Years active 1979-present Name John Wright | Role Musician Siblings Rob Wright | |
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Origin Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer Instruments Vocals, drums, keyboards Labels Alternative Tentacles, Wrong Records, Southern Records Associated acts NoMeansNo, The Hanson Brothers, D.O.A., The Showbusiness Giants, The Infamous Scientists Music groups Nomeansno (Since 1979), The Hanson Brothers Genres Punk rock, Progressive rock People also search for Rob Wright, Tom Holliston, Andy Kerr, Ken Kempster, Ken Jensen, Ernie Hanson Albums Sex Mad, Live + Cuddly, The Worldhood of the Wo, The Sky Is Falling and I Want My, Mama | ||
John Wright (sometimes known as Mr. Right) (born 1962) is a Canadian musician and songwriter. He is best known as the drummer, keyboardist, occasional vocalist and co-songwriter in the progressive punk rock/punk jazz band NoMeansNo, as well as the lead singer and co-songwriter of the pop-punk group The Hanson Brothers. Both groups also feature Wright's older brother Rob and guitarist Tom Holliston. He has also performed in noted Canadian punk groups D.O.A., the Showbusiness Giants, and the Infamous Scientists. He is currently the songwriter and "musical director" for Compressorhead, a collaboration with Berlin-based artist Frank Barnes consisting of a "band" of robots that play real instruments.
Wright's distinct style of drumming utilizes traditional grip, an uncommon method for hard rock drummers, and fuses jazz, rock and punk techniques. His playing has been cited as an influence by several noted drummers, including Dave Grohl of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, and Tim Solyan of Victims Family, and Plaid Retina. Nomeansno further emphasized the drumming in the live environment by positioning the drum kit near the front of the stage so that the audience may see a side view of the drummer. Wright confirmed that this was intentional:
There's no doubt that it's more exciting for audience to see what the drummer's doing and you feel more connected to the rhythm section that way. I mean that was standard set up in the old days – rock n' roll was the oddball that put the drummer in the back.
An avid homebrewer of beer, he has filmed and released an instructional video detailing his recommended brewing process. This video is currently available on DVD packaged with the live Hanson Brothers record It's A Living.
Wright is the father of two sons.