Author: Henry Owings

Look, I’m a modest, quiet guy. I live with a lovely wife and two equally lovely dogs on a quiet street in Atlanta. I love to cook gumbo, shoot fireworks and play whirlyball.

But let’s face it……

I dressed up as a goddamned Boy Scout to raise funds for the Indie Cred Test.

The least you can do is cough up $15 for a book! You like Chunklet? You like comedy? You like me humiliating myself in a Boy Scout uniform?! Then please tell your friends via Facebook and Twitter so I can go back to being a mild-mannered music nerd from the South.

Yes, that’s right. A teaser trailer for the Kickstarter video that you’ve all most likely seen already. But hey, it’s 70% more funny and 100% more bloody! Bring it!

Also, I did an interview with the folks over at Baseball Prospectus about the Kickstarter campaign and it’s available for download and/or your listening pleasure.

And finally, for those that keep records of these sorts of things, Chunklet has reached the half-way point in our Kickstarter budget goal. So to those that have contributed, thank you. For those that have yet to check it out, please do. And hey, you get a book out of the deal. What more could you possibly want!?

P.S. We finally have a Wikipedia page!

To every part one is the part two, and here it be, McGee. The second part of the Circus Lupus demos from 1990. Although the tape was originally from the legendary Chris Thomson tape dump from last year, I had a better version of this tape courtesy of my old pal Mark Stelmach.

This is, from my estimation, the band’s first ever recordings when they were still in Madison, Wisconsin with Reg Shrader (later of Seam) on bass. I’m 99.9% sure that this is the session that produced the band’s first single on Cubist Productions outta Pittsburgh.

Really not much else to say. If you’re a Circus Lupus fan, you’ve gotta have this (much like the Monorchid or Skull Kontrol mp3s I’ve posted). But hey, this stuff just finds me. I’m merely offering this stuff up, and you know what? I’m happy to share.

Circus Lupus – Cat Kicking Jerk (8/90 demo)

Circus Lupus – Chinese Nitro (8/90 demo)

Circus Lupus – Deviant Gesture (8/90 demo)

Circus Lupus – Kansas City Bomber (8/90 demo)

Circus Lupus – Marbles (8/90 demo)

Circus Lupus – Tightrope Walker (8/90 demo)

Circus Lupus – Mean Hot Blessed (8/90 demo)

Circus Lupus – Pulp (8/90 demo)

Circus Lupus – Thermo King (8/90 demo)

By the spring of 2009, I had written off going to SXSW. My dealings with SXSW proper had discouraged me from doing another Chunklet party and my further dealings with one particular shithead promoter I had helped further sealed the deal. Screw it. I wasn’t going.

Then I found out that Mayyors, a scrappy band with two singles to their name, were doing four shows in Austin. To my fevered brain, this was a game changer. Now, I get to hear a ton of new music. And this band? I don’t know. It was like a punch to the throat. And deep down? I knew they’d be just tremendous to watch perform. And boy, I wasn’t wrong.

Where’s Waldo? Mayyors at Spiros (FMU/AQ showcase)

I asked my lovely and overly understanding wife three days prior if she’d mind if I went to Austin solely to see Mayyors and she was agreeable to the idea. In an effort to save money on plane flights (Atlanta to Austin is super expensive for some reason), I flew into Houston, rented a car and bee-lined to downtown Austin. I arrived around sunset and immediately planted myself at Spiro’s for the WFMU/Aquarius Records showcase which had no shortage of bands that I was thrilled to see. I mean, hell, I finally got an opportunity to see the six-person line-up of Major Stars. That’s enough right there, huh?

But Mayyors hit the stage and were everything I had anticipated. Short. Sharp. Swirling. Punishing. Brilliant. Everybody that was in the front row of their performance I’d see the next day as I went to see them at Sound On Sound which was a record store north of downtown. SoS might sound familiar to many of you as the place where Chunklet hosted our SXSW 2-stage parking lot soiree a few years prior with Ted Leo, Carbonas, Torche, Part Chimp and a zillion other bands. But this gig was inside SoS (which since then has sadly closed) and saw Houston’s Rusted Shut do an hour long ‘endurance test’ gig directly before. And seeing FMU’s Brian Turner, Load Records’ Ben McKosker and both Allan and Andee from Aquarius Records assured me that I wasn’t alone in being excited about seeing Mayyors once again. Click on the mp3 attached to hear the show.

And after going to The Salt Lick with Andee and Mr. Turner (which was my only proper meal in the 28 hours I was in Austin), the final Mayyors show I got to see was later that evening at a house in suburban Austin. As I pulled up, Chris Lombardi (Matador’s co-owner) was leaving because there weren’t any bands setting up. Uh, oh. As he piled into a cab with his colleagues, I joked with him that he needed to go find some fresh powder to ski down. Some jokes never die. But regardless, after the cops received complaints from neighbors during Thee Oh Sees set, the show eventually went inside and all the bands play in the home owner’s kitchen. Brilliant.

I got to stand directly next to the band amidst the kitchen sink, cabinets, groceries, pots and pans as they whirled up a hell of a racket. I remember seeing somebody crowd surfing which was without a doubt the only time I’ve ever seen that happen *IN* somebody’s kitchen.

Did I regret the $500+ it took for me to get out to Austin? NOT. ONE. BIT.

Mayyors at Sound on Sound, Austin

Now fast forward to this morning and I get an email from Mayyors’ ‘singer’ John Pritchard who stated that the band was about to play their final four shows ever as a band. Now, while I’d love to make it to the west coast for these gigs, I think it’s a borderline impossibility. However, to anybody out there with Delta SkyMiles, I’m open to your generosity. Or if the brilliant organizers of the SMMR BMMR in Portland want me to emcee, I’m 100% down. SERIOUSLY!

But if you live in Northern California or Portland, Oregon, you really have no reason to NOT go see them perform before they pack up. I’m sure I could rattle off a slew of bands that have come before Mayyors, but really, do you need any more endorsement than this post?

Also, if there’s anybody out there recording these shows, send ’em on and we’ll trade.

08.13.10 – Portland, OR – SMMR BMMR @ Plan B w/Woven Bones, The Lamps, Wounded Lion, Meth Teeth, GGreen, Burning Yellows, Myelin Sheaths, Therapists, Manic Attracts, Fist City, $12, 21+, 6pm

08.14.10 – Portland, OR – HOUSE PARTY @ 110 n. failing w/Jonny X & the Groadies, GGreen, Big Black Cloud, all ages, $5, 8pm

09.03.10 – Daly City, CA – @ Serra Bowl w/Ty Segall, Culture Kids, Blasted Canyons, all ages, FREE, 8pm

09.05.10 – Davis, CA @ d.a.m. House w/Thee Oh Sees, The Lamps, all ages, $5, 7pm

————-

Sure, bands break up every day, but the video that’s included with this post (shot at Budget Rock 7) does a remarkably accurate job of showing what a mind-blowing band we’re losing in a few weeks.

Mayyors at house party at 1118 Linden, Austin

Mayyors – Live in Austin at Sound On Sound ’09

"The year Touch And Go Magazine ran its last issue, I had just hit my teenage years in northern Colorado. I was listening to Cheap Trick and Pink Floyd on my Walkman as I trudged along my paper route in a foot of snow. Trading a couple of tapes with junior high school pals led to my discovery of what we then called "college rock". It was this discovery that led to my obsessive teenage self seeing the Minutemen open for R.E.M. in 1985. For me, that moment was the beginning of the end. Whatever punk and hardcore was selling at that moment, I’m still voraciously buying all these years later. By the late ‘80s, I had become a feverish cross-referencer. Seeing one name on the back of an album would send my pursuits in a million different directions. From my tiny bedroom, letters would be sent out to labels asking for catalogs and bands asking about tour dates."

What you just read was the first half of an essay I turned in to the folks behind the Touch & Go book last year. I’m publishing it here because, well, it was cut out of the book and it serves as a good jumping off point for Steve Miller. Apart from being the singer for The Fix and Blight back during T&G’s heyday, Steve was the editor of the behemoth literary feat that is the Touch & Go book. A cursory look of the T&G book will immediately make one realize the somewhat under-appreciated, yet unquestionably important, role Steve had.

Yes, go buy this NOW.

Now, I had a pretty lengthy interview with Mr. Tesco Vee a little while past, but I feel so strongly about the book that has come out that I believe a Q&A with Mr. Miller is mandatory. So I sat down, cranked out some questions and little more than 48 hours later, my in-box was filled with answers.

Also, in honor of Steve’s involvement with the early hardcore scene and/or Touch & Go, I’m including a *gasp* radio broadcast of The Fix from Club Doo Bee in Lansing back in 1981 where they shared the stage with (fellow T&G’ers) The Necros.

So how did you fit in to T&G’s existence during the late 70’s and early 80’s?
We were a band that played music that the guys at T&G liked. We had known of them before The Fix started as wise ass locals with a little magazine that had some reviews of stuff we wanted to learn about. Then I met DS [Dave Stimson -ed] at the Census Bureau office, where we both worked in May 1980. The Fix was new and I invited DS to a party we were playing, where he was somewhat shocked that we were actually great. He spread the word to Tesco and in June we played some little room at the back of a restaurant and he loved it as well. By the end of the year, they wanted us to do a single for this thing they called a label. We were honored of course, and it gave the whole thing a great deal more direction. I mean, we had to wonder who the fuck would care about a record by us. But we weren’t going to refuse the opportunity. They believed in us as much as we did, although our reasons for existence were somewhat complex – we wanted to confront people with a sound that we heard in our heads that came running out our hands and hearts. And T&G understood it. You know, none of this means T&G was a rubber stamp for The Fix. DS berated us a couple of times. I think once was for his misplaced perception that we were too focused on appearance. And another time he mistakenly thought we might have been behind some head bashing at one of our increasingly infrequent live shows, as in our pals were conducting the stomping. Overall, we all got along well together and the book does a good job of following that.

How would you describe T&G in relation to the music scene and/or other zines/publications?
It was kind of the water tower. All things flowed from it in terms of serious local music, and its national role increased with every issue. There were others with similarly great ideas and a willingness to tell it straight up, like Your Flesh. There were other ‘zines that were simply boosters, like Ripper on the West Coast and the Big Takeover. None could carry the sense of humor that T&G had though. Tesco and DS were just plain funny.

The Fix

Seeing as how The Fix only released a very limited amount of material, how powerful was T&G’s endorsement in print and subsequently releasing your two singles?
It meant a lot to us because we were not following the program at all and to be kind of the lone rangers meant that we had to be gratified by our own music. T&G embraced us and that meant we didn’t just have to look at each other and say, ‘hey, nice set.’ And people are followers by nature, so when T&G endorsed us, there were some who eventually felt it was okay to listen. That helped a lot. With the records, it was simply advertising in the magazine and they handed off some records to us. We didn’t know what to do. Hell, I think Mike and I each gave one to our moms, fer god’s sake. We just had no idea what to do with them. No one we knew really liked us. It wasn’t as if we had a cadre of punks hanging at The Fix house.

It seems like The Fix has a permanent place in the altar of hardcore. How do you react to that?
Cult band.

So between the early 80’s and, say, two years ago, were you still in pretty routine contact with TV and DS?
Tesco and I kept in touch over the years, especially when email came along. DS I hadn’t seen for years before running into him at a record show someplace in Maryland. I was living in Washington DC and had run onto people who told me he was around but it was a random meeting that got us together.

Whose idea was it to do a book? Who brought Ian Christe’s Bazillion Points imprint into the picture?
I had mentioned it to Tesco at some point when I moved back to Michigan in 2005  – I had been working for 14 years in Dallas and Washington D.C. – and so we decided to get a proposal together. We went to the local Kinko’s with a briefcase containing the original issues and went to town copying the best stuff, whatever we thought best represented the magazine. Then I wrote a proposal treatment with the ideas for essays, flyers and so on. We pitched it to a guy I knew who had a publishing house in California and he didn’t share our vision for a complete reissue, so we sat on it for a while. I subsequently put together a book proposal for a true crime book connected to a story I wrote for People magazine, and that sold quickly through a friend who served as agent, Chris Fuller. So I told him about the Touch & Go thing, and he loved it. So Fuller took it around and it was he who arrived at the doorstep of Bazillion Points. Smart guy for a lawyer.

As the editor of an anthology of T&G, what exactly were you doing for the project?
Reading, writing, encouraging, organizing, fixing, rinse, repeat.

As far as timelines go, when did you get involved in the book and how much time did it consume until it ended?
From the start to the end. In the middle there was considerable heavy lifting from the graphics guys, which I stayed out of. In the initial stages, before this book was ever sold, we would discuss layout and the dream scenario, which pretty much came true thanks to Ian Christe. At one point, maybe 2007, I took a bunch of different types of covers of books and laid them all out  on a table at my place and asked Tesco to look and see what he liked best. He liked one very similar to what we have today.

In relation to the throwaway/disposable nature of current music journalism, how relevant/pertinent do you think a T&G book is?
A complete history, the intersection of Hustler, the New Testament and Circus. And those three are forever, right?

Describe what went through your mind once the book landed in your hands.
I have a poor capacity to enjoy the present and I regret that. I think I was wondering what was next. I did sort of smile when I ran my fingers over the lifted text on the cover. By the time something comes out, be it a record or a book, I am usually consumed by the next thing.

Although the book has only been out a couple weeks, what have the reactions/reviews been like?
Read ‘em and pause a happy pause. Takes one second then it’s gone. Always good to see something worthwhile appreciated, since the good shit gets ignored too frequently.

Has it already exceeded your expectations? Did you even have any expectations?
I had no expectations, never once wondered how it would be received. Sort of like making music; you’re gonna make it no matter what, because you have to. And it’s cool if someone likes it. And if they don’t it’s fine because you did what you had to do.

The Fix – Live at Club Doo Bee 1981

It’s kinda hard not to say that Universal Order of Armageddon were one of the real stand-outs of early 90’s hardcore the same way that you can’t mention UOA in the same breath as Born Against. They were both just so important and influential at the same time. I don’t think Gravity Records would even have existed without UOA. Or is that too bold a statement?

I was lucky enough to see UOA at a warehouse party in Baltimore over the holidays in….’94? Much like you’d expect me to say, they were a band that weren’t even remotely appreciated during their existence, but now? They’re considered…..titans, I guess?

Anyway, I would’ve just let their reunion be mentioned in bigger avenues, but I’ve not seen a peep of it anywhere. And well, you gotta prepare for your summer road trips, right?

UOA live. c James Bertram

The kind folks at Wham City have UOA reuniting on Saturday July 24 at Whartscape. Twin Stumps are even on the same stage! Yeah, I know, get pumped! And well, seeing as how one of the tapes from the legendary Chris Thomson 2009 Tape Dump was a tape simply saying "Universal Order of Armageddon DC March ’94" on it I thought I’d include these live snippets of the band. I’m guessing this tape ended up in Chris’s mitts because UOA drummer Brooks Headley went on to play in Mr. Thomson’s Skull Control. So there…

Okay, Baltimore, kudos. But what’s next? Moss Icon doing a tour with Reptile House?

Universal Order Of Armageddon – live1

Universal Order Of Armageddon – live2

Universal Order Of Armageddon – live3

There’s only one musician and/or artist who introduced himself to me in a Pittsburgh bathroom by pinching my ass while I was mid-stream. Yes, and although that encounter was nineteen years and six months ago, David Yow continues to be one-of-a-kind.

And sure, Mssr. Yow has been interviewed countless times about The Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid and Qui, but what you’re reading here is the very first time he’s talked exclusively about his art. "His art?" you say. "Yes! And he’s got an exhibit in LA next month," I say. David has diligently been painting, assembling and working on his first one man show since Jimmy Carter was in office. Remember Jimmy? Yes, we here in Georgia still are very fond of him.

Anyway, in an effort to help pique the interest of art collectors and fans of Mr. Yow alike, David was kind enough to answer a handful of questions that took him away from his studio for only a l’il while. Click here for a further glimpse into his work. And hey, who doesn’t like to see what kinda art that high falutin’ folk like Gavin Rossdale own?

So let’s start off with the obvious, why has it taken you so long to have your own art exhibit?
This is my second one-man show. The first was in 1979 at Southwest Texas State University where I was majoring in Fine Art. As I recall, a piece sold at that show for $250 and I felt like I was robbing the girl who bought it.

But to answer your question, I haven’t really devoted any energy to  painting or drawing for quite some time. A year or so ago, Kevin Rutmanis introduced me to a fellow named Terrill Lewis who runs the DIY Gallery here in LA. Kevin was having a one-man show (his stuff is SO cool!) and Terrill asked if I’d like to exhibit some of my crap in the future. At the end of May, Terrill suggested a show of my own in August and I told him I only had four pieces that I could put up [all of which] were already hanging in his gallery. So, I’ve been treating this very much like a job [where I] get up early and paint or draw or whatever for 8 to 12 hours a day in order to have enough stuff to fill the DIY by August 14.

cRyan Russell (this was shot at Whirlyball Atlanta!)

Your art (both hand- and computer-done) started in the mid-80’s. Did it spawn out of your early Toxic Shock posters or were you doing art well before then?
I was doing it before then. I drew a BUNCH as a kid, then focused on art classes in high school and aimed at a BFA in college.

When did you start doing art on a computer?
I learned Photoshop around ’92 and fucked with it during the Jesus Lizard days. After the band broke up in ’99, I started doing photo-retouching as a living and had developed a pretty good bag of tricks and a respectable level of skill.

Compared to your now considerable chops, do you look back at your early computer designs and cringe?
Ha, I don’t know if I’d cringe. We were all babies once, Henry.

Your art seems to grab liberally from a few movements (dada, modern primitive, some might even say "bowel"), but how would you describe your art?
Geesh, I dunno! In college I became very good friends with one of my art teachers, a guy named Mark Todd. Mark had (still does) an incredible sense for composition. He can manipulate the space in a rectangle as well as anybody in the “high art” world. My work still shows a pretty strong tip-o-the-hat to Mark.

There is a fair deal of humor in a lot of these pieces I’ve been doing, fairly juvenile humor. I suppose the same could be said of most of the songs I’ve written. I’m real funny.

With the amount of work I’ve been cranking out in the last two months, I have asked myself the same question that I’m trying to answer right now. The single most prevalent characteristic in the drawings, paintings and digital pieces is texture. Kinda seems like I’m trying to create compositions that somehow depict an environment or a spatial depth full of shapes and elements that may or may not have any relationship to each other outside of these particular boundaries. What?

You’re also doing computer designed art as well. Are they done in a manner similar to when you have paint and a brush? How are they different?
The methodologies for the actual paintings and the digital ones are very different. The digital pieces are compiled from a lot of photographic textures, either photos I took, or photos I swiped off Mr. Internet. Then, with Photoshop magic, I will completely change lighting and shadow and reflection and color and on and on. The digital thingamabobs also, almost always, have line drawings that I do on paper and then scan and import into the textural image.

The actual paintings nearly paint themselves. I have found that if I have a preconceived notion of what I want a painting to look like, it rarely, if ever, works out well. I’ll have a portion of a piece done and what ever is there quite often suggests what should come next. Or if I fuck something up, it will sometimes start a whole new direction for that piece. Most of these paintings have gone through several metamorphoses by the time they get a frame stuck on ‘em.

I didn’t realize that some of these pieces are actually taller than you. Why have you decided to go with such large formats? Also, what are the ranges in size of your pieces?
When Terrill and I first discussed this upcoming show, he said he’d like to have some large works in it. The biggest painting I had ever done up until that point was about 4’x3’. Now the largest is 4 times that big at 8’x6’. It’s not easy doing a picture that big when you have stumpy little arms like I do.

The smallest piece, as of this writing, is 6.5”x7”. I’m working on a digital one that will go into a large, elaborately sculpted, wooden oval frame that is approximately, 5’ high by 3.5’ wide.

Why do you use wood as a medium instead of more traditional mediums like paper or canvas?
I do occasionally work on paper, or have paper collaged onto these things. I don’t like the sort of bouncy-bouncy trampoline-ness of canvas. Don’t like the built-in texture of it either. Yeah.

After the exhibit at the DIY gallery, do you have any other exhibits planned?
There are a few tentative plans floating around now. Chicago is very likely, but nothing is confirmed yet. I hope to be doing this shit for a while, so I reckon New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, etc.

Creatively, how does doing art by yourself differ from being in a band?
Nice question. There is an analogy to be drawn here. I think the biggest difference is that I don’t have to compromise at all when doing this art type stuff. That is to say all the decision-making is mine, a total lack of collaboration. The similarities are the processes themselves, and the discernable evolution that songs go through and that these paintings go through.

And finally, David, any parting words?
Thank you Henry.

David Yow’s one-man gallery show at DIY Gallery (Los Angeles) opens on Saturday August 14 at 7:00pm

“Chair”

There comes a time when there are few rocks left to turn over after living in Georgia for twenty years and then something like this just lands in my lap.

From what I’ve been able to find out, there were a total of two editions of the Samizdat tape series and this is the first that I’ll post here on the site. As you can gather from the J card, there’s minimal information and well, apart from the ‘names’ that I know, there’s nothing else I can offer up.

The “J Card” (industry lingo)

Bar-B-Q Killers: A legendary Athens band that I’ve gushed about here on the site in the past. Doing a cover of "Magnet and Steel".
Porn Orchard: Yet another legendary band. Ted Hafer later redid this song with Six String Fever which can be connected back to Harvey Milk.
JackONuts: Like duh. Another legend from Athens’ past. This was, from what I can gather, before Laura Carter (not the Elf Power one) joined the band.
Vic Chesnutt: God, this is getting unintentionally sad and/or redundant, but here’s another brilliant, legendary and now deceased artist. This was early on in his stay in town.
Mercyland: Another one of the senior class bands that was muttered in hushed tones when I moved to town featuring the inimitable Dave Barbe. Saw a reunion show in ’94 (or thereabouts) and this past spring at Vic’s memorial show weekend at the 40 Watt. Truly great. Recorded live at CBGB.
Tanzplagen: A recording project loosely affiliated with Michael Stipe and led by the infamous Tom Smith.

The only credits on the entire release….

In an effort to find out more information, I’d love it if people involved with the project or foik from Athens back then could shed some light on the other bands on this release or perhaps more information on the compilation series in general.

Including additional tracks by Die Monster Die, Dr Mandible’s Beast Orchestra and Damage Report (or at least I think that’s who it is) and hoping we can all, together, fill in the blanks.

Oh, and do you want a high quality rip of the cassette? Then click here.

Thanks to Arthur for lending me his copy of this tape.

Porn Orchard – Black Tidal Wave

Tanzplagen – Treachery

Dr Mandibles Beast Orchestra – Mr Nice Guy

JackONuts – You’re Doing It All Wrong

Vic Chesnutt – Mr Riley

Damage Report – Silencer

Die Monster Die – Perfect Picture

Bar BQ Killers – Maggots and Steel

Mercyland – Down (live)

I’ve written about Nig Heist in the past on this site, but here’s actual, honest to goodness video footage of them performing live at the Greystone Hall, Detroit. I’m guessing they were opening for Black Flag.

Be sure to check out the other entry regarding Nig Heist for a very special collection of live recordings of the band by none other than Henry Rollins.

Sent in from our good pal Chris Wilson whilst on tour with Teddy Rockstar and the Pharmacists. His email reads:

"took these two pictures last month whilst on tour in ‘yurp and thought you might appreciate them. they’re  from the dressing room at K4 in nurenberg. enjoy!"

So we’re adding these to the mountain of tattoo ideas that we’re willing to finance. We do require a deposit (just to keep people from backing out).

Big posts forthcoming.

So before entire collections of weird prank calls and ‘found’ recordings were traded by the click of a mouse, they were often put on cassettes. And well, I found a gem, but for the life of me, I can’t remember its provenance to save my life.

Google “Troubadour” and this comes up

A raspy man with an effeminate voice talking about his harp and then singing. That’s the background.

I remember that Teasley and I had put this on a tape along with the (now legendary) Jackie Starr calls, but hell, that was over fifteen years ago! Now I’m left wondering "What the hell was this all about in the first place?" So yeah, chime in.

Oh! And did I mention that I met the half of team responsible for the Jackie Starr tape? And yep, sure enough, he actually WAS Jon Spencer’s sound guy. He’s got tons of ‘outtakes’ which, if I ever get around to it, I’ll post on the site. Go check that call out. It’s a stone cold classic!

The Troubadour

All these years later, all I really remember is that it didn’t go particularly well.

Listening back to this tape fifteen years later, I’m amazed that I didn’t tape over this, but well, blame the pack rat in me.

What we’ve got here is Louisville’s own Crain at the 40 Watt in 1994. I was running late and as I walked in the doors at the club, people were saying that the band was asking for me from the stage between every song. I’m sure you, the intrepid reader, are wondering why. Well, that’s easy.

Crain @ the Capitol Theatre Backstage, Olympia cJames Bertram

I had started writing in Athens less than 18 months earlier and I pleaded to do an interview with Crain for their upcoming gig opening for Bad Brains. Yeah, Bad Brains. Anyway, I arranged the interview and talked to Jon Cook for about 20 minutes. And what happened during said interview? Nothing. Absolutely. For twenty minutes.

Now granted, I was still new at the whole interviewing business, but as time has worn on I’ve discovered that Mr. Cook is/was notorious for being sort of, well, eccentric. Some might even say "textbook Louisville". Then again, I was never much for textbooks. Wait, where was I? Oh right, Crain.

The article I wrote for Crain’s (one and only) Athens show talked exclusively about the weather in Louisville and any other topic that Jon spouted off during our brief conversation. Any attempt I made to redirect or bring us back on topic was met with utter confusion. So, well, that’s it. It’s not much of a story, but that’s the story.

Crain live

I had recently purchased a Sony hand held tape recorder to take around in Athens and was super excited to give it a crack on Crain‘s gig. I remember being so excited to see them that I just hastily hit record and stood front and center as they were saying "this is our last song" and then followed with "Is Henry here?" All these years later I’m left guessing as to why they were asking for me, but I guess the legend of it is always better than the truth, right?

I’m also including mp3s of Crain‘s two singles which are both outta print and pretty killer. I still love that period before this style of music was calculated, recalculated and recalculated again. But that’s math rock, huh?

And finally, I’ve been encoding a bunch of old tapes from back in Athens this past week and one find was yet ANOTHER Crain gig from a month after the 40 Watt gig at the Somber Reptile. I remember not being able to attend because of a work commitment the next morning so I passed my tape recorder off to (then newly acquired pal) Jerry Fuchs. Of course Jerry recorded the show and you can still hear him talking in between songs to friends. I’m including a link to this for friends of Jerry. God, it’s been six months and I still miss that fucker VERY sorely.

NOTE: Wanna check out more killer vids by other Louisville bands like Sunspring, The Enkindels and Endpoint? Click here.

THIRD NOTE: I was just given a previously unreleased Crain jam called "UFO Song/Mirror Mirror". Enjoy!

Crain – Crackhouse (Crackhouse 7)

Crain – Bricks (Crackhouse 7)

Crain – Hey Cops! (Crackhouse 7)

Crain – Monkeywrench (debut 7)

Crain – Skinminer Pastel (debut 7)

Crain – Painful Answer (debut 7)

Crain – Nervous Woman (debut 7)

Crain – live (Athens ’94)

Crain – UFO Song/Mirror Mirror

Oh, Tom Hazelmyer. I started writing him postcards and inquiries about his record label Amphetamine Reptile from my mom’s house in Southcentral PA back in the late 80’s. Responses were always jagged, always crass, and sometimes hilarious. Most everything I was able to gather about the label was thru Your Flesh (run by Tom’s best pal Peter Davis), Conflict, Forced Exposure and Siltbreeze fanzines. The rest was anybody’s guess. And that level of mystique did nothing other than pique my interest even more.

Early AmRep gigs I saw were either in Philly at the Khyber Pass or in DC at the DC Space or 9:30 Club. Surgery, Halo of Flies, Helmet, Cows, Tar, God Bullies, Vertigo, Hammerhead, you name it. I was terrifically intimidated about meeting bands back in ’90 or ’91 (luckily I would shed that nonsense away) so I’d just stand in awe as I watched these bands perform. Shirts and records were bought. Stickers were applied to every record crate in the house. Tom’s performing and ability to snag great bands was sterling. Yeah, you could say I drank the Kool-Aid.

As time wore on, Tom continued to put out spectacular records. The Dope, Guns series was a firebrand. Rock solid AmRep package tours solidified the label’s cache. 1991? It was a heady time, for sure.

In 1996, he signed his first band from Georgia, Servotron. On their first tour I tagged along and we did a show at the First Avenue opening for Man or Astroman? Of course, the entire AmRep tribe were there and the next day I met Tom. I remember he barreled into the room, looked at me sitting on a couch and said (something to the effect of) "Didn’t you say I should be selling records at the mall?" And that was my official face-to-face introduction to Tom. AmRep began advertising in Chunklet and, as years have gone by, I still continue friendships with people that have worked at AmRep at one time or another.

In 2001, my pal Dan Schlissel notified me that Tom wanted to talk to me about a project he wanted to start working on. Shortly thereafter, Tom and I spent hours on the ol’ dog and bone discussing said project: The AmRep Book. As a fan from the early years of the label, I was both flattered and confident in knowing that I was the man for the job. Tom flew me up to Minneapolis for a few days and we sat at his bar Grumpy’s and discussed everything under the sun from the label to Peter Davis (Creature Booking/Your Flesh), Tom’s gun collection to what it was like growing up punk rock in the early 80’s. I really did enjoy my time with Tom. He’s a master grade smart ass, but you know what? He’s got the chops to back it all up. No doubt about it.

Now, I neither fancy Tom, nor myself, as people that talk a big game and not follow through. However, the AmRep book has really yet to happen. Here’s why: We can’t find a publisher. Moreover, we can’t find a publisher that’d be willing to give us a budget for me to dedicate (I’m guessing) a year of my life. So if anybody knows where we could go, consider this an open solicitation to all reading this.

So 25 years after starting AmRep, I thought it best to interview Tom about the label that has defined NOISE for at least two generations, his signature drink the Dead Nazi, his new band HOF and, awkwardly enough, his recent (no joke) 39 day coma.

You started AmRep while you were a Marine in Seattle. Here it is 25 years later. Why are you celebrating the silver anniversary of what started out as a vanity label became a big indie label and is now back to being a vanity label? Do you find it a bit ironic?
Actually, not ironic at all. After a decade break from being a "big indie label," when I started doing small vanity projects I realized that doing just that was far more fun than attempting to rule the world. Well, maybe one small pond in it.

I remember talking to [John] Anglim (Halo of Flies’ drummer) and he told me that Amphetamine Reptile was the finalist for the label name. Can you remember any of the other candidates that were in the running?
I don’t recall thinking about it all that much. In my mind, we would be on Touch & Go, Dischord, Homestead or something soon enough and ditch the imprint. Fortunately, all listed took a pass. Their loss as they missed out on hundreds and hundreds of sold units. (ha-ha)

The AmRep logo is without a doubt one of the most distinct in the music industry. How long did you sweat over it? Was "NOISE" always incorporated in the logo even though the word itself isn’t part of the label name?
Yeah, NOISE was just used as a graphic, and as a reminder that you were not likely to be getting some sensitive singer songwriter bullshit (ha-ha).  I spent quite a while on it, and then sent it to the bass player in Tar who was working at a architectural print house or something and he cleaned it up and did actual typesetting for it.

Haze in Dallas, X-marks THEE spot

If you were to guess, how many t-shirts have been printed with the AmRep logo on the back? Would it be in the high five figures?
Easy. We were printing tons for bands and mail order, but any band on the label could use it freely on their own on t-shirts as well.

In all the years I’ve known you, Tom, you’ve always seemed to discount your own band although Halo of Flies were easily one of the most unique bands on the label, and one that very few even ever saw perform. Does all of this stem from that midwestern modesty thing or do you really not think much of what you’ve done?
Fair amount of it is midwestern modesty by far. I certainly felt more comfortable being behind the scenes than front and center stage. I don’t have the objectivity or concern to know where and why that band will/should/does fit into any overall big picture.

Although HOF shares the initials of Halo of Flies, it seems to have very little musically in common with its predecessor. Is HOF just your way of carrying your own musical legacy without having to come up with a new name?
In a nutshell, yes. Didn’t want to start completely from scratch, as the last time I did that (Gear Jammer) I realized how hard it was, but at the same time not sully the old rep, and distinguish the new version. So we became SSD, er, I mean HOF.

Record collector scum. Since the label started, you clearly have contempt for them. Since that is the case, why are you so calculated in how you punish them? Do you secretly relish it?
I’m a collector of many things so I certainly have a swollen collector gland, but also I think at times the music/art gets lost in the feral pursuit of objects. That’s the point where I can’t help myself from being a dick.

Like the fish that got away, were there any bands that you would’ve signed in a hot second but were snagged away?
Been asked this a lot, only a few come to mind. Brainiac, Jesus Lizard, Barkmarket, Bailter Space.

Mac (Tim ‘Mac’ McLaughlin, Halos bassist, AmRep "house engineer") was to AmRep what Martin Hannett was to Factory. Agree or disagree?
He was of incredible valuable service and a tremendous pain in the ass I don’t miss.

What is your take on the current musical climate?
What climate? I just hear mountains of luke warm rehashed genres and sounds already done better decades ago. What the fuck, youth? Make something new, the world DOES NOT NEED 17th generation punk, post punk, emo, whatever. Give me something NEW!!!!!!

I know you’re often asked what is your favorite AmRep full length or single, but to a lay person, what ten releases would you suggest to let people understand what the label is all about?
Cows "Cunning Stunts" kinda captured a bit of everything everyone was trying to achieve.

You’ve told me that the Cows were the quintessential AmRep band. If that’s the case, why aren’t they performing for the 25th?
Don’t know. Some weird thing/chemistry between Kevin & Shannon that I have no grasp of. I’ve tried as have others to no avail. Strangely no one knows of any bad blood, or at least not a significant enough amount of it to have them stop from doing something. Maybe in 5 years. (ha-ha)

c Aesthetic Apparatus

We all know the line up for the 25th Anniversary, but what about bands that contacted you once you announced the line up?
Folks did come out of the woodwork once it was announced but due to time constraints it couldn’t be done.

The night of the 25th Anniversary Bash, you have two bands that haven’t released a proper record on AmRep (namely White Drugs and Gay Witch Abortion) which lets me know that you’re still actively listening to new bands. What other new(ish) bands have been turning your ear?
Not enough to mention, and that depresses me.

Any regrets with the label? Did you grow to fast? Sign a band you wish you didn’t? Hire somebody you wish you didn’t?
All of thee above. (ha-ha)

AmRep cage match at the AmRep 25th (by weight class): Buzz vs Haze. Mark Arm vs Mike Hard. Steve Austin vs Jon Spencer. Who wins? What’s the over-under? Who will be handling the money?
I’m only whoop yer ass, in public. I handle the money motherfucker. Them’s the rules.

I don’t know if you want to discuss this publicly, Tom, but you were very close to dying last year. Going into as much detail as you’d like, can you fill us in as to what happened?
39 day coma. Grand Mal seizure, meningitis, encephalitis, pulmonary embolisms, blood staph infections, and TONS more. Should’ve checked out 5 or 6 times easy peasy. I dunno, didn’t feel like it yet. Maybe next year. (ha-ha)

As somebody glancing from the outside, it seems like you’ve been going on overdrive since you’ve awakened from the coma. Would you agree? Why is that?
Rehab of sorts. I was told to take it easy. Said it would take me well over a year to function normally and get past the brain damage. I’m fucking incredibly stupid.

What drink will you be thrusting into my hand at Grumpy’s? Will it be the Black Nazi? What the hell is in that thing? Do you often choose that drink just because it’s got a funny name?
It’s called a DEAD NAZI, damn you journalist/writer types have crappy memories. I stick to whiskey these days.

And finally, so uh, what’s the story with the AmRep book we’ve been hearing about for the past ten years?
Fuck. You tell me, dickweed.

Cows live (somewhere in Yurp)

Gear Jammer – I Saw You (Video)

Gear Jammer – Two Tons of Chrome

Gear Jammer – Lock And Load/He Drinks

Gear Jammer – If It Wasn’t Me/Horsepower 2000

The folks at NXNE loved us so much last year they’re having us back again! And yes, this line up in Toronto is a scorcher!

Friday June 18

Mudhoney (from Seattle) (1AM)
Man…Or Astro-Man? (from Sector Z6-GLX) (Midnight)
Wussy (from Cincinnati) (11 PM)
Poison Arrows (from Chicago) (10 PM)
Twin Stumps (from NYC) (9 PM)
Brutal Knights (from sunny Toronto?!) (8 PM)

7:30 doors

Legendary Horseshoe Tavern

c Jeff Kleinsmith/Patent Pending Industries (Chunklet Hearts Him!)

In addition to this incredible show on Friday. Please get ready for the panel action the next afternoon….

All The Other Panels At NXNE Are Wrong. Here’s Why.
2:30 – 3:30 pm (Saturday June 19) Regency D
Great. So you just blew a week’s pay to see some lousy band and even lousier panels over a weekend in Toronto. Way to go! But fear not NXNE‘er, sit back and watch as two industry veterans with literally several years of experience between them explain why every other panelist at this conference couldn’t find their way out of a dark closet with a flash light. Do you find this is offensive? It’s probably because you are either a panelist (likely) and/or you take yourself and the music business far too seriously (very likely). There’s the distinct possibility of full-on adult nudity. For the sake of the authorities, those under 18 must be escorted by a guardian holding a box of Tim Horton’s doughnuts (for the panelists).

Moderator:
Nick Flanagan (comedian/member of Brutal Knights)

Panelists:
Damian Abraham (Fucked Up/Polaris Prize winner (!!!))
Henry H. Owings (Chunklet Magazine/comedy record producer/author/heckler/dog lover)

Looking forward to yet another awesome weekend in Toronto. And you know what? I think my lovely wife will be tagging along! And also you know what? X, The Stooges and Les Savy Fav are ALSO performing. Get pumped!

You know, it’s really crazy how ten years can blow by. Yesterday I got a text message from the person responsible for this here crank call that landed on my hard drive a decade ago. Yeah, time flies.

So in 2000, as with all their tours before or since, Les Savy Fav were staying at my pad over on Boulevard after one of their shows at the EARL. A guitarist from a previous tour, John Schmersal (Brainiac/Enon), had been collecting calls and, of course, the Fav had to give me the treasure trove. That same collection is responsible for me meeting one Bob Schriner who has become a profound influence in my life, let alone a friend and Chunklet contributor. But that’s for a different time.

But this call is one in a series from one fella who also did the "Photos Or Somethin’" and "Wolf Dog" recordings which, if you’re nice, I’ll one day share on this site. I know that this particular call has been in my life for ten years, but I rarely hear people talk about it. I remember giving a CD of the Schmersal calls to Brann from Mastodon and shortly afterwards, they actually used part of this specific call as a live sample intro to one of their songs on tour. Well, at least for a while they did. And why wouldn’t they? Mocking black metal will never be not funny, and hey, the call itself is completely unhinged!

And so now Schmersal is on tour with Caribou and I get a call from him asking to burn him a copy of these calls and it jump started my motivation in getting this call up on the site.

Me and the rest of the band of Chunklet misfits are finishing up the new book as I type this so just know that future blog postings are impending, but we’ve got priorities. Know what I mean?

Now enjoy this slab of hilarity!

Black Metal Band Prank Call

Billy turned me onto this video a while back and it’s really not left my subconscious since. If there’s a Killed By Death description for bands of this ilk, I’d love to hear it.

A band formed in Reims, France in the late 70’s that sounds as vital and brutal as anything before or since. There was an LP reissued a couple years back and it’s already going for far more than I can afford now so enjoy these mp3s or this link (until it’s taken down).

Soggy – Waiting For The War

Soggy – I Wanna Be Your Dog

Soggy – Lay Down A Lot

Soggy – Down The Shops

Soggy – Let’s Go Together

Soggy – Cursed Boy

Soggy – Lost My Brain

There’s nothing like checking your email while getting a tire fixed and to see that the Teenbeat 26th anniversary is being celebrated in July! Yowzers!

So apart from the handful of shows that all feature the "classic" and/or "final" line-up of Unrest, New Mexico’s The Rondelles are reuniting as well. And if that wasn’t enough, a couple shows will feature The Ropers (who’re notoriously low profile), former Unrest tourmates Versus, Yasmin Kuhn (from Flying Saucer!) and a handful of other Teenbeat affiliated artistes!

Unrest ’93 c John Falls

Additionally, the DC show will feature short sets by the early-era (’83-’86) and middle-era (’88-’89) line ups of Unrest! Yeah, I am pretty sure I’m going. Already bought my ticket just in case.

In honor of the occasion, enjoy this OTHER killer Unrest recording I’ve got from Minneapolis in ’92. Of particular note is the trancey Kraut-jam "Hydroplane". And if you haven’t already, go listen to the Athens ’93 gig that I posted ages ago.

Unrest – Imperial (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – Suki (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – Skinhead Girl (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – UFO (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – Wednesday And Proud (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – Blushing (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – Six Layer Cake (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – Hydroplane (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – Bavarian Mods (Mpls ’92)

Unrest – Cherry Cherry (Mpls ’92)

So BJ from Pukekos has started a new blog called Feel Free and my first submission is about yet another tragically overlooked band from Pennsylvania in the early 90’s: The Karl Hendricks Trio from Pittsburgh. Read an appreciation and an interview and then listen to a handful of early singles and just as many live tapes I’ve collected over the years.

The 7″s

Needn’t fret, all the slop I wrote about on Pukekos is still available. Go check it out now!

Yes, another deep cut from the Chris Thomson tape dump of ’09. And this’n’s a doozie.

What we’ve got here is an 8 song demo by Lünchmeat which was a band that, some would say, is what Soulside became. It features Alexis Fleisig (drums), Scott McCloud (guitar), Bobby Sullivan (vox) and Chris Thomson (bass). Of course, you should know that the members of Lünchmeat went on to form Girls Against Boys, Seven League Boots, New Wet Kojak, Bellini, Circus Lupus, Monorchid and Skull Kontrol. Whew! That’s a lot of impressive stuff coming from one band!

L?nchmeat (in Chris’s parent’s basement)-(l to r) Thomson, Janney, McCloud (?)

This is just yet another one of those tapes that was in the box that Chris gave me that I have absolutely ZERO clue about other than skeletal facts. I mean, yes, I have the split single with Mission Impossible on Sammich, but that. Is. It.

With that said though, I always loved Soulside and was lucky enough to see them a couple of times in the Susquehanna Valley while I was going to school up there. Such an under-appreciated band. And yes, of course, GVSB were (are still?) a spectacular band that I was semi-obsessed with in the early 90’s. God, seems like an eternity ago, doesn’t it? Sure does to me.

L?nchmeat live (pre-dreaded Bobby Sullivan and Chris Thomson)

And in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m also including a pretty crap fidelity live show by Lünchmeat for completists, but it was also in Chris’s box of tapes that he sent my way. What the heck, right?

Well, there’s still much more to go with the Thomson tape archive. Enoy it! We’ll make more!

L?nchmeat practice (Scott McCloud and Chris Thomson)

L?nchmeat – I’ve Seen A Hurt (Eli Janney demo)

L?nchmeat – Just Think (Eli Janney demo)

L?nchmeat – Let’s See What You’re About (Eli Janney demo)

L?nchmeat – Lookin Around (Eli Janney demo)

L?nchmeat – No Need (Eli Janney demo)

L?nchmeat – No Place for ROTC In Public School (Eli Janney demo)

L?nchmeat – Passin’ The Word (Eli Janney demo)

L?nchmeat – You’ve Heard it Before (Eli Janney demo)

L?nchmeat – Live