Flaming Pablum

Fermenting New Firewater: Tod [A] Looks Ahead

With the possible exception of Killing Joke, I don’t think there’s a band I’ve scribbled more about here than Cop Shoot Cop, the former NYC-based, clangy noise-rock ensemble of one Tod [A], who bowed out of said band, in the mid-`90s, during the recording of what would have been their fifth studio LP. Upon leaving C$C under arguably not the most amicable of circumstances, Tod turned his attention to forming Firewater, a loose collective of musicians who’d go onto to explore, over seven diverse albums, a far broader vista of musical styles than Tod’s previous band was ever likely to dare. Largely jettisoning Cop Shoot Cop’s full-frontal industrial assault in favor of a sinuous amalgam of influences from klezmer to ska to Middle-Eastern folk music to Romani to bhangra to sea shanties to Russian drinking songs to straight-ahead punk fucking rock and virtually all points and ports of global call in between, Tod’s inherent sense of wanderlust became deeply imbued into the music he was making. Putting his money where his mouth was, by the band’s sixth album, 2008’s The Golden Hour, Tod pulled up stakes and set out on a formidable trek across the imposing terrain between New Delhi, India and Istanbul, Turkey, recording with local musicians along the way. This experience not only fueled that album -– arguably Firewater’s finest -– but also served as fertile fodder for his first novel, “Banging the Monkey,” which surfaced in 2019.

I’ve been friends with Tod since the very early `90s, when I was tasked with writing up a cover story for a local freebie news weekly about “a hot new band that typifies the New York sound and sensibility.” Without skipping a beat, I chose Cop Shoot Cop, having become enamored of their wilfully chaotic live performances, their boldly unconventional approach (two basses, no guitars), their dark sense of humor (lost on large swathes of their audience), their unwieldy aesthetic and their cryptic poster campaign. Over the course of Cop Shoot Cop’s tumultuous rise and fall and then into the Firewater years, Tod and I have spilled many gallons of beer and ink about our respective trajectories. Now ensconced full-time in Istanbul, Tod only gets to New York City every so often, and he and I only get to convene in person every couple of years or so, usually around the holidays. The last time he was in town back in December, we caught up for a drink at an old favorite, the Ear Inn on the westerly end of Spring Street, and it dawned on me that I’d never subjected the poor guy to the Flaming Pablum Interview. So now, joining the estimable ranks of Big Paul Ferguson of Killing Joke, Chris Egan of Missing Foundation, RB Korbet of Even Worse, Erik Sanko of Skeleton Key, Fran Powers of Modern Clix, J Yuenger of White Zombie, Brooke Smith of Sunday Matinee, Don Rauf of Life in a Blender, and Andi Harriman of Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace, here with the Flaming Pablum Interview with Tod [A]…

FP: You’ve now been living in Turkey for almost 12 years. How’s that going? Of all the places you’ve lived, how does Istanbul compare?

I've lived in NYC, Denpasar, Phnom Penh, Calcutta, Surat Thani and now Istanbul. Though I didn't expect to be here quite so long, I can't complain about the city. Istanbul is the NYC of Turkey: it's a port city, which means it's quite multi-cultural. The cost of living is far less than NYC, and the town has public transport that doesn't reek of urine. It has a lot more cats and a lot less rats (do the math). I guess I feel as at home here as I have felt anywhere else, though the current Turkish government leaves much to be desired. Hopefully the people of Turkey will get rid of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named in the upcoming 2023 general election.

It’s been eleven years since you released International Orange, but now, I gather, have new music demoed and ready to be recorded — can you give us an update?

Having decided to procreate, I took some time off from recording and touring to concentrate on raising my daughter. I didn't want to be the father who was never there. In the meantime, I wrote fifty songs. I am now a free agent and I think I'm almost ready to get back to recording and touring. We shall see who winds up releasing these records.

Firewater has counted many illustrious names in its ranks, over the years — are you in touch with all those players? Might we hear from them again on the next LP?

Yes, we are mostly all still buddies. It's quite possible there will be some appearances from old friends once it's time to go into the studio and begin touring again.

If you had to characterize the direction and sound of the new material, how would you do so?

My itinerant lifestyle has certainly colored the new batch of songs, melodically, sonically, and rhythmically. There is a Turkish flavor to many of them. But somehow I can't seem to scrape all the American mud off my boots. I feel like my time abroad has given me perspective to write about the country of my birth.

Your first novel, “Banging the Monkey” was published in 2019. Are there more books in you waiting to come out?

Yes. I am working on a few new books at the moment: a novel (for adults), and some others for children. But I take my time. They will be done when they are done.

You were recently back in the States and in New York City for the first time in a while. How does your former home turf feel to you in the wake of all that’s happened?

I still love NYC. But as I told you when I saw you last, I feel safer raising my daughter in a quasi-dictatorship like Turkey where almost nobody has a gun, than in America where everyone seems to own multiple firearms.

In 2016, you joined some of your former Cop Shoot Cop bandmates for the commentary track of the live DVD New York Post Punk / Noise Series 1. Are you still back in contact with those guys today?

Yes, I am in touch with Jim Coleman and Phil Puleo and we are on good terms. During the lockdowns, we made some sporadic attempts to collaborate from afar, but nothing seemed to catch fire. Jim and Phil seem to be doing quite well with Human Impact, so more power to them.

Is there any Firewater (or, for that matter, Cop Shoot Cop) material left “in the vault,” so to speak? Stuff that was never released? If so, will it ever see the light of day?

Yes, there is quite a bit. But tracks get left in the vault for a reason, usually because they weren't quite ready.

What’s your take on the music of today? Are there any new artists you’re particularly enthused about? What have you been listening to?

When I was a young punk I thought the way to move forward was to obliterate the past. Now I'm much more interested in the historical continuity of music. I'm trying to catch up on the homework I should have done when I was 21, learning the musical secrets of all the songs I love. I'm delving back into the past: jazz, the birth of rock 'n' roll. I listen to a lot of early blues, jazz, folk and psychedelia. Mainly I'm focused on developing as a songwriter and composer. I've been studying soundtracks (Morricone, Elfman, Zimmer), and I try to learn from the lyricists I admire (Dylan, Waits, Bowie).

Of all the spots you lived around New York City, which was your favorite, and why?

It was definitely fun living in Williamsburgh in the late 80's – early 90's. The rents were incredibly cheap, and there was much fun to be had exploring the empty buildings. I remember setting fire to an abandoned car in a vacant lot and watching it burn. Neither police nor the fire department ever came. That's how much of a no man's land it was at that time.

…which was your least favorite, and why?

By the time I moved to Bushwick, I had already pretty much had it with NYC. The locals weren't too enthused about the bohemian gringos encroaching on their turf, so there was quite a bit of aggro. Also, I was arrested for drinking a beer on the street outside my building, about 20 feet away from the corner where a bunch of jackasses had been selling smack and crack for years. So once I got out of jail, I was off to Thailand.

Where in the world is the food the best?

Italy, of course. I have worked there a lot, and the Italians really know what they are doing. But I also love Thai street food. Such an amazingly subtle combination of flavors. And usually $1 a plate. Indian and Mexican. Turkish food is also amazing.

What’s your favorite Firewater album?

The Golden Hour certainly was the most fun to make. The adventure of recording it, in India, Pakistan, and Indonesia, combined with working with my buddies in Tel Aviv to complete it. Everything seemed to come together on that record.

What’s your least favorite? Why?

International Orange was a nightmare to make. My record company didn't support the concept, so I had to cut a lot of financial corners. As a result, even though the songs were as good as those on The Golden Hour, the sound quality on International Orange suffered because of budget problems. I would love to re-record those songs someday. My ugly experience making International Orange also made me want to wait until I could afford to record in the right way.

What’s your favorite Cop Shoot Cop album?

Release. At that time CSC was firing on all pistons, and we had producer David Sardy at the controls. After that record, everything went rapidly south for the band.

What’s your least favorite? Why?

White Noise. It just hasn't aged well.

The irony here is the White Noise continues to be my favorite album by the band. It’s aged just fine, to my ears.

Why do the vinyl re-releases of Get Off the Cross... and Golden Hour have different cover art?

When Scott Schaefer approached me about doing vinyl releases of the Firewater catalog, I saw it as an opportunity to make something special. So I decided to re-make all the covers by hand. It's been really fun to re-imagine the art. The vinyl series will be continued in the near future.

Beyond from family and friends, what do you miss most about the United States?

A genuine NYC slice, and a real bagel. And not much else.

What sort of music is your daughter listening to?

I knew going into this parenting thing that I had a window of maybe four or five years in which I could vet the music my daughter would hear. Being a control freak, I took full advantage of those years. I wanted her developing brain to get a solid grounding in classic melody and song structure before she was exposed to bullshit musical 'content' from off the internet. So I made her tons of mix tapes: nursery rhymes; classical stuff like Carl Orff, Peter and the Wolf, and the Nutcracker; plus kid-friendly songs from folks like Raffi, the Beatles, Donovan, Ivor Cutler, Monty Python, Spike Jones, Woody Guthrie and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Yeah, well, to answer your question, the window has closed. You don't want to know what sort of music torture I am subjected to now. I can't wait till she's a teenager, and will start hitting me with some cool sounds.

What was the best concert you ever attended?

I can't name just one: Black Flag at some bowling alley in New Jersey circa 1984, Nirvana at the Reading Festival circa 1992, Tom Waits at the Beacon Theater 1999, Bone Machine tour, Motorhead in Istanbul, 2011. Plus any Jesus Lizard show. 

What five albums can you not live without?

Ramones - Ramones
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs
The Doors - The Doors
David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

The best songwriter is….

There are seven: Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Robyn Hitchcock, Leonard Cohen, and Ivor Cutler. (and me.)

Goodbye, 2022!

Yes, well, I suppose it's time to dust off this inane survey, once again, and take a look back at 2022. Seat-belts on, kids! 

What did you do in 2022 that you'd never done before?

Got myself a “global entry” card.

Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don’t think I made any, thus I did not keep any. At this stage of the proceedings, if I make any bold declarations about swearing off anything, I’m pretty much dooming myself to fail. That all said, I could certainly stand to drink less beer, stay on top of my finances and keep my medical appointments. 

Did anyone close to you give birth?

No one in my immediate circle, no.

Did anyone close to you die?

Again, no one in my immediate circle, mercifully.

What countries did you visit?

We went to Greece and Scotland, and I highly recommend both. 

What would you like to have in 2023 that you lacked in 2022?

Oh, I’m not sure. I not inclined to spend time dwelling on the things I don’t have.

What date from 2022 will remain etched upon your memory?

August 20th, the day we left our Charlotte at college in Scotland and flew home to NYC without her.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Staying marginally healthy and gainfully employed.

What was your biggest failure?

My inability to impose some semblance of restraint and willpower.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

I have a continuing grievance with my left foot that I still need to see a podiatrist about. And, yes, I, too, eventually got COVID. 

What was the best thing you bought?

I honestly can’t remember. Well, I bought some concert tickets for my son that made him very happy. That’s always good.

Whose behavior merited celebration?

My kids. They have their moments like everyone else, but for the most part, they are kind, bright, do well in school and are genuinely lovely human beings.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Trump, Kanye West, Elon Music, various members of the Supreme Court and Republicans in general.

What did you get really, really excited about?

My daughter getting into college.

Where did most of your money go?

My building’s being assessed, at the moment, and our monthly fees have gone up significantly … and will stay that way until fuckin’ February 2024, hence the comment above about needing to impose restraint and willpower when it comes to all things financial.  

What song will always remind you of 2022?

I don’t know if it’ll always remind of 2022, but perhaps “The Man I’ll Never Find” by Lucius.

Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?

I’d say about the same. I have concerns like everyone else, but overall, I have no right to complain about one damn thing.

Thinner or fatter?

Oh, invariably fatter.

Richer or poorer?

As mentioned above, we’re currently slightly financially compromised, so technically “poorer.”

What do you wish you'd done more of?

Taking care of things in real time as opposed to continually putting them off.

What do you wish you'd done less of?

Spending irresponsibly. I mean, I didn’t splurge, or anything, but in light of our current situation, some self-imposed austerity would’ve been a benefit.

How did you spend Christmas?

Well, it hasn’t happened yet, but we’re planning on spending it out at my mom’s place in Quogue.

Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?

No idea.

Did you fall in love in 2022?

I’ve been in love with -- and married to -- her for over 21 years.

How many one-night stands in this last year?

Zero.

What was your favorite TV program?

I quite liked “White Lotus 2,” “Slow Horses” and crime drama on Britbox called “Sherwood.”

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

I still hate most of the same folks – Trump, Trump supporters, key Republicans and various members of the Supreme Court.

What was the best book you read?

“Feral City” by Jeremiah Moss.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

Already discussed on this post.

What did you want and get?

Depeche Mode tickets for myself and my son, but oof were they ever expensive.

What did you want and not get?

Trump rotting in prison for the rest of this miserable fucking life.

What were your favorite films of this year?

Honestly cannot remember. Don’t bode well, does it.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 55, which is not a number I’m okay with.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Trump’s conviction and permanent incarceration.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2022?

I own way, way too many dumb rock t-shirts for a 55-year-old.

What kept you sane?

Once again, who said anything about being sane?

What celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I never know what to do with this question, as every answer is going to sound creepy and inappropriate.

What political issue stirred you the most?

January 6 Committee

Who did you miss?

There was already a long list (as mentioned in this post), but Wilko Johnson, Jet Black and this week’s loss of Terry Hall of the Specials really hit me hard.

Who was the best new person you met?

The lovely ladies of Desperately Seeking the 80's, of course. 

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2022

Not everything is worth an argument. Pick your battles.

Song lyric that sums up 2022

I've come here to make a ceramic shoe
And I've come to smash what you made
- Dry Cleaning

The Gausten List: All the Musicians I've Interviewed

I’ve never met Joel Gausten “in the flesh,” but we tred in very comparable circles. A kindred spirit in both taste and sensibility, Joel is a fellow rabid music nerd and avid writer who already has a few books to his name, by this point, as well as one salaciously nocturnal memoir. I think I first encountered him, several years back, as I’d picked up a book he’d self-published about one of my favorite bands, Prong, and we’ve been in touch -– largely via social media -– pretty much ever since. Beyond his literary pursuits, Joel is also a musician, having drummed with bands like The Undead, Electric Frankenstein and Pigface. He’s a busy man, our Joel.

I think the thing that strikes me most about Joel is his drive. On the best of days, music journalism is a truly punishing vocation that doesn’t accrue much respect, let alone revenue, from the rest of the world, but Joel is undaunted and ever-busy. Joel splits his time between these passions and, if I’m not mistaken, doing some meaningful, hands-on social work, `cos ya can’t be Johnny Punk-Rock all the time, I guess.

In any case, in revamping his bio, Joel recently posted a list of everyone, off the top of his head, that he’s ever interviewed, and it’s a formidable array of diverse musicians ranging from Gene Simmons of KISS through Dot Wiggin of The Shaggs, and pretty much everyone in between (you might be able to see the first iteration of that list here). The sheer breadth of Joel’s list speaks to his voracious enthusiasm for music and his wide, catholic tastes.

I’d started off on a comparable path as Joel’s, channeling my life-long love of music into something of a career when, upon graduating college, I landed an internship at SPIN (which I’ve mentioned a few times before, most recently here). My time at SPIN led me further to an involvement with a plucky, independent start-up called The New York Review of Records (which I’ve also mentioned a few times here, most notably here). From there, I went onto write and contribute to a host of different periodicals, for a while, including magazines like Creem, the confusingly named Huh! (an offshoot of Raygun) a short-lived project called Exit!. After a while, I succumbed to the allure of a more lucrative aspect of journalism and took a low-level gig at LIFE Magazine which, in turn, led me to a 12-year stint at TIME magazine. After TIME, as some of you might remember, I hopscotched between gigs at The New Yorker (I wrote blurbs for their Goings On About Town section for ten years), MTV News Online, MSN and then TODAY.com. After being aggressively let go from the latter, I waffled in obscurity for a hot second before ditching journalism in favor of corporate communications, where I am now. I’m now a director of content, video and editorial services for the corporate communications and marketing department of a performance rights organization. So, I’m still writing about music, but just not in the capacity of a critic or journalist.

In any case, in looking at Joel’s tremendous list, I started thinking of all the folks I’d interviewed in those early days. And while nowhere near as comprehensive as Joel’s, it was a fun tally to compose. From what I can recall off the top of my head, here’s who I’ve interviewed….

I spoke with Wayne Hussey of The Mission on a brilliantly sunny day on Liberty Island in the shadow of the statue (I believe the idea was that Wayne wanted to replicate a certain famous picture of John Lennon). I chatted with a young Trent Reznor in a cramped backstage room at the New Ritz on West 54th Street, wherein he spent the entirety of our discussion fiddling with his then-newly pierced septum (which he evidently tired quickly of, as he hasn’t sported a ring there since). I spoke with a very amped-up Robert Vincent of short-lived British indie next-big-thing ensemble Birdland in the lobby of a long-vanished venue on West 21st Street called The Marquee. I dined and debated with the full membership of Pop Will Eat Itself at long-vanished Asian drag bar Lucky Cheng’s on First Avenue. I had a spirted conversation with Jeff and Steve McDonald of Redd Kross in a coffee shop just off Times Square. I have protracted exchange in clipped English with Treponem Pal vocalist Marco Neves at another coffee shop on Grand Street on the Lower East Side. I was treated to the full membership of Killing Joke at the Notell Motel, then on Avenue A. I traded war stories with Tod [A] and Cripple Jim Coleman of Cop Shoot Cop at the late, lamented CB’s Pizza & Record Canteen on the Bowery. I listened to John S. Hall of King Missile moan about his record company at Sin-E on St Marks Place. I had a lovely chat with Tim Booth of James in a trailer behind the main stage at a festival in Finsbury Park in London. I had a meandering conversation with Gavin Friday in the charming TriBeCa apartment of his publicist on White Street. I took sweaty dictation in a Harlem brownstone from the translator for Senegalese singer Yousou N’Dour. I had a brief exchange with Dave Gedge of the Wedding Present at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, conducted a discussion with all three members of Material Issue on the disused second floor of the midtown Hard Rock Café, tried to make sense of the full membership of Blur talking at me at once in the cozy confines of the former Yaffa Café on St. Marks Place, had an intense intel-breakdown with Henry Rollins in a loading dock on West 21st street and had the keyboardist and bass player of EMF abruptly leave an interview early after a certain editor of mine had unwittingly showed them a not-so-positive review of their album that I’d written. Yikes.

In stodgy corporate board rooms, I’ve sat across the table with microphone in hand with Mike Berenyi and Chris Acland of Lush, the full membership of Ash, Jonn Penny of Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, Miles Hunt of the Wonder Stuff, Cathal Coughlan of Fatima Mansions, Toni Halliday of Curve, Rob Jones of the Venus Beads, Shaun Ryder of Happy Mondays, both members of A.R. Kane and all four cool-cat wiseacres in Sonic Youth.

I’ve done “phoners” with Bono of U2, Marky Ramone of the Ramones, Kurt Ralske of Ultra Vivid Scene, Shirley Manson of Garbage, Mike D. of the Beastie Boys, action-hero and Hong Kong singing sensation Jackie Chan, Wyclef Jean of the Fugees, Jim Reid of the Jesus & Mary Chain, Andy Prieboy of Wall of Voodoo, Guy Kyser of Thin White Rope, Julianne Regan of All About Eve, Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks, Matt Cameron of Soundgarden, Andrew Eldridge of the Sisters of Mercy, Martin Atkins of PiL/Killing Joke/Ministry, Salli Carson of Bleach and Jon Brookes of The Charlatans.

For this silly blog, I’ve interviewed Chris Egan of Missing Foundation, RB Korbet of Even Worse, Big Paul Ferguson of Killing Joke, Fran Powers of Modern Clix, Erik Sanko of Skeleton Key, J Yuenger of White Zombie, Don Rauf of Life in a Blender and Brooke Smith, actress and NYHC veteran. For my current job, I’ve interviewed the Flatbush Zombies, Jesse Malin, Amy Rigby and Alice Goddamn Cooper.

I was supposed to do a phoner for my current job with Jon Popper of Blues Traveler who I’ve never. He blew me off and never called.

Whatever.

Jeremiah Exhumes a Mystery Band

Longtime blogging compatriot and celebrated author Jeremiah Moss made what I consider an amazing discovery today and posted it on his Instagram account. As many will recall, the iconic Gem Spa on the corner of Second Avenue and St. Marks Place closed back in 2020, and has been basically a dormant shell ever since. Well, there’s been an uptick in activity in its footprint, of late, and in removing the plywood facades and scaffolding, a remarkable artifact from a vanished age was uncovered.

Among a selection of weathered, age-old flyers, this one below was newly revealed on a pole, advertising what looks to be a glam band from 1974. Oddly enough, the gig in question was for a venue way uptown on East 84th and York Avenue called Brandy’s II. This same year, notorious proto-punk electronic duo Suicide also played Brandy’s II a couple of times. 

The original Brandy’s, of course, is a fabled piano bar which was a big favorite of the Upper East Side’s gay community (and still there, happily, in 2022). Brandy’s II, meanwhile, was situated at 1584 York Ave. I actually lived in this very neighborhood from about 1983 until about 1996, although I believe Brandy’s II was already long-gone before I moved in. The notion of a rock club being right in the neighborhood was already nigh on unthinkable. Until recently, that spot that had been Brandy's II was simply a watering hole called ... Saloon, but I believe that, too, is now gone. 

Here’s a closer shot of the band in question — does anyone recognize these happenin’ hepcats?

Incidentally, if you haven’t already, you really need to pick up a copy of Jeremiah Moss’ second book, “Feral City.” Ostensibly an account of Moss’ time voluntarily sequestered in Manhattan during the extent of the pandemic (not that it’s over, mind you), “Feral City” is also a remarkably personal memoir of one individual’s perceptions of the acute changes New York City has undergone during this particularly fraught period of history. It’s a raw and bracing read that pulls very few punches. But Moss’ eloquence, unflinching candor and human compassion shine throughout, even when he’s at his most curmudgeonly. “Feral City” provides a compelling voice to demographics, issues and concerns that otherwise have to fight for equal time and representation in our current cultural and sociopolitical climate. It can be uncomfortable in spots, but it is well worth your time.

The Evolution of Bleecker & Bowery

For those of you who are invested in such things, you’ve probably already seen that the next iteration of the mural on the southwest corner of Bleecker Street at the Bowery, which I recently invoked here, is complete. That’s it up above and, yes, it’s another Shepard Fairey piece, this one paying tribute to Bad Brains by way of a rendered composite of images from the photography of my former next-door neighbor, Glen E. Friedman. That’s it above.

Now that this work is complete, I thought I’d turn back the clock to look at what this particular patch of real estate borne witness to, over the years….

In 1982, as I recounted here and here, photographer Drew Carolan set up an ersatz, outdoor film studio on this same corner to capture images of the burgeoning NYHC community, which he’d later compile into a handsome coffee table book, “Matinee.” In writing about this project, I had my kids pose in the exact spot Carolan had used. See that below.

In 1983, Jim Jarmusch filmed an iconic scene of Eszter Balint crossing this particular byway as part of the opening montage of his 1984 film, “Stranger Than Paradise,” which I tried to replicate with my kids as some point in 2012.

Skipping way ahead to 2015, a mysterious mural of Joey Ramone sporting a pair of boxing gloves came up. I speculated as to why, but then it occurred to me, as recounted on this post, that it was ultimately a wafer-thin and frankly misleading promotion for the then-just-opened UpperCut boxing gym, which I continue to think was stinky and lame of them. I was glad when it vanished.

Joey was replaced, of course, in 2017 by Shepard Fairey’s tribute to Blondie, which was completely cool. Despite this, it got defaced, a few times, but shitty taggers because people basically suck.

And now, five years later, Debbie Harry has been replaced by Bad Brains. I managed to capture a quick shot of Fairey himself, in the process.

 

From TriBeCa to Argentina & Back Again

The latest episode of Iñaki Rojas’ ongoing unspooling of the Modern Clix confluence (most recently discussed here) is out.

In a still-very-complicated nutshell, in 1983, Argentine rocker Charly Garcia had decamped to New York City was recording his upcoming album at Electric Lady Studios on West 8th Street and living in a loft on Waverly Place. He’d already decided on a title for the record, but when he and a photographer spotted a bit of compelling street art just off Cortlandt Alley on Walker Street in TriBeCa, all that changed. The ensuing photo found Garcia unwittingly sitting under one of the late Richard Hambleton’s “shadow men,” along with a tag by local punk rock scenester Fran Powers’ band, Modern Clix. Garcia named this album Clicks Modernos, unaware of these connections. The album in question went onto become, as I understand it, one of the preeminent albums of Argentine rock.

Sadly, Richard Hambleton passed away before ever learning that his artwork ended up on the sleeve of a massive-selling album. But writer/videographer Iñaki Rojas connected the dots (with some fleeting support of some old posts of mine) and reached out to Fran Powers and hipped him to this somewhat bizarre bit of artistic synergy. I’d only gotten to know Fran from recognizing him at a party thrown by Yukie Ohta of the SoHo Memory Project from Brooke Smith's photographs of the early New York Hardcore scene (happening just across town on the Bowery and Avenue A from the neighborhoods where Charly Garcia was hanging around, at the time). Funnily enough, Brooke Smith just released a sprawling coffee table book of these photographs (which I interviewed her about quite recently) and held a book signing at Generation Records on Thompson Street JUST LAST NIGHT, which I, of course, went to, where she was interviewed by Drew Stone, who I spoke about yesterday.  The whole thing is quite bizarre.

Sadly, Fran Powers passed away last year. Charly Garcia, meanwhile, is still with us. He’s 71 and living in Buenos Aires. In the wake of all this, I decided to hunt down his album, and have spent the last couple of days checking it out. Not sure what I was expecting, but it’s actually pretty great — despite me not being able to decipher what he’s singing about.

In any case, here’s Iñaki’s latest installment of the series. You'll want to turn on the English subtitles (just click on the CC on the bottom bar of the YouTube screen). I make a tiny cameo.

Fran & Charly's Art Collision in Cortlandt Alley

Okay, strap in, `cos this is really confusing one, and I’m bound to get something wrong, so please bear with me.

I covered a lot of this in this recent post, but at some point in about 2019, a friend of mine sent me a music video from an Argentinian artist named Charly Garcia. My friend rightly figured I’d be interested in it, as it featured several shots of my beloved downtown Manhattan circa 1989. In the course of writing about that, however, I realized that I had remembered this guy Charly Garcia because of an album he’d put out some years earlier called Modern Clix. I wasn’t familiar with the music on that record, but had been initially struck by the title and the sleeve. The cover art was significant as it featured a shot of Charly sitting beneath some familiar street art (specifically one of Richard Hambleton’s “shadow men,” which I’d addressed here), but more because of the legend “MODERN CLIX” that was scrawled in spray paint above his head. Whether Charly knew it or not, at the time, that was the name of a local punk band led by one Fran Powers.

Fran Powers was a face on the early New York Hardcore scene, given his membership in bands like Ultra Violence, Whole Wide World and, once again, Modern Clix (not actually a hardcore band, but more of a punk/ska/reggae/funk hybrid – you can hear some of their music here). I’d first spied Fran’s face via the photographs of Brooke Smith (who I just interviewed) and made the connection between Modern Clix and this cryptic graffiti I used to spy all over downtown – this warrior figure holding a spear. Shortly after that, I attended a party thrown by SoHo Memory Project’s Yukie Ohta in SoHo (duh!) and ended up running right into Fran Powers (I mean literally running into -- he was boarding an elevator I was exiting) and we started chatting. Shortly after that, I discovered he’d made a crazy cameo in my favorite movie of all time, Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours,” so I reached back out to him to interview him about that, and we became friends from that point on.

Again, I’ve already covered all this stuff a bunch of time, most notably here when I stumbled across some photographs that revealed the exact location of the Hambleton and Modern Clix graffiti that ended up on Charly Garcia’s album cover. As reported in that post, the spot was on the southwest corner of Walker Street at Cortlandt Alley. The shot up at the top is me at that same corner but, just as a refresher, here’s the cover photo from the original sleeve in question:

Alright, so I put up that post in April, and pretty much thought, “well, that’s that, right?”

Wrong.

Two things then happened.

The first was a note from a gentleman named Iñaki Rojas. Iñaki is a writer from Mendoza, Argentina who was putting a book together about the backstory of the Charly Garcia/Fran Powers/Richard Hambleton confluence that manifested itself as Garcia’s Modern Clix album. What I’d never quite realized, of course, was that Charly Garcia is not just “some Argentine musician” as I’d described him but evidently, like, practically the Latin American David Bowie -- an artist with profound reach and influence around that region of the world. His acolytes are legion. I mean, we’re such provincial snobs here in the United States that just because an artist doesn’t sing in English, we can’t be bothered to investigate their music, but I feel completely duty-bound to now go procure myself a copy of Garcia’s iconic Modern Clix album and do my due diligence.

The second thing to happen, tragically, was the untimely death of Fran Powers that following June. As I expressed in my farewell post to the man, there was so much more I’d have loved to discuss with him, but we simply never had the opportunity. As another random tendril of connection, Fran also played in a short-lived band with former Even Worse vocalist and fellow Flaming Pablum Interview survivor, RB Korbet.

Anyway, over the course of several emails, Iñaki quizzed me on some of the minutia I’d discussed in my previous posts on the subject and I shared some pictures of the location as it appears today (that’s where the shot at the top of this post comes from). Ever since then, he’s been working away on this master project, and has been gradually posting a series of YouTube videos that go into great, crazy, obsessive depth about the whole saga.

If you’re at all curious, you can check them out below. If, like myself, you don’t speak the language, simply click on the setting icon on the lower bar and select the English subtitles option.

Part One...

Part Two....

Look forward to Parts Three, Four and Five coming soon!

 

Sundays on The Bowery: Back to the Matinees with Brooke Smith

Regular readers — again, if they exist — might remember my posts about the photographs of Brooke Smith (yes, she of “Silence of the Lambs” fame, among myriad other roles). Just in case you don’t know what I’m talking about, back in 2011, a clutch of photographs of the nascent New York hardcore scene started making the rounds on the internet (I posted about it here) and they were a remarkable encapsulation of the community, showcasing a warmth and humanity largely absent in the more established accounts of the era.

The pictures in question were captured by the teenaged Brooke Smith who, prior to becoming an actor, became ensconced in the New York punk scene from the early to mid `80s. Not only did Brooke’s photos evoke the energy and atmosphere of the venues and the rough-n’-tumble pageantry of the sartorial and tonsorial trappings of the subculture, they also presented it all as it genuinely was — essentially a congregation of similarly disenfranchised kids who found solace and sanctuary in a welcoming community that thrived well outside of the high school cliques, troubled family dynamics, mind-numbing malls and suburban doldrums they all sought refuge from. As such, even if you weren’t versed in the oeuvres of bands like Murphy’s Law, the Cro-Mags, Warzone, Agnostic Front and Bad Brains, these photographs resonated on countless other levels. Put simply, they acted as a telling glimpse of a time, a place, a neighborhood, a sensibility and a tribe that basically no longer exists.

In an weird way, Brooke Smith's photos established her celebrity beyond her career in film and television, making her something of local punk rock legend. Were that not enough, Brooke was also later the roommate of singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley, and one can’t help but suspect it was her that turned him on to the music of the Bad Brains (whom he’d go on to fleetingly cover). She addressed all of the above in a great episode of Damian Abraham’s podcast, “Turned Out a Punk,” which I wrote about last year. During the course of that conversation, she mentioned that she had it in her head to put a book together of her photographs from the period. I’m very happy report that said book is shortly to be released.

I found this out, incidentally, from the great lady herself. Either she stumbled upon one of my posts or some likely character like my friend Drew Stone might have hipped her to them, but she reached out to me, out of the proverbial blue, to see if I’d like to help spread the word and evangelize the project. Of course I said yes, and posited the notion of a quick e-mail interview. Gamely, she complied. While she quite understandably brushed aside my dumb questions about “Silence of the Lambs” (honestly, can you blame her?), she was thoughtful, candid and forthcoming in her answers. The book’s official website can now be found here, and you can pre-order the book here. Additionally, Smith will be doing a book-signing at Generation Records at 210 Thompson Street on December 3, from 6 to 8pm. 

And now, Brooke Smith now unwittingly joins the ranks of Big Paul Ferguson of Killing Joke, Chris Egan of Missing Foundation, RB Korbet of Even Worse, Erik Sanko of Skeleton Key, Fran Powers of Modern Clix and J Yuenger of White Zombie as being the latest installment of the Flaming Pablum Interview. Here we go….

These photos started making the round on the internet some years back, and — in certain circles — are now sort of the stuff of legend. What prompted you to finally get this book together?

It’s taken me 10 years to put the book together. I was moving 12 years ago and found a box of old photos I’d taken. A friend saw them and asked if he could show them to a curator friend of his and the next thing I knew, I had a solo show at Primary Gallery in NYC! I wanted SUNDAY MATINEE to be a love letter to those people and that world, and it took time to arrange the photographs in a way that that made sense to me.

Kind of a ridiculous question, but what kind of camera were you using to capture these shots? It sounds quaint now, what with everyone being able to capture crystalline images via their phones, but back in the day, taking sharp photographs required a capable bit of photographic hardware. What was your weapon of choice, in this capacity — and was it a drag to be carrying a camera around (especially in these particular circumstances)?

I had my mother’s old Minolta and one of the only classes I liked in high school was photography. It wasn’t that easy to carry it around with me at first but then it just became second nature. Recently I got a photo pass to shoot AF and Sick Of It All at The Roxy in LA and IT WAS SO HARD! Like you said; the low light and the fast action… It made me think of all the lost rolls of film I had back in the day because I wasn’t very good with the technical side of things, so everything was blurry.

What’s ironic is that now when I’m at concerts I feel conflicted. I see an audience full of phones shooting the show and I feel bad for the bands and the audience. It feels like the audience should be experiencing it in the moment rather than trying to capture it. But I also relate because when I love something I want to try to capture it as well.

How did you first get involved with the whole Bowery/hardcore scene? What first drew you to engage?

I was an outsider growing up in my hometown, in the suburbs of Rockland County. I didn’t relate to most of the kids I went to high school with. I had a lot of anger and felt disillusioned about the world and what I felt was ‘expected' of me. I listened to WFMU and got Maximum Rock N Roll and started going to the east village when I was 13.

All these years later I can see that one thing we all shared was that we had all experienced some kind of childhood trauma. We didn’t talk about it at the time but I find it interesting now to realize that trauma seemed to be a common denominator for all of us. We were the children of alcoholics, divorced parents, and all different types of abuse.

How receptive were your subjects? Obviously, you were taking pictures of your friends in the context of hanging out, but had you any concept, at the time, that you were genuinely capturing a time/place/scene that was something fairly special?

Well, I thought the NYHC scene was something special and you shoot what you know, right? People got used to me having a camera all the time so I think they were more relaxed about it around me.

Of the bands around, at the time, who were your favorites?

Bad Brains, Agnostic Front, Murphys Law, The Cro-Mags, The Mob, Cause For Alarm, Warzone, Underdog, Sick Of It All, Nausea, Scab, PMS…

Depending on whose accounts you read, there is a pervasive thread that suggests that, as time went on, the whole NYHC became less inclusive, especially towards female members of that community. In your experience, did you find that to be true?

Well I was pretty much fully out of the scene by the end of 1986, about a year after my younger brother died in a surfing accident. So if that happened, it was after 1986, because that wasn’t my experience at all.

Are you in touch with any of these individuals today?

Oh yeah! Some of them are still my closest friends who I never lost touch with, and others I found and reunited with more recently on social media. I still feel a deep connection to those people, and I feel like we all still have each other’s backs!

Could a community like the one you captured in these photographs happen again in New York City, in your opinion?

Well I hope that young people will always be starting their own communities. One thing that was very different back then was that we didn’t have cell phones and computers so we really had to get out and go find the action ourselves. It was also possible to live in the city and not pay a fortune for your apartment. There were squats, and rents were cheaper, etc…

For a long time I thought of New York City like it was my ex-husband who was now only into rich people!! LOL. I hated the corporatization and homogenization of everything. Times Square became like Nike-town or something. But then I saw the city change after covid. So I guess it’s always changing, and I somehow take comfort in knowing that NYC was here before me and will be here after me. One of my daughters is at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, and when I follow her on the sidewalk (she walks much faster than me, just like I walked much faster than my mom,) it’s obvious that it’s her city now. And I like that.

Do you still listen to Punk Rock?

I never stopped listening to Bad Brains, Agnostic Front and a few others. I’ve been a huge Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds fan for years. It’s always exciting when you hear music that sounds completely fresh and different. And you know who I find totally punk rock? Kendrick Lamar.

Once again, get a sneak peek at Brooke's book here. 

Get Back in the Pit

I've got a cool post coming up that I'm most excited by, but it's not ready for prime time, just yet. Suffice to say, I'm interviewing someone pretty cool. Here's a tantalizing and pertinent teaser (although, no it's not one of Bad Brains). Get ready.

Exhuming "Mondo New York"

Prompted by an invocation of Tama Janowitz on the most recent episode of “Desperately Seeking the `80s,” I was back-n’-forthing with a friend about the once-celebrated scribe's endeavors beyond the written page, and cited cinematic opuses like the adaptation of her breakout novel, “Slaves of New York” (starring Bernadette Peters … which I briefly discussed without much charity here) and “Mondo New York,” only to check my facts and realize that Ms. Janowitz had fuck-all to do with the latter. Ah, the tendrils of senility are flowering, even now.

Certainly born of the same era and aesthetic as Ms. Janowitz, “Mondo New York” was actually the brain child of director Harvey Keith and writer David Silver. Released in 1988, it featured a series of vignettes starring era-appropriate downtown luminaries like Joey Arias, Joe Coleman, Karen Finley, Phoebe LeGere, Ann Magnuson, John Sex, Annie Sprinkle and Flaming Pablum-favorite, Lydia Lunch, all embroiled in a wide array of diverse scenarios. Sounds promising, right?

To be perfectly honest, I rented it a few years back (having not seen it upon its original release in the late `80s), and I have to say … perhaps it was eye-opening, at the time, but I frankly had a hard time sitting through it. In fact, I think I got irretrievably bored halfway through and abandoned ship. I have loads of time for anything Lydia Lunch is involved in, but she only really supplies a suitably smarmy prologue and then vanishes from proceedings .. unless, of course, she comes back towards the end, but I didn’t make it that far.

In discussing same, I went to try and find just Lydia’s aforementioned prologue, … but actually found the whole film on YouTube, so ….dear reader … take a look and decide for yourself.

Enjoy (if possible)… “Mondo New York” (or while it lasts on YouTube, at least). Because it is “age-restricted,” it is un-embeddable (boo), but find the whole film for your viewing pleasure here.