John Heathcote Davis

John Heathcote Davis (born 1970) is an American musician, educator and activist from Cambridge, MA. He lives in Durham NC. 
==Folk Implosion==
John is half of the indie duo Folk Implosion which he co-founded with Lou Barlow in 1993. Folk Implosion began by making lo-fi four-track home recordings influenced by new wave, 60's garage rock and disco, most notably on their 1994 debut album Take A Look Inside. The band began mixing hi-fi 24 track studio recordings with four-track home recorded material when they scored the film KIDS with producers Wally Gagel and Tim O'Heir in 1994. The film was directed by Larry Clark and written by Harmony Korine. 
The band is best known for their Top 40 hit Natural One. The song was released as a single in November of 1995 and quickly started getting surprise airplay on commercial radio, peaking at #29 in the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Billboard Modern Rock charts. The track has since been featured on numerous television shows, such as the 2016 FX series The People Vs. O.J. Simpson and the 2022 Netflix documentary Pepsi, Where's My Jet? A cover of Natural One by the band Shearwater was featured in an episode of the 2023 Netflix series Beef.
Beginning with KIDS, Folk Implosion became known for broadening the stylistic scope of indie rock to be more inclusive of influences from genres such as hip-hop, electronic music and disco. The band has been recognized as an important influence on the group Interpol, and was referenced directly in the track Paid For That from Interpol singer Paul Banks's solo album Banks. After the Kids soundtrack, Folk Implosion released two full length albums: Dare To Be Surprised on the indie Communion Label in 1997 and One Part Lullaby for the major label Interscope Records in 1999. Both albums were recorded by Wally Gagel. One Part Lullaby also featured additional engineering work by Robert Carranza. John left Folk Implosion in 2000 and took a ten year hiatus from recording and performing. The reasons for the extended hiatus were unexplained at the time, but were later revealed to have to do with anxiety issues and ambivalence about the cultural politics of the mainstream record industry.
Folk Implosion reunited in 2021 and recorded the Feel It If You Feel It EP with producer Scott Solter. The EP was released on Davis's Inundation Records in 2022. The duo subsequently announced that they had signed with Joyful Noise Recordings. The band filmed a live performance of five songs from the KIDS soundtrack with filmmakers Michael Galinsky and Suki Hawley for Domino Records to promote Music for KIDS, a forthcoming compilation of all of the material that Folk Implosion recorded for the film. They are currently working on completing a new full length album for Joyful Noise with Scott Solter.
=Solo recordings and other collaborations=
John has also written, recorded and produced multiple solo albums for labels like Shrimper Records and his own label, Inundation Records. His early solo work has been cited as a key influence by the singer-songwriter Adam Green, especially on the first record by his band The Moldy Peaches. Davis has collaborated with other musicians in the lo-fi indie rock genre including Simon Joyner, Dennis Calacci, and the band Lake. John was also briefly an early member of Palace Brothers with Will Oldham, prior to the release of their first album, There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You. Davis and Oldham met while attending Brown University. The Mountain Goats paid a musical tribute to Davis on Song for John Davis, which was included on their 2002 retrospective compilation Ghana. Davis and The Mountain Goats played a number of shows together in the 1990's.
Since 2013 John has worked consistently with producer Scott Solter after moving to North Carolina, where his work as a public school teacher began to influence his music. The album El Pulpo that Solter and Davis produced together was named album of the day by Bandcamp and received a 9/10 rating from Magnet magazine upon its release in 2017. J. Poet's review in Magnet noted that "(Davis's) day job—teaching at a culturally diverse high school—inspired this new project, a political song cycle that uses the food industry as a metaphor for the problems of capitalism, colonialism and racial inequality that we face on a daily basis." 
Davis and Solter are currently collaborating on a follow up to El Pulpo that focuses on the western expansion of the United States in the 1800's. The forthcoming album features drummer Joe Plummer of Cold War Kids, who formerly played with The Shins and Modest Mouse. 
==Activism==
Davis moved to Durham, NC in 2013, and has taught in the Durham Public Schools for a decade. He has also been active in local progressive politics and in the teachers union. He has served as President of the People's Alliance and Treasurer of the Durham Association of Educators, a local chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators and the National Education Association. John's teaching and work with the DAE often focus on current civil rights struggles, such as the School to Prison pipeline, LGBTQ rights and the treatment of undocumented immigrants. He was also part of the Sponsoring Committee that helped to launch the Carolina Federation in 2019.
==Discography==
2023: Music for KIDS; Domino Records
2022: Feel It If You Feel It (Folk Implosion) EP; Inundation Records
2020: Arches & Pathways (John Davis & Dennis Callaci) LP, Shrimper Records, Inundation Records co release
2020: Pure Night Plus (John Davis) 2XCD/Digital, Shrimper Records, Inundation Records co release
2019: Gnawing On the Bone (John Davis) CD/Digital, Inundation Records
2019: Outside A Small City (John Davis) LP, Almost Halloween Time Records
2017: El Pulpo, (John Davis & the Cicadas), Shrimper/Revolver (Cassette/US CD distribution), Arbouse Recordings/Inouï Distribution (CD, European Distribution), Inundation Records (digital edition).
2016: Deluxx Folk Implosion, s/t, LP/Download, Witches Pickle Records
2015: We’ll Teach Them How to Privatize (solo) CS, Unread Records
2013: Spare Parts (solo backed by Simon Joyner & the Ghosts) CD / 2xLP Shrimper Records
1999: One Part Lullaby (Folk Implosion) CD Interscope Records, 2xLP Domino Records
Singles: Free to Go – also appeared on American Beauty soundtrack album
Kingdom of Lies also appeared on the A Life Less Ordinary soundtrack album
1997: Dare to Be Surprised (Folk Implosion) CD/LP/CS, The Communion Label
Singles: Insinuation, Pole Position
1997: Blue Mountains (solo) CD/LP, Shrimper Records
Singles: I’ll Burn EP
1996: Room For Space, (Dennis Callaci & John Davis) CD/EP, Shrimper Records
1996: Folk Implosion EP The Communion label
Compiles earlier singles Palm of My Hand / Mood Swing (Communion 1996) and The Electric Idiot (Ubik, 1995)
1995: Kids Soundtrack (Folk Implosion; also includes songs by Slint, Daniel Johnston, Lo-Down, Sebadoh, Deluxx Folk Implosion) CD/LP/CS London Records
Singles: Natural One, Nothing Gonna Stop, Daddy Never Understood (Deluxx Folk Implosion)
1995: Instress Vol. 1, (solo, b/w Sandra Bell) 7″ EP, Roadcone
1995: Leave Home (solo) CD/LP The Communion Label
1994: Take A Look Inside, (Folk Implosion) CD/LP The Communion Label
1994: Pure Night (solo) LP Shrimper records
1993: Walk Through This World With The Folk Implosion, (Folk Implosion) CS Chocolate Monk, 7″ EP Drunken Fish (1994)
1993: R.I.P., D.I.Y. (solo) 7″ EP, Shrimper Records
1993: Stars & Songs, (solo) CS Shrimper Records.
Category:1970 births
Category:American people
Category:Musicians
Category:Educators
Category:Activists