Gregory Regis Ginn (/ˈɡɪn/GHIN,[1] born June 8, 1954) is an American musician and songwriter, best known for being the leader, primary songwriter, and the only continuous member of the hardcore punk band Black Flag, which he founded and led from 1976 to 1986, and again in 2003. The band announced another reunion in 2013.[2] Since the breakup of Black Flag, Ginn has recorded solo albums, and performed with such bands as October Faction, Gone, Confront James, Mojack, and others.[3] He was 99th on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[4]
Personal life
Ginn was born June 8, 1954, in Tucson, Arizona.[5] He began an electronics company in Hermosa Beach, California, called Solid State Tuners, when he was 12 years old. He was also an amateur radio operator. Ginn became a vegetarian at 17 years old in 1971 and has been a vegan since 1998.[6] Ginn is the older brother of artist Raymond Ginn, who goes by the pseudonym of Raymond Pettibon.
Ginn owns the Texas-based independent record label SST Records (SST), an outgrowth of his original Solid State Tuners company.
On October 10, 2014, Ginn's ex-wife Marina filed a motion in court to prevent Ginn from having access to their children, claiming Ginn was "routinely denying them food and threatening them," "abusing alcohol and drugs in front of them," had "forced [the children] to do cleaning chores until 2 a.m." "locked [them] in a room alone with no contact with the outside world through cell phone or emails," and had "throw[n] cups of water in their face." She also claimed he had told his daughters "you're hot" and "whistled at them," and told them "they are getting fat and need to lose weight and that their diets will have to be more strenuous."[7] Former Black Flag member Ron Reyes subsequently testified in court in support of Marina Ginn's accusations.[8]
Black Flag is an American hardcore punk band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter, and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band. They are widely considered to be one of the first hardcore punk bands. After breaking up in 1986, Black Flag briefly reunited in 2003 and again in 2013. Black Flag's sound mixed the raw simplicity of the Ramones with atonal guitar solos and frequent tempo shifts. The lyrics were written mostly by Ginn, and like other punk rock bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s, Black Flag voiced an anti-authoritarian and non-conformist message, in songs punctuated with descriptions of social isolation, neurosis, poverty, and paranoia. These themes were explored further when Henry Rollins joined the band as lead singer in 1981. Most of the band's material was released on Ginn's SST Records.
Use of pseudonym
"Dale Nixon" is a pseudonym and multiple-use name originally used by Ginn to obfuscate the fact that he played bass on the later Black Flag albums, My War and What The... It has since been used by other artists (typically punk) to appear on albums without being in breach of record label contracts that stipulate label exclusivity. Other artists using the "Dale Nixon" moniker include Dave Grohl, who filled in on drums for the Melvins' 1992 album King Buzzo, and Brian Baker, a founding member of Minor Threat, credited as Nixon on the 1992 Dag Nasty album Four on the Floor. The name appears once again, listed as a bass player, on the Ryan Adams album Orion; it is likely Adams himself, or his sound engineer, Charlie.[citation needed]
Ginn's earliest guitar was a Ampeg Dan Armstrong electric guitar. He eventually started using an Westone Spectrum SX and Modulus Graphite Black Knife Stratocaster guitars in later albums.
Amplification
He would play both guitars through an head amp Peavey Series 260 Standard PA and Ampeg SVT-410HLF bass cabinet.
Effects
Ginn never uses any effects or distortion pedals, as depicted in the Nervous Breakdown EP.
^DuVall, William (September 4, 2016). "How Black Flag changed my life, by William DuVall". TeamRock.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2017. When Black Flag came along I was like, 'This is it. This is exactly what the doctor ordered.' That unhinged guitar playing that Greg Ginn was doing was amazing. As a fan of Hendrix and avant-garde jazz, he was right there at the centre of all of that and he embraced all of it in his playing. I could tell that what he was doing was deliberate, too. It wasn't just like, 'Oh this guy can't play.' It was discipline. Later on, I got to know Greg Ginn and it was all confirmed for me. He was like, 'This is method.'
^Kelly, Amy (April 25, 2011). "Zach Blair Of Rise Against: 'I've Always Been A Student Of Aggression'". Ultimate Guitar Archive. Archived from the original on June 16, 2017. Retrieved April 14, 2017. [...] I'm not such a fan of crazy, loose playing, but I think Greg Ginn of Black Flag was brilliant and did it in a way where it sounded like he was playing sloppy but that was exactly how he wanted to play it. He was actually playing tighter than anyone I had ever seen. He was making tight sound that way. [...]
^Hodgson, Peter (September 29, 2013). "INTERVIEW: Every Time I Die's Andy Williams". iheartguitarblog.com. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved April 14, 2017. [...] People don't want to hear it, but that's my main writing influence, Greg Ginn. Anything he wrote on a guitar was what I wanted to do on a guitar. [...]
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