BRIAN TRISTAN, born on this date,  better known by his stage name KID CONGO POWERS, is an American rock guitarist, singer, and actor best known as a member of the Gun Club, the Cramps and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He has also played with the Divine Horsemen, the Angels of Light, Die Haut, and Knoxville Girls. As of January 2015, Powers’ primary musical project is the band the Pink Monkey Birds.

Born in La Puente, California, Powers is a second generation Mexican American. His earliest childhood influences were the Southern California Chicano rock band Thee Midniters. In 1976, he started an unofficial West Coast Ramones fan club, later starting another fan club and fanzine for the Screamers at the band’s behest. After witnessing first-wave UK punk for himself on a class trip to Europe in August 1977, Powers moved from his family home to a series of West Hollywood crash pads in order to fully immerse himself in that city’s own nascent punk scene. Initially having no inclination to make music himself, he contributed to a number of punk fanzines while working day jobs at a series of local record stores.

In August 1979 Powers became acquainted with Jeffrey Lee Pierce while waiting in line for a Pere Ubu show; during that initial meeting Pierce talked Powers into starting a new band with him. As Powers had no interest in singing, Pierce taught him to play guitar using open tuning, and they formed the Gun Club (settling on the name after one show as “Creeping Ritual”). In late 1980, not long after the new band had started gigging, Powers was asked to join the Cramps (then newly relocated to Los Angeles), resulting in his departure from the Gun Club prior to the recording of their debut album Fire of Love. It was upon joining the Cramps that the “Kid Congo Powers” moniker came into being, synthesized from the label copy of a Santería candle by frontman Lux Interior to give the new member his “Cramps name”. Though Powers had wanted to incorporate his real first name Brian into the new stage name, the Cramps nixed the idea to avoid any associations with founding guitarist Bryan Gregory, who Powers was replacing.

After leaving the Cramps in 1983, Powers rejoined the Gun Club briefly, touring Australia with them the following year, and then rejoined on a longer-term basis from 1985 to 1988.

For his next project, The Pink Monkey Birds, Powers initially collaborated with New York City guitarist Jack Martin, who he has also collaborated with for the Congo Norvell and Knoxville Girls projects. Then, in 2009, Powers recruited Kiki Solis on bass, Ron Miller on drums, and Jesse Roberts on guitar and keyboards. The band moved to In The Red Records and released the much acclaimed debut studio album, Dracula Boots, which was called a “return to form.”

In 2011, Kid Congo and The Pink Monkey Birds released their second album, Gorilla Rose, which was also on the In The Red Records label. Eamon Carr of The Dublin Evening Herald said of Gorilla Rose, “Having a working band is paying off. Gorilla Rose elevates seedy go-go weirdness to the level of high art.”

The Pink Monkey Birds, whose name Kid credits to inspiration from David Bowie, has been an evolving unit since their earliest albums, and as of 2016 the touring members are bassist Kiki Solis, drummer Ron Miller, and guitarist Mark Cisneros (Des Demonas, Hammered Hulls, Make Up).

Kid Congo Powers is gay and is married. During the 1980s, he was involved with the ACT UP advocacy group.