitar parts just like I used to.. Hot Metal Dobermans is always a blast, though, as there is a bit of both and the crowd always reacts to that song.
Geoffrey: What is your mentality for singing songs originally voiced by Timmy? Do you try to emulate his style, or do you try to sing them in your own way?
Brainiac (John): I’ve magically already covered this in a previous question by accident :) I’m trying to be a vessel for the music, so I suppose I am closer to emulating him than I am trying to put a new spin on it. You know, we use the original vocal patch FX for different songs and so it is easier to maintain the sound and character of the way we used to perform but also, with the improvements since the 90’s, in technology and our own growth, I think we are a little closer to resembling the album versions of the songs, where in the 90s, Brainiac performances were more like a shambolic rollercoaster and unpredictable. Sometimes the effects were wrong or would get stuck back then and Tim would just plow through it, that and he was never the type to settle in and so things were subject to change and evolution even after they were recorded.
Geoffrey: How does it feel performing songs that were written when you were essentially kids? Have your life experiences changed how you feel about their lyrical content? Have your skills changed to where you feel inclined to play them differently?
Brainiac (John): Not at all; if anything, I think we are all happy that we are able to perform these songs with as much zeal as we do now, being twice that age. Timmy was a great and bonkers lyricist but also the lyrics were really just part of the instrument of his voice. It was rhythmic more than purposeful poetry or whatever. I mean a lot of it is very witty and full of the humor I was mentioning so, I think I just embrace it wholeheartedly. Life experiences have little to do with the purpose of a song. The song is eternal no matter how people grow or change. The singer is not the song. And the song is just performed by the singer. :) As far as playing, it has felt fresh to come back to playing in these tunings. I was starting to feel like I had to challenge where it had come to and find a way to make it fresh toward the end of the 90s. Then the band was done and that challenge/obstacle wasn’t there. But now it feels inspiring again to come back to it and I have found I do have more room left to play around in these tunings again. They don’t need to be reinvented but there is room to breathe in them.
Geoffrey: Is there any new Brainiac music on the horizon? If already in the creative process, can you note a few significant ways in which that process has differed?
Brainiac (John): We are just enjoying the ride when we all have time to get together and do this. We all live in different cities and so, it’s not as easy as it was being in a local band that rehearses regularly. However, there has been nothing but encouragement from people about us attempting to make new music and so it is something that we have at least discussed. Which is way more than we ever thought this would be.
Geoffrey: When did you last speak with your producer [Eli Janney] from Girls Against Boys, and if you can say, what did you discuss?
Brainiac (John): Eli is still a friend; he worked on some of my other bands’ records, and I saw him often when I lived in NYC. I hopped in the Sprinter in Europe with GvsB a couple years ago when they were doing some shows and I happened to be in Europe doing festival stuff with Caribou in the summer. I’m still friendly with all those guys. And you know the internet/social media is a pretty fertile place to keep in touch and we certainly have. I think the last time I wrote to Eli I was just expressing goodwill about his late night with Seth Myers musical directorship ending. All those guys are keeping busy though.
Geoffrey: If Brainiac started as a band today, how do you think it would sound?
Brainiac (John): I don’t think I can answer this question and make it make sense. I think we were very much a product of our time and place and everything has changed. The way people even present themselves is 100% different now. Self promotion through social media is not only an expectation, it is by default the way people know about things. Everything has become completely homogenized and mostly very safe. Not a lot of people taking risks musically or otherwise. I’m not saying anything new about the state of things here but, I just don’t really see how Brainiac are supposed to fit into that. I think one of the reasons people are still excited is that we had preceded all that garbage and feel like a breath of fresh air still in contrast to how things have developed.
Geoffrey: When you explain Brainiac to a non-music nerd type of person, what do you say?
Brainiac (John): I usually lie because it’s more fun than trying to describe what we do to a stranger who probably likes Lana Del Rey.
Geoffrey: What’s the future of Brainiac?
Brainiac (John): The future is now. We have agreed to play together while it is fun for all of us, while we think we are doing the music justice and are physically capable of playing the music to a standard we think that Timmy would still be proud of. We are having a blast!
This interview has been edited for clarity.
West Coast performance dates:
01.16.25 Casbah (San Diego) w/ Mr Tube & The Flying Objects (ex black heart procession/ three mile pilot)
01.17.25 The Regent (L.A.) w/ Flat Worms, Agender // Afterparty @ Love Song Bar w/ Mr Pharmacist
01.18.25 Bottom Of The Hill (San Francisco) w/ HLLLYH (ex mae shi)
01.19.25 Mississippi Studios (Portland) w/ Golden Donna
01.20.25 Tractor Tavern (Seattle) w/ Telehealth, Anthers
