Jeff Janiak
Janiak in 2018
Background information
Birth name	Jeffrey Richard Janiak
Born	(1976-11-04) November 4, 1976 Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Heavy metal punk rock dark wave gothic rock hardcore punk anarcho punk thrash metal post-punk
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	1989–1994 2002–present
Labels	Nuclear Blast Dr. Strange Headache Neurot Recordings Punkerama F.O.A.D. STP Working Class Bandworm
Member of	Discharge False Fed
Formerly of	Broken Bones Wasted Life Dead Heros Chaotic Discharge

Jeff "JJ" Janiak (born November 4, 1976) is an American/British singer and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist of hardcore punk band Discharge and darkwave band False Fed.^[1][2][3][4] He was also the vocalist for Broken Bones, Dead Heros and Wasted Life.^[5] Janiak has contributed to various other musical projects and has toured internationally.^[6] His vocal style has been described as shouting, harsh and guttural.^[7][8]

Life and career

Jeff Janiak was born in Livingston, New Jersey on November 4, 1976, and spent the first years of his life in Irvington, New Jersey until moving to Toms River, New Jersey in the late 1970s.^[9] Janiak is a relative of the actor William Campbell.^[10] Janiak had a major interest in horror films and occult books during his youth.^[11] Janiak described himself to Metal Transistor as "a strange kid that felt like he couldn't fit in anywhere".^[12]

Janiak started skateboarding at a young age, and eventually would start skating competitively winning numerous competitions which would land him a sponsorship. Janiak was then recruited by local pro skateboarder Jeff Jones to ride for his demo team, which would see Janiak doing skate demos around the tri-state area.^[9]

His introduction to music started when he began listening to his parents records and his mother gave him her copy of The Monster Mash.^[10] By the age of ten, Janiak was introduced to punk rock music through skateboarding, then later hearing the Dead Kennedys Plastic Surgery Disasters album which ultimately gained his attention to the genre.^[5] At the age of 13, Janiak attended his first punk rock gig watching Ramones at City Gardens in Trenton, New Jersey.^[13]

Janiak's introduction to playing music began at the age of 12 when he taught himself how to play the drums, then at the age of 14, he started his first band Chaotic Discharge.^[5] Janiak attended Toms River High School East, then at age 17 he dropped out of high school and went missing. Janiak went to Philadelphia for a short period, and was staying in a squat. He briefly returned to New Jersey, only to play his final gig with Chaotic Discharge at The Stone Pony. After the gig, Janiak hitched a ride to the Lower East Side of Manhattan where he had got involved in the anarcho punk scene and ended up squatting in an abandoned community building until it was shut down by the NYPD.^[9] After the squat was shut, Janiak spent the remainder of his time in New York City living in and around Tompkins Square Park. During this time, he developed a drug addiction which would last from his late teens to his mid twenties. His whereabouts were discovered when he was seen on a news report about the anniversary of the 1988 Tompkins Square Park riot.^[9] Multiple photos of Janiak began to emerge in various publications about punk rock, anarchy and fashion from during his time living in New York.^[14][15][16]

At age 21, Janiak was arrested and charged with drug possession. He served time at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility.^[9] Upon his release, Janiak cleaned himself up and started a career in the automotive industry spray painting cars.^[17] After an eight year hiatus, Janiak returned to writing and playing music. Janiak made his come back not as a drummer, but as a vocalist. He had joined the band Dead Heros in 2002.^[18] In 2003, Janiak recorded his first release with the band at Twain Studios with recording engineer Bob Both and producer Marty Munsch who would teach Janiak the basics of recording production.^[10] In 2008, Janiak left Dead Heros. He then left the US and moved to Stoke-on-Trent, England.^[5]

Janiak (center) with Discharge in 2017

In 2009, he attended a local gig and met members of the punk band Wasted Life and soon joined their ranks as vocalist until 2013.^[9] In 2012, Janiak joined the punk / crossover thrash band Broken Bones,^[19] and in 2014, Janiak was recruited by punk band Discharge.^[20] In 2016, Janiak made his vocal debut with Discharge on the End of Days album which was released by Nuclear Blast Records.^[21] The album reached number 10 in the Official UK rock charts and number 23 in The Indie Charts.^[22][23] In October 2016, Discharge did a North American tour in support of the album.^[24] Upon the bands arrival in Canada, Janiak was detained at customs due to his previous criminal charges and was initially denied entry into the country. It was then decided in Janiak's favor to grant him a temporary visa which would allow him to play their gig in Vancouver, but he had to leave the country the following day.^[25]

During the corona virus pandemic in 2020, Janiak formed the Darkwave / Post-punk band False Fed and was joined by members of Amebix and Ministry. The band recorded their debut album "Let Them Eat Fake" on Neurot Recordings and it was released in October 2023. ^[26]

Influence

Janiak has stated that Jim Morrison of The Doors was the biggest influence on his vocal style.^[27]

Discography

References