“What was the name of Perry Farrell’s band before Jane’s Addiction?” — His earlier band was Psi Com. Farrell fronted the Los Angeles post-punk and gothic-rock group in the early 1980s, before co-founding Jane’s Addiction in 1985.
Psi Com began around 1981 and included guitarist Vince Duran, drummer Aaron Sherer, and bassist Kelly Wheeler alongside Farrell. The group developed in Los Angeles’s underground club scene and released a self-titled 12-inch EP in 1985 through Mohini Records. Its sound was darker and more rooted in post-punk than the later, more expansive style of Jane’s Addiction.
After Psi Com broke up in 1985, Farrell formed Jane’s Addiction with bassist Eric Avery. Stephen Perkins and Dave Navarro later completed the classic lineup. That band became a major force in alternative rock and helped launch the first Lollapalooza tour in 1991.
A frequent mix-up is naming Porno for Pyros, but that band came after Jane’s Addiction’s first breakup, not before it.