Brant Bjork

Brant Bjork is an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer from the United States. He is associated with desert rock, heavy psych, psychedelic rock and stoner rock, and is one of the notable figures linked to the Palm Desert scene.

Kyuss and the Palm Desert scene

Bjork is best known as the drummer and a founder of Kyuss, the Californian stoner rock band formed in 1987 while he is still in high school with Josh Homme and John Garcia. The group first performs under the name Katzenjammer, then becomes Sons of Kyuss before shortening its name to Kyuss. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1990, the band signs to Chameleon Records and releases its debut album, Wretch, before moving to Elektra Records and becoming the first desert rock band to achieve international success. Bjork contributes a substantial part of the band’s songwriting and leaves after Welcome to Sky Valley in 1994.

Work after Kyuss

After leaving Kyuss, Bjork works with a number of related bands and projects. He joins The Desert Sessions, playing guitar, bass, drums and percussion on several releases by Josh Homme’s Palm Desert collective, including volumes issued in 1997 and 1999. He briefly moves to Santa Cruz in 1997 to play guitar for LAB, a hardcore punk band formed from the remaining members of BL'AST!, and appears on their Burning Leaf/Chihuahua 7-inch. He also plays guitar for Fatso Jetson in 1997 and 1998, including on the Jailbreak split 7-inch with Fu Manchu.

Bjork plays drums for Mondo Generator from 1997, appearing on Cocaine Rodeo and A Drug Problem That Never Existed, touring with the band until 2004 and also appearing on the live DVD Use Once and Destroy Me, the single I Never Sleep and the Australian Tour EP. He joins Fu Manchu after producing their debut album No One Rides for Free, and then performs on every recording until leaving after California Crossing. His work with the band also includes Eatin’ Dust and King of the Road.

Solo releases and labels

Bjork begins his solo career with Jalamanta in 1999, recording the album with himself playing all instruments, including guitar and vocals. He follows it with Brant Bjork & the Operators in 2002, then Keep Your Cool in 2003 and Local Angel in 2004, both largely recorded by him alone with a few guest appearances. He later records acoustic reinterpretations and new material on Tres Dias in 2007.

He founds the independent label El Camino Records, later renamed Duna Records, and uses it to release music he is involved in, including De-Con’s Balls for Days and Solarfeast’s Gossamer, which he also produces. In 2007 he ends Duna Records and creates Low Desert Punk Recordings, later also associated with A Bjork Music. The label’s first release is Punk Rock Guilt in 2008, followed by Gods & Goddesses in 2010, recorded with Brandon Henderson, Billy Cordell and Giampaolo Farnedi. Later solo albums include Tao of The Devil, Mankind Woman and Jacuzzi, the last of which is an instrumental album with jazz, funk and breakbeat influences.

Brant Bjork and the Bros, Ché, and later projects

In 2003 Bjork forms Brant Bjork and the Bros with guitarist Mike Pygmie, bassist Dylan Roche and drummer Michael Peffer, later replaced on guitar by Scott Cortez Silverman and on drums by Alfredo Hernández. The group tours in Europe and North America and records the double album Saved by Magic in 2005, followed by Somera Sól in 2007. Bjork also appears on Sabbia, a 2006 film described as a visual soundtrack by filmmaker Kate McCabe.

He plays guitar and vocals in Ché, a short-lived stoner rock project with Alfredo Hernández, releasing the album Sounds of Liberation in 2000. In 2010 he forms Kyuss Lives! with Bruno Fevery, Nick Oliveri and John Garcia, and the group later becomes Vista Chino. Vista Chino releases Peace through Napalm Records in 2013. Bjork also works in Vista Chino alongside former Kyuss vocalist John Garcia.

Selected line-ups and recordings

Other Bjork-related groups listed across his career include Kyuss, Fu Manchu, STÖNER, Brant Bjork Trio, Brant Bjork and The Bros, Ché, Yellow #5, Vista Chino, Brant Bjork and The Low Desert Punk Band, Ten East and Mario Lalli & The Rubber Snake Charmers. His work spans stoner rock, desert rock, heavy psych and psychedelic rock, with a catalogue built around both band recordings and solo albums.