DOUBLE NEGATIVE: THE NEW NECROS.

I realize that some people out there are wondering what happened to DOUBLE NEGATIVE, and why that second record that was promised almost a year ago still doesn’t exist, and also why we are entering “Boston 2” and “Necros Tangled Up” territory in the delayed release sweepstakes.

Well, a lot of stuff. But some of it is sort of too embarrassing/personal to go into right now, and then some other stuff is you know..real life and being in your forties and having a house, kids, getting married, opening up a restaurant and all of that. That is what the four members have been up to in the last year.

At some point this year, WE WILL record our proposed “Daydream Nation” album, and at some point IT WILL come out on a record label. We just don’t know when. Also, the collective band is finally breaking out of the hardcore ghetto a wee bit with some different sounding stuff that is still going to be ugly and neat sounding. We have two finished new songs that are sort of a departure and need to pen a few more of said songs of departure before we can honestly say we are ready. I can assure you (I hope!) that it will be worth the wait. “Daydream Nation” is going to completely stomp all over our first record.

So….stay tuned. There will be a split single with BATTLETORN released very soon on Volcom Records. Our side has three songs, one of which makes its debut on record.It sounds real good. We will also be playing two shows next weekend in the Atlanta/Athens area courtesy of Henry Owings of Chunklet fame. Here is the flyer, maybe we'll see you there:

SERIOUS ABOUT DRUMS WITHOUT BEING SERIOUS I GUESS.

I do not own drum cases. I rarely change my drumheads, mainly due to economics then my laziness. I don’t know the measurements of any of my drums. It took me at least twelve years to actually own a drum stool, and that was only because the band Polvo bought one for me when I played with them. I throw my drums around whenever I play out and seem to have little (if any) regard for their well being. I have lost cymbal stands and even ice bells due to just forgetting after a show.
So you know..I am not the most professional drummer around. But I still love to play the drums and since 1983 I have been into it. Even if I suck at the mechanics involved.
So how long is that..well, it is over twenty five years. Every band I have ever been in, I figure that it will be the last one but it still goes on and on. Playing drums is one of those things that grounds me a little bit. After a good show or even a good practice there is nothing like it, a sense of accomplishment where everything seems to be alright in my universe for that instant. It is sort of like an orgasm but it lasts a little bit longer. No wonder I am still interested in playing drums.
A lot of people have had a profound influence on me and I want to give them props in this thing. There are players and people and attitudes that have kept me going for a long time. Not fame, not money, not that fantasy cover of MODERN DRUMMER , just you know..playing drums. And being in bands that play music. That is all.

Besides all of the early influences any kid who likes rock music should have and go through, it wasn’t until punk rock where I was able to actually see these guys playing drums up close. That was really a big deal. To actually see these people getting to work, and to get excited and inspired from it…well, it was a really big deal to me. People always said that punk rock was just a bunch of noise. They could be right, but anybody can tell you that most of these drummers were in fact really good and really skilled at what they did. People like Bill Stevenson of the Descendents and Black Flag or like George Hurley of the Minutemen..those two were just great drummers. They are two of my favorite drummers of all time and maybe my two biggest influences. They both didn’t just support the song, they composed their drum parts as separate entities to the songs themselves. So I took a lot from those guys and still do.

Shiny Beast - Honky


SHINY BEAST.

Then there was Reed Mullin of Corrosion Of Conformity, a old pal and a absolute monster behind the kit. A huge kit back then, actually. Huge red Tama drums and gigantic tree trunk drumsticks. He was one of the next guys after Stevenson, Hurley and Chuck Biscuits. A big influence on me that I still rip off. Michel “Away” Langevin is another great drummer, from the band Voi Vod. He is somehow criminally undervalued but he had a unique style all of his own and did some really great stuff. You can’t forget Earl Hudson of the Bad Brains, who is a machine behind the kit, and has influenced thousands of people. Erik Tunison from Die Kreuzen had this amazing choppy fluid drumming style, not just on the hardcore records but beyond. The best part about all of these guys was that they didn’t disappear up their own ass in terms of technical ability. Feeling wins out every time, which is cool since like I have said above, I am not by any means a “pro drummer”. All of the guys I have mentioned have had a big influence on me and my so called career as a drummer. There are plenty more but those guys come to my mind first.



PATTY DUKE SYNDROME with Ryan Adams and Jere Mcilwean.

I am not the kind of person that never listens to their own music. I do. Maybe it is because when I was a kid all I ever wanted to do was play music in a band. I was fascinated by that and even if I am older and certainly more jaded I feel lucky and very fortunate to be able to still play drums. Even my first ever recording experience with Scared Straight back in thee “old days” (of 1985! Ha ha!) where we banged out nine minute long thrasholas, I can’t put that down too much, or say how much better I am now (although I am) because it was great. And that feeling has kept me going all of this time. After Scared Straight, I was able to play more complicated and slower beats in bands like Wwax and Willard and Shiny Beast. I was able to play with Mike Dean and Woodroe Weatherman in the COC side project Snake Nation..playing with those guys really forced me to get better, as you could imagine. I was able to join Polvo and play a lot of interesting live shows with them and learned about space and linking free form parts together. And currently in the band Double Negative, I am able to somehow play even faster then I was able to in my early twenties as well as sneak in some creativity in the tiny artistic window that is fast thrashy hardcore punk rock, which is no mean feat in itself.



DOUBLE NEGATIVE at No Way Fest last year.

My basic philosophy behind music and drums is that I always want to do something different then what I have done before. It doesn’t have to be some big deal, just trying to be able to stick something in that fucks things up in a good way, and to also know how to not do that. Bill Stevenson said one time that if you are going to just do what you did today yesterday, then you are pretty much done. I totally agree with that. That is always something I want to strive for. i hope this doesn't come off too pretentious but if it does then that is okay.

MORE RECENT WORK.

MANCHILD 5/LIKE GOLD DOWN A SEWER COVER

it is not done yet but I really like this a lot.

PHOTO BY JOE HENDERSON.

Joe Henderson is a guy that used to take a lot of photos at punk shows that I used to go to back when I was still living in California. His photos graced the pages of both FLIPSIDE and the underrated but really important INK DISEASE. I recently got in touch with him to see about getting permission to use some of his photos for MANCHILD 5. Luckily he agreed. He took some photos that ended up being used for the inside sleeve of COC's Animosity album. I am sure his work ended up being used in other bands records too. Anyways Joe is a nice guy so I thought I would re-print a few of them..all of these were taken by Joe and if you want to contact him you should. His e-mail address is printed on his pictures.




Rites Of Spring playing at the 930 club in DC in the summer of 1985. I wasn't at this show. Photos from this show were included in the pivotal Flipside issue about Revolution Summer, the coined phrase for the post punk scene happening up there around that time.



COC in Baltimore in the summer of 1985. I went to this show. Marginal Man and SNFU also played. It was a real hot night. I stage dived, which is something that I never do at all...



7 Seconds at the Sun Valley Sportmans Lodge in 1984. I went to this show and even drew the t-shirts that the bandmembers are wearing. Rob Demko can be seen on the right of Kevin Seconds. My, how young we all were!

DEEP THOUGHTS ABOUT MUSIC AND STUFF...

The new Heaven And Hell album "The Devil You Know" is very enjoyable but it takes a wee bit of time to allow it to sink in. These men (Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Vinny Appice and you guessed it..Ronnie James Dio) have crafted a very good recording that shows the world that maybe your elders do know what is best. Who would have thought that they still had so much gas in the tank? The album closer "Breaking Into Heaven" lumbers forth with some stomping downtrodden doomy effect. Mighty tasty. In fact, there is only one uptempo tune on the whole thing. The rest is slow and ponderous and not at all upbeat. The riffs are good and infectious, Dio pleads, begs and scowls throughout the admittedly hokey yet fun lyrics. Ronnie james Dio is fucking in his mid to late sixties!!! Fuck the Rolling Stones, Heaven And Hell are the new elder vanguard. I would also like to congratulate myself on not shitting on Ozzy in all of this. And finally, just to repeat myself: most heavy metal stinks.

I approve.



RODAN.


I have been re-discovering bands like SLINT and RODAN lately. Along with BITCH MAGNET, BASTRO and the first DON CABELLERO album I have been amazed to find out just how well all of this stuff really holds up. I would like to give a special thanks to RODAN, whose "Rusty" album might be the single best album to come out by a band who were only around long enough to have one album out. Then they all went into other bands that I have never heard of because I am old. It almost pisses me off. I even made a cartoon about SLINT and their influence, and you can read it below after this paragraph. It was a interesting time now that I look back on it, because all of these bands were truly doing smart and creative stuff, all logical extensions of the post whatever world that we now live in. And in a world where pop punk, grunge and alt country have already exploded and gone, this stuff couldn't help but that stand out that much more.

paintings for sale...a goooood deal.

WHO KNEW THAT SIXTEEN YEARS AFTER THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN THAT I WOULD BE TRYING TO SELL MY ARTWORK ONLINE? IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED, i AM TRYING TO SELL THESE..IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, CONTACT ME. i AM SELLING EACH OF THESE FOR ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS EXCEPT FOR THE ROCKS DUST AND DIRT ONE. SO FAR YOU CAN GET LOVELY PAINTINGS I DID OF RICHARD MANUEL OF THE BAND, RANDY BISCUIT TURNER OF THE BIG BOYS AND NICK CAVE WITH HIS CURRENT GOATEE.PRICE DOESNT INCLUDE POSTAGE BUT STILL...A SWEET DEAL!!!

I WILL HAVE MORE STUFF UP HERE SOON. THANKS, AND LOOK ON.