Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

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Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC for short) are an American garage rock band from San Francisco, California, now based in Los Angeles. The band is comprised of Peter Hayes (guitar, bass, vocals); Robert Levon Been (guitar, bass, vocals) and Nick Jago (drums/percussion). Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is known for their catchy brand of garage rock, folk revival, blues, heartland rock and often religiously inspired lyrics, and their influences are groups and musicians such as The Jesus & Mary Chain, Bob Dylan, John Denver and The Doors.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club formed in 1998, taking their name from Marlon Brando's motorcycle gang in the 1953 film The Wild One.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's first two records were indebted to late-era classic hard rock influenced by The Stooges, The Ramones, and The Doors as well as The Jesus & Mary Chain. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club style also encompassed slower paced psychedelic rock and space rock. Recently, with their third record Howl, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club developed a more concrete sound and style; encompassing blues, folk, and rock, while remaining angst-ridden in theme.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club vocals are shared between Robert Levon Been (Bass) and Peter Hayes (guitar). Been and Hayes met at high school in San Francisco and quickly formed a band, Hayes having recently left the Brian Jonestown Massacre. Looking for a drummer, they met Nick Jago, from Devon in England, who had moved to California to be with his parents after spending some time at Winchester School Of Art, where he was studying fine art. Been used the pseudonym 'Robert Turner' on the first two records, in an attempt to not be linked to his famous father (Michael Been of The Call.) He later dropped this identity when promoting Howl.

The band were originally called The Elements, but after discovering that another band had the same name, they changed their name to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's second album Take Them On, On Your Own has several songs such as "Generation" and "US Government" that are critical of the United States government(and in particular George Bush) that were echoed by punk band Green Day the next year.

After conflict with the label, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club were dropped by Virgin Records in 2004, with Nick Jago leaving the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the end of their summer tour of the same year due to 'internal conflict' (later revealed to be a drug addiction and drinking problem). Hayes and Been then recorded their third album.

In 2005 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club signed to Echo in the UK, and RCA in the US. Their third album Howl was released to widespread critical acclaim. Several of the songs on Howl are said to have been written long before the idea of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club was conceived. Jago returned after most of the album was recorded but plays on track 7, "Promise".

Possible influences of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club include the beat poet generation, notably of the Denver scene, and particularly in Allen Ginsberg. This is evident in the title of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club third album: Howl is the name of Ginsberg's most celebrated work.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's fourth album, Baby 81, was released on April 30, 2007 in the UK & Europe and May 1, 2007 in the US. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club has posted several songs of Baby 81 album on their Myspace page.

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