Rebels with a Cause - The Original Black Rebel Motorcycle Club fansite

The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, a San Francisco-based group who have been writing, recording and performing almost nonstop since their onset, formed in 1998.

The group's sound is a mixture of rock n' roll, and psychedelica. Introspective lyrics and inventive musicianship separate them from their contemporaries.

You can hear echoes of Dylan, The Stones, Joy Division, Velvet Underground, as well as more modern influences including Ride, The Stone Roses, and Spacemen 3.

Still the group has managed to find their own sound and identity. The B.R.M.C. named themselves after Marlon Brando's motorcycle gang in the 1950 movie 'The Wild One'. Originally the group's name had been The Elements but quickly changed after discovering many other bands had shared the same title.

After moving to "east bay" in their early teens, Robert and Peter met in high school; there they started writing and playing together making four-track recordings in their garage. They needed a drummer to complete the group.

In '98 they met English drummer Nick Jago--who moved to California to be with his parents who had come over a year earlier--and began recording together and performing only in San Francisco where they became based.

They recorded a full-length demo, produced by friend Daniel Presley, making a limited print of 500 CDs with no record label backing. In the summer of '99 the band concentrated on Los Angeles, playing live relentlessly for the next six months and becoming one of the most talked about bands in LA landing a deal with Virgin Records.

Given the opportunity to produce and mix their records themselves the band went into exclusion recording at their home studio and Sound City in Los Angeles. Eleven tracks are featured on their debut LP. A series of 7" vinyl were released along with the record including bonus tracks and special artwork by Nick.

The band's sophomore release, Take Them On, On Your Own, was released in the fall of 2003 to critical acclaim.

Many changes occured in 2004. BRMC left Virgin records, and Nick left the band at the end of their summer tour.

BRMC signed with Echo Records in the U.K. in February 2005. Nick Jago returned and the band signed to RCA in the U.S. in the spring of 2005. Their third album, HOWL, was released August 22nd in the UK and August 23rd in the US. The album's title is a tribute to the novel HOWL by Allen Ginsberg. The album debuted at 14 on the UK charts.

The band toured North America and Europe from Spring 2005 through Spring 2006. They released "Howl Sessions," a compilation of songs recorded during "Howl" that were not previously released.

BRMC's fourth album, "Baby 81," will be released in the United States on May 1, 2007. The 13-track album has been described by Peter as "the sister of Howl," with driving rock'n'roll and a folksy core. The first single from the album has been slated as "Weapon of Choice."

Nick came up with the album's title, which refers to 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquak Survivor, Abhilasha Jeyarajah, who was at the middle of a parental dispute. Until his parents were identified by DNA tests on February 14, 2005, Jeyarajah was named Baby 81, as he was the 81st victim of the tsunami taken to the hospital after the Sri Lankan disaster.

After extensive touring for Baby 81, Nick took a break from BRMC in June 2008. During which time, he formed a new band, the Hot moons. Leah Shapiro (kap10kurt, Dead Combo, Raveonettes) filled in on drums for the remainder of the Baby 81 tour dates.