KATHERINE POINDEXTER INTERVIEW.

As some of you know, I like to interview people from my neck of the woods, or people that did time playing music in bands in Raleigh North Carolina. I was very happy with my interview of Kip Larson ex member of Regraped. He really gave me some great stuff. Thinking that I might be on to something, I bothered another Facebook Friend, Kathy Poindexter for a interview. What she returned to me exceeded my wildest dreams..okay, I didn't dream of anything but Kathy gave me the best interview that I have ever done. I don't even know what to say about it other then except for a little editing this is still one of the most honest and interesting things I have ever read.

Reading this is pretty amazing. Kathy is pretty happy these days, and in the end that is all you can really ask for in life, right?




1. Lets have a background on your upbringing: where were you born, how the heck did you end up here and what made you gravitate towards music and all of that punk rock stuff?

I was born at UNC's hospital 2/2/73 while my dad was in graduate school and living with my mom in a modified garage in Carborro. We moved to Raleigh and my dad started teaching at NC State when I was still an infant. My parents divorced when I was 5 and I went to live with my mother in Atlantic Beach, NC. My brother stayed with my Dad in Raleigh, so we both kind of grew up in totally different worlds. I went to several years of elementary school and middle school in Morehead City. We lived in an airstream trailer at the Triple S Pier when I first moved there, but then later moved to a townhouse right of the "circle" or main drag of Atlantic Beach shortly thereafter. My mother was a school teacher at White Oak School in Swansboro, NC for about a year before she was fired. Not sure why, but hearing phone calls, it was either for her drinking or for cursing at a student. She then started bartending, working for Peppertree selling time share, cleaning houses on the side, doing whatever to make $. I was a typical latch key kid, was mostly ignored by my mother, and raised myself. She was drunk a lot and not at home much. When I would get up in the morning, she was asleep and when I got home, she was leaving for work or to "party." I ate a lot of peanut butter and dorito sandwiches, saltine and ketchup snacks, and other interesting concoctions just to feed myself. I spent a lot of time being mad.

Musically, at that point in my life, I really loved country music. I guess that's b/c that was what I was exposed to. That... and beach music, which .... dare I say... was good beach music. It wasn't the lame ass Clarence Carter "strokin'" kinda beach music... it was like Clyde McPhatter Drifters kind of beach music. The country music was of course.. 50's, 60's and 70's versions, which I also loved. We had a hi-fi in my house and it had a microphone that you could plug in and sing along to songs on the radio. I knew all the words of the songs that would come on and entertain myself singing and pretending there was an audience and I was Tammy Wynette and would one day have hair and dresses like Tammy Wynette, etc.... I used to tie my t-shirts around my non-existent boobs and wanted to emulate the girls that were on Hee Haw. That kind of stuff. I still LOVE country music and never stopped despite being made fun of incessantly by my peers later.... just don't like the new stuff, obviously.

BUT, something happened when I was in 6th grade. I think it must have started with the fact that I used to sit up late to watch t.v. b/c there was no one around to tell me to go the fuck to bed. NIGHT FLIGHT. It was the greatest show ever. It was like MTV before MTV was available. They aired rock shows, short documentaries, explanations of who was up and coming and where they came from, etc. Now, understand, when you live in Carteret County, there are 2 kinds of people: White rednecks and Blacks.. ..(which unfortunately they described with a less savory name). THere is NO diversity there and if there is... it comes in the form of a surfer or skateboarder and they were very mild deviations of a norm for that area. There were no "punk rockers" or "hippies" or people who lived alternative lifestyles or dressed alternatively or listened to 'weird' music. And if there were, they would most definitely be thought of as Gay.

In 6th grade, I distinctly remember watching night flight and seeing Blue Cheer doing their version of Summertime BLues and thinking that guitar sounds was insane! And the guys looked so crazy! I just loved it. And in that same episode there was this scrawny, black haired cracy bitch with a striped t-shirt and wearing ghostly white make up and bright red lipstick smeared accross her face singing this song "Christine... the strawberry girl..." and I thought, "Oh my god... I want to be just like her." That of course ended up being Siouxsie Sioux who to this day.... I think is one of the coolest singers in alternative rock history. Maybe she's a close second to Polly Styrene... I dunno... ANyway, from that year forward, I was on a quest. At first it was very hard to satisfy my urge for this music b/c it simply didn't exist where I lived. FOr chrissake, the first record I bought was a 45" single from the pac-n-sac grocery in Morehead City, Foreigner "Hot Blooded." Far from punk rock.

There was a girl in my school, can't remember her name, but she must have moved from somewhere else b/c she had weird shoes and a short haircut with a very long rat tail. I know now that is so cheezy, but at the time, it was so daring. And I wanted to look like her. I had permed and feathered hair like everyone else and my mother wouldn't let me go to the hairdresser ... it cost money. So I cut my own rat tail. Now, I though... "this is punk." Hahahahhahaha... meanwhile, I am at home singing along to Conway Twitty's "Lay Me Down" and Juice Newton's version of "Call me Angel" on the hi-fi on the weekends.

So, the shit hit the fan in Atlantic Beach by the time I was in 7th grade and I was forced to live with my dad in Raleigh. In retrospect, it was perfect timing. I had already started drinking and smoking and was most assuredly going to wind up pregnant at 16 and living in a trailer in Smyrna if I didn't get out of there. MOving to Raleigh was equal parts exciting and difficult. I was sort of a redneck (more than sort of), was very behind in school and didn't fit in with anyone. I didn't come from money and didn't have the cool clothes Raleigh kids had and I had a funny "down east accent" (Karen Mason and Karen Mann know what I 'm talking about), I was skinny... I had a stupid fucking rat tail... and had already seen and done way more than most of the kids I was around. So, I started naturally gravitating towards people that I guess were considered "rejects" so to speak, in that they were not the popular kids, or the rich kids or the top 40 well dressed kids. I tried to do some of that stuff... was a cheerleader for 2 years (all along with a funny skateboarder girl haircut and an affiinity for the CIrcle Jerks), but truth is, I never shared any similarities with the people onthe team.

BY the time I was in 8th grade, I was at Ligon MIddle School and was introduced to lots of bands like Circle Jerks, Black Flag, Violent Femmes, Adolescents, Exploited, Dead Kennedys, Ramones, Siouxie & the Banshees, Cure, Smiths, etc. some of the more "accesible" punk rock and alternative bands....and I started to hang out with skater types, a few skin head types (they were unavoidable), and eventually, people that I would consider "true" punk rockers. Through their influences, I learned much more.

By the time I was in 9th grade, I was spending most of my weekends in School KIds records, and elsewhere, thumbing through records and picking out any and all records that had ANYTHING on it that looked "punk rock" and made a list of the stuff I wanted to buy. I mean, I had criteria...I wasn't going in completely blind.... the record at least had to have a skull on it, or pictures of people with mohawks, or some cursing on it, or something! If it did, I wanted to buy it, or get it somehow. That's how I learned about punk rock music and how I got to know people.... that and going to shows locally. I was young, sometimes too young, but I had a lot of older friends that sort of took me under their "punk rock wing" so to speak (Karen Mason, John Fletcher, Reed Mullin, etc.) that looked after me early on, helped me get into shows, and treated me well.

I loved the music. And I can't lie... I loved the fashion just as much. I was skinny and always had a hard time finding clothes that fit, so I learned how to sew. I made good friends. And I loved being part of a 2nd or perhaps even a 3rd generation of punk rock. I loved the community of it all and feeling like I belonged to something...after years of feeling like I belonged to nothing and nothing belonged to me.

I still love country music. Stop laughing.



2. What was the first local show that you were able to go to? Who was it? What did you think?

I cannot remember. I remember in close proximity going to a Circle Jerks matinee show at the Brewery, but also to a Social Distortion Show at the Brewery. I also saw JFA a number of times at some house where a bunch of skin heads lived. Come to think of it, why did they come to Raleigh so much Brian? I also saw the Butthole Surfers when I was 17 years old in Richmond. I was with Susie Grinstead and a girl named Carey that was from D.C. and always wore striped stockings. I used Susie's ID to get in. There is NO WAY they could have believed I was old enough to be there. It was at Rock'its. It was fucking mind-BLOWING. They still had the naked dancing girl back then and GIbby looked like Satan and they had videos of chickens getting their heads cut off and breast implant surgeries etc. I was so high. It was so exciting. When I went back to school that Monday, I felt cooler than any mother fucker in that place b/c of what I saw. I remember telling Kurt Midness about it and he was basically like, "who the fuck cares?" Really????


3. I am not sure if I remember if you were in any bands before Picasso Trigger. Were you? And if not, please explain how and why the band got together.

I was in no real bands before Picasso Trigger... it was my first.

4. I remembered you went through a lot of drummers before sticking with Jon McClain, who is a fucking great drummer. Who played before him, and why did you go through so many before Jon?

The way I got into the band was through Tom White essentially. I was at a party at "Pine Haus" (REmember MIke Pilmer, Skip Elseimer and that crew?)... Sam Mauney and LIsa Cooper were standing around with Tom White and talking about their new band which was originally started as a joke. They needed a singer. I volunteered, thinking it would be fun and maybe funny too (hearing what they were saying) and Tom urged them to take me on b/c I was loud. (I kind of hate that being the outstanding characterisitc that got me signed on, but oh well).

Tom White played drums for us for about 1 year before LIsa fired him. She hated hom lots... thought he was a jerk and lazy and a shitty drummer. He showed up high all the time, late, if at all, etc. Usually, it was me and/or Sam trying to calm her down, but eventually Sam joined in and wanted him fired too. He was fired. To this day, I think Tom thinks it's my fault for getting him fired. And I thikn he may still hate me? Wow.

THen we tried out MANY drummers that we didn't know (and didn't like) and finally settled on Steve Brian (who played with Jade, remember?) who just wanted to do it. I thought he was a great drummer and a good friend and super funny too. But then he had a young mid-life mental crisis and joined the Navy. He's still in the Navy and doing well. Probably better than if he stayed in Raleigh. He was melting.

Who was next? Chris Jones I think? Also a teriffic drummer and great friend. So talented. But I think streched too thin. I can't remember exactly what happened, but I think he was playing with Vanilla Trainwreck and MayEven at the time? Too much stuf and we were too serious at this point (we were no longer a "joke" we wanted to travel more, etc.) Not sure...

Then, I think we tried out Crow from Flat Duo Jets who, for some reason, was a big P. Trigger fan. He really wanted to do it at the time b/c I think he and Dexter had some falling out... but then they kissed andmade up and he was not in it....

THen, Jon McClain. Fucking awesome. So fun. Amazing drummer. Killer personality. A great back up when I got myself into fights (He called me "big tiny" which also became my CB handle on tour).


5. Looking back, you guys did a lot, put out some records and toured. How was that experience for you? I remember it was during the whole Chapel Hill explosion, which had some advantages for the Raleigh bands, at least that is what I think now! I am sure I didnt feel that way then. Do you agree? Why or why not?

We did do a lot and toured a lot, though I don’t think folks in Raleigh realized it, or cared. We didn’t play in Raleigh a whole lot because people just didn’t come see us there. Maybe it’s because everyone knew us, or knew us to the people we were, or didn’t “get it” or maybe we just plain sucked and we didn’t realize it. But they sure loved us in Chapel Hill. I have always thought that “Raleigh Rocks” way more than Chapel Hill and if you wanted to catch some lite f.m. post-punk alterna-crap, and do some pogo-dancing, or if you wanted to hear some washed up Athens-esque jangle pop, then Chapel Hill is your town! But in the same token I liked a lot of stuff from Chapel Hill that was sort of off beat, Pipe, Polvo, some Zen Frisbee, I always loved Flat Duo Jets, Southern Culture is/was fun…. but it’s interesting that such a different scene can exist just 30 miles away from one another. The truth is, a lot of the Raleigh bands had a buzz about them prior to the attention that Chapel Hill got during the big record stardom convention. Finger, Vanilla Trainwreck, P. Trigger, … etc. everyone was starting to edge onto the cusp of something ‘bigger’ before any of that Chapel Hill Stuff. HOWEVER, I agree 100% that the attention Chapel Hill got had a direct impact on greater attention being paid on Raleigh bands and may have resulted in bands from Raleigh being signed to the labels they did get signed to. We got signed to Alias, along with Archers of Loaf and Small b/c they happened to be at that shin-dig in Chapel Hill. Had we not played that show, we might not have been signed with them. We did get approached by SONY previously (gee, why didn’t we take that 1 million dollar offer again? Punk Rock Cred? WTF?), we had been targeted by Thurston & Kim as a fresh up and coming act (yawn), we did play with lots of riot girrrrrl bands that were all the rage (gag)… but yeah… seriously… the attention that Chapel Hill got, certainly helped Raleigh get on the map.

6. Why did the band disband?

This is a tough question to answer and I think everyone would answer a bit differently. I remember the night we broke up and what happened that night. I also remember exactly what had transpired the couple of nights before and what had been happening that tour… and while what happened over those few days and nights might have been the catalyst for the breakup, it was a long time coming.

My impression is this: We had just put out what I think was the best record yet. There was a significant buzz about the band. We were playing better shows, in better venues, with better bands, at good time slots, with reasonably good guarantees. And yet, shit was not going well. For example, we’d show up in Austin, where we had a great draw, and b/c one of the larger bands on the bill decides to add a band to the bill, we get shoved down to the 9:00 slot when no one is there. It didn’t matter what our contract said. There were nights that we would only get $200 of our $400 guarantee or something b/c not enough people showed up. We showed up at places where the bar had closed and our label or our booking agent hadn’t alerted us (e.g. – Wichita, Kansas). We had van trouble and the label wouldn’t bail us out. We argued with each other a lot. The label wouldn’t ship us shirts and CD’s when we ran out. They fucked up the artwork on our record and refused to fix it. They put us on the back burner for distribution, etc. So, all of these things made for angry people.

We argued a lot. Lisa, rest in peace and I loved her so much, could be very, very, mean. Sam was the consummate diplomat, but often felt like the mediator and/or parent of the bunch. And it was true. We had a pow-wow about mid-tour where we decided that we were no longer going to take the shit from the scabby club owners and if they refused to pay us our contracted amount, we would steal a mic stand, or speaker cable, or something. We agreed that no matter how many people were there, we would put on the best, craziest show, people had ever seen, and sort of… take the “Dwarves” approach of playing loud, fast and for no longer than 30 minutes no matter what. We agreed that we were through with being the nice guys and being understanding of the “do you all mind starting a little earlier/later…”

But even that came at a cost b/c I took that as carte blanche reason to act like a total fucking lunatic. So, now I have to tell you what my part in all of it was… embarrassingly …

I drank A LOT. I acted really crazy A LOT. And the truth is, that is what Lisa and Sam always wanted in a front person.. but they didn’t want to have to ride around in a van with that person. Sure, I was funny and jovial most of the time… but I also became a total pain in the ass, I am afraid. From the moment I stepped in the van to go on tour until the day I came back (30+ days at a time) I acted a fool. At shows, I would throw shit, jump on bars, spill drinks, ruin microphones, piss on the floor, kick in amps, break lights, wear diapers, take my clothes off, challenge people to fights (that I couldn’t win alone), shout obscenities at people, etc. OF course, this was part of the show at times… but at other times, it was a great way to get killed. (hence the nick-name “big tiny”). I was blessed, I guess, with the gift that I could talk my way into fights really well, but also was pretty good at talking my way out of them too.

The night before we broke up, we had played a show at some ivy league school in the north east. We were touring with Lazy from Cincinnati, OH and the Leaving Trains and a few shows with the Cows and Unsane. That night, I got really drunk and hopped up on the bar where a bunch of frat boys were sitting and kicked a bunch of drinks in their laps all the while making fun of their fratty ways, etc. They club owner turned us off, didn’t pay us, insisting that we pay the dry cleaning bills of the people that were there and the cost of the glass ware. Sam went to the van without saying a word to anyone. Lisa screamed at me back stage about how I needed to go talk to Sam about what had happened and apologize or he’s taking us all home the next day. I refused, pridefully, b/c I had done exactly what we talked about doing, as a band… at least so I thought. I was left to try to collect money from the owner. He basically chased us out and threatened to call the police practically. When I went to talk to Sam, he (who never gets mad) was so extremely upset he was almost despondent. Johnny was sitting in the back and Lisa was in the driver’s seat. They were pulling an intervention on me, of sorts… but of the kind that was, “Kathy, do you give a shit about this band, b/c if you do, you will apologize and stop this fucking craziness.” I didn’t apologize and Sam called the band off. Johnny started to cry. Lisa punched him in the gut and said, “man up you fucking pussy.” Just kidding about that part. Same summed it up by saying, and this is an exact quote…. “I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t be the dad anymore. This band is like being in a sick fucking relationship with a girlfriend that you just can’t leave.”

The next night, we played the Cyber Pass in Philly with Lazy. It was a packed house and the show was phenomenal. After we announced that it was to be our last show, we sold almost every piece of merchandise we had. I called my dad and told him that we were coming home a few weeks early, that we were not going to Europe as planned, and that I was really bummed. His response was, “sounds great hon, when are you going back to school?”

Driving back to NC, not ONE WORD was spoken other than to say, “does anyone need to use the bathroom.?”

Once we got home and the air cleared 2-3 months later. WE booked a last local show in Chapel Hill of COURSE… and we played a sold out show. I had written a long and apologetic letter to Sam in the hopes that we could reconcile, but he, at that point, didn’t want to do it anymore… period.

7. I remember that when i joined Polvo, it was when you were dating Steve. Joining Polvo was a great thing for me so let's get that straight, but it seemed really odd, the way that they worked at the time. I remember talking with you once about how maddening it was for you to watch these guys be so "whatever" about everything, which you know..they sort of were. Of course you don't have to answer this but Polvo was the only band in Chapel Hil that I really liked. Why was it frustrating?

Hmmmmmm. I'll try to answer this one. I have a hard time understanding why people don’t try to fulfill their potential. Anyway, …. I loved Polvo musically too (and of course, loved Steve), but it was frustrating for me to watch them have SO MUCH attention and not take advantage of that. Perhaps some jealousy? I am not sure. Perhaps it’s not the goal of every band to get signed, tour 8 months out of the year and make millions of dollars… but maybe touring some, playing out some, laying off the bong occasionally and taking charge…. marketing yourself… maybe that would have allowed you to at least make more money than you did? I just never understood the stoner mentality, though I have loved the weed myself occasionally…. “Fucking get up and do something” is kind of how I felt. “Strike while the iron is hot”… was my general emotion about that band…. And they (like All Night from Greensboro, for that matter) just never would take the plunge and get big when it was so at their finger tips!

8. You came back into music again as a bassist for I bleieve it was Bucks Deluxe. How was that? Was it fun? Liberating to play bass? How long was the band around for, and why did it disband?

I started playing in Bucks DeLuxe when I was introduced to Todd Sandvik by a girl I waited tables with at Café Luna. I had played bass since I was 18, but not in a band, or very well. I had written a few songs for P. Trigger but by far, wouldn’t have considered myself a “bassist” by any means when I joined B.DL. And I told Todd this, but it was okay. I learned as I went along and it was fine. I love playing bass and have played in a couple of bands up here in Richmond as a “bassist”. I guess I can finally call myself that now. I can play scales after all… ahahaha. It was super fun playing bass w/Bucks Deluxe b/c I really loved playing with those folks, Practice was fun, not hard work, which is how it became in P. Trigger. We’d drink and practice for hours… talk shit about our loved ones, etc. It was like a lodge meeting. What was super awesome about it was Christie Eames. She had been P. Trigger’s ride-along merch gal on many tours and was a dear friend. Being in a band with her was fun. Chris Niellson (sp?) and Todd were both really nice people. We were together for hmmmm…. Maybe 2 years as the members I just described? I left them and moved to NYC with Jeff Stewart (huge mistake). I went there to go to grad school, but instead ended up working at Citibank and drinking every night at Greenpoint Tavern, which is kind of like Bourbon Street used to be, but with Polish speaking people. (Also a huge mistake). They kept playing and got a new bass player, but I am not sure how long they were together thereafter.

9. When Double Negative went on tour awhile back we ran into Lisa Cooper. Rather then dwelling on what she was going through, we simply had a good time. Is there anything you would care to say about the passing of Lisa? She is one of a few ghosts hovering around, like Jere.

I am having a hard time with her having passed away. I actually went to see her back in the earlier days of her illness when I first found out b/c I knew that when she was diagnosed with inoperable Stage 4 cancer that she would be short-timer. I know other folks were more positive about the possible treatment options for her, but I just knew I needed to go see her. I was 7.5 months pregnant when I got out there to see her and of course, she had lots of funny things to say about that. She, by all appearances at the time, was well. She looked a little puffy from the radiation and was markedly low-key and depressed, which was unlike her. We did the same thing, in terms of trying to keep it light and have fun. She was 100% convinced that she was going to survive it and that she would be cured. I didn’t share that sentiment and felt that it might the last time I saw her, but tried really hard not to cry or to talk about ‘treatment plans’ or ‘length or %rate of survival’ kind of stuff… but I really wanted to know. And over the following months when I would talk to her (or try to talk to her, she avoided a lot of her old friends more as she got worse off), I would ask more questions about her well being. When I had heard at the end of 2008 that she had taken a downward turn, I knew that it was the end. Sam Mauney and I arranged a trip together to go see her. We were going to leave on a Friday and come back on a Monday. I was going to drive to Raleigh and we’d take a plane together and have a chance to talk on the plane, which we hadn’t done for many years. I was really excited to go with Sam and to see Lisa and I knew that she would be so very excited. We told her good friend Tommie (from St. Louis) that we were coming and Dianna Mayo knew, but they didn’t tell Lisa we were coming until a couple of days before we were to board. Her response was luke warm with a “I’m not sure if I’m up to seeing anyone.” She was so very sick and in so much pain at that point. I was sorry we had waited so long cause we’d talked about it so many times…. Planning that trip…. Anyway, she died on that Wednesday before we were to leave. So we were about 2 days late getting there. I was despondent for days after that, wondering if she had anyone at her bedside when the lights went out. Wondering if anyone had visited her that day. Wondering if she wondered… if anyone in the world gave a shit about her. She came from such shitty family. Her family sucked so fucking hard. As their daughter lay dying in some hospital in St. Louis, they are back in Clayton probably complaining about the cost of cigarettes these days or some shit.

Lisa was hard-boiled. But she was witty, a musically gifted person, an incredible writer, a great friend to others, and just generally, very fun. She was like a big sister, to be really cliché, I guess. She shared a lot of dark stuff with me that formed a trust between us that doesn’t happen often, even with girls. I think of her now and sometimes laugh out loud at how she would react about something I’ve seen, or what she would say if she was there….. she was so sarcastic!

Her passing away, of course, has made me realize my own mortality to some degree. I knew, simply b/c I know so many smokers, drug doers, hard-livers, etc., that sooner or later, I would have some friends or I myself, would get the cancer and perhaps die prematurely. I just didn’t think it would be Lisa… I didn’t think it would be so soon… I didn’t think it would hit me so hard.

Incidentally, I just received a 3 part box-package from St. Louis from Tommie Uptagraph, her friend from St. Louis. He was probably her closest friend. He was in charge of emptying her house, taking things to goodwill, etc. He found 3 boxes labeled “P.Trigger” which has many, many, many tid-bits of articles, news clippings, tapes, videos, mags, pictures, etc. in it. I got through box one Wednesday and sobbed. Decided to stop and try again this weekend. So, tomorrow, I’m going to try again.

It’s not that I saw her often, … it’s that she existed and I could see her, or call her… that made her alive. I missed her before… but now I miss her in a way that can’t be treated… And I’m not handling that too well to date.

10. What is your life like now? What are you doing these days? And when you look back on your time involved in music in Raleigh in the eighties, are you proud of it? Why or why not?

What is my life like now….. Whew… I’m lame.. I’m old… I’m washed up and no one really knows who I am, or who I was, or what I’ve done before. I live in Richmond, VA. Seriously…

I am pleased with the decisions I’ve made in the last 3-4 years. I hit a rough patch that I was not sure I was going to make it out of that lasted a couple of years. When I came to Richmond in 2000 to go to lawschool, it was my hope to quickly get in and out, come back to NC, take the bar exam and resume my life with Steve, at Octavia Street (of all places), maybe open a restaurant, practice law, get married, have a kid, help run Kings, whatevs…… I just knew I didn’t want to live in Richmond for sure. But 2003 came….. I stayed in Richmond to take the Virginia Bar Exam instead (at my dad’s urging… another mistake)…I failed the bar exam, Steve broke up with me after 11 years, my mother died, I had no friends in Richmond and I lived in a shitty fan apartment with nothing and nobody. As a result of the break up with Steve, I lost my dogs, the house that I had lived in off and on for years with Steve, all the furniture and pictures and memories and shit we built, all of my friends that ran in that little circle. I felt so betrayed and abandoned. It was the loneliest I had ever felt in my life and I really frankly, didn’t want to live it anymore. I guess I had always been defined by something, which maybe sounds ridiculous, but I was always, “Kathy Poindexter from P. Trigger” or “Kathy Poindexter that works at the Sting Ray” or “Kathy Poindexter, Steve Popson’s girlfriend” or “Kathy Poindexter that drives that ridiculous big car.” Or something like that….. Now, I found myself just being Kathy Poindexter, who wasn’t really all that special after all. I thought about moving to West Virginia where I had a close friend and help to run their storefront for a log cabin business. I thought about moving into a trailer I inherited down near Harker’s Island in Carteret County and just working on a boat for a while. I was so sad, I didn’t know what to do.

After about 2 years of nearly killing myself with PBR and makers mark, I managed to get my shit together, finally pass the bar exam on round 2, make some friends and start playing in 3 bands: Wiseacre – Played bass in a band with ex-member of dismemberment plan and unrest; The Celebs – A poppy punk band with local legend Nikki Price; and my own concoction, Death & Taxes – which was a traditional country/blue grass band. It seemed the busier I was, the less time I had to waller and I started to feel better. I was singled for 3 years and kind of liked it. I also waited tables… a good social job… and finally landed my first law job, which sucked, but paid really well. I ended up buying a house and resolving myself to just living in Richmond.

Death & Taxes started taking off and we were traveling a lot on weekends… there was a little buzz about us… we are playing in New York and Baltimore and… and blammo…. I started dating Mark Waterman! I hadn’t seen him for years, but we played a show down in NC (Oak Island) and Mark came there. We started talking over the phone and rekindling our friendship, etc. Then we started to get serious. We got married and now we have an awesome 2 year old named Abe and another baby on the way that is due in December. Death & Taxes played its last show when I was 7 months pregnant… I got kicked out more or less, from Wiseacre for not being able to practice enough. And the celebs drummer moved on to greener pastures. I now play in no bands, which I miss, but anticipate changing in the near future. I have been writing songs with Eric Johnson from Archers of Loaf and finishing them over email audio files. Odd?

I suppose I am happier in my life now than I have been in so many years.

It’s not what I had envisioned for myself. But, it might be better. I have never really been able to shed that Carteret County trailer park film that sort of covers my skin and haunts me at times. Sometimes I just have to sit back and be thankful for everything that has happened to me and the decisions that I’ve made… even the bad ones… b/c it all really has ended up having a good purpose.

(1) I’m glad my mom was a gutter drunk, b/c if she hadn’t been, perhaps her nagging ass would have been at home forcing me to turn off Night Flight. I might have never seen the Ramones or Blue Cheer or anything edgy. I might have not ever been drawn to the punk rock music and still singing along to Juice Newton songs on the hi-fi. Egads.

(2) I’m glad that I got a rat tail. I know it was totally fucking dorky, but at the time, it made me stand out just enough (that along with my fake vans) to not be accepted by the popular kids so that I could gravitate to and be accepted by the punk rockers!

(3) I’m glad that I drunkenly volunteered to sing for P. Trigger, not having any idea that what was intended to be a short lived joke band, would eventually be a very influential factor in my life and believe it or not, the lives of others!

(4) If I hadn’t joined Picasso Trigger, I might not have met Steve and had the experiences I had with him. I might not have had my heart broken for the first real time in my life. I might not have been humbled as I was… and so needed to be… so that I could be accepting of who I was alone as just plain old’ Kathy Poindexter…

(5) If I hadn’t moved to Richmond, I might have wound up living in some trailer park in Carteret County with 8 kids and a wife-beating husband…. Instead, I snared me up a good North Caroliner boy via long distance love affair and that has worked out quite well. Who the fuck knows… what I can say is this. I am 37. I am a lawyer and not just any lawyer, but a public defender. I am – and have always gravitated toward – the underdog. I am punk rock and have been since the 6th grade. I don’t care what anyone says! I may look really lame now, but the punk rock constitution is attached hereto. I married someone that has known me for many years, rather than marrying a stranger and with him, I have begun to build a life that has meaning beyond anything else. Luckily, he is from the same “culture” and our lives together make sense.

Playing in a band from Raleigh in the 80’s (and 90’s) was one of the greatest experiences of my life and one of my greatest accomplishments to boot. You shove any 4-5 people in a van with no A.C. for a month and half, playing shows for $5 a head and a free pizza, and if you can come back in one piece…. That’s a hell of an accomplishment! I am very proud of any part I or we may have had in fostering a healthy music community back then. I truly felt that I belonged to a community of musical superheros. They were friends and I guess… still are, even though I don’t live in Raleigh anymore… and I miss them and Raleigh, or at least what Raleigh used to be. I really, really, loved us.

If Lisa were here, she’d punch me in the pussy and call me a hippy for sure.

So, did you get more than you bargained for? This has actually been very cathartic for me actually.

ANOTHER WRITE UP THAT WILL PROBABLY UPSET SOMEONE.

On the day that me and Carole were burying our late lamented one hundred and twenty pound dog in our backyard, I got a phone call and did a interview, and here it is:

http://www.101distribution.com/article/Brian-Walsby

I am pretty sure that I will never ever be able to get Dischord Records on my side but I do appreciate the back up from Charles and Dale Crover.

OH MAN..DID THIS MAKE ME LAUGH.

this is just pure comic gold/genius.

A CHAT WITH KIP LARSON OF REGRAPED.

Regraped were a band from Raleigh North Carolina, and were yet another example of a sadly overlooked band. Years after they broke up, people are starting to get hip to what this trio (with the unusual two bass drums format)was all about. If they had that one properly recorded studio album under their belt instead of a split lp and various singles and cassettes I bet a lot more people would be singing their praises.

For awhile, they were easily the best band around here. I contacted bassist and singer Kip Larson to ask him some questions. Luckily Kip went above and beyond the call of duty and I thank him for that. Besides all for that, if you read what Kip has to say, you will also learn about plenty of other people and things going on around that time and how it all weaves together. So this is more then a little bit of history.

1. kip, I would like a little info about your origins. describe your background, where you were born, what made you gravitate towards music, and finally how did you meet Ben and Brian Quast?

I was born in Norfolk, VA on Feb 13th in 1974 and I am named after my father Keith Frederick. “Kip” is my nickname and allegedly was given to me by my g-ma; it is an acronym for “Keith Is Perfect”…sort of lame but nicknames are a pretty good way of knowing who is on the other end of the phone: only either “the man” calls and asks for Keith. Anyways…dad was in the navy and when he got off the boat we moved to NC; I was 3.

Music was always an interest for me, I grew up singing in the Raleigh boychoir and so I wound up on my first record at all of about 10 years of age. I played trumpet in school bands and as I approached my teenage years guitars started to seem pretty cool. I guess I was 13 or so when my dad bought me my first guitar and amp…it was also around that time period that I learned he was a guitar player in the 60s chicago band “The Killing Times” before the navy. Sometimes I got the feeling that my being in bands was sort of redeeming for him as Vietnam screwed up his shot at it.

Ben and I met in the 3rd grade and we were always best friends. By 7th grade, his step-dad Rob got him into music, bought him a bass and together we taught ourselves how to play the stuff we were listening to. We recrutied some friends: Kurt Midness (later of Bad Wizard) on 2nd guitar and John Fodor on drums. This was our first band and we ran the gamut of monikers: the Hype, Eight-Eyes, Inner-Earth Adventure….man the list goes on and on. We played for the entire school (Ligon Middle) on the last day of eight grades…pretty cool! Eventually…John quit or something…I can’t honestly remember what went down but I do recall that this was around our freshman year in high-school in which either pot or hormones dominated all important decisions. The next drummer was Steven “Neckbone” Harrell (All Night) and I can remember the first day he showed up to practice in my mom’s basement. He was wearing a leather jacket and over this a sleeveless denim jacket the back of which had an airbrushed rendition of ACDC’s Highway to Hell cover. He totally looked the part…and shared a love for things like Black Sabbath, Melvins, Dinosaur, etc. That band was called Sweet Baboo…and we actually played a few times at Street Scene in Chapel Hill and some parties and what not.

I do remember a point when things got more serious: There was this show way out in Zebulon (I think) that your band, Willard played. I remember being pretty blown away by it all. It left such an impression on all of us to a point where we actually invented a term for it: “stomach rock” …in reference to the sheer volume of it all…you could feel it in your stomach. Interstingly, this was also my debut as the trumpet player for “”Cleveland Jones and the Cosmic Soul Searchers” a tongue-in-cheek dance/funk band spearheaded by Malcolm Shackelford (Cherry Valence) and Art Jackson (All Night). Brian was the drummer for CJATCSS and I suppose then that this was the first time the regraped trio was all in the same room.


Ben went to private school for his Junior year and Derek Cornelius filled in on bass…we played some “shows” around town but nothing too big. In fact, it was at the last practice for our first big show at the Fallout Shelter that we had this huge band argument and broke up. After I left, they got another guitar/singer and that band became Jarvis.

2. describe early Regraped with Steven Wrenn. How did he quit? hOW did the band setlle on just being a trio with everybondy singing?

Regraped was born right after Ben returned to NC in the 12h grade. It was really an idea mostly hatched by Stephen Hren another one of our close high-school buds. The idea was to have sort of an “anti-band” and was originally comprised of just these stations on stage where any of us could play whatever instruments were at that station. Ben/Stephen asked me to be a part of it to help keep the band somewhat grounded in music as I was the only one who had any formal music training. No guitars would be allowed and so I switched to bass and the whole odd-time signatures and haphazard harmonies all came out of this not-a-band type concept. The first drummer was John Fodor but after a few practices it was clear he had gravitated more towards jam-band stuff…I recommended Brian Quast. Our first practice we decided on the name…which was just something Stephen made up on the spot. It was not supposed to mean anything.

The early Regraped was pretty weird and not very well excepted by most of the people outside of our little coven. Stephen was first and foremost a writer…and because he couldn’t actually sing went for more of a David Yow performance-art thing. Stephen was crazy when we played live and people either loved us or hated us. One of the people that loved us was Ryan Adams who just sort of “appeared” in our little scene. We were all still in high school and lived with our parents and what was strange is that Ryan, despite being a little younger than us, seemed to have no family, no history…just POOF and he was in our circle of friends. Ryan lived on a couch in our friend Mark Waterman’s post highschool flop-house and I think he may have actually been in Regraped for a brief stint…but he dissappeared just a few months after he showed up.

We recorded a 4-song seven inch and printed 300 copies at the tail end of ’92 and some people seemed to like what they heard so the band’s popularity expanded a little bit more. POOF: Ryan shows back up in town…and apparently did a little bit of evangelizing Regraped to his old bandmates, most notably Jere Mclwean. In fact, there seemed to be this sudden influx of alternative kids all moving to Raleigh from Rocky Mount and Jacksonville.

I moved in with Jere to a rental house on Elm Street as did BQ. This would have been early 1993. Elm Street was pretty cool then with Erectus Monotone next door, and of course 1 house down from them: Vanilla Trainwreck. Jere really loved Regraped and always seemed to be there to encourage and motivate us. He was very much our “band dad” and turned us on to a whole world of indie music that we had not previously known.

That year started to record some songs with the dudes from Pinehaus and during these sessions (something like 25 songs, btw) Stephen quit. It was pretty much a mutual deal and I think he was surprised that we continued on without him. With all of these songs and no replacement singer plan, Ben and I just split up the vocal responsibilities on that recording even got some friends to do some guest appearances. We didn’t really have a plan for how we were going to replace Stephen’s spoken word/scream style…and what it turned into was a quasi-melodic approach over this angular dissonant music.

Although our stage performances were a great deal less theatrical than they were with Stephen, the new format was clearly working for us and the Raleigh scene really seemed to be exploding then…Merge was getting super big and the Chapel Hill thing was in all the cool indie rages. Jere led us to Paul Siler who with partner Cheetie (who was then working for Interscope and Motocaster) had this small label called Blast-O-Platter. They were pretty stoked on what we were doing and the next thing we knew..we got sent to record with Jerry Kee and shortly after Jere was taking us on our first tour up the east coast and we were actually selling a few copies of this new split record with you guys. We were all still under 21 and having a blast.

3. Shiny Beast..we played eight thousand shows with you, were joined at the hip for a little while. How do you feel about that split record now that you look back on it?

I think it was closer to 7,050…but who’s counting? Still, I never got to see you guys with Meadows or Carden which is too bad because I really liked that Boner release. David is a really intersting guitarist; I am always impressed with his choices.

As for the record, I am very proud of that record and what we were doing back then but also, Regraped songs were always about things very close to us and our group, so it’s almost a history of exactly what we were doing and thinking about then: “Purge” was about my job in the steakhouse, “Constrictor” is about a girlfriend, ”En route to Momeyer” is about going to see this ghost in Momeyer, NC that Jere and Ryan turned us on to. “Mehfranna” was our code-word for weed, and “Jabba”was about someone in the Raleigh scene….the first of many songs we ended up writing about the people in that scene. I am actually still sitting on a dozen or so of those records in my mounting pile of past-bands merch/swag.


4. The band relocated to Portland and one of the biggest shames is that you guys never put out a truly great cd with a good studio recording. Why? And also, how did the band fall apart and why?

After the first tour that Jere took us on, we got hooked. We toured at least once a year from 93 to 98 and developed close friendships with other bands across the country (like The Champs, Karp, and Panel Donor). Sometime in 1996…we started to think about relocating west-ward. Portland was a town that we were always sort of enamored with and we started talking ourselves into it. Jere’s death had a lot to do with the ultimate decision to move, we almost felt like we owed to it Jere to continue on and in our minds, relocating was a means to do that.

I agree that it is a little bit tragic that Regraped never made a well-produced recording, but then again a lot of what Regraped did was always sort of anti-band. It was more of a religion for us than a concerted effort to be IN a band. In fact, the only deliberate effort to record ourselves was that first 7 inch way back in 1992 in the basement of Stephen’s parent’s house. The”pro” recordings that did get made all came about in pretty much the same way: somebody else took us to the studio: Paul and Cheetie for the split 12”, John Heames for the “Play Extrememly Loud” cassette release, Tristan and Jeremy for the Fort Hazel recordings (unreleased), and the last pro-recording was funded by this dude in Portland named Mark Kundee for 4 songs which are still unreleased (one ended up on a split 7” with The Champs). I have been archiving a bunch of live and unreleased stuff and maybe one day someone will want to release it.

The end of the band came about in 1998 and is a pretty straight forward story: we were already starting to run in different circles of friends and being pulled in different ways. Being in a band whose motto was “snacks, drugs, and rock & roll” means that we developed some bad habits but BQ, in particular, got in a little over his head towards the end. Ben and I, at the bar of the Satyricon in Portland decided that the best way for BQ to get better was to disband. We both wrote “!RG!” on our hands, played the show and afterwards Brian asked us if that was our last show. It was. Brian moved back to Raleigh and was, in essence, looked after by Paul & Cheetie. He is doing great now and although my friendship with him got screwed up during the last months of his time here in Portland, I still hold him in very high regard. He is one of the most talented musicians I have ever had the opportunity to play with and that dude has a hell of lot of soul.

5. I need some testimonial on the following subjects: How did you meet Jere Mcilwean and Ryan Adams? What did you think of the Patty Duke Syndrome and Trucker?

I remember when Jere first brought home the cassette tape from that PDS session…in fact, I have that exact tape somewhere. I was pretty damn impressed with how well that stuff came out some of those songs haunt me to this day: “on a telephone wire…I see….” It was the first validation of what Ryan would become, I think. Trucker is probably best defined pretty simply: genuine. They were what a lot of bands that came after them tried to be but just didn’t have the heart. Jere, Tom (later Jason), Paul, and Jamie could tear it up…there was no shoe-gazing pretentious coolie stuff going on there. That said, I wasn’t sold on them until the very last show of their first tour in Richmond, VA. There was this one song they had with this abrupt stop and in this half a second stop, Jere picked up his bass, aimed it like a rifle and said calmly “bang.” Into the mic. Then BOOM the guys let loose…it was pretty mind blowing.


7. Jere's death, it was a total bummer. What did all of that mean to you? I feel it really sent formerly close knit people into hiding somewhat. It was a awful time, it seemed like it was all over. Any thoughts on that?

Jere’s death crushed us. He always seemed to be sneaky when we lived together. I knew he was into smack as (stupidly) a lot of us were dabbling with back in those days but in hindsight, I didn’t know how deep into it he was. Jere was not only a very good friend and mentor, he was this fixture…this huge commanding personality who had a hell of a lot to do with creating our scene. I believe that his death was the true end of my youth. It is still really hard to think about….but I agree that his passing created a definative demarcation point for that whole scene. We all went our separate ways both literately and figuratively. I miss him a great deal.

8. You stayed in Portland obviously. What are you doing now. and when you look back on your time growing up and playing music in North Carolina, what do you think when you look back?

Yeah, I like Portland and I hung around and continued to play in bands out here like Witch Mountain, Lachrymator, Ociffer, and even another rap band called Raptitude. My current band is called The Scrubjays and it is my first time as a drummer. My bride (Anne) and I were married 5 years ago and we now have 2 little ones: Evelyn is a very mature 4 years-old and Benjamin (named after Ben Iddings from RG) is 14 months. I love them dearly…they are a constantly tripping me out. My brothers and I just started a record label called “Hairmondo Records” and are planning to release a couple of CDs by my youngest brother Andrew, who lives in Waynesville, NC.

Like most musicians, I work to support my habit and in my work I meet a lot of people across the country. I am often asked about how/why I moved to Portland. My explanation ususally involves a greatly distilled version of the above. As you know quite well, most folks have no idea what it is like being in a band or being on the road and they usually say something like “well that’s sounds fun, I bet you were having the time of your life”, to wit I ususally respond: “and I wouldn’t trade it for the world”.

ONE PAGE ARTICLE IN THE NEW ISSUE OF DECIBEL MAGAZINE.

This came out really nice! Thanks for the great opening statement..that makes me feel pretty darned good.

david yow kicking J. Mascis in the nuts.

RALEIGH'S RIGHTEOUS FOOL: FUN AND GOOD.

Righteous Fool from Mann's World on Vimeo.

FILMED BY KAREN A MANN.

It did my head and heart a lot of good to see Righteous Fool play last night at the Dive Bar here in Raleigh. As some people might know, Righteous Fool are a new band, a trio that features both Reed Mullin and Mike Dean, the drums and bass duo of..you guessed it, Corrosion Of Conformity. Playing guitar for the band is Jason Browning, a fellow who also played with Bad Brains vocalist HR in some of his solo projects.

So played they did, and I was impressed. I sighed with relief! Not only that, given the fact that there is so much history flying around the air with Mike and Reed, the idea of them doing a new band RIGHT NOW with Jason is really cool. It sure sounds like that these guys are doing exactly what they should be doing at this point in time. A lot of the songs are good. Some of them are pretty tricky to boot. Jason is a more then capable guitarist, even wearing a Shudder To Think shirt (a favorite band of mine)to seal that deal. A "Peter Green, Not Eye For An Eye" version of "Green Manalishi" cemented everything. I was smiling ear to ear while kneeling in front of Reed's kit next to Andy Freeburn and thinking how cool this was. Watching Reed and Mike jam in the year 2009. Wow. Cool.

If anything, Mike is a better bass player now then ever, and Reed certainly hasn't lost anything. Naysayers will poo-poo the band because it isn't the second coming of "Rabid Dogs" but anyone else who likes good heavy music EVEN IF IT HAS A GROOVE TO IT should have no problem enjoying Righteous Fool. I sure did.

Before I left I went up to Reed and gave him a goodbye hug and my compliments and he said in response, "I'm having fun."

"..but it is also good!", I replied.

And he just added, "yeah..but I am having fun!"

So there you go. Righteous Fool. Both good and fun.

PUNK ROCK WALL MURALS!

I have a lot of rolled up good paper..give me three days and three nights and you can own something like this.

ERECTUS MONOTONE REFORMS.

Erectus Monotone are re-forming to play a few upcoming shows. So let me see if I can get through a testimonial without pissing someone off in the process. I am even going to proof read this afterwards just to make sure. I think I can do this:
They put out probably the best local music of their era, the early singles were neat and their swan song “Close Up” was real good but their middle release “Erector Set” (strangely the only one that their label Merge never out out) was REALLY GOOD, a short and to the point recording of some of the most frantic energetic and fractured music to ever come out of Raleigh, a nine song blast of girl/guy vocals, two guitar players welding together the most perfect D.Boon/Andy Gill flutter backed by a dependable bass and drums combo. There were a lot of good bands around back then but Erectus Monotone to this day remain sort of a closely kept secret and I wonder what people will think when they play. Will anyone care? Will young kids not even five years old when the band broke up suddenly bum rush the front of the Cats Cradle stage crying and throwing flowers at these four people when they play their hits a couple Saturdays from now?
They should. Starting out with the humblest of beginnings, Kevin Collins and Andrew Freeburn decided to start playing together way back in the days when EVERYBODY had super long hair, so yeah it was a long time ago. Eventually after a few false starts they enlisted Jennifer Walker and Will “Casper” Lee to join. They became a band. ..unfortunately as I remembered it, they really stunk at first. I mean..really.
All of a sudden they recorded at Jerry Kee’s and people were astonished; bare bones simple yet catchy beyond belief, the band no doubt stood out greatly on account of Kevin and his singing. He already had done time in earlier bands like Subculture or Days Of.. so people knew he had the goods. Suddenly they started to play better shows, the singles started to come out and the saga begun.
Soon, there was trouble in paradise as the drummer spot changed. Casper was out and Andy’s childhood Chicago pal Mike Meadows was in. I played with Meadows in Shiny Beast; he was an incredible musician for sure. I wonder if he really whipped the band in shape by the sheer pushy force of his personality, cause “Erector Set” sure kicks all kind of ass, with not a trace of metal or even hard rock in sight. I am not sure you can find a more perfect little gem of the time then “Erector Set”. It still holds up.
Then eventually I got my chance to play with them for awhile. We had fun. These guys and girl sure didn’t write anything! Soon I left. Then Brian Quast stepped in.
As some of you know, Brian is the other drummer band slut in town. Name a good band, chances are he has played in it for at least a little while. The catchy and bizarre “Glider/Soul Taker” seven inch came out.
After a little while, the band gelled with Quast quite well. Shiny Beast toured with them during this period and they were peaking. “Close Up” came out. Great things afterwards were promised but soon personality quirks and Kevin’s decision to do adult things ended the band suddenly. The end.
So now they are reforming for the Merge Records blowout. Another local show in Raleigh at a later time is also in the works. I will post the date when I know it.
You should go, man. It will be good.

AWESOME NEWS.

As it was told to me today by my publisher, The distribution company that distributes his labels product LUMBERJACK MORDAM is shutting down their operations. Here is a cute li’l e-mail sent out all over the internet by the head honcho Dirk Hemsath , who doubt is hiding out somewhere trying to not get killed:

"At this point LMMG will not be able to continue to provide distribution services for labels. We had hopes for the last several months that we'd be able to find a way to move forward but the triple hits of an expensive merger, a dying business and a bad economy have made it impossible. We are hoping to be able to get some money to labels, but I'm not sure how much or when as we have to try and collect money from customers."

Here is an even more awesome little blurb that I found while trying to figure out what this actually means. It sort of caught my eye:

“A number of the labels were left with $30,000 - $50,000 in unpaid invoices, an amount that can be devastating for a small label.”

Then luckily, I discovered that Charles wrote something himself on Punknews.org..so for what it is worth:

I run a label that has worked with Lumberjack for more than 10 years. Needless to say, we're still in shock over this mess and we were pretty blindsided by the entire disaster. It has taken us over a month just to get the digital issues resolved and we're out of a ton in unpaid digital/ physical sales. It's a huge, heartbreaking mess for all the labels and tons of artists who were involved with LMMG.

For what it's worth: Lumberjack (up until around 3 months ago) has always been very good to us. They always paid us and they even fronted us money to get the label going in 1998. Once Dawn Marshman left (around 16 months ago) things started to change a bit. By May 2009 they were down to only a few employees and we finally got the call that they were going to "stop distributing physical product". We didn't know they were going to stop sending us checks for products they had already sold. This is a real bummer considering we just put out book/cd release for Brian Walsby and the Melvins that cost us a ton of money to produce. We definitely feel betrayed and a bit disheartened that someone we've worked with since the late '90s would keep us so in the dark about their financial downfall while encouraging us to work with them on a huge title like this. I'm sure this whole thing will be quite entertaining to watch from the outside as lawsuits start to pile up and the rumor mill starts churning. I hope this provides a bit of insight into what we're dealing with on the inside.

Thanks,
Sorry,
Beers.

Charles Cardello
www.bifocalmedia.com

Hmmm. I really didn’t need any of that money anyways! No one I am sure does! None of us did anything anyways. It’s cool, bra!

Stay tuned for (probably) more details.

You can’t download a comic book,
Brian Walsby

MORE STUFF TO LOOK AT.

HERE ARE SOME VARIOUS THINGS TO LOOK AT..SOME ARE OLD, SOME ARE VERY NEW.

NICE REVIEW FROM LEFT OF THE DIAL WEBSITE.

Thanks, David. I appreciate it.


July 2, 2009Manchild 4/by Brian Walsby: Bifocal Media
Filed under: Reviews — leftofthedialmag @ 8:45 am

Senor Walsby is back to the front with his newest collection of black and white pandemonium, which revisits familiar territory, so expect his usual bucket loads of sly and sardonic wickedry, no-bullshit scene slicing antics, and insistent leveling of all icons and “punk stars.” Though he has been busy as the skin pounder behind the better-late-than-never 40-something year old thrashcore soldiers Double Negative, who charge through replica formats of early Corrosion of Conformity meets Discharge meets Void, he also has time to be tour dude/comrade/fellow traveler to the Melvins, and even has a diary in this issue to document the ups and downs of being on the road in the Ipod era. In other segments, he pokes holes in the lame history of Emo, creates fictitious girl superheroes like Jailbait Girl for those bald men with sweltering adolescent fantasies, details the origins of his early bands, such as fresh-from-the garage Zombie Clergy and posicore pioneers Scared Straight, takes side-swapping stabs at faux punk “reunions” – Minor Threat babbling about Saabs and SUVs — and takes time to relish reaming pop culture figures from Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin to Jessica Simpson and Bono. No one is off limits, and no elements within the scene escape him either, from the never-ending punk house parties with a million cookie cutter bands, or the scene politics that stymie dissent as ‘uncool’ and pump up “uniform thought” – lame codes that make punk seem extra enclosed and hermetic. Sure, not everyone cares about these trails and tales, but for those of us raised on punk fanzine gossip, in-fighting, and territorialism, not to mention the comic work of Jaime Hernandez and Shawn Kerri, Walsby’s confessionalism, wit, and down-to-earth raps will be as engrossing as ever. PS This comes with a free monster mash CD of Melvins music as well!