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DS Festival Review: Slam Dunk Festival (North)
In 2001, I moved to the Northern English city of Leeds, in part because of the live music venue, The Cockpit. This small venue put on all my favourite bands of the time, and had a long history of putting on great live music. I worked in another venue in the city on weekends, so […]
In 2001, I moved to the Northern English city of Leeds, in part because of the live music venue, The Cockpit. This small venue put on all my favourite bands of the time, and had a long history of putting on great live music. I worked in another venue in the city on weekends, so Tuesday night was my big night out, and Tuesday nights were Slam Dunk at The Cockpit. A solid mix of ska punk, pop punk, emo, rock, metal and whatever else alternative kids were listening to in the early 2000’s.
So here I am, 21 years later. The Cockpit has long since shut down and whilst the Slam Dunk Club Night plays on at its new home, the Key Club, it’s the festival that I am at today. Now held across two cities with more than 50 bands, across five stages, things have really grown from that two room sweaty Tuesday night under a railway arch.
The lineup covers a wide range of punk and alternative music, but because I’m old and stuck in my ways, I’m mostly staying at the Dickies stage, which is the main stage this year, hosting The Suicide Machines, The Bronx, Hot Water Music, The Vandals, Streetlight Manifesto, Pennywise, The Interrupters, The Dropkick Murphy’s and headliners Sum 41.
I’d originally bought tickets on the basis that Rancid were headlining, but they pulled out for undisclosed reasons. Then support from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones collapsed along with the band. Things were looking bleak, and I actually looked into selling my ticket, only to have two of my close friends and original Slam Dunk allies to buy tickets, so it was to be a big day out for us old guys.
The venue for the festival is Temple Newsam House. For further personal historic links, this was the site of the first music festival I ever went to (V98), and a big part of my musical taste was formed in these park lands. The benefit of this location for me is that it is close to home, the downside is that it still takes an hour and a half to get in, as traffic is not well managed and everything is already getting expensive (£10 to park in a field, £10 for a bus), I’d planned to ride my bike to the event, but for three of us, that didn’t make much sense.
Inside the arena, the stages are far enough apart that there is little noise mix from bands and practicalities like bars, toilets and food concessions are plentiful, the addition of a separate “real ale” bar was a pleasant surprise, and I managed to spend an impressive amount in this tent after and before every band. The tent also provides some welcome shade from the unexpected sun that I was totally unprepared for!
So, on to the music…
Hot Water Music, a band that I’ve discovered backwards through Chuck Ragan’s solo work, come out impassioned and full of energy, although the crowd are a little flat with it being an early set. Despite this we get a solid effort from the band, though possibly things are held back a little by a lack of catchy hooks and sing along choruses in the songs performed. Finishing with “Trusty Chords” gets the crowd interested from hearing a song they know. Whether they know the song from Epitaph‘s Punk-o-Rama compilation, or it’s just a favourite is hard to say, but in a pre-internet world, compilations from Independent punk labels are how a lot of us discovered new bands, especially those that didn’t tour the small northern venues like the Cockpit!
A quick trip to the bar revealed the sound of Punk Rock Factory carrying on the wind from the Rock Sound Stage. I was familiar with the band from their Youtube videos of punked up, harmonized pop covers, and as a father of small children, I found myself singing along to “Let It Go”, whilst appropriately stood at a urinal. If I have to play Disney songs on long journeys, then at least they can have crushing guitars as well, and hopefully, like some kind of gateway drug, this leads my kids down the path of home made tattoos and living in a van (or some other punk cliché).
The Vandals took to the stage with a not too reassuring “We’ll do our best”, and whilst I appreciate their honesty and openness, first song “Café 405”, is out of time and out of tune.
Three songs in, things are starting to tighten up, “People That Are Going To Hell” gets people moving a little, but on the whole, the crowd remain static. “And Now We Dance” raises the energy, “The New You” keeps it going, but there’s just not enough there to hold the attention of the majority of the crowd. My friends desert me to hit the real ale bar, I hate myself for giving up on the mighty Vandals, but cold beer and the Cancer Bats on the Jagermeister stage lure me away. I’m not massively familiar with the Cancer Bats, but the wall of noise, that I could feel through the ground and see vibrating through my pint has led me to listen to more of their back catalogue.
I had a dream the night before Slam Dunk that I took all my family to see Streetlight Manifesto, but instead of their usual set list, they played a really challenging, four hour Jazz set, stopping only to enjoy a sit down meal, where they served soup from tea pots. I was trying desperately to convince my family that really, they’re a great band, whilst simultaneously enjoying the weird spectacle.
Fortunately, there’s no Jazz today as Streetlight Manifesto, a later addition to the bill, take to the stage. There’s a clear sense of excitement in the crowd as the eight piece tear through classic hits “We Will Fall Together” and “The Three Of Us” along with lesser known tracks with a level of energy normally reserved for headline shows. The crowd sings along, dances, moshes; it’s a perfect blend of everything you want on a summers day. The only slight letdown is Tomas Kalnoky shouting “this is the big finish!” and then promptly not playing “Keasbey Nights.” I get the reasons, and I support them in letting go of a song that doesn’t really represent the band, but for many in the crowd it’s the song they came to hear and there’s visible confusion as the band leave the stage, though encores aren’t really a thing at 16:30 on a festival stage are they?
I last saw Pennywise in 1999. So its been a while. Late last year I read Jim Lindberg’s book “Punk Rock Dad,” which renewed my interest in the band, so I’m excited to see this set, and if the number of Pennywise T-shirts I’m seeing are anything to go by, so are the crowd.
From the get go, the band are on full attack. There’s no sign of age in the band and the crowd are loving it. Covers of AC/DC’s “TNT” and “Breed” by Nirvana continues the energy. Early songs “Pennywise” and “Society” lead to Lindberg lamenting to having been “doing this for thirty years,” but it’s not slowing them down.
The crowd holds middle fingers aloft for “Fuck Authority,” and whilst it feels cheesy, a load of middle aged men swearing at the sky, its kind of cathartic, and hey, it’s a great song! Who doesn’t enjoy feeling like an angry teenager (teenagers maybe?).
A cover of “Stand By Me,” which closed 1992 album Wild Card/ A Word From The ‘Wise surprised me, as I was certain it was Lagwagon, so I learned something important today if nothing else.
Set closer “Bro-Hymn” has exactly the effect you’d expect. Huge “wooahs” from the crowd, that epic bass riff and impassioned singing along. Obviously it’s a great song, but I think it hits harder now, after the last few years and I think everyone can take some strength from this song and apply it to someone they’ve lost.
The Interrupters carry a strange position in my mind. I love their songs, they’re great live, but there’s just something not quite right. Something doesn’t sit right with me, and I hate myself for being so negative, but its all a bit too clean cut for me. Like it’s the soundtrack to Disney film where some hopelessly good looking, talented young people form a ska punk band and take over the world with a weird crusty mentor behind them (Called Tim?).
Opener “Take Back the Power” feels stronger than normal. Maybe its that they’re more established, or maybe my cynicism is fading? Either way I enjoy it for what it is, well polished, perfectly-performed ska pop-punk.
Ignoring a weird segue about how they all used to bathe together… “She got arrested” gets a great crowd sing along, and is probably my favourite of their songs, not least as it was my introduction to the band back in 2017 and a great example of the quality story telling in the lyrics of some of their songs.
A cover medley of “Keep ‘Em Separated”/ “Linoleum”/ “Ruby Soho” gets the crowd going before surprise high point for me, a cover of Bad Religion‘s “Sorrow,” which goes down well with the crowd (For reference Bad Religion played Slam Dunk in 2019, as did the Interrupters).
The band finishes with “She’s Kerosene,” keeping the party going, the crowd moving and generally capturing the moment nicely. People are drunk, its sunny, the people want to dance and the Interrupters deliver.
The Dropkick Murphys take to a stage with a full length riser, done out to look like a stone wall, but there is a notable absence. Al Barr, it is announced, has stayed home to care for his sick mother. Ken Casey steps up for lead vocal duties and the evening begins with the sound of bagpipes on the cool evening breeze.
“State of Massachusetts” gets the kind of crowd reaction you’d expect from a classic pop hit or a song about Yorkshire, such passion for such a challenging subject is strange, but hey, it’s a great song and the drunk, bouncy, dancey crowd are loving it.
“Barroom Hero” is introduced as the first song the band ever wrote, which is a bit of trivia I didn’t know, but I remember it from way back in the 90s, so I guess that makes sense. The crowd offer weak “Oi! Oi! Oi!” effort which is a disappointment, maybe the crowd aren’t as au fait with shouting Oi! as I’d like? Though I accept my drive to shout “Oi!” is probably higher than most.
The slip up begins with the instruction to sing along to the 1937 hit “I’ve Still Got Ninety-Nine” by the Monroe Brothers, which although an undeniably good song, probably isn’t too familiar to the crowd today. On the upside, we’re promised an acoustic album in September, which is one to look out for. Whether it’s new material or reimagined classics has not been confirmed, but hopefully there will be an associated tour.
“Rose Tattoo” brings the sing along from the crowd, but lacks the momentum to get the crowd moving. This is exacerbated by the big screen showing bored, static faces in the crowd for the first time. Fortunately, “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” brings the party back before the end of the set. I’ve never seen such passion for a missing wooden leg, as the crowd goes nuts, with crowd surfers from all directions riding above the waves of the crowd. All parties appear to have legs intact, so that’s good.
Headliners Sum-41 were a bit of a quandary for me. The first album was an important soundtrack to my late teens/ early 20s and I saw them play in Leeds twice in 2002, but I haven’t listened to their music since Does This Look Infected from the same year.
A bit of pre-show research suggested they have had seven further releases, including 2019s Order In Decline, but in the spirit of openness, I’ve not felt inspired to check these out.
The band come out to a stage with blood-soaked Marshall speaker cabinets, a giant skull, jets of fire and “Motivation” from the first album, All Killer, No Filler. More people than I expected are really into it, though competition with Deaf Havana and the Nova Twins is limited and the other stages have closed.
The stage is set for a night of big rock and I’d like to say I invested more effort into rediscovering Sum 41, but too much sun, too much beer and a designated driver who wanted to beat the traffic meant we made an early exit.
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DS Interview: Catching up with Deaf Club’s Brian Amalfitano!
Dying Scene interviewed Brian Amalfitano of Deaf Club before their show at Thalia Hall in Chicago. Other bands on the bill included Meth, See You Next Tuesday, Usurp Synapse, and DJ Speedsick. Dying Scene: Tell me about yourself and Deaf Club. Brian Amalfitano: My name is Brian Amalfitano. It’s very Italian. I’m the guitarist. This interview has been edited for length and […]
Dying Scene interviewed Brian Amalfitano of Deaf Club before their show at Thalia Hall in Chicago. Other bands on the bill included Meth, See You Next Tuesday, Usurp Synapse, and DJ Speedsick.
Dying Scene: Tell me about yourself and Deaf Club.
Brian Amalfitano: My name is Brian Amalfitano. It’s very Italian. I’m the guitarist.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
BA: I started this band with Justin Pearson. Originally, we played in our former bands. He used to be in Retox and I toured with him. We played three or four shows, and I was a huge fan of his projects, The Locust in particular. Six months later, I was in San Diego, which is stomping grounds for Three One G Records, Justin, and everybody, we saw a band called Metz from Canada, and he was like, “Look, what are you doing? And “I’ve been on hiatus for a little bit.” So, he said, “Hey, let’s start a project.” And I thought he was joking. He had a lot of projects going on and I thought, well, this guy is Justin Pearson, what’s he going to do with me? But essentially, we met again, and he started sending me drummers. He was touring with Dead Cross at that time. And so, Jon Syverson from the band Daughters at the time had recommended Scott Osmond, who is our drummer, and he said, yeah, why don’t you try jamming out with this guy? And that kind of became the nucleus of the band. Scott and I sort of wrote all the riffs and guitars and drums together. So, after we sort of wrote all that, we sent it to Justin, he put vocals on everything, and that became our first demo of five songs. I think it was six minutes. It was quick, and we’ve been sort of fleshing it out from there. That’s how Deaf Club started.
DS: So, this is my first time seeing Deaf Club. What can you tell someone like me about your band?
BA: Well, it’s a little bit of…Justin had this one lyric, “highbrow caveman,” so it’s a little bit neanderthally, very abrasive, but a little bit highbrow. We’re trying to be a little bit smarter about what we do. It’s chaos, but it’s controlled chaos. We try to turn on a dime and it’s just very fast, but also very weird. We’ve always been influenced by the weirder aspects of music, so we use a lot of pedals and stuff like that. Obviously, he did that in The Locust, but he’s not playing anything. So, when we started this, I asked him if I could play pedals in this band and he said, “yeah, absolutely!” The weirder the better. So, I think it’s a little bit weird, but aggressive in a positive way. We’re not trying to scare people. We don’t want to be a hardcore band that’s a beatdown band, a macho band. Some people obviously throw elbows and kicks in the pit, but we’re not trying to send anyone to the dentist the next day. We’re trying to be nice and sort of be a community band.
“Some people obviously throw elbows and kicks in the pit, but we’re not trying to send anyone to the dentist the next day. We’re trying to be nice and sort of be a community band”.
– Brian Amalfitano
DS: Tell me about the bands you are touring with today.
BA: Meth, See You Next Tuesday, and Usurp Synapse. Seb Alvarez of Meth put together the tour. He’s friends with our drummer, Scott, for many years. Scott was in Meth for a little bit. He was playing drums with them; he plays drums with Glassing. So, he kind of knew Seb already, and Seb wanted us to come out here to play. So, between Scott and Seb, they just kind of emailed everybody and we’re like, let’s do this. It’s more of a DIY network sort of thing. We do have booking agents and things like that, but sometimes we just reach out to our friends, and we say, hey, let’s do this, and whatever route we could do. So, just the camaraderie of bands and communities in little pockets of America is kind of cool.
DS: How’s the tour going?
BA: It is fresh. It’s the second day. We’ve only had one show. The first show we blew out a tire on the van, which is kind of what happens, and we deal with what comes to us, so it’s all good now. We were on tour with Converge I think the first day out of California or out of Los Angeles we also blew a tire. And then we also blew three hoses on that entire tour, which was kind of wild. Our tour has van has 420,000 miles on it, so it’s been beat to shreds. The Locust used it. Retox used it. A bunch of bands used it, it’s a historical piece. Everyone’s great people, so that makes it better.
DS: So, it’s early in the year. What does 2024 look like for you?
BA: Personally, I think it’s great for Deaf Club. We have a couple tours coming up including a European tour. I’m not quite sure if they’re panning out and I don’t want to say anything before they’re confirmed. We’ve been writing material. I think we have a good amount almost for a full length, so hopefully a full length. We have some stuff for a split that we’re doing. We have the tour with Fuck Money, which are our label mates on Three One G. They’re also from Austin, Texas. They’re a phenomenal band. Austin’s kind of like our third home. It’s like LA, San Diego, and Austin. They treat us well and all the bands there are great. It’s looking good this year.
DS: What accomplishments do you see yourself achieving in the next five years as a band?
BA: Honestly, the hardest part of a band is just surviving the money situation of anything. If anyone cares enough in five years for us to be writing what we’re doing, that’d be great. We’re always trying to push the envelope and create new things, sort of carve out our sound a little bit better. I think even now for the next year, we’ve been writing songs that are a little bit lengthier. Our first album maybe had a song that was like 48 seconds. So, now it’s like, oh, it’s the two-minute mark and that seems reasonable. So, we’re writing better songs. Yeah, so for the next five years I hope we keep doing that and progressing as a band.
DS: Can you tell me a little bit about Three One G Records?
BA: Three One G is Justin’s label. It’s been around 25 years now. I remember, probably about 25 years ago, I started listening to Three One G and listening to the Locust and Gold Standard Labs and other labels from around that time from San Diego and sort of being in awe of the DIY aspect of it, the community aspect of it. And they were not tough guy hardcore. They were sort of skinny dudes doing things and getting essentially beat up by being what people would call them, effeminate, weird, nerdy or whatever. So, it gave me hope, it’s like punk can be weird. Punk cannot be a clique. San Diego created its own DIY community. It didn’t have to go to LA. It didn’t have to be a part of something. So, it kind of helped me think of those things where you could be an outlier even in an outlier subculture like punk and still find a little niche for yourself. And Three One G sort of has always done that. I think they’ve released a lot of great records, a lot of seminal records of just bands that were a little bit askew, a little bit weirder than your normal punk. And yeah, I think Justin has good taste in that regard, trying to find new things.
DS: Tell me about how you all keep the momentum going, especially with all your other projects.
BA: I think it’s just, it’s a lifer thing. It’s something that you don’t really think about. I own a record store. During the pandemic, we couldn’t tour. So, we were like, what do we do? And we opened a record store like, well, music is the one thing that keeps us all going and saves us and lets us have creative outlets and positive outlets. I think my first conversation with Justin in San Diego about creating Deaf Club was, I’m a big Sonic Youth guy and I was like, I’d rather be an underground band for 25 years or 30 years rather than this huge band that just breaks up after a couple of years. I’d rather have the longevity of creating good solid things and keeping it going. I think because we are all dedicated to that concept it helps us go, okay, yeah, maybe we don’t get all the love or the accolades or whatever for a couple years, but eventually someone might be listening, and you want to help that one person. We do get some people that say, “listening to you guys made my year,” or “saved me” helped us. And that’s some positive reinforcement that you just can’t buy it. So, it’s cool.
DS: You mentioned you have a record store. Tell me about it.
BA: We started it a year into the pandemic. It’s called Spinning Plate Records and we do a little bit of everything. I’m from Argentina, so the demographic is very much Latino. We started bringing in Rock En Espanõl, hip hop, Three One G records, music that I grew up listening to, and things that I, through the DIY community, was like, Hey, I’m going to sell my friends’ records. I started just creating a community based around that. That kind of transferred into Spinning Plate Records. It’s been cool. It’s been a good three years.
DS: So, tell me about your favorite performance as a band.
BA: One of my favorite performances we’ve played was at Elysium in Austin, Texas. We played at Oblivion Access Fest, which was a DIY and the first year of the festival. It was this young kid had thrown it, a friend of Scott’s. So, they invited us to play, and we played with Metz, which is again how Deaf Club sort of started, but I love Metz and so we were kind of honored to play with them. Three One G put out a seven-inch for them and that was just a good show and we did an after party. We’ve done SXSW where we played four shows in one day. But Metz for sure, that was a great show at Oblivion Access. I think Roskilde Festival was maybe our top show ever. That was in Denmark with a thousand-plus people. It was a whole festival. It was just phenomenal to get out of the States and be treated like…these people are like, oh, we just want to have you here. It was cool.
DS: So, are there any musicians who inspire you? Who would you like to collaborate with?
BA: I’m was huge Nirvana fan. Kurt Cobain is the reason that I play. I was eight or nine years old when he passed away. I bought Bleach and it said, this is Nirvana’s first record. So, I thought this must be the good one and it was super heavy. Then I started playing guitar soon after and we did a Nirvana cover for this band and a live set. If I could collaborate with anyone, Kurt Cobain. I know the other guys; we have different tastes.
DS: So, what song did you cover?
BA: “Tourettes.” So, we were on tour, and I think we’re like, oh, let’s do this cover song. We figured, I mean it has lyrics, but it’s just kind of yelling them. And so, we’re like, well, Justin, you don’t have to learn the lyrics, so you could just yell this rhythm and we could play it. At the time, the fill-in bass player, Collin Smith, played in a band called Se Vende, and was on tour with us, he’s a big Nirvana guy, too. so, we bonded over that. We’re like, let’s do it. Justin kind of makes fun of me. He’s good.
DS: What four bands should we be listening to?
BA: Fuck Money for sure. Fuck Money is a phenomenal band from Austin, Texas. I think Snooper is great. Meth is a phenomenal band. There’s Scott’s other band, Glassing. Just so many of our friends’ bands are doing such cool things. Sometimes it’s cool to see your own band members in those bands. Then you see what they could do or how creative they are in different aspects. You’re like, oh, I didn’t know that you could do that. So, Fuck Money, Meth, Glassing, and Snooper are really good bands.
DS: What bands are you listening to this week?
BA: I love Gilla Band, they’re Irish noise kind of post-punk weird. I love Metz. I love Tropical Fuck Storm, Australian band they’re more rock, but a little bit skewed and weird. I don’t necessarily listen to a lot of hardcore. I feel like you just start getting those ideas and those riffs. So, I like chiller bands. We listen to a lot of chill stuff in the band, even a lot of indie dream pop. Scott likes a lot of chill stuff, even though he’s a brutal drummer. I love Amyl and the Sniffers, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, The Murder Capital, and Crows. Yeah, it’s a little bit everywhere for me. There are so many good bands.
DS: What advice do you have for musicians and others in the music industry?
BA: I think you must do what you love. It’s a risk and rewarding, if you’re just looking to make money or just looking to do these things, you’re not going to do it. We all have our jobs. Justin has been running a record label for a long time, Jason works for Fender, and I have a record store. We get to go out on tour and do what we love. I retired young and started going on tour playing in cover bands and played in friends’ bands. If you’re a lifer and you really love it, maybe something will happen.
DS: We have a mutual friend, Martin Atkins. Tell me about your experience meeting him and visiting his museum, the Museum of Post Punk & Industrial Music.
BA: First, I’m amazed at the wit and the sharpness that Martin Atkins has. The number of stories and jokes that he has. His quick sense of humor and his dry wit and the way that he delivers things was just mesmerizing. It’s almost like he’s a comedian. He could do standup if he wanted to. But then the collection that he has. The things with PIL and John Lydon. Gabe Serbian’s Locust uniform. And just seeing that, because I knew Gabe and I went to a lot of Locust shows and I helped them, and it felt really at home as well. This person cares about these things and it’s nice to see. And so yeah, just Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, all these historical things. People not only visit his museum, but they also send him things. That just reinforces that even a person of this level can be part of this DIY community. So, last time we stayed for two days at the museum. He allows bands to stay there as well, which to me is crazy. If you allow, I mean a punk rock band…I’m like, wait, you’re going to just allow a bunch of punk rockers around all these priceless artifacts? I’m like, what if they pocket something? So, it was kind of amazing that he just allowed us to stay there. He just gave us a key and was very welcoming to us. We went downstairs and listened to some secret tracks of the Johnny Lydon singing over The Beatles and this and that. I was like, this is blowing my mind. I love his merchandise, the Pigface stuff. I bought this “Eat Shit You Fucking Redneck” shirt and I wore that in Texas. So, yeah, just the sweetest guy. This reinforces the belief that even weirdos are nice, goth industrial people…that people think are scary, they wear all black or whatever. And it really helps you mentally to go somewhere like that. Sometimes you just stay in the flea bag hotel, and we have and there’s bugs or something that get me, and you’re like, no, no, no, we’re leaving. But just for someone to offer that, it is very welcoming, open. It’s nice. We couldn’t stay this time. We had planned it, but he was out of town, and he had to do an open house and all these things.
DS: Yeah, we’ve been to several events there and enjoyed it.
BA: There’s always things that you miss. It’s like going shopping at an antique mall and you’re just looking at everything and what am I going to see? And then he’s like, look at that little ticket stub. Look at that little thing. He has so many stories about that little thing and that little thing and that little thing. How do you remember that? Especially back in those days, I imagine the partying and the drinking or whatever. I’m like, I can’t remember what happened last week and I’m not even doing anything. There’s too much mayhem now.
DS: You’ve got some pretty incredible tattoos there, especially that Daniel Johnson one. Obviously, these things are important to you, so tell me about that and what they mean.
BA: So, on my upper right arm, I have all my novelists and stuff. So, I have Albert Camus, Tolkien, and George Orwell. I have the K Records because Kurt Cobain had a K Records tattoo but also K Records is a label from Olympia, Washington. But my twin brother, Sergio, and I got this for our birthday just for Kurt, and it’s the only one that I have on my left arm. But these are all musicians, Iggy Pop, Radiohead, Sub Pop, which was the first label that I really loved. Sub Pop and Three One G were sort of the things like grunge and punk and weirdo punk. And yeah, it got me into Nirvana, Soundgarden, and got me into playing.
“Daniel Johnson’s not the best singer, but because he does it and he loves it earnestly, he gained a following”.
– Brian Amalfitano
BA: Daniel personally for me, I love him as far as, he had a lot of mental health issues. For him to sort of overcome them enough to write love songs and to write by himself on a little pump organ piano. And his guitar and sort of show you in a different context…maybe Bob Dylan‘s not the best singer, or John Lennon‘s not the best singer or Daniel Johnson’s not the best singer, but because he does it and he loves it earnestly, he gained a following. He also sat there and dubbed his own cassettes, drew his own drawings, and handed them out to people. If that’s not one of those penultimate DIY ethics, maybe even not knowing that that’s part of DIY and punk rock, just having that mindset of I just need to get this out of my brain and I need to hand it to people to see if they relate. I doubt he ever thought he was going to be famous or anything. I got to see him before he passed. And even just listening to his voice and still having that same refrain, that same sort of childlike voice. And even though he kind of would shake in the middle of the songs when he was singing, he was very calm. His body was very calm. I thought that that sort of spoke to the power of music. And so Lo-fi, DIY, Daniel, maybe it’s not what a hardcore kid would do or not but it’s very much wearing your heart on your sleeve. A little bit of innocence is necessary in music.
DS: The great Wayne Kramer recently passed away. I know you’re a fan. You’ve spoken about losing Kurt Cobain and Daniel Johnston. How do we survive losing our heroes?
BA: I think for me personally, I grew up an atheist. My grandfather gave me a lot of books on atheism growing up and sort of the reverence of life to realize that people are human and frail and maybe they’re not going to be here the same way that none of us are going to be here, but to enjoy them, to enjoy their influence. Some of these books, music, film, they stay with us for a very long time, and they stay here longer than us. Nick Cave, I think said it, “I’m creating these things that are going to outlive me and hopefully will influence someone and help them live a better life.” And I think Wayne particularly as well, I got to see him recently when he did the shows with Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) and the MC5 stuff, the reunions, for him to have lost all his band members prior and for him to have been in jail but to still come out and do Jail Guitar Doors and to help people come out of that, just giving back to the community, I think he did a lot more than people give credit. Sure. Kick Out The Jams. But these heroes, especially because I was very young when Kurt died, it was an impressionable sort of thing. I remember them playing, I was in Argentina at the time. I was living there with my family. They’re from Argentina, and they played unplugged in New York nonstop on MTV Three. It was, and it sort of made me fall in love with the soft side of it as well, the melodic side of things, and to sort of listen to these words and listen to what these people care about and your heroes are sometimes flawed but they also teach you about beautiful things. If you could take that with you, then I think they’ve done their job. And that’s really all we could do for each other as far as humans.
DS: Do you have any other thoughts for the Dying Scene’s readers?
BA: Yeah. Just do what you love. Be as weird as you are. Just be yourself. It seems hard when you’re young because there are scenes. Everyone says punk is just for the outsiders. And sometimes within punk, you’re like, I’m a crusty, I’m hardcore. You can’t be part of our clique because you don’t dress a certain way. I think that the youth seem to be open to not only gender fluid, but genre fluid and sort of just being fluid in general. Just being able to go from hip hop to punk rock to this. Hopefully, being less judgmental of each other but also being less judgmental on yourself. There’s a lot of growing up in your youth where you just doubt yourself and you could cause harm to yourself. We all find something. It’ll be good the longer you stay in the game, it’ll be good for you.
DS: Thank you.
BA: Yeah. Absolutely.
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DS Show Review & Gallery: Bouncing Souls, Samiam, Swingin’ Utters, and Pet Needs – Chicago (05.11.2023)
Bouncing Souls returned to Chicago’s Metro on Thursday, May 11, 2023, as a part of its Ten Stories High tour. Solid support on this bill was provided by Samiam, Swingin’ Utters, and Pet Needs, adding up to quite an enjoyable evening. As the lights dimmed for the headliners, fans were singing “Ole” from Bouncing Souls’ […]
Bouncing Souls returned to Chicago’s Metro on Thursday, May 11, 2023, as a part of its Ten Stories High tour. Solid support on this bill was provided by Samiam, Swingin’ Utters, and Pet Needs, adding up to quite an enjoyable evening.
As the lights dimmed for the headliners, fans were singing “Ole” from Bouncing Souls’ 1999 album Hopeless Romantic. Of course we featured that tune near the top of our Dying Scene’s World Cup Anthems playlist on Spotify. The band hit the stage to the iconic Simple Minds theme “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from The Breakfast Club, the John Hughes film set in a Chicago suburb. The crowd, many of whom were either not yet born when the classic 1985 film was released or were too young to see it at that time, sang enthusiastically along.
The tour derives its name from Bouncing Soul’s new album Ten Stories High, released this past March and the New Jersey crew got right down to business at the Clark Street located venue. Lead singer Greg Attonito bounded across the stage and to the edge of it. Pete Steinkopf, shredded through both the well-known and newer tunes. Bryan Kienlen held court stage right with his powerful bass playing. In the back, Greg Rebelo tore it up behind his drum kit.
As noted above, the setlist was comprised of old and new songs. About midway through the set, Attonito asked for two song suggestions from fans, at first telling them he would pick one.
Of course the band performed both nominees, “Bullying the Jukebox,” also from Hopeless Romantic, and “Quick Chek Girl” from 1995’s Maniacal Laughter. Joyous cheering and crowd surfing ensued. The band also performed its very popular cover of Avoid One Thing’s “Lean on Sheena,” which the Bouncing Souls recorded for The Gold Record from 2006.
And finally, being from the Empire State, born and raised east of the Big Apple and having spent a whole lot of time annually, in the City That Never Sleeps I have a certain affection for “East Coast! Fuck you!”And I was more than happy to whisper-chant along,
“Punkers should be pale and pasty
Pizza here is fierce and tasty
East Coast! Fuck you!
East Coast! Fuck you!“
That second cited line I especially love and will preach its truth to the willfully deaf ears of friends in my adopted city of Chicago. The struggle to live in a place devoid of a truly great New York slice is indeed real (before anyone takes exception, struggle is sarcastically noted).
Samian appeared to have drawn a large portion of the crowd to the show. The Berkeley, CA band released Stowaway, in late March 2023 and played several cuts from it including, “Crystallized,” “Lights Out Little Hustler,” and “Lake Speed.” Samiam also delivered robustly with “Sunshine,” “Wisconsin,” and “Paraffin” from 2000’s Astray, among tunes from other releases. It was an enjoyable set and perfectly placed between Swingin’ Utters and Bouncing Souls.
I first saw Swingin’ Utters in 2009 at the now sadly defunct Frankie’s Inner City in Toledo, OH, days before moving from the Glass City to the Windy City. I wasn’t documenting the show, just enjoying the evening in my going away week with close friends from my work as a housing legal advocate at Legal Aid of Western Ohio. They were playing in the middle of the bill but of course stood out and I am glad my eyes and ears were open to such a great band.
Fourteen years later, I am still immensely impressed by how damn good they are. Lead singer Johnny “Peebucks” Bonnel, at times, whipped the microphone cord so furiously I was worried for his safety and the safety of those around him, Seriously, though, he commanded the stage whilst Darius Koski dominated on lead guitar. At the other end of the stage, Alex, from Toyguitar, contributed on guitar as well. Tony Teixeira, on bass and Luke Ray, added the powerful backline.
The band tore through “As You Start Leaving,” “The Librarians Are Hiding Something,” Windspitting Punk,” “No Eager Men,” “Kick It Over,” and “Deranged.” As the set closed out, Swingin’ Utters ruminated with “Five Lessons Learned,”
“Five lovely lessons learnt today
Coating my throat with the dust of a new day
As the saints pray their lonely way
They’re dead weight lays the passion to waste.”
Pet Needs, from Essex in the United Kingdom, is on only their second tour of the USA. The band’s debut album Fractured Party Music, was produced and mixed by none other than Frank Turner. Turner, both a friend and fan of Pet Needs, also produced its sophomore record Primetime Entertainment.
Crowd members who arrived in time were treated to a killer of a set by musicians whose captivating performance exuded an infectious enthusiasm for their off-stage experiences. Blasting through a set list including “Lost Again,” “Ibiza in Winter,” and “Kayak.” The band also performed “Punk Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Up For Sale.” Whether the band is trying to be ironic or not, I did find it clever that Pet Needs was selling t-shirts with that declaration emblazoned across the front and sported on stage by drummer Jack Lock.
“Doors open
With eyes unfocussed
You coast past the clones of the blokes
You swore you’d never become
And then you catch your reflection.”
Lock and bandmates, the Pet Needs founding brothers Marriott – Johnny and George – and Rich Gutz, made sure to take in take advantage of the close proximity of two Chicago icons. Those being Metro Chicago, and its neighbor a few blocks down, Wrigley Field. The lads took in an afternoon watching the American pastime day earlier, watching the Cubs raise the W against the St. Louis Cardinals, 10-4. Johnny Marriott described his excitement at the prospect of sporting a large foam finger and his surprise that the only ones seemingly sold were to him and two of his three bandmates. But still, the delight in being able to drink beer out of a bat was too good to pass up.
After the set, Jack Lock described how, while taking in a game at the Friendly Confines was wonderful, there was one aspect he found weird. Unlike the football (soccer to those of us in the land of the red, white, and blue) matches in his native land, baseball fans can sit together, no matter what team they follow. Lock, who roots for Ipswich Football Club (congrats on the promotion lads!) was referring to the fact that in football stadiums across the UK, supporters of opposing clubs are prohibited from sitting nearby each other. Or at least, those wearing visiting club kits (jerseys) and those wearing home club kits may be in close proximity to one another during the match. Things tend to get a bit rowdier across the Pond. But in the States, he reported to me, everyone was so welcoming and friendly to each other, no matter which team was preferred. Or even if no preference.
In fact, several English Premier League Kits were spotted in the audience and nary a hint of conflict witnessed.
Hopefully, the next time Pet Needs is visiting these US shores, they will be greeted by larger crowds. The band deserves it and those who missed it, really missed out on something special.
With three highly popular veteran bands and a fourth beginning its breakthrough, I would have predicted a pretty packed venue from the moment of doors opening. Disappointingly, that was not the case. Well, not at the start. Very few people were in the audience by the time the very good opening band, Pet Needs, from the UK, took the stage. This means a whole lot of ticket holders missed out on really fun set with a lot of terrific music performed by charismatic artists. There was also a surprisingly sparse crowd when the legendary Swingin’ Utters kicked off its great set. I know a few who missed it due to reasons beyond their control but surely more could have gotten there in time?
Please see more photos from the show below. Thanks Cheers!
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Dying Scene Photo Gallery: Interview And Museum Overview, Martin Atkins And His Post Punk & Industrial Museum, Chicago, Illinois (07/2023-9/2023).
Dying Scene (DS) first caught up with legendary post-punk and industrial drummer Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd (PiL), Ministry, Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, Brian Brain) at the 47th anniversary celebration of The Alley, an historic staple of Chicago’s underground scene. Between July and September 2023, DS visited Atkins at his aptly named Museum […]
Dying Scene (DS) first caught up with legendary post-punk and industrial drummer Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd (PiL), Ministry, Killing Joke, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, Brian Brain) at the 47th anniversary celebration of The Alley, an historic staple of Chicago’s underground scene. Between July and September 2023, DS visited Atkins at his aptly named Museum of Post Punk & Industrial Music (PPIM) in Chicago. Atkins led tours, told stories, hosted a whiskey and pancake brunch, and sat for an interview over coffee.
Atkins was around for the beginning of punk rock, drove the beat in the development of the post-punk sound in PiL and helped countless punk, post-punk, and industrial bands hit the road and choose their own adventures with his own Invisible Records and his book, Tour:Smart, a road map to touring. Atkins settled in Chicago because he considered this the home of industrial music. In 2021, Atkins formed PPIM to preserve the history of these genres born from punk and steeped in its do-it-yourself (DIY) ethos.
An active participant in Chicago’s underground music scene, Atkins showed his appreciation for The Alley and their shared community. Check out the photo gallery below.
During DS’ first visit to the museum, Atkins led an informative guided tour and shared stories about many items in his vast collection of memorabilia stacked from the floor to the ceiling.
During the second visit, DS was accompanied by a guest who was in from out of town to attend Riot Fest. Atkins sat down with us and talked more about a few items of interest to DS’ punk rock audience. Check out the photo gallery below.
During the third visit, DS had another guest in town for the Cold Waves Festival. Atkins invited fans to hang out for whiskey and pancakes. This treat was served up by the talented Melissa Oquendo from DomiBakeTrix. It was an amazing visit in which Atkins shared details about when he stalked and auditioned for PiL and his time with the band. Check out the photo gallery below.
A Conversation With Martin Atkins
(The language in this interview has been edited for length and clarity.)
Dying Scene: Why did you create the Museum of Post Punk & Industrial Music?
Martin Atkins: So, I..um…I’d spent part of lockdown in the basement doing Zoom sessions. Like a Killing Joke Zoom, a PiL Zoom, a Ministry Zoom, a Pigface Zoom. And pulling different pieces out of boxes to have behind me as a background. And I didn’t want to put any of the pieces back in their boxes, so I kept moving around in the basement creating these areas for Zoom sessions and it occurred to me after a while that I liked being around all this stuff. I like to have it be visible and not in boxes and I wondered what it would be like to set these things up, up here on the ground floor. And kind of, I don’t want to say, on a whim because I’d been thinking of this stuff for a while obviously way. Um, I announced I was starting the museum in a kind of a Nipsey Hussle way, where he had the hundred-dollar mixtape, I had the hundred and twenty-five-dollar founder’s t-shirt. And, I thought that I would see if anybody was interested and lots of people were interested. So, once you announce something, it was I think three months before we then started to set things up, up here on the ground floor and now we’re two and a half years in. Um, I’ve just been completely blown away by people’s enthusiasm, people’s tears, people’s generosity…um..and just the response from people just being in here.
DS: How is it going?
MA: Well, it’s…I mean…it’s so fueling to me. I’m an empathetic person…um…and so…just to sit here. I was sitting here yesterday listening to the Dandy Warhols really loud…just sitting in this space because I’m ADD…just to have stuff revolving and flashing, it just calms me down. Um…but…um…just to see people’s responses…people donating items that are significant and different…like um…Genesis P-Orridge’s (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV) lederhosen from a video we did. These…these…the exhibits keep growing. Um, so, uh, it’s great. It’s turned a lot of ideas on their head. So, yesterday, we had 10 people, which is crowded in the studio, it’s not crowded up here. But, um, yesterday was like a fifteen hundred dollar day for us. So, whereas in the past, 10, 20, 30 years ago and still some people today you think how many people, how many people are we getting through the door. It’s not about the quantity, it’s about the quality, the experience, and we’re seeing how sustainable something like this is on what might seem to somebody like a ridiculously small scale. Like if I said, if I said to you, It’s going great. We had 10 people here yesterday! You’re like, oh, that’s 70 people a week. Lookout! Lookout MoMA! Lookout, lookout! But, it’s sustainable at that level, which is pretty wild.
DS: What has been the response been like from your punk rock supporters?
MA: Um…it’s been interesting. So, there’s a bunch of people on our advisory board and that’s been great to have their input and just them saying, “Yeah. we’ll help however we can.” What’s been surprising has been people I don’t know, like the Dandy Warhols, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nick Mason from Pink Floyd, um…like..fuckin…those people being interested. And um, so…so far, it’s been ridiculously supportive. But like anything, I’ve been doing this for long enough to know I’m sure they’ll be a “Who the fuck does Martin think he is to start this museum,” right? But it’s not the museum of me, it’s the museum of post-punk and industrial. I just happen to have, through all the bands I’ve been in, through all the bands who are on my label Invisible, which is Swans, Psychic TV, Einstürzende Neubauten, etcetera…um..Pig, Sow, Test Dept. I just happen to have this crazy collection of shit. So…so…so far, like I said, it’s been amazing. Um, I would be a fool If I didn’t expect some kind of backlash from some people who…who…uh…you know…I think people have different ideas about what punk is, what post-punk is, what industrial is. And, we’re trying to operate with a museum mindset, so we’re archiving, we’re preserving, we’re trying to enable cross-referencing and other lessons and connections be learned. But, we’re also trying to operate in a post-punk industrial way, so we have a whiskey pancake brunch, pop-up haircuts, which have hair all over the floor. Like things that are the opposite of what, perhaps, a dust-free museum environment should be.
DS: Your life and your museum’s collection has a number pieces related to important punk rock icons. Let’s talk about some of those items. Like John Lydon (Sex Pistols, P.I.L.). Tell me about the time he wore your hospital gown on stage.
MA: Well, he wore that for a whole tour. Um…New York at Roseland, which was a huge show. Uh…Harvey Keitel…uh…Harvey Keitel was there. John made him pay. Just being at Roseland, which is now demolished, um…uh…and he wore it throughout the tour in 82-83. Um…it’s great to see. So, we’re combining some video footage with these pieces to create context. And, um, it’s in better condition, of course, 30 years ago, 83…93…forty years ago. It was in better condition, of course, then. It’s a little bit faded now. But, um, yeah, there’s a bunch of those type things. We also have John screaming at me on my answering machine. You know, there’s all of these different…trying to create a breadth of experience, it’s not just things on a wall you can look at, you know.
DS: The next person is Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat, Fugazi, Pailhead, Dischord Records). Tell me about the letter you received from him.
MA: Well, so, Ian…This is one of the great things about the museum for me is I don’t think I’d met Ian. I don’t think we had talked before but he spent an hour on the phone with me…um…helping to sort through the problems of some…um…some cassette tapes from the early 80s, specifically the two shows we did in Paris with PiL. Um…I was delighted to find this cassette and then you listen to it and it’s, “wub, wub, wub, wub,” unlistenable shit. And so he sent a really supportive letter and a cassette shell to transfer the tape in to with the metal spring with the felt pad that holds the tape against the head. He’s a cassette tape expert. So, it’s just another way in which the museum is this kind of…it’s like a dating service for me…of like introducing me…it’s like Bumble for industrial post-punk. It’s like introducing me to people that were aware of each other…uh…but we haven’t met. So, it’s nice to have that.
DS: So, Henry Rollins (Black Flag, Rollins Band, 2.13.61) Tell me about the ripped-up postcard from him.
MA: Um…I booked Henry to do spoken word in 88 for 60 dollars, which I don’t believe is his fee any longer…uh…in New Brunswick, New Jersey. And so, we stayed in touch and…uh…the postcard is…I’d asked him to be involved in the whichever Pigface album…uh…92, 93 and that’s him saying he regrets he will not be able to be involved. I don’t think he thought for a second I would frame his postcard but I did.
DS: So, I notice that it is torn in half. What happened to the other half?
MA: I don’t know. It wasn’t like a rip. Maybe it’s like I didn’t want my address on it, which is crazy because I haven’t lived in New Jersey for..uh…30 years. But it’s strange that I would do that but…
DS: The next person is Steve Albini (Big Black, Shellac, Electrical Audio). Tell me about the tape machines you got from him.
MA: Well…um…you know Steve was a fixture of alternative, dangerous music in the early 90’s with Big Black and his studio in his house on Francisco. And…um…Geordie Walker and I recorded Killing Joke demos at his studio. Geordie played bass and guitar. I used a drum machine and played drums. And then Steve produced the first Pigface album Gub. He produced my project Murder Inc., which is half of Killing Joke, Ministry, and whatever… Um, and so, somewhere in the 90s, I bought Steve’s 8-track tape machine, and his ¼ inch machine, and his recording console. I bought those from him…um…on condition he would come and help set everything up. So, and I still talk to Steve every once and a while because he has Electrical Audio now.
DS: Let’s talk about Gabe Serbian (The Locust). Tell me about his uniform, his passing, and his contributions to music and your museum.
MA: So, this is, it’s another place where it gets interesting. Two years ago I would never have thought there would be either a drawing of a quarter of the face of the singer of Paul Revere and the Raiders who took Cynthia Plaster Caster’s virginity and she would sketch pieces of his face for the rest of her life. Neither would I have thought that Gabe Serbian, drummer from the Locust, his suit would be here in the museum. But I know Justin Pearson from the Locust and Three One G Records and when Gabe passed, he asked and Gabe’s partner, Katie, asked if his suit, his Locust suit, could be here in the museum. And, um…of course, I agreed. It’s this…there are strange overtones here of almost a memorial garden, in some respects. Um, and of course, I asked Justin, “I’m like of course the suit can be here, do you mind, can I ask why?” And, he’s like yes, of course, we were inspired by all of this shit and so it just made sense for it to reside here. Yeah. And, if you’d seen him play drums…you know I’m a drummer…um, and uh, he would play until he puked. Not in a punk way like uh Rat Scabies from the Damned might do…buugh…you know but just physically almost like an athlete. He would push his body to the very limits of that…yeah.
DS: What message do you have for aspiring music historians, archivists, and museum directors?
MA: Well that’s a lot. Well, ok. So, so just let me add one to that, which is just musicians in general. I think it’s valuable for new musicians, old musicians whatever to come and look at some of this stuff and think about…it’s so easy to put a song up on Spotify now. There are no barriers to entry but there’s 110…120 thousand songs a day going up. So there are no barriers to entry but there barriers to exit…there’s barriers to…for…um…there are, there are physical, insurmountable limitations for people to actually hear your music because there’s another 119 thousand and 99 songs today! And that feels, to me, more significant of a barrier than however we made albums in the 80’s. You know, um, so I would say to musicians, “Come and have a look and think about your next album.” Like, of course, not every album can be packaged the way Metal Box is packaged but I think that’s a great example of pretty fucking ground-breaking music then, slightly now as well. But when you put that music on three 12-inch singles in a metal container with the band logo embossed on the lid it’s kind of one plus one equals 11. It, it’s, it explodes the importance of what it is. So, um, how is your album packaged? You look at the Durutti Column…the sandpaper sleeve. Bizarr Sex Trio, where every single of 750 albums has a completely different sleeve, which is crazy. It’s just time and a bag of speed probably. But, um, so how does your album measure up? I’ve, I’ve hit that point a couple times I think with, um, with the release from the Damage Manual album called Limited Edition. It has this raised plastic sheet sleeve that I’m like holy fuck that’s once in forty years since the Metal Box. But I’m always, that’s my yardstick, is to try like how do I get to this point. So, so I would say that to musicans, like come and have a look around and, and think about a museum of your band. Or at least a room where…are you making things with other creative people that warrant being hung on a wall? Or are you making short-term, strategic efficiency decisions that got nothing to do with creativity really? Are you making those decisions about a poster for your next gig? Are you saying, we’ve sold a hundred tickets, and the place only holds 120 people. We do need to do a poster because the show will do well. I would say you need to do a three-colored glow-in-the-dark, scratch and sniff, hand embroidered, um stained glass poster for five years from now, for 10 years from now, for 30 years from now. And, if you can have that kind of longevity mindset I think it will help you make more of an impact in the moment and more of an impact 10 years from now. Ok, who are the other people? Museum creators? Whew…I don’t know. I bought myself Museums 101 and I’m like I got halfway through it and I felt like I wanted to disrupt the mechanics of museums. But then I find myself slowly getting pulled into a cross-relational database, which two years ago I thought…ugggh…fuck that. But I built this room and I’m happy to sit in this room with other people, scanning things, talking about how this relates to something else, whatever, connecting the dots. So, um, I’m trying to do some dangerous things, one of which was to have Deaf Club stay here. I’m not criticizing Deaf Club. I’m not saying Deaf Club are dangerous. It’s Justin from the Locust. But I let them stay here overnight because I think that, so it’s about impact and experience. So, for a band on the road, you’re lucky to get a hotel room. Everybody’s lucky to get their own bed. And, so, to say, “Hey, you wanna hang out here?” I hope it was an absolute vacation for them to just fucking sit here amongst this shit and not have to pay for a hotel. Right? So, but, but if you think about it…what a crazy fucking thing to do. Have a band stay overnight in your museum? Right? I mean, you know, part of me I love Justin and I trusted him and, of course, they sent me Gabe’s suit. But you gotta say, there’s gotta be a voice in the back of your head waiting for somebody to call me to go, “Have you seen fucking Facebook Live? There’s a hundred, there’s a hundred people in the museum spray painting everything saying punk…fuck punk. It’s on…everything’s on the street and someone started a fire. You know, but, and I think, so I try and lean into those feelings. Uh, and then the next day, uh, Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs messaged me, like “hey we’re coming to town. Can we visit this museum?” And that was directly through, through Justin, you know, so um, so I’m slowly learning to lean into this frightening stuff, to not put everything behind plexiglass. And, uh, you know, I have the Durruti Column album over there in the gift shop and I’m always handing it around for people to, like, it’s weird, it’s obviously sandpaper. But, like, people are…people have to…I think some people think it’s a picture of sandpaper until I make them feel it, which at some point, you know, 10 years from now might be worn out with handprints. But, it’s like, well what else is the purpose of that if you can’t touch it and go, “fucking hell”? So, so it’s, it’s this weird thing like I don’t want the exhibit to wear out. But I want people to touch it.
DS: What is a big lesson you’ve learned from owning and operating a museum?
MA: Uh…the biggest lesson is I don’t know shit. Uh, I mean, uh…I think in the first year I would almost grab people by the hand and wheel them around and show them this…these are the drums from “In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up” and “Head Like A Hole!” Here’s this and here’s that and uh once you leave people alone the craziest shit has so much meaning for people and you can’t predict what it is. I had one guy and I remember thinking…I wanted to say, “Well sorry this wasn’t up to your fuckin’ you know fuck you know, sorry none of this was quite up to scratch.” And as he’s walking in the reception area there was a flight case with a banged up bumper sticker from a radio station in Toronto. And the case, the case was just on its way into the garage or whatever…there’s all kinds of stuff here. And he’s like, “Oh…my God.” And I wanted to say, “Oh my God, the bumper sticker…like, you’re kidding me, you know…are you fucking kidding me?” But it’s like, it’s like whatever presses your button and takes you back to that place. That’s what it is. So you learn to sometimes be quiet. And you learn that you don’t know shit. And I think, I’m like I wouldn’t have minded learning that 20 years ago but I’ll take it. I’ll take it now.
DS: What are your next music projects? Performing, recording, producing, whichever?
MA: Well, so, speaking personally for a minute. What a, what a luxury for me to go and sit in the studio and listen to a gig from 1980 or collage together 17 rolls of two-inch tape of PiL work-in-progress demos or demos and and get a better understanding of what I did and do as a producer with vocals, with lyrics, with arrangements, with strings, with horns, with all the rest of it. So, as part, it’s strange, I thought two and a half years ago, I honestly thought, ok then, this is what I’m doing now…occasional tour guide, “Johnny Rotten this…Trent Reznor ba ba ba…Al Jourgensen…I’ll never forget the day when ba ba ba…” And I honestly, I just thought this will be the end of the creative me and I’ll just be tour guide me. I mean I honestly felt that probably sitting here. And um, but then I wanted to get the Durutti Column sandpaper sleeve album and we have this relationship with Dark Matter Coffee and they wanted to do a special museum blend and I’m like, “Ok.” I want to screen print sandpaper and put the nice bag you made in a screen printed sandpaper bag and I just remember thinking, I just did something I don’t think anybody’s done. There’s reasons you shouldn’t screen print on sandpaper. It destroys the screen from underneath. It’s a nightmare but it’s fucking cool as hell. And I’m like, oh, ok, this is just a different phase of everything. And in amongst all of that, to make a long story short, there’s probably at least a decade where I didn’t go into my studio. And now I’ve been going into it archiving cassettes digitally, do this doing that, taking people in there. And then you go down there with the Dandy Warhols or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and you’ve just been in this room and you kind of connect the dots and go, if I was going to record something, I would want to record in this room, with all of this, literally with all the vibrations of this stuff, the smells, the unlocked vibe that’s in this room. I want to record in this room. I want to record to Steve Albini’s tape machine and I want to do it in this building. So, now we’re looking at throwing some tie lines downstairs to start…it’s almost been a two-year reminder to me of what, what I am when I’m at my most creative. Whether I’m working with another band on songs or producing, whatever… I think I got very nicely side-tracked by education, writing books, and public speaking for 20 years. And I loved it. I love doing that still. But that, the books and the public speaking was why I didn’t go in the studio anymore. And now I’m doing all of that stuff. Sorry, that was a really long answer.
DS: When should we expect your memoirs? And, what era of your life and career would you write about first?
MA: Uh…well…so, I’ve been asked to write, and I understand this from a marketing perspective, I’ve been asked to write the whole fucking thing, which I’m not saying, I’m not attaching any sense of importance to all of the things I’ve done because I’m just old. Right place right time. Um…stuff…uh but that feels like too much for me. I understand why somebody would want a book that’s PiL., Killing Joke, Ministry, Pigface, Nine Inch Nails, the Damage Manual, Murder, Inc., Gravity Kills, ba ba ba ba ba ba… You know that’s an easy book to sell…featuring chapters on ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba. But that’s a lot. I’ve also started thinking in a complete opposite direction of not even doing as I’d planned to do at one point about my five years in PiL. I was thinking about doing my first eight months in PiL, because that’s Metal Box, Paris au Printemps, um…The Old Grey Whistle Test, American tour, American Bandstand, Jah Wobble’s solo album, my first Brian Brain single, which was in the Alternative charts. So much happened in a really short period of time from October to May, the end of May. So, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, May…eight months. Like, that’s whirlwind shit and uh that interests me a little bit as well. So, I’m in a, I’m in a not a great point at the moment. I’m understanding 10…10 chapters of a large book I could write…I might want to take in in little stabs and then if it’s an easy enough thing to join all that together for something in the end.
DS: What are the top five punk, post-punk, and industrial bands you’re listening to this week?
MA: Well, I’m listening, I was listening to this Japanese band called Otoboke Beaver. Have you heard of them? Oh my God! Crazy! Also, Sleaford Mods, still. Uh…I’m going a Dandy Warhols phase…just because I just like them. Uh…I’m been listening to that quite a bit. Um…what are we looking for? Industrial? Um, I’m still very attached a Psychic TV album called Dreams Less Sweet, which I think was just questioning a lot of things. Um…yeah. Was that five? Well, um, the other thing that I’m listening to, strangely, is nothing to do with any of this. I’ve been listening to Steely Dan because my thirteen-year-old, now fifteen-year-old discovered them on his own and we’ve been listening together because he loves them. And so I’ve been strangely going all the way back to that, which I listened to as a 12-year-old before I got into punk…um…so I’ve been listening to some of that. What else am I listening to? Um…I’ve been listening to a lot of Skinny Puppy as well recently um but that’s almost like disassembling things that I have, looking at stuff. So, that’s almost part of my day job if you like.
DS: Do you have any last words for fun?
MA: Come visit. Come visit.
DS had an amazing visit with Martin at his museum. Don’t take our words for it, go check it out and experience it for yourself!
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Dying Scene Photo Gallery: Meth, See You Next Tuesday, Deaf Club, Usurp Synapse, and DJ Speedsick, Thalia Hall, Chicago, Illinois
Chicago’s own Meth headlined a wild night of noisy hardcore punk metal madness “in the round,” where they set up on the floor of Thalia Hall and were surrounded by the crowd for the night. Meth delivered an incredible set and the crowd went wild. Opening bands See You Next Tuesday, Deaf Club, Usurp Synapse, and DJ Speedsick […]
Chicago’s own Meth headlined a wild night of noisy hardcore punk metal madness “in the round,” where they set up on the floor of Thalia Hall and were surrounded by the crowd for the night. Meth delivered an incredible set and the crowd went wild. Opening bands See You Next Tuesday, Deaf Club, Usurp Synapse, and DJ Speedsick brought the magic and didn’t disappoint and Dying Scene was there to witness this show.
See You Next Tuesday is a death core band from Bay City, Michigan. Find them here.
Usurp Synapse is a screamo hardcore band from Lafayette, Indiana. Find them here.
Chicago’s own, DJ Speedsick started the night with his mix of industrial techno, industrial hardcore, and noise music. Find him here.
Thanks for checking this out. Be sure to support your favorite bands and enjoy.