Fear and Loathing LB VOL1_2014

Sub Pop’s Bruce Pavitt The Dwarves Brian James of the Damned Edward Colver Angelic Upstarts GIUDA The Vibrators LA Record Truck Jess Lamour The Wipers Chrome J.D. Wilkes Ed Huerta Maniacs: Alan Lee Shaw

Cover and Inlay Photo: Jess Lamour Photographed by: Zoe-Manon LeCheminant

Lou Reed Record Collection “I was an 80s Punk Rock Poser” J.G. Redfern’s Hecatomb Excerpt

Editor, Design, Writer: Kevin McGovern Journalist, Music Pulse: Mike Spent Contributors: Chuck Foster, Richard J. Davies, J.G. Redfern

Welcome to the first issue of 2014! The future is now, yes.

You’re probably wondering, is it in here? Maybe…

The scope of this edi on has been to collect great bands and visionaries that set their own path and adhered to no one else’s expecta ons. So yeah, that is the future if you ask me.

Layoffs and downsizing con nue, we plug in and innovate different ways to express ourselves. Without the distrac ons of mediocrity and a menial labor job market, we’ve moved to sharing spaces, rooms, and living in non-standard situa ons.

As always, necessity is the mother of inven on and I’m a big proponent of deconstruc ng the exis ng business and societal model in which we live.

The ways of the past were bullshit and we know it. I believe in sordid founda ons but do not advocate structure of any sort. Structures crumble, disintegrate, and deceive. 401 K, job benefits, 5-year plans, résumé building… it’s exhaus ng to believe in these delusions of safety and security.

We have to hustle and get a bit conniving, but we’re doing it for ourselves not a poli cian or corpora on. The more we connect and physically meet one another, the closer we are to something real. Personally, I’m sick of worrying and planning for the next disaster. Bring it on and bring it ALL on, I think everyone is bored to death. Thanks for tuning in and enjoy the spla ering of independent blood and guts contained in these pages.

-Kevin McGovern, Editor Kevinmcgovern16@gmail.com www.fearloathelb.com

Bruce pavitt

My first experience with the label was through my local indie record store, where I picked up I became aware of the emergence of indie culture releases by The Fluid, Afghan Whigs, and Mudhoney. What role did you play in the in 1978, when I came across the early Devo sound production and cover art? singles, as well as witnessing the B-52’s at Max’s Kansas City, where they announced they had just I was a big fan of Jack Endino, who produced issued 1000 copies of their first indie single (Rock most of the tracks. I felt that having one main producer was a key element in setting the tone of Lobster). In essence, I became conscious of the the label. As for the cover, I had been working fact that interesting bands from non-media with visual artist Charles Burns ever since the Sub centers were creating awesome and interesting Pop five zine/mixtape. music. This ultimately led to an indie rock radio show on KAOS in Olympia, and thus the Sub Pop What was the infamous logo of “LOSER” really zine, and ultimately the label. referring to?

What motivated you early on, to do the radio show Subterranean Pop and Sub Pop fanzine?

You would soon go to Seattle and start the Sub Pop column for the Rocket newspaper, why the move?

The zine was started in 1980 (and was the very first fanzine devoted exclusively to indie rock in the US). I moved to Seattle in ’83, ended the zine, but started up the Sub Pop USA column in the local Rocket magazine. I moved primarily because it was hard to find work in Olympia.

Was the music scene at the time very small in Seattle?

Yes, very small. It was a mix of art students and teen skateboarders. Shows would typically have about 100 fans.

Were you able to foresee the explosion of interest and the branding of Sub Pop as the staple of underground coolness in 1986?

In 1986, I released the Sub Pop 100 vinyl compilation, which was an outgrowth of the Sub Pop fanzine mix tapes that came out earlier. I always felt that “sub pop” music (regionally associated, underground indie music that had the potential to become popular) could blow up if only given the opportunity. As far as the label brand…I did spend many years building the Sub Pop brand through the radio shows, zines, columns etc. The strategy seemed to work.

Empowerment through ironic self-deprecation.

What’s your opinion on those who feel they need to move on from aggressive music, believing that it’s just some type of adolescent rite of passage better left in the past?

I believe a variety of music is healthy for people of all ages.

It’s healthier to simply try and enjoy good music for it’s true merits. I used to be an Indie-only listener - now I try and keep an open mind.

Is there a certain drive you witnessed during the rise of the label with its non-conventional approach that does not exist anymore. Have bands thrown out quality control and overwhelmed listeners with a barrage of nonstop mp3s, videos, and online ramblings?

You have published an incredible book , “Experiencing Nirvana”. Nirvana continues to polarize audiences by not having a sound that is easily categorized. What compelled you to create the photo journal of this pivotal point in the careers of Nirvana, Mudhoney, and Tad? I realized I had an incredible collection of Images from a key week in music history… and that I had a duty to share these with fellow music fans. However, it took me 20 years to revisit the time, as I had been so stunned by Kurt’s passing.

I never find great music to be a matter of nostalgia; you embrace Sub Pop to this day, even though you left in 1996.

How have you remained connected and involved with music since that time?

Sure. I’m a music omnivore and listen to a variety of music. I’ve certainly stayed in touch with what’s on the label. As a hobby, I DJ parties, which I enjoy.

With your career spanning from absolute underground beginnings morphing into multi-million deals with bands you admired, how do you feel about people who exclaim, “sell-out” and “only the early stuff is good”?

There will always be non-conventional acts and creative ways of doing business. I agree, there is such a flood of info out there that filtering systems (labels, critics) are a crucial part of the scene. Editing is important.

- K.M, 2014

INTERVIEW WITH BLAG

K.M.

and goes without making much of a dent.

Sometimes, it achieved great success by mining that gold that collects in the middle of the road.

Hello Long Beach! There are more Dwarves than The good shit stands out in bold relief to the you can shake a stick at. The new record is coming wack. together as we speak, celebrating three decades “Blood Guts & Pussy” was a landmark album.

In the late 80s to early 90s, music in the punk of sickness and sonic skullduggery.

My name is Blag Dahlia- Rock Legend. I’m joined world was underwhelming and bland. I heard on this ninth full length record by what can only “Back Seat of My Car” and knew it was my callbe described as the greatest rock n roll band of all ing! From your garage/surf beginnings, at time. Long Beach native Josh Freese is on there, as what point did you go GG Allin on your musical assault? is SWAT Team King Nick Oliveri, the Fresh Prince At this point in the game, who is currently in the Dwarves? What can we expect on the new album you are recording?

of Darkness, Chip Fracture, Gregory Pecker and Andy Now are joined by punk heroes like Dexter Holland and Spike Slawson. It’s the record other punk bands would make, if they didn’t suck!

We first heard GG around 1987 or so. He was an influence for sure. We visited him in federal prison where he was doing time for assault. He shaved his head in patches so the black inmates would think he had AIDS. What a kook!

I always liked real rock n roll more than the punk version to listen to. Live it was the other way around. Rockabilly and 60s folks sucked live, but punk bands were fun. It took the Dwarves to combine them.

Which GG album do you consider his best and why?

The double LP Dirty Love Songs had most of his good stuff on it, lots of mid period singles and eps. The Eat My Fuc album was great, but someone stole mine!

Kids today are going back to definitive bands such as the Dwarves and swearing off new music. As a songwriter, author, and producer, where has modern rock n roll dropped the ball Blag Dahlia? Why does it suck so badly?

On such classic tracks such as Demonica”, “Detention Girl”, and “Dairy Queen”, who is the girl and what pleasing toxicity does she represent?

Detention Girl is a chaotic fuck up. Demonica is a I’m not very nostalgic. There has been sorry shite prepubescent wonder girl. Dairy Queen is mostly ever since I’ve been playing music. Often it comes tits and sugar.

What types of girls do the Dwarves attract?

Gluttons for punishment.

With self-mutilation, on stage sex, and hardcore drugs rampant in the band’s résumé, how much is true and why do you think other bands avoid going for the jugular?

On the Dwarves Must Die and Born Again, Most bands pre censor themselves just by being there’s some intensely fucking cool production boring. We just never shrunk from the excesses of going on, are you producing your own records being a rock band and the honesty of being a and is there a Zappa influence anywhere? punk band.

Eric Valentine was a huge help in production. We What’s your favorite Dwarves recording from lucked out meeting him. And we have really good the last two decades? Is there any album that songwriters and players, which is where good didn’t produce the results you wanted? production starts. My first rock concert was Frank I was really happy with the Dwarves Must Die. It Zappa at the Uptown Theater in Chicago 1980. was an attempt to conquer every genre of hard He’s an inspiration. rock and it worked. Most punk bands struggle in Biggest enemies of the Dwarves? the studio, but we got really great records working with Eric Valentine and Andy Carpenter and a People who have never heard of us. bunch of people who could actually produce.

What’s your opinion on Queens of the Stone How To Win Friends has cool recordings, but most Age? of them came out in earlier versions, so that one is If Donald Trump played bad guitar and had bingo for completists I guess. flaps he’d be that guy.

There’s been a resurgence of interest in the Sub What’s the key to keeping your world alive?

Pop label and its 90s output, what do you think (Fucking shit up, getting high, and the continuof the label and how did SFTRI differ in their ous worship of sluts…) handling of the Dwarves?

I just keep abusing myself and folks keep cheering Sub/Pop put out lots of slow boring records by me on. people with long hair. Why people called it punk Thoughts on religion and Satan? grunge or anything besides mid tempo rock is beyond me. Sub/.Pop gives mediocrity a bad name. No and Yes. Sympathy is one of the coolest labels ever. No contracts, no giving up your masters, no marketing, no staff. It’s the label of the future!

Your opinion of Southern California?

Attractive folks, cool cars, retarded people.

BLAG DAHLIA DWARVES 11-13

K.M.

Mike Spent interviews the reclusive musician in an F&L EXCLUSIVE!

for a while, s ll nothing lasts forever especially when money is involved!

I KNOW YOU PLAYED WITH IGGY POP CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT TOO? Yeah Iggy was an educa on, a dream come true!

Ge ng to play with one of "your" favourite singers or musicians can go 1 of 2 ways! Good or a “let down” …luckily, Iggy's a cool guy! It was totally fun… and I learnt a lot!

(MS) WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST BAND AND WHAT WERE THE INFLUENCES MUSICALLY OF THE BAND?

DID THE MISFITS REALLY COME TO THE UK AND HAVE THEIR FIRST GIG WITH THE DAMNED TELL US ABOUT THAT TOO! THAT was a er the Damned reformed and I wasn't there!

(BJ) My first proper pre-Damned band was "BASTARD" among our influences were, (early) PRETTY THINGS, HOWLING WOLF,SCREAMING LORD SUTCH , STOOGES & THE PINK FARIES YOU FOUNDED THE DAMNED CAN YOU DISCUSS THE EARLY BAND AND ITS TRANFORMATION INTO THE BAND WE ALL KNOW TODAY… The 1st "DAMNED" has NOTHING in common with the current DAMNED except Vainian sings and Sensible has moved from bass to guitar, that’s it!

That’s the ONLY SIMILARITY - good luck to them!

YOU GUYS WERE KNOW AS THE FIRST PUNK BAND TO RELEASE AN LP, BUT WHY PUNK ROCK? IT HAS BEEN SAID YOU GUYS COULD ACTUALLY PLAY MUSIC! Yeah Rat & I knew what we were doing! The name "PUNK" was "stuck" on bands,you didn't have to know SHIT! Ya needed to know…how too direct what ya did know with absolute "BETWEEN THE EYES" a tude!

CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE EARLY PUNK SCENE, THE CLUBS, BANDS ECT… WAS IT COMPETITIVE OR COHESIVE? Yeah the bands started off as mates & kindred spirits drinking and jamming together, then the managers and the business took over some people it went all went silly! It was fun it meant something

LATER YOU AND STIV BATORS STARTED THE LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH PLEASE TELL US EVERYTHING!!!

You want to know ..everything? That’s a fucking book! S v and I met in CBGB's in NYC in '77, when the DAMNED and DEADBOYS did gigs together! We became immediate mates! We started the LORDS in ‘81; we had many adventures and released a lot of albums. We fell apart in '89. Needless to say I miss the lil’ devil, quite a lot!

I write my own songs, the beauƟful girl’s voice belongs to Roxanna Gaton.

HOW DOES IT FEEL LOOKING BACK AT YOUR MUSIC CAREER (YOU HAVE BEEN THE INSPIRATION FOR SO MANY MUSICALLY)

I'm proud I never sold out for a cheap buck! Played with good players, made good music & had and conƟnue to have a whole loƩa FUN!

-

THESE DAYS YOU ARE DOING THE BRIAN JAMES GANG …DO TELL US ABOUT THAT… My electric bands called the BRIAN JAMES GANG we have a new release coming out in April '14.

Last year I released an acousƟc album "CHATEAU BRIAN" & earlier this year a revisit too some of my earlier DAMNED songs ..Called "DAMNED IF I DO" All available on EASY ACTION Record label Recently been doing the odd gigs with RAT, which was a lot of fun! If I can get focused and my memory stands up intend to write a book about my experiences someƟme here in the near future!

Who are you wriƟng and performing with these days I have heard female vocal parts please tell us who she is?

Mike Spent, 2014

Punk Photographer Pioneer

Avant-garde classical, electronic, and experimental music which has nothing to do with electro or dance music. John Cage and similar artists, I really like their work.

How did Punk draw you in, with the Avant-garde music you were listening to?

I was involved in the hippie scene, hard underground psychedelic garage like Mothers of Invention and Captain Beefheart. The 70s were filled with arena rock crap, with the exception of Iggy and Patti Smith. I didn’t even deem the punk scene to be historic at the time, but it was vitally important to ME. It was amazing and fun, a five-year party while I was out shooting bands. It was a close small scene that was very much underground.

When I started photography I was married, had You don’t allow television or radio into three kids, and working in a factory. I got your home. How long has it been? What’s divorced, wasn’t pursuing anything artistic the reason? except for collecting antiques, and went to see There are commercials on there; they don’t come The Motels at Madame Wong’s because I into my home. It’s a sanctuary. When “I Heard thought it looked interesting.

It through the Grape Vine” was used in a dancing raisins commercial, I turned it off right then and there and never turned it back on. I don’t want to be polluted by that crap, the music I grew up listening to, used for commercials. I don’t want to think of some stupid hamburger when I hear a song I grew up liking. Everything has been bastardized and commercialized, if the corporations really want to know what you like, why the fuck don’t they have a “thumbs down” app on Facebook? But instead, someone writes “my dad died” and thumbs up. It’s just bizarre.

Did you have artistic training growing up?

Yeah, ever since I was a little kid all I cared about was art and applied art. I won awards in high school for woodworking and only studied art forms that were relevant to me, I never studied art history. I like modern art that came soon after the advent of photography; they started doing abstractions and things like that.

It really changed the art world. Photography replaced the artists.

What art got your creativity going?

The surrealists… the whole form was Punk Rock, big time… back in its day. I also liked

I was working for both of them. It was a news photo for a news story, so I was like screw you people…

I first came across your photos through Flipside fanzine. How involved were you with that scene?

I contributed tons of photos to all of the area fanzines back then and I see them now on the Internet. I think people would be flabbergasted if they found out how much work I’ve actually done. I was happy to get credit for them back in the early 80s and now I see them without proper credit. There will always be some jerks out there.

When did you stop going to shows?

They were dark, moody, new wavey and different. Right away, the Hong Kong Café had just opened up and I knew this was it, this was the ticket… it was a totally different world.

Were the early punk shows very underground when you were photographing them?

Oh yeah, I would see amazing bands on a week night for 2 or 3 bucks and nobody would be there.

Were your legendary shots of the punk scene planned out or spontaneous?

In mid-84 I kind of bailed out and stopped going to shows. All the thrash bands started up and I was not into it AT ALL, I was like, THIS DOESN’T DO IT FOR ME, no offense to them. It was used to be called rock n roll back in the day, and now it has been divided into so many sub genres I don’t have the time of day to follow it anymore.

You started working for IRS records in a professional position in the early 80s and later went on to do many album and CD covers for various majors throughout the 80’s and 90’s.

I was always shooting everywhere I’d go. No one asked me to show up, people would say “who are I started working for them in 82 when I did the horrible album cover for the Circle Jerk’s Wild in you, I see you everywhere I go”, I was like yep. the Streets. I was real proud of the Group Sex When was your first published photo? album cover but not happy with the way the 3 months after I started shooting, which was art director knocked the band members out in very inspiring, and I didn’t look back. I was paid black and white, so it looked like they weren’t probably around 30 bucks for it. I worked for even in the photo. The crashed a parade in San the LA Weekly and the LA Reader up until about Francisco and I was running up and down the 1983 and I stopped working for both of them. I street to get a photo before they got busted. The was at the “Exploited Riot” in Huntington Park. whole thing was a nightmare.

They both knew I was there and got the photos from me but neither one paid and didn’t like that

Insufferable ego-maniacal jerk…

If you had to pick your favorite album covers, you photographed over the years, what would they be?

Working with major labels and their artists, was it different from the independent world?

Black Flag’s Damaged cover, the Group Sex cover, first TSOL EP, ANTI’s LP cover with the cemetery shot and I did the Genocide/MIA split cover in the same cemetery, not to mention the Symbol Six cover there as well.

I think most artists are pretty damn cool and I enjoy working with all kinds of people. Most are pretty decent people but there’s been a few tur- When it comes to rappers, I’ve shot Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dog, Ice-T, and Run DMC too. I had keys in there, but not too many. Steve Jones Eazy-E in my studio before gangsta rap even tops the list of jerks I’ve worked with. broke, it was fucking cool. It was rap back then; it became hip-hop later on in the 80s and early 90s.

Anything new that you like?

There’s modern art going on that I like but it’s hard to find and not being appreciated at the time it’s being done. But that’s the way it has always been in the art world. Most of the good artists are never recognized during their time. A musician dies and they’re playing their music the next day nonstop. Why weren’t you playing it when they were still alive?

-Kevin McGovern, 2014

From the band’s beginnings in 1977 with the loud punk blast of “Police Oppression”, a mark was made. It’s loud and clear on the 2011 split LP with Crashed Out. What do you think has made the music so meless and always “punk” to even the newest fans?

Well we were all from the same council estate. Pure unadulterated working class. This is where my socialist leanings were nurtured. I think we burnt a path for others to follow and i take great pride in that.

What was it like as a young band, being signed to I really don’t have the answer to that. The new fans, Warner Brothers Records in 1979 and releasing the classic “Teenage Warning”?

I have some theories but no answers to it. Maybe it’s because we stayed true to the original spirit of To be honest we thought it was the opening to fame punk. Maybe we made a stand against the fascists and fortune, turned out more like the opening to and never moved from our posiƟon. Maybe our infamy but there you go the future is unwriƩen and songs have sort of repeated themselves to a new maybe we took a liƩle too much for granted. generaƟon. I do harbour the hope that the new fans During the lifespan of the band, what was your grasp the importance of anƟ-fascism and how it favorite me and album? quite nearly destroyed the punk scene.

Without doubt, 2 months ago I would have said the Do you affiliate yourself with skinhead culture and late 70s but the latest shows have been nothing poli cs s ll? short of amazing. Like stepping back in Ɵme…

We have never been a skinhead band. I went My personal favourites were teenage, 2 million, through a phase of being a skinhead but even then, I Reason Why, Sons of Spartacus, and the last album always considered I was in a punk band and I sƟll do. the Dirty Dozen.

I will always align myself to anƟ fascism; I consider it The first me I heard Angelic Upstarts, it was this to be a moral stand not a poliƟcal one. huge monstrous wall of power that did not sound As a rock n roll band, how did the Angelic Upstarts like anything else. “Two million voices” was the begin and how did your backgrounds affect the recording. What was the album like to record and music? how had the band grown by that point?

Is everyone in the band self-taught in music?

Yes, we are all self-taught; no when went to art school just a bunch of reformed hooligans.

What newer bands do you like or do you not check out new music anymore?

We were just talking about this the other day amongst ourselves, as you play and record you get to learn more and you want to experiment more, hence the different instruments on 2 million. We had our mates Jake Burns and Jimmy Reilly gues ng on it as well. Recorded mainly at Abbey Road, that in itself was a big experience.

When you recorded your first single, “The Murder of Liddle Towers”, what were your aspiraƟons as a band?

When Liddle became a hit, we had a plan agreed between us. We would have one year making it, one year at the top, the 3rd year was when I predicted we would start to ebb, when that happened I said we would disband. Here I am 36yrs later.

Were there any shows you witnessed in the very beginnings of Punk that had a profound influence on you?

That would have been Rock against Racism at Alexandra Palace, walking onstage to 10,000 people it was awesome. I just stood there, breathing heavily and looking, one year before I was singing in front of 20 people at a youth club.

I’m always watching young bands, some good some raw but all seem to have that urge to play and that’s the important thing.

Outside of the band, what occupies your interest and Ɵme that has nothing to do with music?

My biggest interests outside music are my children, football, and motorcycles.

What song is the best introducƟon to the band for all the young punkers out there?

The song The Murder of Liddle Towers. Anger and passion put down on a 7in piece of plas c, s ll sends shivers down my spine.

Throughout your years of touring, what are your favorite places to visit?

I couldn’t say, I have had some great mes in the small towns as I have in the big ci es. I love going to the places that are unfashionable and untouched.

How would you like the Angelic Upstarts legacy to be remembered ?

The easiest ques on to answer… stood against the Nazis ll the end.

Italy’s non stop touring machine GIUDA unleashes their contagious sounds of catchy, glam struck, and irresisƟble rock n roll punk to smash the world’s eardrums. From the ashes of TAXI, this new band was born and just released a no holds barred second album.

Giuda International Rock n Roll Outbreak!

with Kevin McGovern

and Faces to the Aussie Rock post-Easybeats / preAC/DC. All our records and merchandising design, including our logo, has been realized by our French friend and graphic designer Tony Crazeekid, his graphics are a perfect match with our music.

You recorded a new album, how does it differ from the classic “Racey Roller”?

Where did the name Giuda originate from and how does it describe the band’s sound?

No reason for the name Giuda, we just loved how it sounds.

Taxi was an amazing band with its unique 77 punk style, how did you make the transition from Taxi to Giuda?

We broke up in 2007 after releasing our second album, following the sudden passing of our drummer Francesco. Later that year we reformed as Giuda, and went through a couple of lineup changes after that, which is when Michele (guitar) and Daniele (drums) joined our ranks.

We grow up listening punk rock but little by little our listenings have changed and it was natural for us to play slower and start to roll over...

I think that the main difference is that the sound seems much solid because the band's feeling has improved over time.. We also worked more on the melodies but at the same time we have developed a sound that is a little more aggressive.

Speaking of “Racey Roller”, it was just rereleased by notorious SoCal label, TKO Records. What’s it like having an older recording hitting a new audience in the United States for the first time?

Actually, Racey Roller first press was released by the American Dead Beat records, it was repressed on our own label Fungo, the British Damaged Goods and at last by TKO. Then, on CD was issued by White Zoo and Damaged Goods too. We sold almost 10.000 copies.

The band has an amazing following in Europe ,did it happen overnight?

We received an incredible amount of positive reHow does the heavy dose of 70s glam punk and views and feedback from the Italian and also from unique visual style reflect the band’s taste? the International press. To be honest, I didn't exThere are many different things that have conpect it was going to receive so much interest. tributed to create the Giuda "world" that goes So far we’ve been lucky to be given a great recepfrom the 60 US bubblegum, the early 70 glam rock tion wherever we’ve played... of Slade, Sweet, Mud or the junkshop glam of miI guess that the peculiarity that affects positively nor bands such as Hector and Iron Virgin, the our fans is the fact of thinking ourselves, as a rough sound of bands such as Third World War

Does the band and touring take up most of your time?

Yes, we're almost touring without a break for 1 and a half years. In the last year we’ve been also very busy with the recordings, we spent such a long time in the studio and at the same time we haven’t stopped playing live.

Which Giuda song is your favorite and why?

My favorites from “Racey Roller” are “Get It Over” and “Number 10”. They’ve been our first singles, everything’s started with them. About the new album, “Let’s Do It Again”, I don’t have any favorite song. There are a couple of tracks that I really love just because I wrote down the lyrics for them: close-knit collective, with a great sense of belong- “Yellow Dash” and “Hold Me Tight”. ing, kind of a gang in the tradition of most of rock What’s your favorite album of all time? bands you can remember in the Rock’n’Roll histoIt's easier to tell my favorite band of all time: The ry.

Beatles.

Do you feel that Giuda is more successful than Is there a difference you notice between Italian Taxi and why? and American bands?

Because we have a larger following, all kinds of We toured the US in 2012 and in 2013, we were people can appreciate Giuda. With Taxi we did a supported by several bands and of course, the lot of great things too, we toured the US twice but quality level of the band in the US is much higher. we were really an underground punk rock band.

How big do you think the band will get in the The darkness, kind of a dark mood and certain iscoming year? sues were Taxi’s focus as dialectic urgency. Giuda I don't know how big we can become, but the is more a cheerful and universal band, it goes without saying that Giuda’s audience tends to be band has grown a lot since Racey Roller was released in 2010. I think we made a great album, I more generic and across the board. hope the fans will enjoy it!

What are some elements that you think current -K.M. bands lack in their songs and delivery?

A lack of historical consciousness!

writing and demoing songs at home. I actually left the band in April 2011 to go solo but it didn’t happen as I sort of derailed myself and got ill from over-working. I’m still motivated to write and record, in fact I’m about to start work with Charlie KNOX: Brian Perera, head of Cleopatra Records, thought that it would be a good idea to get lots of Harper (UK Subs) making a new Urban Dogs other people involved singing and playing on the album. Touring is a great way of life.

My friend who has a record shop sometimes has record, make it a bit different. Also I’d stopped doing the band (to go solo) and I think Brian had Robert Plant come in, and he said he loves touring worked out that doing an album like this might be with his smaller band, doing smaller gigs than Zeppelin, and he loves travelling around in the a good way for the band to reach for new fans. back of the van/tour bus.

“On the guest list” is your latest CD with a ton of guest appearances celebrating 37 years (wow!) of non-stop punk rock n roll, how did the making of the CD happen ?

Pure Mania is still considered one the greatest punk LPs of all time, do you think it’s because the band was well versed in writing rock n roll structures before the punk explosion? When I listen to every Vibrators track up to the latest release, there’s a lot of attention given to riffs and hooks instead of a band that is just coasting because of its popularity.

Eddie: Being a musician means making records and playing live. If you don’t want to do that then don’t be a musician!! When it stops being fun and we have no fans I'll give up. Home for me is in the wonderful Brightling Sea, UK.

The lyrics of Pure Mania still stand the test of time because they address everyday subjects instead of sloganeering. The topics of an uncerKNOX: I think the song writing benefited because tain future, girls, and looking for an escape we were a bit older than most of the other bands. from the bores of daily life keep the music I was very influenced by Lou Reed and The Velvet alive. When you were recording the first Underground, plus a lot of 60s music, as were the album, were you just keeping it solid with the set list you had… getting it put to tape. others, and I think that really helped. I love song Eddie: This is department of Knox, John, and Pat, writing so I pay a lot of attention to getting the songs right. they were good then and still as good today.

EDDIE: Knox, Pat and John had been writing for a while, especially Knox so they knew how to write a good song. Popularity had little to do with it as we were not popular when writing and rehearsing those songs. It was the songs that made us popular!

Where does the band currently call home and is the non-stop touring a way of life, as long as I can remember the Vibrators have been on tour non-stop (so it seems). Most bands do not have the energy to keep up this kind of momentum, where does the energy and motivation come from.

KNOX: The band is London based. I’ve actually had to give up as I’ve got a bit ill, but I’m still

KNOX: We basically just recorded the songs we were playing live, and the album was produced by our then sound guy Robin Mayhew who had been working with David Bowie before us. I think the only totally new song we did in the studio was “You Broke My Heart”. So we knew all the songs from playing them live every night. This was very different to how we record now.

have the songs finished exactly as you’d like. But c’est la vie!

KNOX: I currently like the band’s new album “On The Guest List”, and my favourite song on that album at the moment is “My Stalker” which Eddie Spaghetti from The Supersuckers sings. He does a great job. I also think the album “Hunting For You” is pretty good too.

special vinyl re-releases that are in the works?

Eddie: This is always a struggle between doing it fast to get the energy and enthusiasm but taking enough time to get the detail in. Also studios cost money so that is a big factor in how much time you have. Basically we try to get drums ,bass , guitar down in one and overdub vocals guitars etc but the new single was done live, we recorded Out of all the Vibrators releases, which album is everything in one take only Knox overdub guitar.

It's called Slow Death. one you would like fans to hear, that doesn’t receive as much media recognition as the first three outings?

With the 37-year anniversary, are there any KNOX: I’m not completely up to date with all that’s happening with the band (they’re currently touring the USA) but we recently had a new compilation out: “Greatest Punk Hits” on MVD Audio.

Eddie: Not sure on this but Pure Mania ,V2, Alaska 127, Guest list, Slow Death and Baby Baby are out In the recording process, is there a special way on Vinyl at the moment and Under the Radar has the Vibrators have always approached the stu- sold out on vinyl. Hope we get some more next year. dio process? Some bands excel in the studio and others seem to get lost and lose direction.

The Vibrators songs are always catchy and selfassured. Is the recording process a fast one for Has the digital age made it easier to connect with current fans or more difficult to reach new you guys? ones?

KNOX: I usually have finished demo’s, with most of the instruments on them, which essentially the KNOX: I’m sure it’s easier, but there’s so much band copy as we never get to rehearse before go- more stuff for people to look at and hear so I’m not sure if that’s so good. I mean there’s only so ing into the studio. I’ll have a load of songs demo’d up and the band choose which ones they much time in the day and there are millions and want to do; plus the others in the band often have millions of songs out there..... and The Vibrators are just another little fish in the big punk ocean as a song or two as well. The band puts the tracks it were.... down very fast, hopefully with a few changes as it’s good to get input from the band on the songs, Eddie: I know very little about this digital stuff so as it is a band and not my solo project. it's no good asking me! But my children tell me You’re always running against the clock in the stu- that it works very well. We get them all from 17 dio so there’s not much time for experimentation to70 at our gigs so the young kids are catching on which is a shame, but you accept the process for for sure. They like a bit of rebellious music and not that TV pop stuff served up for the masses. what it is. I’m a bit of a perfectionist so it can be quite stressful to rush against the clock and not

with Kisses features me whipping the floor with a leather belt as sound effect, you had to pause for the trains to go over doing the vocals as the studio was under the train lines in Waterloo arches.

They left off the 2 songs about Jesus when it was released in the USA but we didn’t know till after!! I thought that was weird.

How is the current tour going? How does it feel like to be reaching a new generation of young punkers?

KNOX: I’m still at home in north London, the band is out on tour where I’m sure they’re doing very well, and it’s always good to get younger fans in as that keeps the legacy going.

Eddie: The US tour was a lot of fun and hopefully the New York show will be on a live CD box set next year. Always good to meet up with our American friends. Thanks for coming you lot.

I’ve always loved Alaska-127 and the track “Amphetamine Blue”, where did the song come from and what was the recording and writing of that album in like in the year of 1984?

Do you still see and feel the same enthusiasm in 2013 as you did in 1976, or has it changed?

KNOX: That’s very Buddy Holly and Bobby Fuller influenced. I got the title idea from a song called KNOX: I think I might have more enthusiasm now, “Cocaine James Dean” I think, but I never found or what I have is better directed, more concentratout who the band was. When I first wrote it the ed on the songs, though I kind of miss having song was just called “Turning Blue” and I thought those insane ‘teenage’ ideas you have when it needed to sound more exciting. I remember you’re younger. Funnily enough, I think the newer some amphetamine pills were a blue colour so I songs I’m writing, (but yet to be recorded), are put that in the title. Also around that time I was getting more political. It’s like when you see the making an album with some of Hanoi Rocks state of the world and the terrible plight millions (called The Fallen Angels) and we recorded that of people are in, you feel it’s only right to make a song as well. That project came about as I had all statement about it. When I was a kid and people these songs and my manager at the time had the were being blown up and displaced, it didn’t have idea to put me together with Hanoi Rocks, proba- any real meaning or interest to me. bly to keep them out of trouble, to make an alBut as you get older you develop more empathy and bum, and around the same time, The Vibrators re- those situations you now see as terrible, and you feel formed and recorded the song as well. in a tiny way that you have to draw attention to them so something will be done about them.

Eddie: This was done at Pat's Alaska studios in about 10 days and I think Amphetamine had been Eddie: - I just get up every day and get on with done by Knox before but I figured out was a really what has to be done. It's still fun for me and we good song and we could improve on it. Punish Me

make good friends so we’ll carry on touring and recording for few years.

What can we look forward to seeing from the Vibrators in 2014!

KNOX: Hopefully not my funeral, but you never know. From the band probably a lot more touring and recording. I’ve started getting more new songs ready just in case, but they may want to do it on their own as I’m not in the band any longer. We’ll have to wait and see.

Eddie: We have a Euro tour in Jan/feb, Lots of UK shows and will be back to the States around Sept / Oct. And we'll try and get some new recording together. I'm sure there is an album or more left in us yet. Watch this space. Cheers. PS the beer in USA has improved beyond recognition in the last 10 or so years so well done for that and check out your local scene as much as possible !! Thank you and good night.

-Kevin McGovern

LA RECORD TRUCK: Kirk Dominguez

Vinyl and DIY Photography

With LA Record Truck, you’re constantly on the go opening up shop in different parts of Southern California, where did the idea come from and how can people find you?

Metallica records all to the same customer. I get a lot of serious collectors looking for VERY clean, 1st press Led Zeppelin LP's. These people know such a record fetches an easy $80.00, I also sell a *lot* of clean Zep re-issues I've been selling off & on at record swaps for over 20 years. But, recently i decided to take for (an average of) $18.00 to people that just record dealing more serious and that's when I want to hear vintage vinyl at home. came to the realization that, here, in SoCal. Although we have a few great swaps every month, we don't get enough opportunities to make a living off them.

I didn’t want to open a brick and mortar record shop and get stuck paying rent every day and I didn't have faith, in the foot traffic, in the locations that i could afford. So, let’s take the show on the road! Record enthusiasts can be alerted to my events via, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and my website.

You can always text me: 213-284-2147 What were you involved with before you started LA Record Truck?

Before this venture, I was a millionaire in training: real estate. After my real estate venture forced me into Bankruptcy, I took a few years off. During that time I travelled, explored and absorbed. I didn't necessarily set out to do something I love. I set out to do something I could survive off. And in my travels it became clear to me that records were making a huge come back. I just needed an angle.

There seems to be a good following that gets records from your mobile store, what types of people does the Record Truck attract?

My clients range vastly in age, race, sex, and level of record collecting experience.

Sometimes I’ll sell an $8.00 James Brown records, $16.00 David Bowie records and $56.00

I did have one lady hop on the bus and ask me: "Do you have any records I can put in my oven and make ashtrays out of?"…

You originally started as a punk photographer in the early 80s and joined forces with the legendary Flipside, how did that change your life?

I grew up in the throes of the post-punk, hardcore DIY, world, living through that movement really opened my eyes to Individualism & freedom. Which further propelled me into the realm of social rebellion, I started photographing & writing for Flipside.

So, before I was of legal drinking age I was already traveling the USA documenting, now legendary, musicians and artists such as: FUGAZI, Unsane, Helmet the Jesus Lizard... etc...

Having been exposed to such social rogues at an early age, made a severe impact on me. Let’s just say, i haven't had a job in over 20 years & since then I’ve travelled, documented an experienced more things than your average person.

When did your love of journalism and photography begin?

Back in 6th grade I had a friend, Robert and his older sister used to be in a Hollywood punk band, Deprogrammer. She used to come around once in a while and drop off a stack of magazines. We used to pour over them. I'll never forget the pictures of scantily clad girls and crazy looking men.

Little by little, I began to realize that some writers (Kickboy Face) were actually unapologetically witty & insightful and some of the photographers were constantly great.

Ed Cover, Roberta Bailey, Jenny Lens, GODLESS, James Stark & Mick Rock, to name a few.

Do you still do artwork for bands or zines?

Well, i never really stopped taking pictures.

Currently i have 13 pictures on exhibit in Whittier at a pub, The 6740. Those pictures comprise of Social Distortion, Sonic Youth, the Melvins, Pussy Galore and a few others.

Next year, 3/8/14, I will have a 30-year retrospective at wine bar in the LBC, 4th St. Vine.

The bulk of these pictures will start w/ my early punk images and go into hardcore then post-hardcore and finish with my more recent portraits.

At the end of the day, how do you want people to remember you?

That's a heavy question, especially since I consider myself young and still full of ideas & energy. but, as for now, as i stand. it's fair to say you can think of me as:

"a good drinking buddy with a camera strapped around his shoulder that is constantly talking shit about the nearest jukebox" K.M.

genuinely loved my look. Or even just take ma ers into my own hands, and show people why they would in fact love what I have to offer. As with performing, it was simply the need to express what was inside. The sense of knowing you can represent something, whether it be powerful, provoca ve, or crea ve via a s ll picture is amazing to me. So I got dressed up, and posed for the camera. I've been a ham ever since.

When did you begin performing and what led you into modeling?

To be perfectly honest, I've been performing my en re life. Whether it was as a four year old in front of the mirror, in a dance recital, performing Michael Jackson's Thriller, and Madonna's Borderline throughout the house, or in a parade for my local cheer/dance troupe...I've been performing from the moment I realized I could express outwardly, what was moving inside of me.

For many performing ar sts (especially dancers) much of dance, ac ng, and modeling have this interes ng interchangeable quality. As a dancer, you are very aware of your body and modeling just seemed a natural thingBut even at a young age I wanted to model. I was always told though, that I was too short, to curvy, or my parents and I didn't know the correct avenue to go down.

As I became an adult, it was much of the same thing: too short, to curvy/or not curvy enough to be the "curvy model", too many ta oos/or not enough ta oos to be alterna ve, and not "commercial" enough. I just had to find different means. I needed to find the people that

Are you a Los Angeles NaƟve and how would you describe the atmosphere of the city.

I am a born and raised LA girl, and proud of it. I feel like we are a rarity in the industry these days. I am from the suburbs of Los Angeles, but that certainly never stopped me from claiming as much of LA as my stomping grounds as possible. Los Angeles has so much to offer, and expands over so many areas and miles, how could you not want to try and take advantage?

Each city in the greater Los Angeles county is so different, and each has it's own li le thing to offer. There is something for everyone. But if I could put all of it under one umbrella, and describe to you it's common denominator, it would be to use the word diversity. No ma er where you go- Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Eagle Rock, La Crescenta, Whi er, dowtown LA, or Cerritos, the greatest gi they all possess is the beau ful diversity of it's people. And that is what makes an atmosphere all it's own. It's not something I'm sure that I could even verbally explain. You just have to be in it. Soak up all of the differences. The majes c mel ng pot of culture, race, and religion. I believe it's something we should all feel incredibly lucky to be a part of.

www.jesslamour.com The Burlesque Beauties Opening Night- February 15th @ The Cupcake Theatre in Hollywood details on website and Facebook page Article Photography:

-Jaime Morales (www.inc1979.com)

What are the rewards and difficul es of being a free spirit, without the confines of punching a clock or a 9-5 job?

to get to all of your audi ons, rehearsals, photo shoots, and shows on me, because they are all med ridiculously close together-try to remember the different choreography, lines, costumes, paints, instruc ons for each project- I'm lucky if I have me to eat a granola bar-fit in a crea ve "just for fun project" mee ng with your friends -go home and look for more work, fix costumes, finally jot down that brilliant idea for a pain ng/poem/videohave dinner around 10pm-try to get some of your personal stuff/art/thoughts done/collected/arranged-go to bed somewhere between 2 and 3am-work on the weekends'. No one ever see's the WORK side of it.

They just see the glitz and glamor, the part that entertains them, the part on display...never what it took (Laughing)... Well, I suppose it all depends on the to get there. And that's okay though. I wouldn't ask for it day and me you ask me! There are a million different to be any other way. The hustle, the work, the undifficul es when you don't have the supposed securi es known...it teaches you things that safety and confineof a "normal" job. (But if I can be completely real here, ment can't. there are no guarantees for any job) It is a constant husThere is nothing like being an ar st...NOTHING. It tle. My friends are some of the hardest hustling people gives you wings that many are not as fortunate to have. It you will ever meet. They are comprised of ar sts of all makes you seem a li le crazy at mes too however- but types, and at the end of a "normal" work day, they/we we are all perfectly fine with scaring you a li le *wink*. are s ll working and hustling. It is rare that you ever have Every difficulty that comes with the tle of a crea ve free just one gig/thing happening at one me. You travel all spirit, is well worth it, because the rewards are far over for audi ons, rehearsals, fi ngs, mee ngs, shows, greater than you could have ever imagined. and again, quite o en for mul ple gigs at one me.

Some mes it's exhaus ng. There is no, 'show up at the same me every day-do the same tasks-have lunch at the same me-punch out-go home and relax-have the weekends for fun' for an ar st. It's more like, 'figure out how

KM

the wipers continue to keep their distorted masterpieces alive through sage’s own Zeno records.

A unique musical entity of customized vinyl reissues...

What prompted your move of Zeno Records to Phoenix, AZ? I just ended up here, I always liked the desert.

The Wipers and Zeno Records helped bring the Portland scene to the spotlight, what made the early Portland scene different than what was taking place in other parts of the country?

In the late 70's / early 80's Portland was a small town compared to other cities and it was looked down on for that. You had to be from LA or NY to be taken seriously.

So many people from elsewhere would tell us to say we were from San Francisco, LA, or NY. Portland was also looked down on as a logging town. Being a smaller town and without the influence of big town hipsters, it gave us a lot less pressure to be ourselves. By the mid 80's all that changed when it became vogue to be from anywhere USA. I can’t get enough of the distorted, moody, and atmospheric sounds of "Is this Real", "Youth of America", and "Over the Edge". What is the key to your signature guitar sounds?

I can't say there was any main influence, my roots in music were broadband. I approached music from a completely different direction. In 5th grade I got my hands on a professional disc cutting lathe and learned the art of cutting the wax masters. The lathe had a microscope on it for inspecting the cut grooves, I found it fascinating the way sounds would paint the walls of a record

groove and wanted to paint my own portraits into wax.

I 1st got a bass guitar coz low frequency sounds make the craziest patterns when cut into the lacquer disc. Later got into guitar, so my influence was mainly from creating my own colors into wax.

The Wipers discography has been remastered and re-released on vinyl by you. Which LP is the definitive Wipers album?

There is no definitive LP in my opinion, they all had their place in time for me.

Do you view Greg Sage solo and The Wipers discographies as one in the same or two very different entities?

Very differently, I never liked the idea of doing solo LP's. It happened when there was no one to work with.

Will there be a Wipers reunion in 2014?

Don't know, I am not planning on it.

Will there be new Sage/Wipers releases soon?

I do have a lot of songs I never released, but I gave up on the idea coz what I write doesn't fit this place in time.

Are you currently recording new bands or releasing any with Zeno Records?

No, not at this time.

Throughout your career, what pissed you off most about the underground scene and what were the most rewarding moments?

What bothered me the most were the snakes in the business that exploited independent artists.

There was so much corruption with the record labels and promoters that it was way out of control. I knew in the early 90's that all the greed in the biz would destroy it in time.

I was told over & over that I was the black sheep in the biz coz I didn't follow blindly and even had my life threatened once‌ The best thing in all of it were the fans of course, that was what it was all about anyway.

KM, 2014

Helios Creed Talks with Mike Spent

"OK CHROME IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT BANDS FROM CALIFORNIA & ALSO VIRTUALLY UNKNOWN TO THE MASSES ,BUT TO FELLOW MUSICIANS AND MUSIC AFICIONADOS CHROME LIKE THE GERMS OR GUNCLUB IS ONE OF A HANDFUL OF PROTOTYPICAL BANDS AND ONE THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BANDS OF UNDERGROUND CULTURE FROM THE LATE 20TH CENTURY. SO… EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW OF ALL THE BANDS AND HAV’NT HEARD OF THESE GUYS, WELL ITS NOT TOO LATE, YOU CAN BE ONE OF THE FIRST OF THE 21ST CENTURY TO DISCOVER. THIS TALENTED UNIQUE BAND, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK KARI KROME AND JACK BLOOD FOR PUTTING THE FIRE UNDER MY ASS AND ALSO MONET CLARK AND HELIOS FOR ALLOWING ME THE OPPORTUNITY OF TALKING TO CHROME AND EXPLAINING HOW,WHY & WHERE ,CHROME IS!" -Mike Spent

dimensional and boring. In 1977 we released Alien Soundtracks, the first Chrome album that I was on. It was the same year that the Sex Pistols came out with Never Mind the Bollocks which exploded Punk in a big way. They played their last show in San (Helios) No. Chrome’s first album, The Visitation, Francisco in 1978 and Damon and I were going to was with Damon’s first line up before I met him.

Chrome had a violinist at the time, Gary Spain, and go, but we decided to keep recording that night in the studio and I have always wished we’d gone instead, he and I played gigs together at clubs in North because I think we missed something monumental.

Beach, like the Coffee Gallery where the famous Then by 1981 I finally got Damon to do a live shows Beat Poets read their poetry and hung out. Gary and we had added John and Hillary Stench to our brought me The Visitation and when I listened, I rhythm section for live playing. In San Francisco we knew I had to meet the producer, because it wasn’t like anything anyone else was doing then. It wasn’t played Dirk Dirkson’s On Broadway and it was one white hippy ‘I wanna be a black blues musician’ crap of the club’s biggest turn outs ever, with a line down the block of people that couldn’t get in. (that was everywhere at that time). Instead it was weird and stoney. It wasn’t what I was into doing exactly, but I felt like whoever was behind the pro- By 1979 you guys were signed to Beggars Banquet duction needed me. The production was the most in- the UK label that hosted such bands as the Bauteresting part of the album and I just knew that this haus etc , did you feel the USA "got your muwas the guy I had been waiting for. So I asked Gary sic" ? Obviously, such a label saw financial sucto arrange a meeting between me and Damon. This cess in you overseas Also by then it was a 2-piece was all in 1976, the year I met Damon, auditioned band, can you explain? and joined Chrome.

Ok chrome founded in 1975 by Damon Edge in San Francisco, Did you work on the first LP?

Europe got into us before the States did. It was a gradual thing with the States, it took a while. It’s still happening, it’s still growing in the States, but no, the U.S. has never been anything like how we are No they didn’t get what we were doing at first. We accepted in Europe. Even South America seems to were too artsy for the Punk scene and Damon didn’t get Chrome more, we have a lot of fans in Argentina now. Chrome was a two person band ever since I want to do any shows so I couldn’t prove that we started, because the other members quit before could really rock as hard as anybody else. It was frustrating for me. Punk shows started happening in Damon and I finished Alien Soundtracks. The methNorth Beach in 1976-77 like Crime, The Dead Ken- odology was this: Damon and I took taped sessions that the other members were on and we cut them up, nedys, Negative Trend. That early Punk scene was edited them, added to them, made totally new songs free and experimental, then it went more into more hard core in 1978 and 1979 which I thought was one and noises, and collaged in samples like backwards In 1978 what was the SF music scene like? Did the people get what you guys were doing?

You guys are the fathers of the industrial sound you were avant-garde in the new music scene of the 1970-80s. Can you tell us what it was you guys were actually doing?

Ok, The whole Industrial term…Damon and I had an inside joke regarding what kind of music we make.

There was a girl we hired to do secretarial work and she was really good at it, but she ate a lot of Burger King and Damon had a small toilet and she’d stop it up. So Damon went and got some Industrial Strength Toilet Bowl Cleaner to fix that issue. And we had an ongoing joke around that time that our music was Industrial Strength Toilet Bowl Cleaner Music, so heavy when you play it, it cleans the toilet! So we did a radio interview on a big station and we were asked ‘what kind of music do you make’ and Damon and I piped in together “Industrial Strength Toilet Bowl Cleaner Music!! ha ha ha”. And the radio DJ said at the end of the interview “there you have it folks, Chrome Industrial Rock for the masses!”.

Now there was a collective consciousness about it…it was in the air and we just fit right into that square soap opera music etc., and produced Alien Soundpeg. People say now that our experimentation or tracks and Half Machine Lip Moves, just he and I. deconstruction of Rock opened the doors for a sonic You have been there since the beginning can you change in Rock which led to bands like Ministry and tell us about Chrome in the 1990s, lots seemed to Nine Inch Nails years later and other styles of the go on, some of it tragic Indie scenes. It was a change I saw coming years beIn the 90’s Damon was still releasing Chrome albums fore. Throbbing Gristle was around and they were Inas a solo artist and I was successfully touring and re- dustrial, but they weren’t a Rock band, so we were cording with my Helios Creed band, but then Damon the first experimental art kind of band (or Industrial passed, yes tragically in 1995. He had contacted me band) that rocked. I know how to rock, I spent years about working together again and I was open, but studying how to Rock. I wasn’t given a degree like then he died before we started. So I took back conyou get for other things you study, but I did study trol of Chrome, joined by Aleph and Tommy who Rock intensively for years. both had studied Damon’s style of playing. We did some interesting work in the 90’s touring and record- Chrome is a brilliant concept and band and it is ing. Now we are starting a new episode. We’re keep- incredible that you have kept it alive all these ing the same free approach, Acid-Punk, weird guitar years! Please tell us about Chrome today! effects, Pig-Tronics, using strange samples, good song writing, and playing heavy and spontaneous It hasn’t been easy. It’s never easy to follow in the etc., but we’re taking it to the next level. shadow of someone everyone thinks is great (by

which I mean Damon Edge who was my partner in Chrome in the beginning and whom I think was a genius. In the early days he was my best friend, and we used to sit around and talk about music for hours).

I figured, he made Chrome without me for years so why couldn’t I make Chrome music without him.

Taking Chrome’s experimentation back on myself after he died at first was a hard transition. It wasn’t until 2002 when I released Chrome’s Angel of the Clouds that I started to feel that Damon’s and my fans were satisfied. That album involved me collaborating with all these great Damon tracks posthumously.

A new Release is now out and I have heard the title track Prophecy. And it RULES is it your best work? Has Chrome evolved into what you desire? Has it come full circle?

Yes, I believe it’s some of our best work, and Prophecy is only a sample of even better stuff. My band is excited about it, I’m excited about it. I have the best band put together. Finally I think its manifested the way I always imagined it could be. I feel like I got that now, I got the right people. Wait till you hear this new band, I can’t wait to unleash it on the people and kick your fucking ass. The Rock That new material should be out early next year and plus the weird shit. Yes, full circle 100%, the right drummer, the right bass player, the right guitar its everything I ever wanted Chrome to evolve into with all the heavy and all the weird, but with the ex- player, the right keyboard player, the right female perience only years can give an artist, and Chrome is presence. still raw because we still record spontaneously. And Where can we see Chrome perform? at the same time we have Half Machine from the Sun, the Lost Chrome Tracks from ‘79-’80. It’s a double Half Machine from the Sun will be in stores stateside album of tracks Damon and I did from our classic and around the world. Angel of the Clouds will soon period that we never released. Yah now is a good era. follow. We are getting our tour lined up for the year.

-MIKE SPENT

J.d.

Wilkes And A Wild Moon

–km

I used to know this girl, back when I was in that whole thing of going out with a group of your friends. Everyone is mismatched, bored, and distracted. All of us would do the whole bar/show scene and eventually exit back to someone’s place for a erhours binging. The two of us would an cipate the end of the night when everyone else would pass out, go home, or just give up. We had a hidden stash of high-potency candy for the “real party” at 3 a.m. We would hang out on the floor in a corner and find a cheapo compact stereo and listen to Bo Diddley’s “Mona” and Iggy’s “Dog Food”. Both of us were seeing other people but we preferred the cagey rendezvous instead of tradi onal “da ng”, which seemed so lame. The certain way that late night “hang out” spot echoed our infatua on and amoral purity is a certain black magic, one that recklessly drives the sultry rhythms and primal swamp rock of J.D. Wilkes and the Dirt Daubers in their latest offering of “Wild Moon”. To this day, I love when a er-midnight comes and no one’s watching. The coolest energy soars during those lost hours.

process. Although he lives in Nashville now, he definitely is the anƟthesis of the slick sound that comes out of Music Row these days.

As leader of the infamous country punk troublemakers The Legendary Shack Shakers, you toured with ar sts ranging from Rancid to Hank Williams III. How would you describe your experience in the swamp of underground rock n roll?

The Shack Shakers helped forge a new genre that mixes all the dark, edgy sub-genres of American music into one. It was fun to play around with blues, rockabilly, polka and bluegrass and discover the common elements that make crowds go Your frontman style evokes the ghosts of Iggy Pop and Screamin Jay Hawkins, what inspired you to take the stage early on in your career and create the man known as J.D. Wilkes?

I have been playing in bars since I was a teenager, but aŌer seeing Mojo Nixon and Jim Heath perform roots music in an edgy way I knew I wanted to take it further. Since then I have become more of a student of American roots music and am playing catch-up to Manic blues grinding, the supernatural, and LAMF inform myself and others of the wealth of old-Ɵme gusto collide into one perfect explosion for the new talent sƟll among us today. video/single Wild Moon. What influenced the You’ve received men on as a favorite of Stephen ero c riffs and video imagery of this contagious Dirt King and your song Swampblood was featured in Daubers tune? the insanely popular True Blood. What is the "Wild Moon" is about a tragic event that took place a connec on between your self-expression and art that embraces horror and the paranormal? few years back, one involving a flood that swept away a buggy full of Amish children.

Having been raised in the church and educated at a holy-roller private school I have witnessed firsthand It's odd that "eroƟc" would be used to describe the supernatural power of music and faith. I believe anything Amish, but I'll take it! I guess our guitarist the missing element in much of what qualifies as has a knack for making any kind of song "sexy."... "southern gothic" are the subjects of faith and What was it like collabora ng with legendary Dead folklore.There's something to be said for our shared Boy Cheetah Chrome for the Wild Moon album? cultural "blood memory" and the arcane ways the Did the band tap into unknown areas of its Unknown expresses itself. “possessed” prowess?

Cheetah is a legendary punk rock star, so he helped keep the tunes edgy and raw throughout the enƟre

You play harmonica the same way Robert Johnson twisted a fret board. Your style is contagious and hypno c on Dirt Daubers tunes such as Wake Up Sinners, one of my all- me favorites. How did you learn to harness the wild energy of blues harp?

dynamic that hooks you in, ramps up, then down, and crescendos to a climac c finale. Learning the methods of each cra is the more daun ng challenge, but I'm always up for new things.

I find it really cool that you share the Dirt Daubers with your wife Jessica. In some instances, a I overdosed on Sonny Boy Williamson and Paul Bu erfield as a kid. I remember the sensa on of the marriage can cause an ar st to “se le down” for first note I "bent" on a harmonica. It almost seemed lack of a be er term. Your marriage seems to ignite to scratch an itch in my brain! I listened to lots of the music of the Dirt Daubers in a unique fashion styles of music and tried to absorb it all. From blues with your sharing of vocal du es. How did you two to Dixieland jazz to beer commercials. It was all up meet and what is it like touring together? for grabs.

We met through a mutual friend in Chicago. We With the latest Dirt Daubers record, you moved away from a demonic, honky-tonk acous c approach to a guitar heavy landslide of hip grinding rock n roll. What was the catalyst to go back into a style somewhat similar to The Legendary Shack Shakers?

bonded over a shared love of comics but then discovered we had musical aspira ons in common too. I think Jessica is a star wai ng to happen. She writes from a more accessible place (while I write songs about Amish people!) and looks and sounds great on stage. She's also easy going on the road, Jessica and I share more musical common ground in moreso than many male bandmates I've had the our mutual love of blues and classic R&B. My heart is misfortune of touring with in the past. I'm very proud of her. s ll in old- me music but the current DD sound

allows for a wider range of sonic possibili es, from rockabilly to blues to hot jazz and swamp rock.

As an author, could you tell us a li le about your latest book Barn Dance & Jamborees Across Kentucky?

I made it my mission to travel from one end of my state to the other to chronicle the last throes of our indigenous musical culture. I fear regional American cultures are in danger of disappearing with each passing year. This is just my li le way of giving back...a small valen ne to the old- me music of Kentucky and the "Greatest Genera on" that play it from a more honest and experienced place in their hearts.

As a filmmaker, actor, author, and musician, do you find these different forms of expression to be different dimensions of your personality?

I actually see them all as the same part of my personality, just expressed differently. All art forms follow the same story arc... A sort of "bell curve"

What does 2014 hold in store for the Dirt Daubers and what are you looking to achieve with your latest album and other unique crea ons?

If we can make a living recording and performing honest music coast-to-coast and worldwide, drawing comics and wri ng stories about cool stuff that ma ers, making short films and not ge ng day jobs... then THAT is our Grammy Award .

: Punk Rock Painter

or Buddy Holly as a crazed killer of Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard titled “Bloody Holly”..

KPM: What inspired you to go into painting?

EH: Actually my wife suggested it to me after the death of my parents. I lost them both in the same year, just before I got married and then contracted a very bad case of shingles…so I was pretty freaked out and she must have heard it was therapeutic…and it was.

KPM: What types of subjects interest you in art and writing?

EH: I am most comfortable painting people, mostly musicians, and people in imaginary situations. I have yet to free my mind enough to do abstract so I stick with my warped ideas. For example, I have a painting that includes a young Jonathan Richman in his room playing with a Brian Wilson Pet Sounds era puppet..or I could go on and on..Charles Manson with Groucho Jerry Lewis as Lee Harvey Oswald being shot by Jack Marx…Poncho Sanchez as a hip St. Nick, Bernie from Ruby’s gun..

Room 222 (old TV show from the 70’s) crucified for your sins…and of course Elvis being shot in Dallas by LBJ with a Keane influenced Priscilla..

As far as writing goes, I am mostly interviewing musicians right now for jackaboutguitars.com website. My brother started this website, and it’s getting a lot of exposure, and he let’s me contribute articles and such every so often. Years ago, I used to write for a Los Angeles based throw away mag/punkzine called “Real Life in the Big City” as a columnist, “Bitter Ed”. It was very Howard Stern-ish but before I knew of Howard Stern. I have written several short fictional stories that I throw out there to friends every once in awhile, and never seen poems, but again, mostly interviewing people is fun right now.

KPM: What projects are you currently involved in?

EH: Musically, I am playing with Rockford, comprised of ex members of Eggplant, John Kelly, Jeff Beals, Jon Melkerson (ex-Doctor Dream label) with R. Scott on keys. These guys are really amazingly talented players and even though we are older, it seems like we are playing the best music of our lives. Everyone in the band writes and sings, so it’s really great to have an array of songs and styles to choose from.

As far as writing, I will be doing more interviews with blue-collar type guitar players and local LB players and hopefully a major player now and then. Painting wise, I currently have 4 different ones going on. When my KPM: How did your upbringing affect your decision to muse hits, it hits, and I have to take advantage of it. be a musician in the punk rock world?

Unfortunately, the death of Lou Reed sparked a big creative, albeit sad artistic push. His death really hit EH: Well, all of my brothers played in bands or were me hard and I am sure the entire punk rock heavily involved in music, so I grew up with that as a community. I think he may have guided me on this kid. I started hitting things when I was about 4 and I remember getting a toy snare one Christmas so I must one. have really liked destroying things. I used to fake being sick and stay home from school and put on records and pretend I was in The Beach Boys, which wasn’t too hip at the time, so when punk rock came out I totally dug the self taught thing that was going down.

I didn’t have in my mind that I was going to be a punk rock drummer or punk rock dude. I just fell into seeing the different bands and sort of ferreted my way into Moist and Meaty, then to cut a long story short, Mind Over Four, then with Jack Brewer and also The Lazy Cowgirls. I am basically a music fan that turned into a guy that could play mostly 4 on the floor style in a fast tempo.

KPM: What was your experience growing up in the Long Beach punk scene?

EH: Fantastic experiences…playing Bogarts with firehose, The Adz, Agent Orange, The Dictators, The Fleshtones and just many others…there was always something going on.. We had Zed Records that had everything..and the L.A. and South Bay bands would always come down. When I was with the Jack Brewer Band we had All (ex Descendents) living next door to our practice room in Lomita so we would hang with those guys and hear road stories all the time. It was a great time with so much great music going on. Everyone was pretty much on good terms with each other.

I just finished my biggest, in size, painting to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the death of JFK.

Grove…not to mention a portrait of Fats Waller and a Sasquatch in the fields painting and a portrait of jazz drummer Joe Morello on a Remo snare drum head.

KPM: Where can people check out your paintings?

EH: I have a website www.edhuerta.com that people can check. I haven’t updated it in forever but if people are interested in anything, they can contact me at ehuerta11@msn.com …also I post on Facebook…You can also see some of my work at local hangs like The Prospector, Dipiazza’s, Greenhouse Music Studios. If you happen to find yourself in Garden Grove, you can check out Old Town Pawn, where Jon keeps a lot of my work, all for sale, folks..and Azteca Restaurant and Crooner’s Lounge on Main Street has the entire outside Elvis Garden full of my work. Again, a show of respect to J.J. Juaregui, the owner of Azteca, who showed faith and trust in my abilities when I first started out.

My main project right now is designing a label for Maralyn Dipiazza of Dipiazza’s Italian Restaurant fame with a great garlic blend salad dressing that she is going to start marketing soon. I do want to show some respect here for the Dipiazza’s and all that they do for the local Long Beach music scene. They always give bands a fair shake and have contributed to the community for so many years. The musicians truly thank them for this…the food is great too! I am also doing some signage for Old Town Pawn in historic Garden

A friend once told me he liked my art because it makes you think. There is something going on there that you have to piece together to make the entire story.

That was a huge accomplishment for me because that’s what I strive for. Someone understood. I know I’m not Cezanne or Dali, I can’t even clean their brushes but I am out there doing it man, DIY folks! No one else is going to do it for you.

-

Alan Lee Shaw MANIACS Physicals ...and more

move to London in 1975 to seek our musical fortunes.

With Twink now also moved back to London, Rod and I set about forming a duo, me on guitar and Rod on drums/percussion, and The Maniacs part one was born.

Going out as The Maniacs in 1975's London and playing a mix of original material and Velvet -Mike Spent Underground/Lou Reed covers as a rock duo was a Alan, what was your first band? bit of a challenge, most of the pubs we played at, we were supporƟng Eagles cover bands or pub-rock My first band was named Guts, a college garage bands, but there was a definite vibe in the air that band made up of four fellow art students in Cambridge England around 1972. A four-piece band something was about to change, Paƫ Smith's album and as the name suggests played a loud and raw mix Horses and the Ramones' first album had been of original material and R&R standards. We played at released and the first signs of punk rock were beginning to show. all the local schools and colleges etc in and around the Cambridge area, our claim to fame was I know of you from "LIVE AT THE VORTEX" (which I supporƟng the bought new in '78) the Maniacs was one of the Pink Fairies bands that "stuck out" Tell us about the band! (where I was Now as the Maniacs we were lucky to find a to meet the manager in the form of Ian Dickson (at the Ɵme drummer Sounds rock photographer). As our manager he Twink for the found us a single deal through A&R man Andrew first Ɵme, Lauder at United ArƟsts Records and our first single more of that “Chelsea 77” b/w “Ain't no legend” was recorded at later) Pathway Studios London with Dave Goodman (Sex Guts were a short-lived project but a good work-out Pistols) producing. for things to come.

We were to go headlong into playing all the sweat Tracks were duly recorded at Pye studios Marble pit punk venues i.e. Nashville, Roxy club, Hope & Arch London, and a song enƟtled “She moans” (a Anchor, Rochester Castle and the Vortex club where kind of Slade meets a Glam Punk work-out) was we feature playing live on two tracks on the “Live at released as a single on Alaska Feb 1974 to a the Vortex” album, “You don't break my heart” and deafening silence on the airwaves.

“I ain't gonna be history”.

What did you like about punk that you "got into" punk?

Back in Cambridge and aŌer a brief musical link-up with the newly ex-Pink Fairy Twink, it was decided that along with my old musical partner in crime and school chum drummer Rod LaƩer we would both

The beginning of August saw the Maniacs sharing the bill at the 2nd Mont-de-Marsan French Punk Rock FesƟval with the likes of The Clash/The Damned /The Police/ The Boys etc and at the same Ɵme acquiring a second guitarist Henri Paul to fill out the sound but not to record.

Have you spoken to anyone about reforming the Maniacs or such A punk band today?

There has been more than a few mes I have been asked to re-form the Maniacs but now with the drummer Rod La er's ongoing health problems and the now firmly estranged bassist Robert Crash, an original line-up reforma on seems very unlikely to happen.

What have you been doing lately?

Since the end of my me with the Damned, I have Back in London the steam heat was beginning to run put together 2 retrospec ve CD's of Maniacs/ out off Punk and by early '78 the Sex Pistols and The Physicals material on Overground Recs '98/ '99, Damned had both imploded and split. I also felt that recorded an album of original songs with Paul Gray Punk had come to its nadir and it was me to move (also ex- Damned) bass and Jim Simpson(ex-UFO) on. drums under the name of Wicked Gravity on Recently I interviewed your mate, Brian James can Voiceprint Recs 2006. I produced (with some guitar playing ) 3 albums for Brussels based acts Busty you tell us about your friendship and what band Duck and da Hush, plus Irish band Ra er in 2007/8, you guys were in ? Did you record anything? also a Pop Punk Texas based act The Shadow in the Brian now was at a loose end (a er the end of The US 2011/12 and soundtrack music for a US Lords) and we thought about pu ng a new band independent movie “Helen Alone” 2012/13 together with his old Damned partner Rat (Scabies) I have also compiled live tracks on 2 CD's “The Rings who duly obliged the project. Raven ex-Killing Joke live at the 100 Club 1977” and The Physicals “live at was rowed in on bass and regular rehearsals were the Electric Ballroom 1978” both CD's on Whiplash undertaken with various individuals taking on lead Recs USA 2012/13 singer du es and the odd low key gigs happened, but nothing really gelled enough sadly for this As you can tell I'm A punk fan and A Maniacs fan, project to con nue. However, what did come out of I’ve covered Maniacs songs! this effort was that I was to form a closer musical For me it is always a humbling and fascina ng feeling rela onship with Rat that was to prove frui ul down whenever I find one of my songs has been covered. the line.

Wri ng songs is always a personal experience but A er (on Brian's part) a brief abor ve Damned once recorded and released a song has a life of its original line-up tour of the US in '89, Patrick Mathe own, there to be interpreted by the minds and ears Boss of New Rose Recs France offered a solo album of bands or individuals which can be wildly different deal to Brian that he readily accepted, myself on from the original, some mes for the be er or worse bass this me and Malcolm Mor mer on drums we but always appreciated with respect for the intent. set off to Brussels for 3 weeks to record Brian's solo -Mike SPent album.

Reviews were encouraging and a European tour to promote the album was undertaken with the band billed as The Brian James Gang!

MY LOU REED COLLECTION

By Chuck Foster As you probably heard, Lou Reed’s past finally caught up with him and he succumbed to liver disease in late October. The old New York City is completely erased now, overtaken

by Bloomberg’s vision of Manhattanland, a sanitary playground for the rich. Uncle Lou embodied everything the city once was, and he took it with him to his grave. That’s power.

My introduction to Reed’s music came when my dad first showed me Rock & Rule, an underground animated movie also featuring the music of Cheap Trick, Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop (my introduction to Iggy as well). Reed’s songs were written for Mok, a sinister Bowie/Jagger/Iggy villain whose performances drew from black occultism. “My Name Is Mok” remains one of Lou’s best songs, if not one of his more obscure. Look up the video on YouTube and wonder why MTV isn’t like this.

Later on, I heard “Heroin” on the soundtrack to Oliver Stone’s Doors movie. It made quite an impact on my preteen mind, and I thought it was probably better than any of the Doors songs.

For some reason, though, I couldn’t get into The Velvet Underground when I finally sought them out years later. All my friends were heavily into them, but I didn’t get it. Just sounded like crap to me. I bought that Best of… that came out in the late ‘90s, listened to it a few times and sold it, figuring everybody was worshipping a paper tiger.

It wasn’t until a brief relapse back into heroin when I moved to New York, that they hit me. I’m not sure what it was, maybe reading Please Kill Me, but my drugaddled mind suddenly craved The Velvet Underground. Finally, they clicked with me – I got it, and I recanted everything I’d said about them in the past. (Oddly, junk has helped me appreciate lots of music I couldn’t stand before, like Raw Power, The Birthday Party and Laughing Hyenas.) Iggy related a similar story in Please Kill Me, though his conversion came with the aid of LSD. At least I wasn’t alone.

From there, Reed’s music became integral to my life, and remains as such. He has given me countless hours of enjoyment, and for that I will always be grateful. As long as people listen to him, he will be immortal. And he should be.

The following is not a comprehensive discography. Rather, it’s the story of my relationship with his music as I experienced it. Goodbye, Uncle Lou. Your time here was well spent.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – APRIL 1966 SCEPTER STUDIOS (WFMU) – 1966 There’s a long story that goes along with this record, but it has nothing to do with Lou Reed and everything to do with record collectors being assholes. Regardless, this is a must-hear for any VU fan as it’s an entirely different version of The Velvet Underground & Nico. Different takes, alternate mixes, original track order. I downloaded it from WFMU’s Beware the Blog, and you can still find it there. Get it while you can.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO (POLYDOR) – 1967 Bought this at a crappy chain record store in Riverhead, Long Island called Coconuts during my brief return to junkdom. Yeah, it’s fucking brilliant. Let’s move on.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (POLYDOR) – 1968 My copy of Lester Bangs’ favorite album was obtained at the best (and now gone) record store on Long Island, Record Stop in Ronkonkoma. Loud, noisy and abrasive speed-induced insanity. Who wouldn’t want to listen to it?

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (POLYDOR) – 1969

Probably my favorite VU album. I used to love shooting up to “Beginning to See the Light” and I still love the sardonic sense of humor in “Pale Blue Eyes.” It’s either quietly majestic or in your face. Beautiful. Also purchased at that crappy place in Riverhead.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – VU (VERVE) – 1985 My friend Craig of Libyan Hit Squad/Round Eye played me this collection of outtakes from ‘68/’69 while my band, Ultrabastard!, was touring FL with LHS and it rather blew me away, so I downloaded it when I got home. Some really stellar versions of songs that would end up in Lou Reed’s solo catalog with varying results.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – 1969: VELVET UNDERGROUND LIVE (MERCURY) – 1974 This I actually bought in Florida while on tour. Craig brought us to this awesome record store in Orlando whose name I can’t remember. Neat place. Found the two volumes of this on CD for $7.99 each. I wasn’t sure how it would sound, but I’m really glad I bought it, as it’s an excellent document of the band during that time and the sound quality is pretty clear. Some really interesting versions of VU songs.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – LOADED: FULLY LOADED EDITION (RHINO) – 1970 Picked this up at an FYE in Manhattan right before an interview with the head of Atlantic’s A&R department. Also grabbed The Monkees’ Head. No, I didn’t get the job.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND – SELECTIONS FROM P EEL HERE (N/A) – N/A Since I already had the individual albums, I never bothered buying the Velvet Underground box set. Instead, I burned what I didn’t have from my bass player. Thanks Dan! LOU REED – LOU REED (BMG) – 1972 During a winter where I constantly listened to my VU tape while working painting houses, I finally broke down and started buying Lou’s solo albums in chronological order. People don’t seem to think much of his debut, which is basically proper recordings of VU outtakes, but I love it. Sure is a hell of a lot better than most of the other crap in the ‘70s.

LOU REED – TRANSFORMER (RCA) – 1972 One of the few CDs I bought in Borders when it finally opened in Riverhead. My girlfriend and I love singing “Perfect Day” to each other.

LOU REED – BERLIN (RCA) – 1973 When I had to drive my girlfriend to have a pretty serious medical procedure, I put this album on and it cheered her right up. Seriously, she couldn’t stop laughing. Probably one of the best dark comedy albums of all time. It is the soundtrack to our relationship.

LOU REED – ROCK N ROLL ANIMAL (RCA) – 1974 Lou Reed live doing stuff on Berlin and some VU tunes. Cool!

LOU REED – SALLY CAN’T DANCE (RCA) – 1974 Not everyone’s favorite, but I really like this cold, mechanical album. I find it to be very hypnotic. After I bought it, I drove around listening to it in my car for a month, just zoning out on Reed’s monotone, until my girlfriend finally said something.

LOU REED – METAL MACHINE MUSIC (BUDDHA) – 1975 Believe it or not, this is the first Lou Reed album I ever bought. Found it at the Tower Records that used to be next to the Northridge Mall in the San Fernando Valley. I’m big into noise and early industrial music, so I figured I outta pick up the great-granddaddy of it all. As far as noise albums go, it’s one of the best ever released and way ahead of its time. You either love it or you hate it. I love it.

LOU REED – CONEY ISLAND BABY (RCA) – 1976 So after offending everyone with MMM, Reed had to go back to straightforward rock’n’roll. Surprisingly, he put out one the highlights of his career. CIB is probably my favorite Lou Reed album. It’s incredibly solid with memorable songs. “She’s My Best Friend” reminds me of my cat.

LOU REED – ROCK AND ROLL HEART (ARISTA) – 1976 If Reed’s Exile on Main St. was Coney Island Baby, this was definitely his Goats Head Soup, i.e., a mediocre followup that failed to deliver on the power of its predecessor.

While there are shades of old Lou here, like “Ladies Pay,” “Vicious Circle” and the particularly nasty “Temporary Thing,” the rest is kinda crappy and overly happy.

LOU REED – STREET HASSLE (ARISTA) – 1978 At this point, I wasn’t able to get to Record Stop a lot, so I bought the rest of my Lou Reed discography as downloads instead. Fortunately, when I heard this pile of crap, I was glad I hadn’t wasted money on a real CD. Bruce fucking Springsteen is on here.

That’s how bad it sucks.

LOU REED – THE BELLS (ARISTA) – 1979

Another crap album that makes me scratch my head and ask, “What the hell was he thinking?”

LOU REED – GROWING UP IN PUBLIC (ARISTA) – 1980 I fucking hate this album.

LOU REED – THE BLUE MASK (RCA) – 1982 After a series of awful albums on Arista that got worse as they came out, Reed returned to RCA and released this phenomenal album that is the closest he’s come to sounding like VU since they broke up. The title track is probably the heaviest song Reed ever wrote. A close second to Coney Island Baby.

LOU REED – LEGENDARY HEARTS (RCA) – 1983 Not bad. I just don’t really listen to it for some reason.

LOU REED – NEW SENSATIONS (RCA) – 1984 For some reason, I really like this album, particularly the title track. It’s good, solid Lou Reed.

LOU REED – MISTRIAL (RCA) – 1986 Ugh. LOU REED – NEW YORK (SIRE) – 1989 Lou got back on track with this Stones-y bit of brilliance. One of his best albums, honestly.

LOU REED – METAL MACHINE MUSIC: PERFORMED BY ZEITKRATZER LIVE (ASPHODEL) – 2007 I was lucky enough to review this for The Big Takeover when it came out. Zeitkratzer’s bandleader was crazy enough to transcribe MMM note for note and have his band perform it with some additional guitar noise from Lou himself. It’s spot on, really, and a fascinating take on Reed’s most controversial album. Comes with a DVD of the performance where you get to watch Lou make noise with his guitar! I knew there was something I liked about the guy…

I was an 80s punk Rock poser By: Richard J. Davies It’s Thanksgiving Eve, 1982 and I am looking at myself in a dirty bathroom mirror at the Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco. I am in the grimy bathroom, probably the least hygienic place in the whole aging, moldy club. And that’s not good. Blood is gushing from my now oddly shaped nose. Its flow is so strong that I can feel the warm blood as it seeps through my black canvas Converse high tops. I am giddy.

The club’s manager Dirk Dirksen walks into the small room. He is shorter than me but 20 years older.

He looks at me in the mirror. He is a legend. The promoter of punk in San Francisco. He is also nervous. I am seventeen, a child under the law. And he knows how fast his venue could get shut down because of a little thing like this. It’s happened before. He is a nervous man on the best of days, but seeing me smile through the wide red ribbon jetting from my nostrils makes him even more antsy. He has two rules for the club. Pay to get in and don’t get hurt. I face him. He curses under his breath and hands me a clean bar towel. “Here, hold your head up. Are you okay, Rick?” “Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” I say, true to my punk rock ways. He quiets. “You know, you can fix that right now. Beat a trip to the doctors. If your parents see you like that, they’ll never let you in here again.” Dirk lets what he said sink in.

Hours earlier. The pit was filling up as Black Flag took the stage. This was an event. In fact, Black Flag was only a handful of decent bands that managed to find their way to the Mabuhay. And when they came, the house was actually packed, and not just with scenesters playing see-and-beseen. These were actually fans who had come to see the band. It had been a good night for Dirk until he saw me dazed and bloody crumpled up a ball on the dance floor while spastic fans continued to bump and trip over my body as they circled tribe-like. They beat each other with their white, bony arms. All the while, ear-splitting music blared so loud that it was disorienting.

in

My deepest secret was that I didn’t really like punk music. I was more into new wave. I never listened to punk, didn’t really enjoy what I heard, and knew most of the bands only by name. Still, I was attracted to the foreignness, the rage and the youthful angst. Punk was a British transplant. A culture from across the sea. And that’s what interested me.

In my mind, true punks suffered for their art. They skewered themselves with long needles and squatted in the abandoned and ignored areas of big cities. They were runaway artists with a death wish. I, on the other hand, had to ask my parents’ permission to take the 40-minute ride to the city, I looked in the mirror. Two puffy and purple eyes looked back. They were my medals, My tickets into punk’s inner circle. I, too had now suffered for my art. No one could deny it. And it had been done in the pit during a Black Flag performance. It would be my story, my myth. It would make me.

“What I mean is, I can fix it if you want,” Dirk continued. “Can you?” I asked. He left the room and came back with some ice and a new towel.

“Here” he said, handing me the towel. “Blow hard into this.” I put the towel up to my nose and blew hard. I forced out a bubbly, chunky discharge.

Dirk put a hand on each side of my nose. He pressed gently on each side, his two hands forming a triangle. “Oh, one last thing,” he said.

This will probably be the most painful thing you’ve ever experienced.” With all his force, he then squeezed both sides hard and then yanked down hard.

I heard the cartilage in my nose crunch like someone walking on snow as a bloom of pain expanded from the middle of my face and radiate outwards. The initial shock faded enough for my brain to translate the sensation into a loud scream. I began to feel woozy and Dirk sat me down on the toilet seat. He handed me the bag of ice and some aspirin. “Take these and put the ice on your face.”

Now instead of blood, there were tears streaming down my face. Tears of pain, anger and confusion.

My home seemed so far away. I just wanted to be in my bed. Where’s the artistic purity in this? I thought to myself. Suffering and pain was just that, nothing more. A chapter had turned and I again faced the unknown. Punk was now dead, at least to me, anyways.

-RJD

J.G. Redfern’s××

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41. Root Beer “Detritus, detritus, detritus gonna come back on us and bite us, not requite us,� he howled in offkey song as he made his way down the aisle. Dr. Jimmy had had a pretty good run of it over the last few days, pimping wisdom and hustling sophistry to the citizenry of Sanguine Falls, amassing enough wealth to go to the grocery store and shop for supplies. “Don’t look at him,� he heard a mother whisper to her child. “It’s all right, ma’am,� the crazy, old man said bending over in a deep bow (so he could get a better look at her cleavage and catch a whiff of her scent), “I’m just celebrating some fan-TAStic news. Can you guess what it is?� he asked turning sidelong to the little boy. “Uh,� said the little boy, confused, “I don’ know.� “It’s all right,� he said. “Just think about it. What would make you so happy that you would just start singing all kinds of crazy talk up and down a supermarket aisle? What would that be for you? Just think about it. It’s the same for me. It’s the same for all of us. It is the same for all of us because we are all One in the Eternal Moment, which is the Living Christ.�

The lunatic could see the face of the little boy contorting up in strained thought. “That’s it,� Jimmy said, “think about it. You can do it.�

The mother was terrified. She braced herself with a can of Campbell’s Soup in each hand, ready to brain the old man right there in the aisle if need be. “That’s right,� said the old lunatic. “I can tell you have an answer. Do you know?� “Yeah. Yeah, I think so,� said the little boy. “Well, tell me, my smart little man, what’s your answer?� “Your mommy just got you Super Mario Galaxy and a two-liter bottle a root beer.� “What?� said the lunatic standing up. A very confused and offended spasm overtook his face, as if he had just smelt some-thing definitely peculiar and awful. “Little man, I’m not sure the nature of the treasure you describe. I was just thinkin’ about bald pussy.�

With these words, the lunatic walked away, making his way down the aisle and around the end cap. The young mother was stunned into silence, frozen right there on the spot.

A few moments passed.

After a time, they could hear the lunatic one aisle over singing another song. Sensing his mother’s weakness, the little boy ran over and grabbed two cans of SpaghettiOs and Franks, saying, “Can we get these, mommy? Pleassse?â€? “Bite it, don’t requite it, calm it, don’t insight it, leave it left, don’t try to right it,â€? came the song dancing over from the juice aisle. “Yeah, okay,â€? said the young mother, “just put them in the cart so we can go.â€? Âł2ND\ PRPP\ ´ VDLG WKH OLWWOH ER\ DV KH SXW WKH FDQV LQ WKH FDUW Âł0RPP\ʊ´ EHJDQ WKH little boy. “Yes, baby?â€? “What’s bald pussy?â€?