Jacob Bannon

"GENERAL

I was born in 1976. I grew up splitting my time between in the Merrimack Valley, Charlestown, and East Boston. At 17, I graduated High School early and chose to work odd jobs until it was time to head to college. I soon relocated to metro Boston and attended college at the Art Institute of Boston where I earned my Bachelors In Fine Arts in 1998. I also won the "Excellence In Design" for 1998 accolade from the school. I later instructed at the same college for a brief time in their "Continuing Education" program. After working a variety of freelance design jobs at firms around Boston, I stepped out on my own as a freelance Artist/Designer. Since then, I have primarily created visual work for the Independent Music Community.

Today I spend most of my time writing/performing music with Converge and other projects, running Deathwish, and creating fine art.

LABEL

Deathwish (2000-Present)
In late 2000/early 2001, I founded the Deathwish Brand/Label with my best friend Tre McCarthy. Started primarily as an aggressive record label, Deathwish has also branched out into other counterculture oriented businesses, apparel, and music distribution. In 2007, Deathwish acquired respected hardcore/punk label, Malfunction Records. Malfunction was founded by longtime friends Linas Garsys and Tru Pray. Together, Deathwish and Malfunction are now one label family. In early 2008, we also acquired the Perfect Victim record label and now manage their existing catalog of music.

More info on Deathwish can be found @ www.deathwishinc.com

MUSIC

Converge (1991-Present)
In late 1990/early 1991 I started the band Converge with other founding member Kurt Ballou. I was around 14 years old at the time. We started like many bands, covering our favorite hardcore, punk, and metal songs. After about a year of writing songs and recording 4 track demos, the band slowly started to progress. Converge started playing our first shows in the middle of 1991. We started writing and playing what we consider "relevant" music in late 1993. At that time we started incorporating influences Starkweather, The Accused, Rorschach, UOA, Born Against into what we were creating. Since then our band has evolved and progressed throughout the years. To date, we have released music on labels Epitaph, Deathwish, Equal Vision, Hydra Head, Relapse, Ferret, and more.

In Fall 2001 Converge settled on a definitive lineup:
Jacob Bannon - Vocals, lyrics, visuals
Kurt Ballou - Guitar, electronics, backing vocals
Nate Newton - Bass, backing vocals
Ben Koller - Drums

People tend to group the band with the popularized metallic hardcore genre, and compare us to contemporary artists that exist there. That doesn't really work though as Converge are an altogether different animal than those artists.

More info on Converge can be found @ www.convergecult.com

Supermachiner (1994-2000)
Supermachiner originally began as a collection of 4 track recordings I recorded in 1994, just prior to me moving to Boston to attend college. The music was much different than Converge, having more in common with influences Swans, Bauhaus, and others. The project remained nameless and dormant for a number of years. With the help and inspiration of my good friend Ryan Parker (Daltonic, Black Spot, The Jaded Salingers), we casually brought the project back to life in the winter of 1998. With his input, we developed our collective song ideas into the "Rise Of The Great Machine" album. I structured the lyrical content around my feelings on the rise of technology and the death of the individual, making the project thematic in its content. We named the project "Supermachiner", a play on the term "Supermachinder" the compound word for Japanese Giant Robot Toys from the 1970's.

We entered the studio with Kurt Ballou (Converge) in the winter of 1999. During the sessions, Kurt contributed a great deal to the album material. "Rise Of The Great Machine" was released by the Undecided label in 2000 (now out of print). After the album was released future projects were planned but never materialized. A collection of all existing Supermachiner recordings and demos was released on Deathwish at as a 2XCD titled "Rust". The original "Rise Of The Great Machine" was also be released on vinyl by the E-Vinyl label in France (limited to 1000 copies) in 2008.

Solo Recordings (2000-Present)
After the Supermachiner album was released, I continued to write music that didn't fit the sonic character of Converge. In March 2008, I released "The Blood Of Thine Enemies" 7"EP on Deathwish, a song that I wrote many years before. The song is a funeral style dirge that I wrote in a rather dark time in my life. It was never intended it to be part of an album, only to be a stand alone piece.

Irons (2007-Present)
Longtime friend Dwid Hellion (Integrity, Roses Never Fade) casually approached me about creating music together sometime in 2006. Soon later, Fine Artist and musician Stephen Kasner also expressed interest in working with us. In late 2007, we began writing music. Our goal was to create apocalyptic, non-linear music from a fine art based mindset. Irons sole release "Grey Savior", a split w/ Pulling Teeth, is available now. Not sure what the future holds for the project as the members are all busy with other projects at the moment.

Wear Your Wounds (2000-Present)
Though Supermachiner was put to bed in 2000, I still continued to write music that was sonically different than Converge since then. I will finally begin releasing this music under this name in 2012.

Guest Appearances, etc.
I have been fortunate to guest on a variety of recordings from bands like 108, Cave In, American Nightmare/Give Up The Ghost, Some Girls, Ramallah, Pulling Teeth, and more. A detailed list of albums I've been a part of is available in the "Sound" section of this website.

ART

When I was young, I stumbled upon some paintings my father had painted. The day I found those is likely when my imagination started to race on its own. When I was 11-12 became obsessed with the vibrant artwork of the skateboard, bmx, and metal music cultures. I've been hooked ever since. I started painting and drawing on my own in a serious manner since I was 13 or so. I did this until I enrolled in college in 1994. In school I abandoned the "Fine Art" exclusive approach, and enrolled in the Design Program.

I don't consider myself a traditional musician/artist/writer. I see those definitions as a bit limiting. "Life" artist makes the most sense to me, as I see all of my creative outlets to be linked together, coming from the same place internally.

I've had group shows as well as solo shows of my work in a variety of Galleries.

You can find a select portfolio in the "Sight" section of this website.

WRITING

I began writing around the same time I became interested in visual art. My only public writing is in the form of lyrical content on the albums I've been a part of. I have a great deal of prose written that has never been published. Maybe one day..."