Remembering Bill Rieflin
March 29, 2020 8:32 AM Subscribe
Multi-instrumentalist and super-collaborator Bill Rieflin passed away this week too soon at the age of 59. Rieflin was best known for his work as a drummer, having toured and/or recorded with Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, R.E.M., The Minus Five, Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, KMFDM, Lard, Revolting Cocks, Swans, King Crimson, and Taylor Swift.
Rieflin passed after struggling with cancer for eight years, and a year after losing his wife, master painter Francesca Sundsten. Billboard quotes R.E.M.'s Mike Mills, "Bill Rieflin was a gentleman and a gentle man, but he could beat the shit out of a set of drums. A musical polymath, deeply intelligent and very funny. I’ll miss sharing his darkness and his laughter" and Robyn Hitchcock, "The great Bill Rieflin has changed hotel rooms for the last time - after a long battle with cancer he checked out and left us today. Musical genius and bleak perfectionist, Bill graced me with his drumming, harmonies and laser-sharp insight between 2005 and 2013."
More tributes to Rieflin's life and career are collected on DGM Live, and Jambase has a short career summary and video of Rieflin as part of the drum trio for King Crimson. See also Rolling Stone's coverage and his extensive list of credits on Discogs.
Rieflin also recorded a solo album Birth of a Giant and an experimental collaboration with Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn, The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior.
You can watch Rieflin on the kit with R.E.M. on Letterman, paying tribute to John Bonham, clips from a documentary about working with Robyn Hitchcock, and with Ministry on "Breathe" from In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up.
Rieflin passed after struggling with cancer for eight years, and a year after losing his wife, master painter Francesca Sundsten. Billboard quotes R.E.M.'s Mike Mills, "Bill Rieflin was a gentleman and a gentle man, but he could beat the shit out of a set of drums. A musical polymath, deeply intelligent and very funny. I’ll miss sharing his darkness and his laughter" and Robyn Hitchcock, "The great Bill Rieflin has changed hotel rooms for the last time - after a long battle with cancer he checked out and left us today. Musical genius and bleak perfectionist, Bill graced me with his drumming, harmonies and laser-sharp insight between 2005 and 2013."
More tributes to Rieflin's life and career are collected on DGM Live, and Jambase has a short career summary and video of Rieflin as part of the drum trio for King Crimson. See also Rolling Stone's coverage and his extensive list of credits on Discogs.
Rieflin also recorded a solo album Birth of a Giant and an experimental collaboration with Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn, The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior.
You can watch Rieflin on the kit with R.E.M. on Letterman, paying tribute to John Bonham, clips from a documentary about working with Robyn Hitchcock, and with Ministry on "Breathe" from In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up.
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Saw him with Ministry in Vancouver in the 90's; really tight drumming and you could tell he loved what he did. Loved his back-and-forth with the dual drumkits in another song from "In Case..." - So What.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 8:43 AM on March 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
Saw him with Ministry in Vancouver in the 90's; really tight drumming and you could tell he loved what he did. Loved his back-and-forth with the dual drumkits in another song from "In Case..." - So What.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 8:43 AM on March 29, 2020 [4 favorites]
...Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, R.E.M., The Minus Five, Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, KMFDM, Lard, Revolting Cocks, Swans, King Crimson, and Taylor Swift.
There's this image now, in the back of my head, of Taylor Swift blasting The Land of Rape and Honey, and screaming "I gotta get this motherfuggin' drummer!" It makes me smile.
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posted by Thorzdad at 9:01 AM on March 29, 2020 [12 favorites]
There's this image now, in the back of my head, of Taylor Swift blasting The Land of Rape and Honey, and screaming "I gotta get this motherfuggin' drummer!" It makes me smile.
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posted by Thorzdad at 9:01 AM on March 29, 2020 [12 favorites]
Bill was the first person I met on my first Guitar Craft course in 2002. We ate breakfast at the same table, and it was clear - I irritated the fuck out of him. Later, he was the picture of kindness and generosity - taught me how to use a metronome properly.
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posted by j_curiouser at 9:05 AM on March 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
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posted by j_curiouser at 9:05 AM on March 29, 2020 [3 favorites]
Oh fuck I had no idea Frankie had died as well. Damn it to hell. Francesca Sundsten paintings.
Frankie played bass in The Beakers.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 9:31 AM on March 29, 2020
Frankie played bass in The Beakers.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 9:31 AM on March 29, 2020
I didn't catch his name at the time but my intro to Mr. Rieflin came via The Blackouts -- one track in particular which got a lot of airplay on my radio show at the time.
The spooky and kind of infinite Everglades
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posted by philip-random at 9:35 AM on March 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
The spooky and kind of infinite Everglades
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posted by philip-random at 9:35 AM on March 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
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(I've seen him many times over the years, fuck cancer!)
posted by djseafood at 9:35 AM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
(I've seen him many times over the years, fuck cancer!)
posted by djseafood at 9:35 AM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by brundlefly at 11:32 AM on March 29, 2020
posted by brundlefly at 11:32 AM on March 29, 2020
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posted by Token Meme at 12:00 PM on March 29, 2020
posted by Token Meme at 12:00 PM on March 29, 2020
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Met him a couple of times after Robyn Hitchcock shows. Lovely bloke and an incredible musician.
posted by scruss at 1:18 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
Met him a couple of times after Robyn Hitchcock shows. Lovely bloke and an incredible musician.
posted by scruss at 1:18 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
PSA: if there are any crafties here, or that you know of, now is a good time to reach out through known channels for an upcoming memorial activity. I won't be sharing info here or via DM.
posted by j_curiouser at 2:29 PM on March 29, 2020
posted by j_curiouser at 2:29 PM on March 29, 2020
I hope I am described, when I go, for being ..."a bleak perfectionist" and "sharing his darkness". Quite the talented and interesting man.
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posted by AugustWest at 2:45 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by AugustWest at 2:45 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:13 PM on March 29, 2020
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 4:13 PM on March 29, 2020
I only saw Bill a couple times (most notably with Ministry on the Psalm 69 tour, my first-ever show), but he was a fixture in my early musical development of taste and not-short-enough drumming phase. If Bill was on the track or album, it was a good track or album. He was arguably the best industrial drummer there ever was; almost certainly the most influential. And of course now that I live in Seattle, there's an extra sadness in the music community here to lose such a seminal figure.
A dear friend with whom I grew up plays frequently with Bill and Robert Fripp in some of their projects, and he's hurting pretty badly right now. I hope the music continues to carry all of them forward.
posted by Errant at 6:06 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
A dear friend with whom I grew up plays frequently with Bill and Robert Fripp in some of their projects, and he's hurting pretty badly right now. I hope the music continues to carry all of them forward.
posted by Errant at 6:06 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
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... and Taylor Swift?? Didn't see that one coming.
And TWO drummers! I would have love to see this show. Even though I did eventually get to see Ministry live, place was totally bonkers during So What & Thieves.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 6:43 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
... and Taylor Swift?? Didn't see that one coming.
And TWO drummers! I would have love to see this show. Even though I did eventually get to see Ministry live, place was totally bonkers during So What & Thieves.
posted by WaterAndPixels at 6:43 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
...toured and/or recorded with Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, R.E.M., The Minus Five, Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3, KMFDM, Lard, Revolting Cocks, Swans, King Crimson, and Taylor Swift.See, now that is a CV.
Also, he played keys on this glorious piece of RevCo shitbaggery. One of my favourite tracks of all time...
posted by prismatic7 at 6:52 PM on March 29, 2020 [1 favorite]
The first time I heard the Breathe intro from In case you didn't feel like showing up was mind blowing. I still can't believe they left it off the album.
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posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 4:24 PM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 4:24 PM on March 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
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Really sad to learn of his passing. It dawned on me a few years ago that I had seen Rieflin live at least twice without knowing it, with Ministry and with Robyn Hitchcock.
He was the kind of collaborator that really impresses me, able to blend into a lot of different styles while also clearly working very well with others. I doubt Rieflin would have been party to so many collaborations and toured with so many groups had he not been a really decent human to work with.
Thanks for keeping the beat as long as you did, Bill.
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posted by jzb at 8:37 AM on March 29, 2020 [5 favorites]