Biography
Through his efforts both onstage and behind the console, Don Fleming remained a fixture in the underground rock community for many years. He first surfaced in the early 1980s as frontman of the Velvet Monkeys, a Washington D.C. outfit whose initial release, the cassette-only Everything Is Right, appeared in 1981; two years afterward came Future, and in 1986 the band shared a split cassette with Half Japanese on the K label. The group soon disbanded, prompting Fleming and drummer Jay Spiegel to move to New York, where they joined Shimmy Disc founder and Shockabilly veteran Kramer in forming B.A.L.L., which issued its debut album Period in 1987.
Following B.A.L.L.’s breakup, Fleming revived the Velvet Monkeys, enlisting an all-star cast that included Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and Pussy Galore’s Julia Cafritz; the resulting 1990 release Rake paid homage to 1970s exploitation-film soundtracks. After launching his new group Gumball via the Special Kiss LP, Fleming turned to outside production work, collaborating with Kim Gordon on Hole’s 1991 debut Pretty on the Inside. That same year he produced Teenage Fanclub’s God Knows Its True EP and later rejoined the band for Bandwagonesque, an album widely hailed as one of the year’s strongest.
In 1992, alongside Gumball’s Super Tasty EP, he performed with the alt-rock supergroup Dim Stars and produced the Screaming Trees’ Sweet Oblivion; 1993 brought both the Posies’ Frosting on the Beater and another Gumball album, Super Tasty. Fleming raised eyebrows in 1994 by producing tracks for Alice Cooper’s Last Temptation. After Gumball’s Revolution on Ice, the band dissolved, and Fleming initiated a solo career with the 1996 EP Because Tomorrow Comes. In 1998 he co-produced Sonic Youth’s A Thousand Leaves.
Following B.A.L.L.’s breakup, Fleming revived the Velvet Monkeys, enlisting an all-star cast that included Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis, Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore, and Pussy Galore’s Julia Cafritz; the resulting 1990 release Rake paid homage to 1970s exploitation-film soundtracks. After launching his new group Gumball via the Special Kiss LP, Fleming turned to outside production work, collaborating with Kim Gordon on Hole’s 1991 debut Pretty on the Inside. That same year he produced Teenage Fanclub’s God Knows Its True EP and later rejoined the band for Bandwagonesque, an album widely hailed as one of the year’s strongest.
In 1992, alongside Gumball’s Super Tasty EP, he performed with the alt-rock supergroup Dim Stars and produced the Screaming Trees’ Sweet Oblivion; 1993 brought both the Posies’ Frosting on the Beater and another Gumball album, Super Tasty. Fleming raised eyebrows in 1994 by producing tracks for Alice Cooper’s Last Temptation. After Gumball’s Revolution on Ice, the band dissolved, and Fleming initiated a solo career with the 1996 EP Because Tomorrow Comes. In 1998 he co-produced Sonic Youth’s A Thousand Leaves.
Albums