Biography
The London quartet Gallon Drunk emerged in 1990 with an initial lineup of James Johnston handling vocals, guitar, and organ, Mike Delanian on bass, Max Decharne covering drums along with keyboard duties for the Earls of Suave, and Joe Byfield on maracas; reviewers often likened their brooding, shadowy style to that of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and Morphine. Right after forming, the band began releasing singles through their self-run Massive imprint, many of which topped the independent charts and earned Single of the Week honors from leading UK outlets including NME and Melody Maker. By 1992 the group moved into longer-form releases, starting with the studio debut You, the Night...& the Music, followed by the singles compilation Tonite...the Singles Bar and the live Peel Sessions: Clawfist collection.
Major-label interest soon materialized when Warner Bros. signed them and issued From the Heart of Town in 1993, a set that introduced new horn player Terry Edwards to the lineup; the album received a Mercury Prize nomination the next year while the band toured Europe, the U.S., and Japan and delivered a notable performance on Jools Holland’s Later program. Johnston stepped away from the group the following year to join Edwards in crafting the soundscape Dora Suarez, drawn from Derek Raymond’s novel I Was Dora Suarez, which they performed to a sold-out crowd at London’s National Film Theatre on the South Bank. That same year Johnston contributed guitar to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds during their 1994 Lollapalooza appearance in the U.S., leading to further songwriting work with Cave and a Top of the Pops slot alongside Cave and Kylie Minogue.
Upon rejoining Gallon Drunk the members chose to exit Warner Bros., triggering contractual delays that blocked fresh material until the self-released The Traitor’s Gate EP appeared at the close of 1995; the band marked the release with a Phoenix Festival slot and their first Irish tour. Their third studio album overall, In the Long Still Night, surfaced in 1996 on City Slang with new additions Ian Watson on guitar and trumpet, Andy Dewar on percussion, and Ian White on drums, and was widely hailed by listeners and critics as the band’s strongest work to date. Soundtrack contributions followed, including music for Nikos Triandafyllidis’s Black Milk and Geraldine Swayne’s East End, while Johnston made his acting debut in 2001 in Ken Russell’s horror-comedy The Fall of the Louse of Usher, adapted from Edgar Allan Poe, and released the single “Hurricane” under the JJ Stone name that year.
Bassist Jeremy Cottingham joined in 2002 just before the release of the vibrant Fire Music; his stay proved brief, however, as the band entered hiatus afterward, during which Johnston again toured and recorded with Nick Cave, collaborated with German psych-prog outfit Faust, and worked with Lydia Lunch’s Big Sexy Noise. When Johnston, White, and Edwards reconvened for 2007’s The Rotten Mile, Simon Wring had taken over on bass; the supporting tour was captured on Live at Klub 007, yet Wring’s time ended with his death in April 2011. Gallon Drunk regrouped regardless, issuing The Road Gets Darker from Here in 2012 and, in spring 2014, The Soul of the Hour, which introduced bassist Leo Kurunis.
Major-label interest soon materialized when Warner Bros. signed them and issued From the Heart of Town in 1993, a set that introduced new horn player Terry Edwards to the lineup; the album received a Mercury Prize nomination the next year while the band toured Europe, the U.S., and Japan and delivered a notable performance on Jools Holland’s Later program. Johnston stepped away from the group the following year to join Edwards in crafting the soundscape Dora Suarez, drawn from Derek Raymond’s novel I Was Dora Suarez, which they performed to a sold-out crowd at London’s National Film Theatre on the South Bank. That same year Johnston contributed guitar to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds during their 1994 Lollapalooza appearance in the U.S., leading to further songwriting work with Cave and a Top of the Pops slot alongside Cave and Kylie Minogue.
Upon rejoining Gallon Drunk the members chose to exit Warner Bros., triggering contractual delays that blocked fresh material until the self-released The Traitor’s Gate EP appeared at the close of 1995; the band marked the release with a Phoenix Festival slot and their first Irish tour. Their third studio album overall, In the Long Still Night, surfaced in 1996 on City Slang with new additions Ian Watson on guitar and trumpet, Andy Dewar on percussion, and Ian White on drums, and was widely hailed by listeners and critics as the band’s strongest work to date. Soundtrack contributions followed, including music for Nikos Triandafyllidis’s Black Milk and Geraldine Swayne’s East End, while Johnston made his acting debut in 2001 in Ken Russell’s horror-comedy The Fall of the Louse of Usher, adapted from Edgar Allan Poe, and released the single “Hurricane” under the JJ Stone name that year.
Bassist Jeremy Cottingham joined in 2002 just before the release of the vibrant Fire Music; his stay proved brief, however, as the band entered hiatus afterward, during which Johnston again toured and recorded with Nick Cave, collaborated with German psych-prog outfit Faust, and worked with Lydia Lunch’s Big Sexy Noise. When Johnston, White, and Edwards reconvened for 2007’s The Rotten Mile, Simon Wring had taken over on bass; the supporting tour was captured on Live at Klub 007, yet Wring’s time ended with his death in April 2011. Gallon Drunk regrouped regardless, issuing The Road Gets Darker from Here in 2012 and, in spring 2014, The Soul of the Hour, which introduced bassist Leo Kurunis.
Albums
Singles
Live
