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Julian Mills
Julian Mills (September 28, 1966 – October 5, 2018) was an American musician, bassist, singer/songwriter, in the noise rock, post-hardcore music scene in Chicago and New York City in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.

He was the founding member, composer/lyricist and lead vocalist of the bands [[Drunk Tank band] and Dirty Old Man River, where his haunting lyrics, growling singing and rhythmic bass playing were uniquely his own.

Julian also ran the label Radial Records (earlier a subsidiary of Matador Records, and later distributed by Touch & Go).

Career
Plywood 1987-1988

Julian Mills began Plywood, a noise rock, post punk trio in Chicago in 1987. The band also featured Alex Barker and Clark Johnson, musicians who later be part of Squirrel Bait. The band recorded “Shelf Life” in early 1988 with Steve Albini at A-1 Studios in Chicago, but the album was never released. They opened for the bands Sonic Youth and Urge Overkill, at Cabaret Metro, Chicago, in October of 1987.

Drunk Tank 1989 - 1992

Drunk Tank (band), a rhythmically assaultive and off-kilter noise rock trio, was founded in Chicago in the summer of 1989 with Julian on vocals and bass guitar, David “Alex” Barker on treble guitar and Lou Ciccotelli on drums.

They recorded their first album, the thirteen song, self-titled Drunk Tank (album) at Waterfront Studios in NJ in early 1991. Drunk Tank broke up at the end of 1992. A final 7 inch/ 3 song CD EP (of their last studio recordings from '92), called [[Missing (EP)] was released posthumously in 1995 on Radial/ Matador.

Dirty Old Man River 1996 - 2000

From the ashes of Drunk Tank, a new band emerged, called Dirty Old Man River, in quite a stylistic contrast to the previous band. The music of Dirty Old Man River has been described as grim, eerie, and dirge-like; influenced by dark blues and seedy jazz/cabaret music, often driven by Mills' sinister piano, his deep, whispered-drawl, dynamic bass, and drums (with delicate to pounding accents).

The lineup consisted of Julian writing the lyrics, singing and playing bass, Daniel Freed on the drum kit, Kevin Drumm the prepared guitar and Hector Magaña the piano.

Dirty Old Man River recorded a six song LP/CD called Dirty Old Man River in 1996 at CRC (Chicago Recording Company) and at A-1 Studios in Chicago with Bob Weston and their first live show was at Lounge Ax Chicago in December 1996, opening for Chavez (band) and The Jesus Lizard. The LP/CD was released in early 1997 and the band played at various clubs around Chicago, including several dates at the Lounge Ax Chicago in 1997 and 1998.

The eight song LP/CD Saddest Movie Screen was recorded in CRC Studio in Chicago with Bob Weston and released in September 1998. Julian played the piano and sang, with Daniel Freed on drums, Ben Miller on tabletop stereo guitar (adding more unconventional and non-musical guitar textures) and Sava Vuckovic on bass guitar.

A third album, an eight song LP/CD called Ageless, was recorded in December 1999 with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio in Chicago and released in June of 2000. It featured Julian (vocals/piano), Ben Miller (stereo prepared and standard guitar) and Steve Hess (drum kit).

In support of the album, the band opened for John Zorn at The Knitting Factory in NYC, and Roger Miller (rock musician) in Cambridge and they played various venues in Chicago including Empty Bottle. Dirty Old Man River’s final public show was at Schubas in Chicago on December 12, 2000 with The Black Heart Procession and Octant.

A fourth album, called The Funeral Album, was due to arrive in September of 2003 with Neil Jendon, from Catherine (alternative rock band), on prepared lap steel guitar, but the seven tracks were mysteriously never released.

Life
Julian was born on September 28, 1966, in Chicago Illinois and passed away unexpectedly on October 5, 2018, in Chicago Illinois. He was the son of the photographer Helen Harvey Mills and the poet, Ralph J. Mills, Jr..