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Unknown Brewing will unveil its new rooftop patio at 4.5ish Funk Fest on Saturday, March 24, as the brewery celebrates its kinda halfway birthday.
We put out weekly 8
NEWS&CULTURE IN THEIR OWN WORDS Sheriff candidates speak candidly on three of the campaign’s hot button issues BY RYAN PITKIN 7 EDITOR’S NOTE BY MARK KEMP 10 THE BLOTTER BY RYAN PITKIN 11 NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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FOOD&DRINK JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF KRAZY Giorgio Prisco’s funky seafood joint has been through thick and thin
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BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS
TOP 10 THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK
MUSIC THE LAST TEMPTATION OF GAWD A Charlotte rapper and producer team up for a meditation on ‘Dark Dreams’
BY MARK KEMP 17 NEW LOCAL TUNES: BLACK LINEN, PROBABLY WILL 18 MUSICMAKER: CORIN AND CHAD WILDER BY GREY REVELL 20 SOUNDBOARD
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ARTS&ENT
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ODDS&ENDS
PUSH! A new comic series on love, death and animal hipsters BY DANA VINDIGNI
26 NIGHTLIFE BY AERIN SPRUILL 27 CROSSWORD 28 SAVAGE LOVE BY DAN SAVAGE 30 SALOME’S STARS
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CLCLT.COM | MARCH 22 - MARCH 28, 2018 VOL. 32, NO. 5
NEWS
EDITOR’S NOTE
INTRODUCING... ‘PUSH!’ ‘CL’ art director Dana Vindigni debuts new local comic series THE FOUR PARTY animals on the cover of this week’s Creative Loafing could be your neighbors. They wear vintage tees and denim Little did I know that within a year I’d from Buffalo Exchange and boots from Boris be back in my old position as CL’s editor, and Natasha. They hang out on the patio at and this Dana character would be working Common Market, sipping PBRs or booch, for me. Every day with Dana in the office then amble over to Snug Harbor or Petra’s has been a joy. She wears both her attitude for shows by Patois Counselors or LeAnna and her heart on her sleeve. But equally Eden, or dance parties thrown by rapper important, she’s an amazing talent. Three Elevator Jay or DJ Justin Aswell. months after my arrival, I traveled with Dana They go to art openings at Camp North and news editor Ryan Pitkin to the N.C. Press End or C3 Lab, then have beers at Triple C. Association Awards in Raleigh, where both They get up on Sunday mornings, pile brought home awards, hers a First Place into the car and head over to littleSpoon in certificate for overall appearance and design. Myers Park for brunch. Enjoy Dana’s Push!, and as you follow They jab at each other on social the story, hit us up on CL’s website, media, and take selfies on road Facebook page or Twitter, and trips to Asheville. let us know where you think Basically, they’re your the scenario is going to go. typical smart millennials Also in this week’s navigating life in Charlotte. issue — a news report Right now, though, the from Ryan Pitkin, who characters are pondering co-moderated a March the baffling death of one of 13 debate between two their own. And you get to see opponents of incumbent the whole thing play out in Mecklenburg County these pages over the coming Sheriff Irwin Carmichael, months. held at Las Delicias Bakery MARK KEMP It’s a thrill and an honor for on Central Avenue by the me to introduce CL art director Latin American Leadership Civic Dana Vindigni’s new local fictional Engagement Committee. comic series Push!, which debuts this week Carmichael is under fire from members of on page 22. the Latinx community for his participation in You may see your friends in these the 287(g) program, which gives participating characters. You may even see yourself in them. sheriff’s offices access to a federal database “I’ve always had a desire to use an urban that lets authorities identify undocumented setting as the backdrop for a story,” Dana immigrants at the jail and then send the info tells me. “And after living in New York City along to the federal Immigration Customs and for 15 years, I felt I could actually see myself Enforcement agency, or ICE. His opponents, finding a scenario for my ideas here.” Gary McFadden and Antoine Hensley, want I first met Dana about a year before she to end that program in Mecklenburg County. worked for me. I was still living in the San Ryan compiled some of the points Francisco Bay Area and organizing a benefit McFadden and Ensley raised in the debate concert at the Evening Muse in Charlotte (Carmichael did not participate), and later for my ex-wife, who had been diagnosed sat down with Carmichael to get his take. with Stage IV cervical cancer and was faced Read what they had to say on page 8. with mounting medical bills. My Charlotte For the music feature, I met up with liaison was Pat Moran, an old friend who had Charlotte rapper Phaze Gawd to chat with recently taken a job here at CL, where I had him about his prolific career, which began worked before I left for California. when he was a member of the local music We needed someone to design a poster for collective Phazer Gang and continued with the show, and Pat recommended the paper’s three solo EPs. Phaze Gawd’s latest EP, Dark new spitfire of a designer. He said she hailed Dreams, is a collaboration with the local from New York City and would burst into the artist who calls himself A Man with Antlers. office each morning, her boots clacking on Come to think of it, A Man with Antlers the wooden floors, cursing Charlotte traffic — whose logo portrays him as half-man in her still-prominent Brooklynese. From and half-deer (or something) — could very Pat’s description, I knew I’d love this woman. well show up in Dana’s Push! series. You just Dana donated her time and talent to never know. the cause, and the poster was beautiful — MKEMP@CLCLT.COM exactly what we needed. I was grateful. 1 | DATE - DATE, 2015 | CLCLT.COM
Snuggle Up with CL Tonight
CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | 7
NEWS
FEATURE
IN THEIR WORDS Sheriff candidates speak candidly on three of the campaign’s hot-button issues BY RYAN PITKIN
T
HE RACE TO become the county’s top law enforcement officer is heating up, as incumbent Mecklenburg County Sheriff Irwin Carmichael has been taking flak for his office’s more controversial policies, namely its participation in the 287(g) program. On Tuesday, March 13, Carmichael held a press conference defending his office’s use of the program, which gives the department access to a federal database that allows them to identify undocumented immigrants coming into the jail, then flag them for consideration by Immigration Customs and Enforcement. Outside of the press conference in Uptown, community organizers held a small rally calling on the county to pull out of 287(g), which it’s been involved in since 2006. Both of Carmichael’s opponents in the upcoming May primary, Gary McFadden and Antoine Ensley, signed the protesters’ petition in support of ending the program in Mecklenburg County. The following night, Hensley and McFadden, both former CMPD officers, participated in a debate hosted by the Latin American Leadership Civic Engagement Committee at Las Delicias Bakery in east Charlotte. Carmichael did not participate in the debate, stating he had a prior commitment. The following direct quotes were pulled from the debate, as well as from a one-onone interview with Carmichael in the days following the debate. They touch on some of the campaign’s most-discussed issues. First, each candidate addresses the 287(g) program, which led to 1,300 inmates being flagged last year and 290 being deported, according to ICE. Irwin Carmichael: There’s so much misinformation out there that we’re deporting people. We’ve never deported not one person. [The 287(g) program] is used to identify exactly who is inside our jail, and we have to know that for safety and security. The only way we’re able to identify who a person is, is through this 287(g) program. It’s up to ICE what happens to them. But we’re able to identify that we know who they are. Plus for classification; if a person is a member of the MS-13 gang, we need to 8 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Sheriff candidates Gary McFadden [left] and Antoine Ensley speak at a recent debate in east Charlotte. know that, and we’re able to properly classify them inside our jail, because the last thing we want to do is put them in a cell with other MS13s or rival gang members. So, it’s about safety and security, no other reason. We don’t round folks up, we don’t do any of that. You have to be arrested and charged with a crime and brought to our jail. Gary McFadden: 287(g) does not bridge a gap to this community or any other community. I know 287(g) very well, because 287(g) hindered my job as a homicide detective. Why? Because I had a couple of cases here on this street [Central Avenue] and Albemarle Road, open homicide investigations, because people are afraid to talk to the police. There’s no trust, there’s no loyalty, so why should they come and talk to us? They’re afraid that if I talk to them about a case, they will be arrested. I know personally there is a young lady in this community who has been assaulted by a law enforcement officer, and we all know that case very well. There’s a young lady who was afraid to come forward because she was afraid that her husband would be arrested for the 287(g). So, why would we have something like that, that hinders the community, that hinders people to come to this event tonight because we’re all ex-law enforcement or current law enforcement officers? Antoine Ensley: 287(g) becomes a barrier because the sheriff’s department has made it a barrier. But if 287(g) is not there, what will be the excuse later? Law enforcement must
get in communities, must build relationships in these communities, must show up in churches, businesses and make sure that our immigrant community feels like they’re one with the community as well. So let’s be honest, let’s not just say 287(g) is the only problem. It’s the easiest problem to solve. As soon as we dismantle it, it’s gone. We still have to build those relationships in the community. So, let’s not lose sight on why we have to build relationships in our community. 287(g) is not stopping the police department from building that relationship. Another policy that Carmichael’s staff has gained negative attention for is the end of in-person visitations at the Mecklenburg County Jail, which was implemented in October 2016. The jail now allows inmates two free video visits per week, with an option for unlimited remote video visits for a fee. Carmichael: Inmates like it because they get to see the inside of their homes. They’re able to see the whole family. They’re able to see everyone. We don’t have kids coming down here and seeing the inside of a jail. I want family members to be connected. And I want these inmates to be able to see their loved ones. It’s important for inmates to be connected to their loved ones, and this gives them far more opportunity to do this. Everyone discusses about the payment. You don’t have to pay. You get these two visits to come down free of charge, and if you don’t want to pay, they don’t charge you anything. But if you want to do the convenient remote
PHOTOS BY RYAN PITKIN
visits, then you have to pay for that. So the whole purpose is keeping them connected with their family members. Ensley: When I started as Superintendent [of Juvenile Justice Programs in Norfolk, Virginia], my goal involved secure detention in less secure facilities. So, within those facilities, visitation was very important. Visitation helps those people transition properly back into the community. It’s a fundamental. It’s a human rights responsibility that the sheriff must deliver to the people. People must understand that the sheriff’s department is a direct service business. So, it’s important to allow people to have visitation — not video visitation, the right visitation — because it’s part of helping people have good mental health. Confinement is challenging enough, so when you don’t have visitation, when you can’t interact with your loved ones directly, it hinders the process of people transitioning back to the community. McFadden: I would allow video visitation for someone who is out of state, but not even make them pay for that visitation. Why? Because Sheriff Carmichael said it’s 18 days the average person is here. I’m going on his numbers, so for the first 30 days that somebody’s in jail, give them all the free video visits that they and their loved ones want across America, because their loved ones want to talk to their loved one. And it does cause mental health problems. Losing that interaction causes a mental health
so that kids who don’t need to be in jail don’t have to be in jail. That’s going to require us to make some very important, fundamental decisions about how the sheriff’s department shows up in this community. Detention alternatives is a model practice across this country. So it’s time for Mecklenburg County to come along, where everyone else in this country has already been, in building the kind of juvenile justice system where the kids who can be treated and served in the community are actually treated and served in the community. As your next sheriff, it’s my job and my priority to make sure that folks who actually work with kids in the sheriff’s department are rooted and trained to work with children. You just can’t put any deputy sheriff to work with children. You have to be trained and experienced to work with young people Young people are developed different, they’re migrating in their thinking differently, so we have to be very clear that the sheriff understands the broad issues that we’re dealing with in the sheriff’s department in this day and age. It’s just not enough to wrap programs around kids when they’re actually in detention. You have to actually serve them in the community as well. So, let’s think very broad about the work that needs to be done and the sheriff needs to show up and get in the juvenile justice business.
Sheriff Irwin Carmichael shows one of multiple posters he’s made highlighting the crimes of folks who have been flagged and deported through the 287(g) program. problem. Do you want that same problem to come out into the streets, or do you want that same problem to come to court? If a parent hasn’t seen their child, while they’re going to court, that’s going to be a problem. In 2016, Carmichael defended the use of Disciplinary Detention Units, which consist of single-person jail cells where youthful offenders are sometimes placed as a punitive measure. Called “torture” by the state’s NAACP branch, Carmichael said the units meet North Carolina’s standards of accreditation. McFadden: If you go to Jail North [on Spector Drive in north Charlotte], Mecklenburg County has a facility that they do not use. When I’m elected sheriff, we’re going to change that. What I would like to do is take that facility that we have up there and utilize it instead of having a child inside of a block, in solitary confinement — bring him out, give him a mentor, give him someone to talk to, and actually have his parents come and visit him in that facility. Why? Bridging that gap between a mother and a child when they have been separated. Again we go back to the mental issue. Solitary confinement for a child? Let’s think about it. Does anybody want their child in solitary confinement? Think about your sisters, your loved ones, your nieces and nephews. No matter what crime they have caused, let’s think about it, because the mental health issue is going to also be a problem.
RPITKIN@CLCLT.COM
Carmichael: Our 16- to 17-year-olds, our youthful offenders, we have all these wraparound services that we do for them. Right now, they’re sitting in a high school. They’re getting their high school diploma right now. They’re not getting a GED. They’re getting a high school diploma. They have access, they’re in and out. Now, if someone assaults an officer, attacks an officer, attacks another inmate, or another staff member, then yes, we have disciplinary housing. And that is when we do that. But they’re still allowed visits with their clergy, their doctors, they still have access, it’s just they cannot see their family members. It’s a disciplinary thing, because they assaulted someone. If they’re coming in and they’re following the program, they have full freedom. They’re going to be out, they’re able to see folks, they’re in school, they’re getting their high school diploma. They’re working in the programs. But if they’re causing havoc, as I always tell people, is there a better solution? Tell me what it is. They put themselves in that position. They come in, everybody’s treated equally at all times from the start. Ensley: As North Carolina begins to raise the age here in our state in 2019 [the state recently passed legislation ending the practice of automatically trying 16- and 17-year-olds as adults], we have to be very intentional about building alternatives to detention. It’s not enough to say that kids are going to jail; let’s build alternatives in the community CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 238, 2018 | 9
NEWS
BLOTTER
BY RYAN PITKIN
DO IT FOR GRAM Have you ever visited your sweet grandmother for what you thought would be a day of relaxation and family stories only to be put to work doing chores around her house? One such grandma took things to another level when she threatened to put her grandchildren on a job fit for a hitman. The 39-year-old victim said the suspect called him one afternoon and told him she would have her brothers and grandkids come to his house and shoot him. Adding to the intrigue, the man told police “he believes the suspect is capable of carrying out the threat.” MEMORY LOSS If you smoke a lot of weed,
you’re bound to forget a few things — like forgetting to pay your rent — just try not to forget your weed. Police responded to an apartment complex in the Ballantyne area after management found some interesting things left behind in an apartment from which a few guys had just been evicted. Staff members told police they had asked the guys to leave after realizing they weren’t the ones who had signed the lease, and after the suspects did so, cleaning staff found paraphernalia and drugs in the apartment. According to the report, the suspects left behind an e-cigarette, a grinder, a digital scale, two glass bongs and $1,400 worth of marijuana. Police reported
10 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
that “there was no way to tie the drugs to anyone,” so they seized them as evidence (wink, wink).
BREAK ON THROUGH Police responded to a home in west Charlotte last week after someone took drastic measures to vandalize a woman’s car at her rental home. A 57-year-old man who owns the home called police to report that someone had driven a vehicle through the fence of his property. But it wasn’t one of those distracted driving accidents that we so often see in the reports. The homeowner’s tenant, a 37-year-old woman, told officers that the suspect drove through the fence to get to her car. Once he breached the wall, he took a “blunt object” to her Nissan Versa, according to the report. All in all, the suspect did $900 in damage to the fence and $800 in damage to the car. NO, THANK YOU A 27-year-old woman
went to police after receiving an offer she absolutely could refuse on an app meant for selling unwanted property. The woman, who lives in southwest Charlotte, told police she was using the OfferUp app one evening when someone contacted her through the site and threatened to harm her, although it’s unclear why they did so. The woman declined that offer and filed a police report instead.
ALTERED REALITY Officers decided to go visit a home in south Charlotte last week after becoming concerned for the welfare of a 68-year-old man who had made multiple seemingly meaningless calls for service to police throughout the day. Sure enough, when officers arrived, they confirmed that “what the caller saw to be real was in fact not the case at all.” The report doesn’t give any more detail, but we suspect the man may have been watching Fox News. ROUND TRIP A Mooresville man made a
trip to the Charlotte Douglas International Airport last weeks in hopes of making his flight out of town, but ended up being transported to Huntersville just a few miles from his home. According to the report, the man was so heavily intoxicated at the airport that he ended up falling and striking his face on the floor. The injury was bad enough that Medics decided they needed to take him by ambulance to Presbyterian Hospital in Huntersville. He was later released after being treated for “a minor injury” and allowed to try again.
MENACE TO SOCIETY Police arrested
a man in Plaza Midwood last week for apparently believing he was living in a game of Grand Theft Auto. Officers responded to calls of a man riding around the neighborhood
at around 2:45 a.m. one morning pointing a gun at random residents who were walking around the area. Police found the man riding his bike on The Plaza near NoDa, still holding the gun in his right hand. The man refused to comply to orders to drop the gun over the officers’ loudspeaker for four blocks before finally stopping his bike and dropping the gun. He continued to refuse to comply after dropping the gun, but eventually “was taken into custody with minimum force,” according to the report. Officers seized a Glock 19 from the scene.
GO FOR A RIDE A 26-year-old west
Charlotte man was ready to risk his life for his pickup truck when it was stolen right in front of him last week. According to the report, the man was at his job at Slate in South End when he saw a man stealing his Ford Ranger. Doing what any sane man would do, the victim jumped into the bed of the truck rather than let the suspect get away. The suspect didn’t get far before wrecking the truck into a utility pole. The victim only suffered minor injuries, according to the report, and refused treatment from Medic. All stories are pulled from police reports at CMPD headquarters. Suspects are innocent until proven guilty. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
NEWS
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
THE WEIRDO-AMERICAN COMMUNITY A co-ed dormitory at Hunter
College in New York City has become the site of a dispute between the college and 32-year-old Lisa S. Palmer, who won’t vacate her dorm room despite having discontinued her classes in 2016. Palmer, who works for an architecture firm, has “racked up a staggering $94,000 in unpaid residence hall charges,” a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court noted. The New York Post reported on Feb. 28 that in June 2016 and fall 2017, she received eviction notices, but she won’t budge. Palmer admitted that dorm life is “really lonely. I feel very isolated.” Palmer was moved into a wing of the dorm that’s occupied only by a middle-aged nurse, whom the college is also trying to evict. In fact, Hunter is working on removing nine nurses, who were given rooms in the building when it was owned by Bellevue Hospital.
ONLY IN TEXAS Ana Lisa Garza, a Starr
County district judge in south Texas, is running for a state House seat in District 31. Garza has received almost $90,000 in contributions to her campaign, but more than $50,000 of that has been in a most unusual currency: deer semen. Deer breeder Fred Gonzalez, treasurer of the Texas Deer Association, said breeders often donate semen “straws” instead of money: “Semen is a very common way for us to donate. One collection on a buck could lead to 60 straws sometimes. If you have a desirable animal, it’s a way to bring value without breaking the bank.” A campaign finance report valued each straw donated at $1,000. Gonzalez told the Dallas Morning News that the semen donated for Garza’s campaign went into a tank sold in one lot, the proceeds of which will go to the campaign.
OOPS Kenny Bachman, 21, had a rude awakening when he racked up a $1,636 Uber fare on Feb. 23 following a night of partying with high school friends in Morgantown, West Virginia. The Charlotte Observer reported that Bachman and the friend he planned on staying with stopped at a convenience store during the evening. The friend told Bachman to wait outside as he went into the store, but Bachman was gone when the friend emerged. He had summoned an Uber to take him home — to Gloucester County, New Jersey. Bachman was passed out for most of the nearly 300-mile trip, which was subject to surge pricing, doubling the fare. Bachman challenged the charge but ended up paying the full fare; “I feel like there’s very little I could have done to reverse it,” he said.
INCOMING Miami resident Luce Rameau didn’t know what hit her on Feb. 28 as she lay in bed, talking on the phone. She thought a bomb had gone off as wood and debris fell on her bed. “I kept screaming, ‘What happened? What happened?’” Rameau told the Miami Herald. It wasn’t a bomb; an 80-pound inflatable raft had crashed
through her roof after becoming untethered from a Royal Canadian Air Force search-andrescue helicopter that had been conducting an offshore training exercise nearby. David Lavallee, a spokesman for the RCAF, said the accident is being investigated and the air force intends to help “the resident with accommodations and other support.” Rameau suffered only minor injuries.
CAUGHT RED-HANDED Leahman G.R. Potter, 48, neglected to conceal the evidence after he stole a pot of meatballs from a neighbor’s garage in Hazle Township in Pennsylvania. The meatball owner returned home Feb. 26 to find Potter outside his garage, covered in red sauce, and his meatball pot missing, according to United Press International. When Pennsylvania State Police arrived shortly afterward, they found the pot in the street and Potter at his home, where he was charged with burglary, trespass and theft. LEAST COMPETENT CRIMINALS KTAR
News in Phoenix reported that Peoria Police Department officers were called to a gas station Feb. 23 in response to a shoplifting. When they arrived, suspects Marwan Al Ebadi, 28, and Salma Hourieh, 29, set off on foot before hopping over a fence — directly into a secured parking lot of the Peoria Police Department. Hourieh tried to hide beneath a bench outside the station, while Al Ebadi jumped back over the fence and was stopped in the street. Both were arrested and charged with shoplifting. “You should never run from the police,” said police spokesman Brandon Sheffert, “and if you do, do not run into a secure parking lot of a police station.”
AWESOME! Name recognition won’t be a
problem for the Libertarian Party challenger for eastern Arkansas’ 1st Congressional District seat: Elvis D. Presley. The Associated Press reported that the King impersonator from Star City, Arkansas, who legally changed his name to match the rock ‘n’ roll icon’s — although the “real” Elvis’ middle initial was A — filed campaign paperwork on Feb. 26. Presley works as an auto refinish technician at Camp’s Custom Paint in Star City, but his political ambitions aren’t new: He’s also run for governor, land commissioner and state legislature.
IF IT AIN’T BROKE Republican State Sen.
John Ruckelshaus of Indianapolis is the proud sponsor of a new measure in Indiana that bans eyeball tattooing. According to the proposed law, passed by both the Senate and the House, tattooists would be prohibited from coloring the whites of a customer’s eyes, with a fine of up to $10,000 per violation. The Associated Press reported that Sen. Ruckelshaus admitted he’s not aware of any problems with eyeball-tattooing in Indiana. The legislation was on Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk for his signature on March 1. COPYRIGHT 2017 ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION
CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 238, 2018 | 11
FOOD
FEATURE
JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF KRAZY Giorgio Prisco’s funky seafood joint has been through thick and thin BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS
A
S A YOUNG Italian boy growing up in New York City, Giorgio Prisco had six plates cracked over his head. His mother thought that was the most suitable punishment for a child who refused to do the dishes. After that, Prisco was afraid to ever leave the kitchen. So, he started cooking. And he never stopped. “Take a little of that, a little of that — taste it. Take a little more of that, a little more of this — taste it,” Prisco says, explaining his cooking process. “If it piques the buds, it’s good.” Those strikes to the noggin, however painful, may be what sent Prisco into a life of cheffing, but it also may be what made him a little crazy. You can get a peak into Prisco’s mind just by walking into Krazy Fish, his restaurant on Central Avenue. When he opened the restaurant in 2011, he decided that, rather than hire an interior designer, he’d just weld together parts of his daughter’s toys with anything else he could find, trying to make the creations resemble fish, somewhat. A mermaid made out of trash hovers above the center of the dining room. With a wig for hair and a dustpan for a tail, she watches customers as they chow down. Right next to her, there’s a street sign that a customer plucked out of the ground and brought in as a donation. Nothing about any of it makes sense, but somehow the effect is undeniably homey. Customers even bring in their own creations to contribute to the wacky scene. You can negotiate taking home something if you like it, but you have to replace it with your own handmade craft; the crazier, the better. The restaurant’s one-of-a-kind decor isn’t the only thing that makes Krazy Fish so memorable. It’s also what’s on the plate. The food is a fusion of cultures, inspired by Prisco’s travels. He’s been all over the United States and to multiple different countries to taste different cuisines. But it all started with Italy. Prisco’s parents owned Italian restaurants in New York, so he grew up cooking dishes like meatballs, lasagna and spaghetti. He got “tired” of eating the same meals, he said, and started eating more often at his friends’ houses — friends of different ethnicities. “I started eating curry and started eating 12 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
The Krazy Fish dining room (above) looks like a beach bar on acid. The Krew [from left] Dave Marrero, Jason Kesler, Ceaser Hernandez, Eduardo Jijon, John York and Giorgio Prisco serves up favorites like the salmon tacos with jalapeno cheddar grits [bottom right].
Asian food, stuff like that,” he said when we visited recently. “It piqued [my interest]. It intrigued me.” As an adult, Prisco followed in his parents’ footsteps, owning Gemelli’s Pizza and Pasta in Matthews for about seven years. As with his taste for Italian food, he said he also got “tired” of that and decided to move on. While trying to decide what to do next, he realized there was no fish taco place in the rapidly growing Plaza Midwood neighborhood and he recognized a need for one. He infused all kinds of cultures in his menu, especially Asian, Latin, Indian and southern U.S.
“Truly, our menu is one-of-a-kind,” said general manager Jason Kesler. “There’s really nothing else like it in Charlotte.” Krazy Fish is known for its cactus salad, which it buys locally from a woman who grows cactus down the street, and its jalapeno cheddar grits. “Even people that don’t like grits love those grits,” Kesler said. The tacos overflow with “Krazy slaw” and salsa. Everything on the menu is local and fresh, never frozen. According to Kesler, most first-timers like to order the gumbo that Prisco served to Guy
PHOTOS BY ALEXANDRIA SANDS
Fieri on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The Food Network liked it so much, it brought Fieri back to Krazy Fish for an episode of Guy’s Grocery Game. However, even though the restaurant has been recognized on the small screen and won countless awards for what it serves up, it’s not been an easy road for the Krazy Fish crew. In 2013, Prisco’s former co-owner, K.C. Terry, was arrested and charged with soliciting prostitution in South Carolina. Police said he had been propositioning boys for sex in exchange for money at a Krazy Fish in Georgetown, South Carolina.
The Georgetown location is now closed, and Prisco emphasized that he had stopped working with Terry two years before his arrest. “We fired him after we found out what was going on,” Prisco said. “That was it. Done.” Terry, who also owned Fat City Deli in NoDa, was well-known in the area, which made his arrest unexpected. In the tightknit neighborhoods of Plaza Midwood and NoDa, the story got people talking, but most recognized that the Charlotte Krazy Fish was not in any way related to Terry’s criminal activity. “That was out of left field,” Kesler said. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do to expect that situation. The justice system did their thing and then, of course, he was pushed out of town basically. All we can do is just keep doing the right thing moving forward.” A year later, Krazy Fish faced another obstacle: a property battle with Walgreens. The landlord Bobbye Howell told Prisco she would sell to him before Walgreens if he could raise $70,000 in 16 months for the down payment. For a short time, the community thought its might lose the funky hangout. The restaurant even started a GoFundMe page to help raise money. Everything worked out, though, and now that Prisco owns the property outright, he vows to never sell. “What I was afraid would happen is all these condo places would start popping up
KRAZY FISH Closed Monday; Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; 2501 Central Avenue. 704-332-1004. krazyfish.com
and the things that make Plaza Midwood, Plaza Midwood would close and leave because they can’t afford the property anymore,” Kesler said. “[Prisco’s] not down with that. I mean, progress is good but you need to keep the character of the neighborhood here.” With the property safe in Prisco’s name, Kesler now refers to those same condos as a “blessing.” They’ve pulled in a lot of steady business for the restaurant. From here on out, it’s only up — literally. Prisco’s goal is to add another story to his building one day. He’s also been trying out some recipes for a potential barbeque restaurant, but with some fusion, of course. In the meantime, Prisco is starting a “taco war.” For the next few Tuesdays, tacos are $2 each with a drink purchase. He wants to see which taco will be the best seller. So sit back on a paint-splattered wood booth, or outside on the patio surrounded by whimsical art, and order a taco, or two, or three. Remember, every order is a vote for your favorite. We all have to do our part in the war effort. CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | 13
THURSDAY
22
ANTHONY JESELNIK
FRIDAY
23 ‘WRESTLING THE ANGEL’
What: There’s a time and place for political correctness. For Anthony Jeselnik, it’s not during his set. Dead children, 9/11, domestic abuse — nothing is “too far” for the Pittsburgh comedian. Despite cracking jokes about such terrible topics, his smart delivery landed him his own Comedy Central show, The Jeselnik Offensive, which ran for two seasons. He’s also been an Emmy nominee, appeared on multiple late shows and roasted Donald Trump before most folks cared.
What: Religious practices and spiritual contemplation have been integral to object-making throughout history, and often seep into art through an artist’s subconscious. This exhibit explores how religion and sacred art appear in works made by seemingly secular, avant-garde artists. These artists use religious elements to ease the trauma of war, empathize with others or seek guidance. If you don’t find God, God will most likely find you. Or something like that.
When: 8 p.m. Where: Knight Theater, 430 S. Tryon St. More: $45 and up. blumenthalarts.org
When: Through Sept. 9 Where: Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, 420 S. Tryon St. More: Admission costs apply. bechtler.org
14 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
THINGS TO DO
TOP TEN
Anthony Jeselnik THURSDAY
PHOTO COURTESY OF BLUMENTHAL
FRIDAY
23 CHARLOTTE ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL What: This three-day film festival was added last year as a part of UNC Charlotte’s International Fim Fesitval. It features full-length features, shorts and documentaries that aim to provide a window on various facets of Asian society and culture in the native lands and the diaspora. The festival kicks off with On the Beach at Night Alone [pictured], a film about a young Korean woman who’s given up everything over the belief that she loves a married man. When: March 23-25 Where: UNC Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd. More: Free. charlotteasianfilmfestival.org
SATURDAY
24
SATURDAY
24
4.5ISH FUNK FEST
CALEBORATE
What: It may be that Unknown Brewing’s anniversary is unknown. But, they think that for this year’s annual party they’re at about four and a half-ish years. The 4.5ish Funk Fest features funky music by Empire Strikes Brass, Bubonik Funk and others. We can take the funk jam bands or leave ‘em, but we’re excited for the unveiling of Unknown’s new taproom and rooftop patio with a view of the city skyline. Unknown will also release an anniversary beer, a sour ale aged in oak with green figs.
What: Caleborate may not be what mainstream rap fans are looking for these days, but the Berkeley, California, emcee’s storytelling and clever wordplay puts him ahead of most of the pack. He goes super deep right off the bat on the lead track of his 2017 album Real Person, “Caught Up,” and he stays deep on soul-infused tracks like “Bankrobber,” whose video is good and gritty and moving and endearing and... well, pretty much everything you want to hear in real music from a real person.
When: 1-10 p.m. Where: Unknown Brewing Company, 1327 S. Mint St. More: Free. unknownbrewing.com
When: 9 p.m. Where: Neighborhood Theatre, 511 East 36th St. More: $10-$12. neighborhoodtheatre.com
Charlotte Asian Film Festival FRIDAY
NEWS ARTS FOOD MUSIC ODDS
Miguel WEDNESDAY
The Last Pig WEDNESDAY PHOTO COURTESY OF MIGUEL
SUNDAY
25
PHOTO COURTESY OF CAFF
PHOTO COURTESY OF TLP
SUNDAY
25
WEDNESDAY
28
WEDNESDAY
WEDNESDAY
28
28
WOMEN ROCK
AGENT ORANGE
‘THE LAST PIG’
CAVS AT HORNETS
MIGUEL
What: From Sister Rosetta Tharpe in the 1930s, through the riot grrrls of the 1990s and on to the eccentric pop of St. Vincent and Lady Gaga today, women have always embraced risk and adventure — and rocked hard. This showcase at Petra’s celebrates the magic and majesty of the divine feminine plus the power chord. It’s also the grand finale of Girls Rock Charlotte’s weekend retreat at Lake Wylie, where an amazing group of women gathered to write songs, forge friendships, form bands and jam.
What: If Agent Orange had only dropped ”Bloodstains,” the early’80s SoCal skate-punk band’s bonafides would have been firmly established. Though the band also drew from metal and surf music, the members were punk in attitude — as well as in execution on some songs, like “Living in Darkness” and their cover of the surf classic “Pipeline.” The Fullerton, California, outfit isn’t a quintessential Cali punk band, but they’re fun. And you can’t beat “Bloodstains” for pure, early American punk at its rawest.
What: Americans love their pets and care about endangered species, yet we slaughter domestic animals for food. This documentary explores this disconnect as it follows small-scale farmer Bob Comis through his last year of pig farming. Comis comes to realize that his “humane” methods are a sham, and that the free-range notion that happy pigs make happy meat is a breach of trust between feeling, sentient beings. Wait up for a panel discussion after the screening to discuss animal welfare and economics.
What: It’s not looking like the Hornets are going to be in the playoffs this year, and the way they’ve seemingly blown every close game it’s no wonder why. However, a big star always draws a big crowd in even a wishy-washy NBA town like Charlotte, and there arguably is no bigger star in the league than Lebron James. It’s also The King’s first trip to town since acquiring a damn-near entirely different team around the trade deadline, so you can scout them out for the playoffs.
What: He is Luke Skywalkin’ on these haters all the way to The Fillmore. In the eight years since Miguel broke into the R&B scene with “Sure Thing,” he’s become known for sexy singles like “How Many Drinks” and even covered Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love.” However, his most recent album War & Leisure is different. Being of Mexican descent, he recently became active in politics due to Trump’s fear-mongering and lie-spreading. He now mixes his past music’s sexuality with his desire to get deeper messages across in tracks like “Now.”
When: 7 p.m. Where: Petra’s, 1919 Commonwealth Ave. More: $10. girlsrockclt.org
When: 9 p.m. Where: The Milestone, 3400 Tuckaseegee Rd. More: $15. themilestone.club
When: 5:30 p.m. Where: Free Range Brewing, 2320 N Davidson St More: $10. thelastpig.com
When: 7 p.m. Where: Spectrum Center, 333 E. Trade St. More: $45 and up. nba.com/hornets
When: 8 p.m. Where: Fillmore, 820 Hamilton St. More: Sold out. fillmorenc.com
CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22- MAR. 28, 2018 | 15
MUSIC
FEATURE
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF GAWD A Charlotte rapper and producer team up for a meditation on ‘Dark Dreams’ BY MARK KEMP
I
N THIRD GRADE, Anthony Potts landed a role in a music production at Collinswood Language Academy in Charlotte that would chart the course of his life. At 8 years old, he was tapped to rap the Freedom Williams part on the ubiquitous C+C Music Factory hip-house hit “Gonna Make You Sweat.” Anybody who’s paid attention to popular culture over the past three decades or so knows the spine-tingling power of that part — it comes amid the song’s iconic staccato electric guitar riff and Martha Wash’s sung-screamed vocal hook, “Everybody dance now.” Nearly two decades later, Potts pulls the rhymes out of his head like he performed it yesterday: “Here is the dome / Back with the bass / The jam is live in effect and I don’t waste time / On the mic with a dope rhyme / Jump to the rhythm / Jump, jump to the rhythm / Jump…” Potts busts out laughing. The 26-year-old rapper who today goes by the name Phaze Gawd is sitting at a table inside the Rhino Market in Wesley Heights in a camouflage jacket over a white T-shirt with the words “Dark Dreams” circling an image of a human skull wearing antlers. Dark Dreams is Phaze Gawd’s latest EP, a collaboration with his longtime friend, the producer and singer Anthony Toro, who calls himself A Man with Antlers — or AMWA, or just Antler. In the next few weeks the duo will be performing songs from Dark Dreams at various venues across the region, notably the New Era Music Festival, which will feature a who’s who of Charlotte and regional rappers at the New Era Music House on Saturday, April 21. But right now, Potts is just happy the EP is out, and that the duo has put the final touches to an accompanying 4-minute short film, released on March 19 and made by Charlotte videographer Barry Espy. It stars Phaze Gawd as a patient in a therapy session. The Dark Dreams EP is a departure for Phaze Gawd, whose previous solo releases place him front and center in the mixes. On Dark Dreams, he says, the music and concept — an exploration of the darkness just below the surface of our awareness, what psychologist Carl Jung would call our “shadow consciousness” — is equally divided between Phaze Gawd and AMWA. 16 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Tony Potts, aka Phaze Gawd, shows off his Dark Dreams T-shirt on the patio of the Rhino Market, where he organizes the occasional hip-hop show. “To be honest, I think it’s probably more him than me,” Potts says. “He produced it, he mixed and mastered it, that’s all him singing, he’s doing most of the hooks.” Potts lets out a muted laugh. “Really, I only have one verse per song and the little speech at the beginning.” In that little speech, Phaze Gawd defines the terms of the duo’s project over a little fluffy cloud of synth music: “Dark dreams don’t equal nightmares,” he says. “See, nightmares visualize our fears; they feed off what we’re afraid of . . . Dark dreams — they’re different. They thrive on our impurities and our honesty. They mirror our true selves. So, I guess the real question is: Which is worse? Nightmares? Or dark dreams?” From there, the 6-song EP launches into the title track, in which Phaze Gawd raps about being up late at night, his thoughts “running kind of sordid … my morals are morphing, my dreams are distorted.” Much of the lyrical content centers on the duo reflecting on getting older. The two are contemplating turning 30 in a few years, still partying and making music, and wondering what that will mean with kids and responsibilities coming. In “Right Now,” the duo deals with living in the moment: “Antler’s got a baby, now we on a mission,” Phaze Gawd raps, and he’s followed by AMWA singing the hook in a heavily AutoTuned voice: “Any time, any minute, every hour, every second… right now, right now.”
On subsequent tracks such as “Like Me” and “Take Off,” AMWA’s Auto-Tuned vocals flutter birdlike through lines like, “I just want to take off, and never, ever, ever land.” The EP closes with “I Lost Myself,” which finds Phaze Gawd rap-singing the existential conclusion, “I lost it all / Trying to find myself and find the wealth for you/ I lost it all, finding confidence in designer belts and cool ... I had to take it off.” It’s heavy stuff, but the two had a blast making it. “This is one of the most enjoyable collaborations I’ve ever done,” Potts says. “Me and Antler are so similar — we’re damn near the same person. My name’s Antony, his name is Anthony. He’s a Scorpio, I’m a Scorpio. We’re both pretty chill guys. And we both have the same ear for music. ” Toro, who calls the EP “kind of a spectrum of emotions,” agrees. “It’s an awesome feeling when you can just play something or hear a sound together and be like, ‘Yeah, let’s use that,’” Toro says. “We just have a chemistry that some artists don’t have.” Toro says over the course of this project and earlier collabs, he and Potts have become like family.
FAMILY IS IMPORTANT to Potts. He cites
his saxophone-playing father Gary Potts — who performs in numerous Charlotte-area R&B bands as Saxxy G — as a huge influence. Though their tastes differ, the younger Potts remembers his dad playing music around
PHOTO BY MARK KEMP
town when Tony and younger brother Michael were kids. “Pops is multi-talented. The man is awesome,” he says. “That’s where me and my brother get it from.” Potts’ brother Michael performs around Charlotte as rapper Bino. But the Potts kids were not allowed to listen to hip-hop as children. While their dad is agnostic, their mom is a strict Jehovah’s Witness who eschewed holiday and birthday celebrations. And she didn’t let them listen to rap. When Tony eventually saved enough money to buy his own records, the first one he got was a Juvenile best-of collection. “Then I got Lil Wayne’s first Carter album,” he says, “and then I got into the Cash Money stuff.” He was hooked. By the time he got to Olympic High, Potts was already making a name for himself among his fellow hip-hop heads. One school mate was Tizzy Farragami, who today raps with Daquan “Kizzy” Bolton in the duo Th3 Higher. Farragami laughs as he remembers their school days. “He had a mixtape called Hoopty Muzic,” Farragami remembers of Potts. “He’s always been a beast. He won hella talent shows and has been working his following since high school. We grew up in the same neighborhood.” After graduation, Potts attended the University of North Carolina Charlotte for a minute, but dropped out to focus on his music. In 2012, he and several other rappers and artists formed the Phazer Gang collective,
MUSIC
NEW TUNES
PLUGGED IN Black Linen, Probably Will feel the electronics on new EPs BY MARK KEMP
TWO NEW RELEASES from a pair of
Phaze Gawd and AMWA rock a house show in Asheville. releasing a mixtape in 2014. Back then he called himself Tony P. “We were a multimedia unit,” he says. “That was the idea when I put it together, because we did music, we did art, we did film and video, and photography.” The following year, Potts released GAWD, his first solo EP as Phaze Gawd. In the leadoff track, “Feeling Like a Gawd,” he introduces his alter ego by making terrific use of a sample from Kanye West’s classic and hilarious BBC radio interview wherein the Yeezus creator talks about the criticism he faced after calling himself a god: West: “When someone comes up and says something like, ‘I am a god,’ everybody says, ‘Who does he think he is?’ I just told you who I thought I was. A god … That’s who I think I am. Would it be better if I had a song that said, ‘I am a n***a?’” “I thought that was the realest thing,” Potts says. “I mean, we can call ourselves anything [as black men], but as soon as we start calling ourselves what we do believe we are, people want to get up in arms. I really felt that. It really spoke to me when I heard that interview. So I wanted to use it in the song.” GAWD also includes a song and video (produced by Espy) that has taken on renewed resonance in the wake of superstar evangelist Billy Graham’s death. The track, “Billy Gram$,” came about when Potts was driving along Billy Graham Parkway one afternoon in the area where the rapper grew up near the South Carolina border. “That’s a pretty long stretch, you know, and I was just kind of taking note of things, passing by the Billy Graham Library and stuff,” he says. “I had been working on my music, and those lyrics just came to me, so I wrote that song.” In the video, which won Best Male HipHop Music Video at the 2017 Carolina Music Video Awards, AMWA is dressed as Jesus and Phaze Gawd is clad in numerous outfits including one that has him in an all-black clergy suit and black Quaker hat as he raps lines like, “Better sit up for this sermon / The devil’s a lie / I can see ’em all squirming. Preach.” The lines are followed by the chanted refrain of “Billy Grams” that transforms into
PHOTO BY KAELA COOPWOOD
a banger with a great call-and-response for audiences when Phaze Gawd performs it live. “That song has become kind of an anthem for me now,” Potts says. “It’s one of the mostrequested songs when I’m performing. I can’t not do ‘Billy Grams’ now, or people will get upset. And that’s pretty awesome.”
POTTS FOLLOWED GAWD with two more
EPs in 2016 — Definitive Theosis (produced by the late, phenomenally talented DFLN) and the AMWA-produced OhDeerGawd! The former is a jaw-dropping mix of cutting-edge experimental production that Potts considers his all-around most well-crafted work. But shortly after Definitive Theosis dropped, DFLN — whose music had been championed by likeminded name producers from Flying Lotus to N.C.’s 9th Wonder — died. “We had just talked a few days before,” Potts remembers. “It was heartbreaking to hear that he’d passed. He had some huge opportunities lined up for himself, and to see that not come to fruition is a huge loss for the Carolina beat scene and the music scene in general. I was blessed to work with DFLN.” With Potts’ upbringing by a Jehovah’s Witness mother and agnostic father, and so much religious imagery running through his catalogue — not to mention his stage name Phaze Gawd — the elephant in the room is the quesiton: Where does he see himself in terms of religion and spirituality. “As far as me being religious now, I’m not really,” Potts says. “I think of myself more as being spiritual, but even there, I’m at the lesser level of it. I’m just kind of myself. I just kind of drive myself to what feels right.” What felt right when he was 8 years old was rapping that Freedom William part in “Gonna Make You Sweat” at Collinswood elementary. “I enjoyed being onstage so much,” Potts says. “I knew this was what I wanted to do from that point on. And after that, I just started writing — short stories, lyrics, stuff like that. And here we are.” He flashes a big grin. “I haven’t stopped.” Neither have his dark dreams, though he insists he’s not afraid of them.
Charlotte artists dropped during this week’s print cycle and landed smack in my inbox. Tireless rapper Black Linen releases Black Linen 3.0 at Petra’s on Friday, March 23, and will hold a listening party the following night at DuppNSwat. The EP continues his socially conscious themes in tracks such as the poignant “MAP,” which begins with an audio clip from the 1982 documentary All By Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story, in which the Catwoman speaks on whether conflicts can be solved without violence: “Naturally, as a woman and as a mother, I feel if you give love that you will receive love in return.” The clip morphs gently into Black Linen rhyming, in his trademark laid-back delivery, “She said that she don’t have time to waste / She got to go, she can’t be late / Her train waiting, she gots to make it / On the other side is a fat ride / And a big crib, with money to play with.” The backing tracks on “MAP” are mesmerizing. Black Linen had been online a few years earlier, looking for some loungey orchestral sounds to use in his music, when he landed on an instrumental by the French composer/producer Guillaume aka Renardsurleweb. “I assumed this dude was in a higher class of artistry than I was,” Black Linen says, modestly. He listened to it for about four years before finally working up the nerve to contact the creator. What the rapper found was mutual admiration. “He hit me back instantly, acclaiming me for my music that was on Youtube,” Black Linen says. “He loved it, we connected and here we are now.” Later in the track, after more insight from Kitt, Black Linen goes on all cylinders, offering up an emotionally affecting storyline about the dangers of bringing children into a world in which people like Donald Trump are in power. The rapper’s head-spinning, rapidfire delivery will knock you out. “Some of my favorite artists are Andre 3000, Ghostface Killah and Sade, strictly because of their storytelling and their abilities to emotionally express themselves through story, lyrics and prose,” Black Linen says. “Storytelling is taking these scenarios that we are all so familar with, but incorpoartating different dynamics while slightly changing the script, as with life. It’s the ultimate gesture to show people you relate and resonate with them.” “MAP” isn’t the only velvety cushion of storytelling on BL3.0. There’s also “Theory,” in which Black Linen raps his thoughts on the One Percent, and “Levitation,” wherein he takes us to a higher state of consciousness. The music and lyrics are a leap forward from
Black Linen 3.0
Probably Will, When You See Me Again the first two Black Linen projects, released in 2016 and 2017, and there’s a reason for that. “One of the main reasons for its uniqueness is the time since the last project,” Black Linen says. “BL1 and BL2 were only three months apart and two very different projects, but heavily influenced by the same experiences. BL3.0 is a year later, with 365 days worth of new life experiences.”
THE OTHER EVOCATIVE release this
week comes from Charlotte producer Will Gilreath, the rock guitarist-turned-DJ who plays with the local electronic duo Astrea Corp. Gilreath drops When You See Me Again, his debut solo EP as Probably Will, on the new Charlotte dance label Danse Direkt. The official release is Friday, March 23, but a physical cassette version of the 7-song EP, with a digital download code, will be available for $8 during his release show the previous night at Snug Harbor. But why did the DJ choose to release it on cassette? “There’s a certain nostalgia and sonic quality that comes with cassette that we felt the music lended itself to,” he says, adding that he hopes to raise enough funds to later press vinyl copies. The EP’s opening track, “Should’ve Been There,” is an homage to early Chicago deep house. Another track, “Trying,” incorporates an Aaliyah sample and a washed-out piano, he says, “to evoke a more pensive and emotional feeling, a feeling I feel is mostly forgotten about in mainstream dance music.” As for his transition from guitar to DJ gear, Gilreath says it ain’t no big thing: “People saw that change more from an outsider’s perspective. To me, I’ve always just tried to make good music. It felt like a natural step.” MKEMP@CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | 17
MUSIC
Post Punks, is in the final-mixing stage, and the band will play a March 24 show at the newly re-opened Tommy’s Pub on a darkwave bill along with Solemn Shapes and iioioioii. We took the opportunity to play catch-up with the Wilders at Pinky’s Westside Grill.
MUSICMAKER
THE MAGIC IS BACK
Creative Loafing: I understand that last VooDou tour in 2005 was a nightmare. Any tasty stories you’d like to share? Corin: Here’s a story: We had just played in D.C. and were on the way to Richmond. We’d played three or four shows on the tour at that point and hadn’t stopped to get diesel. So we ran out of diesel. In the middle of the interstate. Chad: Done. We were done.
Ex-VooDou dolls talk about their latest act BY GREY REVELL
WHEN CORIN AND CHAD Wilder are
not performing as the lead singer and multi-instrumentalist, respectively, in the Charlotte darkwave band 30 Year Sick, the two are just a charming couple from Albemarle. They own a farm (“We grow grass,” Chad says) and have six cats and a dog. They love Disney — so much that Corin, 36, proudly wears a pin on her black jacket depicting the demon king from Fantasia. But she’s still a goth at heart, although you’d never know it when she’s working her day job as an assistant manager in retail. Chad Wilder, 46, works as an exterminator (“blue-collar goth,” he says with a laugh), but for years he led VooDou, a goth-industrial band on Invisible Records, the Chicago label launched by legendary post-punk drummer Martin Atkins (PiL/Nine Inch Nails). Corin met the band during a 2002, when VooDou
18 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
Corin Wilder, aka Akmeraj Niroc
PHOTO BY JUSTIN KATES
came through Buffalo, New York, where she was working for Invisible’s street team. What followed was a whirlwind of fandom that eventually led to Corin audition for VooDou after original vocalist Michelle Walters, Chad’s first wife, left the marriage and the band. Corin soon joined the VooDou tribe, and not long afterwards partnered up with Chad romantically. Onstage, she took the moniker Akmeraj Niroc (her real maiden name, Corin Jaremka, spelled backwards) and it remains to this day. After a few final years of nightmarish tours, the couple retreated from music, married in 2011, and kept quiet for a while — 13 years, to be exact. But now they’re back, as 30 Year Sick, with their old VooDou band mate, bassist Jim Goodman. An EP,
Is that why you took a 13-year break? Corin: I think we took a couple of years to be “normal.” Chad: We’re not normal. But we were having cookouts and hanging out with people and trying to be that kind of couple. Corin: [laughs] We are so not that kind of couple. Chad: We’d go to Purgatory, or another dark scene event, and people started asking us, “Why don’t y’all get together and start playing again?” Was it easy to persuade Jim Goodman to come back into the fold? Chad: He said, “I’ve been waiting 13 years for you to make this phone call.” He’d been in a few jam bands and blues bands, but Jim was basically biding his time, waiting for a call from me. Corin: It was a total Blues Brothers moment. [laughs] I think he was at our house the
next day saying, “I’ve already bought some keyboards. What are we doing and when are we doing it?” Where do you get your inspiration for your lyrics, Corin? Corin: A lot of it comes from my struggles with depression and anxiety — self-esteem issues, that kind of thing. It’s a lot of those demons that I’m trying to get out of my own head. Other things come into play but I think that’s the root of it, and that’s why the song themes are all really close to my heart and really emotional. It feels like we’re in a new era of female empowerment. As the female front person in a cool band, how do you see that playing out? Corin: I definitely see it taking a turn. We’ve got some real hurdles to overcome still. It’s going to be a bumpy road, as it’s been recently. We’re definitely not out of the woods yet, but just looking at things like the female directors who are making amazing movies now [and] music is starting to take that turn toward being a little more female-oriented, and not as waify. [laughs] I think entertainment is a good reflection of society, so it’s great that women are starting to take the foreground a little bit more. What’s the secret to a strong romantic partnership between two creatives? Chad: Mutual interests. And separate bank accounts. [laughs] That’s the key to happiness right there. That, and two bathrooms. BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
The Victor Wooten Trio Saturday April 6th, 2018 at 7:30pm 828.726.2407
www.broyhillcenter.com CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | 19
MUSIC
SOUNDBOARD MARCH 22 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Carolina Brass (Don Gibson Theatre, Shelby, Shelby) Traditional Series: Hanneke Cassel (Davidson College Tyler-Tallman Recital Hall, Davidson)
COUNTRY/FOLK Time Sawyer (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson, Davidson)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Le Bang (Snug Harbor)
POP/ROCK Josh Daniels (Comet Grill) Carmen Tate Solo Acoustic (Eddie’s on Lake Norman, Mooresville) Jordan Middleton & the Low End Duo (RiRa Irish Pub) Katastro, Tropidelic (Neighborhood Theatre) The Menders, Brother Oliver, The Wormholes (Visulite Theatre) Milk n Honey, Public Safety, Adam Wilson (Petra’s) On the Water, Cranes Are Flying, Black Powder (Milestone) Open Mic for Musicians (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) Part One Tribe, Sugarshine,Trevor & the Reef, Monjah (The Rabbit Hole) Radio Romance (Tin Roof) Shana Blake and Friends (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)
MARCH 23 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Charlotte Symphony: Bernstein at 100 (Belk Theater)
COUNTRY/FOLK The Lenny Federal Band (Comet Grill)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Mic Larry (Tin Roof) DJ Supa Skip (RiRa Irish Pub) Rotation w/ DJs A-Huf, Foundless (Flight)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B 704 Boyz: No Limit vs. Cash Money (Snug Harbor) Black Linen (Petra’s) G Mitch Birthday Bash: Dymond Lyfe 20 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
(Vibrations,) Julle Muzik, Emerson James, Smoke Gawd, Juicekarter, 36 Boys, Picasso, Vinchy (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) K.Flay, Yungblud (The Underground) R&B Only - DJ Printz, Dauché, and Jabari (The Fillmore)
POP/ROCK Neal Morse (Evening Muse) Cooper Alan (Tin Roof) Donnie Honeycutt (Shore Club, Tega Cay) Funk Rush (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson,) Honey Island Swamp Band, Leisure McCorkle (The Music Yard) Jim Tierney Trio (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Lords of the Trident, Ozai, Axattack, Knightmare (Milestone) Natty Boh (Hattie’s Tap & Tavern) Oh Lonesome Me, The Voodoo Fix (The Rabbit Hole) Pluto for Planet (RiRa Irish Pub) Ellis Dyson and the Shambles (Evening Muse) Ripe, Los Elk, Virginia Man (Visulite Theatre) The Voodoo Fix, Oh Lonesome Me (The Rabbit Hole)
MARCH 24 BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL Francisco Vidal (Tin Roof)
COUNTRY/FOLK Lanco (Coyote Joe’s) Lee Ann Womack (Don Gibson Theatre, Shelby)
CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Charlotte Symphony: Bernstein at 100 (Belk Theater)
DJ/ELECTRONIC DJ Coroking, Dominican Mannyh (World) Tilted DJ Saturday’s (Tilted Kilt Pub & Eatery)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Caleborate (Neighborhood Theatre) Gangstagrass (Yadkin Arts Council and Cultural Center, Yadkinville) Lyricist’s Lounge (Upscale Lounge & Restaurant)
POP/ROCK Sensi Trails, Sons of Paradise, Matt Irie (Evening Muse)
SOUNDBOARD Boytoy, Modern Primitives, Diving Board & The Deep Ends (Snug Harbor) Comfortably Nuts (The Rabbit Hole) Last Saturn, Dj Ray (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub) Pistol Town (RiRa Irish Pub) Jared & the Mill (Evening Muse) Porch 40, Andrew Scotchie & The River Rats (Visulite Theatre) Randy Franklin & the Sardines (Comet Grill) The reunion featuring Berrix, Gramgreene, Bassjerm, Bromosapien, Psydubz & more (Milestone) Rick Spreitzer and the Antique Babies (Summit Coffee Co., Davidson) Solemn Shapes, iioioioii, 30 Year Sick (Tommy’s Pub) Tedrow (Sylvia Theatre, York, York) Willie Douglas (Smokey Joe’s Cafe)
MARCH 25 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Voice Studio Spring Recital (Davidson College Tyler-Tallman Recital Hall, Davidson)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Bone Snugs-N-Harmony (Snug Harbor) More Fyah - Grown & Sexy Vibes (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
POP/ROCK Ballantyne School of Music: Spring Jam 2018 (Neighborhood Theatre) Icon For Hire, Makeout, Courage My Love (Visulite Theatre) Violent Life Violent Death, Kairos., Hellrad, Abhorrent Deformity (Milestone) Women Rock Concert (Petra’s) Omari and The Hellhounds (Comet Grill)
MARCH 26 CLASSICAL/JAZZ/SMOOTH Jazz Mondays (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B #MFGD Open Mic (Apostrophe Lounge) Knocturnal (Snug Harbor)
POP/ROCK Find Your Muse Open Mic featuring Olivia
Millerschin (Evening Muse, Charlotte) Locals Live: The Best in Local Live Music & Local Craft Beers (Tin Roof)
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THIS SATURDAY
LANCO
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
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MARCH 27 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Eclectic Soul Tuesdays - RnB & Poetry (Apostrophe Lounge) Soul Station (Crown Station Coffeehouse and Pub)
SATURDAY, APRIL 14
THE CASEY DONAHEW BAND LIMITED ADVANCE $12 ALL OTHERS $15
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COUNTRY/FOLK Red Rockin’ Chair (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK Agent Orange, The Atom Age, DSR, South Side Punx (Milestone) Dashboard Confessional, Beach Slang (The Fillmore) Patois Counselors, Bike Thiefs, Alarm Drum (Snug Harbor) Uptown Unplugged (Tin Roof) Open Jam with the Smokin’ Js (Smokey Joe’s Cafe) Open Mic hosted by Jarrid and Allen of Pursey Kerns (The Kilted Buffalo, Huntersville)
MARCH 28 HIP-HOP/SOUL/R&B Free Hookah Wednesdays Ladies Night (Kabob House, Persian Cuisine)
BLUES/ROOTS/INTERNATIONAL March Residency: Chócala, It’s Snakes, GASP, Brut Beat (Snug Harbor)
DJ/ELECTRONIC Cyclops Bar: Modern Heritage Weekly Mix Tape (Snug Harbor)
COUNTRY/FOLK Open Mic/Open Jam (Comet Grill)
POP/ROCK Alexis & The Samurai (of Sweet Crude) and Beautiful Machines (Evening Muse) Miguel (The Fillmore) The Nick Moss Band featuring Dennis Gruenling (Neighborhood Theatre) Pluto for Planet (RiRa Irish Pub) Scoot Pitmann (Shore Club, Tega Cay) Songwriter Open Mic @ Petra’s (Petra’s)
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MUSIC
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SATURDAY, APRIL 21
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Local Vibes is now part of
the Queen City Podcast Network. For more local podcasts, go to
queencitypodcastnetwork.com.
And check CLCLT.com on March 22 for Local Vibes Episode No. 35, featuring Charlotte-based
Russian acoustic-guiar virtuoso Vadim Kolpakov, who once backed Madonna.
check out Local Vibes now on spotify!
FRIDAY, MAY 4
COYOTE JOE’S 27TH BIRTHDAY BASH STARRING
GRANGER SMITH FEATURING EARL DIBBLES JR LIMITED ADVANCE $10 ALL OTHERS $12
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SATURDAY, MAY 12
AARON WATSON LIMITED ADVANCE $17 ALL OTHERS $20
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SATURDAY, MAY 19
DYLAN SCOTT
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CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | 21
ARTS
FEATURE
Creative Loafing proudly presents a new comic series Push! With endless sarcasm and nonstop drama, fictional friends Reynard, Felisha and Bobby are three twentysomethings navigating life in Charlotte. But nothing’s easy in Push!, and a mystery soon serves up some pretty weird events for the trio. Prepare for love, death and everything in between, in this week’s introductory installment of...
22 | MAR. 17 - MAR. 23, 2016 | CLCLT.COM
I still can’t believe it..... My brain is so fuzzy & still kinda fucked up
I’m just getting out of the house for a bit
Seriously!!? How do you not know what happened!! Have you been living under a rock?
It’s been hard. Oh Hey Guys!
Hey Bobby.
Hey Man
Whats the matter?
Umm.. it’s just werid ya know? After what happened......
You both seem a little out of it....
Wait.... what happened?
Dude!, I’ve been out of town for the last couple of days on a gig, wtf is going on? CLCLT.COM | MAR. 17 - MAR. 23, 2016 | 23
24 | MAR. 17 - MAR. 23, 2016 | CLCLT.COM
Stay Tuned, Push will be back soon!
For more Push visit: clclt.com /clclt
Follow Push the comic! @artndesign18 /2018ArtNDesign
CLCLT.COM | MAR. 17 - MAR. 23, 2016 | 25
FREE TRIAL
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26 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
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another bar (score!). Later, I found out you BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I survived St. can reserve this space for about $200 or less Paddy’s Day. Why? Because I wasn’t in the depending on the details. Totally worth it in Queen City. No, I had no feelings of #FOMO, my opinion. On my way upstairs, I couldn’t I was actually excited about the fact that a help but notice how bright and inviting wedding and a trip to Asheville would whisk the atmosphere was. (#theplug: follow @ me away from the madness that are the bar omgclt_ on IG to see the pics I took on my crawls in Uptown Charlotte. However, when story.) Updated/repaired hardwood flooring, I returned, I was itching to try out a new orange metal chairs/stools, a plethora of TVs nightlife spot in the Q.C. (inside and out), high top tables, booths, a I ended up deciding on Caswell Station at the game lawn and bright lighting are just a few corner of 7th Street and Caswell Road. As an renovations that add to the allure of this Elizabethan (yes I just made that up) who new venue. became a homeowner just two short years After grabbing the signature Caswell ago, I was livid when I found out they were Mule and a beer, I was ready to sit down closing all of the bars within walking distance with the man-who-wears-many-hats of my new residence. Jackalope Jack’s, of this establishment, Daniel, Philosopher’s Stone (aka P-Stone) and give him a survey-style and Kennedy’s – RIP. That’s grilling. why I was intrigued to walk What’s his name? by what was Kennedy’s this Daniel Vitacco past fall on my familiar What’s his role? He’s walk from the trolley the magician-on-theand see what looked like renovations. ground. Doing everything For months, I would from helping wash dishes walk by wondering if they to growing the business. were tearing it down or How long has been building it up. The next there? Since opening. AERIN SPRUILL thing I knew, there was a fresh However, he’s been with the coat of paint on the building umbrella group for eight years. and a sign with a logo that read: His favorite menu item? It was Caswell Station. In November of last year, hard to choose so he went with two: buffalo they finally opened up. Brought to you by the chicken flatbread and the tachos. owners of Bradshaw’s in Ballantyne as well Most popular menu item? Cheesesteak as The Trail House in Indian Trail, Caswell egg rolls (I chose the perfect tester once Station is sure to reinvigorate the nightlife/ again, score!) bar scene in the Elizabeth community. What kind of crowd is the venue I hadn’t heard much buzz myself about attracting? Everyone 25 and up. There’s the new spot and wondered how they were something for everyone at Caswell Station. doing and what secrets they were keeping in And I can say I doubt you’ll find just the my neighborhood. I hit up the gal pals and stereotypical frat guy still hanging on to his pulled up on a Monday night. As I walked college days that Irish pubs (RIP Kennedy’s) up the ramp to the beautiful patio, I looked tend to attract. up at the string lights everywhere and fell in Success thus far? The weekends have love. (Bitches love string lights.) been crazy, and foot traffic from the I joined the patio table my girl (aka my neighborhood has made a huge impact. CL nightlife hypebeast) and pretended like What kind of entertainment will you I’d never seen the menu before (I always find? I personally can attest to the fact look at menus beforehand when I’m hungry that the music selection is diverse – the and visiting a new spot). I knew the Philly “Thong Song” by Sisqo came on while we cheesesteak rolls were going to be my first were enjoying our meal. However, they also stop, but the main course was up for grabs. bring DJs and live bands. That’s until my friend pointed out the fact I’m not going to spill all the secrets, that they had one of my fave dishes outside but those are the most important deets. of pizza – meatloaf! And even though I As Daniel pointed out a couple times, this should’ve opted for the strawberry salad, I property just needed “a big old hug.” And was more than satisfied with my decision I can’t say I disagree given the fact that after my first bite. Kennedy’s was never my go-to spot. Check Our amazingly sweet server, Brittanie, it out for yourself and let me know what showed me around the spot, highlighting the you think! upstairs private event area complete with BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
ENDS
FeeLing Lonely?
CROSSWORD
BROOCH THE SUBJECT ACROSS
1 Ritchie Valens hit 8 Store up 13 Credit (to) 20 Black keys, informally 21 Air raid alert 22 Percussion pair 23 Very tidy sort 24 Musical pace 25 Airplane trips 26 Viola or cello 29 Tulip chair designer Saarinen 30 Always, in an ode 31 Eucalyptus-eating “bear” 35 “Deck the Halls,” e.g. 39 Outlet insert 45 “Anne of Green Gables” town 48 Sounds of wonderment 49 London brew 50 Mlle. who’s canonized 51 Where a ball rolls in an alley 53 Nero’s 251 55 Luau dish 56 Swing in the breeze, say 57 Round bread of India 58 Place to par 61 Lyricist Lorenz 62 Jeweled crown 64 Misprint list 65 Gracefully limber 69 It may include spools and thimbles 72 Dada artist Max 73 Teeming, as with bees 75 Makes mad 76 Title for a lady 78 Figure in black magic 80 Dollar bit 81 Irishwoman, e.g. 85 Cubs’ and Eagles’ org. 86 Vehicle ding 87 Wartime “pineapple” 90 Rat-a- -91 Wiggling fish 92 Balkan native 93 Some pianos and motorcycles 94 Contest on a mat 99 Door knocker’s response 100 Gelatin dish 101 Winning line in tic-
tac-toe 102 Abba of Israel 105 Theme of this puzzle 115 Hard to catch 118 “Pal Joey” novelist John 119 Red apple variety 120 Purifies, as ore 121 Wild, as an animal 122 Secrete mother’s milk 123 In a group of 124 Oto or Ute 125 Moved stealthily
DOWN
1 Camera eye 2 Aid in evil 3 Male swine 4 Prefix with 61-Down 5 Actress Liza 6 Light brown 7 Questioner 8 Bubbly wine 9 Personal manner 10 Weaponry 11 Octets minus one 12 Loud sleeper 13 Like most radios 14 Shop lure 15 Crease 16 Convertible auto 17 Einstein’s “I” 18 Slugging club 19 Ending for lion 27 Female gerbil 28 Mystifying Mr. Geller 32 Race loser 33 Many troubadours 34 Grow mature 35 Hailed rides 36 State frankly 37 Line of seats closest to the stage 38 Part of SRO 40 Bank offer 41 Myriad years 42 Friend of Fidel 43 Wee cow 44 Faye of film 46 City in Sicily 47 Petri dish gels 52 Not right now 53 Wine stopper 54 Declared 55 Cat sound 58 Comic’s bits 59 City east of Utah Lake 60 Break a fast
61 Lionhearted type 62 Money tray 63 Suffix with 61-Down 65 Water closet 66 Some weather lines 67 Polka relative 68 -- cow (flipped out) 70 Droop, as from heat 71 Piquant 74 Catwalk user 77 Big name in razors 79 Sub shop 80 “Squawk Box” network 81 Annoying fly 82 Partners of 48-Across 83 Mild cheese 84 -- majesty 87 “... made -- woman”: Genesis 2:22 88 Gallery work 89 High rank 90 Old Delta rival 91 Drawing with acid 92 Cover thickly 95 Acts as a sub (for) 96 Yuletide drink 97 Get mushy 98 Sly laugh part 103 Really cries 104 Of birds 106 Burl of song 107 104-Down hangout 108 Spy Mata -109 Bahraini, e.g. 110 Folklore bit 111 Antifur gp. 112 Writer Dinesen 113 Rap’s Dogg 114 Zipped along 115 Timeline part 116 Old NASA moon lander 117 ET’s craft
graB Your copy today
SOLUTION FOUND ON P. 30.
CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | 27
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SAVAGE LOVE
Real hot chat now.
ACE AND THE HOLE Let’s talk about “would be,” “am,” and other confusing qualifiers BY DAN SAVAGE
I’m a 26-year-old cis queer woman. My best friend has identified publicly as asexual for the past two years. She constantly talks about how since she doesn’t “need” sex, this means she is asexual. She does have sex, however, and she enjoys it, which I know isn’t disqualifying. But she also actively seeks out sex partners and sex. But, again, she insists that because she doesn’t “need” sex the way she presumes the rest of us do, she is asexual. I have an issue with this. I’ve never had partnered sex and never really felt the need or desire for it. I’m plenty happy with emotional intimacy from others and masturbation for my sexual needs, and I do not particularly desire a romantic or sexual partner. My friend gets offended if anyone questions her label, which occurs often in our friend group as people try to understand her situation. I usually defend her to others since she’s my friend, but as a person who is starting to identify more and more as asexual, I’ve grown annoyed at her use of “asexual” as her identifier, to the point that this may be starting to affect our friendship. I’ve kept silent because I don’t want to make her feel attacked — but in the privacy of my own head, I’m calling bullshit on her asexuality. I don’t particularly want to come out as asexual to her, given the circumstances. Am I just being a shitty gatekeeping asexual? Do I need to just accept that labels are only as useful as we make them and let this go? ACTUALLY COITUS EVADING
Asexuality — it’s a real thing. “Several population-level studies have now found that about 1 percent of individuals report not feeling sexual attraction to another person — ever,” Dr. Lori Brotto writes in the Globe and Mail. Dr. Brotto has extensively studied asexuality, and the data supports the conclusion that asexuality is a sexual orientation on par with heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality. “[Asexuality] is not celibacy, which is the conscious choice to not have sex even though sexual desires may endure,” Dr. Brotto writes. “Rather, for these individuals, there is no inherent wish for or desire for sex, and there never has been. They are asexuals, though many prefer to go by the endearing term ‘aces.’” Asexuality — it’s a point on a spectrum and it’s a spectrum unto itself. “There is a spectrum of sexuality, with 28 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
— which there never will be and never sexual and asexual as the endpoints and a should be — we’ll just have to take your gray area in between,” says whoever wrote friend’s word for it. the General FAQ at the Asexual Visibility But just as asexuality is a thing, ACE, and Education Network website (asexuality. so too is bullshit. Denial is a thing, and sex org). “Many people identify in this gray area shame is an incredibly destructive thing. under the identity of ‘gray-asexual’ or ‘gray-a.’ Like the guy who has a lot of gay sex but Examples of gray-asexuality include an refuses to identify as gay or bi, it’s possible individual who does not normally experience your friend is just a messy closet case — a sexual attraction but does experience it closeted sexual, someone who wants sex sometimes; experiences sexual attraction but doesn’t want to be seen as the kind of but has a low sex drive; experiences sexual person who wants sex since only bad people attraction and drive but not strongly enough want sex. Some people twist themselves to want to act on them; and/or can enjoy into the oddest knots so they can have and desire sex but only under very limited what they want without having to admit and specific circumstances. Even more, they want it. But even if it sounds to you many gray-asexuals still identify as asexual (and me) like your friend’s label is suspect, because they may find it easier to explain, you should nevertheless hold your tongue especially if the few instances in which and allow her to identify however she likes. they felt sexual attraction were brief and fleeting. Furthermore, [some] asexual people Ask questions, sure, but challenging her in relationships might choose or label will only damage your relationship (or even want to have sex with further damage it) and make you feel their partner as a way of like a closeted, gatekeeping ace. showing affection, and And if you find yourself they might even enjoy getting annoyed when your aceit. Others may want identified friend starts in on to have sex in order how she doesn’t really “need” to have children, or all the sex she’s having, ACE, to satisfy a curiosity, do what I used to do when I or for other reasons.” had to listen to guys I knew for As for your a fact were having tons of gay friend, ACE, well, sex (because they were having according to the it with me) go on and on about DAN SAVAGE Protocols of the Elders how they didn’t really “need” cock: of Tumblr, we’re no smile, nod, roll ’em over, and fuck longer allowed to express ’em in the ass again. (Feel free to swap doubt about someone’s professed “change the subject” for “roll ’em over” and sexual orientation or gender identity. So if “leave the room” for “fuck ’em in the ass.”) Republican U.S. senator Larry Craig of Idaho gets caught trawling for dick in an airport Settle a dispute between friends? I’m bathroom — which he did in 2007 — and a straight man who gets hit on fairly insists it was all a misunderstanding because, often by women, mostly at the gym. I you know, he’s 200 percent straight, well, usually respond with a variation on “I then he’s straight. (And if Jeffrey Dahmer would be interested but I’m married.” says he’s a vegetarian…) So even if your Some of my friends argue that by saying, friend pulls the cock from her mouth and/ “I’m interested but I’m married,” I’m or the pussy off her face only long enough to telegraphing an interest in some sort shout, “I’M ACE,” before slapping her mouth of affair. That isn’t my intent. I mean back down into someone’s lap, then she’s ace, it as a compliment. What I’m trying to ACE. Maybe in the same way Larry Craig is communicate is “You’re an attractive straight, your friend is asexual — or, hey, person who put yourself out there and maybe she’s asexual in the “gray-a” sense, i.e., I don’t want to crush your spirit with a under certain circumstances (awake, aware, curt ‘No.’” What is your take, Dan? MUTUAL ATTRACTION RARELY RESULTS IN EROTIC conscious, alert, sentient), she experiences DALLIANCES sexual attraction. Or maybe she’s not a gray-a who identifies as ace but an actual asexual Which is it, MARRIED: “I would be interested who is having sex for “other reasons.” A but I’m married” or “I am interested but person doesn’t have to be celibate to be I’m married”? Because there’s a difference asexual or to identify as asexual, ACE, and between “I would” and “I am” in this context. until there’s an asexual accreditation agency
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When you say, “I would be interested but I’m married,” you’re shutting it down: We could fuck if I wasn’t married, but I am so we can’t. But when you say, “I am interested but I’m married,” that can be read very differently: I’m down to fuck but — full disclosure — I’m married. If that’s OK with you, let’s find a stairwell and do this thing. “Would be” politely shuts the door, MARRIED; “am” opens the door a crack and invites the sweaty woman at the gym to push against it to see if it’ll open all the way. On the Lovecast, Alana Massey on the misguided Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act: savagelovecast.com; follow @fakedansavage on Twitter; mail@savagelove.net; go to ITMFA. org.
NOW HIRING INTERNS. THE BRIGHTER, THE BETTER. EMAIL BACKTALK@CLCLT.COM
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SOLUTION TO THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE
WHERE WE ALL REFUSE TO WEAR SOCKS.
ARIES (March 21 to
April 19) Resist a confrontation with that irksome person. The matter will soon blow over anyway. Meanwhile, channel your high Arian energy into areas with more positive potential.
TAURUS
(April 20 to May 20) The innovative Bovine finds a creative way to resolve a sensitive domestic problem by midweek. A former colleague returns with an intriguing business suggestion.
GEMINI (May 21 to June 20) An unexpected critical statement from someone you trust could catch you momentarily off guard. But you soon recover your equilibrium and rise to the challenge. CANCER (June 21 to July
22) You might feel you can handle a new project on your own. But advice from someone with experience could help you avoid possibly costly as well as time-consuming obstacles.
LEO (July 23 to August 22)
Waiting for others to make decisions is difficult for the take-charge Lion. But by week’s end, you should hear news that will help you regain control of the situation.
VIRGO (August 23 to
September 22) Your superjudgmental side could dominate the week unless you try to keep it in check. Otherwise you risk offending people, including some who are very close to you.
LIBRA (September 23 to October 22) Expect more information to come out about that possible career shift. Meanwhile, your loving concern helps someone close to you get through a worrisome period. SCORPIO (October 23
to November 21) Despite an occasional setback, workplace pressures should continue to ease through most of the week. This would be a good time to plan that long-delayed trip.
SAGIT TARIUS
(November 22 to December 21) The sage Sagittarian quickly recognizes an opportunity when she or he sees it, especially if it’s one you’ve been planning for. Take aim and go for it.
CAPRICORN (December 22 to January 19) The Sea Goat’s unique insight guides you as you check out a questionable situation. Your efforts should prove rewarding for you and your many supporters.
AQUARIUS
(January 20 to February 18) You might want to pace yourself a bit more. Rushing could lead to serious slip-ups. Take more time to check out details you might otherwise overlook.
PISCES (February 19
to March 20) The best way to resolve those remaining problems is to ask others for help. They’ll be happy to do so, especially when you agree to share the credit for a job well done.
BORN THIS WEEK Your natural gift for honest leadership earns you the respect and admiration of others. 30 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM
CLCLT.COM | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | 31
32 | MAR. 22 - MAR. 28, 2018 | CLCLT.COM