Steven Jesse Bernstein

History

Born in Los Angeles, Bernstein first struggled with substance abuse after being treated as a teenager at Camarillo State Hospital in California. He relocated to Seattle in January 1967, started going by Jesse, and began performing poetry while publishing his own chapbooks, the earliest being Choking On Sixth from 1979. He became a notable figure in Seattle's underground music scene, admired by fans like Kurt Cobain and Oliver Stone. Although frequently associated with grunge and punk, Bernstein considered himself a poet first.

His regular readings at places such as the Dogtown Poetry Theater and Red Sky Poetry Theatre left a mark on the local scene, and many poets from that period cite him as a key influence. His manic episodes, reinforced by drugs, were turned into captivating, often twisted performances. He opened for bands including Nirvana, Big Black, Soundgarden, U-Men, and Cows. According to Regina Hackett of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, some of his bizarre stage antics came from alcohol, while others, like one involving a mouse, were planned.

Despite dealing with bipolar disorder and PTSD, Bernstein stayed clean and sober from 1981 to 1990. The idea for the album Prison was to capture a raw live show at the State Penitentiary Special Offenders unit in Monroe, Washington in 1991. He went there with manager Barbara Buckland, Sub Pop's Bruce Pavitt, writer Grant Alden, photographer Arthur S. Aubry, and some technical staff. Only the photos from that session turned out usable.

Sub Pop then brought in Steve Fisk to salvage the project. The original plan was to model it after Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison, but because Bernstein's Monroe performance was too weak to release, Fisk instead mixed other recordings of Bernstein with jazz and ambient music.

The album wasn't finished before Bernstein died. On October 22, 1991, at age 40, he killed himself by stabbing his own throat while staying with friends in Neah Bay, Washington. Prison came out on April 1, 1992.