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1 2 Sanford Biggers

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24 Space Of Her Own

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VOLUME 4 ISSUE 9 GRAND ILLUSIONScover by Sanford Biggers, a detai l of “ IMANI”

R. Anthony Harrispublisher

Parker editor-in-chief

Scott Whitenermanaging editor

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Thank you to stylist ViVi Giouzis for helping on the Racine ad!!

Sanford BiggerS:

The Big ideaMalik gaineS

San fo r d B igger s i sn’ t con ten t to be ca l l ed a scu lp to r, v ideo a r t i s t o r pe r fo r mance a r t i s t , e ven though these med ia a r e cen t r a l to h i s wor k . He ’ s an a r t i s t whose i n te r d i sc ip l i na r y sk i l l s a l l ow h im to c ha l l enge v i e wer s w i th an unusua l p r ac t i ce tha t r es i s t s c har ac te r i za -t i on . He ’ s no t on ly an idea man in the concep tua l a r t t r ad i t i on , he a l so makes amaz ing and mys te r ious th ings.

For h i s exh ib i t i on a t G r and A r t s i n K ansas C i t y i n 2007 , B igger s i nc luded th r ee p r o jec t s , cas t i ng th r ee d i f f e r en t h i s to r i ca l r e f l e c t i ons o f v io l ence aga ins t A f r i can-Amer i cans and c r ea t i ng a ne w take on f am i l i a r r ep r esen ta t ions o f t ha t v io l ence . F i r s t i s t he s imp le e leg iac fo r m , “Lo tus” (2007) : a l a r ge sca le g lass d i sc suspended in space , r esembl i ng a ce r emon ia l Eas t As ian gong. Hand e t c hed on to i t i n the shape o f a b lossom ing lo tus f l ower i s a r epea t ing pa t te r n o f s l aves l i ned i n r ows i n the ho ld o f a sh ip ; an image appropr ia ted f r om the f amous an t i - s l ave r y pos te r c r ea ted by the P lymouth Commi t tee o f Abo l i t i on i s t s i n 1789 . T he sh ips become pe ta l s r ad ia t i ng ou t f r om an empty cen te r. T h rough the lo tus shape , th i s f am i l i a r image o f the s l ave sh ip i s l i nked to ano ther v i sua l vocabu la r y, Zen Buddh i sm. T he sem i - t r anspar en t manda la i nv i t es t r anscenden t con temp la t ion wh i l e imag-ing an unbroken con t inuum o f s l ave r y w i th no s ta r t i ng po in t and no end . C i r cu la r i t y d i s -to r t s the Wes te r n no t ion o f p r ogr ess , i l l um ina t i ng i t s f a l l a c i es . Concur r en t l y, t he h i s to r i ca l spec i f i c i t y o f A f r i can t r auma punc tu r es the shape ’s un i ve r sa l i t y. Typ i ca l o f B igger s ’ wor k , e ve r y th ing i s happen ing a t once . T he v i e wer l ooks a t th i s fo r m , l ooks th r ough i t , and wh i l e consuming the l a r ge r shape , r ecogn izes the de ta i l and the shadows o f s l ave r y be ing cas t on e ve r y v i e wer pass ing by. A l t hough i t ’ s a l l abou t l i gh t , t h i s p iece i s heavy.

A l a r ge , monumenta l s cu lp tu r a l i ns ta l l a t i on , “B lossom” (2007) , i s the second par t o f t h i s su i t e . An o ld t r ee appear s to be g r ow ing ou t o f t he f l oo r o f t he ga l l e r y and i n to the ce i l -i ng, sp r ead ing i t s b r anches ac r oss mos t o f t he r oom’s w id th . A near ly pe r fec t c i r c l e o f d i r t on the f l oo r su r r ounds the s tu r dy t r unk . And th i s t r ee bear s s t r ange f r u i t i ndeed : a b r own baby g r and p iano w i th Queen Anne s t y l e l egs i s pene t r a ted by the t r unk and l i f t ed o f f o f t he g r ound . Fr om the p iano one hear s the song “S t r ange Fr u i t ” popu la r i zed by B i l l i e Ho l l i day and adap ted f r om the Abe l Meeropo l poem tha t fo r ms an aes the t i c l ament to l ynch -ing i n the Sou th . T he symbo l i sm i s no t obscur e and the i r ony i s pa lpab le . T h i s beau t i f u l cons t r uc t i on , i nvok ing the power fu l fo r ce o f na tu r e as i t p i e r ces one o f humank ind ’ s mos t

Pr e v ious Page : “R ide o r D ie” Co lo r i nk je t “Lo tus” 7 .5 f t d i amete r. E t c hed g lass , s tee l , co lo r ed LED ’s . 2007

“B lossom” D imens ions v a r i ab le . S i l k , s tee l , wood , M ID I p laye r p iano sys tem, Zoopoxy. 20071 4

“Chesh i r e” D imens ions v a r i ab le . S ing le c hanne l , co lo r, ou tdoor v ideo p r o jec t i on w i th sound e lement . 2007 1 5

l ove ly i nven t ions , i s a v i sua l l y s tunn ing r ea l i za t i on o f a h i s to r y tha t we hope i s passed , bu t wh i c h i s v i v i d ly r emember ed w i th on ly a f e w no tes o f a popu la r tune . Deba tes a r ound m in ima l i s t s cu lp tu r e i n the t r ad i t i on o f Amer i can a r t h i s to r y have tended to concer n themse l ves w i th a no t ion o f t hea t r i ca l i t y ; one a r gument has been tha t the a r t ob jec t l oses i t s i n teg r i t y when i t r equ i r es a body to move a r ound i t t o b r i ng i t t o l i f e . B igger s emphas i zes tha t po in t he r e and fo r the be t te r. T he c i r c l e o f d i r t i s r em in i scen t o f a m in ima l i s t ges tu r e , bu t e ve r y th ing i ns ide i t i s h igh thea te r. I n th i s p lay, a t r ee i s no t j us t a t r ee i n some idea l fo r m . T he w ind b lows and i t moves , the seasons c hange and i t g r ows, a body hangs f r om i t and i t s b r anches g r oan . Nor i s an a r t ob jec t someth ing pur e : i t t oo has h i s to r y and consequences.

A r t i s t s can ho ld a m i r r o r to the ug ly t r u th ; t hey can a l so pa in t a p i c tu r e o f be t te r poss ib i l i t i e s . T he l a t t e r i s wha t B igger s does w i th the th i r d p iece i n th i s g r oup, “Chesh i r e” (2007) , a v ideo p r o jec t i on aga ins t an ex te r io r wa l l o f an o ld bu i l d ing i n K ansas C i t y. I n i t we see v a r ious b lac k men c l imb ing t r ees. T hese men a r e p r o fess iona l s wear ing the i r wor k c lo thes : a su i t , a den t i s t ’ s sc r ubs , a th le t i c shor t s . B igger s asked them each to c l imb a t r ee i n the i r a r ea . T he e f fo r t i s bo th com ica l and hope fu l . T hese men , some o f whom look qu i t e ou t o f p l ace , a r e i nve r t i ng a h i s to r y o f l ynch ing tha t i s qu i t e d i f f i cu l t t o t r ans fo r m. Ra the r than a s i t e o f dea th , d i s f i gu r ement and emascu la t i on , the t r ee becomes a p lay p lace , a way to r e tu r n to the i nven t i ve poss ib i l i t i e s o f c h i l dhood , a na tu r a l wonder tha t i s en t i r e ly conquer ab le . Wh i l e the r e i s s t i l l an amb i v a len t awkwardness to see ing a b lac k p r o fess iona l i n a su i t ou t on a l imb, B igger s has tu r ned th i s symbo l o f sub juga t ion i n to a s i t e o f A f r i can-Amer i can agency and ach ie vement .

I f i r s t encoun te r ed San fo r d B igger s ’ wor k i n 2001 , th r ough the now l egend-a r y Fr ees t y l e exh ib i t i on cu r a ted by T he lma Go lden a t the S tud io Museum in Har l em. I n i t i a t i ng he r t enur e a t the museum, the we l l - known A f r i can-Amer i can cu r a to r announced a ne w gener a t iona l pe r spec t i ve tha t wou ld i n fuse the o ld i ns t i t u t i on w i th a con tempor a r y p r esence . Fr ees t y l e i nc luded a gener a t ion o f

emer g ing A f r i can-Amer i can a r t i s t s w i th ma ins t r eam a r t educa t ions who wer e too young to pa r t i c i pa te i n the cu l tu r e war s o f t he 1980s, bu t who s t i l l , f r om the i r med ia -sa tu r a ted and f a t i gued m i l l enn ia l pos i t i on , i n tended to cons ide r the images and r ea l i t i es o f r ace i n the i r wor k . Many o f t hese a r t i s t s have , i n the year s s ince the show, become impor tan t names i n con tempor a r y a r t , i nc lud ing San fo r d B igger s . Wh i l e the d i scu r s i ve ach ie vement o f t he exh ib i t i on was to i n t r oduce the convo lu ted no t ion o f “pos t -b lac k” to Amer i can d i scus -s ions o f r ace i n the 21s t cen tu r y, t he r ea l p r ac t i ca l e f f ec t was the c r ea t ion o f a ne twor k o f young A f r i can-Amer i can a r t i s t s who a r e s t i l l i n many cases f r i ends and i n f l uen t i a l co l l eagues o f one ano ther. Hav ing wr i t t en a shor t es -say fo r the Fr ees t y l e ca ta logue as one o f my ea r l i es t h igh -p ro f i l e w r i t i ng g igs , I t ook a v i v id i n te r es t i n wha t th i s scene was a l l abou t . T he under ly i ng p r em ise o f t he show was tha t the o ld , bo ld , d idac t i c r ep r esen -ta t i ons o f r ac i sm tha t a p r e v ious gener a t ion o f b lac k a r t i s t s had emp loyed

“A Sma l l Wor ld”…6:30 m in s i l en t co lo r DVD. S ing le - c hanne l p r o jec t i on .1999-20021 6

to g r ea t aes the t i c and c r i t i ca l e f f ec t – a r t i s t s l i ke Ca r r i e Mae Weems, Lo r na S impson , o r G lenn L igon – wer e be ing r ep laced by nuanced and mys te r ious i n te r p r e ta t i ons o f t he comp lex i t i es o f i den t i t y. T h i s p r em ise ove r s ta ted the s imp l i c i t y o f t he p r e v ious gener a t ion and the mys te r i es o f t he l a t t e r, bu t d id make the space fo r an A f r i can-Amer i can show tha t addr essed tha t ve r y con -cep t w i th a d i ve r s i t y o f approaches , f r om to ta l abs t r ac t i on to pop ce leb r a t ion . B igger s ’ p i ece , a co l l abor a t ion w i th the a r t i s t Jenn i f e r Zac k in , was among the mos t memor ab le i n the show and wou ld l a te r be one o f t he s tandou t p ieces i n the 2002 Wh i tney B ienn ia l . “A Sma l l Wor ld…” (2000) , i s a s ing le c hanne l v ideo i ns ta l l a t i on r unn ing on a s i x -m inu te l oop. T he a r t i s t s used o ld f am-i l y f i lms o f t he i r c h i l dhoods to d r aw s t r i k i ng pa r a l l e l s and compar i sons to a m idd le c l ass A f r i can -Amer i can exper i ence and a m idd le c l ass Je w i sh -Amer i can exper i ence . I n a montage o f images , bo th k ids p lay the p iano, pose w i th f am i l y fo r Ch r i s tmas o r Hanukkah , have b i r thday pa r t i es , p l ay a t the beach , and take t r i ps to D i sney land . Wh i l e the ou ts ide wor ld o f t he l a te ‘60s o r ea r ly ‘70s was con t i nuous ly r oc ked w i th the p r ob lem o f r ace , f r om w i th in the pe r spec t i ve o f t hese he r met i c f am i l y exper i ences , th ings look ve r y much the same . Wh i l e the t i t l e i r on i ca l l y i nvokes the D i sney land r i de tha t makes shoc k -ing ly na i ve equ i v a lences among the peop les o f t he wor ld , B igger s and Zac k in show tha t w i th in m idd le c l ass spaces i t i s a sma l l wor ld , a f t e r a l l .

San fo r d B igger s g r e w up i n Sou th Cen t r a l Los Ange les , a ne ighborhood tha t i s mor e comp lex and l aye r ed soc ia l l y t han the mono l i t h i c assoc ia t i ons tha t usua l l y accompany the name . Her e he engaged in tha t l i ve ly scene ’s mus i c , dance , f ash ion and po l i t i c s . As a young par t i c i pan t i n the ea r ly cu l tu r e o f Los Ange les h ip -hop, B igger s took tha t s t y l e and ener gy w i th h im as he moved th r ough h igher educa t ion , h i s s tudy abroad in F lo r ence , h i s t ime l i v -i ng i n J apan , h i s BA f r om Mor ehouse , h i s MFA f r om the A r t I ns t i t u te o f Ch i -cago, and o the r t r a in ing i n Ba l t imor e and Skowhegan , Ma ine . Fr om the r e h i s se l f - educa t ion began to r esemble tha t o f a con tempor a r y Rena i ssance man : spec ia l i zed bu t w ide r ang ing, improv i sa to r y and cosmopo l i t an . He speaks Japanese and I t a l i an , knows abou t b r eak danc ing, Buddh i sm, a r t h i s to r y and

a th ing o r two abou t the wor ld . I n the t ime I co r r esponded w i th h im in the wr i t i ng o f t h i s essay, he was do ing p r o jec t s i n Ge r many, I ndones ia , and bac k i n Ch i cago. B igger s sp l i t s h i s t ime be tween Har lem wher e he i s based , and R i c hmond , wher e he teaches a t V i r g in i a Commonwea l th Un i ve r s i t y. Nex t yea r he w i l l be a v i s i t i ng a r t i s t and scu lp tu r e p r o fessor a t Har v a rd Un i ve r s i t y. B ig -ger s i s an a r t i s t s ’ a r t i s t t ha t has a l so en joyed commer c ia l success , show ing i n r epu tab le ga l l e r i es i n Ne w Yor k and Los Ange les , wh i l e be ing r e ve r ed f r om the i ns ide by f e l l ow co l l eagues.

B igger s ’ i n te r d i sc ip l i na r y approach r e f l ec t s h i s phys i ca l mob i l i t y. Desp i te a cen tu r y o f av an t -ga rde exper imen ta t ion i n the wor ld o f f i ne a r t , i t s t i l l wor ks ou t bes t fo r a r t i s t s to be someth ing : a pa in te r, a scu lp to r, a pho togr apher. O the rw i se , wh i c h depar tment i n the museum i s supposed to co l l e c t your wor k? Wh i c h box w i l l you c hec k on the g r an t app l i ca t i on? And wha t do you te l l t ha t wea l thy pa t r on a t the coc k ta i l pa r t y when you on ly have a m inu te to exp la in your se l f ? B igger s ’ i nab i l i t y to be ca tegor i zed i n any o f t hese s imp le ways c ha l l enges the deep ly en t r enched no t ions o f t echn ique and d i sc ip l i ne tha t shape the mar ke ts a r ound v i sua l a r t . Bu t when we ca l l a r t i s t s l i ke B igger s i n te r d i sc ip l i na r y, t ha t ’ s r ea l l y j us t pos t -moder n l anguage to desc r ibe a way o f wor k ing tha t ’ s qu i t e common in many p laces ou ts ide o f Wes te r n moder n i t y. B igger s h imse l f r e fe r s to an A f r i can a r t i s t i c t r ad i t i on as a gu id ing p r inc ip l e , one tha t i s mor e f l u id than the spec ia l i z i ng manda te o f European a r t . I n th i s mode l , an a r t i s t i s a l l owed to wor k i n wha te ve r med ium w i l l f u l f i l l he r o r h i s i deas. H ip -hop i t se l f i s a good examp le and ano ther gu id ing p r inc ip l e fo r B igger s , i n i t s syn thes i s o f mus i c , poe t r y, and per fo r mance , i t s ab i l i t y to make ne w th ings f r om o ld th ings and v i ce ve r sa , i t s po l i t i ca l r e l e v ance and f an tas t i ca l power. B igger s uses Buddh i s t p r i nc ip l es i n a s im i l a r way, appr e -c i a t i ng i n the sp i r i t ua l t r ad i t i on an ab i l i t y to absorb a number o f i deas s imu l -taneous ly, a f l u id i t y o f p r ac t i ce , and a sense o f p r o fund i t y i n mundane ac t s and ob jec t s . And a l l o f t h i s f i t s we l l w i th A f r i can d iaspor i c t r ad i t i ons , wher e loca t ion i s ne ve r qu i t e a p lace i n and o f i t se l f, bu t somep lace i n r e la t i on to o the r p laces ; wher e home i s p r ov i s iona l , somep lace be tween a l os t pas t and

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an imag ined fu tu r e . B igger s i s ab le to ac tua l i ze th i s f l u id i t y i n h i s show a t G r and A r t s i n K ansas C i t y, wh i l e s t i l l i so la t i ng c l ea r and mov ing ideas. Wh i l e the spec ia l i za t i ons o f pos t -En l i gh tenment European a r t make g r ea t p r oduc ts fo r con temp la t ion and fo r sa le , I wou ld sugges t tha t p r ac t i ces l i ke B igger s ’ have a mor e immed ia te r esonance w i th wha t l i f e i s l i ke he r e and now.

I n 2007 , B igger s was commiss ioned to make a p iece fo r Ne w Yor k ’ s pe r fo r -mance a r t b i enn ia l , Pe r fo r ma . T he r esu l t was “T he Someth in’ Su i t e” , a v aude-v i l l e v a r i e t y show shown a t T he Box tha t i n te r r oga ted a h i s to r y o f r ace on the Amer i can s tage wh i l e emp loy ing spoken word and per fo r mance a r t t r ad i t i ons. Pe r fo r ma ’s d i r ec to r, Rose lee Go ldber g, i s the au thor o f t he canon i ca l t ex t “Per -fo r mance A r t : Fr om Fu tu r i sm to the P r esen t , ” i n wh i c h she t r aces a no t ion o f pe r fo r mance a r t to European av an t -ga rde exper imen ts w i th in movements such

as fu tu r i sm , dada and sur r ea l i sm . As Go ldber g po in t s ou t , pe r fo r mance was a lways a t the fo r e f r on t o f t hese r ad i ca l movements , se r v ing as a s ta r t i ng po in t fo r r e j ec t i ng o r r e ve r s ing the expec ta t i ons o f con ten t and fo r m tha t bour geo i s aud iences b r ough t to a r t a t t he s ta r t o f t he 20 th cen tu r y. As ne w k inds o f pe r fo r mances l ed the way i n each o f t hese movements , Go ldber g i n i t i a tes the idea o f an “av an t -av an t -ga rde” to desc r ibe these c ha l l eng ing ac t s . B igger s used th i s oppor tun i t y to b r i ng toge ther themes and images he has exp lo r ed i n o the r wor ks , such as the f abu lous f ea the r ed j ac ke t “Tun i c” (2003) and the v ideo “Chesh i r e” , as se ts , cos tumes, and concep-tua l s ta r t i ng po in t s fo r l i ve pe r fo r mance . Re la t i ng to Go ldber g ’ s “av an t -av an t -ga rde , ” “T he Someth in’ Su i t e” r eac ts to the founda t ions o f Amer i can popu la r thea te r : t he m ins t r e l show. D i f f e r en t c ha r ac te r s p layed by a hos t o f s i nger s and poe ts emer ge to s ing songs and r ead poems and r eac t to each o the r i n s t r ange sk i t s tha t emp loy and exp lode the r ac i s t s te r eo types tha t have ca r r i ed themse l ves th r ough the en t i r e h i s to r y o f Amer i can en te r -ta inment . Fr eedome Br ad ley, a Cab Ca l l oway -esque f i gu r e i n wh i te ta i l s , l eads the number “No Noose i s Good Noose .” T he p r eacher Mar t i n Lu the r B l i ng de l i ve r s the s t i r r i ng message “S t i l l D r eam in’ . ” T he “ghe t to b i r d” tun i c i s wor n by a g lam f i gu r e , N iggy S ta r dus t , wh i l e a pa i r o f Sou ther n be l l es pe r fo r m a due t i n f r on t o f a Dav id Hammonds- insp i r ed Amer i can f l ag i n the co lo r s o f A f r i can l i be r a t ion . Fo r an a r t i s t whose r epr esen ta t ions o f A f r i can-Amer i can exper i ence can o f ten be loose ly d i s cu r s i ve , t hese d i r ec t r e fe r ences and obv ious puns su i t ed the l i ve pe r fo r mance mode , caus ing the aud ience to r e l i ve a h i s to r y tha t somet imes f ee l s imposs ib le to l i ve down . A pa r t i cu la r l y po l i t i ca l s ta tement fo r the pe r fo r mance a r t b i enn ia l , “T he Someth in’ Su i t e” i l l um ina ted the b lac k - f aced spec tac le tha t s t i l l oper a tes i n today ’ s a r t s i ndus t r i es , f r om popu la r mass med ia to the f r on t l i ne o f t he cu t t i ng -edge .

Wh i l e B igger s ’ wor ks abou t r ace and r ac i sm a r e on ly a pa r t o f h i s ove r a l l oeuv r e , commun ica t ion ac r oss and w i th in cu l tu r es i s a cons tan t o f h i s wor k . As such , B igger s has emer ged as a p r om inen t vo i ce among a r t i s t s whose

“T he Br idge i s Over (B iddybyebye)” P las t i c and meta l 24 x 41 in . 20061 8

aes the t i c i ns t i nc t s a r e po l i t i ca l , and whose po l i t i ca l sens ib i l i t i e s a f f ec t t he fo r ms tha t a r twor ks take . B igger s has no t ye t r eached h i s p r ime , and w i th each ne w p ro jec t , t he comp lex i t y o f t he i deas and the amb i t i on o f t he scope a r e he igh tened and e labor a ted . I n he r essay fo r the show “Doub le Consc iousness : B lac k Con -cep tua l A r t S ince 1970 ,” i n wh i c h B igger s ’ f ea the r ed tun i c was i nc luded , cu r a to r Va le r i e Casse l O l i ve r conc ludes tha t “B lac k Concep tua l i sm has become the ac t o f t r ans fe r r i ng and man i f es t i ng b lac k se l f -de te r m ina t ion i n the ma ins t r eam a r t wor ld . ” Wh i l e th i s h i s to r i ca l and i ns t i t u t i ona l i n te r p r e ta t i on i s on ly one o f many f r ames th r ough wh i c h to v i e w th i s wor k , O l i ve r ’ s words do r i ng t r ue . San fo r d B ig -ger s i s a man w i th a p lan , and he ’ s go t the sk i l l s to execu te i t no t on ly as a b lac k a r t i s t , bu t a l so on the b ig s tage o f wor ld cu l tu r e .

San fo r d B igger sPecu l i a r I ns t i t u t i ons…

Januar y 16 – Febr uar y 28 , 2009 Open ing Recep t ion :

J anuar y 16 , 2009 f r om 6 – 8 p.m . So l ven t Space i s an exh ib i t i on space loca ted i n the P lan t Ze ro A r t s Comp lex a t Hu l l and 4 th S t r ee ts i n R i c hmond , V i r g in i a . So l ven t Space i s a p r o jec t o f t he Schoo l o f t he A r t s and the Depar tment o f Pa in t i ng and Pr in tmak ing a t V i r g in i a Commonwea l th Un i ve r s i t y, i n cooper a t ion w i th P lan t Ze ro. Ema i l : r r o th@vcu .edu , t e l ephone : 267-262-1619

Ga l l e r y hour s : Tuesday 12 – 4 p.m . T hur sday 12 – 4 p.m . Sa tu r day 12 – 4 p.m .

(Excep t ho l i days)

To see mor e v i s i t www.san fo r db igger s . com

“T he Someth in’ Su i t e” - Per fo r mance s t i l l s . 2007 1 9

Border T hief T he Ou tlaw Art of David Amoroso Pr es ton Duncan

I t ’ s F i r s t Fr iday and Broad S t r ee t i s s low ly c logg ing w i th Fan h ips te r s and Wes t Ender s ou t fo r the i r month ly descen t i n to the s t y l i sh g r i t and d i l ap ida ted r ea l i t i es o f downtown . Nor ma l l y I ’ d be among them, hun t ing the endanger ed spec ies o f open bar ga l l e r i es o r e l se wa tch ing the f am i l i a r de r v i shes o f f i r e dancer s i n the s t r ee t . Bu t I ’m no t the r e .

I ns tead I ’m a t a w ine shop, G r ape and Cheese on Ma in S t r ee t , and no t fo r the i r week ly w ine tas t i ng g r a t i s (as i s usua l l y t he case) , bu t to s i t down w i th Dav id Amoroso, a D.C . a r ea a r t i s t who has j us t f i n i shed hang ing h i s wor k as I wa l k th r ough the door.

Amoroso i s a pa in te r, pho togr apher and a g r ingo (wh i te ) . Wha t so l i d i f i e s h i s d i ve r s i t y o f med ium in to an a r t i cu la te a r t i s t i c s ta tement i s h i s ab i l i t y to d i s t i l l La t i n Amer i can i conogr aphy and r e f l ec t i t f r om a Un i ted S ta tes pe r spec t i ve . Fr om por t r a i t s o f so -ca l l ed “ i l l e ga l s” to Luchador p r in t s , h i s r omant i c i sm fo r La t i no cu l tu r e i s i n pe r pe tua l conver sa t ion w i th the ha r shness o f t he immig r an ts ’ p l i gh t , r e vea l i ng a te r r i b l e and human iz ing image o f the o f ten ignor ed r ea l i t y o f t he i r ex i s tence .

My f i r s t encoun te r w i th Amoroso ’s wor k was a t the R i c hmond Fo l k Fes t i v a l t h i s yea r, wher e he was r unn ing a hands-on c r a f t s boo th ce leb r a t i ng D ia De Los Muer tos . He d idn’ t have any pho togr aphy the r e , bu t upon see ing them, a l l o f h i s p i c tu r es possess a haun t ing f am i l i a r i t y.

So i t i s w i th a g lass o f Board ing Pass Sh i r az and a shop ca t near ly as f a t and no t so we l l t emper ed as the w ine , tha t we take a sea t on an o ld couch i n the bac k o f t he s to r e .

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An Eng l i sh as a Second Language teacher, Amoroso ’s f i r s t i n t r oduc t ion to La t i n Amer i -can cu l tu r e was th r ough h i s s tuden ts , who in the p r ocess o f l ea r n ing Eng l i sh taugh t h im Span i sh . Bu t i t wasn’ t un t i l he t r ave led th r ough Mex i co tha t he found an a r t i s t i c connec t ion to the cu l tu r a l l andscape tha t wou ld de f i ne h i s wor k . “When I wen t to Mex i co I , hones t l y, fo r the f i r s t t ime fe l t l i ke the r e was some sor t o f r ea l l i f e -b lood r unn ing th r ough my body. I was so exc i t ed by a l l t he co lo r I saw…the way e ve r y th ing seemed to be so r t o f v ib r an t…I took tons o f p i c tu r es . ”

Pe rhaps h i s mos t i den t i f i a b le p ieces compr i se the se r i es “V ia je r os , ” a co l l e c t i on o f pho togr aphy -based por t r a i t s o f immig r an t l abor e r s . T he pa in t i ngs v a r y s t y l i s t i ca l l y : a t t imes they a r e s t r ong, c l ean and i con i c , wh i l e a t o the r s they a r e a lmos t l i ke washed ou t wa te r co lo r s , t he sub jec t a ghos t i n the pa in t .

I ask Amoroso wha t i nsp i r ed i t .

“ I s ta r ted [ the] se r i es a f t e r mee t ing one per son who to ld me a s to r y abou t how he c r ossed i n to the U.S. f r om Bo l i v i a . I mean , I cou ldn’ t be l i e ve i t . I t t ook abou t a month , maybe a month and a ha l f, $2 ,000 o r $3 ,000 do l l a r s mor e than h i s f am i l y was go ing to make i n the nex t 6 months. W i th tha t , he t r ave led to the U.S. Each coun t r y he wen t th r ough became mor e and mor e d i f f i cu l t , mor e and mor e c ha l l eng ing. He go t a r r es ted . He was separ a ted . A t one po in t he was s towed on top o f t he eng ine o f a t r uc k to c r oss i n to the USA , fo r wha t? To wor k . I ’ ve g r own up a r ound hundr eds o f peop le tha t don’ t seem to e ven wan t to wor k . And so, tha t somebody ’ s w i l l i ng to r i s k the i r l i f e , and to spend e ve r y th ing they have – somet imes they have to use the i r homes o r the i r p r oper t i es as co l l a te r a l fo r a l oan – j us t to ge t he r e , w i l l i ng to r i s k tha t much j us t to wor k i n a l ow pay ing job tha t mos t peop le don’ t e ven wan t to do, i t j us t so c hanged the way I l ooked a t the wor k e th i c o f so many La t i nos. ”

T he mor e immig r an ts he ta l ked to, t he mor e he heard o f t he i no rd ina te ha rdsh ips they f aced . T hese s to r i es , and the i r t e l l e r s , a r e the concep tua l and phys i ca l bas i s fo r “V ia j e r os. ”

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“So I d id the f i r s t ‘V i a j e r os ’ pa in t i ng, wh i c h dep i c ted the bur n mar k on h i s bac k f r om be ing s towed on top o f t he moto r. He ac tua l l y had se ve r a l peop le on top o f h im . I d id tha t , I dep i c ted h i s bac k i n f r on t o f t he Amer i can f l ag, t hen I used my hands to pu l l down on the we t pa in t so tha t i t wou ld l ook l i ke the f l ag was b leed ing a b i t , and then be low i t t he r e ’ s a b i t o f a map c r oss ing f r om Bo l i v i a up i n to the Un i ted S ta tes . My goa l w i th th i s pa in t i ng i s tha t , you may see the image and have some in i t i a l r eac t ion , some impac t , bu t then when you hear the s to r y tha t accompan ies i t – because a l l o f t he pa in t i ngs do have a s to r y – you hear tha t s to r y, and i t maybe , I hope , c hanges the way you look a t somebody on the s t r ee t . And r a the r than ask ing wha t tha t pe r son’s do ing he r e , you know ‘he needs to go bac k ’ , you have a g r ea te r appr ec ia t i on o f wha t someone w i l l be w i l l i ng to r i s k , j us t to su r v i ve . ”

Amoroso ’s r ep r esen ta t ion o f a pa r t i cu la r sub jec t i s o f t en based on the s to r y they te l l and h i s pe r cep t ion o f t he i r r e l a t i onsh ip w i th soc ie t y, t he i r f am i l i es and themse l ves .

“One o f the guys I i n te r v i e wed – he ’ s been her e fo r abou t 6 o r 8 year s now – he has p r e t t y much no con tac t w i th anyone i n h i s f am i l y. I f he wer e to j us t d i sappear, no one wou ld e ven know. He ’ s p r esen t , bu t no t p r esen t . I f e l t t ha t do ing tha t s tu f f so r t o f r ep r esen ts tha t he ’ s ba r e ly he r e .

T he ones tha t a r e a b i t mor e g r aph i c…we l l , I s ta r ted as a pho togr apher, so when I pho togr aphed the mode l s , I t ended to go fo r a r ea l l y s ta r k b lac k and wh i te l ook . I t h ink i t ’ s ou t o f r espec t fo r the i nd i v idua l s , I l i ke to make them look power fu l and i con i c , and hones t l y mos t o f t he guys I i n te r v i e w a r e j us t so su r p r i sed to see themse l ves tha t way, i n a pos i t i ve way. I t ’ s empower ing, and they ’ l l ca l l t he i r f r i ends and say, ‘Hey, you go t ta come over, t he r e ’ s a pa in t i ng o f me ’ i f t hey ’ r e i n a ga l l e r y o r an exh ib i t o f some sor t . O r I ’ l l pho togr aph the image so they can send i t bac k home . And once aga in , as a pa in te r, mak ing a por t r a i t doesn’ t seem to be such a b ig dea l , bu t fo r someone who ’s been mar g ina l i zed and doesn’ t f ee l impor tan t , i t ’ s my way, I f ee l , o f show ing them r espec t . ”

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Amoroso a l so wor ks w i th b loc k p r i n t s , one o f wh i c h i s o f t he he ro o f Mex i can Inde-pendence , Em i l i ano Zapa ta . Pe rhaps one o f t he mos t r ecogn izab le f i gu r es i n Mex i can h i s to r y, h i s image i s ub iqu i tous th r oughou t the coun t r y and the sca t te r ed bar r ios o f i t s expa t r i a tes i n the s ta tes . I ask h im how h i s r ep r esen ta t ion o f f amous por t r a i t g i ves vo i ce to the s t r ugg les o f La t i n Amer i can immig r an ts .

“ I ’ d l i ke to say tha t wha t I do i s the vo i ce o f peop le tha t m igh t no t be heard , bu t I t h ink I ’ d come o f f as a j e r k i f I sa id I ’m the vo i ce o f…whoever. I t h ink tha t any th ing I can do to sp r ead the word , to ge t o the r s to l ea r n abou t o the r cu l tu r es , o the r p l i gh ts o f human i t y, o the r s i t ua t ions , t ha t ’ s my goa l . Mor e than any th ing I l ove the image . I t ’ s amaz ing how jus t a f e w pho togr aph i c images o f an i nd i v idua l can be r eproduced so many t imes i n so many d i f f e r en t ways. He doesn’ t d i e . I ’ d say he ’ s the Mex i can E l v i s , bu t tha t makes h im t r ashy. He made f i lms , he r ecorded , he d ied t r ag i ca l l y. He ’ s been dead fo r 50 year s . Peop le s t i l l l ove h im , they wan t h im , and so he ’ s a m i x o f pop cu l tu r e , w i th a message as we l l . ”

Look ing a t h i s p ieces p r es id ing ove r the an th r opo log i ca l l y o r gan i zed w ine r ac ks , h i s t ime less b loc k p r in t s and i nde f i n i t e pho togr aphs g i ve a sense o f someth ing p r ima l , someth ing au then t i ca l l y human tha t ho lds i t s own aga ins t the d i ve r se sens ib i l i t i e s o f u rban oenoph i l es and f ash ionab le ga l l e r y hopper s . A t once h ip and c l ass i c , s t y l i s t i -ca l l y r e l e v an t and concep tua l l y soc io -po l i t i ca l , i t i s easy to under s tand why Amoroso wou ld be a t t r ac ted to Zapa ta ’ s image : a symbo l o f pop cu l tu r e w i th a message , too.

T he wor k o f Dav id Amoroso w i l l be on d i sp lay a t G r ape and Cheese un t i l J anuar y 1 , 2009 , and can be v i e wed v i a the web a t www.geoc i t i es . com/AmorosoAr t .

G r ape and Cheese i s l oca ted a t 1531 W. Ma in S t . R i c hmond , VA 23220(804) 353-9463

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S pa c e o f H e r O w n Ta l i a M i l l e r | Pho tos by Jay Shar pe

I spend T hur sday n igh ts a t the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r w i th a g r oup o f abso lu te ly amaz ing women and g i r l s . T he r eason? A g r an t - funded mento r sh ip p r ogr am r un by the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r, w i th he lp f r om Ar t 180 , ca l l ed Space o f Her Own , o r SOHO fo r shor t . T he p r ogr am matches 14 g i r l s f r om T he Fr i ends Assoc ia t i on fo r Ch i l d r en i n R i c hmond ’s G i l p in Cour t commun i t y w i th 14 mento r s who wor k toge ther w i th them each week on a v a r i e t y o f a r t p r o jec t s . T he mento r sh ip cu lm ina tes i n the r e -des ign o f t he g i r l s ’ bedrooms over a weekend in Apr i l .

I ’ ve spen t Fr iday n igh ts a t the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r i n a r t c l asses a t the Second Fr iday Samp le r p r o -g r am. I ’ ve made and bound my own no tebooks , c r ea ted g lass pendan ts and l ea r ned how to do im-age t r ans fe r s , among o the r th ings. And the bes t pa r t i s , none o f i t cos t me a penny.

T he V i sua l A r t s Cen te r, now loca ted on Ma in S t r ee t i n the Fan , s ta r ted ou t as the Hand Wor kshop in 1963 and was o r ig ina l l y i n Chur ch H i l l . Essen -t i a l l y a co l l e c t i ve o f a r t i s t s w i th s tud io space , the founder, E l i sabe th Sco t t Bococ k , l a te r expanded i t i n to an a f te r - schoo l p r ogr am when she no t i ced a need fo r c h i l dca r e i n the commun i t y. I n the 1980s the Hand Wor kshop r en ted wha t was then

the V i r g in i a Da i r y and e ven tua l l y pur chased and l a te r r enov a ted the bu i l d ing i n to wha t i s today, the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r.

T he space i s , to me , un ique and i nc r ed ib ly impor -tan t to R i c hmond . T he sheer number o f ou t r each p r ogr ams tha t they o f f e r to the commun i t y, i n ad -d i t i on to the v a r i e t y o f a r t c l asses and the s tud io space av a i l ab le i s a lmos t ove rwhe lm ing. A r t has o f ten been though t o f as someth ing tha t cou ld on ly be t r u ly appr ec ia ted by the r i c h , bu t the V i -sua l A r t s Cen te r goes a l ong way i n mak ing i t ac -cess ib le to e ve r yone . T he p r ogr amming they have deve loped no t on ly demys t i f i e s a r t fo r the common per son bu t a l so encour ages them to c r ea te i t .

T he longes t r unn ing examp le o f t h i s i s the A r t A f -t e r Schoo l p r ogr am, wh i c h now oper a tes as a pa r t -ne r sh ip w i th B in fo r d M idd le Schoo l . T he p r ogr am prov ides f r ee a f t e r - schoo l a r t c l asses to ove r 200 s tuden ts each semes te r. “T hey wa l k ove r a f t e r sc hoo l f r om B in fo r d and ge t to c hoose f r om fou r o r f i ve d i f f e r en t c l asses tha t they can take , ” says Jac k ie Manc in i , P r ogr am Coord ina to r a t the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r. I f t h i s weekday a r t p r ogr am i s no t enough fo r the young, cu r ious m ind , the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r o f f e r s the S ide by S ide Sa tu r days p r ogr am, wh i c h takes p lace on the f i r s t t h r ee Sa tu r days o f

each month . Anyone can s ign up and come in to take an i n te r gener a t iona l pa i r i ng c l ass ( i . e . pa r en t and c h i l d , g r andpar en t and g r andch i l d , men to r and men tee) , wher e they wor k on a p r o jec t toge ther fo r two hour s . D id I men t ion tha t bo th these p r ogr ams a r e a l so f r ee?

“ I t h ink we ’ r e a t an i n te r es t i ng po in t wher e we ’ r e t r y i ng to f i gu r e ou t wha t the commun i t y wan ts f r om us and needs f r om us… We a l r eady know we have th i s base o f peop le who wan t to come in and wan t to take c l asses f r om us , ” says Manc in i . One th ing they have no t i ced a need fo r i s mor e suppor t fo r l oca l a r t i s t s . T he Young Lawyer s Ta l k se r i es teams up McGu i r e Woods, a R i c hmond-based l aw f i r m , w i th the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r to p r ov ide ta l ks abou t a r t l aw. “Peop le can come in and have f r ee w ine , beer and p i zza and l ea r n abou t someth ing tha t , i f you a r e an a r t i s t , you a r e p r obab ly no t good a t th ink -i ng abou t , wh i c h i s [ l ega l speak] , how to fo r m an LLC , how to do your taxes and no t owe money, copy r igh t management… th ings tha t a r t i s t s r ea l l y need to know bu t a r e ha rd to wr ap your head a r ound .” Manc in i con t i nues , “ I t ’ s b r i ng ing i n a g r oup o f peop le who a r e i ndependen t a r t i s t s who a r e wor k ing i n R i c hmond , and who wan t tha t k i nd o f he lp fo r good r easons. ”

Par t o f wha t I f i nd so f asc ina t i ng abou t the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r i s i t s ab i l i t y to seam less ly comb ine R i c hmond ’s a r t i s t i c and co r por a te commun i t i es . So many t imes the two s t r ugg le to ove r l ap, bu t l ook ing a t the long l i s t o f co r por a te sponsor s i nvo l ved , and p r ogr amming l i ke the Young Lawyer s Ta l k se r i es , i t appear s tha t the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r has c r ea ted the pe r fec t a tmospher e fo r success fu l co l l abor a t ion be tween tha t wh i c h wou ld i n i t i a l l y appear d i s t i nc t l y d i f f e r en t . “ I t h i nk i t i s necessar y i n o r der to bu i l d and g r ow and to c r ea te th i s s t r ong a r t commun i t y to take adv an tage o f t he ph i l an th r opy tha t i s av a i l ab le f r om compan ies who wan t to suppor t the i r commun i t y. T hey have th i s money tha t they wan t us to take and use to expand our p r ogr ams and do someth ing l i ke the SOHO progr am, wh i c h we cou ldn’ t do w i thou t the he lp o f t hese i nc r ed-ib ly generous co r por a t ions , ” says Manc in i , he r vo i ce r i s i ng i n exc i t emen t ove r the poss ib i l i t i e s .

T he V i sua l A r t s Cen te r ’ s ou t r each to a d i ve r s i t y o f popu la t i ons i s bo th r a r e and commendab le . One o f my per sona l f avo r i t e p r ogr ams o f f e r ed i s the Second Fr iday Samp le r men t ioned be fo r e . Gear ed toward a pos t - co l l ege aged c r ow d , the p r ogr am w i l l beg in aga in i n J anuar y, and takes p lace on , obv ious ly, t he second Fr iday o f each month . On tha t n igh t , anyone can come in and take , fo r f r ee , a samp le r c l ass o f one o f t he c l asses o f f e r ed a t the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r. Manc in i exp la ins , “T he goa l [o f t he p r ogr am] i s tha t i f you haven’ t t aken a c l ass he r e and a r e no t su r e wha t k ind o f a c l ass you wou ld wan t to take , you can come in and i ns tead o f i nves t i ng i n a c l ass tha t you ’ r e no t su r e abou t , you ge t to see wha t i t wou ld be l i ke . I t he lps to b r ing i n an aud ience tha t has never been i n the bu i l d ing be fo r e . ” C l asses o f f e r ed r ange f r om t r ad i t i ona l sneak peaks such as c l ay th r ow ing, to paper cu tou t an ima t ion , to s t i l l l i f e d r aw ing, and each month the s ta f f wor ks ha rd to make su r e the r e i s a d i ve r s i t y o f o f f e r i ngs p r ov ided . T hey a l so con t i nue to deve lop ne w p rogr ams, w i th one cu r r en t l y i n the wor ks tha t t a r ge ts sen io r s i n ass i s ted l i v i ng.

As f a r as c l asses go, i f you wer e e ve r y i n te r es ted i n t ak ing any so r t o f a r t c l ass , t r ad i t i ona l o r o the rw i se , you can p r e t t y much guar an tee the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r has i t . O f f e r i ngs i nc lude meta l s and j e we l r y, g l ass , p r i n tmak ing, woodcu t t i ng, f i be r, se w ing, w r i t i ng, weav ing, d ig i t a l a r t s , pho togr aphy and p r e t t y much any th ing e l se you cou ld th ink o f. I t a l so houses a ga l l e r y w i th exh ib i t i ons tha t a r e p r ogr ammed a round ex tens i ve ly by the en t i r e s ta f f. I n J anuar y the i r g l ass show, ca l l ed “Fr om Sand ,” w i l l open up, f ea tu r ing wor ks by Ken Da ley, R i c ha rd Jo l l ey and Joyce J. Sco t t . A f i lm se r i es focus ing on g lass as we l l as spec ia l c l asses based a r ound g lass w i l l a l so beg in i n J anuar y to co r r e la te w i th the exh ib i t .

To l ea r n mor e abou t the V i sua l A r t s Cen te r, you can v i s i t t hem on the web a t www.v i sa r t s .o r g, o r you can d r op by 1812 W. Ma in S t . and v i s i t t hem fo r your se l f.

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Cultivating Our Connections An Interview with Thomas Barnett of Strike Anywhere M i ke Ru tz | Pho tos by Ju l i e Fe r guson

On e lec t i on n igh t , many o f us dec ided to tu r n o f f t he TV and jo in our f r i ends a t one o f t he many shows a r ound R i c hmond . A t Ga l l e r y5 , the e lec to r a l map s low ly tu r ned b lue as Tr i c l ops ! , B r a inwor ms, S t i nk Eyes , and S t r i ke Anywher e p r ov ided a c r uc ia l sound t r ac k . I n town to beg in wor k on the fo l l ow-up to Dead FM, I had the c hance to s i t down w i th T homas, l ead s inger o f S t r i ke Anywher e . We con t inued a conver sa t ion tha t began l as t summer abou t t r ave l i ng, po l i t i c s , commun i t y and the o r ig ins o f t he an t i - f asc i s t c i r c l e .

Mike Rutz You guys a r e i n R i c hmond fo r abou t a week and a ha l f ?

Thomas Barnett Yeah , a f t e r our e lec t i on n igh t show, we loaded in to our f r i end Robb ie ’ s basement . Robb ie (Hudd les ton) was the bass p laye r i n I nqu i s i t i on and a l so the Founda t ion Band and Ann Ber r e t ta , and he l e t s us hang ou t i n h i s basement . He has a young ch i l d , who somehow s leeps be t te r when we ’ r e p lay ing loud , f as t songs i n the basement (bo th l augh) .

Robb ie ’ s been so generous to us . Tomor r ow we ’ l l r eco rd demos to have r e fe r -ences to l i s t en to fo r the ne w r ecord .

MR D id you a l r eady have songs l a id ou t to ta l k abou t?

TB We ’ r e con t i nua l l y w r i t i ng. T her e ’ s a lways mus i c p i eces , and gu i t a r r i f f s , and voca l i deas f l oa t i ng a r ound . Eve r ybody i n the band wr i t es , so I a lways ge t gu i t a r pa r t s by the ha l f -dozen f r om each o f t he gen t l emen in S t r i ke Anywher e . I e ven have a f e w o f my own and we comb ine th ings , push them toge ther. T he

d ig i t a l age i s we i r d , espec ia l l y fo r punk r oc ke r s l i v i ng i n d i f f e r en t c i t i es , bu t we ’ r e s t i l l r ea l l y i nsp i r ed and wan t ing to wr i t e songs w i th each o the r. Some-body w i l l be l i ke , he r e ’ s a c r appy gu i t a r pa r t and I ’m l i ke , coo l , he r e ’ s my c r appy voca l . You know, sc r eam ing a t your compute r i n the wee hour s o f t he ga r age o r basement o f wha te ve r house you r en t . I t h ink a l o t o f k ids a l l ove r the wor ld a r e do ing th i s . I t ’ s one o f t hose a r guments tha t o f f ends a l l o f t he Ludd i te sens ib i l i t i e s tha t punk r oc ke r s have abou t the e v i l s o f t echno logy. A t some l e ve l , k ids i n Ma lays ia can be i n a band w i th k ids f r om Aus t r a l i a . Maybe they can’ t a f fo r d the p lane t i c ke ts to pu l l a tour toge ther, bu t they can have a band tha t ac tua l l y has songs. I t ’ s nea t .

MR Be ing tha t some you guys l i ve i n d i f f e r en t c i t i es , have the th ings tha t a r e i n f l uenc ing your mus i c and l y r i c s c hanged?

TB Yeah , de f i n i t e l y. I t h ink i t ’ s k i nda coo l . I t ’ s obv ious tha t our a t tachment to R i c hmond i s s t r ong and e te r na l , espec ia l l y g r ow ing up he r e f r om ze ro to th i r t y ( yea r s o ld ) . T ha t ’ s the way I ’m gonna see the wor ld fo r the r es t o f my l i f e . T her e ’ s j us t someth ing r ea l l y, a lmos t sp i r i t ua l abou t wa l k ing the s t r ee ts , and the h i s to r y and e ve r y th ing. T he punk scene her e i s the beg inn ing o f how we see punk scenes anywher e e l se ; wh i c h i s i n te r es t i ng, because the p lace tha t r em inded me mos t o f ea r l y n ine t i es R i c hmond , o f a l l o f ou r tour s , was Ga lway on the wes t coas t o f I r e l and . I t was our f i r s t tou r o f I r e l and , and those k ids had tha t awesome ge t t i ng i t w r ong, bu t ge t t i ng i t r i gh t th ing go-ing on , w i th l i be r t y sp i kes tha t wer e two fee t w ide , a b lue l ea the r j ac ke t and a s t r a igh t -edge X on the i r hand . Comb in ing s tu f f t ha t maybe wasn’ t mean t to be comb ined . I t was r ad . T hose k ids wer e sc r eam ing ‘R i c hmond punks ’ a t us be tween songs i n th i s pub we p layed . Wh i c h was so coo l , because tha t ’ s how we a l l me t each o the r, t ha t ’ s wha t i t means to us . Bu t , yeah , l i v i ng i n d i f f e r en t c i t i es and hav ing d i f f e r en t exper i ences i s impor tan t , too. Com ing bac k home though , i t ’ s wher e our r oo ts a r e and wher e they ’ l l a lways be .

MR Do you guys have a ten ta t i ve r e lease da te fo r the ne w a lbum?

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TB I don’ t know, bu t I t h ink we ’ r e r ecord ing i n Mar ch o r Apr i l . Be fo r e tha t , we have a tour i n Europe suppor t i ng R i se Aga ins t . We ’ r e ac tua l l y gonna t r y to go to Be la r us , to M insk and then take a t r a in and p lay Moscow. I f we su r v i ve tha t , t hen we ’ l l be ab le to r ecord .

MR So you haven’ t p l ayed Russ ia be fo r e?

TB No, i t ’ s exc i t i ng. We have casse t te r e l eases o f our r ecords the r e th r ough th i s g r oup f r om Moscow ca l l ed O ld Schoo l K ids Records. T hey ’ ve been pu t t i ng them ou t fo r peop le i n the Cen t r a l As ian , pos t -Sov ie t Repub l i c s and the Caucuses and o the r peop le ou ts ide o f S t . Pe te r sbur g and Moscow. Casse t tes a r e av a i l ab le a t those bazaar s tha t they have , s i nce CD techno logy i s no t i n e ve r yone ’s hands ye t . T ha t was someth ing we r ea l l y ca r ed abou t , ge t t i ng our mus i c ou t the r e and then hav ing t r ans la t i ons. My w i f e knows Russ ian , so she he lps t r ans la te my l y r i c s . Yeah , ge t t i ng ou t the r e i s go ing to be awesome .

MR I saw you guys a yea r and a ha l f ago i n Schwe in fu r t , Ge r many and you ’ r e go ing bac k the r e as pa r t o f t he tour i n ea r ly 2009 . When we wer e ta l k i ng a t the show, you sa id one o f t he r easons you l i ke p lay ing Schwe in fu r t , wh i c h i s no t a ma jo r c i t y, was because the r e ’ s a Un i ted S ta tes m i l i t a r y base nearby. When you p lan your tour s , do you t r y and go to c i t i es tha t a r e near the bases?

TB No, we can p lay a lmos t e ve r y c i t y i n Ge r many. I t ’ s c r azy, t he r e la t i onsh ip peop le have to pub l i c t r anspor ta t i on i s such tha t they ac tua l l y do th ings i n the i r own c i t i es . So, you ge t 300 d i f f e r en t fo l ks (a t a d i f f e r en t show) on ly two hour s away. I t doesn’ t wor k tha t way i n the U.S. ( I n Ge r many) , peop le don’ t t r ave l to o the r c i t i es , maybe they don’ t have ca r s o r wha te ve r, so they come ou t l oya l l y e ve r y yea r. Schwe in fu r t and K ar l s r uhe a r e two p laces wher e we j us t happen to have G I ’ s and Amer i cans i n the m i l i t a r y come to the shows cons i s ten t l y and buy us d r inks , and te l l us the i r s to r i es . T hey ta l k r ea l i s t i ca l l y abou t wha t has happened and wha t w i l l happen and wha t they don’ t wan t to happen . T her e ’ s a l o t o f f r us t r a t i on , and i t ’ s r ea l l y i n te r es t i ng hear ing i t d i r ec t l y f r om fo l ks i n the m i l i t a r y. When we ’ r e no t on tour, we wor k w i th the coun te r-r ec r u i tmen t movement to g i ve peop le o the r op t ions when tab les a r e se t up a t pub l i c s c hoo l s and i n the i nner c i t i es . O the r po in t s o f v i e w a r en’ t r ea l l y a l l owed on-s i t e , so you can hand ou t f l ye r s to pa r en ts , o r pu t them on the schoo l buses , o r to the k ids tha t a r e wa l k ing to and f r om the schoo l to show them tha t (en l i s tmen t ) i s no t your on ly op t ion . Le t ’ s th ink abou t o the r s tu f f. Ta l k i ng to these fo l ks i n Ge r many i n the m i l i t a r y i s r ea l l y impor tan t to me and they appr ec ia te i t ,

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too. A t f i r s t , I t hough t , maybe we don’ t ag r ee on e ve r y th ing, wh i c h i s s t i l l coo l , bu t they r ea l l y do th ink tha t th i s war was p r ed i ca ted on a l i e and i t ’ s i nsane . A l l o f t he th ings they though t they wer e go ing to ge t ou t o f m i l i t a r y se r v i ce have no t happened . T hey ’ r e ca r r y ing a l o t o f pos t - t r aumat i c s t r ess d i so r der and o the r a i lmen ts tha t a r e go ing to be a pa r t o f t he i r l i ves fo r e ve r. Member s o f S t r i ke Anywher e have f r i ends who have come bac k f r om I r aq w i th PTSD and w i th r econs t r uc ted l imbs , and i t ’ s a huge par t o f ou r l i ves , pe r son -a l l y, t o th ink abou t th i s c r i t i ca l l y. We t r y to ex tend o the r op t ions and to advoca te peace , no t j us t on a s logan and mar ch ing l e ve l , bu t w i th peop le i n the commun i t y and w i th a l l t he comp lex i t i es o f Amer i can l i f e i n tac t .

MR Wha t i s a c i t y o r coun t r y you haven’ t p l ayed tha t you ’ d l i ke to p lay?

TB We l l , e ve r ywher e ! We wen t to Sou th Amer i ca , to Br az i l , and p layed th r ee shows i n Sao Pau lo, wh i c h i s a huge c i t y, and then we f l e w up and p layed one show in Bogo ta , Co lumb ia . I t was amaz ing, bu t s t r ange , because i t ’ s r i gh t on the equa to r bu t i t ’ s co ld , and

the r e ’ s t r op i ca l moun ta ins and fog and s tu f f l i ke tha t . So, mor e Sou th Amer i ca and mor e e ve r ywher e . We ’ r e ta l k i ng w i th the band , Have Hear t , now abou t do ing someth ing i n the summer wher e we do a l l o f As ia , as many p laces as w i l l have us . We ’ l l see i f t ha t happens ; i t ’ s mor e i n the d r eam ing s tage r i gh t now. Bu t , i t ’ s coo l to have par tne r s i n c r ime , o the r peop le who a r e t r y i ng to f i nd the o ld r ecord d i s t r i bu t ion ne twor ks who can do r eg iona l tou r -i ng be tween Sou theas t As ia , I ndones ia . We have some f r i ends i n Ta iwan r ecen t l y who a r e do ing a g r ea t dea l o f wor k bu i l d ing up an i ndependen t tour ing scene i n Sou theas t As ia . T ha t wou ld be an i nc r ed ib le p lace ( to p lay ) .

MR You j us t p layed Ga l l e r y5 fo r the e lec t i on show. Wha t made you p lay Ga l l e r y5 th i s t ime i ns tead o f your usua l venue , A l l ey K a tz?

TB You know, i t ’ s an awesome venue , and we l i ke the a r t t ha t ’ s the r e and the l i t t l e bookshop in f r on t . I t j us t g i ves you a l i t t l e mor e than j us t a commer c ia l space , wher e somet imes you f ee l ( the band i s ) j us t a sound t r ac k to peop le d r ink ing beer un t i l t hey vom i t . T ha t ’ s coo l , obv ious ly the r e ’ s a l coho l av a i l ab le a t shows a t Ga l l e r y5 , bu t the r e ’ s mor e o f a cu l tu r a l componen t wher e you f ee l embedded in the commun i t y a b i t mor e . I t has a r ea l l y n i ce f ee l . T he peop le a t

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A l l e y K a t z have been generous to us , too, fo r the pas t e igh t o r n ine year s . I t ’ s one o f t he be t te r r oc k c lubs o f i t s s i ze tha t we e ve r p lay. T he ba l cony i s n i ce because our f am i l i es , when we come to R i c hmond , can wa tch the show w i th -ou t ge t t i ng moshed on . T ha t ’ s impor tan t . Bu t , yeah , we loved tha t show (a t Ga l l e r y5) . T he f i r e eng ine tha t ’ s the r e , t he o ld pa r t s o f t he f i r e museum and a l l o f t he a r twor k . T her e wer e p ieces o f Gwar s tage se tups the r e , s t i l l ho r r ib ly d i sgus t i ng th ings tha t move a r ound and shoo t goo a t you . T ha t ’ s our r oo ts , you know, and i f we can be near someth ing tha t has s tu f f t ha t Gwar ’ s t r y i ng to use , tha t ’ s p r e t t y awesome , because some o f the f i r s t shows I e ve r saw wer e Gwar when they j us t s ta r t i ng up. And they wer e bu i l d ing the i r own we i r d s tu f f, r o l l e r ska t i ng i n l o inc lo ths w i th foam ba t t l e axes , j us t s ca r ing the he l l ou t o f you .

MR Wha t i s your r eac t ion to the e lec t i on ou tcome?

TB O f cour se i t ’ s amaz ing, bu t beyond tha t , l ook ing a t the po tenc y o f an Amer i can p r es iden t and the the -a te r o f e l ec to r a l po l i t i c s and the i n tense ove rwhe lm-ing was te o f money and the asymmet r i ca l aspec ts o f t he nom ina t i ng p r ocess and a l l t he cand ida tes ,

“.. .people have to stay en-gaged and people have to

hold politicians ac-countable and not

just wait for the one vote every

four years to feel like

they have power.”

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t ha t ’ s mor e o f our c r i t i que . T he sys tem i t se l f i s r i gged and i t ’ s gonna se r ve the i n te r es t s o f a l r eady wea l thy and the t r ansna t iona l power s , t he r ea l power, and they j us t use gover nments to make l aws to a l l ow them to make money a t the expense o f t he p lane t and the r es t o f us . T ha t ’ s obv ious ly l y r i c s we have i n our songs , tha t ’ s how we fee l . Bu t on ano ther l e ve l , on an equa l l y impor tan t l e ve l , ( l ook a t ) the way tha t tha t e l ec t i on made e ve r yone happy and be l i e ve i n someth ing. V i r g in i a d id someth ing ! And no t j us t i n the pas t – someth ing hor -r i b l e i n the pas t – bu t someth ing r ea l i n the p r esen t . T he spon taneous mar ches and e ve r y th ing, the r e m igh t no t be any th ing l i ke tha t aga in i n my l i f e t ime . I t ’ s a lmos t l i ke the pos i t i ve number oppos i t e Sep tember 11 th i n the mass psych i c consc iousness. T he way e ve r yone fe l t embedded , i so la ted , f r i gh tened and a l -mos t i n te l l e c tua l l y a t tac ked by your own coun t r y and your own r eac t ions to Sep tember 11 th . T h i s was a wave o f pub l i c j oy and en l i gh tenment . I don’ t have a g r ea t dea l o f f a i t h i n the ab i l i t y o f one p r es iden t to r e ve r se , r econs t r uc t and r e v i t a l i ze the th ings tha t m igh t s t i l l be sa l i en t and t r ue abou t Amer i can l i f e and the Amer i can d r eam. I t h ink Bar ac k Obama and h i s f am i l y, he may mean mor e o f wha t he says than any o the r po l i t i c i an I ’ ve e ven known , bu t peop le have to s tay engaged and peop le have to ho ld po l i t i c i ans accoun tab le and no t j us t wa i t fo r the one vo te e ve r y fou r yea r s to f ee l l i ke they have power. T ha t ’ s the c r i t i que o f t he e lec to r a l s ys tem tha t I t h ink i s the t r u th beh ind i t a l l . I do th ink so many mor e peop le ca r ed . So many m i l l i ons o f peop le r eg i s te r ed to vo te , go t engaged , fo l l owed the ted ious i nsan i t y o f t he mass med ia pe r cep t ion o f t he e lec t i on . T hey s t i l l ca r ed and these peop le , we ’ r e no t a l l go ing to go away, and the r e ’ s a who le ne w consc iousness w i th fo l ks who never f e l t i nc luded in the p r ocess. Wor k ing c l ass fo l ks o f a l l g r oups , who a r e go ing to be pay ing a t ten t ion and wan t ing answer s when th ings go wrong. T ha t ’ s a huge th ing and tha t ’ s someth ing tha t shou ld no t be under s ta ted o r fo r go t ten . We wer e r i gh t the r e on Mar sha l l S t r ee t ded i ca t i ng our l as t song to Magg ie Wa l ke r and then th r ee m inu tes l a te r, Cu r t i s took the m ic and sa id V i r g in i a pushed i t ove r fo r Obama . A mov ie abou t i t cou ld no t have been mor e d r amat i c , o r had be t te r bea ts .

MR Wha t a r e some o f the l y r i ca l top i cs you a r e go ing to tac k le on the ne w a lbum?TB We l l , t he wor k ing t i t l e o f t he a lbum i s I r on Fr on t , wh i c h i s the g r oup we go t

the an t i - f asc i s t c i r c l e f r om. T hey wer e a g r oup o f peop le t r y i ng to speak t r u th to power i n Ge r many ; t r y i ng to say, l ook , t h i s b r own-sh i r t ed g r oup tha t ’ s ge t t i ng peop le hyped up i n the beer ha l l s i s f i l l ed w i th ha te and i t ’ s gonna go bad ly fo r a l l o f us and we have to ta l k abou t i t . T hey wer e one o f t he b igges t and mos t un i f i ed vo i ces fo r ces aga ins t the r i se to power o f t he Naz i s . So, th i s an t i - f asc i s t c i r c l e has been a pa r t o f an t i - r ac i s t and an t i -na t iona l i s t movements s ince then . So, we ’ r e ca l l i ng the r ecord tha t and the r e ’ s songs abou t immig r a t ion , and the f i r s t song we ’ ve e ve r w r i t t en abou t the apoca lypse – bu t the g loba l war m ing apoca lypse wher e our spec ies j us t fo lds bac k i n to the p lane t . T her e ’ s a song tha t ’ s k i nd o f a memor ia l to f r i ends who have f a l l en , peop le taken f r om th i s l i f e too soon . T her e ’ s some heav ie r top i cs , because i t ’ s been a ha rd year fo r a l o t o f R i c hmond k ids . Bu t , t he r e ’ s a l so s tu f f abou t the l e ve l i ng ou t o f r ea l i t y i n the f ace o f a l l t h i s med ia and how separ a ted our consc iousness can ge t and how d i s t r ac ted we can a l l ge t . Somet imes i t ’ s good to j us t go ou t and ac tua l l y shake somebody ’ s hand and have a r ea l conver sa t ion and no t be on l i ne and no t be on your phone . T her e ’ s someth ing abou t l os ing our human i t y w i th a l l o f ou r toys . T her e ’ s some ne w top i cs . We have a song abou t the c h i l d so ld i e r i s sue i n A f r i ca . Because we ’ ve been t r ave l i ng a l o t and ta l k i ng to so many peop le , t he r e ’ s so many s to r i es and nar r a t i ves tha t i n fo r m us. T he mor e we l i s ten , the mor e songs we have to wr i t e .

T h i s i n te r v i e w o r ig ina l l y a i r ed November 8 th , 2008 on R i ve r C i t y L im i t s , t he l oca l -on ly show tha t a i r s Sa tu r days 5 to 7 p.m . on WR IR 97 .3 R i c h -mond Independen t Rad io. Fo r mor e i n fo r mat ion , l og on to wr i r. o r g. To keep up w i th S t r i ke Anywher e , you can v i s i t s t r i keanywher e .o r g.

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Cur t i s G r ims tead | Image by Br andon Pec k

B y t h e t i m e y o u a r e r e a d i n g t h i s a r t i c l e y o u a r e e i -t h e r s t o k e d b e c a u s e y o u s a w O f f W i t h T h e i r H e a d s o r y o u f u c k e d u p a n d a r e p r o b a b l y w a t c h i n g a b u n c h o f d u d e s i n t i g h t p a n t s c h a s i n g a d e a d p i g ’ s a s s f o r p o i n t s . I h a d t h e p l e a s u r e o f s e e i n g O f f W i t h T h e i r H e a d s S u n d a y m o r n i n g a t T h e F e s t i n 2 0 0 7 . I h a d n o c l u e w h a t I w a s g o i n g t o s e e a n d a l m o s t b l e w t h e m o f f t o e a t m o r e p i z z a . L u c k i l y g o o d f r i e n d s o f m i n e c o n v i n c e d m e t o c h e c k t h e m o u t , a n d e v e r s i n c e i t h a s b e e n m y s h i t . W i t h s o n g l y r i c s l i k e “ I t ’ s a l l a f u c k i n g j o k e t o m e / I w a k e u p a n d w o r k , a n d g e t f u c k e d u p a n d s l e e p / I w a k e u p a n d w o r k , a n d g e t f u c k e d u p a l l o v e r a g a i n , ” c o m b i n e d w i t h i n s t r u m e n -t a t i o n t h a t i s o r i g i n a l y e t c o m p a r a b l e t o p u n k r o c k l i k e D 4 a n d To y s T h a t K i l l y o u c a n n o t g o w r o n g . O f f W i t h T h e i r H e a d s m i g h t b e o n e o f t h e b u s i e s t b a n d s i n p u n k r o c k . R i g h t n o w t h e b a n d i s c u r r e n t l y o n a t o u r t h a t i s a r o u n d s i x m o n t h s l o n g a n d h a s p u t o u t o v e r a d o z e n r e c o r d s i n t h e p a s t c o u p l e o f y e a r s . T h e i r m o s t r e c e n t r e l e a s e w a s a l s o t h e i r f i r s t f u l l -l e n g t h , F r o m t h e B o t t o m , w h i c h w a s r e l e a s e d o n N o I d e a t h i s s u m m e r. R y a n Yo u n g w h o p l a y s g u i t a r /v o c a l s i n t h e b a n d w a s a w e s o m e e n o u g h t o a n s w e r s o m e q u e s t i o n s a b o u t t h e b a n d f o r m e r e c e n t l y.

C u r t i s G r i m s t e a d : F i r s t , t h e g e n e r i c h i s t o r y q u e s t i o n . H o w d i d O f f W i t h T h e i r H e a d s c o m e t o b e ?

R ya n Y o u n g : I w a s l i v i n g i n a r e c o r d i n g s t u d i o b a s e m e n t w i t h m y f r i e n d E r i k . I w r o t e a f e w s o n g s a n d w e r e c o r d e d t h e m . T h e y w e r e t h e p r o d u c t o f h o u r s a n d h o u r s o f l a y e r i n g s t u f f a n d c o m i n g u p w i t h d i f f e r e n t v e r s i o n s . T h a t w o u n d u p b e i n g t h e f i r s t 7 ” . J u s t i n c a m e a l o n g i n t h e m i d d l e o f r e -c o r d i n g t h a t s t u f f a n d 1 5 m e m b e r s l a t e r, h e r e w e a r e .

C G : Yo u h a v e b e e n t o u r i n g f o r a l m o s t t h r e e m o n t h s s t r a i g h t a n d h a v e a n o t h e r t h r e e m o n t h s f r o m t h e l o o k s o f y o u r t o u r s c h e d u l e . H o w i s t o u r i n g n o n - s t o p w o r k i n g o u t f o r y o u g u y s ?

R Y : W e w e r e t a l k i n g a b o u t t h a t t h e o t h e r d a y. N o b o d y i s t i r e d o r s i c k o f e a c h o t h e r, a n d t h a t w a s t h e b i g c o n c e r n . I t ’ s s o m e t h i n g I ’ v e a l w a y s w a n t e d t o d o , a n d t h i s g r o u p o f b a d n e w s b e a r s w a n n a b e s a c t u a l l y p u l l e d i t o f f . K i c k a s s .

C G : W h e r e h a v e y o u n o t p l a y e d t h a t y o u w o u l d r e a l l y l i k e t o ?

R Y : W e r e a l l y w a n t t o h i t u p t h e S c a n d i -n a v i a n c o u n t r i e s a n d A u s t r a l i a . F r o m t h e s o u n d s o f i t , w e w i l l b e d o i n g a l l o f t h a t i n 2 0 0 9 .

C G : F r o m t h e B o t t o m i s t h e f i r s t f u l l s t u d i o a l b u m t h a t y o u h a v e m a d e . W e r e t h e s o n g s

3 5

m o r e c o h e s i v e l y w r i t t e n f o r t h e a l b u m w i t h t h e i n t e n t i o n s o f a f u l l - l e n g t h o r c o u l d t h e y h a v e b e e n s p l i t u p ?

R Y : I t h i n k f o u r o r f i v e o f t h o s e s o n g s w e r e p r e v i o u s l y r e l e a s e d o n o t h e r 7 ” s . T h e o t h e r h a l f w a s w r i t t e n f o r t h e

r e c o r d . I t h i n k i t w a s j u s t d u m b l u c k t h a t t h e y w o r k e d o u t t o g e t h e r s o w e l l .

C G : I t s e e m s l i k e t h e b a n d h a s n e w r e c o r d s c o n s t a n t l y c o m i n g o u t . I r e -m e m b e r s e e i n g a b o u t s i x l a s t y e a r a l o n e . N o n e o f t h e s e r e c o r d s h a v e s u c k e d a n d i f a n y t h i n g e a c h o n e o u t d o e s t h e p r e v i o u s . H o w a r e y o u g u y s

a b l e t o c o m e u p w i t h s u c h a l a r g e c a t -a l o g o f s o n g s i n s u c h a s h o r t a m o u n t

o f t i m e ?

R Y : T h a t ’ s t h e w e i r d t h i n g . W e a r e s e r i -o u s l y t h e l a z i e s t g u y s w h e n i t c o m e s t o w r i t -

i n g . W e ’ l l s t o p p r a c t i c i n g t o g o p l a y M e g a t o u c h a t t h e b a r i f a n y o n e s u g g e s t s i t . I g u e s s J u s t i n a n d

I a r e j u s t f u c k i n g g e n i u s .

C G : T h e r e h a v e b e e n 1 5 p e o p l e i n O f f W i t h T h e i r H e a d s o v e r t h e y e a r s , b u t y o u h a v e s e e m e d t o l o c k i n a p r e t t y s o l i d c r e w o f d u d e s n o w . H o w d i d t h i s f i n a l l y w o r k o u t ?

R Y : N o t h i n g i s s e t i n s t o n e . S h i t c a n c h a n g e a t t h e d r o p o f a h a t . R i g h t n o w , w e a r e a l l g e t t i n g a l o n g f i n e . I ’ l l k i l l a n y

o n e o f t h e s e g u y s i f t h e y f u c k w i t h m e .

C G : T h e s o n g “ C a l l t h e C o p s ” h a s b e e n r u m o r e d t o h a v e a s t o r y w o r t h m e n t i o n i n g w i t h t h e r e c o r d i n g / s o n g . I s t h e r e a n y v a l i d i t y t o t h a t ?

R Y : I t ’ s j u s t a b o u t t h i s c r a z y a s s h o l e o f a g i r l I u s e d t o d a t e . I g u e s s I h a d a t h i n g f o r m e a n s h i t h e a d g i r l s o r s o m e -t h i n g . A n y w a y, w e g o t i n a f i g h t a t a b a r. S h e w e n t h o m e , a n d I w a s w a l k i n g t o h e r h o u s e t o t r y a n d f i x t h i n g s . O n t h e w a y b a c k I g o t h i t b y a c a r. N o t h i n g t o o s e r i o u s , b u t I s o m e h o w s m a c k e d m y f a c e o n t h e s i d e m i r r o r a n d g o t a b l a c k e y e . W h e n I g o t t o h e r h o u s e , s h e p i c k e d u p h e r p h o n e t o c a l l t h e c o p s b e c a u s e w e w e r e a r g u i n g . I t o s s e d h e r p h o n e a c r o s s

t h e r o o m a n d l e f t . I t h i n k w e w e r e t o g e t h e r f o r a y e a r a f t e r t h a t a s w e l l . I ’ m s m a r t .

C G : B e i n g o n t h e r o a d s o m u c h y o u a r e b o u n d t o s e e s o m e n e w b a n d s t h a t a r e p r e t t y a w e s o m e , w h a t b a n d s o n t h e r o a d h a v e y o u b e e n s t o k e d o n a n d w o u l d r e c o m m e n d ?

R Y : T h e r e i s a b a n d f r o m P i t t s -b u r g h c a l l e d A m e r i c a n A r m a d a

t h a t w e a r e a l l p r e t t y f o n d o f . A l l t h e s t a n d a r d b a n d s w e a r e p a l s w i t h . A n d I g u e s s T h e A n c h o r f r o m

A u s t i n , n o w t h a t t h e y

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k i c k e d o u t t h a t d i c k h e a d c h i l d - m o l e s t i n g d r u m m e r.

C G : R i c h m o n d h a s a h i s t o r y o f b e i n g m a n y b a n d s f a v o r i t e c i t y t o p l a y w h i l e o n t o u r. M o s t l i k e l y i t h a s e i t h e r b e e n s u p e r - h y p e d u p t o y o u o r a l o t o f s h i t h a s b e e n t a l k e d o n i t . W h a t k i n d o f e x p e c t a t i o n s d o y o u h a v e f o r y o u r f i r s t t i m e i n R i c h m o n d ?

R Y : I a l w a y s a s s u m e t h i n g s w i l l s u c k . I g u e s s I h a v e a b u n c h o f f r i e n d s i n R i c h m o n d n o w , s o n o m a t t e r w h a t t h e s h o w i s l i k e w e ’ l l h a v e a k i c k a s s t i m e . Te l l B r a i n w o r m s I ’ m h u r t t h a t t h e y d i d n ’ t w r i t e m e b a c k w h e n I t o l d t h e m I l i k e d t h e m a t T h e F e s t 6 . N o w I d o n ’ t l i k e b e a r d s a n y m o r e .

To c h e c k o u t m o r e O f f W i t h T h e i r H e a d s g o t o w w w . m y s p a c e .c o m / o f f w i t h -t h e i r h e a d s o r w w w . n o i d e -a r e c o r d s . c o m

On a ch i l l y Monday n ight , R i chmond-based punk rock band , Landmines, load the i r equ ipment in to a sma l l p r ac t i ce space loca ted jus t south o f downtown. As ide f r om the c l i c ks o f l i gh t ing c igar e t tes , the snaps o f PBR cans and M ic key bot t les be ing opened and a few spor ad ic coughs, the scene i s most ly qu ie t . I t ’ s been a long day o f wor k ing a t g rocer y s tor es, r es taur ants and o ther jobs to pay the b i l l s . Sever a l member s have ch i l -d r en , w i ves and g i r l f r i ends a t home tha t wou ld r a ther th i s f r ee t ime was spent w i th them; however, desp i te the somber and numb a tmospher e , these t i r ed men have been look ing fo rward to th i s a l l day. T hey have been look ing fo rward to even ings l i ke th i s fo r most o f the i r adu l t l i ves , and not jus t fo r the mus ic .

Voca l i s t , Pau l P i c i l l o de ta i l s : “As you get o lder, i t becomes harder to te l l your g i r l f r i end or w i fe tha t you ar e go ing out fo r a beer w i th your f r iends. But when you can say, ‘ I ’m go ing out to p lay mus ic , ’ and you can hang out w i th your bes t f r i ends and have a few dr inks, l i f e i s good .”

T h is band i sn’ t jus t your aver age group o f l a te 20s/ear ly 30s men in den ia l o f g row ing up. T hey ar e not pr ac t i c ing fo r a Fr iday n ight g ig a t a spor ts bar to p lay cover s o f your f avor i te a l t - r ock songs on loca l r ad io. T hey ar e exper ienced mus ic ians. T hey have a her a lded debut LP pro-duced by one o f the most sought -a f te r s tud io eng ineer s in independent mus ic , Br ian McTer nan . Yes, the same Br ian McTer nan known for h is wor k w i th bands l i ke Hot Water Mus ic , Texas I s T he Reason , S t r i ke Anywher e and many o ther s. T he se l f - t i t l ed r ecord was r e leased on one o f the most promis ing new labe ls a round , Paper and P las t i c k , s ta r ted by Vinn ie F io r e l lo f r om Less Than Jake . Yes, the same Vinn ie F io r e l lo r espons ib le fo r Fue led By Ramen Records, who brought you the debut f r om R ich -mond’s own punk e lder s ta tesmen, Ann Ber e t ta . Oh , h i s o ld labe l a l so brought you the debuts f r om some o ther bands ca l led Fa l l Out Boy and Pan ic A t T he D isco.

Walk ing Through a

M i n e f i e l d A D iscuss ion with Landmines Chr i s Mor an | Pho tos by K ar en Se i f e r t

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Af te r br ie f ly tun ing gu i ta r s , t igh ten ing dr umheads and ad jus t ing amp le ve ls , Landmines proceed to tear th rough the i r se t l i s t p r ac t i ce fo r the fo l low ing even ing ’s show a t the Cana l C lub w i th Ever y T ime I D ie and The Bronx . For such a b ig show, in such a mus ica l ly compet i t i ve town as R ichmond, an open ing s lo t l i ke th i s wou ld seem l i ke a pr i v i l ege , poss ib ly in t im ida t -ing. For th i s band , i t p rov ides jus t another r eason to hang out and p lay mus ic . “The on ly way I can be sane i s i f I ’m p lay-ing mus ic ,” proc la ims bass is t Casey Mar t in .

L i ke most bands, Landmines as-p i r e to tour and shar e the i r mus ic w i th s t r anger s in sma l l bar s , com-mun i t y center s , VFW ha l l s and base-ments throughout the count r y. “You get to go camp ing and hang out w i th buds fo r a month ,” adds gu i ta r i s t N ic k Berghe imer ; wh i le Pau l i s qu ic k to c la r i f y, “What he means to say i s , you get to do lo ts o f d r ugs and dr ink f r ee a l coho l . ”

P lay ing in bands has a lways been a pr io r i t y fo r gu i ta r i s t Tony Mar s ton . “When you ’ r e not in a band , i t sucks,” he sa id . “Once in my l i f e , I wasn’ t in a band for may-be 3 months, and i t was the wor s t . ” Somet imes band l i f e can m ix in te r -es t ing ly in to the r espons ib i l i t y o f

be ing a f a ther o f two. Ins ide the band ’s tour v an , wh ich doubles as Tony ’s f ami ly veh ic le , i t i sn’ t uncommon to see ch i ld sa fe ty sea t or

s t r o l l e r tuc ked in a cor ner. “A f te r tour i t becomes a t r easur e hunt to c lean out the v an and f ind a l l the sh i t we le f t in i t . ”

T he newest Landmine i s cur r ent ly mak ing pr epar a t ions to move to R ichmond f r om Aus t in , TX . Mar k Shaw, f ami l i a r to some for h is pr ev i -

ous s t in ts in bands l i ke T i l twhee l and Br i c k f igh t , jo ined Landmines las t Oc tober dur ing a shor t eas t coas t tour, when the band was

open ing fo r Less Than Jake . He r e tur ned to R ichmond la te r tha t month fo r another br ie f tour southbound towards the

annua l “Fes t” in Ga inesv i l l e , FL . F i l l i ng in be tween v i s i t s fo r pr ac t i ces and hometown shows i s the band ’s fo r mer

dr ummer and longt ime f r iend , Joe Hunt . Joe le f t the band ear l i e r th i s year to focus on the expec ted Sep-

tember b i r th o f h i s daughter. Pau l exp la ins : “He d idn’ t want to s top p lay ing w i th us, bu t i t was

what he had to do a t th i s po in t in h is l i f e . A t each pr ac t i ce , he ’ d ask i f he cou ld p lay

loca l shows w i th us unt i l our new dr um-mer s i tua t ion was r eso lved . T he idea

o f the las t show w i th Joe sor t o f tu r ned in to a r unn ing joke .”

Fo l low ing the even ing ’s pr ac t i ce sess ion , a d is -

cuss ion beg ins on the number o f t i c ke ts so ld

fo r tomor row’s Bronx/Ever y T ime I D ie

p e r f o r m a n c e . T he band

3 9

has been asked to se l l 50 t i c ke ts ; however, over a l l p r esa les ar e much lower than expec ted . Joe Hunt , p r ac t i c ing ton ight fo r ye t another “ las t show,” o f fe r s h is ins igh t on the de-c l ine in over a l l show a t tendance . “Promoter s have got ten lazy and th ink tha t a l l you have to do i s pos t someth ing on MySpace . T hey ’ ve fo r got ten about the aud ience tha t doesn’ t check ever y MySpace r eminder, o r sear ch on l ine fo r e vents. Whatever happened to go ing around campus fo r an hour and pos t ing f lye r s?”

The compet i t i ve na tur e o f R i chmond’s independent mus ic scene a lso p lays a r o le in the success or f a i lu r e o f shows in the ar ea . “L i v ing in R ichmond. . . i t r a i ses the bar,” Tony exp la ined . “Ther e ar e so many good bands and so many good shows tha t i t i s hard to impr ess peop le these days.” T h is v iew o f R i chmond ex is ts beyond the c i t y and s ta te l im i ts , and i s he ld by peop le in o ther c i t i es ’ mus ic scenes, wh ich sur pr i ses Pau l . “ I ta l ked to a lo t o f k ids down a t T he Fes t ( in Ga inesv i l l e ) who asked wher e we wer e f r om,” he sa id . “And when I to ld them R ichmond, they wer e l i ke tha t ’ s the coo les t fuc k ing p lace ! I mean…I l i ke i t her e , bu t r ea l ly?”

Watch any documentar y about an o ld punk band and you ’ l l no t i ce tha t most o f them have one common a t t r ibu te as they age . . .b i t te r ness. As the d iscuss ion cont inues in the pr ac t i ce space , N ic k jok ing ly asks the room, “Who in her e i s jaded? Ra ise your hands !”

T h is however, spar ks a leg i t imate d iscuss ion . Tony leads the conver s ion o f f : “ I fee l ther e ’s a lo t o f j aded fo lk in R ichmond.” “Tota l ly, ” adds Pau l . In a deep, gr u f f and ver y mock ing vo ice Tony cont inues, “ I ’m not go ing to any shows. . . ”

Casey, jo in ing the conver sa t ion , c i tes ; “Peop le her e have got ten used to see ing a good band pop up

ever y few year s fo r the pas t 15 year s or so, and they beg in to jus t expec t i t . ”

“Gr eat . Another good band f r om R ichmond,” ch imes Pau l in a heav i ly sar cas t i c under-tone .

I t ’ s the sar casm, the mock ing tones added w i th the dr ugs and a l coho l tha t tu r n some o f f to the mus ic o f Landmines. Ta les o f over n ight dr i ves on ac id dur ing tour lead-

ing to a f te r noons danc ing w i th Sa lv ia a r en’ t supposed to be the t r ademar ks

o f ser ious mus ic ians anymore . Un-less you ar e in Landmines, who

some w i l l a r gue p lay be t te r under the in f luence o f a l -

coho l and o ther ac-cessor ies. “ I t ’ s

l i ke r o l l i ng t h e

4 0

d ice w i th us,” says N ic k . “Ar e they gonna be too dr unk , o r no t dr unk enough. . .who knows?”

Regard less, the band i s mov ing fo rward . T h is December, they w i l l beg in wr i t ing songs fo r a la te spr ing r e lease . Less than one year a f te r the r e lease o f the i r debut LP, the band w i l l r e lease a 5 song EP on Paper and P las t i c k . Ear ly nex t year they w i l l head to Ch i -cago to spend two weeks r ecord ing i t . T h is t ime , the band has en l i s ted another b ig name for produc t ion , Mat t A l l i son , who has wor ked w i th bands l i ke A lka l ine Tr io, T he Lawrence Ar ms, Smoke Or F i r e and Less Than Jake . “We’ r e exc i ted to see what we can lear n f r om Mat t , ” exp la ins Tony. “Br ian (McTer nan) had such an impac t on us ; he made us a be t te r band . He showed us how to be a s tud io band . We ’ r e jus t look-ing fo rward to add on to tha t w i th Mat t . ”

Wi th the count r y exper ienc ing economic tur mo i l , d r i v ing to Ch icago to r ecord i s look ing to be much more a f fo rdable than i t was th is t ime o f year in 2007. Las t summer, the band tour ed the cont i -nenta l U.S. , pay ing r ecord gas pr i ces a long the way. Look ing back a t how th ings m ight have been d i f fe r ent tour ing w i th the cur r ent gas pr i ces, Tony suggests , “We might have made money, o r a t l eas t had coca ine ever y day.”

Chr i s Mor an i s a news and v ideo ed i to r fo r Punknews.or g. To check out more Landmines go to www.myspace .com/ landminesrock .

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Nice Guys Make Brutal Mus icl a M B o f G o d ’ s c h r i s a d l e r I an M . G r aham | Pho tos by Dav id Kenedy

DISCLA IMER : Lamb o f God has been good to us a t RVA Magaz ine , and we ’ ve done our bes t to be good to them. T hey ’ ve he lped pu t our d i r t y l i t t l e c i t y bac k on the map by p lay ing g r ea t mus i c , and the en t i r e o f f i ce ge ts down on the i r b r u ta l t unes. T he band has sen t us e ve r y a lbum and DVD they ’ ve made s ince we s ta r ted up. T hey ’ ve i nv i t ed us to a lmos t e ve r y show they ’ ve pu t on i n the a r ea , and one t ime ac tua l l y sa t us down and f ed us , too. I have been ab le to do numerous i n te r v i e ws w i th these who l l y so l i d dudes , and they ’ ve been cons i s ten t l y accommodat ing. I i n t r oduced John Campbe l l , t he i r bass p laye r, to my r oommate Russe l (who a l so p lays bass) a t WR IR ’ s 2nd ann i ve r -sa r y pa r t y. T hey ta l ked shop fo r ha l f an hour, and John on ly men t ioned tha t he p layed bass fo r Lamb o f God a t the end o f the conver sa t ion , when Russe l asked h im , “So man , wha t do you do?” A week ago was I ab le to s i t down and shoo t the sh i t w i th Chr i s Ad le r, d r ummer fo r Lamb o f God . I p l ay, too, and i t was g r ea t to be ab le to ta l k abou t one o f my f avo r i t e sub jec t s w i th one o f my f avo r i t e p laye r s . He i s a good guy, a ha rd wor ke r, and i t was abso lu te ly my p leasur e .

i a N M . G r a h a M : I s t he r ecord done?

c h r i s a d l e r : Randy j us t f i n i shed the voca l s two days ago, so we j us t f i n i shed up ; we ’ r e a l l ge t t i ng home . We had a bunch o f pho to shoo ts , t ha t k i nd o f s tu f f, j us t ge t t i ng the mach ine s ta r ted aga in . Ge t t i ng r eady, we ’ r e a l l psyched .

i M G : Wer e the voca l s r ecorded in a d i f f e r en t l oca t ion than the r es t o f t he a lbum?

c a : Eve r y th ing, j us t abou t , was r ecorded separ a te ly th i s t ime . We r ecorded the d r ums f i r s t , i n E lec t r i c Lady – J im i Hendr i x ’ s s tud io i n Manha t tan . T ha t was i n ea r ly Sep tember. T he gu i t a r s wen t down near V i r g in i a Beach , bass was he r e i n R i c hmond a t Sound o f Mus i c , and voca l s wer e up i n Ne w Hampsh i r e . A l l fo r d i f f e r en t r easons , mos t l y fo r wher e the p r oducer p r e fe r r ed – wher e he

was f am i l i a r w i th the equ ipment and loca t ion . I t was a l so to ge t us separ a ted as i nd i v idua l s , so we cou ld r ea l l y wor k and no t be d i s t r ac ted by the da i l y k i nd o f l i f e s tu f f t ha t goes on a t home .

i M G : Was th i s w i th the same p roducer as Sac r ament , [named] Mach ine?

c a : No, ac tua l l y, we dec ided to go a d i f f e r en t r ou te . We wen t w i th a guy named Josh Wi l bu r, who ac tua l l y j us t won a G r ammy wor k ing w i th S te ve Ear l e . I guess tha t k i nd o f f i t s the mo ld . We don’ t ha te Mach ine , bu t now we wor k w i th p r oducer s , now tha t we can , who a r e ou ts ide o f t he box . Mach ine ce r -ta in ly was [no t ou ts ide the box] . He ’ d wor ked w i th bands l i ke the P rod ig y, bu t we wan ted to b r ing i n someone who i sn’ t one o f t he usua l suspec ts o f me ta l p r oducer s to g i ve us an op in ion tha t ’ s ou ts ide the box , and on a p r oduc t ion l e ve l , t o t ake a meta l band to a l e ve l wher e meta l hasn’ t gone be fo r e . W i th Sac r ament , we exp lo r ed tha t to the fu l l es t . We r ea l l y took adv an tage o f t he p r oduc t ion e lement , and w i th th i s nex t r ecord , we d idn’ t go w i th Mach ine be-cause we wan ted to r ee l i t bac k i n , r e v i s i t some s tu f f we wro te when we wer e younger, t ake the who le th ing bac k to a mor e gar age band fee l , ge t a l i t t l e mor e r aw and d i r t y. We wan ted to l e t a l l t he war t s show – no t smooth and po l i sh e ve r y l as t m i l l i second o f the r ecord .

i M G : Has the d r um k i t c hanged a t a l l ?

c a : I ’ ve pu l l ed e ve r y th ing i n a l i t t l e b i t t i gh te r. Be fo r e , I had th i s oc topus spacesh ip th ing go ing on , and I r ea l i zed I was s t r a in ing myse l f mor e than I needed to. I used to have i t se t wher e I ’ d have a good show ; so i t ’ s good , i t ’ l l be good tomor r ow so don’ t touch any th ing. Bu t hav ing a yea r o f f t o w r i t e , t he r e ’ s a l o t o f ve r y c ha l l eng ing mate r i a l on th i s r ecord , so I pushed myse l f ha r der than I have on the p r e v ious two a lbums. I t h ink our a lbum, As T he Pa laces Bur n , had some o f the bes t d r ums I ’ ve e ve r r ecorded . Even though I ’m 400 year s o lde r now, I wan ted to see i f I cou ld ach ie ve tha t aga in , so I

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t r i ed to r each ou t i n to the vo id and g r asp the angs t and power tha t was on tha t r ecord , r ea l l y push myse l f as a p laye r. So I b r ough t e ve r y th ing i n a b i t t i gh te r and r a i sed my fee t up. I c hanged a f e w d i f f e r en t c ymba ls he r e and the r e , no th ing d r as t i c . I ’m no t ve r y ove r con f i den t w i th my p lay ing, desp i te wha t peop le te l l me I ’ ve never f e l t l i ke I r ea l l y know wha t I ’m do ing, bu t I ’m ve r y happy w i th wha t ’ s go ing to be on th i s r ecord .

i M G : I p l ay the d r ums as we l l , and I know tha t f ee l i ng. I ’ ve ne ver had any fo r ma l t r a in -i ng ; I cons tan t l y f ee l l i ke an amateur, espec ia l l y when I see peop le who can p lay e ve r y s ing le r ud iment w i th the i r eyes c losed .

c a : Exac t l y, I ’m tha t guy to a T. I ’ ve ne ver had a s ing le l esson , and i f you wer e to pu l l me ou t o f t h i s band I ’ d p r obab ly be wor th less ; bu t fo r the 50 o r 60 songs we ’ ve wr i t -t en , I j us t ho ld my b r ea th and hope to make i t t o the end .

i M G : Word . I t ’ s c l ea r f r om your l i ve pe r fo r mances tha t you never r ea l l y p lay as f as t as you ’ r e capab le o f on r ecords. I ’ ve heard y ’a l l p l ay a song l i ve a t a hea l thy c l i p f as te r than i t ’ s r ecorded . I t h ink tha t ’ s adm i r ab le ; you wr i t e songs , no t bea ts , and the band i s ab le to de l i ve r tha t much ex t r a i n tens i t y i n the l i ve show. A r e the r e o the r d r ummer s who show such r es t r a in t i n the s tud io?

c a : Res t r a in t i n the s tud io? I don’ t know, I t h ink i t ’ s expec ted tha t you go we l l above and beyond wha t any nor ma l pe r son cou ld be expec ted to do i n me ta l . I t h ink tha t wha t you ’ r e no t i c i ng when we p lay l i ve i s tha t un t i l r ecen t l y we ’ ve never p layed to a c l i c k . T her e ’ s a l o t o f ad r ena l i ne , and i t ’ s a f ee l i ng tha t I can’ t desc r ibe when you ’ r e on s tage i n f r on t o f peop le who appr ec ia te wha t you do, the ener gy j us t t akes ove r. Runner s ge t tha t , a r unner ’ s h igh . Mar a thon r unner s ge t i n to th i s mode wher e e ve r y -th ing e l se i s b loc ked ou t , t hey ’ r e b l i nded to e ve r y th ing excep t r unn ing. T her e ’ s a l o t o f musc le memor y tha t t akes ove r when you ’ r e p lay ing l i ve - i t ’ s r ea l l y l i ke an ou t o f body exper i ence . Yes , you ’ r e phys i ca l l y t he r e , bu t i f you t r y to take i t a l l i n , i t ’ s too much . You j us t r i de the adr ena l i ne , wher eas i f you wake me up i n the mor n ing, g i ve me b r eak f as t and pu t me in the s tud io and I p l ay as f as t as I can , I s t i l l m igh t be ab le to

p lay f as te r tha t n igh t i n f r on t o f f i ve thousand peop le i n f r on t o f me sc r eam-ing fo r mor e .

Do I know anyone tha t ho lds bac k? I t h ink mos t [meta l d r ummer s] t r y and push i t t oo f a r. One o f t he th ings I ’ ve de f i n i t e l y l ea r ned i s tha t i t ’ s no t abou t tha t . As the matu r i t y con t i nues and the e vo lu t i on o f songwr i t i ng - no t j us t me , bu t as a band - moves fo rward , we ’ ve k ind o f pu t a l asso a r ound the egos , and we r ea l i ze wha t ’ s be t te r fo r the song. Jus t because we can do someth ing doesn’ t mean we shou ld .

i M G : I s t he r e anyone i n the r ea lm o f ex t r eme meta l t ha t s t i l l impr esses you? I s the r e someone who p lays a t r i d i cu lous speeds , bu t s t i l l pushes c r ea t i v i t y – no t showboa t ing – and focuses on the song?

c a : Abso lu te ly, t hose a r e the guys who made me wan t to do wha t I do. Guys l i ke Gene Hog lan (Dar k Ange l , Tes tament ) have been a huge i n f l uence . I don’ t t h ink I ’ d be ab le to do some o f the s tu f f he does. I t ’ s no t abou t speed ; the r e ’ s so much f l a vo r i n wha t he does , and i t j us t happens to be go ing on ve r y, ve r y f as t . He ’ s an amaz ing per fo r mer, and he ’ s de f i n i t e l y a guy who ho lds bac k . I don’ t t h ink the r e ’ s any th ing he cou ldn’ t do, and he adds a ve r y un ique v ibe to e ve r y th ing he does.

i M G : You use a t r i gger [e lec t r on i c sound] i n one o r two songs , to p lay a mas-s i ve “boom” sound o f some k ind . Wha t i s tha t?

c a : Someth ing I ’ ve a lways been s tuc k to i s tha t I don’ t t r i gger my d r ums. I ’ ve ne ver l i ked the idea o f p lugg ing i n my d r um k i t . T her e ’ s p len t y o f t h ings tha t can go wrong on s tage , and I don’ t wan t to be p lugged in , bu t then we s ta r ted wor k ing w i th Mach ine , and a l l o f t hese b ig p r oduc t ion e lements tha t we wer e ta l k i ng abou t ea r l i e r, a r t i f i c i a l bass d r ops and s tu f f l i ke tha t . I had an e lec -t r on i c k i t t ha t I used i n my o ld apar tment . I was ab le to take the “b r a in” o f

t ha t wh i c h had th i s b ig son i c boom sound on i t ; t ake one o f t he pads f r om the e lec t r on i c k i t and a t tach i t on the f a r l e f t s ide o f my k i t . So, wher e appropr i -a te , o r wher e r equ i r ed by the song, I can r ec r ea te tha t v ibe l i ve .

i M G : You a r e a l e f t -handed per son , p lay ing a r i gh t -handed k i t .

c a : Yeah , and the r e ’ s no r ea l good r eason fo r i t , i n f ac t i t ’ s p r obab ly a ve r y bad r eason . When I s ta r ted p lay ing – I had been p lay ing bass i n a coup le bands – I d idn’ t ac tua l l y s ta r t p l ay ing the d r ums un t i l I was twen ty -one o r twen ty - two. When I go t my d r ums, I j us t se t i t up l i ke the d r ummer s i n my bands had the i r s , no t th ink ing tha t I shou ld t r y i t t he o the r way. Lear n ing to p lay r i gh t -handed wasn’ t an obs tac le ; i t was j us t l ea r n ing to p lay.

i M G : You ’ ve go t g r ea t con t r o l o f t he be l l on the r i de , wh i c h i s gener a l l y ha rder fo r d r ummer s (p lay ing a “ r e ve r se” k i t ) . I ’m a l e f t y, and I ’ ve a lways had a he l l o f a t ime p lay ing r i gh t -handed se tups. I have a lways k ind o f w i shed tha t I hadn’ t s ta r ted on a l e f t y k i t , because once you become accus tomed , i t seems l i ke you ’ r e i n a mor e dex te r ous pos i t i on than someone who ’s p lay ing the i r k i t on the co r r ec t s ide .

c a : T ha t ’ s f unny, because when we f i r s t s ta r ted com ing up, when we wer e the open ing band on any number o f tou r s , I wou ld a lways hear the techs f r om the bands p lay ing a f te r us , war m ing up, and I ’ d say, “Man , you ’ ve go t one he l l o f a r i gh t hand !” and i t ne ve r occur r ed to me .

i M G : Has the band changed? Obv ious ly, ove r t ime peop le e vo l ve , bu t now tha t the band i s no t an es tab l i shment – because tha t imp l i es comp lacenc y – do you perhaps cons ide r i t a househo ld name?

c a : Wow, thanks ! I t h ink we ’ ve de f i n i t e l y r a i l ed aga ins t tha t , t he i dea tha t peop le m igh t expec t some k ind o f comp lacenc y. T he peop le i n the band have

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ce r ta in ly gone th r ough ce r ta in s tages o f e vo lu t i on i n ego and i n wor k ing toge ther, no t on ly i n f r i endsh ips bu t a l so as a bus iness and e ve r y th ing tha t comes a long w i th do ing someth ing fo r as l ong as we have . We s ta r ted i n ‘94 , so we ’ ve seen a l o t o f t h ings , i n te r na l l y and ex te r na l l y. We ’ r e fo r tuna te to have been ou t [on tour ] w i th some o f the g r ea ts , and some o f the wor s t . We r ea l l y l ea r n f r om the successes and f a i l u r es o f e ve r ybody a r ound us , and you t r y to make your own way. We ’ r e a l l s t i l l hea l thy and menta l l y awar e , we ’ r e s ta r t i ng our own f am i l i es now. I was te l l i ng my w i f e the o the r day, i f we wer e wher e we a r e now when we wer e e igh teen , wh i c h i s o f cour se wher e I wan ted to be – I t h ink we ’ d p r obab ly a l l be dead . I don’ t t h ink we cou ld hand le i t . So I don’ t a lways en joy be ing 35 and go ing a m i l l i on m i l es an hour e ve r y n igh t , bu t I ’m ce r ta in ly ab le to hand le i t be t te r on a menta l and i n te l l e c tua l l e ve l . We ’ ve g r own up toge ther, t he r e ’ s days wher e we ha te each o the r, days when we love each o the r, bu t i n the end I don’ t t h ink tha t anyone wou ld ques t ion tha t we a r e g r ea te r as a g r oup then we a r e as i nd i v idua l s . Wha t we do to -ge ther i s p r e t t y spec ia l .

i M G : I f you had to en te r the T hunderdome in a two d r ummer s en te r, one d r ummer l eaves scenar io, who wou ld you wan t the o the r d r ummer to be , and why?

c a : [ l aughs] Oh , wow. Who wou ld I wan t the o the r d r ummer to be? Hmm. . .a l i ve o r dead?

i M G : Su r e !

c a : OK . I t h ink I wou ld wan t i t t o be John Bonham.

i M G : W i c ked .

c a : T ha t way, I wou ldn’ t f ee l bad abou t l os ing, and i n the p r ocess I wou ld hope fu l l y l ea r n a l o t .

i M G : You de f i n i t e l y have one o f h i s foo t t echn iques down – the hee l - toe s t r i ke [Ad le r demons t r a tes th i s t echn ique i n h i s p r o f i l e on the K i l l ade lph ia DVD] . A f t e r I wa t c hed y ’a l l s DVD, I wa t c hed How T he Wes t Was Won .

c a : T ha t ’ s a g r ea t doub le -header !

i M G : Ag r eed ! I t ’ s l i ke the Moe l l e r t echn ique , bu t w i th your foo t .

c a : T ha t ac tua l l y came ou t o f necess i t y. T her e was a song ca l l ed “Ru in” [ t r ac k #1 on As T he Pa laces Bur n] tha t ’ s ac tua l l y f a i r l y s imp le compar ed to the s tu f f I ’m do ing, bu t fo r wha te ve r r eason I j us t cou ld no t p lay th i s bea t . T her e was one n igh t wher e I was so f r us t r a ted tha t I bas i ca l l y t r i ed to k i c k my k i c k d r um o f f t he r i se r. I n do ing so, my foo t j us t d id th i s c r azy th ing on the peda l . I t wor ked per fec t l y, and i t sounded in my mon i to r j us t as i t shou ld have , so I f i gu r ed ou t how to con t r o l t ha t l i t t l e b i t o f r age , and was ab le to cap tu r e and keep us ing i t .

i M G : A r e you ta l k i ng abou t the f i l l i n “Ru in , ” f r om the ve r se i n to the b r eak -down?

c a : No, I know wha t pa r t you ’ r e ta l k i ng abou t , t he r e ’ s tha t d r um br eak , ac tu -a l l y t ha t ’ s the pa r t e ve r yone wan ts me to p lay fo r them. ‘ Ch r i s , do tha t th ing ! ’ Bu t no, i t ’ s the s t r a igh t fo rward ve r se , a ve r y s imp le , a lmos t 2 /4 bea t , and fo r wha te ve r r eason I was loc k ing up and no t ab le to do i t . I go t so f r us t r a ted tha t I t h r e w cau t ion to the w ind and go t th i s c r azy techn ique ou t o f i t .

i M G : A r e the r e any spec i f i c exe r c i ses o r hand s t r e t c hes tha t you do?

c a : We l l , t he p r e v ious r ecords wer e ve r y rhy thm heavy, l o t s o f f ee t s tu f f and no t so much w i th the hands. On Sac r ament , I s ta r ted t r y i ng to p i c k up the hand speed a b i t , and on Wr a th , t he ne w r ecord , I ’ ve de f i n i t e l y t aken

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i t f u r the r than I e ve r have . So i n tha t , yes , t he r e i s de f i n i t e l y a se t o f spec i f i c exe r c i ses tha t I do be fo r e a show. I ’ ve gone th r ough so many d i f f e r en t r ou t i nes th r ough the year s , and now I ’ ve go t i t na r r owed down to anywher e be tween an hour and an hour and a ha l f. Wha t I do i s p r e t t y s imp le – I don’ t r un th r ough e ve r y r ud iment bac kwards and fo rwards , pa r ad idd les and you know. I pu t on a c l i c k t r ac k , se t i t a t abou t 150 , r un tha t fo r anywher e be tween f i ve and se ven m inu tes , t hen s tep i t up to 155 , 160 , 170 , and by the t ime I ’m a t 175 I ’m good and r eady to go, ge t t i ng swea ty, and by the t ime I ’m a t 185 I ’m too t i r ed to do any th ing, so I usu -a l l y cu t i t o f f a t 170 and then go f r om the r e . Oh , and I sw i t c h hands and fee t bac k and fo r th . As s imp le as tha t i s , fo r me i t ’ s abou t ge t t i ng the b lood wor k ing, no t abou t schoo l i ng. T he way I p l ay i s no t a ve r y schoo led techn ique . I ’ ve had lo t s o f peop le te l l i ng me tha t I ’m do ing i t w r ong, bu t I j us t do wha t wor ks fo r me .

i M G : So d id Bonham. For the t ime per iod , a l o t o f wha t he d id was techn i -ca l l y i nco r r ec t .

c a : Abso lu te ly.

i M G : So you ’ r e compar ing the ne w a lbum, Wr a th , to Pa laces. G r ea t a lbum. “V ig i l ” i s one o f t he mos t sou ther n meta l t r ac ks s ince “T he G r ea t Sou th -e r n Tr endk i l l ” [Pan te r a] . Pa laces was p r e t t y r aw. A r e the r e go ing to be a l o t o f b l as t bea ts on Wr a th? A r e you tak ing i t t ha t f a r bac k?

c a : Yeah . Ac tua l l y, I d idn’ t know i t was ca l l ed tha t a t t he t ime . A l though I ’m no t i n any way t r y i ng to c l a im tha t I d id i t be fo r e o the r peop le wer e do ing i t , bu t I t h ink I d id one on Ne w Amer i can Gospe l i n the song “Con -fess iona l ” abou t a th i r d o f t he way th r ough . T he p r oducer sa id tha t was the c r az ies t b las t bea t he ’ d e ve r seen . I r emember h im say ing tha t , and I had no idea wha t i t mean t . S ince then I haven’ t done any th ing l i ke tha t .

T her e ’ s been some f as t t empo s tu f f on Pa laces and some on Ashes [O f T he Wake] , and Sac r ament was mor e o f a m id -pace , and th i s one [Wr a th] i s way up the r e . T her e ’ s a s ign i f i can t amount o f b las t s tu f f, and I he ld o f f pu r pose fu l l y i n the pas t f r om do ing i t . I r ea l l y en joy the g r oove o f t he mus i c , and a b las t can be such wh i te no i se . I t can have such a l ac k o f i n tens i t y, e ven though i t i s to some peop le the ve r y ep i tome o f i t . T her e a r e some par t s tha t w i l l de f i n i t e l y bene f i t f r om tha t so r t o f mach ine gun f i r e , and we abso lu te ly have some par t s l i ke tha t on th i s r ecord , bu t I d idn’ t wan t to no t do i t because o f some u l t e r io r r eason .

i M G : I ’ ve a lways found tha t Meshuggah i s mor e i n tense fo r me than , say, Ha te E te r na l . T he c hop, the s tomp, I j us t l ove odd t ime , espec ia l l y when you hear someone tha t can pu l l o f f odd t ime in me ta l w i thou t i t sound ing abs t r ac t – l i ke Squar epusher bu t me ta l .

c a : Abso lu te ly r i gh t . We k ind o f s t r add le tha t l i ne . I don’ t t h ink I wou ld ca l l us a p r ogr ess i ve meta l band , bu t we do some in te r es t i ng s tu f f. When the guys b r ing i n r i f f s and ideas they have on gu i t a r, I a lways t r y and fo r ce those ideas – i f t hey ’ r e i n 4 /4 t ime – in to someth ing i n s i x . I a lways hear i n s i x , and they l ook a t me l i ke wha t a r e you do ing to my r i f f ? Bu t i n the end , i t t u r ns ou t to be a un ique sound , and i f you l i s ten bac k to some o f Lamb o f God ’s s tu f f you ’ l l hea r i t a l l ove r the p lace .

i M G : My f avo r i t e examp le wou ld be on “No T ime To K i l l , ” t he open ing bea t i n the r e . I t p l ays i n fou r, bu t you p lay ove r to make i t sound l i ke i t ’ s i n odd t ime . I t ’ s r ea l l y f un to p lay, bu t i t t ook me a f e w months to ge t tha t pa r t down .

c a : [ l aughs] Don’ t f ee l bad . A l l o f t hese songs a r e a c ha l l enge fo r me to p lay, too. I t ’ s a c ha l l enge e ve r y n igh t , espec ia l l y when we ’ r e ha l f as leep and t r y i ng to do i t . Eve r y n igh t I c r oss my f i nger s and ho ld my b r ea th . I t ’ s no t easy, bu t I en joy push ing my ab i l i t y, and I t h ink i t r a i ses my po ten t i a l . I t ’ s no t easy, i t ’ s tough fo r me too, and some songs end up as a s t r a igh t up d i sas te r. I ’ l l come o f f s tage so d i sappo in ted , bu t the nex t n igh t i s a lways ano ther oppor tun i t y.

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G r e t a B r i n k m a n v s . t h e C i t yLaur en V ince l l i | Pho tos cour tesy o f G r e ta Br inkman

Greta Brinkman is no doubt one of the city’s most successful musical denizens. Often credited for her par t ic ipation in bui lding the Richmond punk scene, Brinkman has played with bands l ike Unseen Force, Four Wal ls Fal l ing, L7, Moby, The Debbie Har r y Band, Lunachicks, Pigface and many more. She’s the go-to bass player doz-ens of other bands. She has been featured in the documentar y America Hardcore, and the book Tour Smar t and has gone from being homeless to rocking The Tonight Show. Brinkman has one of the most impressive resumes and interesting per sonal histories around.

Brinkman has recently sett led down in Richmond, wor king as a carpenter by day and frequenting metal shows by night. I sat down with “Bass Goddess Greta” as she’s so aptly dubbed, and talked about l iv ing with Debbie Har r y, the state of the music industr y, local metal and being immor tal ized in the Inquisit ion song, “Greta Brinkman vs. The City.” - LV Lauren@r vamag.com

L a u r e n v i n C e L L i : You’ re l iv ing in Richmond now, but you st i l l have a place in NYC?

G r e t a B r i n k m a n : I moved to New Yor k in 1994 and I l ived there for about 12 year s, and then I f inal ly got so sick of the music scene there that I moved back. I st i l l kept my apar tment in trendy Wil l iamsburg. I ’ ve been there since before it was trendy.

L v : Why did you decide to l ive in Richmond?

G B : I ’m just that way. I l ike to have more that one home base; i t makes me feel more secure. I ’ ve mostly been staying in Richmond. I moved to New Yor k, l ived there for several year s, did a bunch of gigs and then got the Moby tour, which lasted an exhausting three and a half year s, and by that t ime I was so t ired and exhausted and things had changed. You just can’t make a l iv ing anymore. So I just got completely fed up and I said I better just come back to Richmond and wor k as a carpenter for a whi le, just relax and get a regular paycheck for a novelty.

L v : So are you done with New Yor k?

G B : That’s a good question. You know the whole music business thing made me so

angr y. I ended up in a real ly high prof i le situation, I met al l the rock star s, and I got al l these endor sements with al l the great companies l ike Gal l ien-Krueger, Car vin and GHS. I real ly value that a lot. I was just hating music so much by the t ime I got back here. I real ly have not played in a year. I was real ly shocked because up unti l then I was a musician that was par t of my identity. I was l ike, i f I don’t play music then who am I? But it hasn’t been that bad of a transit ion real ly, and now I’m f inal ly star t ing to real ly get into music again. I ’m going out to see bands. Richmond has a real ly happening scene r ight now. The local metal bands wi l l blow your mind. It ’s just such a treat to go out and see this amazing musicianship from people in their twenties. No one is tr ying to be on MTV or anything. They’ re just playing because they want to rock and it ’s an amazing scene here.

L v : Are there any local bands that you are keeping your eye on in par t icular?

G B : InterArma have gotten way better since the last t ime I ’ ve seen them. They’ re real ly good right now. Also, there’s a real ly great dr ummer named Elway who plays in Bastard Sapl ing. He and Drew from Bastard Sapl ing are putt ing together the Hear t of Winter Metal Fest (December 18-20), which I think is real ly a hoot.

L v : What wi l l i t take for you to be in a band again?

G B : I t ’s so much wor k! Oh my god! Star t ing a band from scratch is exhausting. It would have to be a band that I already knew and respected that suddenly needed a bass player. I don’t want to star t from the ground up again. I ’m just too t ired.

L v : We talked before about how the f ir st band is l ike a star ter wife.

G B : Yes! Yes it is. Ever yone’s f ir st band breaks up in tear s and hear tbreak. Being in a band is l ike being in a mar riage except it ’s with three or four other people and there’s no sex. The dramas are there and the tensions are there.

L v : Wel l , sometimes there’s sex, but they break up even quicker.

G B : ( laughs) Exactly. I t ’s also real ly hard for people in committed relat ionships to

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be in bands because there real ly is a conf l ict of t ime and schedul ing. Unseen Force. I was that band with Dewey (Rowell) and that relat ionship outlasted the band, which is sor t of unusual. Since then any guy who gets to whine about it , and he’s out the door. I t is possible to balance a relat ionship and music , i t ’s just dif f icult .

L v : Is i t also dif f icult to balance a relat ionship with your band mates? As a session musician you’ re not always able to be in a band with your best fr iends. Can touring sometimes be lonely because of that?

G B : Right. You might not necessari ly choose to hang out with these people outside of the tour. I f you’ re lucky you get somebody that has a similar outlook and similar musical interests and then you real ly can just gel with them. The Moby tour was hard for some reason even though ever yone on the tour was perfect ly nice. I just didn’t connect with any of them. That was a real ly lonely experience.

L v : Do you think that might be why you are burnt out on bands and touring?

G B : That’s a good question. I don’t know. It ’s real ly a combination of the exhaustion of tr ying to wor k with other people and it ’s hard to swim upstream, and it ’s hard to just get any band noticed in the industr y. There are so many bands and so few venues and so l i t t le appreciat ion usual ly. You can no longer make a l iv ing as a ses-sion musician. You can quote me on that. L v : Things l ike MySpace have revolut ionized the music industr y and also r uined it . I t ’s a great tool for exposure but the mar ket is so f looded now. In the past few year s there has been a surge in music with a whole do-it-your self mental i ty. There are so many tools avai lable that make doing it your self a lot easier.

G B : I don’t blame MySpace as much as I blame MTV for giving people the idea that they could be knee deep in groupies in two weeks. And I blame Pro Tools for making ever ybody think that they don’t need a band because they can just have a band on their computer in the bedroom. It resulted in this massive t idal wave of absolute shit music.

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L v : Also touring is so hard because gas is so expensive and just gett ing from point A to point B is such a hassle.

G B : And a lot of c lubs that used to exist don’t anymore because c lub owner s real-ized there is an insurance issue of cour se, but i t ’s way cheaper just to hire a DJ. I see a lot of bands going real ly under the radar and playing house shows, which is extremely fun.

L v : Are you f inding that punk or metal or rock in general is going back to the underground, back to the house shows?

G B : I ’m not sure what ever ybody else in the wor ld is doing but in the scene that I ’m actual ly paying attention to, i t reminds me a lot of the mid-eighties. That’s when Unseen Force was doing their thing. Ever ybody practiced in their basement, and they made their own records, and they put out their own records, and then they toured and stayed at people’s houses. This was before the Inter net and before cel l phones, but back then i f you knew even one per son in the town you could be guaranteed to have a show and a place to stay. I see a lot of that kind of networ k-ing now, but i t ’s more f luid because there is MySpace and ever yone is more visible to ever yone else. I see a lot of the same kind of DIY aspect, which is refreshing. I hope that people aren’t expecting major labels to sign them up and do al l the wor k for them, because that isn’ t how it wor ks. I see a lot of bands just doing it on their own, which is how we used to do it .

L v : Tel l me about some of the tour s you’ ve done. You told me that touring with The Debbie Har r y Band was just a coincidence.

G B : What’s the saying? Luck is oppor tunity meets preparation and t iming? I had gotten to be fr iends with Chris Stein who was Debbie’s guitarist and Blondie’s guitarist. I was on the phone with Chris one day here in Richmond and he said The Debbie Har r y Band is going to London for a couple of weeks but we don’t have a bass player. And jokingly I said let me know when you want me to show up. Chris said, ‘ I never thought of that. When can you be here?’ So that was how I ended

up going to New Yor k and being Debbie Har r y’s bass player. I t was just completely random.

I ended up l iv ing in Debbie’s house. It took me two year s of couch surf ing in New Yor k to f ind an apar tment of my own. I didn’ t real ly hang out with Debbie that much because she’s real ly busy, and I ’m st i l l ver y int imidated by her even though she is nothing but kind and gracious. It was just a wonderful oppor tunity for me and be-cause of her I just had the oppor tunity to have my entire l i fe changed. I ’m st i l l so grateful for that.

L v : What is touring with that kind of band l ike? Debbie Har r y has some pretty fanatic fans.

G B : Yeah. At that par t icular phase in her career though, Blondie had broken up and she, I bel ieve, had been dropped by her label. In a way it was a pretty shitty experience for her but in another way it was ver y freeing because she could now do anything she wanted, and she did. I t was total ly str ipped down. Debbie was a punk rocker from 1974, so she knew how to l ive small and just be real. She was the far thest thing from a diva. So we toured England in a l i t t le Chevy van, and actual ly we shared hotel rooms, too, because she was gracious enough to share and it was low budget kind of thing.

L v : Do you think that helped to make a connection for you? I hate to say that women musicians get such a hard t ime, but they real ly do. So often real ly capable women are passed up for men, because it just doesn’t occur to people to hire women f ir st.

G B : I had that experience many t imes. You never hear about the gigs you don’t get, but I know that i t ’s tr ue that people just didn’t think of me for some t ime. Then on the f l ip side of that i t became kind of an asset for me – being a woman – when I got to the Moby band because I had a cer tain high level of visibi l i ty and I was the only woman in that par t icular posit ion at that par t icular t ime. My ad (for GHS Str ings) was on the back for Bass Player Magazine for two year s. I was just a lot more visible then. So it was an asset to be a woman then. For the 20 year s before that i t wasn’t such an asset.

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L v : So how did you make do when it wasn’t in your favor to, um, have a vagina?

G B : People always ask what’s i t l ike to be a woman in the music business, i t must be ter r ible. But I say it ’s probably l ike being a woman in any other business. It k ind of sucks and we don’t usual ly get the respect we deser ve, and we have to be twice as good to be considered half as qual i f ied. So you just get used to that. You adapt and overcome and just don’t whine about it and just go on with your l i fe.

L v : What do you do with your free t ime when you’ re not on tour? Do you l ike cook-ing?

G B : I ’m not a big gourmet cook. No. I l ike cooking a meal, but I ’m not much of a food fanatic. I ’ l l eat just about anything as long as there’s plenty of i t . What do I do…well…I l ike to r ide bikes, and I l ike to go to shows, and I l ike to read and play with the cats. I just got some kittens that are making my l i fe a l iv ing hel l .

L v : Kittens? What are their names?

G B : ( laughs) Don’t shoot me. One is named Foofy Mopkins and the other is named Chir py Puf fer ton ( laughs).

L v : I l ike that. Those are excel lent names for cats. You are a crazy cat lady I think. So you’ re l iv ing here now. Do you bel ieve in the Richmond cur se?

G B : Richmond cur se? I have heard that Richmond is a black hole and when you tr y to leave you always come back. I guess yes, that happened to me. Only now I’m here by choice. I bought a house in Oregon Hi l l . Smar test thing I ever did.

L v : Tel l me what you l ike about Richmond. Why did you come back here?

G B : Wel l , when I came here in 1985 with Dewey and Unseen Force I hated it then. Richmond is a ter r ible place to be i f you can’t escape. Then I went away from Richmond and l ived in New Yor k for many year s and in completely the opposite way,

because Richmond is ver y passive and slow and f laky and nothing real ly gets done. New Yor k is the opposite. Ever yone is in your face and they’ re on point al l the t ime and r ushing and racing around tr ying to get things done. They’ re even just spin-ning their wheels tr ying to feel l ike they’ re doing something. That was exhausting too, and after having twelve year s of that I real ized Richmond is not that bad i f you have your feet under you and know what you’ re doing and you have a c lue. It ’s a good place to make a home base out of. I t ’s a real ly good place for bands to make as a home base, because it ’s two hour s from Norfolk, two hour s from D.C., and three hour s from Raleigh. Right on the Boston-Atlanta tour circuit . L v : Have you given up on being in a band?

G B : I would have said that a year ago, but maybe I ’m just shift ing focus. You beat your head against a wal l for so long unti l you real ize that’s not going to wor k.

L v : Do you miss it?

G B : I ’m star t ing to now. It ’s always in the back of my mind. I ’m asking myself am I ready to go back to being in a band yet? And i f I do miss it , why? There’s a social aspect of being in a band that I miss. I miss having a rehear sal and going to rehear sal and seeing what’s up with the other guys. Hanging out and actual ly that was a big par t of i t for me. The social aspect. I t ’s real ly nice hanging out with other people who are on the same page and have similar experiences and see things in a similar way. For me that was always a big par t of being in a band.

L v : What would you l ike to do in the next year, now that you’ re not sure about playing music?

G B : You know the one thing I real ly miss about being a professional musician is the travel ing. I haven’t been to Japan or Austral ia in a real ly long t ime, and I love going places. I would l ike to travel. I would also l ike to be in a real ly slammin’ metal band i f one was reading this and needed a bass player ( laughs).

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L v : Ok, so I have to ask, how do you feel about the Inquisit ion song “Greta Brinkman vs. The City?”

G B : ( laughs) I am so t ickled with those kids. They used to pract ice in my basement at my other house in Oregon Hi l l . Inquisit ion when they were just so young used to pract ice in my basement, and I used to tel l them stories about l i fe with Debbie Har r y and Thomas (Barnett) was total ly spel lbound. And ever y single member of Inquisit ion went on to do something else that actual ly did something, and I ’m so proud of them for that. And I ’m just t ickled pink. I was so pleased that they named a song after me. I ’m so proud of each of those kids for st i l l being in bands that actual ly went somewhere.

L v : Do you fol low their bands st i l l? River City High, Ann Beretta and Str ike Any-where? G B : Oh, I love ‘em! Of cour se I ’m total ly biased.

L v : Do you have a connection l ike that to other musicians in Richmond?

G B : Oh, you know who I am real ly proud of r ight now is Tommy Hamilton who is from Florida. He used to be in a band cal led Gruel and he moved to Richmond, and now he’s in a band cal led Sour Milk Sea, which he star ted from scratch. I have the utmost respect for him and I love his band. I ’m proud of him.

L v : What does the wor ld need to know about you Greta Brinkman?

G B : Frankly, I always feel weird when I’m gett ing inter viewed, because I don’t think I ’m that excit ing. I ’ ve gone al l the way from being homeless to being on Saturday Night Live, and it ’s been a real ly great r ide. Of cour se I want to give a shout out to al l the great local bands. And I ’m happy Twister s is open again, but I haven’t been to the new Bagel Czar yet.

For more info on Greta Brinkman, to read her blog and check out photos from her lengthy career, check out www.bassgoddessgreta.com

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1 . Ke l i s “M i l k Shake” Tas t y 3 :072 . Dead Pr ez “Be Hea l thy” Le t ’ s Ge t Fr ee 2 :343 . Phar e l l W i l l i ams “ I ce C r eam Man” A l i ve on A r r i v a l 3 :044 . MF Doom “App le P ie” Mm Food 1 :435 . C ibo Ma t to “Sc i -F i Wasab i ” S te r eo Type A 3 :446 . Me t r i c “Raw Sugar” G r ow Up and B low Away 3 :487 . Deerhoo f “Lemon & L i t t l e Lemon” T he Runner s Four 2 :078 . Nada Sur f “Fr u i t F l y ” Le t Go 4 :349 . B r i t i sh Sea Power “L i ke A Honeycomb” Open Season 4 :3510 . O f Mont r ea l “Vegan In Fur s” Sa tan i c Pan i c I n T he A t t i c 3 :5411 . M inus T he Bear “Abs in the Par t y a t the F ly Honey War ehouse” H igh ly Re f i ned P i r a tes 5 :2412 . App les i n S te r eo “S t r awber r y f i r e” Her Wa l l paper Rever i e 4 :3113 . Sean Lennon “Dead Mea t” Fr i end ly F i r e 3 :4014 . Wo l f Pa r ade “D inner Be l l s ” Apo log ies to the Queen Mar y 6 :2615 . T he Raveone t tes “You Wan t T he Candy” Lus t Lus t Lus t 3 :0716 . Descenden ts “ I L i ke Food” Somer y 0 :1917 . T he Rep lacements “Beer For Br eak f as t ” A l l fo r No th ing /No th ing fo r A l l 1 :3818 . T he Ro l l i ng S tones “Brown Sugar” Ho t Roc ks 3 :4919 . Dead Kennedys “Soup I s Good Food” Fr ankenchr i s t 4 :1520 . G r ea t B ig Sea “T he O ld B lac k Rum” G r ea t B ig CD 2 :2921 . Man Man “T he Ba l l ad O f Bu t te r Beans” Rabb i t Hab i t s 4 :2922 . Sc r eam in’ J ay Hawk ins “A l l i g a to r Wine” Cow F inger s and Mosqu i to P ie 3 :04

Fo o d i e M i x !I n the sp i r i t o f ho l i day ove r ea t i ng he r e i s a de l i c i ous m i x fo r a l l you Food Ne twor k add i c t s and Ep i cu r eans , espec ia l l y my gour met s i s te r, t he Br aw l i ng Bar i s ta . Don’ t wor r y a Co f f ee M i x i s com ing fo r you , too ! Hear th i s m i x and o the r t as t y

bonus t r ac ks a t h t tp : / /www. l as t . fm/user /RVAmix – LV Send ema i l t o Laur en@r v amag.com

Laur en V ince l l i

RALLY FOR CLEAN WATER

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2009 / RICHMOND, VA

Virginia has taken huge strides to reduce nitrogen pollution from wastewater treatment plants. Now we need to make sure the Commonwealth continues this progress by reducing runoff pollution. Join hundreds of clean water supporters at the Bell Tower on Capitol Square on Monday, January 26, 2009. Let’s protect our rivers and the Bay!

SIGN UP TODAY! www.cbf.org/rallyforcleanwater or 804/780-1392

Photo courtesy Bill Portlock

RALLY FOR CLEAN WATER

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2009 / RICHMOND, VA

Virginia has taken huge strides to reduce nitrogen pollution from wastewater treatment plants. Now we need to make sure the Commonwealth continues this progress by reducing runoff pollution. Join hundreds of clean water supporters at the Bell Tower on Capitol Square on Monday, January 26, 2009. Let’s protect our rivers and the Bay!

SIGN UP TODAY! www.cbf.org/rallyforcleanwater or 804/780-1392

Photo courtesy Bill Portlock

produkt

I an M . G r aham | Image by Adam Ju r esko

I n t h e w a k e o f t h e t r i -u m p h o f c i v i l r i g h t s t h a t w a s t h e 2 0 0 8 P r e s i d e n -t i a l E l e c t i o n , a c i v i l r i g h t s b a t t l e w a g e s o n . C a l i f o r n i a – b y b a l l o t – h a s r e s c i n d e d i t s b r i e f a l l o w a n c e o f a l l m a r -r i a g e s . T h e r e a r e t h o s e t h a t w o u l d a r g u e t h a t t h e C h u r c h o f L a t t e r - D a y S a i n t s i s l a r g e l y r e -s p o n s i b l e f o r t h i s m o v e , t h a t i t w a s b y p l a y i n g t h e r e l i g i o u s i n -s t i n c t s a n d f e a r s o f C a l i f o r n i a ’ s m i n o r i t i e s t h a t t h i s l e g i s l a t i o n c a m e t o p a s s . T h e r e a r e m a n y l u d i c r o u s a s s e r t i o n s b e i n g m a i n -t a i n e d b y t h e c o n s e r v a t i v e s i d e o f t h i s b a t t l e . F r o m t h e i d e a t h a t w e m u s t p r e s e r v e t h e s a n c t i t y o f “ t r a d i t i o n a l ” m a r r i a g e , t o t h e n o -t i o n t h a t A m e r i c a i s f o u n d e d o n C h r i s t i a n p r i n c i p l e s , o r m a i n t a i n -i n g t h a t s t r a i g h t p e o p l e w i l l g o t h r o u g h a “ g a y ” m a r r i a g e t o s av e m o n e y o n t a x e s ( a c h e a t t h a t i s o b v i o u s l y c u r r e n t l y av a i l a b l e t o s t r a i g h t p e o p l e ) , o r a r g u i n g t h a t g a y m a r r i a g e w o u l d p r o v i d e a g a t e w a y t o p o l y g a m y o r b e s t i a l -

i t y ( Z o o p h i l i a ) , t h e l i s t g o e s o n a n d o n . E v e n a m o n g s t t h o s e w h o f av o r e q u a l i t y, w e f i n d a n a r g u -m e n t t o w a r d a s e p a r a t e b u t e q u a l s y s t e m w h e r e g a y m a r r i a g e s a r e d e f i n e d a s s o m e h o w i n t r i n s i c a l l y d i f f e r e n t f r o m h e t e r o s e x u a l m a r -r i a g e s .

I w i l l n o t b e a d d r e s s i n g a n y o f t h e s e i d e a s . M o s t o f t h e s e a r g u -m e n t s c a n b e t a c k l e d e a s i l y b y a n y o n e w h o i s v e r s e d i n t h e i s s u e . N o , I w i l l n o t a r g u e t h e s e m o s t i d i o t i c a s s e r t i o n s ( a l t h o u g h I w i l l g l a d l y r e s p o n d t o t h e m , i f a n y -o n e w a n t s t o e m a i l m e ) . I w i l l b e a d d r e s s i n g g a y a d o p t i o n a s w e l l , w h i c h I s e e a s i n t r i n s i c a l l y t i e d t o t h e i s s u e .

T h e i s s u e o f g a y m a r r i a g e c a n b e r e s o l v e d e a s i l y, a s l o n g a s o n e w i s h e s t o s e p a r a t e t h e c h u r c h a n d t h e s t a t e f u r t h e r ( a s t h e F o u n d -e r s i n t e n d e d ) a n d e x e r c i s e a f a i r t a x p o l i c y. We ’ l l l o o k a t t h r e e m a i n v i e w p o i n t s : o n e w h e r e g a y m a r r i a g e i s b a n n e d o u t r i g h t , o n e

w h e r e “ c i v i l u n i o n s ” a r e a l l o w e d , a n d o n e w h e r e t h e f e d e r a l d e f i n i -t i o n o f m a r r i a g e h a s b e e n d e f i n e d a s t w o p e o p l e f i l i n g t h e i r t a x e s t o g e t h e r. T h e t h i r d o f t h e s e r e -a l i t i e s w i l l b e c a l l e d t h e “ b l a n k ” a r g u m e n t , f o r r e a s o n s t o b e d i s -c u s s e d l a t e r.

I n t h e f i r s t e x a m p l e , w e s e e a d i -v i d e d A m e r i c a . G a y s a r e d e n i e d a n y l e g a l t i e t o t h e i r p a r t n e r s , s t a t e s a n d p r i v a t e i n s t i t u t i o n s c a n ( a n d c u r r e n t l y d o ) d e n y a c c e s s t o a v a r i e t y o f p r i v i l e g e s t o c o u p l e s , i n c l u d i n g ( b u t c e r t a i n l y n o t l i m -i t e d t o ) h o s p i t a l v i s i t a t i o n r i g h t s , j o i n t b a n k i n g a n d t a x f i l i n g , a d o p -t i o n , i n s u r a n c e c l a i m s a n d e v e n h o u s i n g r i g h t s . G a y c o u p l e s , n o m a t t e r h o w c o m m i t t e d , a r e s e c -o n d - c l a s s t o h e t e r o s e x u a l c o u p l e s . I n t h i s e x a m p l e , t h e g o v e r n m e n t h o n o r s r i g h t s g i v e n t o c o u p l e s b y t h e c h u r c h e s , b u t o n l y t h e r i g h t k i n d o f c h u r c h e s a n d o n l y t h e r i g h t k i n d o f c o u p l e s . T h e g o v e r n -m e n t , b y p r o x y, a l l o w s a n d s u p -p o r t s t h e l i m i t a t i o n o f r i g h t s b y

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c e d i n g t h e s e r i g h t s t o t h e c h u r c h , a s d e f i n e d b y ( c e r t a i n ) c h u r c h e s ; t h e g o v e r n m e n t e n d o r s e s s o m e c h u r c h e s , a n d r e j e c t s o t h e r s .

N o w, t h e s e c o n d A m e r i c a w h e r e “ c i v i l u n i o n s ” a r e a l l o w e d , t h i s a r g u m e n t i s u s u a l l y s u p p o r t e d b y t h o s e w h o m a y t r u l y h a r b o r n o i l l w i l l t o w a r d s h o m o s e x u a l s , y e t h a r b o r s o m e s e n s e o f h e t e r o s e x -u a l p r o p r i e t y t o w a r d s m a r r i a g e . G a y c o u p l e s a r e a l l o w e d m a n y o f t h e i n t r i n s i c r i g h t s d e f i n e d a b o v e ; h o w e v e r, t h e y m a i n t a i n t h e i r s t a -t u s a s s e c o n d c l a s s t o h e t e r o s e x u -a l c o u p l e s . “ T r a d i t i o n a l i s t s ” a r e l i k e l y d i v i d e d – s o m e w o u l d b e h a p -p y t h a t t h e i r u n i o n i s p r e s e r v e d a s b e i n g h o l i e r, r i g h t e r o r m o r e m o r -a l i n t h e e y e s o f t h e l a w, w h e r e a s o t h e r s w o u l d b e i n f l a m e d a t t h e i d e a o f g o v e r n m e n t e n d o r s e m e n t o f w h a t t h e y s e e a s h e r e t i c b e h av -i o r. C h u r c h e s w o u l d b e d e f i n e d a s g a y f r i e n d l y, o r n o t , b o t h i n t h e e y e s o f t h e s c o r n f u l a n d i n t h e e y e s o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t . T h e g o v -e r n m e n t , a g a i n b y p r o x y, b e s t o w s

o n e t i t l e t o h e t e r o s e x u a l c o u p l e s a n d o n e t i t l e t o n o n - h e t e r o s e x u a l c o u p l e s , i . e . a s y s t e m o f s e p a r a t e b u t e q u a l . T h e b u r d e n o f p a p e r -w o r k c o u l d b e e n o r m o u s f o r t h e g o v e r n m e n t ; h e t e r o s e x u a l c o u p l e s a n d g a y c o u p l e s w o u l d h av e t o f i l e d i f f e r e n t p a p e r w o r k t o a f f o r d t h e m s e l v e s t h e s a m e r i g h t s , a n d i n t u r n , t h e g o v e r n m e n t w o u l d h av e t o f i l e a n d p r o c e s s p a p e r -w o r k s e p a r a t e l y. P r i v a t e i n s t i t u -t i o n s w o u l d b e a b l e t o e x p l o i t t h i s l e g a l d i s t i n c t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y i n a r -e a s s u c h a s h o u s i n g ( w h e r e i t i s c u r r e n t l y l e g a l t o e n f o r c e “ m o r a l ” s t a n d a r d s ) . I n t h e e n d , t h e i d e a o f s e p a r a t e b u t e q u a l , m a r r i a g e v s . c i v i l u n i o n , c o u l d e n d u p a s a d e t r i m e n t t o g a y c o u p l e s a s m a n y s i t u a t i o n s c a n a r i s e w h e r e b e i n g l e g a l l y d e f i n e d a s q u e e r c o u l d i n -t e r f e r e w i t h b u s i n e s s .

A n d f i n a l l y, t h e “ b l a n k ” a r g u -m e n t . W h e n a c o u p l e w i s h e s t o b e c o m e m a r r i e d , t h e y g o t o t h e l o c a l j u d g e , m a g i s t r a t e , o f f i c e r o f t h e p e a c e o r o t h e r w i s e l e g a l m a r -

r i a g e o f f i c i a l . T h e “ m a r -r i a g e c e r t i f i c a t e ” i s d e -

f i n e d a s a “ c i v i l u n i o n ” f o r a l l c o u p l e s , a n d t h e r e i s a

b l a n k s p a c e o n t h e f o r m f o r a p e r s o n a l d e f i n i t i o n , w h i c h

i s a r b i t r a r y ( b u t e x t r e m e l y i m p o r t a n t t o s o m e ) . I t i s a r b i -

t r a r y b e c a u s e t h e g o v e r n m e n t ’ s o n l y r o l e i n t h i s w o u l d b e t o t a k e

t h i s f o r m a n d u s e t h e i n f o r m a -t i o n t h e r e i n t o c h a n g e b o t h p e r -s o n s ’ t a x f i l i n g s t a t u s . C o u p l e s w h o w i s h t o w r i t e i n “ t r a d i t i o n a l C h r i s t i a n h e t e r o s e x u a l m a r r i a g e ” c a n d o s o . M u s l i m c o u p l e s c a n w r i t e i n N i k a h , J e w i s h c o u p l e s N i s s u ’ i n , H i n d u c o u p l e s c a n f i l l i n t h e i r v a r i a t i o n o f V i v a h , a n d s o f o r t h a n d s o o n . T h e g o v e r n -m e n t ’ s r o l e i s l i m i t e d t o ( A ) t a k-i n g m o n e y f o r t h e l i c e n s e a n d ( B ) c h a n g i n g t h e c o u p l e ’ s t a x s t a t u s . T h e g o v e r n m e n t m a k e s n o m o r a l o r r e l i g i o u s j u d g m e n t , t h e y m a k e n o b l e s s i n g , t h e y d o n o t e n d o r s e o n e c h u r c h ’ s d e f i n i t i o n o r a n o t h -e r, t h e y m e r e l y t a k e y o u r m o n e y a n d c h a n g e y o u r t a x s t a t u s .

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C h u r c h e s w h o w i s h t o d e f i n e m a r -r i a g e a s b e t w e e n o n e M a n a n d o n e Wo m a n w o u l d b e a b l e t o c o n t i n u e t o d o s o , a n d i f t h e y t h i n k t h a t t h e i r m a r r i a g e i s h o l i e r, m o r e t r a d i t i o n -a l o r b e t t e r, t h a t ’ s f i n e . G a y c o u -p l e s c a n n o t f o r c e t h e i r w a y i n t o a c h u r c h a n d d e m a n d t o b e m a r r i e d o n t h e i r a l t a r ( o n e o f t h e f e a r s p l a y e d o n r u r a l A M r a d i o ) ; h o w e v -e r, t h e g o v e r n m e n t w i l l n o t b e a b l e t o f o r c e a n a n t i - g a y c h u r c h ’ s d e f i -n i t i o n o n t h e U n i t a r i a n s d o w n t h e r o a d . T h e g o v e r n m e n t r e c o g n i z e s a l l u n i o n s b e t w e e n t w o p e o p l e , f o r t a x r e a s o n s a l o n e .

I n t h i s m o s t l y t a x - b a s e d t h i r d a r g u m e n t , h o w e v e r, l i e s a C a t c h -2 2 . T a x i n c e n t i v e s f o r m a r r i e d c o u p l e s a r e i n p l a c e – p h i l o s o p h i -c a l l y – t o e a s e t h e b u r d e n o f r a i s -i n g c h i l d r e n . I f i r m l y s u p p o r t g a y c o u p l e ’ s ( a n d g a y i n d i v i d u a l s , f o r t h a t m a t t e r ) r i g h t t o a d o p t i o n , s h o u l d t h e y b e a b l e t o p r o v e t h a t t h e y a r e m e n t a l l y s o u n d a n d f i s -c a l l y s t a b l e e n o u g h t o s u p p o r t a c h i l d . T h e t a x i n c e n t i v e f o r m a r -

r i e d c o u p l e s c a r r i e s n o e n f o r c e -m e n t o f c h i l d b e a r i n g , i . e . , c o u p l e s r e c e i v e t h e t a x b r e a k w h e t h e r t h e y p r o c r e a t e o r n o t . We d o n o t r e -m o v e t h e t a x i n c e n t i v e s f r o m c o u -p l e s t h a t a r e f o u n d t o b e i n c a p a b l e o f b e a r i n g c h i l d r e n , o r f r o m t h o s e w h o c h o o s e n o t t o , s o w h y s h o u l d t h i s t a x b r e a k b e e x t e n d e d t o s a i d c o u p l e s ? T h i s t a x b r e a k i s a f i s c a l e n d o r s e m e n t o f h e t e r o s e x u a l i t y a n d s h o u l d e i t h e r i n c l u d e g a y c o u -p l e s , o r e l i m i n a t e d u n t i l c h i l d r e n a r e p r o d u c e d . W h y s h o u l d s i n g l e p e o p l e ( o r, u n d e r a s e p a r a t e b u t e q u a l s y s t e m , g a y c o u p l e s ) b e p a y -i n g e x t r a t a x e s t o s u b s i d i z e h e t -e r o s e x u a l m a r r i e d c o u p l e ’ s p o s s i -b i l i t y o f p r o c r e a t i o n ?

T h e r e a r e m a n y a r g u m e n t s p u t f o r t h f o r n o t e x t e n d i n g m a r r i a g e r i g h t s t o h o m o s e x u a l s , a n d p l e n -t y o f t i m e i s s p e n t ( r a t h e r, w a s t -e d ) r e f u t i n g t h e s e s e g r e g a t i o n i s t m e n t a l i t i e s . T h e v a s t m a j o r i t y o f t h e m ( t h a t a r e n o t n a k e d p r e j u -d i c e ) s t e m f r o m t h e i d e a t h a t a l -l o w i n g g a y m a r r i a g e s t e p s o n t h e

t o e s o f t h e c h u r c h , a n d i n d e e d , i t m a y i n f u r i a t e a n d f l u s t e r m a n y c h u r c h e s . I w o n d e r, w h e n d i d i t b e c o m e t h e g o v e r n m e n t ’ s j o b t o h o n o r v a r i o u s c h u r c h e s ’ m i s -p l a c e d s e n s e o f s u p e r i o r i t y, t o d e -f i n e t h e s a n c t i t y o f l o v e , o r t o p r o -t e c t t h e s e n s i b i l i t i e s o f o u r m o s t s e n s i t i v e a n d o f t e n o f f e n s i v e h e t -e r o s e x u a l s a n d r e l i g i o u s e x t r e m -i s t s ? I t n e v e r h a s b e e n , a n d i t n e v e r w i l l b e . I n m a k i n g a l l m a r -r i a g e s e q u a l a n d w i t h o u t v a r y i n g d e f i n i t i o n , w e s t r i d e c l o s e r t o t h e v e r y i n t e n t i o n s o f t h e F o u n d i n g F a t h e r s , w h o s o u g h t l i f e , l i b e r t y a n d t h e p u r s u i t o f h a p p i n e s s , f r e e f r o m i m p o s i t i o n s o r d e f i n i t i o n s p l a c e d b y e i t h e r i n d i v i d u a l s o r t h e i n s t i t u t i o n s t h a t s o m e h o l d s a c r e d . I t i s t h e s e i m p o s i t i o n s t h a t t h e p r o p o n e n t s o f l e g i s -l a t u r e s u c h a s P r o p 8 w o u l d h av e u s m a i n t a i n , a n d t h e y a r e , i n t h e w o r d s o f S e n . J o h n M c C a i n , h o r s e s h i t .

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Understanding AutismEric Weinraub

It ’s 7 a.m. on a Thursday, and I have three text messages wondering why I wasn’t out the night before. I ’m drinking my morning coffee and planning what to wear that day. It re-ally doesn’t make much of a dif ference seeing how I’ l l end up donning arm guards and a jean jacket that will disguise any streetwise fashion I may muster up at this ungodly hour. I walk out the door half asleep, but by the time I get to my classroom I’m wide awake and mentally prepared. I check to see which students I will be teaching for the day and go wait them to arrive.

The Faison School for Autism was founded in 1999 by Alan Kirshner and Flo Guzman as a way to help meet the needs of their granddaughter, Brittany Faison, as well as other young people l iving with autism. Since that time this nonprof it school has been addressing the needs of school age children with disabilities. Kids from three years up to eight years of age are taught on the 2nd f loor in separate classrooms divided by language comprehension and ability. Much the same division is evident on the 3rd f loor for students ages 9 to 15. The Life Skills program was recently implemented to assist 16- to 22-year-olds in the transition away from a school environment and into a more independent adulthood. Each classroom on every f loor houses students whose diag-noses range across the entire autism spectrum, with vary-ing degrees of language comprehension and vocal abilities. It ’s refreshing to work at a school that does everything it

can to work toward meeting all of the possible needs of their current and future students.

Autism is def ined as a developmental neurological dis-ability that has no scientif ically known cause or cure. Current statistics indicate that it occurs in 1 out of ev-ery 150 children, with boys four times as l ikely to be diagnosed than girls. Since there are var ying deg rees as to how people are affected by autism, it and other associated disorders are referred to within the autism spectrum. The spectrum includes autism, Asperger’s syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett syn-drome, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Oth-er wise Specif ied (PDD-NOS).

It ’s now noon and for the students in my classroom, it ’s time to go outside to the playground or to the gym on the bottom f loor for group play. As teaching assistants we supervise the children and try to help initiate social interactions, turn taking, and language skills while the children are positively reinforced by the range of toys and activities provided for them. Helping foster g rowth and education in contextual situations is a vital role at Faison, and while going through my daily routine, I should always be ready to encourage or initiate such oc-currences. I ’ l l say f irsthand, this is not as easy as you may think it sounds. First of all , it ’s hard to prompt a student down the hallway and try to initiate g reetings with peers when they have a habit of bolting to random doors to open and shut them or just plain bolting down the hallway. Perhaps your student for this block decides

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they don’t want to go where you are leading them, instead they’d prefer to ignore your instruction and f lop to the ground, or yell , or cry, or aggress toward you or them-selves or any combination of those l isted. Did I happen to mention that I ’ve been hungry and dreaming of my own lunch break and a quick, but oh so amazingly sweet ciga-rette? Like I said, it ’s not as easy as it may have sounded. But it is in fact the most rewarding thing I ’ve done and well worth it .

Besides the one-on-one teaching process, data collection is the most important aspect of The Faison School. The gathering, graphing and analysis of behavior and learn-ing data is a constant driving force at Faison. Every stu-dent at the school has a program book containing all of their current educational programs. Every program run, including every single question asked during each day is recorded and stored. Each student also has a teaching as-sistant f irmly holding onto a clipboard on which they re-cord a wide array of daily behavior information

It’s now 2 p.m. and I ’m preparing my students to get ready for their trek home. I f inish up my teaching and prompt-ing while they pack up their belongings. It ’s time for the transportation provided by the county, group home vans, buses, and parents to come pick their kids up and bring them home. I send my students on their way, take a deep breath, take off my arm guards and denim jacket, and I head off the property for a quick smoke break before I go back and f inish the rest of my duties.

Af ter the students leave for the day, the teaching assis-tants, lead teachers and other faculty in addition to their other duties, will also collect and analyze data regarding academic progress, behaviors currently being targeted for decrease and other l ife skills related information. Any-thing of signif icance, whether it be for current or future consideration, is tracked and catalogued. All of this data is graphed and compiled, f i led and stored away for future use.

When I began trying to write this article a bit ago, I as-sumed I ’d crank it out in under an hour; that people would read it , love it and garner great interest in The Faison School and the work that is carried out there. T wo months, and many draf ts later I sti l l hope to do the same thing. But I want to end with this: I ’ve held many dif ferent types of jobs and had tons of dif ferent co-workers since I moved to Richmond in 2000. Never before have I had a job with a true purpose, or co-workers who truly were dedicated to working toward the benef it of another’s l i fe. I ’m amazed each and every day I go to work, by the students and the staff , and I ’m glad for the chance to keep coming back day to day and learning from all of them.

www.thefaisonschool.orgwww.nationalautismassociation.orgwww.autismspeaks.orghttp://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htmhttp://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/applied-behavior-analysis

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T H E M O ST B RU TA L S H OW O N T ELEV I S I O N: M ETA LO CA LYPSE SEASO N 2 DV D Dude , these guys a r e fuc k in’ awesome . T hey ’ ve go t v as t number s o f f ana t i ca l fo l l ower s , un l im i t -ed r esour ces , gover nments a t the i r f ee t and the wor ld ’ s economy a t the i r wh im . Un l i ke the Ca tho l i c Chur ch , the r i d i cu lous bad-asser y o f wh i c h I speak i s comp le te ly f uc k ing meta l i n e ve r y poss ib le way. T hey ’ r e j us t as d iabo l i ca l as the Ca tho l i c s , i f no t mor e , a l t hough to ta l l y mor e hones t abou t i t . I n -s tead o f a t tempt ing to dep i c t t hemse l ves as p ious , ho ly, r i gh teous and benevo len t , t hey s t r i ve to be the mos t b r u ta l , unca r ing, ha rdcor e mother fuc k ing guys on the f ace o f t he p lane t . T hey l i ve i n Mord-haus , a g ian t me ta l mons t r os i t y o f a cas t l e shaped as a d r agon . T he i r e ve r y ac t i on i s wa tc hed by an I l l um ina t i - s t y l e counc i l ca l l ed T he Tr ibuna l , wh i c h m igh t be e ven mor e ne f a r ious than the band i t se l f. T he band i s guarded by l eg ions o f heav i l y a r med goons wear ing b lac k hoods.

T hey a r e De thk lok . T hey a r e the Gor i l l az mee ts Ope th , a ca r toon band on a m iss ion to be the mos t b r u ta l band o f a l l t ime .

Se r ious ly, man . B las t bea ts , speed-p i c k ing gu i t a r due l s , gu t te r voca l s and d iamond-s tudded cod-p ieces. I t ’ s way mor e b r u ta l t han any th ing Adu l t Sw im has e ve r pu t ou t , by a l ong sho t – no t l i ke tha t ’ s say ing much , though . Sh i t ’ s f unny, bu t l e t ’ s f ace i t , mos t o f Adu l t Sw im i s fo r puss ies .

How en te r ta in ing can a bunch o f k ids mak ing Home Mov ies r ea l l y be? Wha t k ind o f d i c kbag wuss wou ld e ven come up w i th someth ing l i ke tha t? A bunch o f smar tass r ugr a ts and the de -p r essed , acc iden ta l l y i ns igh t fu l adu l t s tha t su r -r ound them? I ’m sur e the guy who came up w i th Me ta loca lypse wou ld bea t the sh i t ou t o f t ha t guy and p robab ly shove a meta l - tho r ned gu i t a r down h i s th r oa t . Fuc k yeah . You th ink Neon Genes i s Ev ange l i on i s ep i c? Ep i c i s p lay ing a meta l show on a r oam ing dea th p la t fo r m wh i l e pe r fo r m ing the l a r ges t mass execu t ion o f dea th r ow inmates e ve r, c hor eogr aphed to the b r u ta l mus i c . Ep i c i s r unn ing a demo l i t i on de rby i n the ca r Kennedy was sho t i n w i th the c ha i r L inco ln was sho t i n as the d r i ve r ’ s sea t , o r p lay ing the Na t iona l An them on bass w i th your d i c k . Ep i c i s a l ase r- f i gh t gu i t a r so lo w i th d r agons .

*end meta l -dude impr ess ion*

I f you l i ke heavy meta l , and don’ t m ind hav ing your se l f and your genr e mocked incessan t l y and accur a te ly, you ’ l l l i ke th i s show. T he mus i c i s so l i d and Gene Hog lan , founda t iona l heavy meta l d r ummer, p lays the d r um t r ac ks . B r andon Sma l l ( c r ea to r o f Me ta loca lypse and Home Mov ies ) p lays a w i c ked gu i t a r, too, and he does the r i f f s fo r the show.

I f you l i ke Adu l t Sw im ’s p r ogr amming you ’ r e p r obab ly a l r eady wa tch ing.

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I f you l i ke ep i c ca r toons , you ’ l l l i ke th i s show.

I f you l i ke any o f t he above comb ina t ions o f t h ings , then th i s show i s your s . T h r ow up some hor ns. I was happy to do so when I wen t w i th two f r i ends to Ba l t imor e to see De thk lok l i ve . B r andon Sma l l , Gene Hog lan and o the r mus i c i ans p layed l i ve w i th a p r o -j ec t i on o f t he band go ing on beh ind them. Ha l f o f t he concer tgoer s wer e ca r toon f ans , and the o the r ha l f we r e meta l f ans who wer e i n to the show and the mus i c , and e ve r yone seemed to en joy the show. Her e ’ s your bump: buy th i s DVD. I t i s f unn ie r than wear ing human l ea the r, a l t hough i t ’ s go t tha t , too.

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W o r l d o f M i r t h 3 0 0 5 W C a ry S t .Dr ess by Mad ison Mar cus , av a i l ab le a t P ink

V e l o c i t y C o m i c s 8 1 8 W G r a c e S t .On Dana : Sh i r t and j eans by RVCA , av a i l ab le a t Domin ion Ska teboards

On Tr e : Sh i r t and j eans by RVCA , av a i l ab le a t Domin ion Ska teboardsOn E la ine : J ac ke t and tun i c by LA Made , av a i l ab le a t Rumor s

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V i n y l C o n f l i c t 3 24 S o u t h P i n e S t .On Jo jo : Ca r d igan by DC Shoes and j eans by Vans , bo th av a i l ab le a t Domin ion Ska teboardsOn Z i r i c h i : Swea tsh i r t by M ishka and j eans by WESC , bo th av a i l ab le a t Henr yOn Tr e : Sh i r t by Four S ta r and j eans by RVCA , bo th av a i l ab le a t Domin ionOn Dana : Sh i r t and j eans by RVCA , bo th av a i l ab le a t Domin ion

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V i n y l C o n f l i c t 3 24 S o u t h P i n e S t .On Dana : Sh i r t i s v i n tage , av a i l ab le a t Ex i l e . Jeans by RVCA , av a i l ab le a t Domin ion

On E la ine : D r ess by Cheap Monday, av a i l ab le a t Henr yOn Z i r i c h i : Swea tsh i r t by Ma t i x and j eans by RVCA , bo th av a i l ab le a t Domin ion

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R i v e r C i t y C e l l a r s 2 9 3 1 W C a ry S t .On Jo jo : J ac ke t by Ch i l i Pepper, d r ess by USE Unused and bag by Mon i ca Fash ion , a l l a v a i l ab le a t Euro t r ash

On E la ine : J ac ke t by Tu l l e , av a i l ab le a t Need Supp ly. D r ess by Ted Baker, av a i l ab le a t Euro t r ash

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Fu tu r e s i t e o f S e c c o W i n e B a rOn E la ine : D r ess by HCOCH, av a i l ab le a t Euro t r ashOn Jo jo : D r ess by BB Dako ta , av a i l ab le a t Need Supp ly. Je we l r y av a i l ab le a t Bygones

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On Tr e : Ca r d igan by K i l l C i t y and t - sh i r t by Amer i can Appar e l , bo th av a i l ab le a t Need Supp ly. Jeans f r om Rumor s cons ignment .

J ac ke t and shoes a r e s t y l i s t ' s own

On Dana : Sh i r t and ha t by RVCA , bo th av a i l ab le a t Domin ion . Jeans by S t r e t c h

F ’ c kn Jeans , av a i l ab le a t Ex i l e . Shoes by Vans , av a i l ab le a t Domin ion

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H o s p i ta l i t y 2 8 2 0 - A W e s t C a ry S t .On E la ine : D r ess by BCBG , av a i l ab le a t Need Supp ly. Nec k lace av a i l ab le a t Bygones

On Tr e : Jeans by T he Hundr eds , sh i r t by 10 Deep and C lae Mcqueen shoes , a l l a v a i l ab le a t Hosp i ta l i t yOn Jo jo : D r ess by Ted Baker, av a i l ab le a t Euro t r ash

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