BGNB

shirt fresh

ww

w.st

icky

ricef

an.co

m

ww

w.st

icky

ricef

an.co

m

7018

58

50

24

36

9

INTRODUCES:

IF YOU WALKED, BIKED, OR RODE THE BUS TO OUR STORE,

ask the cashier for your credit.

25c ENVIROCREDIT

CHANGE FOR A TENTalking about change and actually making change are two dif-ferent things. Oftentimes people have the right intentions but lack the follow-through necessary to fully realize their visions. The people behind ART 180 are a different breed altogether. Between the staff and the countless people who volunteer their time, this group has been actively trying to make a sub-stantial difference in the lives of young people in challenging environments through art programs and activities. When we found out about ART 180’s Change for a Ten program, we had to get behind it.

Change for a Ten is a city wide fundraising program for ART 180, in which they are asking all of us to use a rectangle the size of a $10 bill to express what change we would like to see in our city, and submit it along with $10. Our submissions will

then be exhibited at VCU’s Brand Center, and our monetary contributions will go to help fund further community projects.

As a magazine, we try to focus on the most inspiring art around our city, and this time around we would like to ask you, our readers, to contribute your art. These are some of the ones that our staff and our friends have made.

As a city we can help make a difference in the lives of young people who need it, even if we aren’t directly involved. Help make a change. -Brandon

The exhibition / anniversary celebration is 10/10/08 at VCU’s Brandcenter (103 S. Jef-ferson St. Richmond, VA 23284), 7 p.m. and free to the public!

All submissions must be sent in by 9/22/08 or dropped off at one of the participating locations.

Check out www.art180.org/ten and the ART 180 blog (changeforaten.blogspot.com) to learn more about the project or to download a template.

1 2

1 3

OURA “TRUST ME”

BEN MURI “MORE BIKES”

BETh GORlEy “WE NEEd MORE hEROES”

PARKER “UNTITlEd”

AdAM JURESKO “UNTITlEd”

1 4

KAT STEWART “UNTITlEd”

ChRISTIAN dETRES “UNTITlEd”

JEFF SMACK “UNTITlEd”

BRANdON PECK “GREEN SCENE”

IAN M. GRAhAM “WINdMIllS ANd WU TANG” R. ANThONy hARRIS “PROGRESS?”

JOhN REINhOld “SNOTTy FOR hOPE”

BAylEN FORCIER “UNTITlEd”

SCOTT WhITENER (AGE 28) “dOGS ON TRAMPOlINES”

1 5

Fest

R i c h m o n d

ZineT he 2007 R i c hmond Z ine Fes t f ea tu r ed 45 vendor s f r om a l l ove r V i r g in i a and the U.S. , two wor kshops and r ead ings by no ted z ines te r s A r i e l Go r e and Ch ina Mar tens. Mor e than 250 peop le a t tended l as t yea r ’ s z ine f es t , wh i c h was sp r ead ou t a long two loca t ions on the 1600 b loc k o f Wes t B road S t r ee t .

T he 2008 R i c hmond Z ine Fes t w i l l be he ld on Sa tu r day, Oc tober 11 , f r om 11 a .m . to 5 p.m . a t the Gay Commun i t y Cen te r o f R i c h -mond , a t 1407 Sherwood Ave . T he e ven t i s f r ee to the pub l i c . T her e w i l l a l so be f r ee co f f ee on hand , and vegan food w i l l be av a i l ab le fo r pur chase a t a sma l l p r i ce .

W h at ' s a z i n e f e s t e x a c t ly ?

A z ine f es t i s a ga the r ing wher e z ine c r ea to r s , sma l l com ic , sma l l p r ess c r ea to r s and z ine d i s t r os come toge ther to se l l and/o r t r ade the i r c r ea t ions ( the c ho i ce o f whe ther to se l l t he i r z i ne o r t r ade i t i s up to each i nd i v idua l z i nes te r. D i s t r os gen -e r a l l y have to se l l z i nes , because they ’ r e beho lden to o the r z ines te r s whose z ines they a r e se l l i ng) . T her e a r e wor kshops concer n ing z ines and o the r D IY sk i l l s o r ma t te r s , as we l l as z ines te r s r ead ing f r om the i r z i nes o r books. Z ine f es t s a r e a l so open to the pub l i c .

www. r i c hmondz ine fes t .o r gwww.myspace . com/r v az ine fes tr i c hmondz ine fes t@yahoo.comSna i l ma i l : P.O. Box 35501 / R i c hmond , VA 23235 USA

There are cerTain arTisTs who can'T jusT sTick To one Thing. Their creaTiviTy has To be har-nessed inTo differenT chan-nels, using differenT mediums, during differenT siTuaTions. chris milk hulberT is one of Those Types. wheTher iT be Through drawing, painTing, playing gui-Tar, crafTing songs, singing, or puTTing TogeTher puppeT shows, chris is consTanTly creaTing. i

goT a chance To siT down wiTh chris in his sTudio and pick his brain abouT his cre-aTive process and his many ouTleTs.

when people

become buildings

an inTerview wiTh

chris milk

hulberT by parker phoTos by iam m. graham

parker: What is your ear liest memory of being inf luenced to create ar t?

chris milk hulberT: A lot of my inspiration, I think, subconsciously from my ear lier years was from children’s books, books I read as a kid. It wasn’t until people star ted saying that my work reminded them of children’s book il-lustrations that it really occur red to me. My mom star ted showing me some of the books I had as a kid, and I star ted seeing a lot of elements that were present in my work. I didn’t star t painting until I was 24. I think a lot of that stuf f was just sitting in the back of my head. I didn’t go to school for ar t, and I don’t know ar tists very well. I couldn’t tell you Rembrandt from Renoir.

p: What are some of your cur rent inf luences?

cmh: I feel l ike it envelops everything, but I tr y to stay away from over t inf luences. I tr y not to look at other ar tists too much or have my inf luences be too prominent. I tear things out of magazines and I sketch things down. Right now my biggest inf luences are the things happening in the imme-diate wor ld around me: Oregon Hill, the river, the houses around here. I’ ve gotten into birding in the past couple of months…so really it’s more the immediate ‘natural’ wor ld. I don’t mean ‘natural’ l ike f lowers and all that, but what’s around me: my back yard, my front yard, my porch, the two blocks leading to the river. That’s af fecting me right now especially having just moved back into Oregon Hill after 10 years, seeing how it’s changed and tr ying to capture the es-sence of it. The river has been a real driving force behind what I’m doing right now.

p: What are some characters or images that continue to pop up in your work?

1 9

cmh: The river is in pretty much every piece. What’s dif ferent about this par-ticular body of work is I star ted working on it months ago before I moved back to Oregon Hill, and I was painting people. Usually my work is almost all people, characters that are anonymous and mostly at natural, beautiful moments of be-ing at rest. I got about halfway through painting this show, and I got fed up with the people. I star ted painting over them. So, most of these paintings have had people in them. But I didn’t want people in them even though I’ ve spent my entire career painting people. So, hats became bird wings, hands became fences, nipples became f lowers, teeth became tombstones. People became empty houses or trees. I was letting the original paintings guide me while at the same time covering them up. I was even going as far as taking paintings and cutting them in half or

four pieces, which was weird for me. I’ ve never painted over my paintings or ever took a saw and cut through them. In a way it’s l ike operating on your child, but in a way it’s very invigorating. So, a lot of this show is realizing I didn’t want people. It’s more about being isolated, being by myself. At the end no one wil l be able to tell, but I’ l l know that they were there. I’ l l know that porch was once a head.

p: What about the birds? You said you’ve been watching a lot of birds lately.

cmh: Birds have always been a prominent thing, but I’ ve gotten more into tr ying to cap-ture actual species that I see. Before I would paint birds in a generic way with two wings and a football shape. That was fine for a while but now I’ ve gotten to the point where it has to be a bird that I saw here in the neighborhood or at the river and get sketches. It’s been a challenge for me because I never went to ar t school. I don’t feel l ike I know how to paint the same way

2 0

a lot of people learn to paint. So, it’s been a challenge to capture all of a bird’s markings and say that it’s a sharp-shinned kite for example.

p: What would you say is one of the most frustrating things about being an ar tist?

cmh: I guess that it’s such a lonesome pursuit. I have to make every decision by myself, which of course is the draw of painting for me, too. I’m not working on someone else’s project or par t of someone else’s thing. It’s me from beginning to end. I have to rely on myself and sometimes it gets so draining. I constantly second guess myself. Also, just sitting in a room for 8 or 9 hours a day and sometimes questioning why I’m even doing all of this. There’re so few moments of c larity or joy with painting and more anxiety and wor ry. I’ l l be in my studio painting and look out the window and see people going to work and then coming home. What do these people think of me? I’m sitting here in my boxer shor ts and an apron with a bunch of cans of paint. They probably think I’m a bum. It’s such a weird pursuit. Sometimes I think I should be working a job and making money where I’m having a normal paycheck coming in.

On the other hand painting is a chance for me to get some nails, some pieces of wood and some paint and make something that is so dimensional and has so much going on. It was a blank piece of wood and now it has a thousand paint marks. There’re also those moments of being in “the zone” or whatever people want to call it. That place where everything just feels so good and energizing. Where the paintbrush just roams freely. A lot of times I feel l ike the paintings were already there. I’m just taking a wet brush and the painting is just surfacing. Those moments make it wor thwhile.

p: Do you approach a painting with a plan or a sketch and then see how it evolves?

cmh: Yeah. I l ike a lot of free f l ight because I l ike to be surprised at the end. I don’t l ike the idea of know-ing exactly how it’s going to look. I’ ve painted some smaller paintings in the past that way, and it’s not that enjoyable for me. These days I’ l l paint over a painting if it’s too close to what I thought it was going to be and there’s not that surprise at the end.

p: What mediums do you use and why?

cmh: House paint, some acrylics, and some metall ic paint. I use those materials because that’s how I star ted painting. I’ ve always been into drawing and always would keep a sketchbook. But when I was 24 I was house painting and had tons of scraps of woods, tons of leftover paint. I was doing more il lustration, comics, and posters but suddenly I was dabbling into painting. So I found myself with my fir st studio.

2 1

I l ike to paint on wood because of the sheer rigidity of it. I hate how canvas has that trampoline ef fect. The down side is when you do paintings that are 6 feet tall it can get pretty heavy. The good side is I can go in with that circular saw and cut them into smaller pieces.

p: How do you know when a painting is finished?

cmh: Because the show is the next day. I’ l l paint until the very last minute. I’ l l know when a painting is done but it’s hard not to paint beyond that point. That’s why I don’t ever work on one painting at a time from beginning to end. I’m usually working on anywhere from 3 to 20 paintings all at the same time. The finish wil l happen naturally. By the end I’ l l have a more cohesive body of work.

p: You listen to music while you work. Do you think that’s impor tant to your process?

cmh: I can’t do it without it. I’ ve tried. It’s everything. It’s par t of the dance. That stimulus helps me get in that space.

p: You’re a musician yourself. What do you play?

cmh: I play guitar and sing. It all springs from years of a “really private, in my room” origin where I’d c lose the doors, windows, drapes and sing really quiet to myself. I’ ve always been fascinated by music and songwriting. I f inally got to the point when I l ived in New York of wanting to find a way to be the performer that I never allowed myself to be. I’ ve never felt l ike a musician but just a guy that plays guitar and kind of writes some songs.

I also have a musical puppet show called Huckiddy Pup-pet Theatre. It’s my way to be the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the cur tain. I can literally duck down, hide myself, hold my hand up, have a mic with me and let a proxy do the work for me.

The fir st show was in 1998. I was talking to a friend of mine who was a stand-up comedian, and she was asking me what I was in to. I basically l ied and star ting talking about the puppet show as if it was in preproduction. It’s stuf f I’d been thinking about but hadn’t star ted. She asked me to open up for her on a pre-tour show. I ran home that night and star ted figuring out how to make puppets and wrote a script. I made a stage. That fir st show was a ter rible catastrophe.

p: How has it evolved?

cmh: It’s gotten less catastrophic and a lot smoother. My sister and I were living in Providence, Rhode Island. We saw a puppet show and decided we could do a better puppet show. We did a couple of shows with the two of us and a guitar player. We both moved back to Rich-mond and did it with the same format. It’s expanded over the years to include other musicians. I think at one point it was with a 7-member band.

p: The Huckiddy Puppet Theatre is a collaboration ef-for t where you bring other people in as compared to your painting. The music and the puppets obviously relate. How do you see those things relate to your paintings or is it completely disconnected?

2 2

cmh: It’s both. The puppet shows gives me a chance to work with other people. My sister is 50 percent of it. She’s the other central character. We sit down and write the stories together, but a lot of it is improv where we just bounce off of each other. Then the musicians come in and I’ l l go over it all with them but also let them come up with their own par ts. It becomes a great way to work with other people.

With having the painting show and the puppet show running concur rently it gives me a chance to spend a day by myself in the studio, going crazy and freaking out. Then I can go two nights a week where I’m stil l making ar t but there’re people there to bounce ideas off of. I can have all the things I don’t have when I paint.

The above conversation was also fi lmed and will be on an upcoming episode of “The Process” which is an ar tist documentary series on RVAtv.net.

“Nickel” New Paintings by Chris Milk Hulber t opens at Ghostprint Galler y on Oct. 3rd from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. and runs through Oct. 25th. More of his work can be seen at www.chrismilkhulber t.com.

Ghostprint Galler y (www.ghostprintgaller y.com) is located at 220 W. Broad St., Richmond, VA 23220. Hours are Wednesday-Saturday from 1 p.m.-7 p.m. or by appointment. (804) 344-1557

Huckiddy Puppet Theatre’s new show “Penny” can be seen on Sun-day, Oct. 5th at Galler y5’s Carnival of 5 Fires’ Sunday Spaghetti Dinner Theater at 7 p.m. sharp.

Galler y5 (galler y5@galler y5ar ts.org)is located at 200 W. Marshall St. Richmond, VA 23220.(804) 644-0005

2 3

wa n t s y o u t o

Photo by Gus L inzo

Bor n i n Sandpo in t , I daho, R . N i c ho las Kuszyk and h i s f am i l y moved to A laska when he was an i n f an t . He was e lec ted A laska ’ s 11 th gover nor i n 2006 , mak-ing h im the f i r s t f ema le gover nor and the younges t gover nor i n the s ta te ’ s h i s to r y. Kuszyk ea r ned h i s bache lo r ’ s degr ee i n j ou r na l i sm f r om the Un i ve r -s i t y o f I daho, wher e he m inor ed i n po l i -t i c s . He moved bac k to he r hometown o f Was i l l a , A l aska , wher e he became an av id p ipe l aye r and a two- te r m mayor f r om 1992-96 .

In 2002 , Kuszyk f i n i shed second in a fou r-way r ace to become l i eu ten -an t gover nor. Fr ank Mur kowsk i won the guber na to r i a l r ace tha t yea r and gave up h i s l ong-he ld Sena te sea t m id -te r m , wh i c h Kuszyk i n te r v i e wed to f i l l . Mur kowsk i appo in ted Kuszyk as the e th i cs commiss ioner o f t he A laska O i l and Gas Commiss ion , wher e he se r ved f r om 2003 to 2004 be fo r e r es ign ing ove r wha t he ca l l ed the “ l ac k o f e th i cs” on the pa r t o f t he s ta te ’ s Repub l i can l eader s . Kuszyk de fea ted Mur kowsk i i n the Repub l i can p r imar y fo r gover nor i n 2006 and then de fea ted h i s Democr a t i c opponen t , fo r mer Gov. Tony Know les , by 17 ,000 vo tes i n the gener a l e l ec t i on . Kuszyk and h i s husband , Todd , have f i ve c h i l d r en . T he i r o ldes t j o ined the A r my l as t yea r and the i r younges t was bor n i n Apr i l 2008 . I n h i s spar e t ime , Kuszyk en joys hun t ing and f i sh ing, p ipe l ay ing, and he i s a l i f e t ime member o f t he NRA .

“Hug Your Junk” New wor k by N ic k Kuszyk opened at ADA Ga l le r y on Sept . 5 th and r uns through the end o f the month .(ADA) Ar t i s ts Downtown AccessGa l le r y Hour s :Thur sday-Fr iday-12 p.m. - 6 p.m.Saturday 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.Sunday 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.(804) 644-0100To check out more o f N ic k ’s robot madness go to www.r robots.com

“Ho ld ing the Fu tu r e o f Wha t We Accomp l i shed Separ a te”

2 6

“P lane ta r y P i l f e r ca t ion Ba lance”

2 7

“Cer ebr emon ia l ” “P i l e Separ a t ion Co lo r Tes t”

2 8

2 9

urban riding gear www.chromebags.com

Chrome Riding KnickersTM

And Justice For Y’allCatching up with the HotdamnsLauren Vincel l i Photos by P.J. Sykes

T h i s Oc tober R i c hmond ’s own a l t - coun t r y r oc ke r s , T he Ho tdamns, a r e s l a t -ed to r e lease a fo l l ow up to the i r 2007 EP Vanqu i shed . Wi th the same nar r a t i ve ,

d r amat i c ba l l ad s t y l e o f t he i r l as t a lbum in m ind , T he Ho tdamns se t ou t once aga in w i th John Mor and f r om R i c hmond ’s Sound o f Mus i c S tud ios to make a ne w fu l l -l eng th r ecord . I had a c hance to s i t i n fo r one day o f t he i r r ecord ing sess ion .

T he Ho tdamns ’ f i r s t r ecord ing, Vanqu i shed , was heav i l y i n f l uenced by c l ass i c coun t r y ba l l ads. S t i l l i t showed a b r oad r ange o f mus i ca l s t y l es w i th in the genr e . Vanqu i shed fea tu r ed so f te r, swee te r, mor e con temp la t i ve songs l i ke , “Poor Lau -r i e , ” and “Mr. W i l l i ams” and r o l l i ng gu i t a r an thems l i ke “Wa l k . ” I t a l so p layed the du l ce t , t h r oa ty vo i ce o f s i nger /p iano p laye r Dan ie l l e “Dan i ” Ahar t , 26 , aga ins t the wh i skey tenor o f Dav id Reed Hughes , 26 , i n due t s t y l i ngs , as we l l as so lo t r ac ks.

W i th Hughes and Ahar t bac ked on tha t a lbum by Jay L indsey, 25 , s teady on bass and Fr ank Guer t l e r, 30 , on d r ums, Vanqu i shed i s a shor t bu t swee t r em inder o f some o f the bes t coun t r y mus i c i ans f r om Pa tsy C l i ne to Hank Wi l l i ams, w i th a mod-e r n , tongue- in - c heek tw i s t i n songs l i ke , “Yankee by B i r th (Sou ther n a t Hear t ) . ”

T he i r ne w a lbum, …And Jus t i ce fo r Y ’a l l , w i l l s t i l l show T he Ho tdamns ’ coun t r y r oo ts , bu t i t w i l l a l so m i x i n o the r, mor e v a r i ed i n f l uences f r om funk to punk r oc k . Jo ined now by Ke l sey M i l l e r, 26 , on l ead gu i t a r and f i dd le and Je f f Lay, 28 , on d r ums, these ne w member s have b r ough t the i r own mus i ca l p r owess , i n f l uences and exper i ence to make T he Ho tdamns sound we l l r ounded and fu l l . Hughes says tha t the ne w a lbum w i l l show how the band has p r ogr essed s ince r ecord ing the EP.

“ I t ’ s ha rd to have an ove r a r ch ing theme w i th th r ee d i f f e r en t w r i t e r s , ” L indsey sa id . “T he ne w a lbum i s abou t th ings tha t have happened to us. How we have c hanged s ince the l as t a lbum. We wer e s t i l l com ing toge ther as a band then . Now, we have go t ten to know each o the r be t te r and become mor e con f iden t i n our ab i l i t i e s . Our ea r ly coun t r y sound was so r t o f a secur i t y b lanke t tha t we don’ t need any mor e . T he l as t r ecord had a ‘50s coun t r y i n f l uence , our r oo ts . T h i s r ecord has e ve r y th ing, ‘70s funk , c l ass i c r oc k , R&B .” La te r Hughes to ld me how he though t T he Ho tdamns had p rogr essed .

“We have p r ogr essed i n e ve r y poss ib le way. We wer e a fou r-p iece o f decen t song wr i t e r s ; now, J ay i s a beas t o f a bass p laye r, Dan ie l l e i s a be t te r p iano p laye r and I ’ ve become p r e t t y decen t a t wha t I do. Ke l sey came in and f i l l ed i n a l o t o f t he gaps , be -cause he i s a good songwr i t e r and mus i c i an . Now Je f f has come in and r ea l l y wor ked ou t the rhy thm sec t ion . He has a pass ion . He i s a lways th ink ing abou t mus i c . He ’ s a lways e i the r p lay ing on a p r ac t i ce pad o r r ead ing Moder n Dr ummer Magaz ine .

Bo th Ahar t and Hughes have a bac kground as so lo pe r fo r mer s .

“When you ’ r e p lay ing so lo, you have to be the rhy thm sec t ion and the me lody. I t ’ s ha rd , ” Ahar t sa id , s i t t i ng on a r ed l ea the r couch i n the m i x ing r oom. Hughes ’ en t i r e so lo se t has become a pa r t o f T he Ho tdamns ’ r eper to i r e . T hough he s t i l l occas iona l l y p lays as a so lo a r t i s t he sa id he f ee l s tha t now h i s wor k l ac ks some-th ing w i thou t the o the r s .

Hughes jo ined T he Ho tdamns a f te r Ahar t asked h im to j o in them fo r a p r ac t i ce . He sa t ou ts ide o f t he i r p r ac t i ce space l i s ten ing to them p lay fo r 20 m inu tes un t i l he dec ided he l i ked wha t he heard . T he nex t to j o in was M i l l e r, who b rough t a bac kground in c l ass i ca l v io l i n and punk bass to the g r oup. T h i s i s M i l l e r ’ s f i r s t i n tens i ve s tud io exper i ence . “ I s t i l l p l ay as i f we wer e toge ther on s tage ,” he sa id . “ I know we can go bac k and do i t be t te r i f we need to. T ha t ’ s bo th te r -r i f y i ng and comfor t i ng. ”

Guer t l e r l e f t t he g r oup and then Je f f Lay was aud i t i oned fo r the open d r um-mer pos i t i on . He has b r ough t a punk r oc k bac kground and a r ea l ded i ca t ion w i th h im .

“ I wasn’ t su r e I was go ing to ge t i t , ” Lay sa id . “T hey t r i ed one o the r pe r son , a p r od ig y, who was j us t amaz ing. ”

“You can teach someone to be a badass d r ummer, bu t you can’ t t each them

3 4

to have hear t , ” Ahar t cu t i n .

“Dude was ded i ca ted , ” L indsey agr eed , nodd ing to Lay, s i t t i ng nex t to h im on the couch .

La te r Ahar t paced i n the s tud io, ba r e foo t . Her eyes , l i ned w i th b lac k ca t -eye makeup, sh i f t ed ne r vous ly as she d r ank f r om a mug. She began war m ing up, and sang the c hor us o f t he ne w song, “T ha t Wh i c h Doesn’ t Make Us S t r onger. ” Dur ing war m up her vo i ce was ve r y obv ious ly a f f ec ted by he r cu r r en t head co ld . T he concer n ove r whe ther he r vo i ce w i l l ho ld up was appar en t as she made her way i n to the s tud io f r om the m i x ing r oom. She took he r p lace on a squar e pa t te r ned r ug i n f r on t o f a c h r ome m ic r ophone .

T he l i gh ts wer e low, j us t a sma l l spo t l i gh t on he r, and she s l i pped on head-phones. She answer ed ques t ions f r om the o the r r oom tha t on ly she cou ld hear. T he r oom was qu ie t . She took a deep b r ea th , coun t ing i n he r head , and then began to s i ng. Fr om wher e I sa t , a l l I cou ld hear was he r pa r t . T he l a r ge s tud io was sp layed ou t beh ind he r w i th v a r ious p ianos and o r gans l i n i ng the wa l l s , ge t t i ng da r ke r and dar ke r. Her vo i ce was ha rd ly a f f ec ted . She be l t ed ou t c l ea r voca l s , a song o f l ove and loss .

La te r, i n the m i x ing r oom, Lay, L indsey and M i l l e r sa t l i s t en ing to Ahar t ’ s t akes f r om the o the r r oom. Look ing l i ke expec tan t f a the r s they wr ung the i r hands and r ubbed the i r f aces. T her e was an a i r o f exc i t ement and suspense .

“You can te l l when someth ing i s go ing to be awesome ,” sa id L indsey. “ I can’ t wa i t to hear i t f i n i shed .” He looks to h i s band mates and g r inned .

T he Ho tdamns w i l l p l ay R i c hmond Sep tember 22 , a t T he Tr ip l e w i th Accord ion Dea th Squad and the H igh S t r ee t Low l i f es . Adm iss ion i s $5 . T he Tr ip l e i s l oca ted a t 3306 W. B road S t . (804) 359-7777 . Fo r mor e i n fo abou t T he Ho tdamns v i s i t www.myspace . com/ theho tdamnsr -v a . S tay tuned fo r mor e i n fo abou t the r e lease o f t he i r ne w a lbum …And Jus t i ce fo r Y ’a l l .

3 5

Chr i s t Bops t Pho tos by Chr i s Sm i th

B io R i tmo en te r ed my l i f e when my l i f e was com ing to an end . I had spen t a l i t t l e mor e than e igh t yea r s p lay ing, r ecord ing and tour ing w i th my band a t the t ime (T he A l t e r Na t i ves) and , as a co l l e c t i ve un i t , we wer e done . I t was a pa in fu l t ime fo r a l l o f us , bu t i t was a pa r t i cu la r l y pa in fu l t ime fo r me as I was the one ou t o f t he th r ee o f us who mos t d idn’ t wan t i t t o come to an end . I t was my l i f e and I was c r ushed . To ta l l y and comp le te ly c r ushed . T he ensu ing weeks a f t e r our dem ise wer e wrough t w i th d i squ ie t i ng f ee l -i ngs o f wor th lessness. I had never conce i ved o f my l i f e ou ts ide o f t he band and now, he r e I was , w i thou t the g r oup tha t had come to de f i ne my ex i s tence , and fo r the f i r s t t ime i n my l i f e , I had no c lue as to wha t I shou ld do w i th my days. A l l I e ve r d id up to tha t po in t was p lay i n a band . Now I had to come up w i th an encor e . T he d r ummer I had been p lay ing w i th ( J im T homson) d idn’ t spend as

Bio Ritmogoes Bionico

3 7

Puer to R i co tha t seemed to appear as i f ou t o f nowher e (Gabo Tomas in i ) and my r a i sed i n an app le o r chard fo r mer band mate ( J im T homson) i n to a dev as ta t i ng ly p r ec i se La t i n rhy thm mach ine . I l l us t r a to r Shade Wi l son ( the gen ius beh ind the s t r i p, “T he S t r ange Ones” tha t was f ea tu r ed i n the l a te , g r ea t R i c hmond month ly, T h r o t t l e ) was r ec r u i t ed to p lay bass and , w i th the add i t i on o f genu ine f i r s t c l ass mus i c i ans Char l i e K i l pa t r i c k on p iano, Ga r y Jones on sax & f l u te and Rene Her r e r a on t r ombone , B io R i tmo was comp le te . T h rough sheer de te r m ina t ion , Jo r ge had w i l l ed the band in to ex i s tence . I don’ t mean to sugges t tha t the o the r member s o f t he g r oup wer e doc i l e sheep. A l l t hose guys added someth ing v i t a l t o the m i x , bu t i f i t we r e no t fo r the i r sp i r i t ed , i n tense ly mot i v a ted l eader, t he band wou ld have been j us t ano ther good idea i ns tead o f the r ea l i t y they became and s t i l l a r e today. Jo r ge a l so i n t r oduced sa l sa g r ea ts such as Joe Cuba , T i to Puen te , t he Apo l l o Sound and many o the r s i n to my mus i ca l vocabu la r y. Fo r tha t a lone I am e te r na l l y g r a te fu l to h im . I ’ l l ne ve r fo r ge t the l ec tu r e and per fo r -mance by the l egendar y Puer to R i can mus i c i an Ray Bar r e t to I saw in DC w i th the guys i n R i tmo, on Jo r ge ’ s i ns i s tence . To th i s day, I ’ ve ne ver seen anyone p lay a conga l i ke tha t . I t was one o f t hose r a r e moments i n mus i c when you know w i th a l l ce r ta in t y tha t you a r e i n the p r esence o f g r ea tness. T he i r i n i t i a l g lo r ious sp lendor i s cap tu r ed on the i r debu t r e lease f r om 1995 , Que S iga La Mus i ca . T h ings came easy fo r those guys. T hey wer e the on ly game in town when i t came to any th ing e ven r emote ly La t i n , and they wer e i n h igh demand . No t on ly cou ld they pac k the seed ies t punk r oc k d i ves , R i tmo cou ld a l so p lay h igh pay ing soc ie t y g igs w i thou t se l l i ng the i r sou l s . T ha t i s a m igh ty ha rd t r i c k to pu l l o f f, and they d id i t w i th ease . I s t i l l l i s t en to tha t f i r s t r ecord ing and though i t i sn’ t pe r fec t , I wou ld de f i n i t e l y pu t i t up as the one o f t he bes t r ecord ings any band in R i c hmond has made in the l as t 20 year s . I t s tands the tes t o f t ime .

much t ime as I d id wa l l ow ing i n despa i r. He s imp ly d id wha t any d r ummer does when one o r the i r bands ceased to ex i s t ; he j o ined ano ther band . He had a lways manned the d r um se t fo r o the r mus i ca l i nca r na t ions dur ing our t ime toge ther, bu t none o f these o the r g r oups e ve r cou ld pe r suade h im to d i t c h our th ing no mat te r how hard they t r i ed . T h i s t ime was d i f f e r en t . Our f r i end , Puer to R i can na t i ve Jo r ge Negron , had assembled a g r oup o f pe r cus -s ion i s t s i n the hopes o f t r ans fo r m ing thorough ly wh i te b r ead r oc ke r s i n to a bona f i de sa l sa g r oup. Wh i l e th i s c r oss -po l l i na t i on o f mus i ca l i n f l uence wou ld seem s t r ange to the un in i t i a ted i n the pos t -N i r v ana e r a i n R i c hmond , i t made sense . T hough many o f t he c i t y ’ s mus i c i ans wer e g r ea t l y i nsp i r ed and wer e ac t i ve pa r t i c i pan ts i n the g lo r y yea r s o f t he Amer i can r oc k and r o l l under g round o f the 1980s, by the t ime , “Sme l l s L i ke Teen Sp i r i t ” became a h i t on MTV, i t was p r oo f pos i t i ve to many o f us tha t the r e vo lu t i on was ove r. Wh i l e the r es t o f t he coun t r y became enamor ed w i th the sounds o f Sea t t l e , R i c hmond had long s ince moved on . I t seems tha t e ven today, the one th ing tha t un i f i es bands i n the cap i to l c i t y i s tha t nobody (a t l eas t , nobody wor th l i s ten ing to ) wan ts to sound l i ke anybody e l se . And tha t ’ s why I ’ ve a lways l oved R i c hmond , V i r g in i a . B io R i tmo, f r om day one , d id wha t a lmos t no band a t the t ime had success do ing : they go t peop le to dance . Su r e , t he r e was p len t y o f s l am danc ing, and g r oups l i ke the Good Guys and Or tho ton i cs cou ld ge t a c r ow d to shake the i r r umps i n non-v io len t f ash ion , bu t B io R i tmo, e ven i n the i r ea r l y r ud imenta r y i nca r na t ions , t u r ned any r oom in to a swea ty mess w i thou t a h in t o f s l eazy i n ten t . And by ge t t i ng R i c hmond to dance , B io R i tmo a l so ho lds the d i s t i nc t i on as the band mos t l i ke ly to ge t you l a id . T hey go t e ve r ybody to f uc k . A l l t h i s mus i ca l l y i nsp i r ed co i t i s wou ld no t have happened i f i t we r en’ t fo r Jo r ge Negron . He was the man tha t made i t a l l happen . Wi th in a yea r ’ s t ime , he t r ans fo r med an I t a l i an boxer f r om Ne w Je r sey (G ius t i no R i cc io ) , t he s ing le bes t dub d r ummer I have e ve r seen who was no t b lac k (Re i A l v a r ez) , a k id f r om

3 8

T he band was to ta l l y and comp le te ly p r o a t th i s po in t . T hey had book ing agen ts and manager s and ma jo r l abe l s s ta r t sn i f f i ng a r ound t r y i ng to cash i n on the b ig band r e v i v a l t ha t was go ing on i n the m id - ‘90s. T h i s was a l so abou t the t ime the band s ta r ted to show s igns o f f a t i gue . Jo r ge , the d r i v i ng fo r ce beh ind the g r oup ’s i n i t i a l success , was e i the r k i c ked ou t o f t he band o r qu i t depend ing on who you ta l ked to a t the t ime . To make mat te r s wor se , the band ’s s t r onges t voca l a t t r i bu te , Re i A l v a r ez , l e f t soon the r ea f te r l eav ing the r es t o f t he g r oup w i thou t i t s hear t and sou l . As w i th any band tha t spends way too much t ime toge ther, t hey bo th had had enough o f sme l l i ng each o the r ’ s f a r t s , dea l i ng w i th each o the r ’ s pe r sona l i t y d i f f e r ences and a r gu -ing ove r c r ea t i ve d i r ec t i on . Someth ing had to g i ve and they dec ided tha t i t shou ld be them. I t was then tha t B io R i tmo s ta r ted to suc k . Hav ing los t two v i t a l member s , t he band ca r r i ed under the d i r ec t i on o f t he Cuban t r ombon is t Rene Her r e r a . Wh i l e he i s an ac -comp l i shed mus i c i an , I subsc r ibe to the no t ion tha t t a l en t i s an ove r r a ted v i r tue . Gone wer e the w i l d ly i n fec t i ous s t r ee t rhy thms o f the pas t and r ep laced by an i ns ip id , l i s t en to how hard th i s i s to p lay, emot ion less p r ec i s ion o f Cuban insp i r ed j azz . I t was fuc k in’ aw fu l . By say ing tha t I don’ t mean to imp ly tha t the band wasn’ t a g r oup o f consummate p laye r s , bu t the f i r e by wh i c h they used to bur n so b r igh t l y was s ign i f i can t l y d im in i shed . L i ve , t hey wer e a she l l o f t he i r fo r mer r aucous se l ves . I t was l i ke see ing an i n ju r ed an ima l ye lp ing to be pu t ou t o f i t s m ise r y. Desp i te these t r oub l i ng deve lopments , R i tmo s igned w i th Mer cur y Records subs id -i a r y, Tr i l oka , and r e leased , Rumba , Baby Rumba , i n 1998 . Hopes wer e h igh tha t they had f i na l l y r eached the b ig t ime

3 9

band i s s tepped and de f i ned by the i r obv ious a f f ec t i on fo r mus i c o f t he pas t , t hey never s i t on the shou lde r s o f g ian ts . T h i s was someth ing tha t used to encumber p r e v ious i nca r na t ions o f t he g r oup, bu t no t th i s l i ne -up. T hey use any th ing a t the i r d i sposa l to shape , mo ld and enhance the i r fo rward mov ing b r and o f moder n day sa l sa .

On , B ion i co , t he impor tance o f p ian i s t , keyboard i s t and sound e f f ec t s gen -e r a to r Mar lysee S immons canno t be ove r s ta ted . Her sp r y me lod i c sens i -b i l i t i e s co lo r the unr e len t i ng, po ly rhy thm ic rhy thms o f R i c c io, Tomas in i and A l v a r ez w i th a keen sense compos i t i ona l pu r pose . On , “Shoe Sh ine , ” the ‘60s pop Br az i l i an i n f l uence o f OS Mutan tes i n fuses he r p lay ing, a l l ow ing A l v a r ez ’ s succu len t voca l s , “Mambo” Bob M i l l e r ’ s sh immer ing t r umpet r uns and the team f i r s t compos i t i ona l pu r pose tha t de f i nes the g r oup ’s approach to songwr i t i ng to b lend o r gan i ca l l y w i thou t sound ing t r i t e o r fo r ced . I t ’ s the na tu r a l ease o f t he i r mus i ca l a l c hemy tha t makes the M idd le Eas te r n t i n ted , “A La Cha ,” the sub t l e ass im i l a t i on o f A f r o Bea t on the Bobby Va len t i n c l as -s i c , “Segu i r as C r i t cando” and the s t r a igh t up sa l sa o f “L i sandr a” so unde-n iab ly ca t c hy. T he i r t unes wor k as e i t he r dance f l oo r mot i v a t i ons o r heady l i s tens wor k ing the b r a in and body w i th equa l ap lomb. Wh i l e i t i s abundan t ly c l ea r tha t each mus i c i an i s b lessed w i th an impr ess i ve techn i ca l p r owess on the i r r espec t i ve i ns t r uments , B io R i tmo i s no t a mer e co l l ec t i on o f g i f t ed p laye r s . T hey a r e a team. T he i r con t i nua l l y i nnov a t i ve sound exp lo r a t ions don’ t r equ i r e a mas te r ’ s degr ee i n mus i c theor y to appr ec ia te e i t he r. T he on ly p r e r equ i s i t e needed to appr ec ia te B io R i tmo i s a se t o f ea r s .

I t ’ s been ove r 17 year s s ince B io R i tmo en te r ed the wor ld o f be ing and I can sa fe ly say, w i thou t a t r ace o f i r ony, t ha t my l i f e has been made the be t te r fo r i t . Be su r e to l e t t hem en te r your s .

w i th a na t iona l r e l ease and h igh p r o f i l e g igs w i th the Squ i r r e l Nu t Z ipper s , bu t i t p r oved no t to be . R i tmo ’s ma in advoca te a t the l abe l go t f i r ed , the f ake scene they t r i ed to t i e them to f i zz l ed ou t and the r ecord never go t pushed , doomed to tax wr i t e -o f f s ta tus a lmos t as soon as i t was p r essed . To make a l ong s to r y shor t , t hey go t f i s ted and f i s ted ha rd . Band member s came and wen t as the g ig was s t i l l p r o f i t ab le , bu t R i tmo had los t the i r edge .I had long s ince g i ven up on B io R i tmo when Re i r e jo ined the band in 2001 . I r e luc tan t l y wen t to see them aga in on the bas i s o f t h i s ne ws a lone hav -ing been assur ed by Gabo tha t the buzz k i l l i ng , yawn- induc ing i n t r i cac ies o f r ecen t yea r s wer e a th ing o f t he pas t now tha t Rene was ou t o f t he g r oup. Fr om no te one tha t n igh t , i t was r ead i l y appar en t tha t R i tmo was R i tmo aga in . I can’ t t e l l you how r e l i e ved I was. T hey wer e a comp le te ly d i f f e r en t band p lay ing w i th a v i t a l i t y and sense o f pur pose I hadn’ t seen f r om them in yea r s . I ha ted Rene ’s tenur e as c r ea t i ve d i r ec to r, because he shac k led the band ’s p r opu l s i ve rhy thms in need less ly r es t r i c t i ve compos i t i ons. Re i ’ s r e tu r n un -loc ked those c ha ins and R i tmo was once aga in tenac ious , spon taneous and dar ing i n the i r pu r su i t o f a good t ime . Bes t o f a l l , t hey s ta r ted i nco r por a t i ng a l l t ypes o f d i f f e r en t i n f l uences i n to the m i x . You cou ld hear e lements o f e l ec -t r on i c mus i c , r oc k and j azz i n the i r ongo ing r e inven t ion o f sa l sa . I can’ t t h ink o f ano ther band tha t I had wr i t t en o f f as f l ogg ing a dead hor se tha t p r oved tha t , yes , i t i s poss ib le to make essen t i a l mus i c aga in a f t e r you ’ ve made a who le l o t o f sh i t . I f any th ing, B io R i tmo was be t te r tha t n igh t than they e ve r wer e and tha t , my f r i ends , i s say ing a who le l o t o f someth ing. And don’ t t h ink I ’m bu l l sh i t i ng you e i the r. I don’ t ca r e enough abou t you to l i e to you . Be l i e ve me when I say B io R i tmo ’s r e inven t ion was a th ing o f s tunn ing beau ty.

A f te r w inn ing the top i ndependen t ac t i n the Nor theas t award a t the D i sc Maker s I ndependen t Wor ld Mus i c Se r i es i n Ne w Yor k C i t y i n 2003 , B io R i t -mo r e leased the i r c r i t i ca l l y acc la imed se l f - t i t l ed CD in 2004 fo l l owed by the equa l l y impr ess i ve 2006 EP, Sa l sa Sys tem, m i xed by 18- t ime G r ammy award w inner, Jon Faus t y. T h i s month , the g r oup i s r e l eas ing the i r eager ly an t i c i -pa ted fu l l - l eng th , B ion i co , on the i r own l abe l , Locu to r Records. Wh i l e the

4 0

B io R i tmo ’s B ion i co CD Re lease Par t y i s Sep t 20 th a t Cap i ta l A l e House (623 Eas t Ma in S t r ee t , R i c hmond , VA 23219) 9 p.m . $10 adv ance/ r svp, $12 door w i th gues ts No BS Br ass Band , and Sou lpower. www.b io r i tmo.com www.myspace . com/b io r i tmo

41

and suggest a strong background in Christianity…JK: My family is from Georgia originally, and I grew up in Florida. My mom is a born again Southern Baptist, and I used to sing with her and my grandparents when I was a little gir l. We were called the Grace Life Singers, and I sang with them for a long time. I grew up in a very fire-and-brimstone family where my mom took the Bible in a very literal way, so there was always very strong imagery, and she would always enforce every… everything we had had some kind of religious consequence to it. Whatever my faith may be today is very af-fected by that mentality as a kid.

TM: So then you were saved?

JK: Actually, I was saved three times!

TM: Wow!

JK: The first time, I meant it. The second time, I felt bad. Well, I did it to be cool, because all of the other kids were being saved. And I was like, well fuck, I did that two years ago! (laughs)

Talia Miller I know that you didn’t star t playing music until recently. How did you star t? What happened?

Julie Karr I was living in DC for a while, and I was doing an internship up there. I thought it would be funny to do a John Denver song for one of my co-workers who was leav-ing. So we had the guitar in the office, and my co-worker was the one who was going to play the guitar and we were both going to sing it together. But I was really bored so I picked it up and was like, man, I want to learn to play a Bruce Springsteen song, because Nebraska is one of my favorite albums. So I looked up how to play “Atlantic City” and that was where it star ted. And then I didn’t play again for probably six months, and then over winter break this year all of my roommates were out of town. I was moving to Richmond in two weeks, and I was like, let me try and play the guitar again! So I went into my roommate’s room, grabbed his guitar and star ted thumbing around, and I wrote my first song then.

TM: Which was?JK: “Baby Boy,” aka Trailer Park Jesus (laughs) as it’s become known.

TM: A lot of your songs have religious imagery and draw really strongly on Jesus and faith

RICHMOND TRANSPLANT JULIE KARR HAS THE KIND OF VOICE THAT MAKES YOUR HEART STOP IN YOUR CHEST. RAW, POWERFUL AND FULL OF SOUL, COMBINED WITH AN OLD NYLON STRING GUITAR, HER MUSIC IS REMINIS-CENT OF A GOSPEL VERSION OF DOLLY PARTON GEARED TO THE MODERN CYNIC. SINCE BURSTING ONTO THE RICHMOND PUNK SCENE IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR, JULIE HAS AMASSED A TON OF FANS AND FRIENDS ALIKE. HER TREMENDOUS ENERGY SHOWS NO SIGNS OF SLOWING AS SHE PREPARES FOR A SLEW OF PROJECTS IN THE UPCOMING MONTHS. I RECENTLY SAT DOWN WITH JULIE ON HER FRONT PORCH IN OREGON HILL TO DIS-CUSS MUSIC, RICHMOND, RELIGION AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS. BY TALIA MILLER PHOTOS BY KAREN SIEFERT

RAW, POWERFUL AND FULL OF SOUL AN INTERVIEW WITH

JULIE KARR

4 3

TM: Well, you can never be saved too much.

JK: Well, yeah, I just needed to “re-devote myself to the Lord!” But then the third time I was 13, and I had told my mom like a year before that I didn’t believe in Jesus anymore, that I didn’t believe in Christianity. And so she made me go live with my grandmother for a long time. And then when I got back I still felt the same, but I felt bad for my mom because it was such a big thing to her, so I made a big deal about how I reconnected to the Lord again and got re-baptized for the sake of my mom. Everyone at church really loved me for a while after that.

TM: That’s so funny. And you grew up in Gainesville, right?

JK: Yep, I grew up in Gainesville.

TM: I guess there was probably music constantly down there because there’s such a strong punk scene.

JK: Totally, it was kind of funny that I was constantly surrounded by so many bands, pretty amazing bands that have done some really awesome stuff. Even if they weren’t my friends, it would probably still be some of my favorite stuff. But I think it almost took me being removed from that to be able to find my own voice, I suppose.

TM: Was it different down there? Were there a lot of women playing music?

JK: And even if it’s not yourself, you can still… I think sometimes it surprises people because I feel like I have a very cheery demeanor, and to kind of write such sad… yeah fuck it, I write sad songs. You just kind of have to be able to get to that place, and I slide in and out of it pretty easily I suppose. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.

TM: What are you working on now?

JK: I was in an accident a couple of months ago, and you would think that would put me in a place where I could really get on the level, but I actually found it dif-ficult to write anything after that. I’ve written one song since then, and I really like that song a lot. But now I think I’m at the point where I have enough songs that I would like to have a recorded history of that, in record or CD format. I’m going to be doing a split 7-inch with Pash, a band from DC, and I’m really excited about that. And I’m going to try to play a lot more shows. I know in the spring I’m going on tour with Averkiou, a band from back home, and hopefully record everything onto an al-bum; maybe call it Julery for my love of large earrings… that’s where I actually draw inspiration from (laughs).

TM: And you have a song on a comp in New York that should be coming out soon, right?

JK: Yeah I do! My friend Katie Watkins and some others put together an event called the Big Shebang in Brooklyn. It was a women’s conference up there, and I played with her band at her house in Brooklyn and we got along really well. And I’m on the compilation disc for that, which is exciting! The whole thing is relatively new to me. I was very much into promoting

JK: Not really. My friend Samantha Jones was in Bitchin’ and Rumbleseat, and she has done a lot of great things musically down there. But for the most par t it was really male-dominated. And I don’t know if that was necessarily this is a “boy’s club” kind of thing, but I guess it was just what was there.

TM: How does that translate to Richmond? Is it in-teresting coming here, do you feel like you have more freedom here because you’re not from here?

JK: Yeah, I’m also here surrounded by a lot of peo-ple who are making amazing music as well. But it all kind of clicked at the right time, me wanting to learn more about music and writing. The winter time, you know, you don’t really leave your house much. So it’s, I think, when I was the most musical. I feel like the winter puts you in this darker place anyway. I mean I’m from Florida, so I’m very used to having sunshine year round.

TM: And Richmond in the winter… everybody fuck-ing hides!

JK: I was definitely holed up in the house and just really kind of going through those homesick blues. Loving the fact that I lived in Richmond but you know, you go through that withdrawal almost. I was able to get in the place where I was able to pull some stuff out, I suppose, if that’s the way to say it.

TM: I guess sometimes you have to be able to go that weird place to be able to create and pull things out.

4 4

of. I will take what I can get; mostly it’s just a friendship thing, like how usually your friends end up being the people you listen to. Maybe people who like music?

TM: What’s your favorite song you’ve done so far?

JK: That’s like picking my favorite baby!

TM: Yeah, I guess that is a really unfair question. Right now, what song is really impor tant to you?

JK: I think that the song I wrote recently, “Shitty Ex-Gir l-friend,” I like that one a lot. I feel like maybe because it’s new; it’s always like that, the newest baby so I’m giving it all my attention. I really have also felt an affinity for “Everything Around Us Is Dead or Dying.” That one definitely went past the hear t, into the stomach. I was in a place where I was thinking about a lot of stuff and so getting to that and work-ing it out was a big deal I suppose.

TM: What’s next for Julie Karr?

JK: Playing shows in September! Hopefully playing some more shows not in Richmond, getting more earrings, always a bigger goal. I remember looking at last year’s RVA and think-ing I’m gonna be in that shit, top 100 ain’t got nothing on me! But no, really it’s a joke; I think I talk louder than I walk.

You can hear Julie on her Myspace page at http://www.mys-pace.com/nonstopcake. Or even better, hear her live at Rumors (404 N. Harrison Street) on October 26 with The Pharmacy, or message her for details on some shows in the near future!

shows and was always in on the aspect of getting bands to play, of helping organize events, but in terms of the inner workings of recording stuff and being knowledgeable about that, I’m not really there yet. It’s all a kind of a process.

TM: What is the process like for you? What is it like being on the other side?

JK: It’s neat being involved. It’s so much easier now with the technology that’s there. I set up a Myspace page and all of a sudden I’ve been viewed a thousand times. That’s neat, just to have exposure. Maybe that’s kind of a dick thing to say, I don’t know…

TM: No, I mean, it’s not. It’s being realistic, that’s the whole point of Myspace.

JK: Yeah, so then I star t thinking about what kind of people would I want to record with. I know that all my songs have a very folky sound to them. But I definitely grew up listening to Prince and Michael Jackson and a lot of hip-hop. And I think that it would be really interesting to record with somebody with that kind of influence. Now I’m realizing it makes such a difference who you record with. And that’s not something I ever thought about before. And then all the things you can do to a song, there’s so much you can add or take away, strip down, make up...

TM: Do you ever think about who you are playing to at all?

JK: I think the second I star t to think about that is when I don’t really feel like I’m making good music anymore. Not to say I think I’m making good music right now, but I’m making music that I care about. It’s not something I’ve ever thought

4 5

Mode r n pop my tho l o g y i s a c ce l e r a t i ng . A l bums a r e r e co r ded , l e a ked and r e l eased i n su c h an i n c r eas i ng l y d i so r i en t i ng quan t i t y t ha t i t c an become qu i t e eas y fo r t he mode r n mus i c med i a t o c hoke on t he ex cess . Add i t i ona l l y, t he pe r v as i v eness o f t he I n t e r ne t has a l l owed fo r t he conven i en t c a t e go -r i z a t i on and d i s sem ina t i on o f ea c h decade i n t o eas i l y c a t a l o ged by t e s o f i n fo r ma t i on ; t hese o f t en i n c l ude t he mos t popu l a r and t he mos t a c c l a imed ( t hough t hey a r en’ t a lw ays mu tua l l y ex c l u s i v e ) s i t t i ng s i de by s i de , s ans any cu l t u r a l c on t ex t . I a lw ays cons i de r ed t h i s p l u c k i ng o f t he mos t f a s c i na t i ng b i t s o f e phemer a f r om a g i v en t ime pe r i od and r e con t ex t ua l i z i ng t hem w i t h i n my own d i o r ama o f t ha t pa r t i c u l a r t ime pe r i od a s hea l t hy. A f t e r a l l , i s n’ t t he 21s t c en t u r y supposed t o be a l l a bou t pos tmode r n r e v i s i on i sm?

T h i ngs became a b i t mo r e d i so r i en t i ng l a t e l a s t yea r w hen Neu t r a l M i l k Ho -t e l ’ s I n T he Ae r op l ane Ove r T he Sea w as d i s cussed by s cads o f pub l i c a t i ons t o c e l e b r a t e i t s 10 th ann i v e r sa r y. Now I ’ v e a lw ays been fo r t he my tho l o g i z -i ng o f mus i c i ans and a l bums i n o r de r t o c r ea t e a c e r t a i n mys t i que , bu t t h i s w as t he f i r s t t ime t ha t I w as co gn i zan t o f t he a l bum i n ques t i on upon i t s i n i -t i a l r e l ea se . I t w as f a s c i na t i ng t o me t o see how t he a l bum had been r i pped f r om i t s o r i g i na l c on t ex t . Many a r t i c l e s bo r e l i t t l e men t i on o f t he E l e phan t 6 co l l e c t i v e t ha t spawned t hem o r t he f i t f u l s t a r t s con t a i ned on t he f i r s t f e w cas se t t e s and t he shamb l i ng -bu t - beau t i f u l de bu t a l bum On Ave r y I s l and . I n s t ead , t hey t r ea t ed i t a s i f s ome g i f t ed ye t i r r e voca b l y f l awed gen i u s ( t he e l u s i v e Je f f Mangum) had s t o l en t he l y r e o f O r pheus l ong enough t o c r ea t e a pe r f e c t l y no t ed paean t o Anne Fr ank . A l t hough my memor y o f t ha t pa r t i c u l a r e r a i s n’ t c r y s t a l c l e a r ( I w as 13 i n 1997) , I w as up on enough o f t he p r e s s a t t he t ime t o know t ha t Neu t r a l M i l k Ho t e l we r e one o f l i t e r -a l l y dozens o f bands w ho seemed t o be spe w i ng fo r t h f r om A thens , GA a t an a l a r m ing r a t e ; and t hey o f t en p l ayed se cond - f i dd l e t o T he O l i v i a Tr emor Con t r o l w hose B l a c k Fo l i a ge a l bum ec l i p sed NMH i n bo t h c r i t i c a l a c c l a im and p r e s s cove r a ge a t t he t ime .

T he g r a s s r oo t s movemen t t ha t e ven tua l l y t ook Ae r op l ane ou t t he E6 ghe t t o and i n t o t he pan theon o f c l a s s i c a l bums i s one t ha t I ba r e l y no t i c ed . I had a lw ays been a f an o f t he r e co r d , bu t i t had been c l o se l y t i ed t o o t he r g r oups and r e co r ds o f t he t ime , i n c l ud i ng r e l eases by O f Mon t r ea l , E l f Powe r, A pp l e s i n S t e r eo, and T he O l i v i a Tr emor Con t r o l among v a r i ous o t he r s . Now t he r i ng o f r e co gn i t i on t ha t comes w i t h t he men t i on o f Ae r op l ane i s f o l l owed by ba f f l emen t a t men t i on o f r e co r ds l i k e Dusk a t Cub i s t Cas t l e and t he i dea t ha t a t one po i n t O f Mon t r ea l we r e no t pomp-d i s co.

So i s t he r e r ea l l y any p r ob l em w i t h t h i s a pp r oac h t o mus i c a l a pp r op r i a t i on? T he r e a r e p l en t y o f bands and a l bums t ha t ha ve g a i ned enough pos t - b r eak -up no to r i e t y t o become canon i zed a l ongs i de a r t i s t s w ho wou l dn’ t ha ve g i v en t hem t he t ime o f day du r i ng t he i r c a r ee r s . I g r e w up unde r t he imp r ess i on t ha t t he r e we r e l oads o f peop l e l i s t en i ng t o T he Ve l v e t Unde r g r ound & N i co and B i g S t a r a l ongs i de t he Bea t l e s and t he S t ones , on l y t o l a t e r f i nd t ha t t hey had g a i ned suc h s t a t u r e decades a f t e r t he i r o r i g i na l r e l ea se . T he p r o cess has become hype r - a c ce l e r a t ed due t o t he I n t e r ne t , w i t h o ve r l ooked a l bums be i ng hawked l e f t and r i gh t f o r c anon i za t i on ; un l i k e t he g r a s s r oo t s ado r a t i on t ha t pushed Ae r op l ane nex t t o OK Compu te r i n t he r ea lm o f mod -e r n c l a s s i c s . Mode r n c r i t i c s and pub l i c a t i ons t r y t o co -op t t he phenomenon , r e p l a c i ng c r a c ked gen i u s w i t h s t r aw men and r e co r ds t ha t a r e o f t en ba r e l y a yea r o l d . A s a r e su l t , t he pub l i c i s l e f t w i t h a l bums on t he i r i Pods f r om a w i de l y v a r i ed se t o f sou r ces , a l l ow i ng eac h t o c r ea t e t he i r own p r i v a t e h i s -t o r y o f any g i v en decade based so l e l y upon t he b l o gs and /o r pub l i c a t i ons t hey c hoose t o pay a t t en t i on t o. W i t h t h i s so r t o f pa r t i t i o n i ng , i t ’ s a lmos t imposs i b l e t o ima g i ne ano the r a l bum suc h a s Ae r op l ane becom ing suc h a w i de l y d i s sem ina t ed t h i ng . I Pods have se ve r e l y l im i t ed t he v a l ue o f c u l t i s t ma te r i a l , and t oday ’ s my tho l o g i e s a r e eas i l y d i s so l v ed by a r a b i d I n t e r ne t p r e s s and emba r r a s s i ng amoun t s o f mus i c i an - r e l a t ed b l o g g i ng. Pop mus i c h i s t o r y i s e ven mo r e sub j e c t i v e t han e ve r, and you shou l d de l i gh t i n t he f a c t t ha t now i t c an ex i s t a s any t h i ng you l i k e .

47

O u t s i d e o f t h e R e p u b l i c a n

Photos and Words by Jake Mayday

My t r ek to th i s yea r ’ s Repub l i can Na t iona l Conven t ion i n S t . Pau l , M inneso ta began w i th a twen ty -one hour mar a thon d r i ve .

T h r ee hour s a f t e r a r r i v i ng i n the Tw in C i t i es I was a l r eady i n handcu f f s .

T he Repub l i can Na t iona l Conven t ion was schedu led f r om Monday, Sep tember 1s t th r ough T hur sday, Sep-tember 4 th a t the Xce l Cen te r i n downtown S t . Pau l . Fo r as much t ime and r esour ces the Repub l i cans pu t i n to p lann ing the i r conven t ion , ac t i v i s t g r oups f r om the Tw in C i t i es and a r ound the coun t r y pu t an equa l amount o f ener gy i n to c r ash ing i t . T he RNC We l com ing Commi t tee and the Coa l i t i on to Mar ch on the RNC and S top the War – bo th l oca l g r oups – have been o r ga-n i z ing fo r mor e than a yea r to we l come ac t i v i s t s o f a l l s t r i pes i n to the i r c i t i es . To d i s r up t wha t many be l i e ve i s mer e ly a med ia spec tac le m im ic k ing a democr a t i c p r ocess , t he g r oups pu t a spec ia l emphas i s on the f i r s t day o f t he conven t ion . Wh i l e the Coa l i t i on pu l l ed i n many t r ad i t i ona l an t i -war g r oups fo r a l a r ge per m i t -t ed mar ch , the goa l s o f t he We l com ing Commi t tee wer e qu i t e d i f f e r en t . T he We l com ing Commi t tee appear ed

open ly o r gan i zed as anar ch i s t s and an t i -au thor i t a r i ans i n ten t on phys i ca l l y d i s r up t i ng the open ing o f t he con -ven t ion , as we l l as gener a l l y r ebu i l d ing the capac i t y o f t he r ad i ca l movement i n the U.S. , wh i c h has taken a se r i -ous downtu r n i n the l as t decade s ince i t s peak w i th the Wor ld Tr ade Or gan iza t ion p r o tes t s i n Sea t t l e i n 1999 .

On the Fr iday be fo r e the conven t ion , we un loaded our sound sys tems and s leep ing bags a t a f r i end ’s house and made our way ove r to the We l com ing Commi t tee ’ s conver gence space . I ns ide wha t appear ed to be an o ld thea te r, s tuden ts , you th and r ad i ca l s o f a l l ages wer e ea t i ng d inner and wa tch ing mov ies when the Ramsey Coun ty Sher i f f ’ s Depar tment and the i r men s to r med in fo r a r a id w i th ba t te r i ng r ams and guns d r awn . I hap-pened to be ou ts ide w i th my g i r l f r i end a t th i s po in t , and we wer e ab le to ge t abou t a b loc k away and make ca l l s to the Co ldsnap Lega l Co l l ec t i ve be fo r e an unmar ked po l i ce veh i c l e r o l l ed up on us w i th o f f i ce r s ba r k ing o r der s to s top. Wh i l e we wer e ques t ioned i n handcu f f s the o f f i ce r s p r oceeded to i gnor e our r i gh ts to l awyer s and s i l ence , th r ea ten ing a week i n j a i l i f we d id no t cooper a te . A f t e r abou t th i r t y m inu tes we wer e r e leased w i thou t c har ges and headed bac k to suppor t our f r i ends as they wer e r e leased one by one f r om the conver gence cen te r.

T he nex t two days b r ough t mor e o f t he same . I n the ea r ly hour s o f Sa tu r day, Augus t 30 th se ve r a l homes o f l oca l o r gan i ze r s wer e r a ided i n a s im i l a r f ash ion . T h roughou t the weekend po l i ce i n t im ida ted and sna tc hed We l com ing Commi t tee member s o f f t he s t r ee ts and pu l l ed ove r ca r s f u l l o f suspec ted ac t i v i s t s a t gunpo in t . I t became g la r -i ng ly obv ious tha t we wer e l i v i ng i n occup ied te r r i t o r y wher e our r i gh ts cou ld be d i sm issed a t the w i l l o f any o f f i ce r on pa t r o l .

a n d T e a r G a sN at i o n a l C o n v e n t i o nR i o t G e a r , R u b b e r B u l l e t s

By Monday mor n ing I was amazed tha t my f r i ends and I wer e s t i l l f r ee . As we loaded the sound equ ipment and banner s i n to our v an and d rove to the S ta te Cap i to l g r ounds , the hum o f he l i cop-te r s ove rhead ac ted as a cons tan t r em inder tha t we cou ld be pu l l ed ove r and shu t down a t any moment . We un loaded sa fe ly, and a r ound 11 a .m . our Funk the War ac t i on s ta r ted d r aw ing i n s tuden ts and you th f r om the c r ow d to the g r ow ing dance c i r c l e a r ound our sound sys tem. T h i s Funk the War ac t i on was the 6 th i n a se r i es s ta r ted by the Wash ing ton , DC c hap te r o f S tuden ts For A Democr a t i c Soc ie t y. As usua l we b r ough t a r oa r ing m i x o f l oca l and i n te r na t iona l r enegade bea ts i nc lud ing mus i c by Pub l i c Enemy and Sk id Row. T h i s mob i l e (and o f ten m i l i t an t ) an t i -war d i sco i s a tac t i c adap ted f r om the Rec la im the S t r ee ts ac t i ons o f t he i n te r na t iona l g loba l j us t i ce movement i n the 1990s. I t p r ov ides an a l t e r na t i ve fo r those who wan t to pa r t i c i pa te i n d i r ec t ac t i on bu t p r e fe r l oud mus i c and b r igh t co lo r s to the t yp i -

ca l b l ac k -c l ad angr y p r o tes te r s . Some o f the o the r g r oups i nvo l ved i n ac t i ons on Monday i nc luded Bash Bac k , a r ad i ca l queer g r oup o r gan ized a r ound c r ash ing bo th the Democr a t i c and Repub l i can Na t iona l Conven t ions , a long w i th the Pagan C lus te r, who desc r ibe them-se l ves as a l oose ga the r ing o f i nd i v idua l s b r i ng ing an ea r th -based sp i r i t ua l i t y to g loba l j us t i ce and peace ac t i ons. Funk the War ’ s mob i l e dance par t y weaved i t s way th r ough the s t r ee ts o f downtown S t . Pau l t ak ing i n te r sec t ions , b loc k ing t r a f f i c and dodg ing masses o f po l i ce i n f u l l r i o t gear i n ten t o f s topp ing our f un .

5 2

5 3

As we r eached the i n te r sec t ion o f Ke l l ogg and Wabasha – one o f two ma in en t r ances to the Xce l Cen te r – we fo r med l i nes w i th our bod ies to b loc k the de lega tes f r om en te r ing. T he po l i ce moved in on hor ses , su r r ound ing the de lega tes to move them th r ough our l i nes and j e r k ing the r e igns to use the hor ses as weapons. A f t e r an hour o f t hese ac t i ons a l a r ge r g r oup had once aga in ga the r ed a r ound our bea ts , t h i s t ime j us t ou ts ide the C r own P laza Ho te l wher e member s o f t he Texas de lega t ion wer e s tay ing. I t wasn’ t l ong be fo r e the Na t iona l Guard was ca l l ed i n d r essed i n camou f l age r i o t gear, to t i ng o r ange wr apped sho tguns w i th the words “Less Le tha l ” s tamped on the ba r r e l . Wha t fo l l owed can bes t be desc r ibed as a po l i ce r i o t . I n a ba r r age o f pepper sp r ay, t ea r gas , r ubber bu l l e t s and concuss ion g r enades the po l i ce l e t l oose upon the c r ow d o f 400 nonv io len t p r o tes to r s r u th less ly and w i thou t r es t r a in t . A t t he end o f the day, 284 peop le had been a r r es ted , many o f t hem in a mass a r r es t tha t swep t up jou r na l i s t s , med i cs and bys tander s a long w i th those ac tua l l y i nvo l ved i n the dem-ons t r a t i ons. A lmos t ha l f a r e be ing c har ged w i th f e lon ies , and as o f T hur sday mor n ing i t i s unc lea r how many have been r e leased . A to ta l o f e igh t member s o f t he RNC We l com ing Commi t tee have been a r r es ted and a r e be ing c har ged w i th consp i r ac y to r i o t i n f u r the r -ance o f e r r o r i sm , wh i c h ca r r i es up to a 7 1 /2 year sen tence under M inneso ta ’ s ve r s ion o f t he Pa t r io t Ac t .

NOW AT A NEW LOCATION !!! 1906-C NORTH HAMILTON ST.

J O N N Y Z F E S T I VA L

Written by 5th Grader Jackson Meyer of St. Andrews

5 8

I t ’ s been a d i f f i cu l t yea r fo r many o f us s ince los ing our f r i end Jonny Z . I n h i s memor y we (some o f h i s f r i ends) pu t toge ther a mur a l p r o jec t under the banner o f A r t 180 . Some s tuden ts o f S t . Andr e w ’s Schoo l i n Or egon H i l l he lped w i th the p r o jec t i n a co l l abor a t ion to ce leb r a te h i s amaz ing sp i r i t . Dur ing the months o f May and June we go t toge ther w i th the s tuden ts and shar ed s to r i es o f h i s con t r i bu t ions to the loca l a r t s commun i t y to he lp i nsp i r e them in c r ea t i ng the mur a l . We focused on how much he loved a l l h i s f r i ends , mak ing them m ix tapes and s i l k s c r eens , how he p layed d r ums in e ve r y band in town , wha t he d id fo r Food No t Bombs and h i s r o les i n o r gan i z ing the B i za r r e Mar ke t and a Po la r o id show a t I panema . We met w i th the k ids and l i s tened to mus i c , to ld s to r i es and wor ked on Po la r o id co l l ages , wh i c h a l l bu i l t t oward c r ea t i ng images fo r wha t wou ld become one o f the mur a l s ou ts ide Joe ’ s I nn wher e Jonny wor ked . T he sp i r i t o f Jonny was e ve r ywher e as wor k on the mur a l go t underway ; i t an i -ma ted the mood o f k ids and g rown ups a l i ke pa in t i ng p i zza f l ow-e r s on the wa l l , danc ing to the swee t tunes on Mya ’s iPod and c r ea t i ng the com ic book- l i ke imager y o f t he co l l age . T her e ’ s no doub t tha t i f he was s t i l l w i t h us he wou ld have been down the r e e ve r y day he lp ing the young a r t i s t s t r ans fo r m the a l l ey wa l l i n to a wor k o f a r t . I t goes w i thou t say ing tha t we a l l m i ss h im ; and o r gan iz ing the Jonny Z f es t i v a l t h i s pas t Augus t 9 th was a way ce leb r a te h i s l i f e and wha t he i nsp i r es us to do. T hank you Jonny, and we m iss you .

T he A r t i s t s : Dan ie l l e A fo layan , Debor ah A fo layan , Dor cas A fo -l ayan , Ke r r y Ander son , Jy vonn ie Cha lmer s , Des t i ny Day, Dav id Hansen , M i c hae l Guedr i , Mar sha l l H igg ins , Ana i sha H i te , Ahr ea Jones , J ac kson Meyer, L i l y Russe l l , B r i t t any Tay lo r, Ty l e r T hom-as , Char lo t te Woods, Yo landa Woods & Jonny ’ s f r i ends…

J O N N Y Z F E S T I VA L

5 9

6 0

Polaroids by Mandy Lamb, Jonny Z Festival photos by Aimee Koch, and ART 180 mural photos by Liza Kate

6 1

i sn’ t a l l owed in th i s s ta te? T he absurd i t y o f t r y i ng to d i c ta te how coup les , r egard less o f t he i r sexua l p r e fe r ence , c hose to p lease one ano ther i s the s tu f f o f g r and comedy, bu t i f one good th ing i s to come f r om a l l t h i s comp le te ly use less was te o f t he Supr eme Cour t ’ s v a luab le t ime , i t exposes those who a r e f i gh t i ng to keep th i s l aw on the books as the enemies o f t he peop le as we l l as the enemies o f g r ea t , do i t a l l n igh t , don’ t s top, don’ t s top, unbe l i e v ab ly awesome sex . Take Pennsy l v an ia Repub l i can Sena to r, R i c k San to -r um fo r examp le . I n an i n te r v i e w w i th T he Assoc ia ted Pr ess , San -to r um c r i t i c i zed homosexua l i t y wh i l e d i s cuss ing a pend ing Supr eme Cour t case ove r a Texas sodomy l aw. “ I f t he Supr eme Cour t says tha t you have the r i gh t to consensua l (gay) sex w i th in your home , then you have the r i gh t to b igamy, you have the r i gh t to po lygamy, you have the r i gh t to i nces t , you have the r i gh t to adu l te r y. You have the r i gh t to any th ing, ” San to r um, R -Pa . , sa id i n the i n te r v i e w, pub l i shed th i s pas t Monday. Her e i s the case , Lawr ence & Gar ner Vs . T he S ta te o f Texas , tha t spar ked the sena to r ’ s r emar ks.

I t ce r ta in ly i s amaz ing tha t w i th the many impor -tan t i s sues tha t f ace our coun t r y ’ s j ud i c i a l s ys tem, the Supr eme Cour t i s was t i ng v a luab le t ime , money and r esour ces deba t ing l aws on the books i n 13 s ta tes (Four s ta tes – Texas , K ansas , Ok lahoma and M issour i – have sodomy l aws tha t app ly j us t to same-sex coup les . N ine o the r s ta tes – A labama , F lo r ida , I daho, Lou i s i ana , M iss i ss ipp i , Nor th Ca ro -l i na , Sou th Ca ro l i na , U tah and V i r g in i a – ban sod-omy fo r e ve r yone) concer n ing the l ega l i t y o f t he sexua l ac t known as sodomy. T he idea tha t wha t two consen t ing adu l t s do beh ind c losed door s i s wor thy o f l eng thy cour t r oom deba te wou ld be l aughab le i f i t we r en’ t fo r the se r ious homophob ia be ing exposed in th i s po in t l ess c har ade o f sup-posed jus t i ce . One has to wonder wha t l i s t l ess , un imag inab ly du l l sex l i ves these se l f - imposed p ro tec to r s o f t he ga tes o f mor a l decenc y mus t have i f t hey have never engaged , i n e i t he r g i v i ng o r r ece i v i ng, i n the r i gh teous ecs tasy o f a we l l -execu ted ac t o f god g i ven sodomy. I shudder to th ink o f a l i f e w i thou t i t and , i f t h i s ca r na l ac t o f pass ion i s uphe ld as aga ins t the l aw i n these 13 s ta tes , I w i l l and fo r e ve r w i l l be an unr epen tan t and sexua l l y sa t i s f i ed c r im ina l . A l so, how does the cour t , i f t h i s l aw i s uphe ld , p r opose to en fo r ce s t r i c t comp l i ance to th i s poss ib le r u l i ng? A r e they go ing to s ta t i on cops ou ts ide e ve r y bedroom and when you make your move to g i ve your l ove r some much needed o r a l o r ana l p l easur e , a r e they go ing to s tep i n and say tha t t ype o f l i f e a f f i r m ing sex

Chr i s t Bops t

A long t ime ago, I used to wr i t e a co lumn fo r R i c h -mond .com. For mer ed i to r John Denn i son gave me comp le te au tonomy to wr i t e abou t any th ing I wan t -ed as l ong as i t had a t l eas t a l i t t l e someth ing to do w i th mus i c . I t was a good g ig wh i l e i t l as ted , bu t when John go t axed by the management , I was i n fo r med tha t my se r v i ces as a co lumn is t wer e no longer des i r ed because the s i t e wan ted to become a “pos i t i ve ne ws sour ce” . I guess I wasn’ t pos i t i ve enough to be on the i r c heer l ead ing squad .

Case i n po in t . Her e ’ s the co lumn I w r o te i n Apr i l o f 2003 fo r the s i t e tha t e ven my ma in c hamp ion (Mr. Denn i son) a t the now, “ i f you ’ ve go t no th ing n i ce to say, say no th ing a t a l l ” s i t e r e fused to pub l i sh . W i th the r e -open ing o f t he cu l tu r e war s thanks to John McCa in’ s nom ina t ion o f Sa r ah Pa l i n to be h i s v i ce p r es iden t i a l r unn ing mate , t he sen t imen ts ex -p r essed her e a r e s t i l l ( sad ly ) pe r t i nen t today.

Someone Needs A Blowjob

6 4

I n Lawr ence vs . Texas , two gay men say the s ta te o f Texas depr i ved them o f p r i v ac y r i gh ts and equa l p r o tec t i on under the l aw when they wer e a r r es ted i n 1998 fo r hav ing sex i n a Hous ton home . A ne ighbor had r epor ted a “weapons d i s tu r -bance” a t the home o f John G . Lawr ence , and when po l i ce a r r i ved they on ly found two men hav ing sex . Lawr ence and ano ther man , Ty r on Gar ner, wer e he ld ove r n igh t i n j a i l and l a te r f i ned $200 each fo r v io l a t i ng the s ta te ’ s Ho-mosexua l Conduc t Law. T he ne ighbor was l a te r conv i c ted o f f i l i ng a f a l se po l i ce r epor t . T he case i s now be fo r e the U.S. Supr eme Cour t . O r a l a r guments wer e he ld on Mar ch 26 , 2003 . A dec i s ion i s expec ted a t the end o f June o r beg inn ing o f Ju ly, 2003 .

Man , does th i s guy need a b low job, o r wha t? He l l , I ’ d ge t on my knees o r bend h im over (wha te ve r he wou ld c hoose) to show h im the e r r o r o f h i s th ink ing, and I ’m s t r a igh t . H i s c r im ina l l y m isgu ided assoc ia t i on o f homosexu -a l i t y w i th the l i kes o f, wha t we can a l l ag r ee on as sexua l l y v i l e and r epugnan t behav io r, i nces t i s a sad commenta r y o f how th i s sexua l p r e fe r -ence ass igned a t b i r th i s v i e wed by a segment o f t he popu la t i on . Wha t i s sca r y i s tha t San to -r um i s c ha i r man o f the GOP con fe r ence i n the Sena te , t h i r d i n h i s pa r t y ’ s l eader sh ip, beh ind

Ma jo r i t y Leader B i l l Fr i s t o f Tennessee and Ass i s -tan t Ma jo r i t y Leader M i t c h McConne l l o f Ken tuc k y. Wha t i n the wor ld r uns th r ough the Sena to r San -to r um’s head when he says such i nc r ed ib ly i nsen -s i t i ve and exceed ing ly f a l se s ta tements such as th i s? I s he , i n f ac t , endear ing h imse l f and speak -ing fo r h i s cons t i t uen ts w i th these c r im ina l l y i gno-r an t s ta tements? I ce r ta in ly hope no t . Pu t i n th i s way, i f he sa id “n igger s” , “ c h inks” o r “we tbac ks” ( i nse r t any r ac ia l s l u r o f your c hoos-ing he r e) i ns tead o f “homosexua l s” , wou ld i t be any d i f f e r en t? How abou t a $200 do l l a r f i ne fo r v io l a t i ng the s ta te ’ s “N igger Conduc t Law?” Wha t ge ts these d imw i t s ’ pan t i es i n an e ve r so se -r i ous b ind ove r homosexua l i t y i s anybod ies guess. Pe r sona l l y, I can’ t s i ng the p r a i ses o f my homo-sexua l b r o the r s and s i s te r s l oud enough , and I w i l l f i gh t to my dy ing day fo r the i r c i v i l r i gh ts . T hey a r e r ou t i ne ly d i s c r im ina ted aga ins t , mocked and r id i -cu led by numerous r e l i g ious schoo l s o f t hough t , d i sm issed and the i r concer ns ignor ed by those tha t , who fo r no good r eason , a r e t r oub led and somehow mor a l l y d i smayed by the i r mer e sexua l p r e fe r ence . T h i s i s a c i v i l r i gh ts i s sue , p l a in and s imp le , and to have a s ta te sena to r vo i ce such vu lga r sen t imen ts concer n ing the l ega l i t y ove r sodomy, an ac t engaged in by bo th he te r osexua l s and homosexua l s a l i ke , i s i nexcusab le .

Be su r e to wr i t e the sena to r to vo i ce your supr eme d i sp leasur e w i th h i s s tup id , can’ t d i e soon enough , b igo ted b loa ted ass .

Pau l Sm i th , t he a t to r ney r epr esen t ing the two Hous ton men who have r i gh t fu l l y c ha l l enged the l aw, has a r gued the l aw v io l a tes p r i v ac y and equa l p r o tec t i on r i gh ts , sub jec t i ng homosexua l s to c r im-ina l pena l t i es wh i l e a l l ow ing d i f f e r en t - sex coup les to engage in the same conduc t . He sa id the l aw t r ea ted homosexua l s as “second-c l ass” c i t i zens and i t d i s c r im ina ted aga ins t them. D i s tu rb ing ly, Ch ie f Jus t i ce Wi l l i am Rehnqu i s t r ep l i ed , “A lmos t a l l l aws a r e based on d i sapprov a l o f some peop le o r some t ype o f conduc t . T ha t ’ s why peop le l eg i s -l a te . ”

In i t i a l r epor t s sugges t tha t the j us t i ces a r e sp l i t on the i s sue , w i th Rehnqu i s t and Sca l i a i n suppor t o f upho ld ing the l aw, Sou te r and Br eye r i n suppor t o f ove r tu r n ing the l aw, w i th the pos i t i on o f t he o the r f i ve j us t i ces unc lea r.

Le t ’ s hope tha t those 5 o the r undec ided j us t i ces f i nd i n f avo r o f Lawr ence & Gar ner and f i na l l y do away w i th th i s g r oss m isca r r i age o f j us t i ce once and fo r a l l .

T he f i na l Ve rd i c t : T he U.S. Supr eme Cour t r u led 6 -3 tha t sodomy l aws a r e uncons t i t u t i ona l on June 26 , 2003

6 5

America dearest:

I am worried about

you. Less than

sixty days after

penning this corre-

spondence, you will

head to the polls,

and elect our next

administration. I

believe you are

honestly confused

about the choices

before you, and I

will do my best to

educate. I would

normally not dis-

cuss politics with

you, my dear; however, at this time I simply must, because

the situation we f ind ourselves in is .

All four persons running for off ice are politicians. Two

are Democrats, and two are Republicans. There are many

differences between Democrats and Republicans; however,

they’re all politicians – it’s like different kinds of dogs.

Collies have longer hair, and a dedicated pattern, whereas

pit bulls have short hair, and can be colored by spots or

brindle. Collies and pit bulls are both types of dogs, and

Democrats and Republicans are both types of politicians.

America…I am going to be honest with you. I ’m not sure

you’re ready for it, but you’re certainly old enough; in fact

you’re too old to believe just anything a person on a televi-

sion tells you anymore, so this has been coming for a long

time.

The Republicans are full of shit. Yes, I know, the Demo-

crats are, too, believe me, I know. I’ve been to their meet-

ings, speeches and galas, but the Republicans are far, far

more full of shit, and it’s a much more dangerous kind of

shit that they’re spewing. It’s radioactive dookie – sure, it

may seem shitty now, but this kind of shit takes years be-

fore the full effects can be seen.

The Republican ticket you are be-

ing presented with represents ev-

erything that the Republicans have

been made famous for. They run

great campaigns, and they are awful

leaders, and we couldn’t be seeing

a better example than John McCain

and Sarah Palin. They are the same

party, one and the same, as George

W. Bush, no matter how hard they’re

trying to convince you otherwise.

John McCain has been preaching re-

form in Washington, DC, for close to

30 years. Until two years ago, he ap-

peared to be an honorable man, albeit

a failure as a reformer. His military

service record shows, quite clearly,

that he was once with honor, the best

of the best. Nothing can change this.

In Vietnam, he was subject to hor-

rible torture, and when he was given

AMERICA, YOU IDIOT!IAN M. GRAHAM

6 6

the opportunity to be let out before his

fellow prisoners due to his being the

son of an admiral, he refused. Ameri-

ca is in his debt, for certain; however,

I don’t think that he can cash it in for

the Oval Off ice.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the

mark of a truly honorable man, and the

statements and activities of the last

two years have shown us that Senator

John McCain is quite unlike Soldier

John McCain. He has changed many

of his views to conform to the current

Republican ideology, an ideology that

is far out of step with the foundation

of conservative Republicans (I refer

to Barry Goldwater). The following

views have been changed in the last

two years, to gain the acceptance of

the Republican establishment:

He was pro-choice, now he is anti.

He was against the Bush tax cuts to the richest

Americans, he now supports making those tax

cuts permanent.

He claimed the Iraq war would be quick and

easy, now he claims he knew it would be tough

all along.

He spoke out against 527-style attack ads, and

his 2000 presidential campaign was mired

with half-truths and lies put out by Karl Rove

and the Bush administration. Now, he boldly

lies about his opponent’s plans, policies, ac-

tions to gain points in the polls, not to mention

lif ting his rhetoric and billing it as his own.

He was against pandering to the extreme right

wing of evangelicals and nutty, anti-evolution

Christians – he has now named one of them as

his VP, which brings us to the coup de gras:

Sarah Palin. As we speak, she is under a me-

dia blackout – she’ll give no interviews until

September 11 of this year. I can’t fucking be-

lieve I just wrote that, it’s as if

we’re in some kind of a farce,

America, except this isn’t a

comedy of errors, this is the

Presidency of You.

I think you’re old enough to

hear this, America – Sarah Pa-

lin is a petty liar. You’re go-

ing to encounter a lot of these

dishonest people in your life,

and she’s one of the worst. Her

introduction to America, her

speech at the RNC, was chock

full of lies – lies about her re-

cord, her actions, her views

and her opponent.

She has been a disaster for her

hometown of Wasilla, Alaska.

The mayoral election is sup-

posed to be non-partisan, but

Palin brought in the state Re-

publican Party, who ran ads

6 7

on her behalf. She attempted to f ire the

town librarian, who promised to bring in

the ACLU if Palin went forward with her

idea of censoring books in the library. She

requested updated resumes and letters of

resignation from the librarian and other

town off icials, and went on the record say-

ing that these actions were loyalty tests to

her administration – not loyalty to Wasilla,

to Alaska, or the United States, but loyalty

to the Palin Administration. The town was

debt-free before her tenure; now, they are

around $25 million dollars in debt. In the

last census, in the year 2000, Wasilla had

4,569 people. That’s $4,571.20 in debt for

each person, and that’s on top of the $27

million in federal pork she secured and

spent in federal pork (pork-barrel spending

is funds secured for unnecessary projects,

from taxpayer dollars, i .e., “bringing home

the bacon”). What did this debt secure

for the people of Wasilla? Better roads,

schools, or other infrastructure? No. A

hockey stadium that cost $10 million, along

with other construction projects that, while nice,

do nothing to help Wasilla make money.

While governor, she requested $589 million in fed-

eral earmarks, and she got it. $227 million of it

was for the famous Bridge to Nowhere (which she

claims she did not support), and once it got na-

tional attention, she scuttled the project, and kept

the money. She praised her lobbyists in DC at the

time, for working so hard for Alaska (they were

paid about $350k/ea for their efforts). Alaska, by

the way, does not pay federal taxes – so every red

cent they take from the federal government was

collected from the other 49 states. She used this

pork in lieu of spending Alaska’s money, so that

the state could use their budget surplus to cut ev-

ery Alaskan a check for $1500: her 80% approval

rating, bought and paid for, at the expense of your

pockets.

She claims that Obama means to “raise your tax-

es”. This could only be true if she were speaking to

a room full of people who are making over $300k

annually, and frankly, with the kind of company

she and McCain keep,

this could easily be

true when stated.

And that’s just the be-

ginning of her laundry

list. She f ired the en-

tire Alaska Board of

Agriculture and Con-

servation due to a dis-

agreement over dairy.

She wanted to f ire

the Dairy Board, but

could not, as the Diary

Board is placed by the

Agriculture board; so,

she f ired them so they

could f ire the Dairy

Board. She surrounds

herself with industry

cronies and places

personal friends to

positions of power.

She appointed one of

6 8

her fundraisers, Debbie Rich-

ter, as the Director of the Alaska

Permanent Fund Dividend Divi-

sion – that’s the division that

cuts Alaskans their free money

checks. She hired Cora Crome

as her f ishing policies adviser

– Crome was previously an in-

dustrial lobbyist for the United

Fishermen of Alaska, and is wed

to a wealthy f isherman.

She doesn’t believe in evolution

and wants creationism taught in

our schools. She believes that

global warming is happening,

but doesn’t think global warm-

ing is manmade, so whom would

she think is responsible? Her

church (at the time, Wasilla As-

sembly of God, a Pentecostal

church. She now attends Wasil-

la Bible Church.) believes that

Alaska will be a human sanctu-

ary after the Rapture. Perhaps her wrath-

ful God is causing global warming to Alas-

ka’s benef it. She thinks that God wants a

new natural gas pipeline for Alaska, too; or

at least that’s what she told her congrega-

tion in June of this year.

She believes that the Bible is literally true.

Yes.

In my life, I have had not one, but two cats

with more foreign experience than Sarah

Palin. I was born in Paris, France, and my

parents acquired two wonderful felines dur-

ing their stay. Both cats met many foreign

persons and dignitaries (my parents had

plenty of friends from other embassies).

They had, when they passed years ago, spent

more time on foreign soil and met more for-

eign people than Sarah Palin ever has. It is

also becoming startlingly apparent that the

cats made better company.

All of the f igures and facts stated herein

can be easily verif ied via Google,

YouTube and Wikipedia, although I

will warn you, my beloved country,

that reality has a well-documented

liberal bias.

America, John McCain is now with-

out honor, perhaps the worst thing

that can be said about a soldier.

Sarah Palin is a petty, lying, spite-

ful and largely ignorant person. Ba-

rack Obama and Joe Biden are not

f lawless individuals – they are both

politicians. This November, you

have a choice, America, between an

honest want for change, and poli-

tics as usual.

I’ll write again soon.

-Ian

P.S. - Let’s see if we can’t get the

nickname “mooseburger” popular

for Palin!

6 9

7 0

7 1

7 2

7 3

74

7 5

7 6

7 7

To ever yone that has ever viewed this space, I want to thank ever yone that has ever contr ibuted in front or behind the camera to RVA Fashion. I want to thank ever yone that has ever complimented the wor k myself and my col laborator s have snuck into the back 8 pages of this magazine. I want to thank ever yone who’s cal led me out on a ter r ible outf i t (there’s been a few) or a direc-t ionless shot (see previous parentheses.) I am leaving Richmond at the end of September to star t a new project in Brooklyn. I ’ l l be moving to VICE Magazine and leave the professional company of some of the most talented and visionar y people I ’ ve ever met. This isn’ t a ful l l ist of these people, but I must recognize the ones that have consistently been avai lable to be underpaid for their exceptional ser vices. In an order of pure top-of-mind recol lect ion, these are the fr iends that have helped me create a body of wor k I ’m ver y proud of: Mar y Hef f ley Jason Levesque Tony Har ris Kim Frost Christy Mil ler Tatiana WynnIan Graham Ken Howard Kevin HennessyAurora Lane Ashley Har t Al ina ShabashevichSarah Walor Edwin Thompson Doug SpoonerClaire Tuite Megdalena Nopova Andrea SleddLindsey Heppner Casey Longyear Chris BossolaMimi Regelson Emerald Grippa McKinsey MooreKC El l is Nick Wittkowski Adam Sledd …and many more that space wi l l not permit me to recognize r ight now. You know who you are and you can yel l at me later for not inc luding you on this l ist. In shor t, this is my last shoot as RVA Magazine’s Fashion Editor. I ’m going to miss al l of you real hard. Thanks for giving me confidence, ideas, suppor t and crit ic ism. Richmond, you’ re the fucking best. I ’ l l miss you most of al l . Thank you,

Christ ian Detres

7 8