Alan Bernhoft BIO

ALAN BERNHOFT BIO

(updated August 2017)

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Alan has spent a lifetime creating music and art. A serious drummer at the age of eight, he had his first band, The Union Faith, in grammar school, playing parties and school dances in Shreveport, Louisiana with his pal, local guitar legend Mark Griffith. As a young boy drawn to the many blues clubs around town, Alan developed quite an array of fake I.D.’s in order to get in to hear his favorite old players. The little white boy over in the corner became a familiar fixture at intimate performances by legends such as Little Richard. He soaked in the experiences like a sponge.

Meanwhile, his Beatles records were seldom off the turntable. He sang along to John Lennon daily for inspiration.

Alan and the punk-art band, The Wedgeheads, featuring Dan Garner, created a lasting local impact with outrageous performances like Puppy Slicer and a dead-Elvis parody that made for great press. It subsequently, however, got Alan thrown out of The Sundowners, a country group he was gigging with on the side, and PAN, a top 40 group who didn’t get the humor.

He and songwriter Jaxon Baker then formed The Mice! with X-Wedgeheads Howie Pickett and Bill Humphreys, a Beatlesque, harmonizing pop group whose self-produced first single I Like Her with bassist Mark DeVilbiss circulated on college radio throughout the country, grabbing the ear of Electra Records A&R man Kevin Patrick in New York and radio legend Rodney Benginheimer in Los Angeles.

After meeting with Patrick in New York, Alan took the A & R legend’s advice and moved the band to L.A. to release a second single with Greg Shaw’s Voxx Records, I Can Fly.

The record caught the ears of local Hollywood club band Sex and Violence and the band recruited Alan and recorded and performed as Mary Kelly with Eric Weaver, Tom Pendergas and Brett Bourgesan. They received extensive airplay on independent radio in the U.S., Canada and Europe with a four-song EP, Living In A Pay Toilet, It was penned and produced by Alan ( lyrics by former Wedgehead, Jeff Potter) and recorded with producer and friend Brett Gurewitz (of Bad Religion,  Epitaph Records fame) at his Westbeach Studios in Hollywood.

After leaving Mary Kelly, Alan pursued several solo projects. He wrote and recorded a series of rock musicals, including The Strange Case of Jekyll & Hyde (based on the classic novel) releasing a completed demo version on which he produced, played all the instruments and created all the vocal characterizations.

The multi-award winning independent film version, The Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde Rock ‘N Roll Musical,  directed by the brilliant Andre Champagne, stars Alan in a critically-acclaimed award-winning performance and features a cameo by Alan’s friend and mentor, studio legend and Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famer, Hal Blaine.  Hal also did a rare hour long interview with Alan on the DVD extras about his long and varied career as the “World’s Greatest Drummer.”

Alan has also been heard on the internationally syndicated Dr. Demento Show, with a series of novelty tunes recorded at his home studio, including the Beach Boys parody Surf’s Gone and Initial Rap, a parody in the very early days of rap.

He enjoys a certain amount of notoriety for his uncanny John Lennon impersonation. He has performed with dozens of Beatles Tribute shows throughout The U.S., including numerous performances at the International Beatlefest Conventions with “Paul McCartney” artist Jeff Toczynski. He has also appeared several times on world-renowned John Lennon Series author Jude Southerland Kessler’s popular radio show The John Lennon Hour.

Alan played drums for the LA-based band, Theory, featuring Anderson Council, who had an original tune on TV’s Party Of Five from their CD, Smooth As Gods.

Alan’s 2005 collection was the bluesy and soulful MRS. SIPPY BONE “-the L.A. rock ‘n roller returns to his Southern roots with this blues-infused collection, reminiscent of early Stones and Zeppelin.” The title cut is featured in the film Rx For Mayhem directed by Dalton Toledo (which also stars Alan) and the track Keep Your Hands Off My Baby was an audience-voted #1 song on Craig Frand and Derek Trambley’s ENGAGE Internet Radio, where he hosted a weekly interactive Saturday morning children’s show, PLAYDATE, which he is re-working into a Children’s Podcast. Alan also hosted Alan’s Short Film Series on EATV Internet Television every Wednesday night featuring the latest in cutting-edge independent short films. He was awarded ARTIST OF THE YEAR for 2006 by the evolving artist network and inducted into their Hall Of Fame in October 2006.

Alan’s recent acting roles include the indie feature films The Miranda Murders (due out Oct 2017) and Slamma Jamma (his close-up hit the cutting room floor)  Happy Holidays from Richie Keen, by brilliant comedy director Richie Keen, The Games We Play written and directed by Rich Newey and Annika Marks, and the lead role in a well-reviewed live theater production of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Oblong Box by award winning playwright and friend, Steve Stajich, which also featured Alan’s original music.

Alan’s song, Chocolate Chip Cookie Rock from his children’s release, PLAYDATE, was featured on the TODAY SHOW and can also be found on volume three of the Are We There Yet? CD series for kids;  the song also appears in the comedy film Team Extreme.

Alan’s music has appeared in numerous short films throughout the years, including several by brilliant director/writer/filmmaker Lara Everly in her films Me, You, A Bag & Bamboo and Pink Sweat, which features Alan as a dancing flasher!

Alan had six of his original Beatlesque songs appear in the mocumentary, Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney, directed by Marc Cushman. He released his own soundtrack for the film, featuring 15 of his original Beatlesque songs in Beatlesque One. He recently completed the fifth in this series of BEATLESQUE CDs titled Beatlesque Station. All of Alan’s musical work (15 CDs so far) is available on CdBaby.com and iTunes. Alan’s youtube channel includes dozens of videos featuring his Beatlesque music through the years.

His other music releases include his Frankenstein Rock Musical, which he intends to make a feature film, and an album featuring a psychedelic Goth Rock sound, titled Cosmic Crooner. A song from that release, The Dark Truth was featured in a beautiful music video by Venus As A Boy Films.

He also produced and performed on Uncle George’s Chromonica Jazz, a labor of love featuring his brilliant Uncle George Aiuvalasit of New Orleans playing the grat standards on jazz harmonica, with guitarist David Kaufman and guest appearances by Hal Blaine.

Alan’s 2015 release, Sing It Swing It by Alan James, features Alan’s Sinatra style alter ego in a great collection of old standards done in classic swing style. Alan performs as crooner Alan James at lounges and private events throughout the Los Angeles area.

Alan also produced an excellent Wedgehead reunion CD in 2016 featuring the original band from Shreveport, Louisiana. Videos for the comedy rock release are slowly surfacing on youtube.

Alan is a published author and his short story The Legend Of Sleepy Hollywood is featured in the award winning horror Anthology, Hell Comes To Hollywood, edited by Eric Miller, who is currently editing Alan’s new collection of original horror stories, due out soon.

 

Alan holds an Associates Degree in the Arts and has mastered several Martial Arts including Tae Kwon Do. He owes a tremendous debt to many great teachers, among them Hal Blaine, Wayne Dvorak, Eduardo Diamante, Seth Riggs, Anna Chappell, Hines Williams, Aerin Holt, Mark Griffith, Kevin McCarthy, Elaine Dettmar, Mark Atteberry, Carroll Baker, Sun Yun Kim, Marjorie Jackson and countless others.

Alan currently lives with his wife and two daughters in his beloved Southern California.