Boyd Rice
American experimental musician

Boyd Rice
Rice at a protest in support of Charles Manson in 1989
Rice at a protest in support of Charles Manson in 1989
Background information
Also known asNON
Born
Boyd Blake Rice

(1956-12-16) December 16, 1956 (age 69)
Lemon Grove, California, U.S.
OriginDenver, Colorado, U.S.
Genres
OccupationsMusician, composer, author
InstrumentsTape machines, turntables
Years active1975–present
LabelsMute
Musical artist

Boyd Blake Rice (born December 16, 1956) is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s. A pioneer of industrial music, he is also a writer, archivist, actor, and photographer. Rice's music and art have been influenced by fascist ideas and aesthetics, and he has often been accused of fascist sympathies as a result.

Biography

Rice was born on December 16, 1956, in Lemon Grove, California.[1][2] He became known through his involvement in V. Vale's RE/Search Publications.[3] He is profiled in RE/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook[4] and Pranks![5]

He first made the news for, at the age of 19, showing a skinned pig or goat's head to then-First Lady Betty Ford. He was arrested and interrogated by the US Secret Service, but was released.[6][7][8]

Music

Rice creates music under his own name, as well as under the moniker of NON and with contributors under various other project names.[9]

From his earliest recordings, Rice has experimented with both sound and the medium through which that sound is conveyed. His methods of expanding upon the listening possibilities for recorded music were simple. On his second seven-inch, he had 2–4 extra holes punched into the record for "multi axial rotation".[10]

NON

Under the name NON, formed in 1978, originally a duo[6] with second member Robert Turman, Rice has recorded several noise music albums, and collaborated with experimental music/dark folk artists like Current 93, Death in June[11] and Rose McDowall. Most of his music has been released on the Mute Records label. Rice has also collaborated with Frank Tovey of Fad Gadget, Tony Wakeford of Sol Invictus and Michael Jenkins Moynihan of Blood Axis. His later albums have often been explicitly conceptual.

On Might! (1995), Rice layers portions of Ragnar Redbeard's Social Darwinist harangue,[12] Might Is Right over sound beds of looped noise and manipulated frequencies.

Other work

After dropping out of high school at the age of 17, Rice began an in-depth study of early 20th-century art movements, producing his own abstract black and white paintings and experimental photographs. Early on, he met European art historian and gallery owner Arturo Schwarz, with whom he began a long correspondence. Schwarz, a biographer of Duchamp and Man Ray, encouraged Rice to pursue his art, no matter what. Though he would later shift his focus to sound, he has never stopped creating visual art and has given a number of one man shows over the years.[13]

In the mid-1970s Rice devoted a great deal of time to experimental photography, developing a process by which he could produce "photographs of things which don't exist".[14] He had a one-man show of the photos in the early 1980s at Richard Peterson's Pink & Pearl Gallery in San Diego, which was documented in the local press.[15]

In the mid-1980s Rice became close friends with Anton LaVey, founder and high priest of the Church of Satan, and was made a priest, then later a magister in the Council of Nine of the Church.[12][16] The two shared many views and had each been inspired by Might Is Right.[12] In 1987 Rice and Nikolas Schreck founded the Abraxas Foundation, an "occult-fascist" think tank that also counted Adam Parfrey and Michael J. Moynihan among its members.[17] During an interview, Rice described the basic philosophy of his foundation as being "The strong rule the weak, and the clever rule the strong".[18]

Rice was for many years an advocate of Charles Manson, personally communicating with him in prison.[19][20] This ended when Rice was arrested for bringing a bullet with him into the prison, which ended their relationship; despite this, in February 1989 Rice appeared rallying for Manson's release during Manson's parole hearing, wearing a sign that read "Guilty of Witchcraft? Manson Killed No One".[21][20] Rice has documented the writings of Manson in his role as contributing editor of the 1988 book The Manson File.[22]

Views

Since the 1980s Rice's music and art have been influenced by fascist ideas and aesthetics. The packaging for NON's 1986 album Blood & Flame, for instance, included a Wolfsangel and a quote from Alfred Rosenberg.[23] He has often been accused of fascist sympathies as a result.[24][25] He also cultivated connections with neo-Nazis such as James Mason (who he began corresponding with in 1986[26]), Tom Metzger (whose TV show he appeared on in 1986[27][11]) and American Front leader Bob Heick.[28][11] He has described himself as an "aesthetic fascist".[29] In 1997, he stated in an interview that:

I feel that I’m a fascist, but 'Nazi' is a real specific term... I'm a fascist in the sense of the modern bastardized meaning of the word. I’m completely against democratic values and liberalism. I think that they have very little to do with life on Earth. I think they're an ideological abstraction.[30]

In his first letter to Mason, dated April 1986, Rice states "I am completely of the Manson-Hitler thought & do whatever I can to further it."[31] This was only made public in the 2020s upon being reported on by Spencer Sunshine, having been read from a collection of Mason's paper correspondence located in an archive at the University of Kansas.[31] In a later letter to Mason, Spencer reports that Rice states that he was reading American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell's book White Power and calls it "awesome", and that this letter was decorated with a swastika at the top of the page.[31]

During one broadcast of Metzger's show, Rice agreed with the host's assertions that industrial music was "a new propaganda art form for white Aryans", and when asked about "racial separatism and tribalism," Rice said "it seems like the only intelligent way to go."[31]

Rice introduced Mason to Adam Parfrey and Michael J. Moynihan, who would bring Mason's book Siege to a larger audience.[25] In 1989, Rice and Heick were photographed for Sassy wearing American Front uniforms and brandishing knives. He has also expressed support for fascism in his writings, interviews, and public appearances.[32]

Rice began to face a backlash for these associations in the late 1980s, when more left-wing avant-garde figures like Jello Biafra, Peter Christopherson, and V. Vale cut their ties with him.[33] In the 1990s he began to disassociate himself from the far right and to use fascist iconography with more irony.[34]

Rice has denied that he is a neo-Nazi.[35] In one 2012 interview he praised Arthur de Gobineau while adding, "I don’t think that to believe in the principle of natural inequality that necessarily equates to: you hate black people or you hate Jews or something."[36] In another 2019 interview he described himself as "utterly apolitical."[37] A 2018 art show was cancelled because of protests over Rice's fascist associations,[35] as were some shows on Rice's 2013 tour with Cold Cave.[38][39]

Personal life

Rice dated Lisa Crystal Carver, with whom he has a son.[40]

Rice was arrested in 1995 for domestic violence, though never charged.[41] Carver writes in her memoir, Drugs Are Nice, that he physically abused her.[41]

Discography

Year Title Under
1976[42] The Black Album Boyd Rice
1977 Mode of Infection/Knife Ladder – 7" NON
1978 Pagan Muzak – 7" with multiple locked grooves NON
1982 Rise – 12" NON
1982 (rec. 1977–82) Physical Evidence NON
1983 Sickness of Snakes / Nightmare Culture Boyd Rice & COIL / Boyd Rice & Current 93
1984 (rec. 1981) Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing Boyd Rice and Frank Tovey
1985 Sick Tour – Live in Holland NON
1987 (rec. 1983) Blood and Flame NON
1990 Music, Martinis and Misanthropy Boyd Rice and Friends
1991 Easy Listening for Iron Youth – The Best of NON NON
1992 In the Shadow of the Sword NON
1993 I'm Just Like You The Tards (8" single by Boyd Rice & Adam Parfrey)
1993 Ragnarok Rune Boyd Rice
1993 Seasons in the Sun Spell
1994 The Monopoly Queen – 7" The Monopoly Queen (w/ Mary Ellen Carver & Combustible Edison)
1995 Might! NON
1995 Hatesville The Boyd Rice Experience with Adam Parfrey
1996 Heaven Sent Scorpion Wind (w/ Douglas P. & John Murphy)
1996 Ralph Gean: A Star Unborn Boyd Rice Presents
1996 Death's Gladsome Wedding: Hymns and Marches from Transylvania's Notorious Legionari Movement Boyd Rice Presents
1997 God & Beast NON
1999 Receive the Flame NON
1999 Pagan Muzak – 7" with multiple locked grooves Rerelease NON
2000 The Way I Feel Boyd Rice
2000 Solitude – 7" with locked grooves on B-side NON
2001 Wolf Pact Boyd Rice and Fiends
2002 Children of the Black Sun NON
2002 The Registered Three Boyd Rice & Friends (C.D. Single)
2002 Music for Pussycats: Girl Groups Boyd Rice Presents
2004 Baptism By Fire (Live) Boyd Rice and Fiends
2004 Terra Incognita: Ambient Works 1975 to Present Boyd Rice/NON
2004 Alarm Agents Death in June & Boyd Rice
2005 The Very Best of Little Fyodor's Greatest Hits! Boyd Rice Presents
2008 Boyd Rice and Z'EV Boyd Rice and Z'EV
2008 Going Steady With Peggy Moffitt Giddle & Boyd
2012 Back to Mono NON
2020 Blast of Silence NON

Filmography

Film

  • Pranks! TV! (1986, VHS) (directed by V. Vale), RE/Search Publications
  • Tyranny of the Beat (1991), Mute Records
  • Speak of the Devil (1995, VHS) (about Anton LaVey, directed by Nick Bougas), Wavelength Video
  • Boyd Rice Documentary, Part One (1994), Joel Haertling
  • Boyd Rice Documentary, Part Two (1998), Joel Haertling
  • Pearls Before Swine (1999) (directed by Richard Wolstencroft)
  • Nixing the Twist (2000, DVD) (directed by Frank Kelly Rich), High Crime Films
  • The Many Moods of Boyd Rice (2002, VHS), Predatory Instinct Productions
  • Church of Satan Interview Archive (2003, DVD), Purging Talon
  • Baptism by Fire (2004, DVD) (live performance in Bologna, Italy), NERO2
  • Frank Tovey by Fad Gadget (2006) (documentary), Mute Records
  • Iconoclast (2011) (directed by Larry Wessel), iconoclastmovie.com
  • Modern Drunkard (directed by Frank Kelly Rich)
  • In Satan's Name (BBC documentary by director Antony Thomas)
  • In Satan's Name (Bob Larson's 31-episode television series), Trinity Broadcasting Network
  • Resort Beyond the Last Resort (music video directed by Kansas Bowling), Collapsing Scenery

Performance

Print

  • Perpetual Permutation Poetry, International Artist's Cooperative, (1976)
  • Painted Black, Carl Rashke
  • Tape Delay, SAF Publishing, (1987)
  • Pop Void, Pop Void Publications, (1987)
  • RE/Search No. 6: Industrial Culture Handbook, RE/Search Publications (1983, ISBN 0-940642-07-7)
  • RE/Search No. 10: Incredibly Strange Films: A Guide to Deviant Films, RE/Search Publications (1986, ISBN 0-940642-09-3) (joint author)
  • RE/Search No. 11: Pranks!. RE/Search Publications (1986, ISBN 0-9650469-8-2)
  • The Manson File edited by Nikolas Schreck, Amok Press (1988, ISBN 0-941693-04-X)
  • Apocalypse Culture: Expanded & Revised Edition edited by Adam Parfrey, Feral House, (1990, ISBN 0-922915-05-9)
  • ANSWER Me!, issue No. 3 (1993, ISBN 0-9764035-3-6)
  • ANSWER Me!, issue No. 4 (1994)
  • Death in June: le livre Brun, Camion Blanc, (1994)
  • Death in June: Misery & Purity, Jara Press, (1995)
  • The Exit Collection, Tacit, (1998)
  • Taboo: The Art of Tiki, Outre Press, (1999)
  • Lucifer Rising, Plexus Publishing, (1999)
  • Cinema Contra Cinema, Fringecore, (1999)
  • Apocalypse Culture II, edited by Adam Parfrey, Feral House (2000, ISBN 0-922915-57-1)
  • Paranoia: The Conspiracy Reader, issue 32, Spring 2003.
  • The Book of Lies, Disinformation Press, (2003)
  • 100 Artists See Satan, Last Gasp Press, (2004)
  • The Vessel of God, Terra Fria, (2005)
  • .45 Dangerous Minds, Creation Press, (2005)
  • Art That Kills, Creation Press, (2006)
  • Noise Music: A History, Continuum International Publishing Group, (2007)
  • The Book of Satanic Quotations, Purging Talon Press, (2008)
  • Bubblegum & Sunshine Pop, Les Cahiers du Rock, (2008)
  • Iron Youth Reader, Underworld Amusements, (2008)
  • Standing in Two Circles: Les Ecrits de Boyd Rice, (French translation) edited by Brian M. Clark Camion Noir, (2009, ISBN 978-2-35779-010-0)
  • Standing in Two Circles: The Collected Works of Boyd Rice, edited by Brian M. Clark, CTBKS, (2008, ISBN 1-84068-118-7)
  • No, Heartworm Press, (2009)
  • Death in June: Hidden Behind the Runes, Aldo Clementi, (2010)
  • Mondo Movies, Baazar & Co., (2010)
  • Charles Manson: Le Guru du Rock, Camion Noir, (2010)
  • Twilight Man, Heartworm Press, (2011)
  • Vlad the Impaler, Ian Allan, (2011)
  • No, Expanded and revised edition Heartworm Press
  • Death in June Songbook

References

  1. ^ boydriceofficial. "I was born nineteen hundred and fifty six on December 16th, and am 68 years old today". Instagram. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  2. ^ "Boyd Rice Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More". AllMusic.
  3. ^ Sunshine 2024, pp. 170–171.
  4. ^ Vale, V. Juno, Andrea. Re/Search #6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook (1983) ISBN 0-940642-07-7
  5. ^ Juno, Andrea (Editor), Ballard, J. G. (Editor), Re/Search #11: Pranks (1987) ISBN 0-940642-10-7
  6. ^ a b Sunshine 2024, p. 169.
  7. ^ "Mrs. Ford Hits Campaign Trail". Oregon Journal. March 11, 1976. p. 12. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  8. ^ "Goat's Head Inappropriate Gift". The Cincinnati Enquirer. March 12, 1976. p. 3. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  9. ^ Nicolas Ballet, Shock Factory: The Visual Culture of Industrial_Music. Intellect_Books, pp. 332 & 491
  10. ^ "Laugh til it hurts". The Wire (256).
  11. ^ a b c Mathews 2009, p. 186.
  12. ^ a b c Sunshine 2024, p. 177.
  13. ^ Press release from Mitchell Algus Gallery (NYC) for Rice's one man show of paintings.
  14. ^ Standing in Two Circles
  15. ^ "A Look at Found and Unseen Photos". The Los Angeles Times. May 18, 1984. p. 39. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  16. ^ Mathews 2009, p. 144.
  17. ^ Sunshine 2024, p. 161.
  18. ^ "Boyd Rice vs. Bob Larson Interview Talk Back Broadcasts 1-5". YouTube. October 25, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2017.
  19. ^ Mathews 2009, p. 190.
  20. ^ a b Sunshine 2024, pp. 172–173.
  21. ^ "Manson parole rejected for seventh time". The San Francisco Examiner. February 9, 1989. p. 10. Retrieved December 2, 2025.
  22. ^ Sunshine 2024, p. 178.
  23. ^ Sunshine 2024, p. 175.
  24. ^ "New York Gallery Pulls Boyd Rice Show Following Neo-Nazi Claims". September 7, 2018.
  25. ^ a b Sunshine 2024, p. 168.
  26. ^ Sunshine 2024, p. 170.
  27. ^ Sunshine 2024, p. 173.
  28. ^ Sunshine 2024, p. 180.
  29. ^ Mathews 2009, p. 142.
  30. ^ Mathews 2009, pp. 186, 232.
  31. ^ a b c d Sunshine, Spencer (May 15, 2025). "The Countercultural Figures who helped give birth to the Neo-Nazi Terrorist Networks of Today". The Quietus. Retrieved May 15, 2025.
  32. ^ Sunshine 2024, p. 179.
  33. ^ Sunshine 2024, pp. 184–185.
  34. ^ Sunshine 2024, p. 188.
  35. ^ a b "After Backlash, Greenspon Gallery Scraps Show By Alleged Neo-Nazi Boyd Rice". Artforum. September 6, 2018.
  36. ^ Barry, Robert (October 3, 2012). "FACT meets Boyd Rice: noise pioneer, film buff, leader of the Church of Satan". Fact Magazine. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
  37. ^ "Culture Talk – Boyd Rice of 'NON' and Countless other Projects". The Aither. March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  38. ^ Fact (June 27, 2013). "Cold Cave concerts cancelled due to inclusion of Boyd Rice". Fact Magazine.
  39. ^ "Cold Cave shows being cancelled due to Boyd Rice being there, 285 Kent still on, Boyd-less Glasslands added".
  40. ^ Levin, Martin (March 18, 2006). "Perfectly punk". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  41. ^ a b Sunshine 2024, p. 186.
  42. ^ Boydrice.com

Works cited

Further reading

  • Baddeley, Gavin (2006) [1999]. Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship, and Rock'n'Roll (2nd ed.). London: Plexus. ISBN 978-0-85965-378-7.
  • Hensley, Chad (Fall–Winter 2000). "Non Sense: An Interview with Boyd Rice". Esoterra: The Journal of Extreme Culture. No. 9. pp. 12–17. ISBN 978-1-84068-166-6.
  • Zylo, Arvo (May 19, 2011). "Have A Nice Day: An Interview with Boyd Rice". WFMU's Beware of the Blog. Retrieved October 10, 2017.
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