Biography
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Years Active
1999 – present (25 years)
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Members
- Brian Harrah
- Chris Olivas
- Jeff Schartoff
- Justin Bennett
- Roman Marisak
Professional Murder Music are a rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1999. Roman Marisak and Jeff Schartoff –formerly of the LA rock act Human Waste Project (Marisak a frequent guitar player for HWP) came together. Schartoff and Marisak soon recruited drummer Justin Bennett (Skinny Puppy, Thrill Kill Kult, Peter Murphy), and guitarist Brian Harrah (Tura Satana) and adopted the name Professional Murder Music.
Within months the band’s arrival on the L.A. music scene PMM had signed with Geffen Records and began recording their self-titled debut. Wasting no time, PMM teamed up with renowned rock producer Josh Abraham (KORN, Staind) and invited such guests as Dave Ogilvie (Skinny Puppy) and Troy Van Leeuwen (A Perfect Circle) to assist with the record. With this major release, PMM was put on the road to support it with like-minded acts as Marilyn Manson, Staind, Cold, Powerman 5000 and Kid Rock. PMM also played to an onslaught of die-hard fans at the Tattoo the Earth Festival with the likes of Slipknot, Sevendust and Slayer. The video for their first single “Slow” went into rotation on MTV, MTV2 and MTVX and inspired MTV to use the song as a music bed for a behind the scenes bit on Eminem. “Slow”, “Fall Again”, and The Cure remake “A Night Like This” were used on several soundtracks including Ginger Snaps, Valentine and the platinum selling End of Days. “All Lost Things” and “Start Again” from PMM’s 2003 release Looking Through have been featured on several productions including MTV’s “The Real World”. PMM’s music continues to be a soundtrack favourite and is also frequently used by The Howard Stern Show in advertising and promotional spots.
LOOKING THROUGH (2003)
After the release of Professional Murder Music in 2001, the band’s creators began to feel increasingly dissatisfied with the direction of their career at the hands of management and label personnel who no longer seemed to share the same vision. During the recording process of what was to become
Looking Through, the band also saw the departure of guitarist Brian Harrah and (subsequently) drummer Justin Bennett who left the band to pursue other personal interests. Meanwhile, Roman Marisak simply assumed all guitar duties and continued work on the recording. Looking Through features 10 songs, each with a specific message and a carefully mastered sound. Like their debut record, Looking Through features a few good friends such as Tommy Lee (Mötley Crüe) on drums on “Disconnect”, Jason Miller
of Godhead doing backing vocals on “Don’t Stop“ and Buzz McCoy of Thrill Kill Kult performing remix duties on “Something New”.
Rather than going down the road of major label disaster again, the band decided to release Looking Through independently, leaving them with more control. PMM created Wormhole Records and acquired national distribution through Underground, Inc./Caroline.
In support of their new release, Professional Murder Music joined 2003’s United II Tour featuring Dope and Pigface. In 2004, PMM embarked on it’s first ever headlining U.S. Tour, This time featuring new guitarist Tom Hatziemanouel (Graves) and temporarily enlisting drummer ]Josh Memolo of The Union Underground.
FROM THE DEPTHS
Upon returning home from the “All Lost Things” tour in 2004, the members of PMM were eager to use their downtime wisely. Long-time fans of artists such as Radiohead, U2, The Cure, and Oasis and inspired by the timeless quality of a great song, the band wanted to present a more stripped down interpretation of their material and highlight the melodic nature of their own songs sometimes overlooked by the high production values of the band’s recordings and performances. The concept was to record an “acoustic” EP. Further development led the band to record a “dual-sided” EP of 5 cover songs and 5 acoustic revisions of previous material, now titled “De Profundis”.
The closing of 2004 also brought to the band new drummer Chris Olivas (Berlin), a long time friend of Marisak’s.
THE FUTURE
Professional Murder Music continue to evolve and develop their unique sound, incorporating all of their eclectic influences with a sharp focus on what matters most – a great song.
Roman Marisak- vocals, guitar
Jeff Schartoff- bass
Tom Hatziemanouel- guitar
Chris Olivas- drums
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