David J |  Artist

David J | Artist

Tags: Era_1980s, Gender_Male, Genre_Art_Rock, Genre_Post_Punk, Origin_UK, Type_Artist

David John Haskins aka David J is a British alternative rock musician, producer, and writer born 1957 in Northampton, England. He is known for being the bassist for the gothic rock band Bauhaus and for Love and Rockets, and he has a successful solo career. Along with his brother Kevin Haskins, David J was a founding member of the highly influential English post-punk band Bauhaus in 1978, playing bass. David J wrote the lyrics of several Bauhaus songs including their first single "Bela Lugosi's Dead". In 1985 J, his brother Kevin, and Daniel Ash, all former members of Bauhaus, formed Love and Rockets; J once again played bass guitar and also shared songwriting and vocal duties with guitarist Daniel Ash. He also participates in several collaborative projects such as David J's Cabaret Oscuro, Night Crickets, Theatre Bizarre Orchestra, Duende, David J, Alan Moore & Tim Perkins, among others. He also performs and records as a soloist. Standout albums include his early solo releases; Etiquette of Violence (1983) and Crocodile Tears and the Velvet Cosh (1985), plus later period solo albums Not Long For This World (2011), and An Eclipse of Ships (2014). J released an EP in 1984 which was intended as a soundtrack to Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta. In 1996, he once again collaborated with Moore alongside musician Tim Perkins when the trio recorded two spoken-word-with-music performances, The Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels and The Birth Caul. Also recommended is Oracle of the Horizontal (2018), a collaboration with US band Duende!. J also composed the scores for a number of plays and films, and wrote and directed his own plays, Silver for Gold (The Odyssey of Edie Sedgwick), in 2008, and The Chanteuse and The Devil's Muse in 2011. His artwork has been shown in galleries internationally, and he has been a resident DJ at venues such as the Knitting Factory. An interesting fact revealed by David J in a 2018 interview, was that in Bauhaus' early days they were joined on stage on several occasions by ex-Velvet Underground songstress Nico, who wanted Bauhaus to be her permanent backing band. In 2014 David J published the autobiographical "Who Killed Mister Moonlight?: Bauhaus, Black Magick and Benediction" in which he discusses his music along with his deep interest in the occult.


Artist Website: davidjhaskins.com

Featured Albums: David J

Related Artists: Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, Duende


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