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| John Evans began his career in '76 as a frontman and songwriter
for a punk rock band. The band played all the major London venues
of the time - The Roxy, Dingwalls etc. - sometimes headlining
the bill, or supporting other punk bands like X-ray Spex, Sham
69, and The Rich Kids. He later went solo under the name John Marlon, and signed as a singer/songwriter signed to the Situation 2 arm of Beggars Banquet Records. His single Sister Soul was released in 1981.
For the last ten years has worked as a full-time writer, and film maker. He has become one of Wales' most original contemporary artists and writers and is described as the leading figure in the 'New Wave' of Welsh writing John Evans lives in the South Wales Valleys. His own success and that of the many bands from the area like Manic Street Preachers, Stereophonics and 60ft Dolls has helped put the region firmly on the map. Throughout his work - from his underground films, or his most recent books Industria and G.B.H. to his multimedia show based on his book How Real Is My Valley? - e combines words and images in an innovative style, which is both fascinating and repellent. Nightmarish depictions of a decaying South Wales Valleys landscape abound and the interconnecting images and text open the wound to reveal the concealed guts of our culture. John Evans work has been described as "impossible to categorise", breaking the boundaries and challenging the conventions of traditional forms. He portrays the social and economic disintegration of an area and the problems, which occur as a result of - alienation, boredom, unemployment, crime, drug abuse, violence. It is a post-punk kind of art, an apocalyptic vision, an orgy of disgust. Throughout, Evans takes us on a trip through the new death culture of Post-industrial Britain. It is a world of E's, Heroin, or Speed; self mutilation, body piercing, and the new tribal art; S&M sex, or getting your faced kicked in on a Saturday night; Video Surveillance cameras in the high street, joyriding, ram-raiding, and Hollywood style Police helicopter busts. All played out against a soundtrack of Punk, Rap, and Thrash Metal. He shows us the terrifying truth of contemporary life as seen through the eyes of its victims. The interest and acclaim for Evans' work has spread throughout the U.K. and beyond. Best-selling author Iain Sinclair describes him as "a hot and necessary item in an evidently grim landscape", while others see him as "the authentic voice of the street - the death rattle of post-industrial Britain". His work has also been compared to writers like Kathy Acker, William Burroughs, Henry Rollins, and Irvine Welsh; and bands like Pere Ubu, Joy Division and Manic Street Preachers during their Holy Bible period. John Evans life and work are inseparable. He is seen as a tough, uncompromising and controversial figure, often in the public eye, either as a spokesman for various campaigns against the Welsh Arts Establishment, or for the confrontational nature of his work. He is also the editor of a number of books including: Black Harvest - Contemporary poetry from the South Wales Valleys, Out of the Coalhouse - New Writing from the South Wales Valleys, and Mogg Williams -Selected Works. |
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"Like Pere Ubu did for Cleveland in the Seventies, Joy Division for Manchester, and Nirvana for Seattle in the early Nineties, Evans has that rare gift of capturing a time, place and culture in his writings about his native South Wales Valleys." - Kulture Vulture. "For 22 years I’ve waited for the emergence of this man." Chris Torrance, Writer. "Evans is being hailed as Wales' answer to Irvine Welsh. Some would say he's more talented." - Y Faner Goch. "John Evans is a hot and necessary particle in an evidently grim landscape." - Iain Sinclair, Writer. "Writer John Evans demolishes the daffodil imagery of the Valleys at a stroke...His writing appears frighteningly realistic." - The Big Issue. "Some observers believe he leads the way of New Wave urban writing in Wales, while others feel his gritty realism is too profane."- Observer. "John Evans is the voice of the disaffected, alienated youth of the south Wales valleys, the street voice of post-industrial Britain rattling to its death.." - Morning Star.
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Copyright © [www.johnevans.org.uk]
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