Jon Brion

Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and composer. He performed with the Excerpts, the Bats, ‘Til Tuesday and the Grays before becoming an established producer and film score composer.

Brion has produced music for artists and bands including Of Montreal, Aimee Mann, Love Jones, Eels, Fiona Apple, Elliott Smith, Robyn Hitchcock, Rhett Miller, The Crystal Method, Kanye West, Sky Ferreira and Mac Miller. According to Stereogum, Brion’s work on Mann’s first solo albums “lay the groundwork for a sound that became synonymous with a strain of notable alternative acts at the turn of the century”.

Brion’s film scores include Hard Eight (1996), Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and I Heart Huckabees (both 2004), Synecdoche, New York (2008), ParaNorman (2012), Lady Bird (2017), and Christopher Robin (2018). He released his debut solo album, Meaningless, in 2001.

Brion was born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey on December 11, 1963. He comes from a musical family; his mother, LaRue, was an administrative assistant and singer, and his father, Keith Brion, was a band director at Yale. His brother and sister became a composer/arranger and a violinist, respectively. Brion grew up in Connecticut, where he dropped out of Hamden High School at the age of 17, opting instead to play music professionally. From 1980–85 Jon was part of the band The Excerpts, along with Stephen Harris, Dean Falcone, Jim Balga, Bobby Butcher & Spike Priggen.

In the early 1980s, Brion and musician/producer Bill Murphy began a writing collaboration in New Haven, Connecticut. They eventually enlisted bassist Don “Riff” Fertman and together formed the Bats (not to be confused with the New Zealand group or South African group of the same name). The Bats released a single, “Popgun”, and one album, How Pop Can You Get?, on Gustav Records in 1982. The recordings had much critical acclaim, but little commercial success, and the trio eventually disbanded.

In 1987, Brion moved to Boston, where he played solo gigs, formed the short-lived band World’s Fair and became a member of the last touring version of Aimee Mann’s new wave band ‘Til Tuesday. He contributed guitar work to Jellyfish’s 1993 album Spilt Milk, and in 1994, joined Dan McCarroll, Buddy Judge and ex-Jellyfish guitarist Jason Falkner in the short-lived pop band the Grays. He also played guitar on the Wallflowers’ hit song “One Headlight”, using a screwdriver that was sitting atop a nearby amp as a slide. Brion played numerous instruments on Sam Phillips’ 1996 release Omnipop. Brion is featured as keyboardist and drummer on Marianne Faithfull’s 2003 album, Kissin Time, and co-wrote a song, “City of Quartz”, for her next work, 2005’s Before the Poison.

After being recognized as an accomplished session player, Brion branched out into production on then-girlfriend Mann’s 1993 solo debut, Whatever, and its follow-up, I’m With Stupid. He has also produced albums by Fiona Apple, Rufus Wainwright, Eleni Mandell, Rhett Miller, Robyn Hitchcock, Brad Mehldau and Evan Dando, and co-produced Kanye West’s Late Registration in 2005. …

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