Kid Congo Powers

Brian Tristan (born March 27, 1959), better known by his stage name Kid Congo Powers, is an American rock guitarist, singer, and actor best known as a member of the Gun Club, the Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He has also played with the Divine Horsemen, the Angels of Light, Die Haut, and Knoxville Girls.

As of January 2015, Powers' primary musical project is the band the Pink Monkey Birds.

Born in La Puente, California, Powers is a second generation Mexican American. His earliest childhood influences were the Southern California Chicano rock band Thee Midniters. In 1976, he started an unofficial West Coast Ramones fan club, later starting another fan club and fanzine for The Screamers at the band's behest. After witnessing first-wave UK punk for himself on a class trip to Europe in August 1977, Powers moved from his family home to a series of West Hollywood crash pads in order to fully immerse himself in that city's own nascent punk scene. Initially having no inclination to make music himself, he contributed to a number of punk fanzines while working day jobs at a series of local record stores.

In August 1979 Powers became acquainted with Jeffrey Lee Pierce while waiting in line for a Pere Ubu show; during that initial meeting Pierce talked Powers into starting a new band with him. As Powers had no interest in singing, Pierce taught him to play guitar using open tuning, and they formed The Gun Club (settling on the name after one show as "Creeping Ritual"). In late 1980, not long after the new band had started gigging, Powers was asked to join The Cramps (then newly relocated to LA), resulting in his departure from The Gun Club prior to the recording of their debut Fire of Love. It was upon joining The Cramps that the "Kid Congo Powers" moniker came into being, synthesized from the label copy of a Santeria candle by frontman Lux Interior to give the new member his "Cramps name"; though Powers had wanted to incorporate his real first name Brian into the new stage name, The Cramps nixed the idea to avoid any associations with founding guitarist Bryan Gregory who Powers was replacing.

After leaving The Cramps in 1983, Powers rejoined The Gun Club briefly, touring Australia with them the following year, and then rejoined on a longer-term basis from 1985 to 1988.

Powers joined Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in Berlin, Germany, September 1986 initially as a short-term replacement for Hugo Race. Powers ultimately recorded and toured with the Bad Seeds for four years. Powers recorded the albums Tender Prey (1988) and The Good Son (1990) with Cave and his band. Powers recalled in early 2015 that he "loved" the "primaeval element of rock'n'roll" expressed by the band.

During April 1990 Powers amicably left the Bad Seeds to rejoin The Gun Club, which he had reconvened with Jeffrey Lee Pierce in 1989. Powers was active with the Gun Club until their 1996 dissolution, and Pierce died in 1996.

Parallel to his final stint in the Gun Club, Powers formed Congo Norvell with vocalist Sally Norvell. The band explored a fusion of cabaret and rock styles from 1993 to 1998, and released three full-length albums.