There’s a bit of room to spare
in the column this week, so I thought I’d take advantage of that fact and give
you a bit of a personal update on myself. No, I don’t mean a
list of my favorite foods (popcorn), hobbies (movies) and stance on sex in the
movies (“Don’t like it; makes me drop my popcorn”). Actually, I just wanted to
toss out a little update of relevant points like the fact that after a couple
of years living up north (“lost in North Austin on 183,” if I may plagiarize
another local journalist), I’ve moved back central, within easy walking
distance of the Hole in the Wall, Antone’s, and the Austin Outhouse (not that
the latter will do me any good for long). So you can expect to see me out and
about more than ever (and I don’t mean only at the Hole in the Wall and
Antone’s). The other thing I’ve been meaning to mention is that, yes, I do have
my very own personal e-mail address (dancing@auschron.com) that you
information-age musicians can utilize to get me your information in record time
(keep in mind though, that the old-fashioned 81/2 by 11″ sheet of
paper is still your best value).
Oh, and one more thing I ought to mention: There’s been a change in my salary
– now I get paid by the parenthetical phrase…
…and Carry a Big Club
Emo’s (or at least the building that houses Emo’s has been bought by the owner
of DJ’s, the gay bar on the former site of the Crossing. As I’ve said here
countless times, that in itself won’t mean anything to the club, which has a
lease on the site that extends for another three years. However, the same
person also recently opened Mick’s Mix, a humongous restaurant on the Drag, and
sources indicate that he’s not done with throwing his money around. If he
decides to pay top dollar and buy Eric “Emo” Hartman out of his lease,
the club could end up moving elsewhere – or Mr. Hartman might just decide to
take a lo-o-ong, relaxing vacation. Elsewhere on Sixth Street, this weekend
marks the grand opening of the mammoth Hang ’em High Saloon (featuring Ray
Price), a sort of Broken Spoke for the Nineties. The big question: Can even
a packed house nightly pay for the enormous overhead on this bo-whemoth?
The Bald Truth
It’s now official: Hamell on Trial is a Mercury Records artist.
Though it’s been an assumption since not long after this year’s SXSW, the
papers have finally, as of July 10, been signed. The deal calls for a national
re-release of Ed Hamell’s album Big As Life, originally put out by local
Doolittle Records, followed by two future albums. The releases will be joint
Doolittle/Mercury projects. Big As Life makes its reappearance in early
1996; the first all-new album is due by fall of that year. Hamell and his wife
are said to be settling nicely into their new New York digs.
Nixed Notes
Don’t look for any further information on Spoon in these pages until
leader Britt Daniels gets his head examined. I’m not sure what substance
he’s been sipping out of his spoons, but in a recent phone conversation, he
adamantly denied that the band has been receiving attentions from Geffen
Records, further expressing disgust at a mention in the Statesman linking the two. Very interesting, since one former Spoon member recalls the
Geffen rep very well, while a current member was torn because Geffen’s recent
offer to fly the band out to the coast would conflict with her upcoming
vacation in sunny Spain. Daniels seems to be most interested in plugging the
upcoming Trance single from his side project How to Serve People, with
the only problem there being that Trance owner King Coffey has never
heard of them. After confronting Mr. Daniels with that fact, we
received, on full-color “Trance” stationery, a notice of the new release by
Starfucker, a rather horrid act that has been heard on Daniels’
show on 91.7FM. Unless Coffey has forgotten how to spell his own last name, has
begun referring to himself as an “ex-Butthole Surfer,” and has taken to
signing his correspondence as “the King,” I
think we can assume this new
“Trance” signing is bogus as well. (Coming next from the real Trance:
the last Pain Teens album, Beast of Dreams (10/24), the Cinco
A�os compilation (8/28), a split single from Desafinado and
Windsor for the Derby, and a Furry Things 7-inch).
Zapped Again
Timing out well with Rykodisc’s reissuing of the entire Frank Zappa
catalogue, a whopping 53 albums, locally based Muffin Records is releasing
albums from Zappa cover band Muffin Men featuring Ike Willis, the
soulful singer on most of Zappa’s albums during the Eighties, and The Band
From Utopia, also featuring Willis among a host of other musicians who
played with Zappa over the years (What? No Bozzio?). A number of the
aforementioned musicians also appear on yet a third album, the upcoming disc
Dances With Weasels from Neglected Orphans, starring former
members of the Grandmothers and featuring a Zappa cover (naturally), and
originals like “I Wanna Be a Writer for The Austin Chronicle” (Don’t
ask me – I haven’t heard it yet).
The Sound of Sweatbox
Scratch that recent blurb about Euripides Pants‘ (and former Sin
City Disciples) member Brett Ingle moving back to Kansas. The trip
has been aborted thanks to swift action from Sweatbox Studios owner Mike
Vasquez. After learning of Ingle’s upcoming departure, he rushed to inform
the band that his new Sweatbox Records was open for business, that he had
netted an international distribution deal, and that he wanted to sign the Pants
as one of his debut acts. Given the situation, Ingle decided it was worth his
while to stay in Austin a bit longer. The Pants will be recording for Sweatbox
the first two weeks in August, and Vasquez has already produced a test CD of
his first release on the label, an album by trio the Knievels. He’s also
talking with several more acts, including Tim Kerr vehicles
Monkeywrench and Lord High Fixers, New York’s
Stratotanker, and Big Horny Hustler.
Mixed Notes
You say that Euripides Pants staying in town still doesn’t provide you with
all the lounge you need in your life? Well, rejoice in the fact that the
Useless Playboys have moved into Austin for the summer. They’ve already
played at the Continental Club last week, but if you didn’t catch the show,
maybe you don’t know that they’ve changed their name. The current moniker to
peel your eyeballs for is Action Slax… Say goodnight to the Gibby
Haynes/Robbie Jacks morning show on 101X, for the very reason you didn’t
know that it was off. Turns out Gib could manage to stay awake for the show,
but the appropriate audience couldn’t. The team has moved to the 10pm-2am slot,
a “more flexible” time period according to 101X’s Sara Trexler, who says
that Gib “needs creative freedom” that couldn’t be afforded him during the
vital morning drive-time when the formula tends to be hit-after-hit. Maybe now
I’ll get to hear the show, finally… Velvet Hammer have delayed
the release of their debut CD to the fall. The reason: They’re adding live
tracks, to be recorded at Steamboat on a couple of nights including this coming
Monday… Derek O’Brien phoned in a hello to Antone’s during the
anniversary celebration this week since he was unable to attend for reason of
incarceration. Look for a free O’Brien in September. The final “Tribute to
Stubbs” benefit comes at Antone’s next Wednesday with proceeds to help
Stubbs’ widow cover bills and funeral expenses (as time marches on, the Stubbs
Barbecue bus is now Euripides Pants’ tour bus). Performing will be the
Keepers (Jesse Taylor, Ponty Bone), Sarah Elizabeth
Campbell, Storyville, and is that Joe Ely I see? (Look
for the Ely name to be splashed around liberally in the upcoming months as his
new album nears release)… The vinyl version of the Stretford album
comes out next week. In a reversal of the usual proceedings, the LP contains a
bonus track not available on the CD. The band plays at the New Guild Coop with
the Fuck Emos, Chachi Face, and Systems of Ten this Saturday.
More Stretford news in a few weeks… A new batch of singles are out from
Unclean Records, including a Crown Roast three-songer, a new one from
the Dropouts, and my nominee for the shortest single of the year, the
Inhalants‘ “Kill You”/”Automatic Pilot” 7-inch, clocking in at a total
of three minutes and 17 seconds… Here’s which song Ed Hall have chosen
for their video: It’s “Weirdo,” despite the fact that everybody else agrees
that “Pollution” is “the” song on the new album… The Skatenigs say
they’ll continue “biding our time” for the nonce, having recently completed
recording some demos at Ben Blank Studios at the behest of RCA Records… The
second session of the Austin Songwriters’ Group’s Summer Songwriting Series is
this Saturday at the Omni Hotel from 11am-6pm. The session features workshops
and panel discussions on songcraft and opportunities to meet with industry pros
fron L.A. and Nashville. Call 512/338-1200 for more information… Michael
Ballew has a break back home in Austin between tours of Germany and
Austria. He just returned from one trip to the Bavarian Belt and will be
heading back there on August 7, supporting his current CD, You Better Hold
On. A highlight of his recent touring was a Budapest gig with Austin
bassist Steve Carter and an additional coterie of Hungarians…
OOPS! OOPS! OOPS! OOPS!
The Sixth Street “riot” I mentioned last week apparently did not involve
actual members of Crash Worship, as I was told by White Rabbit’s
Jordan Silber. Rather, members of Copro Lingus, who say they are
friends of Crash Worship (who are currently on tour in Europe), have claimed
responsibility for the act. Also, management for Machine Screw says that
the band had cancelled their upcoming White Rabbit shows before the incident
occurred, in preparation for recording of a new album, possibly for Warner
Brothers…
This article appears in July 14 • 1995 and July 14 • 1995 (Cover).