John Kenneth Press was born on May 22nd, 1964. His parents were hippies of a sort. For one thing they named him after John F. Kennedy who had been shot six months before his birth. He grew up in Venice Beach and Santa Monica California. His parents participated in the divorce trend when he was eleven. This caused his young life to sputter a bit. We can see from the biography so far that the greater trends of society are not impersonal. Before and after graduating from high school, John played music in the Los Angeles punk rock scene. He eventually played with members of Sonic Youth, Red Cross and Nirvana. These were, however, short lived experiences. After completing a solo recording in which he played all of the instruments Press traveled for a year and a half. Visiting Europe, West Africa, Israel and Egypt made quite an impression on him. He lived with Muslim cults, saw great art, and was turned rightward politically. Upon returning to Los Angeles he joined the famed cult glam group the Groovie Ghoulies. But this short stay was interrupted when he moved to San Jose to pursue a degree in psychology and two teaching credentials. He had adopted, at this point, a love of capitalism, which was soon to be nearly entirely reversed. - www.culturism.us