Jeff Ott
| Jeff Ott | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 18, 1970 Berkeley, California |
| Genres | Punk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, author, activist, musician |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals |
| Labels | Lookout! |
| Associated acts | Fifteen, Crimpshrine |
Jeff Ott (born June 24, 1970) is an activist, musician, author, and longtime member of the Berkeley punk community, best known for playing guitar and singing in the bands Crimpshrine, and Fifteen.
Ott was born on 1970 in Berkeley, California and began playing music at the age of four. He was physically and sexually abused as a child and ran away from home at the age of 13. Ott became a gutter punk, living on the streets of Berkeley for 11 years.
Ott joined his first band, S.A.G., in 1982 at age 12. His 13-year-old friends Aaron Cometbus and Jesse Michaels (later of Operation Ivy) played guitar and sang. Ott started out on drums but soon swapped instruments with Cometbus. Michaels described Ott as "twenty times better than us", and Ott admits that he "didn't know any chords, so I played with my thumb." When Michaels left the group in 1984 Ott took up vocals and the band changed its name to Crimpshrine, derived from a nickname for a girl they knew who had "bleached-blond, burned, crimped hair." As the group developed, Ott began experimenting with playing synthesizer and piano, until joined by bassist Pete Rypins in October 1986 and began gigging locally. Ott was often asked if he was a fan of early Belfast punk group Stiff Little Fingers because of his rough vocal style, but neither he nor the other members of Crimpshrine had heard the Northern Irish band until after the ongoing comparisons.
In 1987 Crimpshrine made a demo tape, contributed songs to Maximumrocknroll's Turn It Around!compilation, and recorded their debut EP Sleep, What's That?, released in early 1988 on the newly founded label Lookout! Records. The album Lame Gig Contest followed, released in Europe on Germany's Musical Tragedies label. Though unreleased in the U.S., L.A. Weekly would name it one of the top five top albums of pre-vommercial pop punk.
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