Bill Rieflin American musician Date of Birth: 30.09.1960 Country: USA

Biography of Bill Rieflin

Bill Rieflin is an American musician who has worked with a number of prominent bands throughout his career. He has played industrial rock, experimental metal, and a variety of similar genres. Some of the bands he has collaborated with include Ministry, Revolting Cocks, Lard, KMFDM, Pigface, Swans, Nine Inch Nails, and R.E.M. Many know Rieflin as the founder of the independent music label First World Music. He currently lives in Seattle and is married to Francesca Sundsten. Rieflin began his professional music career in Seattle. In 1975, he performed as part of the band The Telepaths, which had the opportunity to perform live at concerts of the popular band The Tupperwares. In 1979, Rieflin started playing drums in the band The Blackouts, along with his brother Raymond, Paul Barker, Roland Barker, and Erich Werner. After the breakup of the band, Paul Barker joined Ministry. Rieflin also made good use of his time and crossed paths with Al Jourgensen while working on the second Revolting Cocks single, "You Often Forget." Shortly after, Rieflin helped Ministry create their legendary album "The Land of Rape and Honey." He became well-known for his performance in the video "In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up (Live)" where he demonstrated not only his exceptional playing skills but also his excellent sense of style. Rieflin worked with Ministry and a number of other projects until the mid-90s. He was rarely credited as a member of the bands he played with and was often listed as "and others." Rieflin helped Martin Atkins launch the project Pigface, which brought together hundreds of talented performers. Around the same time, he befriended Chris Connelly and created the label First World Music. In Seattle, Rieflin developed warm relationships with several prominent musicians, including Robert Fripp and Trey Gunn from King Crimson, Scott McCaughey from Young Fresh Fellows, Sascha Konietzko from KMFDM, and Peter Buck from R.E.M. It was Fripp who helped Rieflin record his debut solo project, "Birth of a Giant," in which Rieflin played the lead vocals. The improvisational materials recorded during the project later formed the basis of the album "The Repercussions of Angelic Behavior." Rieflin was an active collaborator with KMFDM from 1995 to 2003, where he played drums, sang, and played keyboards. He also traveled with the band as their bassist during the tour in support of the album "Attak." Later, Rieflin played drums in the band The Minus 5, formed by McCaughey, and Peter Buck also joined the band. Buck then invited Rieflin to work with R.E.M., and Rieflin joined the group for a tour. The tour showed that Rieflin was capable of working with R.E.M., and he continued to collaborate with the band for some time, once again being listed as "and other musicians." In late 2004, Rieflin maintained a blog where he shared details about his life, mood, his two cats' antics, and the lives of his fellow musicians. One of Rieflin's more recent projects was the band The Humans, which included Chris Wong, Robert Fripp, and Toyah Willcox. The band released their debut album on May 1, 2009.