Blazing trails in music these days isn’t just about coming up with something catchy or original. Right now, in the world of sonic words, it’s all about how many responsibilities an artist can take on at once. If you’re a great musician who can manage and produce all at the same time, even better! The industry has a job for you!
Most of the time, though, artists who can pull off that kind of juggling act don’t want to have anything to do with the tumor that is the corporate music world. Most want to be independent of contractual obligations that force them to work and spit out music that is entirely overcooked. One man, Justin K. Broadrick, is pioneering the way we all look at DIY music and everything related. He’s an artist/vocalist/remixer/producer/manager all in one, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Broadrick has at least five big projects moving all at once, with smaller ones branching off into the furthest reaches of auditory space, dabbling in every genre from metal and industrial to electronic and hip-hop. Throw in being able to play almost every modern instrument and you have yourself one hell of a rock icon.
His first project, Final, began as a punk outfit, but quickly changed pace as more ambient noises and dark, electronic melodies were brought into the mix. Atmosphere became a major focus, and a niche was found, allowing Broadrick to express many ideas about the world around him.
Recording Final’s first song at the young age of 13, Broadrick was able to slowly define and sculpt his musical aspirations as he grew from an angsty teenager into an adult. Close to a 10-year hiatus was taken to focus on other productions, but Final was revived in 2006 with the album 3, which contained five years of recorded material. Eleven efforts in, including full-lengths and EPs, Final is still going strong, even with its lead man spread between so many musical endeavors.
Moving on down the line of the many great projects of Justin Broadrick, we now arrive at Napalm Death, a grindcore band from Birmingham, England. The band formed in 1981, while Broadrick joined four years later. Broadrick helped to create and record the first half of the group’s debut album, Scum, which became a very influential record in the metal scene. It even won a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for shortest song ever made: “You Suffer (But Why?)” clocked in at about two seconds. Scum was the first major taste the world got of Justin Broadrick, and a dedicated fan soon followed. He departed one year later because of an offer to play in the short-lived band Head of David, leaving Napalm Death to experience a constant plague of lineup changes.
Godflesh, the industrial baby of the family, was brought to life in 1988, the same year Broadrick left Head of David. JKB pulled his old friend G.C. Green from their old band Fall of Because and chose to, instead of reviving said band, start an entirely new project. What became of the new notion was an industrial, post-metal mind-fuck of sorts. Think hellish machines grinding out a slow churning sludge with manic shouts, grunts, and groans to top it all off.
Godflesh’s self-titled debut was released in 1988 and completely floored the underground music scene. Streetcleaner was released a year later and accomplished everything the past album did and then some. As time went on, there was a brief encounter with major label Columbia Records, and even further down the road they experimented with electronic and drum and bass structures.
In 2001, Green left Godflesh, which left Broadrick with the task of replacing him. He found a suitable counterpart in Paul Raven, former bassist of Killing Joke and Prong. Shortly after selecting Raven and minutes before having to leave for a U.S. tour, JKB allegedly suffered a nervous breakdown and went into seclusion. April 10th, 2002 brought the end of Godflesh, but also brought into the world something completely different. A cryptic last sentence in a statement from Broadrick hinted at a new project: “…Long live the new flesh.”
Cue Jesu, the final stop on our long journey.
Jesu, the heartfelt and downtrodden side of JKB, seems to be an emotional ride through life’s more somber moments. 2004 saw the release of Heart Ache, Jesu’s first EP, with all of the instrumentation done by Broadrick himself. 2005 brought the additions of drummer Ted Parsons and bassist Diarmuid Dalton. Gradually, more shoegaze and drone influences were added to the mix, leading to the 2007 release of Conqueror. The band made its live United States debut at the Henry Fonda Theater in LA, opening for post-metal band Isis.
As a result of constant experimentation, Jesu found its electronic side on the Pale Sketches compilation, which led to the birth of a brand new project, called Pale Sketcher. Broadrick felt Jesu was distancing itself from the guitar-driven sounds that the group was founded on and decided to create the new project as a means of continuing his exploration of electronic music without taking anything away from Jesu.
Outside of these main projects, Broadrick has had an array of smaller ones, including his work with Kevin Martin on hip-hop group Techno Animal, as well as a collaboration album entitled Curse of the Golden Vampire. 2007 brought about a supergroup of sorts called GREYMACHINE, which included Isis’ Aaron Turner, a band which hearkened back to the heavy industrial metal of Broadrick’s past.
With the constant stream of new material, keeping up with JKB and his phenomenal artistry is a difficult task. Fear not, though, fans, as Godflesh has reunited. The group played Hellfest in France and co-headlined with Swans at Supersonic Festival in Birmingham last month.
From recording his first track at the ripe age of 13 to remixing artists such as Explosions in the Sky, Isis, and Pantera, calling Justin Broadrick an ambitious guy is the definition of an understatement. Being able to work with almost every genre from ambient to grindcore, from industrial to post-rock, this man is a downright composer in every sense of the word. If putting himself in the line of all this chaos doesn’t speak Icon of Rock, then I don’t know what does. He’s been through it all, and has succeeded in almost every way.
Broadrick has a dedicated fan base (even a cult status) and gets to come and go through the music world as he pleases. I am sure every artist that’s not brain dead or signed to a contract would want to live his or her life in the same fashion. Not always being tied down to contractual obligations and still making a name for yourself is rough. It was much harder to do in the 80′s, and look at where Broadrick’s ambition got him; he can survive all on his own. It’s survival of the fittest out there, and Broadrick is surviving in the most creative way possible. That fact alone makes him a rock icon.
