Biography
Geza X earned recognition chiefly through production credits on the Los Angeles punk circuit, though he also issued one eccentric solo album that later achieved cult status among followers of that scene. Of Hungarian lineage, Geza—whose given name is Geza—selected the added “X” to honor Malcolm X and landed his first studio role in the mid-1970s. He soon took the sound-engineer post at the historic Masque club in L.A. and let it be known he was available to produce. Darby Crash of the Germs recruited him for the band’s landmark single “Lexicon Devil,” after which X produced defining Cali-punk tracks including the Dead Kennedys’ “Holiday in Cambodia” and Black Flag’s “Six Pack.” Further work came with the Weirdos, the Avengers, and new waver Josie Cotton on “Johnny Are You Queer?,” while he also played instruments in the Bags—the female-fronted outfit that performed with bags over their heads—and the Deadbeats. In the early ’80s X began laying down his own material, shaped as much by avant-rock eccentrics such as Zappa, Beefheart, and the Residents as by punk. “We Need Power” surfaced on the second Rodney on the ROQ compilation, and “Isotope Soap” appeared on Jello Biafra’s Let Them Eat Jellybeans! sampler. His lone solo album, You Goddam Kids, arrived in 1982 on the small Final Gear label. The record featured the scenester-heavy Mommymen, whose contributors included Josie Cotton, X drummer D.J. Bonebrake, keyboardist Paul Roessler (DC3, the Screamers), drummer Brendan Mullen, .45 Grave drummer Don Bolles, and others. X supplied guitar, vocals, and studio treatments, allowing full expression of his offbeat humor and taste for dissonant experimentation. With the L.A. punk scene fading, X left the city for a period to overcome a drug problem. He reentered the industry first as an equipment reviewer for Spin magazine and later as house audio engineer for Paramount. Music work resumed in the late ’80s, largely with local rap and alternative rock artists, and several years afterward he opened his own studio, City Lab, in partnership with Josie Cotton. Throughout the ’90s he produced an array of releases, among them Butt Trumpet’s unlikely major-label debut Primitive Enema (1994) and Meredith Brooks’ million-selling hit “Bitch.” X eventually closed City Lab and established a new facility in the Malibu hills called Satellite Park, again with Cotton. Bacchus reissued You Goddam Kids on CD in 2002.
Albums