Jinx Titanic

John Patrick Kamys, (born September 21, 1968, Chicago, Illinois, United States) better known by his stage name Jinx Titanic is an American composer, singer, songwriter, recording artist, and author, best known for his outrageous stage persona, and image as the beer-swilling, cigar-smoking, sexually-candid, lead singer of the eponymous rock band.

Occasionally he will appear as a stage actor, movie actor, comedian, television personality, or host, and is also considered a notable member of the Queercore and Homocore movements.

Before taking on the persona and public life of Jinx Titanic, Kamys worked regularly in Chicago as a composer and songwriter.

His first score for theater was written in 1994 for Teatro Vista's production of Romulus Linney's play Ambrosio.

Henry Godinez, Goodman Theatre resident artistic associate and curator of The Goodman's Latino Theater Festival played the title role.

At the time, Godinez was also scheduled to direct Jose Rivera's new play Cloud Tectonics at the Goodman Theatre and asked Kamys to create the score.

Cloud Tectonics was a critical success, considered one of the 10 best productions of 1995 by both The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun Times, and Kamys went on to receive a Joseph Jefferson Award nomination for his score.

Though he did not win the award at that time, eventually receiving the "Jeff" in 1998 for his work for El Paso Blue at the Next Theater Company, the success of Cloud Tectonics initiated a longstanding collaborative relationship between Kamys, Godinez.

Teatro Vista, and The Goodman Theatre.

In 1999 he released his first solo recording, a clash of genres and pop-forms titled Supremacist.

According to the review by author and syndicated columnist Gregg Shapiro, then a writer for the Windy City Times, and Outlines, the recording was "unabashedly sexy and powerful," with "moments of dark and unexpected beauty."

Though sales of the recording were considerably small, the work was artistically solid enough to garner two GLAMA (Gay and Lesbian American Music Award) nominations for Best New Artist, and Out Song Trade.

Trade a blend of alternative rock and Hip Hop would also appear in a Heavy Metal version on both Super 8 Cum Shot Volume II and JINX TITANIC Booted & Cuffed.

Also from Supremacist the punk song Your Hearse Is Here would later be re-recorded for Super 8 Cum Shot Volume I, and eventually find its way onto the MTV show The Real World.

Supremacist is currently out of print and unavailable in a digital format.

In 1999, he also wrote and played the lead (Logan John) in the alt-country/Americana musical Future City Homosexual Tells All "about a small town boy trying to do the big town thing."

at The Theater Building in Chicago.

Though the musical received favorable reviews, "an unforgettable character and some of the best and most memorable songs you are likely to hear for years to come," stated Chicago's Outlines, and "His raspy voice evoking Joe Cocker and his down-home songs recalling John Prine, Kamys offers a true-blue slice of Americana," declared Chicago Reader theater critic Lawrence Bommer, low attendance and high production costs would close the show in six weeks.

However, his exploration of the Alt-Country/Americana sound and some of the songs from Future City Homosexual Tells All, would inform and inspire his second solo effort Guns (2001) and the single There Just Wont Be a Christmas This Year (2001) recorded by vocalist and actress Catherine Smitko.

Jinx Titanic, was born in May 2002 at a recording session at Chicago's Rax Trax Studios.

Kamys had assembled four musicians to record under the band name Super 8 Cum Shot.

He described the band as a "good-natured, bawdy and unforgettable punk/party/porno/pop experience," and dubbed its members, "the beer-swilling ambassadors of the orgasm."

In keeping with the spirit of the band, each member was asked to choose a pseudonym.

Kamys chose Jinx Titanic for himself.

Super 8 Cum Shot Volume I was released July 31, 2002 with a performance and party at the historic Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles, California.

The original members of Super 8 Cum shot, performing on the recording are: John Kamys aka Jinx Titanic vocals, Jeff Kust aka G.I. Tarbaby Barbra guitar, Mitch Marlow aka Machine Gun Garafalo guitar, Chris Sewell aka Dax Malkovich bass, Timothy Ford aka Posey (t-mint) Parker drums.

Super 8 Cum Shot quickly gathered a following among the underground culture, primarily due to the band's DIY punk aesthetic, and the boisterous, wildly sexual and raucous antics of front-man Titanic.

Often cited for their superior musicianship, an early review called the players "dedicated rock n' rollers, with a commanding stage presence, respectable guitar riffs, and a unique sound all their own."

And adding to the mix, were a plethora of surprising and provocative guests, including porn-stars, burlesque dancers, transvestites, circus acts and featured regulars the Lickity Split Radical Cheerleaders, a non-traditional, politically motivated genderfuck squad.

In February 2003 American music critic Jim DeRogatis solidified the band's credibility by inviting Titanic to be a guest on the radio show Sound Opinions.

During the show, DeRogatis described Super 8 Cum Shot's music as "rip roaring garage rock but with a sort of show tune sensibility and these very, very, very funny lyrics," adding, "the songs are really wonderful melodically and they kick like the best garage rock should," and closed with, "you have to see Jinx Titanic live!"

The following month, the band received its first national review in Unzipped, and journalist Pat Bonum crowned Titanic "a force to be reckoned with, both on stage, and in the sack."

In May 2003 Super 8 Cum Shot Volume I received an OMA (Outmusic Award) nomination for Outstanding Recording by a Duo or a Group, and in July 2003 Titanic and the band, now a foursome, Jeff Kust having departed late in 2002 to pursue solo efforts, returned to Rax Trax Studios to record Super 8 Cum Shot Volume II.

In the summer of 2003, looking to create a truly alternative venue for live music, Titanic turned to the Chicago leather bar the Cell Block for support.

According to book HOMOCORE The Loud and Raucous Rise Of Queer Rock, "They began hosting a monthly rock night: Super 8 Cum Shot kicks off the punk rock party with a short set before turning the stage over to three or four handpicked local bands."

Titanic is quoted as saying, "though we dislike the labels 'homocore' and 'gay band' we see to it that bands with LGBT members are given the opportunity to showcase their material alongside bands with only heterosexual members."

Super 8 Cum Shot Volume II was released in October 2003 with a performance and party at Man's Country, a notable gay bathhouse owned by Chuck Renslow, founder of International Mister Leather.

The series was tremendously successful, throughout its run, which ended in summer 2005.

Following is a smattering of the bands and artists who have played in the series: Bang!

Bang!, The Rotten Fruits, The Redwalls, Tijuana Hercules, Dead Electric, The Paperbacks, Masters of the Obvious, Mommy Can Wait, The Hot Behind You, The Countdown, The Stewed Tomatoes, Three Dollar Bill, Vortis, The Decibators, Enemy Sun, TAFKAV, The Pages, Johnny Dangerous, Ripley Caine, Scott Free, The Paper Bullets, Baby Kage, Polymer, San Andreas, Reagan National Crash Diet, and The Ike Reilly Assassination.