Post #287718 by ikitnrev on Fri, Feb 23, 2007 1:29 PM

I was pleasantly surprised to see DJ involved with the Voodoo sessions. X was one of the first punk bands I saw live in the early 80's - bands like that never appeared in my college town, so we had to roadtrip 2 hours to Madison to see the show. In a way, D.J.'s path from punk band to exotica music sessions parallels my own personal listening preferences.

Another reason for surprise. Punk musicians generally had a reputation of being untrained musically, as a do-it-yourself attitude and raw emotions were considered to be more authentic than skilled musicianship. There are plenty of drummers who are unable to read or play the mallet instruments. I myself was a percussionist in high school - I mostly played various drums, tympani, and other instruments that you hit singularly, without actually having to learn the musical scales. Playing a marimba and xylophone were thus way beyond my skill level -- and others in my high school band percussion section were limited in the same way.

So seeing D.J. Bonebrake playing the mallets was really cool. Not only has he transitioned to exotica, but he turns out to be a real percussionist and musician, and not some guy who used used to simply banged the drums in a punk band.

Finally, I always liked how DJ Bonebrake shared the same 'DJ' initials as Elvis's drummer, D.J. Fontana.

Vern