Brix Smith Start (born Laura Elisse Salenger, best known as Brix Smith) is an American singer and guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist and a major songwriter for the English post-punk band The Fall. She is currently the lead vocalist and guitarist with Brix & the Extricated, along with brothers Steve and Paul Hanley.
Smith Start was raised in Los Angeles by her mother Lucy Salenger. Studying theatre and literature at Bennington College in Vermont, Smith Start formed a group, Banda Dratsing, in which she performed as bassist/vocalist; she adopted the name "Brix" after the Clash's 1979 song "The Guns of Brixton". Smith Start was raised in Los Angeles by her mother Lucy Salenger. Studying theatre and literature at Bennington College in Vermont, Smith Start formed a group, Banda Dratsing, in which she performed as bassist/vocalist; she adopted the name "Brix" after the Clash's 1979 song "The Guns of Brixton". Smith Start met Mark E. Smith, vocalist of the Fall, at a Chicago concert in April 1983; she moved to his native England, where they settled in Mancheste. She joined the group on guitar and vocals for the album Perverted by Language. She co-wrote some of the best-regarded Fall tracks from the period, and is acknowledged for introducing a more mainstream, pop-oriented element to the group's sound.
She remained with the Fall until 1989. Acknowledging her importance to the band, some critics break the Fall's career and evolution into the pre-Brix years, the Brix years, and the post-Brix years. She rejoined for the recording and live promotion of the albums Cerebral Caustic (1995) and The Light User Syndrome (1996).
In 1985, Smith Start launched side project the Adult Net with fellow Fall member Simon Rogers. Contributors included Mark E. Smith. The group released four singles for the Fall's label Beggars Banquet Records in 1985 and 1986, including a cover of Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense and Peppermints". The Adult Net released The Honey Tangle in 1989 on Phonogram Records. This line-up included Craig Gannon, The The member James Eller and Blondie drummer Clem Burke.
Smith Start reunited with former Fall members Steve Hanley and Paul Hanley as Brix & the Extricated for a one-off gig at the Manchester Ruby Lounge in December 2014. They played Fall songs to celebrate the launch of Steve Hanley’s book The Big Midweek: Life Inside The Fall. The success of the concert saw the band start performing more gigs and, in 2015, a national UK tour. They played Rebellion Festival in August 2016, where Brix was interviewed by John Robb. The line-up is completed by guitarists Steve Trafford (another ex-Fall member) and Jason Brown. By this time new material was being written and introduced into the set. A single, "Something to Lose", was released on Blang Records in November 2016, followed by the album Part 2 in September 2017. Their second album, Breaking State, was released in October 2018 on Grit Over Glamour Records and almost exactly a year later in October 2019, their third album, Super Blood Wolf Moon, came out on the same label.
