Black Flag live in Seattle / Review

Black Flag's Ron Reyes. (All Cat Rose photos)

By Andy and Cat

As Black Flag raged, a guy in the crowd was so enthralled with one tune that he wildly began punching the air. His fists rocketed high and low --- and smashed a passerby in the face. An apology was given to the unfortunate victim, and the man's private boxing match continued.

And so did Black Flag, this touring version consisting of original guitarist Greg Ginn, second vocalist Ron Reyes and newcomers Dave Klein on bass and Gregory AMoore on drums.

Based on mixed reviews we saw, we weren't sure what we were gonna get. But don't believe everything you read, folks. The band and the Seattle crowd just clicked.

Greg Ginn and Reyes.

The scene was El Corazon last Friday night, and the sweaty crowd of old and young males and females packed tightly into the small club and gave it their all on most songs. When the band was ON, the fans with raised fists and loud voices kept pace by squeezing out every last ounce of their energy. For some, their time in the pit was shorter than others, as many fans either trudged out of the war zone on their own or had to be carried by friends to safety.

Black Flag blasted out of the gate fast and furious with "Revenge," "I've Had It," "Nervous Breakdown" and "Fix Me," and then a new song "The Chase" capped off the initial barrage.

The band kept rolling strong with a couple of new tunes alongside "Depression," "No Values," "Six Pack" and "TV Party," but they began losing steam as the second half of the set commenced. This is where some songs began to drag drumming-wise (but let's face it, nobody can play sharp-as-a-tack skins for Black Flag like Robo or Bill Stevenson) and Ginn relied on his theremin playing too much on the drawn out "Can't Decide" and new tune "Down in the Dirt."

Ginn was a man possessed on guitar for a while, but then went a little theremin crazy later-- and it was a bit painful to watch him shake his right hand near the instrument while the rest of the band looked as if they wanted to kick things into gear again.

And they soon did with "Rise Above" and "Jealous Again," which featured Reyes and Piggy singer Izzy Gibson prowling the stage and sharing vocals.

Klein

This gig gets a "B" in our grade book, and for the record, no Black Flag gig we ever saw back in the early to mid-'80s was ever close to perfect, so this is right on par. It's what live music is all about: hits and misses, taking chances and hopefully bringing it all back together for a walloping ending.

Appreciate this music, people. It's real, it's who we are.

Reyes' other band, the always rockin' Piggy, opened the gig and Good For You (featuring Ginn, Klein, AMoore and singer Mike Vallely) manned the second slot with their heavy, groove-oriented tunes.


PIGGY

Reyes and Gibson, top, Craig McKimm and Lisafurr Lloyd, below

... and one last word from Reyes ...

Chatting with Big Country's Bruce and Jamie Watson

Bruce Watson in Seattle. (All Andy photos)

By Andy

With the weather topping at a scorching 89 degrees in Seattle on July 1, Big Country's tour bus rolled up to the front of El Corazon as a coterie of fans gathered round, clutching albums and posters for the band to sign.

Father-and-son guitar duo Bruce and Jamie Watson and drummer Mark Brzezicki hopped off the bus first to greet fans while singer Mike Peters (Alarm) and bassist Derek Forbes (ex-Simple Minds) followed soon after.

Later that night, in carrying on the grand tradition of the Scottish band -- minus lead singer/guitarist Stuart Adamson, who died in 2001 -- the quintet blazed through a handful of songs from its debut album, "The Crossing," plus stellar selections from its new one, "The Journey," and more.

I caught Bruce and Jamie outside of the tour bus before the gig while they were having a smoke break.

Jamie and Bruce Watson with Mike Peters.

---You guys have obviously been doing this for a long time and you've got kind of a revitalized group here with Mike on vocals and your son on guitar... how's it all going?

Bruce: It's been great. We've been over here for three weeks. We started in New Jersey, worked our way across the country, came all the way across the West Coast, come up to here and into Canada tomorrow --and every night's been fantastic.


---The crowds have been good?

Bruce: It's been better for us because we ain't been here in 20 years. And for us to come back to this magnificent country and check out the geography and the history -- we are complete tourists and we film everything and we're now making our own documentary using a couple of mobile phones, and it's great because you do not see this stuff everyday.


---What's been some of the highlights so far for ya?

Bruce: Monument Valley-- we shot a video there (for "In a Broken Promise Land" and it was premiered on the Fourth of July on their website). Just came from the Redwoods, I was down driving through the Sequoia trees and looking for Bigfoot; I didn't find Bigfoot, but I stood in one of his fuckin' shits.

Jamie: Going to see the Grand Canyon. There's not very many people from where I stay that get the opportunity to go out and do that and meet so many nice people, as well. We were at the Redwoods, the giant forest yesterday, so that was pretty cool. Just meeting all the nice people and getting out of Scotland for a wee bit, it's a bit too cold over there, you know?

---How does it feel to do this with your son? Obviously you guys are playing guitar together, but you're also probably bonding some more?

Bruce: Jamie and I have got an album out called "Another Anthem for the Damned," and then what happened was we got the call to play some 30th anniversary gigs with the Skids and that led on to us doing these anniversary gigs with Big Country. We're all one big happy family. You see that bus? That is our home (when on tour). It's what I call it, "camping on wheels." It's kind of crowded, but everybody finds their own little space. Some guys are on laptops, some guys are editing videos, some guys are just watching world TV out the front window.

Jamie on touring: We've all been getting on great, there's not been any tantrums as yet on the bus.

Jamie on playing with Bruce: It's great and I wouldn't change it for the world. I've been performing with my dad for a long time now, about six, seven years. When the Skids, Stuart's first band, reformed in 2007, I had to audition for them. And I got the gig, so me and my dad started working from then, doing things on and off for the Skids until 2010, and then we started working on our own solo album together and then it just evolved from then. Here we are now, we're still on the road and we're still going about three, four years later.

It's good, we always mess around on stage, like I'll be playing guitar and he'll slap me on the back of the head or something like that. Or if one of us makes a mistake on the guitar, we just look at the other one, as if to go, "That was him." We always have fun doing that and pretty much always take the piss out of each other.

Mike sings (and jokes) while Jamie plays.

--- I remember the DVD (Big Country's "Final Fling") and your son (then age 11) came out and played air guitar (actually, an uplugged mini guitar) at the end. What's it like having him side by side now, playing those classic riffs?

Bruce: It's great, because Jamie lives with me. When he lives with me at home, I'm his dad and I follow him around and I turn off light switches because he leaves them on -- and he's my son. When he's out on the road, he's a band member, you know?

Jamie: Well, I used to mess around on my dad's guitar. He used to have them lying all over the house, you know, they were everywhere, lying in the corner, in the washroom. Wherever you went, there was a guitar lying about. So I just picked up gradually doing that. But I started playing drums first, Mark used to show me how to play drums when they were in the studio when they were recording "Driving to Damascus." I was pretty much there the whole time when they were doing that, I even spent my birthday there. It was a great experience getting to know how a studio works and what the guys actually have to do to put into it to get this finished product, which everyone calls an album or vinyl, whatever, you know? It takes a lot of work and a lot of money. It was a great place to learn.

It's a bit weird for me because I've actually seen Big Country play, whereas these guys have never seen themselves play. I know exactly what they mean when "You're in the band now." So I wish I could stand up front and watch this gig, but you can't unless it's been videoed, even when it's videoed it still doesn't capture the complete full atmosphere, but it's close.


--- The new songs are great, by the way. How are they translating live? Does it feel just as good to play those next to the other ones?

Bruce: Yeah. What we do is we play a half-and-half set, we do an old song, a new song, an old song, a new song, so you get approximately 10 new songs, 10 old songs. And they kind of fit together. The setlist is different every night, so we don't know what we're doing until the last minute. And some songs we haven't played for awhile. Certain songs you can do in bigger venues, and certain songs you've got leave out for a different kind of venue. As long as we give them a majority of new and old, that's the main thing.

---The obvious question is how does it feel to have Mr. Peters out there fronting the band?

Bruce: It's fantastic. He's the only real choice I could think of to do this. We were only gonna get Mike and we would go off with a couple of charity gigs about two and half years ago. It was only gonna be three songs and so I asked Mike if he would do it and he jumped and said, "Yeah, I'll definitely do that." And then the charity gig got pulled, it didn't happen, but we came to rehearse anyway. All of the people on the website were going, "You know, it's the 30th anniversary coming up, you're doing it for the Skids, why don't (we) do it for Big Country?" I mean... OK! We've never stopped. It's just a complete rolling thing going on and on and on.

Jamie: He's a great guy. I've known Mike for years, and it's just good to be on stage with him, as well, and with Derek Forbes of the Simple Minds, he's on board now, and Mark's always been there, you know? He's my old pal.

Forbes, top, and Brzezicki.

---With your guys' great history and with Stuart and everything... With Mike ... would Stuart approve of what you guys are doing?

Bruce: Yeah, because way back on the last tour we did, with Mike in the support band, we were breaking up anyway, and Stuart was living in Nashville when he said, "It would be great if Mike could actually go out and continue with Big Country and I will do my solo stuff." But we never thought about it.


---With such a wide range of material to choose from, what are some of your favorite songs to play live?

Jamie: Oh, wow, I love playing "Harvest Home," obviously, "Fields of Fire," "In a Big Country," "Chance," I love doing all them, but I like playing (the new ones). They stand up on their own against them, I think. Everyone keeps commenting on how good they are, it's like the band's never been away. It's got different elements there in some of the songs on the album, but I think it's just a way of going that we're not forgetting about Big Country. We're here to do what we do and we want all youse guys to come along and be part of it, as well. I like playing "Last Ship Sails," that's a very punky one, and I also like playing "Hurt," it's sort of a nice quiet song, sort of reminds me a bit of like "Chance," but hopefully it can evolve that way, you never know. (It's got that) trademark sound.

----Growing up around the band and everything and knowing Stuart when you were younger, did you learn anything from him, anything that stuck with you?

Jamie: To be honest, Stuart used to play guitar and I would always watch him and say, "Oh, man, he's a great guitar player," but when they were recording at Rockfield, Stuart would sit and play the Playstation and computer games with you. He preferred to do things like that than going out and socializing as much. He liked to sit and have fun with the children. When we took days off, he took us out to the theme park with my mom and dad and his kids, and we all went out to this place called Alton Towers and we went round and spent the whole day there and hired a car. Just pretty much having a laugh-- him and Callum (Stuart's son) were great at cracking jokes together. So, we all miss him.

Fourth of July 2013 at the Bindlestick

The Shivering Denizens. (Cat and Andy photos)

When the Shivering Denizens play, people yell, dance and drink. On the Fourth of July, one small boy took his appreciation to a new level by kicking over a plastic chair, stomping around and then crawling on some gravel with mouth open as if he intended to eat the rocks.

Yes, it was one hell of an Independence Day for all.

With the Denizens and their country/punk brethren The T-Baggin' Bandits and pre-teen rockers Locamotive at the helm, the Bindlestick Coffee and Beer House in Snoqualmie, WA was the place to be. (Cat says, the peach sour elixir on tap was the standout pour of the day --- and evening, to complement the fireworks.)

Here's a glimpse into the festivities:

Locamotive.

SHIVERING DENIZENS:

T-BAGGIN' BANDITS:

Happy f'n Fourth of July 2013!

Red Hare: Close friends, tight musical unit / Interview

By Andy 

If Red Hare doesn't grab you, pull you in different emotional directions... make your eyes squint, your fists clench and your mouth grin -- you're not living, not feeling. This isn't stand- and sit-still music.

Red Hare attacks from the get-go on "Horace," the opening track off their debut album "Nites of Midnite." Guitarist Jason Farrell, bassist Dave Eight and drummer Joe Gorelick are all dialed in musically to the nth degree while singer Shawn Brown blasts forth with such lines as "It ain't coming back -- so let it go!"

Farrell's guitar crunches like six strings of dynamite at times, but then lays back with bolts of melody along the way. Eight and Gorelick stomp and sway through these eight songs with reliable hands of steel. And Brown anchors the unit with his barking vocals that tell stories of the everyman. We're with him the whole way.

On "Nites of Midnite," he sings: "Tonight we're having a party/ Tonight we say goodbye/ We'll take off these costumes/ And start living our real lives." He tells of believing in outrageous things and not being afraid... but also throwing our dreams into hell and we'll be on our way.

Those in the know are already familiar with these guys' musical output in bands like Swiz, Dag Nasty, Sweetbelly Freakdown, Garden Variety, Bluetip and Retisonic. Red Hare is now. The tunes are solid. Get on it.

Here's an email interview with Farrell with a pair of answers from Brown (where noted):

• How long has Red Hare been together and how are you coordinating everything with band members living in different states? 

We emailed song ideas and worked up demos before we ever played together. It's not a bad way to work, it's just different. The last Retisonic record was done sending demos back and forth, recorded in pieces, so Joe and I are used to working remotely like this. We were happy with the results, and felt we could use this same method for Red Hare. It's a long slow process, it took a few years to get "Nites of Midnite" together... But in a way that was to our benefit. Without a deadline or goal, there is plenty of time to sit with the songs and really see what works or what doesn't. The rough demos are still very similar to the final result, but the little details that developed really make the songs complete.

Farrell at the Black Cat in DC. (Nalinee Darmong photo)

• You, Shawn and Dave have been in two bands together before, what keeps you guys coming back for more as a unit?

Two things:
1) A little while back, I found myself with a bunch of song ideas that leaned a bit more hardcore. I've been singing for 18 years now, long enough to recognize my own limits... I knew I would not be able to do what these songs needed. I couldn't imagine anyone other than Shawn singing them. I love his voice and his delivery: strong and direct... So I bugged these guys and pushed this through for years. It was in some ways selfishness... I wanted to hear Shawn's voice again.

2) We are all close friends. I've known Dave since we were kids, and Shawn from shows and skating. Music isn't the only connection we share, but it is an important one I was beginning to miss.


• Describe what's happening on the Red Hare album, and what makes it fit into today's musical climate?

I really like how this record came out. It wasn't deliberate or calculated, but in some ways these songs sum up our long collective lives spent playing music. There is a similar drive and energy to Swiz, with some of the intricacies inherent to Bluetip, Garden Variety and Retisonic. We had no goal or expectations beyond eventually finishing the recording. So when we eventually found ourselves with a completed album, we were surprised and so happy Dischord wanted to help us put it out. I don't know if our band really fits in any existing/active scene, but I am glad this album has found people who seem to like it. Perhaps most of this is due to nostalgia, but hopefully not all. I don't know... I'm just glad it's out. (Editor's note: J. Robbins mixed the album.)


• How long have these songs been in the works; have riffs been lying around for a while or is everything fresh?

It's a combination: I did the first demo for "Hello Disaster" 6 years ago. "Snap" has been kicking around even longer. But I'd say true momentum clicked around 2 years ago once Joe got involved. That's when the newer songs fleshed out the set ("Horace," "Dialed in," "Nites of Midnite").

Brown. (Nalinee Darmong photo)

• Describe your lyric-writing process. Are these things that have happened to you or is it an outside-looking-in thing with friends, family or maybe colleagues at work? How does it feel getting these things off your chest and onto the album? 

BROWN: I write songs from experiences. Some are inside observations, some are outside. Clarity, confusion, nonsense.........
What ever hits me when I am listening to a track/song and feels right, matching lyrics to the mood of the songs.
Being able to perform/record these songs has been very satisfying. A release.
Something I really needed.


• You sang with Dag Nasty at the Salad Days gig, how did that go? Was it inspirational to get Red Hare happening?

BROWN: The December 2012 show with Dag........I don't know if I can put into to words.
Out of body, time travel?
Very powerful and moving for me.
Very moving.
It felt really good playing with Rodger, Brian and Colin.


• How has your guitar playing evolved over the years? What's special about playing these Red Hare songs? 

With Swiz, I was 17-20 years old, very interested in rhythmic patterns and aggressive-sounding riffs. I had a dual love of DC hardcore and metal, putting my playing somewhere between the Faith and Metallica. It was a very narrow focus. I used relatively light strings (9's) on an easy-to-play guitar (SG), which made fast "chubb-chubb" riffs easier to pull off.

With Bluetip, Dave "Eight" Stern and I focused more on two-guitar interplay. I got more into dissonant melodies over pretty chords, but kept a bit of the hardcore sound. Like a lot of post-hardcore bands of the era, our song structure got more complex at times... Maybe to the detriment of the song itself. We tuned down a half-step and I bumped up to thicker strings (10-52) thinking it made my sound "thicker," and started messing with using two amps. We toured a lot, so I heavily relied on my sturdy/trusty (and heavy) Les Paul.

My next band Retisonic went back to one guitar, and I tried to streamline the songs and guitar parts as much as possible. I used a hollow-body Gibson that had this beautiful feedback range I used often. I started using three amps, splitters and pedals to get more dynamics in our live sound... I felt this was crucial for a three-piece band. I learned the most about guitars, overdubs and general songwriting in this band, and brought in any influence we felt was appropriate.

My style of guitar and the songs I would write in each of these bands has had a lot to do with the equipment I was playing at the time. It's brutal trying to play fast metal riffs on super thick stings.... I thought maybe I just couldn't do it anymore. But one day on a lark, I strung up my old SG with some 9's in regular E tuning and there it was again; the perfect weight and tension... the bounce-back and butter for fast "chubb-chubbs."

I started writing songs that reminded me of Swiz, which made me think of Shawn, and started us towards what would eventually become Red Hare. It doesn't really sound exactly like Swiz... We bring in bits from all the eras and bands we've played in... That's what makes it special to me.

Eight, top, and Gorelick. (Nalinee Darmong photos)

• What does your family think about you guys still rocking out these days? Are you the cool dad, husband and brother slinging the guitar?

Ha! Not sure how cool it all is. I fully acknowledge the potentially-pathetic side of old-ish guys playing young-ish music. But I'm also inspired by people who continue doing what they love, be it music or skating or whatever... Even more so when they do it well. I am happy that after 30 years I can still do some skate tricks better than I ever could (some not so much), and happy that after 25 years there are people still interested in the music we're making. But there are no illusions here. We have lives and wives and kids and jobs, and this band isn't going to eclipse those things or interrupt those responsibilities. We will do whatever we can whenever we can... but it has to fit. Our families know how much music means to each of us, they are happy we have this chance to keep playing music, and their support makes that chance possible.


• What else are you up to these days? Still doing graphic design? What's the best part about designing and playing in bands? 

Coming up on 20 years as a designer, art director and creator director... It's been my main source of income, and I still enjoy it. In the past 5 years I've transitioned into film/video, having directed several commercials, music videos and short films. I love it, and love how all three disciplines (music/design/film) can come together and inform each other.


• I noticed that you led the film team for the recent Flag performance at the Moose Hall in Redondo Beach. How did you keep your camera still while the band raged in front of you? Did you come away from that gig enthused about your own band?

With the band in front of me and the crowd at my back I wasn't able to keep my camera still! But I love how that came out, and I definitely felt energized by their performance. This show could have been horrible: old guys covering Black Flag songs. But those songs are fused to my DNA, and it was amazing to see Keith, Chuck, Dez and Bill (all Black Flag alums, plus Stephen from Descendents) fucking kill it. Like old pros, so much energy.... Very inspirational, even more so that they devastated the perceived obstacle of age and time.


• What's on the docket for Red Hare?

We did an East Coast run with Coliseum in May: NYC, Philly, DC, Baltimore and Providence. It was a blast. We're now working out some more dates for this summer and fall. In the meantime, we are working on editing together some video we shot during those East Coast shows

Once we started booking shows, it dawned on us that we only had 8 songs, so we've already had to write more just to get a decent set length. We plan on recording and releasing those new songs as a seven inch soon (...hopefully not another 6 years).

----- Check out "Horace" from Red Hare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0O-z4r4aYE

Diesel Boy singer relives "Freaks and Geeks" punk episode

Diesel Boy, with singer Dave Lake second from left. (Courtesy photo)

By Cat and Andy

What do a sweaty punk club, the Armpit, a newbie punk rocker, Daniel Desario, and a fiery band, Diesel Boy, have in common?

The "Freaks and Geeks" punk episode, "Noshing and Moshing," man.

In the '80s, cop shows "CHiPs" and "Quincy" released their infamous punk installments featuring fabricated bands "Pain" and "Mayhem."

In "Freaks and Geeks," a fictional band named "Pus" was supposed to play after real-life band Diesel Boy blasted through its tunes "Lime Green," "Happy Street" and "Punk Rock 101" during the club scenes.

We wrote a previous entry about "Noshing and Moshing" and felt we needed to track down Diesel Boy for a follow-up.

So here's an email interview with the band's singer/guitarist Dave Lake:

(Other bands members are: Greg Hensley -- bass, vocals, Justin Werth -- guitar, vocals and Geoff Arcuri -- drums.)


* How did Diesel Boy get involved with playing in the "Freaks and Geeks" episode?

One of my oldest friends, Jake Kasdan, directed several episodes of the series. When a punk band was needed for one of them, he called me. Like most of the other people involved in that series, he's gone on to have lots of success, directing several films, including "Bad Teacher," as well as serving as one of the executive producers on "New Girl."

James Franco as Daniel Desario. (NBC Universal photo)

* Where was the gig scene filmed (was it an actual gig with the actors showing up to do their parts)? How long were you on set? What was the experience like? Did you have any input in the scene?

The scene was filmed at Al's Bar in downtown L.A., a seminal L.A. music spot, which unfortunately closed in 2001. (Editor's note: Cat and Andy attended several gigs at Al's during its heyday.) It wasn't a real gig, but we were actually playing. All the people watching were paid extras, which probably explains why they seem to like us so much. There were even stuntmen crowd surfing.

We were on set for most of an entire day, and it took a few hours to get those handful of scenes shot. We played our songs a few times through while they filmed us, and later, while the actors were doing their parts, we stood on stage and mimed like we were playing so it would look real if we showed up in the background.

We didn't have input beyond picking out the clothes we wore, which we selected the day before filming from a few racks of punk attire put together by the costumer. We went to the Dreamworks lot and browsed through racks and racks of period punk clothes, trying on various outfits until we settled on the ones we liked. There was lots of leather and safety pins. The costumer basically left us alone to select things, which were eventually approved by Jake prior to filming the scene. The costumer also left us with a classic line we still throw around today: "You look good in everything," which was said to our drummer Geoff by the costumer after checking him out in his punk get-up. He wasn't wrong.

But we had a blast that day. Compared to our usual unglamorous life on the road, being on a TV set was awesome. There was food (all you could eat), someone did our hair, people wiped the sweat off our brows in between takes and everybody watching us went totally apeshit while we played. I remember sitting at lunch with Jake and eating with him while the rest of the crew looked on totally perplexed, trying to sort out just exactly why the punk band was sitting with the director.

Diesel Boy on the Vans Warped Tour. (Courtesy photo)

* Did you interact with the actors? If so, what was your impression of them in their younger years?

We didn't have any interaction with them beyond a quick "hi" or "how are you doing?," but the show also hadn't aired yet and we certainly didn't know who any of the actors were at that point and therefore didn't pay all that much attention. Mostly we interacted with the homeless people who hovered around the catering table outside the venue in downtown L.A., asking us over and over who they had to talk to to get a cup of coffee and a donut.

* Did Seth Rogen slam dance properly to your tune? Was James Franco a good fit for the "punk" role or would Jason Segel have done a solid job? 

In fairness, I wasn't going to punk shows in 1980 so I'm not sure I know what slam dancing "properly" would even look like. But regardless, the whole point of that scene is that those guys were totally out of place at a punk show so I think if they had slam danced properly it would have been weird. And I think James Franco did a good job at looking punk in the episode. He gets pumped up by listening to Black Flag, he gave himself liberty spikes and he let a stranger try and pierce his nose at a show. That's pretty punk. All these years later, Franco has definitely emerged as the punkest of the "F&G" alum, making interesting career choices and pursuing a variety of interests outside acting, so I think he was the right choice.

* What's it like watching that episode these days? A proud moment for you guys?

That episode didn't actually air when the show had its initial run on FOX. It got cancelled before it could air so it wasn't until years later that we got to actually sit down and watch it "live" on TV. But yeah, we are really pleased to have been a teensy part of such a great show and one that continues to find an audience on DVD and Netflix.

* "Freaks and Geeks" has become extremely popular over the years, has Diesel Boy gotten any fame out of it?

No more fame than we had previously, which isn't a lot beyond our awesome, loyal fans. For example, I have never heard from a fan, "I got into you from seeing you on 'Freaks & Geeks,'" but I have heard from lots of fans who were pleased to see us pop up on the show. And we are a cool footnote: Our songs are the only music featured on the show recorded after 1981, the year the show is set.

* What's the band up to these days?

After being active for about a decade, we have been quiet for about the same length of time, but we're nearly done writing a new record, our first in a very long time, and we are taking baby steps towards being an active band again. I played solo acoustic Diesel Boy dates on the "Hits and Pits" Tour in Australia in March, which was a blast, and once the record is out we hope to start playing full-band shows again, as well. We aren't likely to ever be a full-time band again, but we do hope to fit it into our lives as best we can, as most of us have since become husbands and dads and gainfully employed, but we've certainly missed playing music together and are super-excited to be doing so again.

--- Visit Diesel Boy on Facebook.

How to punk-ify a bathroom

Got a plain, half bathroom that you're looking to liven up?

Why not make it a (clean!) punk-club powder room? That's the way we roll here in Seattle.

Here's how to achieve it:

* Get some of your classic fliers of gigs you attended and frame them

* Paint the walls a dark color, like blood red in our case

* Funky mirrors are in order, as well as a flashy, glass-beaded chandelier

* Complement with cool candles and other knick-knacks, maybe even a skull...

And voila! You're set.

Fliers from Los Angeles and San Jose gigs:

Black Flag/Adolescents/DOA/Minutemen, 1981

Circle Jerks/Bad Brains/Circle One/Public Nuisance, 1982

TSOL/Adolescents/Wasted Youth/Social Distortion/Youth Brigade/Blades/AKA, 1982

Dischord Records, 1981 ... $2.50 each for seven-inchers!

45 Grave/China White/Social Distortion, 1981

Misfits, 1982*

Corrosion of Conformity, Hirax, Beowulf, 1985

Black Flag/45 Grave/DOA/Descendents/Husker Du/UXB, 1982

Sorex/Detonators, 1984 (Cat made Andy put up this gig notice of his band, Sorex)

Adz/Electric Frankenstein/Curbside, mid-'90s

*Didn't attend, but Andy saw them the night before