Brian Viglione is the drummer for New York rock band, Scarlet Sails, and founding member of punk-cabaret duo, The Dresden Dolls. Brian collaborated with Trent Reznor on the Nine Inch Nails album, Ghosts: I-IV, which was nominated for two Grammy Awards, under the categories Best Rock Instrumental performance, and Best Boxed Set or Limited Edition Package and sold over 750,000 copies.
Brian joined as drummer for Violent Femmes from 2013 - 2015, touring internationally and recording the band's first material in 17 years for the Happy New Year EP (2015), and We Can Do Anything (2016) albums.

He has also been featured in several theatrical settings, including the live film score for Neovoxer (2003), by director Michael Pope, The Onion Cellar (2007), hosted by Harvard UniversityÂ’s American Repertory Theater, Addicted To Bad Ideas (2009) with The World/Inferno Friendship Society, The Master and Margarita (2012) with Botanica at Theater Dortmund.

Viglione has given drum clinics at many schools around New England including Harvard University, about his approach to drumming, performance, and encouraging the development of self-expression on the drum kit. Also a multi-instrumentalist, Brian plays guitars, bass, keyboard, percussion, and sings on The Dresden Dolls recordings and in concert. A resident of New York City since 2008, Brian spends his time off the road recording and producing, or teaching private lessons in the area.

Brian Viglione was first introduced to the drums the morning of December 25th, 1983. He was shown the fundamentals of technical development by his proud father, who after a few brief lessons, brought the kit upstairs to let his son experiment and play as he pleased. By mid-afternoon, after much experimentation, Brian found the most pleasurable of all sounds to be pulled from his new instrument, was the snapping reverberation which came from puncturing the bass drum head with sewing needles and paper clips.



Consequently, the Muppet drum set was soon discarded. A second attempt was made by his father two years later as Brian was entering the first grade. A pilgrimage to Daddy's Junky Music was made and a shiny, blue-sparkle drum kit made its way back to Greenville. There it waited, patiently, for the years of G.I. Joe and BMX obsession to pass, before Brian would discover the release that would carry him through his adolescence.



The single defining point at which Rock'n'Roll sunk its fangs into this young boy's soul could be traced back to the opening of Shaw's Supermarket, in 1988. This unlikely haven of evil, hid deep in its shelves of Better Holmes & Gardens and Family Circus, the pages of Metal Edge, Circus, Hit Parader and RIP Magazine. All of them seething with "Live&Kickin'!" images of rock fury that set fire to Brian's curiosity and already great love of music. He started to amass tapes by groups far more daring, it seemed to him, than "Weird Al" Yankovic or The Fat Boys. Or even Michael Jackson, for that matter. Soon, mix tapes filled with Kiss, Skid Row, Motley Crue, Aerosmith, Guns'n'Roses, Bon Jovi and (that's as far as we'll go), blared out of the boom box next to Brian and his drums as he would sit and play along.



"I remember cranking 'Slippery When Wet' at night, in the attic bedroom, playing my father's drums. My legs were too short to reach the pedals if I sat, so I stood to use the bass drum. I would get completely lost in my 'arena rock world' and pretend I was playing to thousands of screaming fans. Playing along with those tapes was the most useful tool for me at that stage because I learned the patterns of the beats and how to keep steady time playing to those songs..."



1990, Brian Viglione entered the fifth grade and developed an invaluable friendship with another music-obsessed boy named Casey, who was learning guitar. The two, ecstatic at finding one another, jammed everyday after school, writing songs and honing their skills. A small dream came true the night they performed 'Enter Sandman' and 'I Remember You' to the school auditorium. An encouraging teenager ran up to the stage and started to 'head-bang'. It was a euphoria never before experienced.



The following spring also introduced a new depth to Brian's life: vibrant, live music in the form of The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine.



"In between sets, my father told me to go up to him and shake his hand. He gave me a marker to get his autograph. I walked up and extended my eleven year old arm. I remember his hand completely engulfing mine. I asked if he would sign my jacket under the KISS patch on the right lapel. He took the marker from me with a big smile and said, 'Lets see if there's a place on the back!". He signed his name clear across my shoulder blades. It was awesome. I watched the documentary, 'A Different Drummer' all the time and when it would finish, I would run to my room and play. Elvin is a great inspiration to me and I savor and learn so much every time I see him perform."



Another exciting opportunity was to watch and meet the late Tony Williams in 1993. "The power and clarity that he played with absolutely blows me away. I'm most drawn to powerful, expressive players like Art Blakey, Jo Jones, Elvin, Tony, Jack DeJonette, and Buddy Rich. Musicians that can melt the drum set before your eyes, when they're only using brushes. That kind of finesse and grace floors me."



In January of 1996, Brian joined his first gigging band, Green Eggs and Ham. The group played shows at clubs around southern N.H. for about two years before disbanding. Over the last few years, Brian had become quite interested in hardcore and punk music as well as free jazz and was listening to gobs of Minor Threat, Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Crass, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman and put flyers up around Harvard Square, Cambridge to find like minded band mates. He joined up with several Arlington fellows to form Sic Semper Tyrannis. This group offered the perfect outlet of aggression and energy that was needed during the turbulent time of late teenager-dom, but not quite satisfying the musical direction that he wanted to pursue. With a chronic case of small town burn-out and determined to move to "the city", he joined up with Boston band Asciento in summer of '99. He took a detour from the drums to play bass in the group, whereupon he developed a most hostile relationship with the instrument, (most likely due to the lack of pounding and smashing he was accustomed to), however, trust was established and feelings were reconciled with the bass in the end.



Founding member, Jason Celat, also took great care in guiding Brian through the as of yet untread musical waters of Nick Cave, The Birthday Party, Diamanda Galas, Swans, Miles Davis' later work, PJ Harvey and the Gun Club. The group worked hard through the next two years and even gave a Halloween show, performing 'Pornography' by the Cure, in its entirety in full make up and light show. The group was a great experience, however, Brian felt a deep desire to return to his first love of drumming.The band went on hiatus for the month of November. During which time Brian was invited to a Halloween party by his friend and humanitarian figurehead, Shawn Setaro, where he met a young woman named Amanda Palmer.



"During one point in the evening, she sat down to play her songs on the piano. What came out of her when she started though.....when I saw how she was grimacing and POUNDING on the piano keys, when I listened to how the lyrics and the erie melodies she was evoking from the piano came flowing out onto everyone listening with these floods of emotion and angst, I thought, 'Ohhh yeahhh, I have GOT to play music with this freak...' It was such a tremendous feeling. I knew I had found some kind of kindred spirit. I feel an amazing connection with Amanda. I feel totally solid with her, on stage and as a friend. We trust and respect each other a great deal. It's a very interesting thing, playing off only one other person. The amount of concentration it allows you to play off what they're doing musically can allow for very intimate and dynamic interplay. I feel very fortunate to be in a situation with this person where I'm allowed to play as expressively as I can and the styles can shift between jazzy "saloon" type numbers, or bombastic, high energy songs, or more interpretive pieces that I can play with mallets. It's always a real challenge and a great way to let your imagination go..."



In addition to The Dresden Dolls, Brian Viglione also gives drum lessons and collaborates with many other Boston musicians including the Gill Aharon Trio, Neovoxer Ensemble and Reverend Glasseye. More recently, he performed drums for the Nine Inch Nails album 'Ghosts I-IV'. He has also worked with Helicopter Helicopter, Star* Matters, the Nanette Perrotte Jazz Combo, the neovoxer Ensemble, Franz Nicolay and Jesse Malin.



After a year in Germany, Viglione stopped playing drums for about three months and thought, "I’ll wait and see what happens when I let go of the reins entirely." Three months later, he joined Violent Femmes and met his future wife around the same time.



Since 2013, Brian Viglione has been the drummer for Violent Femmes, whose self-titled 1983 debut was an instant classic and spawned the alt-rock staples Blister in the Sun and Gone Daddy Gone. Victor DeLorenzo, original drummer for Violent Femmes, left the lineup in 2013 after playing a handful of reunion shows, including a high-profile performance at the Coachella music festival, but realizing it was no longer a good fit.