As the creator of Big John Bates & the Voodoo Dollz (the first touring rock'n'roll burlesque show in the world) he put out four critically acclaimed full-length LPs and two DVDs on various labels.

He has publicly stated that the nickname, Big John Bates, was given to him in his early 20's by close friends and was "re-purposed" by a Vancouver promoter before announcing the band's first show at the Piccadilly Pub.

[2] John grew up listening to his parents' swing albums and Bill Haley until he eventually discovered hard rock through a guitarist friend from Syracuse, New York.

The band rehearsed daily in the basement of a women's fashion shop under Bank Street in Ottawa[5] for a two-year period before settling in Val-d'Or after a residency there.

Bates and Scott quit the group to form Ligeia, notably recording a version of Alison Hell in 1987 that was pre-dated the Annihilator release (on cassette only).

In Vancouver, Bates teamed up with Kermit McFedries (drums) and Sandy Matusik (bass) to record the debut album "Tales of Ordinary Madness" (title taken from a work by Charles Bukowski).

Bates supported notable artists such as the Fuzztones, the Blasters, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Solomon Burke, Koko Taylor, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, The Boss Hoss and Andre Williams.

During the 2011 US tour the band completed demo recordings at Mark Robertson's studio (Legendary Shack Shakers) in Nashville from which a cover version of the TV theme song Rawhide was released.

Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra claimed that "Headless Fowl was extremely cool"[10] and included the release in the Alternative Tentacles catalogue.

[11] Videos for the post-rock instrumental "Amerkin" and "Taste the Barrel" were produced by Chris Ray and Hora Morrior and released on YouTube to support the tour.

These dates included Canadian Music Week and the Halifax Pop Explosion, where their dramatic performance earned the festival's highest rating among bands such as Black Lips, Elliott Brood and Wintersleep.

The band again became a four-piece, adding cello to their live sound and completed a Canadian and American tour with White Cowbell Oklahoma (CA) and The Paceshifters (NL) in winter of 2014.

On their time off, the band wrote and recorded their sophomore LP From the Bestiary to the Leathering Room in their studio aboard the Caleuche, Bates' boat moored in Vancouver's False Creek.

In March 2017 the Noirchestra completed their first tour of Japan; playing nine shows in six cities and recording two songs in Kyoto with Alternative Tentacles artist Ultra Bide.

In 2023 Bates put a trio back together with long-time bassist Brandy Bones and drummer Tim Huston to revisit his entire catalog of music.