#TeamSwami Zine Vol 1
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#TeamSwami Zine vol 1 — table of contents
Mike Irizarry —————–—– front cover photograph
Poliana Irizarry ————————————— page 2 Joshua Rabon ———————————– pages 4 & 5 Sally Cornish ———————————– pages 6 & 7 Chris Whitehead —————————— pages 8—10 Fabien Tassel ——————————– pages 10 & 11
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Joshua Rabon The deal with the tattoo is that I live in Upstate New York. It gets very cold here during the winter (wood-burning stoves are a must) and there's not a lot of partying going on. So in short I wanted a 'party on my arm.' This tattoo, in a way, represents my mentality that's been shaped by a climate and geography that is totally foreign to my locale. In terms of history it started with San Diego, Hawaii, the Night Marcher's imagery, and then to the reality that Swami, Mrs. Swami, Mike Stobbe, and others in San Diego, highly embrace the Tiki theme. The final component was the fact that Brandon Madrid made the Tiki guitar for Swami. That sort of sealed the deal. The Swami world is completely cross-country for me so when I look at the tattoo, I see and recognize my heart. But don't get me wrong, I live in beautiful Wine Country strewn with grape orchards, wineries, and cool pottery shops and local arts. I've included a picture of my two dogs on our vast acreage (both rescues and terrier mixes), as well as a photo of our pond. It's a very quiet and peaceful lifestyle. But I do miss the Swami scene that was a bit present in St. Louis, yet very appreciated in Chicago. I completed the trip quite often when RFTC and Hot Snakes were engaged in touring clubs. Also, for the record, I caught the then next-to-last RFTC show in NYC in 2005 and the then last U.S. Hot Snakes show in 2005. I haven't seen Swami since but I love the Night Marchers, especially the second record, though the first record has plenty of gems. To paraphrase Swami, they get me to 'lube my ear-holes' and crank it up. 4
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Sally Cornish Our love affair with Rocket covers many years, many records and many shows. But two gigs in particular, here in the UK, a long way from San Diego, stand out as truly special, epic and awesome! The first was on my 18th birthday at Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms (the best small venue in England and it’s on my doorstep – yes!). I could not have had a better birthday party – the show was wild and I fell in love with Speedo that night. My mind was blown! Never had I seen a show like it. Fast forward to the year 2013 and The Greatest Rock n Roll Band on the planet had reformed. Along with my husband Nish and our great pal super Swami fan Rab Allan, we excitedly headed up to London to the Koko in Camden. That night it felt like RFTC had invented Rock n Roll and were the only band you’d ever need to see. The band were so tight, fast and loud, Speedo was so funny and we all wanted to stay in that moment forever. We bought up all the merch, I caught Petey X’s Elvis shades (see photos) and I had a Rocket tattooed on my arm a couple of weeks later so that I’d always remember that magnificent night with RFTC. Rocket From The Crypt must never die!
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RFTC: Those Guys Are The Best Chris Whitehead Preston, UK, 2014: I don't remember the when or the where of first time I heard RFTC. I know it was “On A Rope”. Almost everyone in the UK hummed along to that at some point in ‘95 and/or ‘96. They were all over the TV and Radio. I remember, in 2013, describing ‘96 RFTC as being "HUGE in the UK" to [redacted] owner/operator of great record label [redacted]. He looked at me kind of askew and said they weren't huge. He was probably right but at the time it felt huge to a 14 year old who didn't know any better, ya know? How was my naive youngster self not to know how unusual it was for these punk dudes to be on TV every week? And how was I to know the impact on my life these punk dudes from San Diego were going to have? How would I know that because “On A Rope” was a HUGE moderate radio success almost 20 years ago, now my wife and I have enough friends in So-Cal that relocating 6000 miles doesn't seem at all scary as we have an existing support network of friends. All because of RFTC John Reis and Swami Records. Those guys are the best. **** Birmingham, UK, 1999: I do remember buying an RFTC album for the first time. Freshman year of college, giving up all my crappy old dubbed cassette tapes I used to listen to. Looking for something new to buy from the literal 1000s of options (all CDs) in the HMV Megastore. 4 floors of Media! I was not used to this level of choice. Feeling slightly overwhelmed by the “big city” and desperately seeking something familiar. Walking thru the R’s and an old jumps out. So I pick up “Scream, Dracula, Scream.” Commence 3 weeks of straight rotation. I need more. Those guys are the best. **** Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK, 2013: Possibly the most fun ever. Not the RFTC show (which was spectacular.) The hours before the show, laughing, joking and sharing stories with old friends. Daniel, 5 shows deep over 5 consecutive nights – a train ride (or 2) everyday, hotel bed or someone's spare room -physically hurting, but having fun, being hilarious. Dan, free from parental responsibilities, already drunk when he showed up, always in possession of the most positive energy. 3 dudes (and some other friends), living in 3 separate parts of the UK, who have almost no business having even met each other, having an absolute blast. Those guys are the best. ***** Cantina Mayahuel, San Diego, CA, 2012: rounding out 4 great days in America’s Finest City. Squired around town by the most solid of solid dudes, Doug. A really fun day with the promise of the great Cantina food and margs. Oh and hanging with The Connells. RFTC fans 8
amongst fans. Friends to everyone. But who I’d always somehow missed on all my trips since ‘05. Not this time. The 10 minutes we shared in ‘05 must have counted quadruple double triple. It’s the classic #teamswami insta-rapport. Not just me but wife-to-be too, who'd never met them before. We end up at their house playing Settlers of Catan and drinking ‘til late on a Monday. We lose horribly but have the most fun. Those guys are the best. **** The Cluny, Newcastle, UK, 2004: I did not expect to see the Magical Mystical Sw@mi himself, sat at a table selling posters and records. Pluck up courage. Sidle over. Start terrible small talk. Know I'm not coming off cool. Ask for photo anyway. Surprised how cool with all this he is. Then watch Hot Snakes just destroy this tiny venue. Friend who made trip with me, not knowing the band, totally blown away too. Those guys are the best. **** Los Angeles, CA, 2012: It takes a certain type of person to decide to make plans to hang out all day with an internet-acquaintance who lives overseas when your wife is 8 months pregnant with your first child. The type of person you know is gonna be a great friend. May the Tiki Gods bless you, AdB. I had the best day in LA I can recall to that point. I was born in LA, I'd visited LA every year for 20 years, I'd never had so much fun and seen so many new things before. Good food, good strong drinks, good company. Those guys are the best. **** The Westin, San Diego, CA, 2005: The heartbreak-er, the soultak-er, the grown-ass-men-weeping-openly-er. The people from all over the globe watching a show in a ballroom of a downtown hotel. There’s nothing I can add to the record of that night but, yet again, the spirit of #teamswami came through. I spend the day checking out San Diego with 2 Canadians and a Swede, having a great time with total strangers. This is how we do it, Sw@mi-style. I throw up after the show, a combination of exhaustion, dehydration, booze and emotional drain. I figured my ride on this particular musical train was over forever, no more RFTC, no more meeting strangers from the internet, just back to going to mediocre shows with my real-life friends or better shows by myself but hey, those guys were the best, right? **** Post Script: Los Angeles, CA, 2017 3 years after originally putting keyboard-to-motherboard on this rambling recollection of rocknroll (mis)adventures, I moved across an ocean and a continent, solidified some friendships, made some new friends, and sweated my ass off at a bunch more RFTC and Swami shows: 5 (?) more RFTC shows, a Drive Like Jehu reunion in a big room, a Sultans reunion in a small room, a Hardcore Matinee Skills Showcase, 2 ‘don’t call it surf rock’ side project shows, and another Halloween show 9
in another hotel. It’s hard to wrap your head around, but sometimes you hear a song on the radio in 1995 and 20 years later you have a bunch of friends across the world. Those guys are the fucking best.
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Fabien Tassel My name is Fabien, I live in Paris and I have been a Swami_related fan for more than 15 years. I won't say I am a diehard fan, my record collection - as you can see - is rather small but I have been digging Speedo's work since I first heard Lipstick from RFTC on a French TV show (this one : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl4vl1VOGmQ). I started to listen to RFTC a lot (Scream and Group Sounds) but after reading an interview of members of the band "Pretty Girls Make Graves" where they said that DLJ was one of their favorite band I started to dig backward and discovered DLJ and Hot Snakes ... and then I was hooked and discovered the Swami universe. I first saw them live with Hot Snakes in 2005 where they both signed my copy of the Peel Sessions (nice drawings). I saw Obits many times in Paris and had the chance the chat with Rick a few times (he made me a little drawing of Snoopy one time). When RFTC rejoined, I finally had the chance to see them both in Berlin and Paris. I was sad I couldn't go to the DLJ show in San Diego. Actually I was in the US (Austin) that night for vacation but couldn't change my plan to join the party. I don't have a lot of stuff but here are a few things I can share with you - some gig tickets (Hot Snakes, Obits and RFTC Berlin reunion show) - signed copy by Rick and John of the Hot Snakes Peel Sessions - drawing of Snoopy as the Red Baron Rick made me at the recording of a French TV Show L'album de la semaine.
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First there was Atom Jack... ...then there was the Rocket Phorum... ...then came the Swami Records message board... ...and now we're #TeamSwami (on Twitter & Facebook & Instagram & wherever else online we John Reis / Swami Records fans congregate) This is a call for submissions for a zine about our fandom. I've been making zines for a long-ass time, and now I’m starting one about our 20+ year love affair with ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT and the many bands that came before and after. But I need your help! Email polianarchy@yahoo.com with whatever writing / photos / art you wanna share. Email me photos of your RFTC tattoos, your record collection, fliers & posters & merch & ticket stubs from shows. Write up a paragraph or two (or three! I'm not the boss of you!) about when you first got into Pitchfork or Drive Like Jehu or RFTC or Hot Snakes or whichever band first rocked your earballs. I really wanna include photos from shows where you & your friends are getting stoked on the bands, especially if you met these friends through the boards! So please, contribute to this zine. Vol 2 coming soon
<3 Poliana Irizarry August 15, 2017 bibliophiliac zines 12