Biography

Not the star-crossed denizen of Andy Warhol's Factory '60s companion, this Edie Sedgwick was actually the alter ego of Washington, D.C., singer Justin Moyer, best known for his association with the band Supersystem (formerly El Guapo). As Edie Sedgwick, Moyer performed in drag (glittery minidress, platform heels, heavy makeup, eyeliner, bright-red lipstick) and portrayed a character named after Warhol's companion. As Edie Sedgwick, Moyer suggested a trashy male glam rocker who went overboard with the makeup. That he wasn't very convincing as a drag queen was probably by design. Moyer's songs as Edie Sedgwick lampooned pop culture in a dark-humored way, and he needed a goofy look to go with goofy lyrics. Sedgwick viewed popular and celebrity culture as bizarre, twisted, and broken. By naming himself after Warhol's '60s companion, he used the name of a dysfunctional person to comment on pop culture's dysfunction. Musically the Edie Sedgwick project was quirky, eccentric alternative rock with an electronic edge and electroclash leanings. Moyer was influenced by punk and new wave (including XTC), but he drew on everything from club/dance music (especially jungle/drum 'n' bass) to industrial rock, and the comparisons ranged from My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and KMFDM to Peaches and Stabbing Westward. Edie Sedgwick's First Reflections LP was released on Mud Memory Records in 2002. Three years later Moyer/Sedgwick returned with Her Love Is Real... But She Is Not for DeSoto. 2008 saw a move to Dischord Records for the release of Things are Getting Sinister. It was followed in 2012 by We Wear White. ~ Alex Henderson, Rovi