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Brulen (Bruce Bierman) was a young self-taught poly instrumentalist mentored by the great John Lennon beginning when he was just seventeen.
Brulen sings, plays piano, and bass, rhythm and lead guitars and drums as well as being a Lennon-trained and autodidactic songwriter.
Brulen also writes and plays the production parts --- including strings, horns and orchestral arrangements. Brulen produces all his recordings.
Also, as a former sound engineer, Brulen records, mixes and masters everything you hear... except for featured guests as seen in the credits.
Brulen tracks are reminiscent of The Beatles and Lennon solo tracks.
Brulen, a pseudonym representing part of his born first name and part of the greatest influence in his life, Lennon… (John, that is), and known as Bruce Bierman to those in business, and Bru to his friends, is a multi-talented and self-educated established expert in several fields of endeavor.
Brulen’s multiple spheres of experience can be viewed by clicking on one of the above tabs, each containing a bio in its own merit and accomplishment.
His love for music has brought him full circle, to get back to where he once belonged. That long and winding road has led him back to where his life started: singing, writing and playing songs. Brulen shares his thoughts, music and memories with you and sincerely hopes you will enjoy the genuine spirit he brings.
Brulen, a music lover and passionate musician and performer, was born Bruce Bierman on the fifth day of November in 1954 in New York City.
Growing up on the streets of The Bronx and feeling the vibe, Brulen first began expressing himself through song as early as the seventh grade, though he first connected to music, like many, when The Beatles were first heard.
He actually wrote his first song when he was only sixteen… a tune called
‘Greasy Boogie Woogie,’ and is included on his new CD, ‘Rules Made To Be Broken.’
That song {under another name}, was played by Brulen with his early ‘SteppenShit‘ band, which eventually led to his meeting up with David Peel of ‘David Peel and The Lower East Side.’
At the age of seventeen, Bru found himself in the company of the former Beatle Lennon. In fact, Lennon was so taken with that ‘Greasy Boogie Woogie‘ song
‘Bru’ joined forces with David and became a part of his band, subsequently being introduced to John Lennon, the former Beatle. Subsequently, Bru performed on Peel’s album called ‘The Pope Smokes Dope,’ released on
The Beatles‘ Apple Records, that Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono produced.
Bru had written, that they developed an ongoing friendship that would last several years.
Lennon had an enormous influence on young Bruce and his music and was quite helpful with many of the tunes Bruce was writing. Not only was he extremely supportive to Bru as a young and learning musician, but also very concerned about his life and his direction.
Brulen, having gained the helping hand of such a man, also learned the intricacies and methodology Lennon used in recording and producing his own material, and mirrored his perfectionist attitude in everything he did.
That very experience can surely be heard and felt in all that Brulen accomplishes as a recording artist.
More about the John Lennon and Bruce Bierman connection can be found at:
www.NewLennon.com.
However, Brulen was later blessed with being around some of rocks greatest stars under the guise of a sound engineer, having the opportunity to be up close and on stage mixing for legends Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead; Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen and Bassist Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane & Hot Tuna); and several others.
Brulen took advantage of every occasion to learn their craft, and it shows in his musicianship. The inspiration from all these greats has catapulted Brulen into a realm of musical understanding and connection he could only dream.
Strongly influenced by the bass playing of Paul McCartney, and the intricate guitar work of George Harrison, and both of their songwriting expertise, Brulen thinks in melodic terms of catchy melodies, very much like Lennon and his former cohorts.
And it should be noted that he did truly have ‘a little help from a friend.’
On his current project, ‘Rules Made To Be Broken,’ Brulen explores a variety of musical styles ranging from classic rock to country to adult contemporary, with a great group of artists. This never released compilation will finally see the light of day early next year, but tracks can be heard on this site, and downloads will soon be available.
Brulen will also add two more tracks entitled ‘Little Bird‘ and ‘Was It You?‘ that he performs in entirety, singing lead vocals, playing every instrument, arranging, recording engineering and producing the whole shebang.
There is an eerie feeling you get when you hear these tunes. It’s as if there was, well… just listen for yourself and you figure it out!
There are very few who have lived the life Brulen has lived, but he shares these experiences and moments with you through his unbridled passion for music, and his compassion for righting wrongs and writing songs… just as his friend John taught him.
Brulen plans to release much more music over the coming years as he has dedicated himself to this path. Though he has an intriguing, but diminutive discography, Brulen already has an arsenal of over forty songs he performs,
and enough material for five full CDs!
While he’s still investigating, Brulen has not yet signed with a record label. However, Brulen plans to seek sponsorship with major beer or beverage companies. With a nickname of ‘Bru‘ and a name like ‘Beer-man,’ it could certainly afford itself to a great combination for a coffee or beer outfit.
For more information about Brulen, see his other Bio’s and browse freely!
Brulen took an early detour from his music career to take advantage of an opportunity the presented itself that would entail working with a professional sound company that toured with several San Francisco Bay Area bands.
While Brulen was in his own band called “Fly,” he visited the stage set of a Hot Tuna concert at the State University of New York at New Paltz. After gaining access to the backstage area during sound check, Brulen approached the lead guitarist Jorma Kaukonen, and had a brief discussion with where Jorma gave his blessing for him to work with the band as a sound engineer.
The sound company Starfine Sound, owned and operated by longtime Jerry Garcia & Merl Saunders sound engineer Paul Cavas, hired Brulen. He rose to chief engineer within a short time, touring and engineering for a number of legendary musicians and bands. Brulen thought this experience would be an excellent opportunity to find out what makes bands sound so great in concert so he could eventually utilize the knowledge for his future musical ventures.
Eventually, the position moved Brulen from New York City to San Francisco where he continued his touring work and became the sound system setup man and the monitor mixer (the mix that the band hears while they are performing).
As a result, Brulen traveled and did sound for several San Francisco based bands, as well as others, while working for Starfine and freelancing for Bill Graham’s FM Productions on a non-stop hectic schedule.
From coast to coast, he set up sound systems from small clubs to theatres to concert halls to arenas to stadiums with capacities ranging from 1,000 to 75,000 fans. In fact, he has driven a number of miles equal to a trip around the globe.
Brulen also quickly overcame stage fright. He would stand at the microphone in front of as many 50,000 fans just to repeat four words… “Testing, one, two, three,” have an impromptu jam with other crew members, or warm up the crowd with his antics.
In the course of his sound engineering, Brulen mixed sound monitors for a very long list of notable music groups:
The knowledge Brulen gained from sound engineering subsequently had a huge impact on his approach in playing and recording, as in the back of his mind was always getting back into music again.
As travel and financial considerations became an issue, Brulen ended touring to pursue a new career in telecommunications.
In a Victorian mansion atop the hills of Pacific Heights in San Francisco, California was, and still are the offices of the famous sleuth, the late Hal Lipset.
Known for his having been retained by the United States Senate Watergate Investigation Committee and his namesake being ill-mentioned by President Nixon on the ‘Watergate Tapes,’ Lipset was a world renowned private investigator who was the man credited for the invention of the ‘bug’ or listening device contained in a martini olive among several accolades.
One day in 1978, in comes Bruce Bierman (Brulen) to Lipset’s offices/residence to assess the installation of Bierman’s custom-made encrypted secure inter-communications system for inside the massive home.
Referred and recommended by a business associate who knew of Bierman’s intricate knowledge of telecommunications and sound engineering, Bierman met Lipset to plan the project.
However, the meeting turned from strange to stranger. After Lipset realized the extent of the skills Bierman had, he cornered Bierman in an underground safe, locked the door and had a very private conversation about working ‘undercover.’
And that discussion led to Lipset approaching Bierman to be his new ‘Number One…’ his secret agent… a counter-surveillance debugging engineer — someone who specializes in finding wiretaps, room taps, listening and tracking devices, known generically as ‘bugs.’
Bruce was stunned that Lipset had already known just about everything there was to know about his life… who he knew, his friends, his escapades, and his business.
Lipset apparently did his homework. He realized that Bruce had all the elements and abilities that a counter-surveillance spy would need to have… complete and thorough understanding of telecommunication system, digital telephone switching systems, sound engineering, a knowledge of telephone wiring networks, computer expertise, and an added skill… the ability to act. Impersonating a cable repairman, or a lineman or a telephone installer was part of the job so as to gain access to premises without question. Thus, Bruce became the ‘cable guy’ when required, or to think quick to get out of a heated or unfriendly environment.
During that meeting, Lipset explained to Bierman exactly what is entailed to be such a ‘counter spy.‘ Although Bierman understood that he had the skills, he was not entirely comfortable about getting involved until Lipset told him that he would never ‘bug‘ anyone… but, only find bugs and assess security weaknesses for clients attempting to protect their right to privacy… and they paid a load of money for that! And, Lipset stated he already decided that Bierman was going to do the job… it wasn’t Bierman’s choice! Lipset wanted Bierman and that’s the way it was.
Bierman subsequently, but reluctantly accepted the ‘moonlighting’ position, as this was a task that was not done during normal business hours. At a pay scale of over $1,000 per hour, Bierman thought it was hard to refuse, especially when getting paid to help someone who was in some sort of trouble. Realizing Lipset’s persistence, Bierman proceeded accordingly.
After being trained by Lipset for the first six months or so, Bierman exclusively handled all of Lipset’s debugging clientele, until 1996, when Bierman no longer felt comfortable because of several hair-raising, perilous and scary situations that occurred.
Hal and Bruce remained very close friends until the day Hal died, on December 8, 1997… coincidentally on the very same month and day his friend John Lennon was murdered.
During Brulen’s tenure in this capacity, he traveled the world over, debugging for leaders of nations, high-level elected officials, political appointees, multi-national corporations, unions, drug dealers, adult products companies, a multitude of marital disputes, and celebrities ( Can you guess who? 😉 ).
Additionally, Bruce has appeared on the NBC Nightly News program with Roger Mudd and Tom Brokaw, was interviewed by Pulitzer Prize Award winning journalist James Polk, produced by Robert Windrem {G. Gordon Liddy also appeared on that same broadcast}; and has also been aired on other TV News and documentaries, as well as being written about in newspapers like the ‘Wall Street Journal,’ the ‘San Francisco Chronicle,’ and a distinguished magazine called Leaders Magazine,’ a publication that is directed to world leaders of nations and corporations.
As a condition of being an operative, Bierman took a sworn oath to never divulge any clients or contents of any reports or activities so as to protect the identities and confidentiality rights of all parties, has testified as an expert witness under court-ordered immunity and audio-analyzed numerous hours of concealed recorded conversations found during the course of his investigations, under court and client directives.
After 18 years of debugging with Lipset, Brulen remains an expert in matters of counter surveillance, security, computers and electronics and privately consults from time to time.
Bruce Bierman {Brulen} became well versed in business as a result of starting his own companies and having to learn everything he needed to know to be successful.
As a result of him starting his own computer company Intellisoft, he spearheaded sales, marketing and legal issues, and cultivated relationships that would teach him about intellectual property and contract law.
He has assisted several companies with incorporation, shareholder agreements, and even his own legal issues. Brulen handles all of his own trademark and copyright filings, in addition to writing his own musician agreements, contracts, distribution agreements, and software licensing contracts.
Under a small tenure for an online printing company, Bierman’s marketing skills were, in part, responsible for taking that company from one million dollars in annual revenue to over $14 million… and in just under twelve months.
Occasionally, Bierman consults for clients to assist them with starting up, incorporating, writing the business and marketing plans, and even coming up with incredible product names and concepts.
Now that Brulen has re-entered the music biz, he also manages himself, handling his own business and legal affairs and is responsible for all decisions and arrangements as a recording artist.
Brulen means business, but loves music, and you can read more about that in his Music Bio.
Bruce Bierman {Brulen} started up a computer hardware sales business after the successful development of AutoPoll®.
He launched his business with stellar AutoPoll sales proceeds and attained the lofty prerequisites to become an Authorized Value-Added Distributor (VAD) for IBM (International Business Machines). He further extended his business to include a wide variety of vendors’ hardware and catapulted his gross sales to over $2 million per month!
In fact, he sold the Grateful Dead their first Apple Macintosh computers and personally installed them in their San Rafael, California ‘Round Records‘ office.
He was also a teacher. On nights he wasn’t debugging, you could find
Bill Kreutzmann or Brent Mydland (of the Grateful Dead) or Ross Valory (of Journey) at his Novato, California home receiving private computer lessons.
And, spending daily afternoons loading truckload orders onto forty-foot semi- trailers using his forklift wasn’t enough.
One 1984 evening in a San Rafael Japanese restaurant named Fujiyama, he came up with a concept for new software that would put a computer to sleep and wake it up, and then drew it on the corner of a placemat.
It turned out to be what became known as ‘BOOKMARK,’ a software package that, after installed, put a computer to sleep and woke it up right where it left off… a sleep mode, auto-resume & suspend-resume… all in one. If you are an avid PC/Mac user, you may remember his products.
Released In 1986, BOOKMARK was the first and only of its kind. No other PC/Mac in the world had the ability to suspend and resume and startup right where it left off after power off, outage, shutdown or reset… just like an electronic bookmark! And, Mr. Bierman initially set up a software publishing company named ‘Intellisoft International’ to market his software.
Over a twelve-year period, he acquired more than 37 distributors in 22 countries and the product was translated into five foreign languages, and had overseas offices in Austria and The Netherlands.
Bierman licensed his technology to some of the most prominent computer makers in the business, encompassing many users/licensees, from ‘Main Street’ America to The White House to the German Post Office to all ends of the globe.
His technology was licensed to Siemens, Acer, Fujitsu ICL, Astec (BSR), and Emerson Electric, among others. Bookmark was offered in several flavors. It was also called ‘Stop ‘N Go!, ‘TurboStart,’ and other names.
And, the BOOKMARK software products were sold in over 9,000 computer stores worldwide, including Egghead and ComputerLand. Several computer publications and newspapers touted the product as did the many people who visited Intellisoft’s very cool comedic booth at Comdex… where in fact, Bierman personally met Mr. Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft at the middle stages of its development.
It should also be mentioned that Brulen was still doing his debugging work during the light of the moon, and took a brief stint to begin the recordings of what will be known as ‘Rules Made To Be Broken.’
And, one last item of note… he also owns a web design business that has created some very beautiful and comprehensive websites.
In fact, his computer skills are beyond extraordinary. This entire website was fully designed and coded by Brulen himself, with no outside help whatsoever. All of the artwork and functionality of this site is the complete work of Brulen.
He even custom-built the computer that he used to design this site.
Brulen’s computer expertise is sought after by professionals because of his uncanny ability to troubleshoot, answer questions (like a walking and talking technical manual) and assist others in business startups.
More about that can be read in his Business Bio.
Currently, Brulen is the guru and CEO of his new startup company called noomble, another invention which will no doubt be of great use to millions of internet users. More about noomble will be announced in the near future.
After several years of traveling on the road as a sound engineer, Brulen found a new career in telecommunications.
It would seem that music was not yet on the horizon.
Thus, he started out as a telephone installer and gained the know-how of intricate color-coded cable and building wiring and central office connectivity.
Brulen then escalated his education in this field by taking on extensive factory training with ROLM & NEC, and learned about digital telephone switching systems and networks.
Within a year, Bierman oversaw over a hundred service and installation technicians and worked on special projects for the Chairman of The Board of ComPath, the exclusive California ROLM Digital CBX (Central Business Exchange) distributor.
Brulen saw a need for automating the company’s service procedures and developed a system called AutoPoll®, for which he filed and owned the registered trademark.
AutoPoll was the first remote automated diagnostics system that tested huge business’ digitally switched telephone systems remotely. Creating a software package using a telephone line and a personal computer to run daily and nightly systems tests, Bierman’s AutoPoll invention automatically informed the phone company’s service department of an equipment outage before a customer could even determine such a problem existed… eliminating a service center call. And, this is where his Bookmark’s concept was actually born.
Generating a daily system report containing and a pre-diagnosed parts and repair procedure, AutoPoll saved both thousands of man-hours and the additional travel time to needed ascertain failures and solutions.
After selling a number of these systems and earning huge proceeds, Brulen parlayed the profits into his startup computer business. And, at night… he was snooping around as debugger. And, when he wasn’t doing that, he was playing bass in a local San Francisco Bay Area band called ‘Pillar Of Fire.’
Not affiliated with the Estate Of John Lennon
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