Burning Image

Burning Image are a deathrock band from Bakersfield, California, USA.

They were an anomaly in the punk pantheon of the 1980s. At the time, hardcore punk was the rage but was becoming formulaic and dumbed down as quickly as the songs were getting faster and shorter. Burning Image had more in common with the English "batcave" bands of the period like Specimen than any hardcore unit. Their goth sound, mixed with a heavy dose of theatrical sensibilities, caught the attention of Jello Biafra, who quickly championed the band as one of his favorites, and he was instrumental in getting Burning Image to open numerous times for the Dead Kennedys. Burning Image also did shows with 45 Grave, Specimen, Butthole Surfers, and Dr. Timothy Leary, just to name a few. The band put out a 7" single with the songs 'Final Conflict' and 'Burning Image, Burning'.

The Early Years

Burning Image arose out of the ashes of a group called 'The Pictures'. Moe Adame and Tony Bonanno formed 'The Pictures' as an excuse to play the cool edgy music of the day and to bring punk rock to Bakersfield, Ca. They were tired of playing all the "crap" that the radio had to offer. they also wanted to play their own music. they were not alone.

At that same time, Joe Sparks and Paul Burch were in a local band playing X and Bowie tunes and wanting to create their own homegrown musical revolution. "No more dinosaur rock" was their battle cry. Moe and Tony finally decided that Joe and Paul should be in the band. After a meeting over sirloin tips and coffee at Denny's, it was final. Burning Image was a band.

Burning Image was formed in the Summer of 1983. A wide range of music, art, and fashion influenced the band. Their tastes ranged from Killing Joke to Christian Death and Andy Warhol to Edward Gorey. Politics, Religion, and personal angst were perfect topics for the songs that they were writing. The social climate in Bakersfield was tense and conservative and not very open to new ideas.
The religious groups in town targeted the band for their "satanic lyrics and imagery." which was far from what the band's music was all about. The early shows were true examples of the D.I.Y (do it yourself) attitude of the times. With the exception of Los Angeles and San Francisco, Bakersfield was not the ideal place to put on a deathrock show. But the crowds came and slowly helped the scene become strong and exciting. Burning Image was proving itself to be a vital part of the deathrock scene. Time to venture into the world.
Like it said in the bio, "We wrote a bunch of cool tunes and did some shows with the Dead Kennedys, 45 Grave, Specimen, Butthole Surfers, and Dr. Timothy Leary, just to name a few. We put out a 7" single with the song 'Final Conflict' and 'Burning Image, Burning'. We worked our asses off. It was great." But even the best of times come to an end. Burning Image parted ways in 1987 to pursue other interests and to take a break from the band. The band never officially ended. It just stopped.

Present Day

In 2004 Alternative Tentacles released a CD of Burning Image's early unreleased demos titled "1983-1987." The CD contains a whole album's worth of songs from the sessions for the rare single "The Final Conflict" b/w "Burning Image, Burning" (along with the single itself, of course). Three tracks -- "Gargoyles," "Anytime, Anywhere," and "Temptation" -- were recorded in July 2003. The current Burning Image website has two new songs--"Haunted" and "Zealot"--written for a new Burning Image CD.
The song "Haunted" is featured on a new compilation released by Strobelight records. The compilation is titled "Kaliffornian Deathrock" and is a collection of music by bands of the early 80's deathrock scene in California.

Burning Image have re-formed with original members Moe Adame, Tony Bonanno and Paul Burch in addition to newest member Anthony Leyva on bass. The band is working on new material for a future release.

Burning Image has recently played shows in Hollywood,CA with Christian Death 1334 and the "Wake the Dead" festival
featuring Ausgang, Cinema Strange, Tragic Black and Scarlet's Remains.

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