John S. Hall

Infobox Writer
name = John S. Hall
birthname = John Charles Hall

---

caption =
pseudonym =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1960|9|02
birthplace = New York City, United States
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Poet, author, singer, lawyer
genre = Performance poetry, spoken word, free verse
movement = Avant-garde, absurdist, postmodernist
influences = Mykel Board, Patti Smith, John Giorno, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka
influenced = MC Lars
website = http://www.myspace.com/johnshall
spouse = Yuriko Tada
children = Violet Sayuri Hall

John S. Hall (born John Charles Hall September 2, 1960) is an American poet, author, singer, and lawyer perhaps best known for his work with King Missile, an avant-garde band that he co-founded in 1986 and has since led in various disparate incarnations.

Biography

Early life

John S. Hall was born on September 2, 1960 in Brooklyncite web
last =
first =
title = Interview w/ John
publisher = Farmboy's King Missile
date =
url = http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] and grew up in Manhattan's West Village.Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). "Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam." New York City: Soft Skull Press, 288. ISBN 1-933-36882-9.] He recalls being "very quiet and shy" as a child, and a social outcast as an adolescent.cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Wuss
publisher = Farmboy's King Missile
date =
url = http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile/wuss.html
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] In 1978 he graduated from Stuyvesant High School.cite web
last =
first =
title = John S. Hall MySpace Page
publisher = MySpace
date =
url = http://www.myspace.com/johnshall
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ]

Participation in poetry scene

In the early 1980s, Hall began participating in the Lower East Side poetry scene.Aptowicz (2008), p. 287.] He read his poems at such venues as Speakeasy and ABC No Rio.Aptowicz (2008), p. 289.] According to performance poet Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, Hall "became an easily recognizable figure in the scene: pale, bald, dressed mostly in black and white, with wire-rimmed glasses and a porkpie hat."

Hall has long been a vocal opponent of slam poetry, taking issue with such factors as its inherently competitive natureAptowicz (2008), p. 290.] and what he considers its lack of stylistic diversity.Aptowicz (2008), p. 297.] In a 2005 interview by Aptowicz, he recalled seeing his first slam, at the Nuyorican Poets Café:cquote|...I hated it. And it made me really uncomfortable and... it was very much like a sporting event, and I was interested in poetry in large part because it was like the antithesis of sports.... [I] t seemed to me like a very macho, masculine form of poetry and not at all what I was interested in.

Despite his reservations about slam poetry, Hall has performed alongside slam poets on such television programs as PBS's "The United States of Poetry," MTV's "Spoken Word Unplugged," and HBO's "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry."cite web
last =
first =
title = Video: America Kicks Ass (live on "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry")
publisher = YouTube
date = 2007-01-27
url = http://youtube.com/watch?v=eKLzClpc12A
accessdate = 2008-06-14 ]

Early bands

Hall performed in at least two musical groups before co-founding King Missile. One was Purple Sunshine, a "hippie band" Hall started because he "was really into hippies and LSD, and tuning in and dropping out, and all that stuff."Hall, John S. (2004). Album notes. In "Mystical Shit & Fluting on the Hump" [CD booklet] . New York City: Shimmy Disc.] The other was You Suck, which Hall says was inspired by a band led by punk musician Mykel Board:cquote| [Board] 's band blew my mind. The idea of having someone in the band that didn't sing or play an instrument was a revelation to me. Within a year, I had, with some friends, developed a band called You Suck, where most of the people on stage didn't play an instrument. Like there was a guy who did a Rubik's Cube, or a couple of people playing chess, or a guy with a dead fish on the end of a fishing line which he waved around the audience, or whatever. If you had some visual idea and cared to join us, we would let you. Over the course of a little over a year, over 100 people performed in You Suck. Mykel came to our first show and said that his face hurt from laughing so much. He ended up producing our only single and releasing it on his label: 'The You Suck Chant' [backed with] 'Get the Fuck off the Stage.' It was weird, because those were practically our only original songs: we were a cover band. We would do any bad song we could think of...cite web
last = Hall
first = John S.
title = John S. Hall/King Missile III Newsletter
publisher = LiveJournal
date = 2004-03-15
url = http://community.livejournal.com/king_missile/5982.html
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ]

Over the objections of the band, Board released the You Suck single with a pornographic cover image.cite web
last = Hall
first = John S.
title = John S. Hall/King Missile III Newsletter
publisher = LiveJournal
date = 2004-04-08
url = http://community.livejournal.com/king_missile/6597.html
accessdate = 2008-06-05 ] The single was not a commercial success, and the band broke up shortly after its release.

King Missile

In 1985, Hall began presenting his work at open mike poetry readings. After three shows, he became a "featured" poet at the Backfence, a performance space in Manhattan's East Village.cite web
last = Prindle
first = Mark
title = Interview with John S. Hall
publisher = Prindle Rock and Roll Record Review Site
date = 2003
url = http://www.markprindle.com/hall-i.htm
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] In 1986, feeling that "20 minutes of me reading poetry would be totally boring," Hall asked his guitarist friend Dogbowl to augment his performances with original music. Dogbowl agreed, and with the addition of bassist Alex DeLaszlo, drummer R.B. Korbet, and xylophonist George O'Malley, King Missile (Dog Fly Religion) was born. The band released two albums on the Shimmy Disc label, 1987's "Fluting on the Hump" and 1988's "They," and then dissolved because Dogbowl wanted to pursue a solo career.

After Dogbowl's departure, Hall asked Bongwater guitarist Dave Rick to help him put together a new band. Rick recruited multi-instrumentalist Chris Xefos, and Hall retained "They" drummer Steve Dansiger. Hall dubbed the new lineup King Missile, dropping the parenthetical "Dog Fly Religion" subtitle "since that was [Dogbowl's] idea." In late 1989 and early 1990, the band recorded the album "Mystical Shit," and in 1990 released it on Shimmy Disc. On the strength of the single "Jesus Was Way Cool," the album hit #1 on the CMJ charts, and the band was signed by a major label, Atlantic Records. This series of events led Hall to make a habit of joking, "'Jesus' got me signed to Atlantic Records." Shortly after getting signed, Hall released an album on Shimmy Disc with permission from Atlantic: "Real Men," a side project recorded with producer and Shimmy Disc founder Kramer.

King Missile recorded three albums for Atlantic: 1991's "The Way to Salvation," 1992's "Happy Hour," and 1994's "King Missile." "Happy Hour" spawned a modest hit in "Detachable Penis," which reached #25 on the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks chart.cite web
last =
first =
title = King Missile Singles Peak Chart Positions
publisher = Allmusic
date =
url = http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:f9fqxqw5ld0e~T51
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] Nonetheless, after the commercial failure of "King Missile," the band was dropped from Atlantic, and broke up shortly thereafter because, according to Hall, "there was no reason to stay together."

In 1996, Hall released a "solo album," "The Body Has a Head," on the German label Manifatture Criminali. The album featured considerable input from multi-instrumentalists Sasha Forte, Bradford Reed, and Jane Scarpantoni. With these musicians, as well as "They" cellist Charles Curtis, Hall formed a new band, King Missile III (pronounced "the third"). In 1998, the new lineup released its "debut" album, "Failure," on Shimmy Disc. Curtis and Scarpantoni left the band after the release of "Failure," and King Missile III continued as a trio, releasing two more albums: 2003's "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" and 2004's "Royal Lunch."

Books

Hall has released two books, both on Soft Skull Press. The first, 1997's "Jesus Was Way Cool," is a collection of forty poems recorded on King Missile and Hall solo albums, plus a never-recorded poem, "Hope."cite web
last =
first =
title = Amazon Online Reader: Jesus Was Way Cool
publisher = Amazon.com
date =
url = http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1887128158/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ]

The second, 2007's "Daily Negations," is a dark-humored satire of self-help books. In it, Hall presents a negative thought for each day of the calendar year (including Leap Day). For example, the negation for March 16th reads, "Today, I will try to remember to regret the past. I will think of how many mistakes I have made throughout my life. I will say to myself, 'If only I could go back in time and make different choices, so that my life could be the way it should have been.' Then I will remind myself that I cannot."Hall, John S. (2007). "Daily Negations." New York City: Soft Skull Press. ISBN 1-933-36845-4.]

Dominant themes of work

Asked in a 2003 interview to speak about the common themes of his work, Hall replied:cquote|I think these are some of the common themes: a) life is hard, brutal, capricious and unfair, b) sometimes there is a benefit to seeing it clearly, and acknowledging it truthfully..., and c) other times it is best to find something to laugh about, lest despair crush one completely. I find a lot of humor in shocking or so-called taboo things: castration, excrement, violence (usually self-inflicted or inflicted on the narrator, ' [Martin Scorsese (song)| [Martin] Scorsese] ' being an exception), sex and sexual perversions... etc.

Other recurring subjects of Hall's work include religion and spirituality (e.g., "The Fish That Played the Ponies,"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: The Fish That Played the Ponies
publisher = Farmboy's King Missile
date =
url = http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile/ponies.html
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ] "Jesus Was Way Cool,"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Jesus Was Way Cool
publisher = Farmboy's King Missile
date =
url = http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile/jesus.html
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ] "The God"),cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: The God
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858573123
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ] nihilism (e.g., "No Point,"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: No Point
publisher = Farmboy's King Missile
date =
url = http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile/point.html
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ] "Ed,"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Ed
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=95732
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ] "Jim"),cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Jim
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858541864
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ] and masochism (e.g., "Pickaxe,"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Pickaxe
publisher = Farmboy's King Missile
date =
url = http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile/axe.html
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ] "Take Me Home,"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Take Me Home
publisher = Farmboy's King Missile
date =
url = http://www.i-mockery.com/kingmissile/takeme.html
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ] "My Lover").cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: My Lover
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858727003
accessdate = 2008-06-19 ]

Writing and performance styles

Hall's writing varies in format from straightforward narrative to abstract, disjointed free verse. The writing frequently contains absurdist imagery (e.g., "A giant testicle rolled over a Waffle House, killing several clowns")cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Tour Diary: Louisville
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858682329
accessdate = 2008-07-09 ] and/or adynata (e.g., " [columbidae| [P] igeons] came along and ate his eyes, and seagulls ripped his stomach out, and pelicans ate his liver, and his spleen popped out all on its own and turned into a harmonica and played a pleasant little tune. Then out came his pancreas, which turned into the dog that bit him last week, and it bit him again and again and again many times").

Hall's performance style is also eclectic, his delivery ranging from a deadpan monotone to melodic tenor singing to overwrought screaming. In a 1998 interview, Hall expressed a preference for his spoken material over his sung: "Most of my work that I prefer is this type, and in most cases, the singing stuff [on albums] is filler, with the exception of songs here and there... [F] or the most part, I'm better at the spoken shit."cite web
last = Thompson
first = Stephen
title = Interview with John S. Hall
publisher = "The A.V. Club"
date = 1998-11-11
url = http://www.avclub.com/content/node/23128
accessdate = 2008-07-09 ]

tage name

In a 2003 missive to his electronic mailing list, Hall explained how he chose his stage name:cquote| [M] y stage name is John S. Hall, my original born name is John Charles Hall, but my friends, enemies, and stalkers call me John Hall. What's the deal with the S? Well, when I was 15, I didn't like the way John C. Hall looked, so I wanted to change it. I was named after my grandfather, Charles Syjefroi Boileau, so I was given the choice of John B. Hall (which looked odd to me when I was 15, but now looks kind of fresh) or John S. Hall, which looked a lot better, so that's what I chose. It was several years before I realized that some people would think it was a deliberate pun on the word 'asshole.' It wasn't.cite web
last = Hall
first = John S.
title = John S. Hall/King Missile III Newsletter
publisher = LiveJournal
date = 2003-12-27
url = http://community.livejournal.com/king_missile/4367.html
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ]

Legal career

After the collapse of the second incarnation of King Missile, Hall decided to attend law school. He graduated "cum laude" from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in Manhattan,cite web
last =
first =
title = Bios
publisher = Heraty Law
date =
url = http://www.heratylaw.com/bios
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] and after graduation co-founded Heraty Hall, a firm specializing in entertainment law. Hall later left the firm (whose name accordingly changed to Heraty Law) to go into private practice.

Asked in a 2005 interview if he became a lawyer out of disillusionment with the contemporary poetry scene, Hall laughed and replied, "I became a lawyer to make money."Aptowicz (2008), p. 302.]

Political and personal beliefs

Hall has used his vehement dislike of President George W. Bush and the Bush administration as subject matter for several King Missile III songs, including "The President,"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: The President
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858516220
accessdate = 2008-06-23 ] "Suggested Response to the Coming Crises,"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Suggested Response to the Coming Crises
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858516313
accessdate = 2008-06-23 ] and "Another Political Poem."cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: Another Political Poem
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858545010
accessdate = 2008-06-23 ] He campaigned for Democratic candidate John Kerry in the United States presidential election of 2004.cite web
last = Hall
first = John S.
title = John S. Hall/King Missile III Newsletter
publisher = LiveJournal
date = 2004-06-18
url = http://community.livejournal.com/king_missile/7812.html
accessdate = 2008-06-23 ]

Hall considers himself both Buddhistcite web
last = Hall
first = John S.
title = Ocean Lotus Farm: Review
publisher = "Satya"
date = 2005-10
url = http://www.satyamag.com/oct05/hall.html
accessdate = 2008-06-23 ] and agnostic. On his MySpace page, he summarizes his faith as follows: "I don't believe in God, but I do believe in something. I'm just not sure what."

Hall is also a vegan.

Family

Hall married his longtime girlfriend Yuriko Tada on October 3, 2004.cite web
last = Hall
first = John S.
title = John S. Hall/King Missile III Newsletter
publisher = LiveJournal
date = 2004-08-17
url = http://community.livejournal.com/king_missile/9485.html
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] Hall and Tada have a daughter, Violet Sayuri Hall, born October 3, 2006.cite web
last =
first =
title = Violet Sayuri Hall MySpace Page
publisher = MySpace
date =
url = http://www.myspace.com/ytjsh1
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ]

References in popular culture

American rapper MC Lars compliments Hall in his song "My Rhymes Rhyme": "Shout-outs to Wesley Willis, Adam G., and John Hall / Word to MC Paul Barman; hey, return my call!"cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: My Rhymes Rhyme
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858519936
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ] Lars also praises King Missile in his song "The Dialogue": "Nine Inch Nails, Primus, 'Weird Al,' and King Missile / Influenced me like a postmodern epistle."cite web
last =
first =
title = Lyrics: The Dialogue
publisher = SongMeanings
date =
url = http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858633397
accessdate = 2008-06-02 ]

Discography

with King Missile (Dog Fly Religion)

with Kramer

olo

Bibliography

*"Jesus Was Way Cool" (Soft Skull Press, 1997)
*"Daily Negations" (Soft Skull, 2007)

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/johnshall John S. Hall MySpace page]
* [http://www.myspace.com/kingmissile King Missile MySpace page]
* [http://www.heratyhall.com/ Heraty Law (Hall's former legal practice)]