RVA Volume 2 Issue 5

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DIRECTION PARKER R CREATIVE HARRIS AGING EDITO R E R ANTHONY SENIOR DESIGNE MAN N W IJARTO RO B R PETER SZ R MARISA PUBLISHE HAM STE HER EDITOR D IAN GRA WEBMA P D RA LE G S ADAM MENT RVA PHOTO PMAN A E S H G E C TR A D E D ACK MAN CLEO vo l u m e 2 i s s u e 5 - Th e O t h er S i d e CHRISTIAN JEFF SM CLAY M O LANKS JURESK N B M IO Y A SH cover : Todd Hale D RD D A FA D A TE W RT P E M RB A A KEN HO LE DOSSON C HOLLY CORRECTION: Exile is moving to 935 West GRACE Street, NOT West Main.

PAIGE H ICK RHORER LE HARRIS Y N TR O MICHE ROIX A TH R AN C SEAN P ECCI RS TO N CHRIS LA NNEDY RA W ST RE U ILL AND KE DAVID VESQUE Tony - To me this magazine represents freedom on so many levels.

LEE FRANKIE E LLI JASON L N VINCE HERS P RE 4!#4 .

U RA #/ LA G N IG PHOTO ES Parker - I needed a vacation. For over a year and a half now I’ve put all my energy RRIS )NKWELL $

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!VE !PT R ANTH TRAVIS B ASS and time in the magazine and the gallery (Gallery5). These projects are pasES

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TYLER B R ON CHRITIA ARD M 2ICH WW sions of mine and it is my mission to make them grow, thrive, and work W IPPE AMAG COM RV O G KEN HO RAHAM NF ADAM L AM IN I TIS E toward the progression of evolving Richmond’s creative comDVER G RAH NATIONAL A AG COM ND IAN M AM N M G TRES L A RV CA IA LO G LL munity to new levels. But now I need to recharge my own M ERTISIN N DE ).' &OR A AD TEA T WOULD LIKE RVAMAG COM /2 E ADV

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UBMISSION CONTENT RVAMAG C ATION Sierra Nevada Mountains, to relax in hot springs, LOC GRAPHER 3 TE h)GORv 3M TO CARRY 2 3 26! WELCOMES S LIC S TO TO UB A ON O P SI IS H IS .

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ING AN UNSOLIC T ,ANG RGE "ENITE TURE E ADVERTIS UDES OF THEIR RESPEC WHOLE OR PART WITH MONTHLY S D 4H TI 0 HE R 5 LIS UB $3 A O looking pirate ship across the desert (built on a (%!

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ATOR * SOCIAL SCULP OPINION AN R EDITORS 2EPRODUCT BITED 26! -AGAZIN TR E S TH U CT LL FLE RE HE Greyhound bus), hang out with hundreds of fire I ISHER O TLY PROHI S PING T DD HALE D A OF THE PUBL E PUBLISHER IS STRIC E H N OS S

TH U E ED CT performers and stilt walkers under giant circus tents, meditate R OF TO YGUN FROM TH E SO UR E IS PROTE WORK PERMISSION ITHIN THIS MAGAZIN A ST TH ED TO with Buddhist monks, and partake in gladiator battles inside a replica of THE THE NANCI R WARP ICE AGAIN N , , #

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L $ H P EL T the Thunderdome. The way for me to accomplish all of this is for me to OF )NKW AT T ME R R I ADEMARK S SSON GISTERED TR make the yearly trek to the creative Mecca known as BURNING MAN! )# D DO AGAIN THE DAY SSY 26! IS A RE -53

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L This will be my third trip to Black Rock Desert, Nevada. It’s long WIT ERPU AVES INCE V TERVIEWS S A THUND

overdue‌soon I’ll be there‌a place that feels more like “homeâ€?

4HANK YOU

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L than anywhere else. Shit! My plane is leaving soon‌ where did I OF A

S C LARSON HERE % 2 K put the sunscreen, my cowboy hat, and those pink bunny ears‌?

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T E IKE ANYW WS N N E S , Goodbye Richmond, Hello Burning Man! here I come‌ TH LLIO TR E C IE YING O WA A H L P S SIC 2EV N A M I N G S W U R N U P W N

U T I I !, THE MA AL # / - E DRAFT T H E T H E MOTTO , E IV 4 Ian There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When CTION P T T H RUIS FEST /%3 IT E T VE HEAR HIRE STA N E S M # ESTRU ' KING FOLK meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run S A I S P L S 4O Y L AND D E A

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Marisa - “The shutters are all up!” My mother answers my phone call with this declaration, instantly erasing from mind my original reason for calling. Within a blink, it dawns on me—this is the first hurricane season I’m not living in south Florida for. My heart sank a little upon realizing I’d be missing out on my favorite season in Florida. It’s not winter, spring, summer and fall there. Instead hot, muggy, rainy, and hurricane prevail. Natural disasters are serious and destructive forces, but there’s nothing quite like the bittersweet excitement of packing your closest friends into a shuttered-up house, watching on the news what you can no longer see out the windows until you’re listening in the dark to whistling wind and pattering once the power fails, left only to imagine what amount of destruction is taking place. Without the hum of a appliances to soften sounds and keep things cool, the hollow echoes of friends’ laughter bounces eerily around you in the dimly candlelit space. Before long, you’re burning up against the furnaces of each of your friends’ 98.7-degree bodies. It’s ordinary – you know the house, and your friends-- but the situation is more along the lines of a strange dream. You know your way around in the dark, and you’re compulsively flipping light switches or turning the faucet knobs, expecting them to turn on. Times like these force people out of moment-to-moment routines and awaken you to exactly how automated a person becomes: common sense suddenly requires practice, or twenty failed attempts of turning on a light.

I imagine “snow days” to be somewhat like this as well. When Katrina passed through Florida, the ground became so saturated that deep-rooted trees loosened up and fell over at the slightest breeze. One trapped my car in a parking lot an hour away from home for 24 hours yet it was one of my favorite 24 consecutive hours of 2005. I tend to treat the world like it’s Disneyland, and sometimes the world confirms that very notion-- It could’ve been the opening to a murder mystery, but it was instead this serendipitous event of a third-year dental student finding me stranded and taking me in. In no time we discovered a mutual love for Scrabble, and we both played left-handed guitar. We played Scrabble by candlelight and then he taught me the Beatles’ “Across the Universe.” We stayed friends ever since and it is still quite a strange situation to think back on, knowing in hindsight that we were both ridiculously scared of each other but trying not to show it, being complete strangers and all. Sure I missed out on my friends’ hurricane parties that particular day, but that year we had two hurricanes to deal with and a splash of tropical storms—there were other chances. As I stroll into my seventh month living in Richmond and towards my first “real” autumn, I’m finding my mind, heart, and soul are finally in sync with one another, and it seems I’m actually letting myself grow roots somewhere.

I love it here; I love what this city has to offer. But I’ve learned a lot about roots in my years of rainy south Florida summers-- as long as I keep holding on just gently enough, the winds of change will sway me without having to take me down or break me.

Sara Adduci < saraadduci @ yahoo.com >

Nateâ&#x20AC;?Igorâ&#x20AC;? Smith <drivenbyboredom @ gmail.com >

Langdon Graves < l angdon40 @ mac.com >

Jorge Benitez <多bensagol @ msn.com >

R ESHAPING THE SOCIAL S CULPTURE words: Parker We’ve all heard it, “Sometimes the truth hurts”…well it’s…ahem…true, but there is a need for more people who aren’t afraid to tell “the truth” or at least their view of it, on a more consistent basis. Martin Bromirski is such an individual. Loved, hated, cheered, and booed, Martin gives his honest opinion online for all to see with his infamous webpage Anaba (www.anaba.blogspot.com). Anaba -- which in Japanese means a little known, but pleasing space -- is updated weekly to showcase and comment on the different creative events and artists in and passing through Richmond as well as keep everyone posted on gallery call-for-entries or grant opportunities for artists to take advantage of. The blog, which gets an average of 500 hits a day, is also his way of bringing art related subjects to the table for discussion. “I’d like my blog to be the equivalent of a bunch of artists sitting around a bar or cafe shooting the shit. Expect 14 Deadstockmag.com

lots of questions and disagreement.” Some of the “shooting the shit” has sparked heated online debates, upset a New York gallery here and there, and even confronts the problems with Virginia Commonwealth University’s art department. “The biggest problem is that a single institution dominates. Am I the only artist living in Richmond that doesn’t either work for, or have a degree from VCU? Probably not, but it often feels that way. It isn’t easy to be here without that connection (funding, exhibition opportunities, job hookups). Artists move to Richmond to become better artists by enrolling in VCU, or to work for VCU. It all revolves around VCU.” To further his studies in art, Martin came to Richmond after 8 years in Japan. Impressed with VCU’s facilities and promises of funding he attended the VCU grad program, but became frustrated and dropped out after a year. “The school is probably both the single biggest asset AND the single biggest problem (I can’t say liability) for the art community in Richmond.” Uninspired by his experience he continued making art at home and started Anaba.

What kind of artwork inspires Bromirski enough to feature it on Anaba?

“Definitely the unexpected. Context is very important. Any medium (and I

like to think I’m fairly broad-minded) has to have a degree of care, even if that care was in trying to make something look sloppy or accidental…charming points that give life or soul to an otherwise uninteresting piece.” But Martin Bromirski doesn’t just communicate with words. He is also a visual artist who creates his thoughts using a vast array of mediums ranging from acrylic paint, colored sand, cut paper, thread, “It can be a struggle to get started, but then I really get into it. After awhile I may realize I’ve made a muddy mess... then I quit and have a beer. BUT, sometimes that mess looks great the next day. I always have a number of pieces going at once. Very rarely does it “just happen”…but sometimes it does!” Martin’s work ranges from abstract to a hint of story book illustration style, with some of the older work heavily influenced by both ancient and modern Japanese painting traditions. He spent his 8 years in Japan making art and teaching English and contributes the sites, sounds, and culture to still have an impact on him. While his more detailed and precise narrative work weaves an almost slow, subtle story, his abstract work conveys a more meditational mindset. “I think my emotional state becomes reflected in these pieces. Subconsciously. I’m not really thinking about anything with these paintings, except maybe the mood or feel

of someone else’s work I liked, and vague formal issues…moments of misery and elation.”

Since his arrival three years ago Martin has been excited about what he’s encountered with Richmond’s creative community. ”It seems as if there has been a lot of momentum. ADA Gallery opened a couple months before my August 2003 arrival; Nonesuch, Gallery5, Plant Zero, and Solvent Space have all opened since. Artist-run publications such as RVA, The Drama, Daily Constitutional, and numerous art blogs are certainly helping to create a buzz and give local artists a level of exposure they weren’t able to enjoy a few years ago. It is inspiring to know that there are a lot of talented people around doing things under the surface.” Bromirski believes that being an artist, part of an artistic community, and Anaba all go hand in hand. “Too many artists, including myself work really hard making artwork and creating. It feels good to have your work noticed and defeating when it is ignored. A few words, even criticisms, can mean a lot to an artist.” With Anaba, Martin wanted to create a space to showcase talented (and relatively underexposed) artwork to the masses. His mission is being accomplished, one click at a time.

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TODD HALE I’m not sure of the exact date of my first exposure to The Wizard of Oz, but I do know that Easter time meant that it was coming on TV. I was probably around four years old -- I have vivid memories of the anticipation of seeing it every Spring, and the fact that it was broadcast and unpausable, contributed to its ephemeral appeal. On the rounded glass of my family’s Zenith television it hovered in the same realm of the unreal as the bizarre stories of a man rising from the dead and giant rabbits sneaking around my house. All of the imagery of the season was seamlessly integrated into a single menacingly sweet fable. In any case, I was deeply affected by it all. It scared the hell out of me... and I loved it.

The experience forged a real appetite for the unusual that has remained in me. I began to chase this elusive dragon initially through drawing, attempting to commune with the notion of “the other” I had briefly

glimpsed. Novelty and confusion were desirable; representing “reality” was boring. The source of fear became less obvious and therefore more desirable. It was the mysterious dialogue I was giddily peeking over the garden wall at. The resulting limbo ultimately revealed to me the notion that to escape could mean running toward, and not away, from something. To disorient myself through art came to reaffirm an underlying suspicion: we’re not as smart as we think we are. By juxtaposing ideas and experimenting I was able to rebel against the inherited sense that we actually know what all “this” was. We don’t.

That is the potential of art, spirituality and technology. It is a tradition of shedding skin and walking into the abyss, laughing from the pit of your four year old soul all the way.

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18 THE OTHER SIDE

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Todd Hale <toddshale @ hotmail.com>

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22 THE OTHER SIDE

R.I.P. NANCI R AYGUN - 2003-2006 words: Paige Harbert

images : Ian M. Graham

When I moved to Richmond about five years ago, the doors of 929 West Grace Street were already shut. Along with other east-coasters, during the traveling heyday of my late teens and early twenties, regular visits through Richmond often involved patronage of Twisters, with the added bonus of the vegetarian buffet of Panda Garden a few doors down. By the time I became a resident myself, that time had passed. There was an awkward period in Richmond following the closing of the only mid-sized venue in town. The options to play a show if you were a small or relatively “known” band was to hit up your friends for a house show, or score a show at the now extinct bar, Hole In The Wall. If you were a band who had really made a name for yourself and it could be supposed that you could draw in a good 300-500 people, you set up shop at Alley Katz. Other than that, you were pretty screwed. Richmond trudged along and found alternative show spaces, like a then-gathering buzzed Cat Power playing an art galler,y or the up-and-coming Death Cab For Cutie playing at a gymnasium on the University of Richmond grounds. Awkwardly, Richmond limped on. There was a short lived attempt to resurrect the club, and then it silently shut down and went quiet again.

And then something happened: The dust shook off the doors of 929 West Grace Street. During the renovation of the new club reclaiming the spot, I wandered in to ask the new owners about possibly setting up some shows there. After a brief conversation, Ayndria Green looked around the club and said, “I want this to be a place for everybody.” The club opened shortly thereafter under the name Nanci Raygun. With determination, Ayndria and Sarah Borey set forth with the club as a new evolution of the space - against the intimidation of its own lineage that hosted now notorious acts such as Nirvana, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Jimmy Eat World, Butthole Surfers, and the Rollins Bands. With the new business sense developed in the world of underground music that was so absent in previous decades, the rules had changed. Bands demanded dizzying money guarantees, and the often intelligible legal jargon of contracts, and a new attitude of utilizing a “stepping stone” venue before” making it”, was in sharp contrast to the earlier days of a mid-sized venue. The reason why Nanci Raygun worked against a lot of odds is because it handled itself like a part of the community. It opened its arms to every type of underground music that approached it. Offering a space for weekly goth DJ nights, underground hip hop acts, street punk, indie rock, pop-punk, ska, metal, hardcore, experimental, and whatever inventive new band might be; they played there. They maintained an open stage policy for bands to play -- from the smallest touring bands from Oklahoma to

all locals shows to already extremely established national acts.

Nanci Raygun had become a part of the fabric of Richmond’s music scene over the years, with the best of intentions and genuine respect for the city where it resides.

It offered Richmonders a place to go, beyond just a place to see bands. It offered a place that felt like home. Closing its doors in September, its absence will be felt.

As unfortunate the ending of an era it will be, it will inarguably be interesting to see what Richmond does next. The city has been under an amazing spell over the last few years, with more revival of pride in the scene and more people standing up to share what they have to offer. Bands other than the previously established legends of Richmond nudged their way onto the stage claiming it theirs as well. Innovative records labels, distros, and collectives started popping up and taking command of helping musicians from their community out, like Robotic Empire, Perpetual Motion Machine, Patchwork Collective, Pop Faction, Triple Stamp Records, Hit/Play Promotions, 804Noise, Paper Street Info Shop, Gentle Collective, and more. With Punchline not around to cover what was going on anymore, Style Weekly became a reliable and involved part of print media for what was happening in Richmond. WRIR and the Bopst Show started giving people an alternative to the dribble that can normally be heard on various radio stations and allowing some of the best local music enthusiasts a platform to expose others to new music. WDCE also grew better and better at creating a consistently reliable source for people’s radio dials. People have opened their homes all over the Fan and Oregon Hill and Jackson Ward to have their friends and neighbors play in their living rooms, basements, backyards. Even art galleries, delis, restaurants, and bars have become involved to help us have a community with somewhere to go and to be heard.

This is yours. This is what is happening. It belongs to everyone who ever shows up for a show, starts playing music in their basement with their friends, buys a seven inch from the local band, anything. You are a part of this.

Nanci Raygun will be missed. From the shenanigans of Municipal Waste slinging entire pizzas into the audience (and then eating them), to the mesmerizing quietness of Anousheh Khalili casting a spell on dumbfounded watchers, to the people throwing their hands in the air while dancing as the DJs do their thing; we say goodbye. With the amazement of the Aquabats launching 8-year-old girls into the audience to crowd surf into the arms of their giddy fathers, to the home away from home sway of Lucero taking stage and stealing hearts, to the overwhelmed faces watching Avail perform acoustic to ageless fans, we say goodbye. It is with a heavy heart we say farewell to Nanci Raygun and thank them for the years and memories alongside that they have given us.

THE OTHER SIDE 23

Against Me, Rise Against, The Casualties, Bouncing Souls, andSaves the Day amongst many others. And what Warped Tour would be complete with out NOFX? This year’s tour in Bristow, VA also featured a set from Talib Kewli. It was Kewli’s only show on the two-month tour. Lots of other Warped bands packed the stage to watch as Kewli and his DJ rocked the crowd as one of the only hip-hop acts on the tour.

I made my way through the crowds of dehydrated teens, punks and hipsters, through the perfectly quaffed bed heads, black eyeliner, striped knee socks and Mohawks all the way back stage to chat with some of Warped Tour’s most anticipated performers.

AGAINST ME Warren Oakes - Drums Andrew Seward – Bass

I stood with these charming Gainesville, FL folk-punks in a light drizzle

VINCELLI & DOSSON at the 2006 WARPED TOUR On a rainy Thursday in August, Warped Tour stormed Virginia’s Nissan Pavilion. Thousands of skaters and concertgoers, mostly teenagers and their moms, packed in to watch about 100 bands play on ten different stages for a half an hour each. Warped Tour started in 1995 by music industry guru Kevin Lyman as a punk and extreme sports tour, and exploded into one of the biggest annual summer tours in the US and Canada. The Tour is two months long usually in the hottest part of the summer. Tour dates in other cities even sent concert goers to clinics for heat stroke and dehydration.

The tour also features Tent World where bands and clothiers hawk their wears and merch. Activist and charity organizations were also a large part of Tent World. PETA2, 1-800-Suicide, Plea for Peace, the One Campaign, Punk Voter, Skate 4 Cancer, Boarding for Breast Cancer and tons of others were there educating passers by.

This year the tour featured some of the biggest names in punk and rock music. Headliners this year included Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, 24 THE OTHER SIDE

outside of a catering tent behind the Volcom Stage. The two we upbeat and playful. It was a pretty refreshing chat given the dreary mood set by the weather earlier in the day. I’d keep an eye on this band if I were you.

Recently signed to Sire Records, Against Me just put out a new release/ DVD on Fat Wreck Chords, Americans Abroad!!! Live in London!!! on August 22. According to their website they’ve just released a new 12” on Fat Wreck as well for the song “From Her Lips To God’s Ears (The Energizer)” with a remix from Beastie Boy Adrock and apparently, Steak Mtn is doing the cover art. Check it out.

Lauren Vincelli: This is your first Warped Tour, how is it?

Andrew Seward: I love it and I hate it all at the same time. I know that’s a contradiction but it’s absolutely true. Sometimes I’m like ‘oh this is the best barbecue I’ve ever been to’ and sometimes I’m like ‘man, I gotta fuckin’ go home.’

LV: Is this the longest tour you’ve ever been on?

AS: No. We did a tour in the fall, a 50 state tour and we literally played Alaska and Hawaii and we did some other stuff at the end of it, a couple festivals, and we went into Canada as well. We were gone for about three and a half months straight or four months straight.

Warren Oakes: We started at the end of August. And we got home-AS: December 19th.

LV: What’s Warped Tour like after the concerts are all over?

AS: just a bunch of people getting drunk. Every night’s a carbon copy of the same. There are barbecues. There’s always a barbecue band that does it every night unless there’s a super early band call or bus call.

WO: There’s special event’s every once and a while, a birthday party celebrated, a kick ball game here and there. People try to make it a little festive, try to break up the Groundhog Day-sian nature of it.

AS: But it just ends up with everyone getting really drunk. That’s the final.

WO: Except for all those people who don’t drink AS: They’re just watching TV. LV: How’s the food on Warped Tour?

AS: It’s good. I haven’t lost weight on tour.

WO: I think the people that work and are involved in this catering operation are probably working harder that anybody else out here. They’re get-

26 THE OTHER SIDE

ting out super early on a hot day, in a hot parking lot and setting up a hot kitchen and then cooking all damn day for 900 people. Mad Respect. They keep a good variety. Much love for these catering folks.

LV: How long have you been playing music?

WO: I started playing drums when I was 15 years old. I kinda thought it was too late for me to pick up an instrument at that point, because everyone I knew that played guitar or something had already been playing for a couple years. They were all still pretty bad, I kind of found people that I could play music with that weren’t too competent, that I wasn’t holding them back. (laughs) AS: I was 12 years old. I’ve always just played bass since I was 12.

LV: How has the music industry changed since you first became a part of it?

WO: I wouldn’t even know. I don’t know that we were ever really a part of the music industry so to speak. Our experience has constantly been changing. In the first 14 bands I played in like one of them played in a proper venue, the rest was like guerilla shows and house parties and stuff like that, touring and just making our own demo tapes and stuff. I don’t know if you could really say we were part of the music industry. I guess on the grassroots level I guess it’s all connected somehow.

AS: It’s a learn-as-you-go process.

LV: What have you learned so far?

AS: That it’s very dirty.

WO: And also I think the most important thing to remember: It’s supposed to be fun. It’s really supposed to be fun. For us it’s still really satisfying. If you can do it right and don’t get distracted it’s the best way to scratch that existential itch. Just create music with your friends. Nothing beats it.

AS: Itch. I like this example.

LV: Is there anything else you want people in Richmond, VA to know about you?

AS: I think they already know this, but Richmond is a lovely city, filled with lovely people, and I’m not just saying that. We have a lot of friends from there. My older brother was born there. What’s up Matt.

WO: We have big love for Richmond. There’s a lot of cross-pollination between Gainesville and Richmond.

LV: There really is. I once heard someone say that everyone from Gainesville should be an honorary Richmonder.

WO: I treat it that way every time I visit the lovely city. (smiles) LV: What are some secrets about Andrew Seward?

WO: Well, He’s a totally big video game and comic book dork. Super nerd.

AS: What’d I do?

LV: Do you have any secrets on Warren?

AS: He needs a leash for his cell phone, one of those kitty collars. That’s not a secret, I tell him that every day.

WO: I just lost it a couple days ago.

AS: I won’t let him live it down.

R ISE AGAINST Joe Principe - Bass

Rise Against formed in 1999 in Chicago, with several ex-members of 88 Fingers Louie. After some member changes, a few albums on Fat Wreck Chords and extensive touring the band made the switch to Geffen Records.

In August 2004 the band made their major-label debut in with Siren Song of the Counter Culture. The band’s hard work paid off and they were getting noticed. In 2004 the band even saw a spot on the Billboard top 200 and in 2005 the band had a cameo in the skater flick Lords of Dogtown. The band’s newest album The Sufferer and the Witness (Geffen, July 2006) peaked at number 10 on the Billboard top 200 but that is only one measure of their success. The group has remained true to their activist attitude with ties to PunkVoter.com, PETA, 1-800-Suicide and more.

Joe Principe is a founding member and bass player for Chicago-based punk rock band Rise Against. I took a few moments to talk to Principe in the rain at this years Van’s Warped Tour date at the Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA. With just three dates on the tour left, the band planned to take a quick break before beginning an extensive European/North American tour with friends and Warped Tour mates, Thursday until December 7th.

LV: How long have you been on Warped Tour?

Joe Principe: Since June 13th. We have three shows left. We’re ready to go home. We’ve done it twice before.

LV: How does this years’ Warped Tour compare to others?

JP: It’s a lot different being on the main stage. It’s a lot easier. When you’re on a smaller stage you have to wheel your equipment across parking lots and then back to your trailer. When you’re on the main stage all the gear rides on a semi truck that’s parked right behind the stage.

LV: Other than the technicalities like that how is it different?

JP: We have a bigger fan base now, so that just makes it that much better.

It’s harder when you’re trying to win people over when you’re starting. It’s just a little bit easier over all.

LV: Since you’ve moved on from winning people over what is your goal as a

band now?

JP: I guess we’re still winning people over. Just to keep doing what we’re doing. I think this band has a slow and steady incline and we want to keep it that way. We don’t want like, this quick jump in popularity. We’re just trying to go slow and steady.

LV: Can you tell me about your latest release?

JP: The new album’s called The Sufferer and the Witness. I think it’s by far our strongest record that we’ve written. It’s something that we’re really proud of, so hopefully people check it out.

LV: What makes this record so strong compared to other releases?

JP: Song structure wise it’s the most fluid. I think the whole record has a really nice flow to it. We always have aggressive songs and pop songs—I just fell like we matured as a band. We really grew together and I think it shows on the record.

LV: When did you first become a part of the music industry?

JP: I first started playing in bands when I was 15, I don’t know if that counts. I started touring when I was 18, I guess that’s technically considered a part of that, so I guess when I was in high school.

LV: How do you think the music industry has changed since you first became a part of it?

JP: I think it’s way more accepted, with bands like Blink182 and now Fallout Boy, it’s like they put a punk—Fallout Boy puts a punk tag on it but

to me that’s just straight Pop music. I think that’s made it more acceptable, you know. I kind of have mixed feelings about it I guess.

LV: Are you offended that bands like that are calling their music “Punk?”

JP: I’m kind of indifferent. By “Punk” being more accepted I think it gives bands like us more of a chance to be heard. I’d much rather people hear what [Rise Against], or Anti-Flag or even Bad Religion has to say than what Fallout Boy is singing about. I think it puts us more in the mainstream as far as that’s concerned, like, lyrical content and stuff.

LV: Is there anything you want Richmond, Virginia to know about you?

JP: Umm. I miss Twisters, and we like Strike Anywhere.

THE SOUNDS

Fredrik Nilsson – Drums The Sounds hail from Helsingborg, Sweden. With infectious pop hooks and sexy lyrics, they were the perfect new-wave-electro-dance-synthpop-punk-hyphen-additions to this years Van’s Warped Tour. This is their second Warped Tour.

image courtesy of New Line Records

In addition to looking exactly like a young Debbie Harry, (although she doesn’t pack quite the punch lyrically) you may know The Sounds’ singer Maja Ivarsson from her cameo in the Cobra Starship song “Snakes on a Plane (Bring It)”. Cobra Starship is the side project of Gabe Saporta (Midtown), which also features Travis McCoy (Gym Class Heroes), and William Beckett (The Academy Is...) whose bands were also on Warped Tour this year. This isn’t the first time The Sounds’ music was featured in cinema.

Their songs “Living in America” and “Rock ‘n Roll” were featured in the movie Final Destination 2. They have also had several songs featured in ads and video games.

The short, svelte frontwoman, Ivarsson, was present at the press room and sporting her signature heavy, dark eye make-up and a Euro-mullet in a shade of blonde that only a Swedish girl can pull off. However I had the pleasure of speaking with The Sounds’ handsome, and straightforward, drummer, Frederik Nilsson. After Warped Tour, The Sounds will be touring in Europe until the end of September in support of their latest release Dying to Say This to You. Fredrik Nilsson: I’m in a bad mood because I was unaware of this interview. It’s not easy having a relationship when you’re always on the road.

28 THE OTHER SIDE

I was just about to try to call my girlfriend for third time and he keeps coming “You have to do this interview.” It’s like what the fuck, and I was just over here and our bus—it takes like ten minutes to walk over there.

Lauren Vincelli: Well thanks for taking the time to come and talk with me.

You can tell your girlfriend it’s my fault.

FN: I know it’s not your fault.

LV: This is your second time on Warped Tour right? You guys were here about two years ago?

FN: Yeah. Two years ago.

LV: How does this compare to your first warped tour?

FN: Actually it’s pretty much the same. It’s almost the same line up as well. A lot of the bands that were here two years ago are here today as well. Two years ago we did the first half of the tour and now we do the second half. It’s kind of like the same tour, we just took two years off. It’s good.

LV: Are you guys a little different in the Warped Tour hierarchy this year?

FN: Well the good thing about this tour is that it doesn’t really have a hierarchy. Everyone gets to play a half an hour set. Everyone gets one case of beer. Everyone needs to get in line for their food and stuff like that. I think that we’re a band that really sticks out from the other bands. I think the fans, and all the other bands too, really appreciate that a lot.

LV: What makes you think you guys stick out so much?

FN: We don’t sound like all the other bands. We have a lot of keyboards.

There’s a couple bands here that have female singers—female frontpersons but not that many.

LV: When you guys write songs you always write them in English. Why not write songs in your native language?

FN: Because you want to reach as many people as possible. Writing in Swedish is—I wouldn’t say boring—but it’s much harder than writing in English. The grammar is not that well suited for singing. It’s hard to write in Swedish. I think only a few people can really pull it off well.

LV: Anyone in particular come to mind?

FN: There’s a big Swedish band called Kent who sing in Swedish and another one…

LV: Do you guys live in the United States now?

FN: No. We still live in Sweden. I still live in my home town actually, which is pretty small.

LV: I’m going to try really hard to say this correctly. You guys are from Helsingborg, Sweden, right?

FN: Pretty good. Yeah. That’s where we live.

LV: Can you tell me a little bit about your home town?

FN: Yeah. It’s about 120,000 people. It’s right at sea, so you can see Denmark near the side. It only takes about 20 minutes with the ferries back and forth. So when we were kids we used to go there a lot of times because when I was growing up they didn’t have an age limit for drinking in Denmark, so you could go there and drink or whatever and come back.

Now the age limit is 15.

LV: Still pretty low compared to the states.

FN: Yeah. It’s a nice little town. It’s pretty—I wouldn’t say boring, but it’s pretty quiet. It’s great in the summer it’s kind of boring the winter, but that’s kind of what I need when I get home after being on the road for several months. I want something small and boring.

LV: What’s your favorite city in the United States?

FN: New York. New York has everything.

LV: Have you seen a big change in the music industry since you first became a part of it?

FN: Yeah. I would say so. I guess since we started, all of this thing with downloading music wasn’t really happening because Internet was just some kids with dial-up, which wasn’t really good for downloading songs. I guess a lot of stuff happened on that side of the music business, but also, I guess the musical climate changes. When we released our first album here in the states in 2003 I think both fans and critics thought it was maybe a bit early, a little bit too soon. I think now it is somewhat more caught up with us again.

LV: Do think the way that the Internet is affecting the music industry is a good thing?

FN: I think it’s a good thing for bands but it’s a really bad thing for record labels at the moment because they’re the ones getting screwed. For bands it’s a good thing, especially for unsigned bands and smaller bands it’s a good thing.

LV: I get the impression that when you guys first came, you were questioning being in America and Americans in general. Do you still feel questionable about Americans?

FN: No, I don’t think we questions America or Americans at all. I think it’s about the song called “Living in America” Some people might see it as an anti-America song but it’s really about us. We like America. We like Sweden; we just don’t like Sweden becoming America. Sweden should be Sweden and America should be America. We don’t need to bring all of your culture over to all of our culture. ‘Cause we have a culture of our own.

LV: What is something about you and the Sounds that we don’t know but maybe we should?

THE OTHER SIDE 29

FN: I don’t know. I’m all blank. I probably haven’t showered in four days.

SAVES THE DAY

Chris Conley: vocals, guitar I joined Chris Conley, singer of Saves the Day, in a dark corner of the tiny press room at the Nissan Pavilion about a half an hour or so before their electric set.. Cameras flashed and other recoding devices whirred in other interviews as I managed to sneak in a few questions of one of pop-punks most loved and criticized front men.

Conley was sporting a sweaty, hot pink hair-do and sipping something out of a large mug. His voice was slow and steady and he spoke as if he was a little tired. I found that just one day at Warped Tour is exhausting, and with just three dates left on the two month mega tour at the time of our chat I couldn’t blame him for seeming a little road-worn.

Lauren Vincelli: Why don’t you tell us a little about this tour and how it has been for you guys so far?

Chris Conley: It’s been a lot of fun. It’s like a nice communal vibe. There’s a lot of bands that we would never get the chance to tour with that have been a lot of fun being with, making friends with new bands and stuff. It’s just a nice atmosphere. Everybody’s on the same level; there’s no rock stars and the shows have been fun.

LV: You guys are playing two sets on Warped Tour, an electric set and an acoustic set. Why two sets?

CC: We’ve been doing that every day. ‘Cause we did the first day and we had so much fun doing the acoustic set that we asked if we could do it everyday so they kindly allowed us the opportunity.

LV: What’s so different about the acoustic set?

CC:I think it’s a more intimate vibe so… I think our personalities come across more ‘cause we’re just being ourselves, you know? When we do the electric set we get up there and we just pound it out. We just try to rock our hardest. And when we’re at the acoustic show we’re not trying to rock, we’re just having fun so it’s very laid back. We play the songs in a kind of different arrangement then we would on the main stage and it’s a lot more sparse and so it’s fun, it’s loose.

LV: So you guys have been on Warped Tour before, how is this different?

CC: Well we did a week of Warped Tour in 2000, six years ago, and that was it. We did one week. That was in Texas and Tennessee, so it was hard to get a feel for what the tour was like. This has been a lot of fun for us. It 30 The RVA /Gallery5 Halloween Party

seems like a bit of a summer camp. Like every year all these bands get together and just hang out. Play a half an hour a day; most bands play a half an hour a day, and then the show’s over and there’s barbecues and stuff.

It’s just a nice atmosphere every night.

LV: When did you first start playing music?

CC: I started playing cello when I was six and then played for seven years and then picked up an acoustic guitar when I was thirteen.

LV: How do you think the music industry has changed since you first became a part of it?

CC: Oh. it’s so different now. There wasn’t MySpace when we first started.

Bands would make tapes. You’d get to make a tape and you’d have to save up five hundred dollars to go into a studio to make a tape and nobody had CDs unless you had a record deal. You didn’t have CDs. Now-a-days everybody’s got a CD. Everyone’s got a hundred thousand MySpace friends.

Promotion is just different these days and when we first started you had to rely on word of mouth. To sound old fashioned, you’d go play your show and if nobody liked you there’s no way to contact them on the computer to bug them to listen to you. You had to either win them over or piss them off.

There have just been drastic changes.

LV: Do you think those changes are good or are they kind of flooding the

market?

CC: I think it’s good and bad because people can be exposed to a lot more new music but there’s a greater percentage of crap. So, it’s a trade off.

LV: How do people separate the two?

CC: I guess it’s a matter of opinion at the end of the day. I don’t know what we have that other people offer. I’d say we’re very honest. We’re not trying to be anything that we’re not.

LV: You guys have changed a lot since you first started. How would you best describe the changes?

CC: Well it’s really heard to explain. I don’t know if you’ve heard all of our records, but they change so drastically from one to the next so it’s hard to say that we’ve gone from point A to point B. It’s really point A to point B to point C to point D, E and so on and so forth. I wouldn’t know how to say ‘we’ve changed from this to this,’ but we’ve just been growing as people and learning a lot from our experiences on the road and successes and failures in the industry. Our music just seems to reflect that personal evolution.

LV: Would you say the fans have responded to the changes?

CC: It seems like each record -- when it first comes out -- people ask, ‘why doesn’t it sound like the last record?’ and then a year later when we come out with the next record they say ‘why doesn’t it sound like the last record?’ When the last record came out they wanted that to sound like the one before. It’s just the way it goes. With our last record there was a lot of expectation and it didn’t meet the expectation so a lot of our fan base didn’t accept it. And now, we made a new record, and this one came out and half our fan base is saying ‘This doesn’t sound like In Reverie.’ Well when In Reverie came out nobody liked it. When our second record came out Though Being Cool , everybody said, ‘why doesn’t it sound like Can’t Slow Down? Why aren’t you playing the fast beat anymore? What’s wrong with you? Why are you changing?” And nowadays we put out records and everybody says ‘why doesn’t it sound like Through Being Cool ?’ But when Through Being Cool came out they didn’t want it to sound like that, so…

LV: Have you just come to expect that from fans now?

CC: Yeah it’s inevitable. We can’t please everybody, so we’re just trying to write music that is fun for us to play. We just try to hope that all the hype and expectations fade away and seven years later people love Through Being Cool and they didn’t like it when it came out. That’s just what we try to hold on to and have faith.

words: Travis Becker

image: R. Anthony Harris

Seated in a booth at the back of McCormack’s Irish Pub, Erik Larson looks every inch a rock star. Tattoos cover his arms and hands, while the long hair cascading over his shoulders, along with a gigantic beard, obscure much of his face, except for a pair of piercing pale green eyes.

Gazing down at his inked appendages, he estimates he has around ten and a half hours left to complete the sleeves on each of his arms, a feat he’d like to accomplish before the birth of his first child. He’ll be working the door at McCormack’s within the hour, one of the four jobs he works to support his family and still play the music that forms his passion.

Ask any of the starving musicians in Richmond how hard it is to “make it.” Erik Larson could tell them a little about it. After spending almost ten years behind the drum kit for Richmond punk success story, Avail, Larson walked away in 1999 to pursue a new band and a new musical direction in Stoner Rock and Southern Metal mainstays, Alabama Thunderpussy. Larson left a sure thing in Avail, the ability to live off of music, in order to make the music he most wanted to make. He reasons, “Yeah, I had health insurance. Yeah, I was going to all these crazy countries playing shows, and I enjoyed playing the shows and I enjoyed the people in the band I was with, but…it was a job.”

Musically he began to drift apart from his band mates and the punk rock sound of Avail. “I was always kinda the underground metal guy…it just made sense for me to bow out rather than continue in a band that wasn’t musically inspiring to me at the time.” Since leaving Avail, Larson has been able to explore every aspect of his musical tastes in a myriad of different bands. From the southern-tinged bluesy hard rock and metal of his main gig in ATP to his latest project, a death metal supergroup of sorts called the Birds of Prey, Larson remains one of the most hardworking musicians in Richmond with or without his guitar.

Birds of Prey represented a chance for Larson to work with several local musicians, including Bo Leslie, formerly of Throttlerod, and Dave Witte of Municipal Waste, within the framework of a band that embodied his own musical tastes very closely. Seizing the opportunity, Larson began to seriously work on the project after ATP’s most recent tour in the

summer of 2005. Dubbed “death and roll” by the band’s label, Relapse Records, a tribute to Larson’s own favorite band, Entombed, Birds of Prey unleash the speed and aggression of death metal but maintain some semblance of a rock groove. Larson smiles just talking about “Mr. Witte’s amazingly fast blast beats,” in reference to the rapid fire drum parts that pepper the group’s debut, Weight of the Wound .

But in the midst of Birds of Prey’s ascension into the ranks of death metal legend, Alabama Thunderpussy suffered a setback in losing their singer and bass player following their tour in support of Corrosion of Conformity in July of 2005. Larson, a serious countenance overtaking his features, speaks candidly about his feelings towards former singer, Johnny Weills. “I am still very pissed at that man and we will have words if not other things when I find him again.” Citing the singer’s drug addiction, he adds, “The Johnny Weills that joined the band was not the Johnny Weills that left the band for obvious reason, drugs being the main one.”

The band, after already soldiering through turnover in vocalists of almost Spinal Tap like proportions, took the loss in stride and has already found a replacement in Kyle Thomas, the New Orleans-based former Exhorder singer. Excited at the prospect of ATP’s first “classically trained singer,” Larson raves, “He can hit all the notes that Rob Halford can hit.”

With many of the songs for a new album mostly written, Larson expects a new release from ATP in March of 2007, once Thomas finishes writing they lyrics and recording the vocal parts with the band this fall.

Also written is a third solo offering from Larson. Having released two solo projects, 2003’s The Resounding and 2005’s Faith, Hope, Love through Detroit’s Small Stone Records, Larson has finished a third album musically. The record awaits only the money to get the recording done. “You know, the last one I spent five grand on, and the one before that was about the same, around five or seven, and that’s a lot of money that I have to front myself.” Because he does not tour to support the solo albums, Small Stone provides little money to get the record done, acting primarily as an avenue to release the record. Asked why he doesn’t tour for the solo material, Larson concludes that “the solo stuff is pretty much about everything being exactly the way I want it as opposed to a THE OTHER SIDE 33

band dynamic,” and that “ [to tour] I’d have to put a band together and deal with four other people.”

Larson has also recorded with Richmond Sludge Metal band Kilara, Doom Metal group, the Mighty Nimbus, and the drum-oriented project, Axehandle, which also features Bryan Cox and Ryan Lake of Alabama Thunderpussy. With such a busy schedule, Larson stays plugged into the Richmond music scene which, he says, “ebbs and flows,” and which he believes “ [is] pretty fucking good right now.” Larson considers Richmond a great city in which to play music, partly due to the large community of musicians who live and work here. “You could throw a rock anywhere and hit a musician in this town.” He likens the scene somewhat to London in the sixties, where a large group of players all interacted with one another.

In the more than fifteen years Larson has been playing music in Richmond, he has seen the population grow and with it the music scene.

[Back then] “you really had very few places to play. Now, it’s just a lot more venues and a lot more diversity in the musical styles.” That growth, in addition to the trails blazed by Avail, has helped to open the door for many more bands to be able to tour. “Now the circuit is so much easier with the whole Internet revolution and everything. I remember having to pick up the phone everyday…it was a real pain in the ass.”

Larson has grown up in the Richmond music scene. Joining Avail at 18 years old, and touring since 1991, Erik Larson has spent his entire adult life touring and recording in and around Richmond, not to mention the bands in which he played throughout high school and junior high. Fondly remembering an early Avail tour in Florida in 91, he reminisces, “I kinda laugh, that was the first out of town trip for Avail. We’re going down to Florida for two shows! We’re going on tour! Where years later you go out for seven to eight weeks, that’s a tour.”

Of course, Avail is famous for the references they include to Richmond in their songs and albums. Larson chocks up that loyalty, seen in Avail and many other bands in the city, ATP included (their last album, Fulton Hill, is named for a Richmond neighborhood), to the environment created 34 THE OTHER SIDE

by the many musicians in it. “No one really gives a shit who you are,” he laughs, “there’s not that star struckness about it, and that makes it a comfortable place to be a musician and grow in that.”

Besides Death Metal, Larson tempers his musical palate with some “singer/songwriter, folk stuff, like Elliott Smith who’s a big favorite of mine.” Larson covered the Smith tune, “Say Yes” on Faith, Hope, Love .

Don’t expect an album of acoustic ballads from Erik Larson anytime soon, though. “For the last three or four years, I’ve been getting older, I find I’m not mellowing. I need more anger, more aggression in my music for it to be inspiring.” Listening to primarily Death Metal and Crusty Punk, Larson may be the heaviest influence in any of the many bands he’s in.

As for what level of success desires for ATP, after leaving a comfortable gig with Avail, Larson responds, “Being able to live off of the band would awesome because then I wouldn’t have to get up in the morning hung-over and have to go to work.” Still, he says, noting the “fickle” music industry, “The problem with that is to do it takes so much time, and so much time away from home.” With or without the money, Larson maintains, “all I ever really want to do is put out quality music that other people’s lives will be enriched by.”

Even in the face of four jobs and countless bands, Erik Larson’s enthusiasm for the music he is able to create drives him. He’ll continue creating some of the heaviest, most honest music to come out of Richmond, “even if it’s just where I’m working ten jobs and taking care of the family and becoming a weekend warrior.” Candid and real, Larson has no illusions of rock star grandeur. “I always kind of looked at it like, I’m just a dude who’s fortunate enough to do what I do and it doesn’t make me any different or better because I choose to pursue my passion and my passion happens to be entertainment.” We should all be so lucky.

Birds of Prey will play select dates in support of their July 25th release, Weight of the Wound , in October, schedules of the band members permitting. At least one date will likely be set aside for McCormack’s at N 18th Street in Shockoe Bottom.

4.75x2.75rva

8/23/06

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36 THE OTHER SIDE

S TRIKE A NYWHERE

Having loved Strike Anywhere since first hearing Chorus Of One , it’s incredible to have seen them grow both in popularity and musical spirit over the years. I connected with the lead vocalist Thomas recently to discuss their new album, his history in our beloved city, and the best show Richmond could offer if we all owned time machines...

words: Sean Patrick Rhorer images: Chris Lacroix

Sean Patrick Rhorer: The new record, Dead FM , features a number of songs apparently influenced by Strike Anywhere predominantly being a Richmond-based band. How has this city influenced your band? How has it influenced the writing for this record in particular?

Thomas: Richmond always has hidden stories to tell. The monolithic and amoral Tobacco Industry, the frustratingly complacent mainstream press, often absurd politics and media that pass for culture in Richmond is only a brittle shell with many cracks. All you gotta do is push sometimes and it breaks. There has been a lovely, long legacy of mad artists, activists, and people of conscience operating alongside the aristocratic corruption, and class exclusion that passes for the poisoned discourse of our city’s bright lights. In the shadows of these is where her heart is: the footsteps of Gabriel Prosser, Elizabeth Van Lew, heretics, dreamers, insurrectionists, people of vision and soul.

Late night skateboarding in the ghostly emptiness of the financial district, running down cobblestone streets from police, marching on Dr. King’s birthday with the Coalition for The Living Wage, rescuing abused and abandoned animals in Church Hill, planting community gardens, playing basement shows, swimming the dirty river, and thirty years of finding inspiration for a lifetime that travels light, and nourishes wherever you go - that’s what Richmond has given me, my friends, and I suspect, a lot of folks I haven’t met yet.

Dead FM not only has our most specifically historic Richmond songs ( chronicling moments of its classical rebel history, as well as anecdotes about growing up in the late eighties Punk scene) but also maybe one of our most Richmond sounding songs we’ve finally finished writing. One that got started with acoustic guitars on the porch of a Fan apartment in 1997.

SPR: This new album marks a change in label for Strike Anywhere. What led to moving from Jade Tree to Fat Wreck Chords?

Thomas: We had initially worked with Fat on a seven inch of the month club single in 2001. Then we put out three LPs on Jade Tree, of which we are very proud and have much respect for our friends at that label. Now we will put out a full length with Fat Wreck Chords and continue to visit them when we pass through San Francisco on our tours. The people at Fat have been enthusiastic, charming, and leave us alone to do our thing in the same community that we have always operated in. We have enjoyed the ratcheting up of their political inTHE OTHER SIDE 37

tensity, and the issue-based projects that they are dedicated to. It seems like a fine partnership, and we hold fast to our continuity and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t buy into the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;different label - different scene â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; anachronism that some folks may still fool themselves with. We feel like the folks who work at Fat have a passion for political punk in this particular era in America that we are all dealing with. There is a lot of commitment from them to promote and distribute the record aggressively, but with the Independent Punk Rock ethic secured, and celebrated. We like this.

They seem to understand our band very well, and seek to maximize the exposure of new and old fans to Dead FM . All of this is on our terms, with sensitivity and insight into new creative and counter-culturally appropriate ways to get these songs and ideas across to more people worldwide.

We all still work jobs when home between tours, and live in the same places (Myself in Portland, Smith in Baltimore, Sherwood out at Penlen, and Eric and Garth still holding it down in Richmond). We are just a little more excited and busy with anticipating and preparing to tour for this new record. With Fat it feels like a creative partnership, as well as a great record label family. Avail, Smoke or Fire, we roll deep in RVA. SPR: Richard Minino of New Mexican Disaster Squad did the artwork for the new album, which looks really cool. Did you give him any ideas to work with or just sort of free reign? How do you feel with the result?

Also, why the switch to a digipak this time around?

Thomas: Richard is a genius with an innovative design sense who somehow preserves a sense of continuity with what we feel is still neat about a punk record. Not to be too bold, but I think you can draw a line from our record art to CRASS, Cock Sparrer, posterized agitprop, and Dali. He loves color, mythic animals, and tweaking images until you are at some wild crossroads between protest imagery, situationist symbology, and phatasmagoric aesthetics. We trip out on his ideas and are always surprised and interested in his work. He knows us all pretty well, still likes us, which is a miracle, and works closely with us on ideas, getting a hold of lyrics and songs sometimes before they are fully recorded in order to 38 THE OTHER SIDE

start his creative insights. He’s also a hell of a good drummer and in an excellent band.

The digipak allows for more surface, and is a plastic-free way to package a Compact Disc, where the art is uninterrupted, and there is no wasted space or distracting utility. I guess it feels more book-like, and that the music and its housing are a part of a whole cloth. Plus, its a greener way to mass produce a piece of art.

SPR: Having been involved in Richmond’s punk/hardcore scene for years, what positive changes do you see currently taking place? What negative changes have you witnessed over the years?

Thomas: I think there are a lot of committed, intelligent and friendly new kids in the scene, if our Summer video shoot / Fulton Gas Works generator party was any indication. There is a lot of heart and kindness in many of the little kingdoms of the Richmond Punk / Hardcore community. There is also the recurring, cyclical issue of violence and the tension of big small town boredom occasionally subtracting from the overall positivity and solidarity that we’ve been honored by in our seven years. What’s pretty great about Richmond though, and one of the many things that distinguishes its counterculture from other, larger cities, is the presence of several ‘half generations’ of punk/hardcore kids at shows and events. People in our city, for whatever reason, seem to hold on to their passion for music, the group catharsis and a place where liberating ideas get traction, and gain momentum. I see people from the first and second punk generations at some shows still, and the teeming twenty-somethings who now feel old and amused by the raging still-adolescents refreshing everyone’s commitment, and making some of the same mistakes. There does, most importantly, seem to be a lot of women with leadership roles in the scene, and although there seems to be more now than ever, there has always been an optimistically disporportionate number of active women gluing this community together and kicking ass.

recognizing a great deal of common ground: the idea that minimal, quiet, heartfelt songs are the best way to protest a status quo which commodifies dissent and spares no expense in every bloodless, superficial marketing artifice of loud, theatrical, self deluded, and pre-packaged rage. Richmond has a lot of gifted songwriters, playing guitar and telling their stories in basements and on porches. There’s somebody doing it right now.

SPR: If you could put together one all-time greatest show to typify the best Richmond has ever had to offer, who would play?

Thomas: Wow. This is gonna be a very subjective answer to a very cool question. You should put this to more people and see what everyone comes up with. I guess, drawing from my own limited and historically specific (1987-present) time in the clubs, houses, and backyards of Richmond, SOME of the bands I’d like to see all play together to be the Show At The End Of The World would include: Alter-Natives, Burma Jam, Born Against, Young Pioneers, Action Patrol, White Cross, Four Walls Falling, GWAR (of course), Sordid Doctrine, Human Rights (HR), ButterGlove, BreadWinner, Josh Small, Drunk, Spokane, Maximillian Colby, Unseen Force, Kal Kan, Gregor Samsa, The Silent Type, Eucharist, 400 Years, Flannel, Shatter, Awareness Arts Ensemble, D’Angelo, Mr. Wiggles, Bill Robinson, Dika Newlan, House Of Freaks, The Lighthouse Man, First Five Thru, Avail.

SPR: Any final comments or suggestions for RVA Magazine readers?

Thomas: Thanks for your support and good times for the past seven years, its been our pleasure and honor to be a part of this community, to be welcomed home each time we play, and to share our travels and ideas. There is a wealth of creativity and heart in this city, enough to push out the parasites, organize for justice, and build a fairer future.

Increase the pressure, stay positive, never give up.

Also, something really interesting that has happened in recent times has been the grassroots folk music tradition and punk coming together, THE OTHER SIDE 39

rehashing of old ideas.

Have Heart also present some of the most www.bridge9.com heartfelt hardcore lyrics I’ve heard in For the longest time, I a long time. A great After seeing The Draft dismissed Have Heart release that should be play a couple of rather based on the name unimpressive shows given a chance despite alone, which should opening for Avail, I pre-conceived notions wasn’t sure this album have been my first about this band.- S. P. hint I’d eventually love Rhorer would do much for them. I mistakenly me. Having grown thought they were just NEW HAMPSHIRE up in Florida with Hot Water Music as a staple another generic mod- STATE MOTTO band, I really want The ern hardcore band.

TURN UP THE SUCK Instead, Have Heart Draft to continue that www.newhampshire recall the ‘90s hardtradition, yet it seems statemotto.com core sound I personthat the loss of Chuck ally miss a great deal. One of the things I love Ragan also took from At times sounding the group a good deal about Virginia is the of their sincerity. Nev- like Strife, at others plethora of good bands almost hitting on a ertheless, In A Million that seem to constantPieces actually pulls Birthright type vibe, ly pop up. Virginia through with some cool these Massachusetts Beach’s New Hampsongs, albeit nothboys wear their influ- shire State Motto have ing as classic as their ences on their sleeves been making a name previous endeavor. - S. without being a simple for themselves down THE DRAFT IN A MILLION PIECES EPITAPH RECORDS www.epitaph.com

P. Rhorer

40 THE OTHER SIDE

HAVE HEART

THE THINGS WE CARRY BRIDGE NINE RECORDS

that way with their brand of SoCal-esque punk ala No Use For A Name and Lagwagon.

This self-released full length features their fast-paced and catchy songwriting, as well as some cool socio-political lyrics. Hopefully they’ll make it up to Richmond for some shows. - S. P. Rhorer LANDMINES LANDMINES POPFACTION RECORDS

My first encounter with Landmines was seeing them live. It was at a show I just happened to end up at because I was bored, and I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular from an opening band that I

had never heard of.

Therefore, I was even more shocked when I saw just how good they were. From their songwriting style to their live sound to their stage presence, these guys had every ingredient in place to blow me away. They immediately went on my list of bands to go see anytime I could.

However, this put some pressure on their first recording.

There’s always the worry that a band won’t be able to capture their live sound, especially when they’re going into the studio for the first time. Luckily, this wasn’t the case here.

This CD is everything

I could have asked for from a Landmines record, and when I first got it, it didn’t leave the CD player in my car for weeks.

Their songs mix the boozy, melodic punk sound, which both this city and certain parts of Florida are famous for, with a more driving, hardcore-influenced sound that is most obvious on their more up-tempo moments. This recording captures that sound perfectly--the guitars crunch, the vocals have the perfect mix of screams and melodic singing, and the rhythm section keeps the pedal to the metal, pushing the whole thing out of your dash-

board speakers and right into your lap. And finally, the CD includes lyrics, so that you can see what it is that vocalist Paul Picillo is singing about. This isn’t always a great thing (see Government Warning review), but it is in this case, as his lyrics are very good. From “80 Proof”, where he tackles the daunting subject of his own struggles with alcoholism, to “Making Good On A Promise,” about finding support from ones family and friends when life is hard, his lyrics are always well-written and always have important, worthwhile things to say. Really, this record couldn’t be

better. I hadn’t listened to it in a while when I got it out to review, but I can tell you right now that I’ll be right back to playing it constantly for at least another month. It’s just that good. - A. Necci A ROMAN HOLIDAY/ TRIPLE TWINS SPLIT EP RORSCHACH RECORDS

There’s always the possibility, when two bands do a split record, that some of the people who buy the record will be fans of one band, but not the other. I’m sure all of us have split records in our collection that we bought for one of the bands, having

never heard of the other. Sometimes that other band is amazing, and we find ourselves listening to their side as much or more than we listen to the side of the band we bought the record for. Other times, the unfamiliar band’s side only gets played once, or maybe not even at all. Fortunately, this is not one of those latter cases. As long as people who buy this record for one of the bands flip it over and play the other side at least once, they should end up playing that side just as often as the side they bought it for, because both of these bands are very good. A Roman Holiday

have been around for a few years, and have released records before, but reveal a somewhat new sound on this record. Their first song, “Octopus”, is a driving, up-tempo number with distorted guitars and intense vocals, especially on the chorus. The second song, “Apcolypse [sic] Part II”, by contrast, starts out slow and plodding, almost countryish. Before long, though, it moves through several completely different parts in quick succession, culminating in a noisy solo before breaking back down into another plodding country riff that slowly fades out.

On the flip side of the

record, there’s just as much of a difference between the two Triple Twins songs as there is between the two Roman Holiday songs. Triple Twins are newcomers to the Richmond scene, and this is their first appearance on vinyl. Their first song, “Leaking Limbs”, begins with a verse in which the vocals are accompanied solely by a quietly strummed acoustic guitar. Drums come in on the chorus, and then on the second verse, the entire band comes in, turning the quiet acoustic song into a catchy midtempo indie rock song that ends all too quickly after only one full-band verse.

Both Jared from A Ro-

man Holiday and Adrienne from Triple Twins have great singing voices, but Adrienne’s is a standout quality on the second Triple Twins song, “Belated Birthdays”, which is electric throughout.

It’s also a more fully developed song, going from a midtempo verse into a long, quiet breakdown, then finally building back up into a melodic climax that’s given power by the truly excellent vocals. Between these two sides, I really couldn’t pick a favorite.

My only complaint is that the record is over so quickly. I want more from both of these bands. - A. Necci

THE OTHER SIDE 41

BRAINWORMS IS IT WEIRD? CASSETTE

CONTROL C CONTROL V RECORDS There’s been a lot of back and forth in recent years about the death of vinyl, with some arguing for its supremacy as others attempt to leave it behind and move strictly to CD technology. I never noticed any real debate about cassettes as a format for releasing music, which makes sense, as, unlike vinyl, cassettes offer no advantages over CDs and have quite a few disadvantages. But all of a sudden, in the last year or two, I’m seeing a bunch of new releases 42 THE OTHER SIDE

come out on cassette only. “Is It Weird? ” is the latest example of such a thing, and while I would not hesitate to call this 8-song, 21-minute release a full-length album if it appeared on vinyl or CD, it’s tempting not to respect it as such since it’s on cassette. Whatever you call it, though, a new release by one of Richmond’s best currently active bands is always newsworthy, and “Is It Weird? ” is especially so, since it’s the first studio effort

by Brainworms (their 7 song demo CD-R was recorded live).

The studio recording is quite revelatory, in

fact, cutting down on the heaviness of their live sound and bringing the melodies that are in all of their songs to the forefront of the mix. This is especially obvious on the three songs here that were rerecorded from the demo. Meanwhile, the five new songs expand Brainworms’ sound into new directions.

“Mendoza Line-Drive” is the most obvious example of this; the verses are faster than any previous Brainworms songs have been, attaining a more typical hardcore speed. Conversely, the song’s quirky coda, complete with Greg trading his usual

screams for froggy, Louis Armstrongstyle singing, is just weird. This songs lyrics are about Greg losing his favorite hat at a Municipal Waste show, which is quite a departure from his usual lyrical topics.

The rest of the lyrics on the tape are more typical, and more serious. “Break Down The Pajama Walls” is about struggling to communicate effectively with other people. “It’s kinda weird to talk without thinking about what you’re saying,” he sings, “but ya gotta act like you always know what you’re talking about.” On “Bohemian Stairbird”, which is about finding ways to

overcome depression, he sings, “Happy all the time is weird, but depressed all the time is fucked.” I can relate.

The best song here, though, is the first one, “Born With A Beard.”

The music is probably the most melodic and catchy of all the songs here, and the inspiring major-chord riffs combine well with the lyrics about trying to find a way to achieve your dreams. I really love this tape; in fact, I hope they release these songs on another format soon, because if not I’m gonna end up wearing this thing out.

- A. Necci

CLOAK/DAGGER PINATA EP GRAVE MISTAKE RECORDS

It seems that year in and year out, regardless of trends, there will always be a bumper crop of new bands playing fast, angry hardcore. This is certainly wonderful for the kids who can’t get enough of that sort of thing, but for those who only have patience for the best of the genre, the thought of wading through it all to find the few gems can sometimes be so mind-numbing that people choose to miss out on them rather than make the effort.

Fortunately for those people, I’m here to do the wading for you, and

I can confidently say that Cloak/Dagger are the cream of the crop for fast hardcore in 2006. If anything, they are more distinctive on this record than they were on their already impressive demo (released earlier this year). They’re still fast and angry, but on this record, they’ve put a lot more emphasis on the sped-up rock n’ roll elements of their sound. Guitarist Colin Berth is the star of this record, bending notes and throwing out riffs all over the place like some out of control spawn of Chuck Berry and Black Flag’s Greg Ginn. There’s some question as to whether the intro riff to “Shady

Grove” is even in key throughout, but it’s not a question that needs to be answered, because in key or not, it’s fucking AWESOME. The band as a whole is every bit as powerful as they were on the demo, still sounding like a runaway semi truck barreling down a mountain, shooting off sparks and growing ever larger in your rearview mirror; get out of their way or they’ll knock you clean off the side of this mountain. The one thing that disappoints me about this record is that vocalist Jason Mazzola’s angry lyrics from the demo are not as much

in evidence. While “Daggers Daggers” is a worthy successor to songs like “Sewing Circles”, with its lyrics about how Jason would rather you hate his band than like them because they’re trendy, “Electrocution” and “Paranoid” are more in the category of nightmarish fantasy, documenting the thoughts of a death row prisoner and a conspiracy theorist, respectively. I miss the venom, personally. I mean, maybe Jason’s exhausted his list of complaints about the world after writing half a dozen songs; if so, he’s a better man than I. No matter: this is a

minor quibble at best, and should certainly not stand in the way of you picking up this record. - A. Necci GOVERNMENT WARNING

NO MODERATION

FERAL WARD RECORDS

This record sounds like it fell out of a time warp. It’s easy to say that most fast, angry hardcore sounds like it could have come out in 1982, but generally it’s not actually true.

There are continual advancements being made to the sound, and even when a band is playing a pretty traditional style, it’s usually easy to tell exactly what era a particular record is

from. That’s why it’s sort of strange just how much Government Warning sound like all the original 82 hardcore bands. From the rock n’ roll riffing style, to the relatively undistorted guitar sound, to the vocals, which are yelled and occasionally sung but never screamed, “No Moderation” sounds like a great lost Adolescents or Urban Waste record. And there’s no feeling of “Heard it all Before”, either; while the members of Government Warning might not be great musicians in the same way that one would apply the term to the members of Rush, they are skilled at their instruments nonetheless, cranking

out blazing guitar riffs and lightning fast drum rolls and making it look easy. They’re skilled songwriters, too; the midtempo rocker “Fat Nation” is catchy and melodic without sounding wimpy, and “Trend City USA” blows through several different riffs in such rapid succession that they never get boring.

I kind of wish I’d never looked at the lyric sheet to this record, though.

It’s the aforementioned “Fat Nation” that’s the main offender; it’s easy to write a song about how people should lose weight when you’re a skinny teenager living off alcohol instead of food (see lyrics to THE OTHER SIDE 43

the title track and “Self-Medication” ), but unless you’re only drinking liquor, you’ll find yourself joining that fat nation before you know it. Seriously, don’t we get enough unhealthy body image propaganda from the mainstream media without having to hear it from the punks, too?

I’m not denying that obesity is a problem in America, but blaming it all on fat people is shortsighted and shows a lack of awareness. Look into the changing uses of high fructose corn syrup over the last 25 years, for example, or into the fact that American workers work longer hours and have higher 44 THE OTHER SIDE

stress levels than they did 25 years ago.

The obesity epidemic in America is just as much the fault of major corporations and our capitalism-driven society as it is the fault of overweight people, and you’d think a punk rock band would be paying enough attention to know that.

in [86, 91, 95, whatinfluence of this sort is THE CATALYST/MASS MOVEMENT OF THE MOTH ever year they dropped generally frowned upon TWO THOUSAND AND SIX SIX SIX SPLIT LP/CDPERPETUAL MOTION MACHINE/ELECTRIC HUMAN PROJECT

Older people who’ve been into hardcore for a while always reach a point where they stop being active in the scene and start worrying too much But I didn’t want to about things like car turn this review into a payments. There are a political soapbox. My couple of standard exreservations about cuses that go hand in certain lyrics aside, hand with this sort of this record is really lifestyle change, and at good, and has a pretty the top of the list is the unusual sound for the one about how the muyear 2006. If you’re sic just isn’t the same. into hardcore, it’s defi“The bands aren’t good nitely worth picking anymore,” they’ll tell up. Just don’t expect you. “Hardcore died too much from the lyrics. - A. Necci

out].” They’re wrong, of course. Whether it’s been a few years since the last scene-wide flare-up of creative energy or not doesn’t matter-- there are always at least a few bands pushing the boundaries of what hardcore is, creating new, fresh sounds unlike anything we’ve heard previously.

Right now, the two bands are pushing those boundaries on this record. The influence of the prog-rock era of the 70s on the sound of both bands is the most obviously progressive (no pun intended) element of their sound. Though

in the punk community, both of these bands have ignored this doctrine to their great benefit. The Catalyst (who have the odd-numbered songs here) mix raw hardcore ferocity with driving grunge-rock riffs, but take their music to the next level by injecting it with a healthy dose of pure psychedelica. This can be seen most clearly on their instrumental contribution, “Thirsty Like Water Thirsty”, which starts out subdued but soon ascends into the stratosphere, driven by dueling freak-out guitar solos. On other tracks, most notably “Jesus Garcia”, multi-

instrumentalist Jamie Faulstich trades his guitar for a second drum kit, and the thickened rhythms power the song like a freight train. Mass Movement of the Moth (who contribute the even-numbered tracks) have a more scattershot sound, dipping into different genres with the adventurous abandon of a euphoric artist flinging handfuls of paint at a brand new empty canvas. “Stuck In The Segue” starts out with a frantic, up-tempo section driven by a funky bass line, then breaks down into a keyboarddriven midtempo riff that sounds like a 60s spy movie soundtrack, and finally ends up with a protracted, menacing

coda that brings to mind the flying monkeys from “The Wizard of Oz” being swallowed up by late night TV static. Meanwhile, their instrumental contribution, “Lightning”, could easily have been the theme to an 80s cop movie- you can just imagine it on a CD called “Instrumental Hits of the 80s”, between the themes for “Miami Vice” and “Beverly Hills Cop” (both went Top Ten, lest we forget). While the rest of this album is more likely to motivate angry scream-alongs in suburban bedrooms, this track will get you dancing. Not what you’d expect from a

hardcore album, but then, what’s bad about that? - A. Necci

five-song recording, named for the order in which the tracks were written, has a good DARLING tone, however, the live 72684 show (and they will be in RVA soon) has With their first record- more to offer, including, NoVA quartet Dar- ing unreleased tracks ling takes their highly of a different nature. influenced craft quite Definitely a band to seriously. Atmospher- watch.- I. M. Graham ic and lacking vocals of any kind, these MURK ONE musicians’ musicians THE TRICYCLE EP have found a subtle CONCICE RECORDS place in between Pelican and Godspeed, Concice Records hits yet a bit more indie another one out of the than both. But one park with their latest can tell that these drop. If you thought are people who went you’ve heard hip-hop to high school in the from RVA before, it’s 1990s as well, hearing time to guess again. influence from Rage Never in my knowlto Soundgarden. The edge has a CD with this

level of beats or flow been released in our humble city. To call Murk One a mic master is an accurate and insufficient description of skill- there are plenty of cats out there who can groove to a beat, but this is an MC on both a mission and a higher level. He’s a storyteller (check title track Tricycle) and he gets the ladies moving (Let It Out part II). My only complaint about this EP is that it’s too short. I want more, from the entire Concice Family- not to say that you don’t hear the rest of the fam on this CD. Everyone puts out a great performance- goodness from Spencer the

Great, Salvage Army, and of course Swordplay’s incredible flow in fluent French (what!?).

Swordplay also produced the tracks on the album, taking influence from current hip-hop all the way back to the Boards of Canada. - I. M. Graham COUGH KINGDOM EP This is what rock and fucking roll is supposed to be. It’s dark, mysterious, heavy, and full of smoke. Full of thick riffs and brilliantly minimal drums, Cough displays a very well researched knowledge of the fundamentals of heavy music. They walk the thin line be-

tween rock and metal, successfully, which is very hard to do, even with a massive stack of amps. The distorted vocals will send a slight chill down your spine, but it’s OK, because they’ll also take you on a magic drag race ride.

Four tracks of varying lengths bring the disc length to around 25 minutes of the purest rock and roll you’ve heard in years.

- I. M. Graham

THE OTHER SIDE 45

GOEST THE

MAN Who WASN’T THERE

words & images : Ian Graham

The afternoon I spent with Goest is one of the most memorable spans of hours I’ve spent in this city. We drove to several places where he’s committed serious time to murals to allow me to photograph them. These aren’t the Goest tags you see in the alleys of the fan. Truly, you have to know where to look to see the finer works of Goest. He was kind enough to take me to his favorite spot in Richmond- a half hour’s hike down a few trails leads to a spot on the beloved James River. With out feet in the water on a picturesque day, I was lucky enough to converse with this controversial artist.

IMG: What made you decide to contact me?

GOEST: I dunno, kind of in response to that article- I don’t know the guy’s name, the cop?

IMG: Detective Sullivan?

G: Yeah.

IMG: And District Attorney Alex Taylor… they both had a message for you. Do you have a message for them?

G: Not really. It’s kind of hostile to try and convict someone for something as meaningless as painting on a wall. It’s kind of funny, actually.

No, I don’t have a real message, except for… chill out. But, I guess I am going to officially retire from Richmond, because I’m bored with it. Not just because there are cops after me, because obviously that’s not a big issue. It’s just getting kind of old.

IMG: Are you planning on moving on? To a different city? Will you keep on writing?

G`: I’m going to be moving in about a year, and hook up… “there.” See what’s going on, find some fresh canvas, this place is getting old, it’s the same old shit.

IMG: What do you think the purpose of graffiti is? Is it just self-expression, or is there more to it?

G: There’s probably something more to it. There’s got to be. I don’t think I’ve ever analyzed it- I know it’s habitual as shitting, and some people go to the exact same spot over and over again, like, if you hit the bottom left corner of a street sign, I don’t think about it but if you overview the entire Richmond area, and you’ve written on half it, you’re name’s going to be on the bottom left corner of every street sign you’ve hit, so there’s a habitual basis and definitely something psychological going on. The fact that you can’t stop drawing on shit, you always have a marker in your pocket, when you go to the bathroom, you won’t think about it but while you’re peeing you write your name on the wall. So there’s definitely something psychological going on, but I don’t know the reasons.

IMG: You don’t know about the reasons?

G: I dunno. It’s fun. There’s a thrill.

IMG: Is that part of it for you? The thrill?

G: It’s definitely a rush, like, climbing on the back of an interstate sign, it’s a rush like no other- not like sitting by the sea painting in oil, I mean that’s art, but so is climbing the back of an interstate sign, it’s not only art, but it’s risking your life. You’re not going to risk your life painting an oil of a flower in your basement.

IMG: Where do you like to go?

G: I love tracksides. There’s nothing better than painting next to where trains go by, and abandoned buildings- I’m always there anyways, just hanging out, fresh canvasses, and it’s already fucking gorgeous in there so painting in there makes it all the better. Chill spots. As far as street stuff goes, it’s pretty much everything. Anything that’s blank, aside from private businesses and houses, but the bigger the better- find stuff you can climb up on, like an interstate bridge, climb up there and do it, it’s a whole lot easier to have it run forever. Big spots, there’s no point in doing little tiny shit. If you’re going to go out and do it, you should do it huge. Make it worth it.

IMG: Do you like to avoid private businesses and houses?

G: Yeah, I mean I used to have this philosophy where I didn’t want to paint THE OTHER SIDE 47

48 BLINGO!! Every Thursday at Sticky Rice

50 THE OTHER SIDE

anything where my dad, or your dad is working as a janitor, or a private business owner will have to go out on their clock hour cleaning a fucking wall- I mean, I have no problem painting the city’s stuff- you’re always going to be hurting someone, either way. It’s a whole lot easier to avoid private businesses, and houses, I think that’s kind of ridiculous. I don’t know why anyone would bomb a house. Unless it’s abandoned, and about to be renovated, you know? Nobody wants that shit on their house.

The city’s pretty much free game.

IMG: Why didn’t you go with the amnesty program?

G: personally, I think that’s kind of bullshit. You’ve got amnesty? You’ve got people with news reports on you, rewards out for you, and they want you to turn yourself in, with seemingly no repercussion at all. I just think that’s impossible.

IMG: It sounds too good to be true?

G: Yeah. Maybe if it was a pretty giving city to begin with, if they had people who weren’t so fucked up and crazy about getting you, then, maybe, but I don’t believe that in the city of Richmond, being so hostile previously and then suddenly “you know, it’s all good, just turn yourself in and we’ll be chill”. What do they get out of that? Nothing, outside of knowing who I am.

IMG: Is any of your work political?

G: No. I have views, but I don’t express them. If someone were to specifically ask me what I think, then I’d tell them, but I’m not going to take it to the street, or get into a debate. The only thing I’m trying to change is the surroundings, manipulate what you see. You’ve got this same old fuckin’ wall that’s been here for years, looks the same, always looks the same, and all of a sudden there’s something new on it. Even if you hate it, there’s something new, and it gives you something to think about, you’re like “oh, wow, that wasn’t there before.” For the next five minutes while you’re driving, you’re like, how the fuck did he do that, or why would he do that? Or you’re pissed, you’re like god dammit, I hate that guy. He’s messing up my neighborhood, I can’t stand the fact that he thinks he can paint the walls. But it’s a change, and whether it’s positive or negative, everyone sees it differently, and that’s manipulating space.

It’s not political, it’s personal.

IMG: So it’s the reclamation of the public visual landscape?

G: Yeah. I mean, there’s some cool stuff in Richmond, the monuments and such, but there’s also billboards. You know, Pure Pleasure, come here, or buy this car because this car is cool- why do I have to look at that? Am I going to raise hell about that? I’m going to call the city police and have them arrest Dodge for putting up billboards. It’s the same thing- it’s illegal, but it’s still the visual landscape. It’s what you’re looking at all the time. Nobody complains about the billions of ads in Richmond, on the street, in your face all the time, but they’re going to complain about something that isn’t even objective.

IMG: Where did you get the name Goest?

G: I don’t know. It comes from the fact that people have taken so many names that I thought where cool… it’s kind of hard to pick a name. I was going through some Shakespearian stuff, and I thought it was tight that it said “goes’t”, and it kinda sounded like ghost. It confuses people, some people don’t know if it’s Goes’t or if it’s Goest. They could arrest two different people, if they wanted. There are probably other reasons why I got it, but I don’t really want people to know about them, because it would be a little incriminating. Think what you want. If you want my name to come from a Sesame Street book, then it came from a Sesame Street book. It’s up to them, and it’s one of the things that’s cool about graffiti- you don’t know who that person is, you don’t know what they’re doing, what they think, what they look like, how tall they are, how short or fat they are, you have this ominous thing, Goest, that you don’t know what it is. And it is a ghost, you never saw that person do that, you don’t know how it got there, you don’t know if they rolled up on rollerblades and did it or if they hopped off a bus and did it. It’s invisible; you don’t know what’s going on. If you go into an abandoned building, you’ll see a million murals, and it’s so poetic that people are communicating through the walls but not a single one of them has been in there at the same time that they were painting it. People go in there at different times; nobody knows who, nobody knows how, was it from the left from the top, or from the bottom right? It’s invisible, it’s like a ghost. Plus, someone has already taken the real name “ghost”. He can have it, it’s cool. Goest is funnier.

THE OTHER SIDE 51

Grand Marshal words : Clay McLeod Chapman image : Jeff Smack

52 DJs every nite at NY Deli!! NO COVER!!

P LAYING DOCTOR words: Clay Chapman image: Jeff Smack Don’t be embarrassed in thinking you’re the first, Callie. You’d be surprised, I know -- but this sort of thing comes my way every now and then. Nobody’s willing to admit it’s happened to them, but it’s true. A young woman like yourself runs into the waiting room, nearly in tears, begging to see me as soon as possible. Once we’re in my office alone, she’ll explain what happened -- and I do what I can.

Simple as that. Nobody needs to know. I’m fine with keeping it in between you and me, if that’s what’s best. I won’t even bill your family for my time.

I just need to ask, Callie: How many hot dogs are we talking about here?

Just one? Good. Since it’d been in the freezer for so long, I’m guessing the sudden shock sent this involuntary spasm through your abdomen -- causing certain muscles in your perineum to constrict. Your cervix is simply reacting to the cold. You’d have the same response if I dropped an ice-cube down your shirt -- your shoulders tensing, your back recoiling. Just be patient. All you can do now is wait. I’d run some warm water over yourself; maybe even place a heating pad on your lap. Simply give ol’ Oscar some time to thaw out and your muscles will eventually relax.

Bumped into your mother in line at the grocery store yesterday. Haven’t seen her in ages. Not since your last checkup. Looked like you guys were gearing up for a barbecue. I swear, all that food could’ve fed an army.

Hamburgers, potato salad. Hot dogs.

This isn’t something you should feel ashamed over, Callie. You’ve simply reached that point in your life where you’re beginning to explore your own body, try new things -- and with that comes some experimenting. A little poking and prodding never hurt anyone. All kids do it, trust me. It’s perfectly healthy. How else are you going to learn about sexual intercourse? If most children waited around for their parents to explain it to them, they’d turn thirty before they even knew what their libido was - let alone know how to act upon it. So don’t be embarrassed for probing.

It’s not a crime to be curious.

Why -- when I was your age, I was lucky enough to live next door to Nancy Tucket. Her father was our family’s doctor, along with everyone else in the neighborhood -- running his own private practice out of his house.

They had renovated their living room into a reception area, opening their THE OTHER SIDE 53

doors up to everyone on the block. Nancy’s mother was the nurse, donning her starched white uniform for most of the day. I don’t think I ever saw Mrs. Tucket wear anything else. That little cap kept pinned into her hair, whether she was cooking a pot roast or suturing a wound.

A visit to the Tucket’s usually meant getting a flu shot. Just as the needle’s going in, I’d always turn my head the other way -- only to find Nancy peeking in through the door, watching me wince. I’d catch the light reflecting off her braces, this glint of metal shimmering around her lips.

The two of us used to sneak underneath her parents’ front porch, reenacting all the operations she saw from her father’s office. Instead of a stethoscope, I had to use two Dixie cups tethered together with a string -- picking up her pulse by placing one cup over her chest, the other up to my ear. Couldn’t really hear her heartbeat, but it was fun enough to imagine the sound of it throbbing through. To take her temperature, I’d use a Pixie stick. Slipped that wrapper underneath her tongue until the saliva soaked through the paper, the spit rising up to the top -- just as if it were mercury. A tongue depressor was easy. We’d just pocket our Popsicle sticks after eating them. They’d keep the color of whatever flavor they’d been, half of the stick stained in a purple or a red. Made it easier for me to imagine Nancy was sick with something when the inside of her mouth was dyed all green. We made up a different illness for every flavor. Cherry meant she had a fever. Blueberry would be a cold.

Orange was some kind of virus, while grape meant she was pregnant.

Nancy was my first patient. It was because of her that I realized I wanted to grow up to become a doctor. All that separated my practice from her father’s were a few floorboards. Nancy and myself mimicked him as best as we could remember -- as if he was working within a puddle of water and we were his distorted reflection, mirroring his movements just beneath his feet. A patient would come into her house for a checkup, only for Nancy to eavesdrop in on the examination. She’d snitch the biggest words she overheard her father use, only to inevitably muddy them up in her memory -- so that by the time she tried to repeat them below the porch, they were entirely new words altogether. Pneumonia became new moan for you , which we believed to be a bad tummy ache. Herpes turned 54 THE OTHER SIDE

into her peas , nothing but a breakout of green pimples for girls. Nancy would take a magic marker and cover herself in lima beans, dolloping her body with enough spots to leave her looking sick.

We could diagnose each other with just about any disease we wanted.

It was more fun to make the malady up as we went along. Picking what sickness we felt like being afflicted with that day was the best part.

That’s what’s so great about this job. The miracle of modern medicine is that you can just make stuff up. Science will keep furthering itself until every method we use today will be rendered obsolete. Just think about it, Callie -- a stethoscope and a tongue depressor will be considered prehistoric by the time your children come in for their checkup. What truly advances medical technology isn’t the discovery of some new virus or developing some cutting edge technique in the operation room. It’s those few people in the profession who possess the creativity to preempt technology by actually envisioning the virus prior to its diagnosis, by performing that new procedure before the prognosis even leaves the doctor’s mouth. It takes someone with imagination to truly be a doctor, someone who is willing to color outside of the lines until those very lines are expanded upon, extending our limitations unto a completely new discovery.

You always need to be two steps ahead of every germ out there, which puts you leaps and bounds beyond all the convalescents coming in for a cure. My own patients are beginning to get second opinions, more and more. They don’t trust me as much as they used to. My methods make them uncomfortable, they say -- just because I’m trying to revive a little bit of excitement back into this business. Do you know how hard that is when the names for everything are all set and nothing ever changes?

The medical profession is all bogged down with its proper names and correct pronunciations. I’ve had to diagnose my patients with the same ailments for years now. Whenever I place the stethoscope against their chest, picking up their pulse -- all I hear is the same dull, low drone that’s been there for ages. The beat never changes. There’s rarely ever anything irregular about it. And frankly, that gets boring.

Nancy knew that. When she would lay on her back and play patient for me, all gauzed in cobwebs -- the idea of being a doctor was at its most innocent. Its most pure. Before Nancy, the female anatomy never existed for me. To see that peach-fuzz up front as a little boy, I believed I had stumbled upon the biggest breakthrough known to man. At least on my block. I actually thought I’d discovered something new.

But when I showed her what was hidden within my shorts, she believed I’d been born with some abnormality. My genitals reminded her of this particular patient who’d come in to see her father. Turns out, this girl had been born with a parasitic Siamese twin extending out from her lower abdomen. An underdeveloped arm and leg hung off her hip, dangling down her waist. From what Nancy overheard, the twin could still grow hair, even teeth -- which were now beginning to dig into this woman’s intestinal tract, making it difficult for her to function without feeling immense pain all along her stomach. Nancy’s father recommended surgery as soon as possible. So in seeing my penis, Nancy only did what we’d been doing all along. She believed I’d been born with the same deformity -- only for my twin to settle in between my legs, its malformed arm hanging limply from my crotch. Nancy thought she should operate right away, snitching as many kitchen utensils as she could. She grabbed the rubber gloves her mother washed the dishes with, buggy-lugging back an eggbeater, turkey baster, salad tongs -- whatever her hands could hold. I spent the afternoon on my back, staring up at the base of their house -- hearing the wood warp underneath Dr. Tucket’s feet as he worked, the cobwebs shuddering with his every step.

Nancy walked me through the whole procedure, step by step. She sounded so scientific. The patient, male, approximately eleven years of age -- seems to be suffering from an acute form of hypovulvic dyslexia, displaying the normal symptoms of heavy sweating, shallow breathing, and irregular heartbeat. Inflammation of the pelvic area seems to suggest an infection. It’s vital that we operate right away.

Since there was no nurse, I had to double up on my duties as patient and paramedic. I’d hand Nancy whatever instrument she asked for.

Scalpel. Eggbeater.

Forceps. Salad tongs .

Suction. Turkey-baster.

And all the while, all I could think about was this thing growing inside me. Fingernails, hair follicles. A miniature rendition of myself, huddled underneath my own skin. This was my underdeveloped libido. Nothing but a runt that hadn’t a chance to grow up on its own. Not after Nancy made the first incision. She exorcised my adolescence, removing this hormonal troll from my body forever.

I passed out under the porch. Nancy had to carry me into her house, the two of us all covered in dirt and cobwebs -- laying me down on the dining room table for her father. What was left of my genitals weaved through the eggbeater, knotted into the whisk like a strand of stale dough.

Dr. Tucket told my parents that it had been an accident. A game that’d gotten out of hand. One look at what was left of me and he could see that he’d need to finish off what his daughter had started, removing my chances at manhood for good. I’d never grow a day older, stuck in this rut of prepubescence.

But from that day on, I knew I was destined to become a doctor.

That’s why you make such a great patient, Callie. No one’s home and you’re all alone. You have the whole house to yourself -- so what do you do? You head for the freezer, remembering those hot dogs mom bought yesterday. You’re not afraid to experiment; taking what resources you have around the house and actually utilizing them. The tools of the trade are useless when it comes to the research we’re trying to do. Am I right?

We are pioneers , Callie. We can’t sit back and simply wait for science to catch up with us. Not with the work we’re embarking upon. We’ve held our breath for too long. We need new results and we need them now.

So come on, Callie. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.

THE OTHER SIDE 55

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T ALKING FOLK FESTIVAL words:Frankie Lee image: Holly Camp I recently had a drink with Jack Berry. Berry is Executive Director of the Richmond Renaissance, whose mission, according to their website, “is to be a leader in building greater vitality in the Richmond community, particularly Downtown, through economic development.” Our meeting was in regards to the National Folk Festival. I attended the folk festival last year and prompted our meeting by sending the following email to Berry: “I am a young, local musician, highly enthusiastic about Richmond being involved and associated with the National Folk Festival. I attended the festival last year, and was highly impressed with the diversity and scope of featured artists however, I was slightly disappointed in not seeing the straight-forward, Dylan-esque, 60’s definition of a folk artist. I know that folk music is ‘music of the people,’ and I know that this festival’s appeal is to a much broader audience than enthusiasts as myself. I did find it odd though that “folk” and “festival” is not used as an opportunity to seize a ‘folk hero,’ maybe not Dylan himself, who undoubtedly would produce a much larger crowd than expected, but maybe even lesser known names in the same vein. I’m sure these are questions for National Folk Festival authorities, who I plan on seeking out, but the reason I’m writing you is that I was also disappointed in the lack of exposure and exploitation of Richmond-based artists. I gather amongst many folk music enthusiastic young people in Richmond and recall being just about the only person who went to the festival at all. I feel as though the festival could be an opportunity for the National Folk Festival as an organization, as well as for Richmond and their local artists. I believe it’s your job to make things like this happen. There are a handful of collectives happening in the city that support great, young artists with just as much folk integrity as the artists that I witnessed playing last year.

As I see that the list of performers has not been announced, there may still be time for you to create opportunity for young, local artists, who not only will attend the festival, but would love to be apart of the festival’s appeal and experience…”

I sought out Berry and sent this email because the National Folk Festival is coming again in October. Richmond has the wonderful honor of hosting this event for three years, this being the second year. Nearly 70,000 people attended last year’s event, despite rainy and humid weather conditions. I attended with a friend of mine from college. We sat through contemporary bluegrass, African beats, young prodigies, and some stuff that sounded like your weird unmarried uncle who gets together with his buddies on the weekend to jam. Therein lay my misconception.

The National Folk Festival is not for Dixieland loving, blues whaling, political-leftist folkie die-hards, it’s for families. And furthermore, I could dismiss the association of the terms ‘national’ and ‘folk,’ because what was being displayed was not necessarily American or Americana music of the people, it was music influenced by many different cultures, executed in many different fashions. Perhaps ‘international’ or ‘world’ would be more appropriate titles. Richmond Region 2007, a producer of the festival who’s heading up the ‘400 years since Jamestown’ deal that you’ve probably heard advertised on NPR, describes the event on their website as “the oldest multi-cultural traditional arts celebration in the nation. It is a large scale outdoor three-day event that’s presented free to the public and celebrates the richness and variety of American culture. It features a broad array of music and dance performances, workshops, storytelling, parades, dances, craft exhibitions and culinary arts.”

In my conversation with Jack Berry, who is basically overseeing the execution of the festival from a Richmond standpoint, the first thing we made clear was the definition of ‘folk’ to the organization that coordinates the festival (National Council for the Traditional Arts). The performers are selected according to the ‘amount’ of folk music ‘in their blood,’ if you will. In other terms, the NCTA wants performers who were taught by their parents, whose parents were taught by their parents, so that the music on display at the National Folk Festival is genuinely played music. Panel members of music authorities, musicians, historians, event executives, etc. listen to hours of music, creating a hierarchy of integrity that is then funneled into the performance schedule based on THE OTHER SIDE 59

availability, willingness, and genre/style.

could mean to the artist of Richmond.

This all made sense to me now. In some way, I began to feel embarrassed about the email I sent around being all high and mighty on folk music; however, I then remembered my original intentions for the email: to get Richmond local artists performing at the festival.

Mr. Berry sits on a board of directors comprised of mostly local corporate executives, who admittedly know very little about music in general, let alone the rich and detailed history of national folk music. These board members may be miles away from your Richmond young person, but Jack explained how these board members cherish the Richmond youth, particularly the creative. These are the people who make up the Richmond community, and will continue to do so as generations pass.

And herein lay why, I think, he offered meeting. He wanted to know where these young people can be reached. So as we finished our beers I told him about the magazine, and other local publications. I told him about the galleries, the artists, and the associations between musicians.

I mentioned the art collectives. I rallied through venues and meeting places, and about everything I could think of. And I stressed the amount of people who appreciate all these things and support the scene. He wanted to know what was out there for 2008, what the Richmond youth art culture had available.

Jack and I made our way into round two of beers and he began to shed light that after Richmond’s three year hosting duties expire, Richmond has the option and opportunity to “continue the festival.” It doesn’t have to and probably won’t be called the National Folk Festival, but it can basically be what we (being the people like Richmond Renaissance) want it to be. This struck me as a great idea. The NCTA, while putting on the festival, gives a host city artistic and cultural capital through the execution of this large scale cultural event, leaving each host city with a grand opportunity to continue its cultural celebration in an atmosphere of heightened liberty. The NCTA uses equipment from the Smithsonian, because the National Folk Festival performances are recorded and archived in the vast library documenting American history. These stages and sound engineers could have been running the sound at a political rally weeks earlier. All of this is free. Richmond serves as a host, providing land, human resource, and fundraising ability. That’s why in 2008, when Richmond takes over the festival, the NCTA will still stay on and help execute the new festival. Their job is not to strengthen or exploit the culture of Richmond, that’s our job. It’s to document the National Folk Festival and ignite cities into continuing their own brand of artistic celebration through credibility (NCTA), resource (Smithsonian equipment), and know-how (National Folk Festival).

This issue has been in my head since the festival came to Richmond last year, when I saw a talented group of young people playing a rendition of Leadbelly’s “In the Pines.” I thought, now here’s a group of my peers playing an old blues song that is completely relevant to my generation (see Nirvana Unplugged ) and I see the possibility for local artists here.

Only in my investigation and conversation with Jack Berry did I discover what exactly the National Folk Festival meant to Richmond, and what it 60 THE OTHER SIDE

So, by all means, I fully encourage you supporting the National Folk Festival. It’s free! Among the music, there are vendors spanning many different artistic mediums, as well as interesting food and trucks full of beer. There’s also ample volunteering opportunity if you’re the ‘get involved’ type. I feel as though the more of “us” who go out and support the National Folk Festival will heighten the possibility of the festival becoming more accessible to “us” when Richmond takes over in 2008.

It takes place riverfront, Downtown between 2nd and 9th Streets and from Byrd Street to the river, which includes Brown’s Island, the American Civil War Center at Tredegar, the lawn of the New Market Corporation, portions of the Federal Reserve parking lots, and Tredegar St. The festival runs from October 13 -15. For more information, go to the National Folk Festival website and look for articles in the near future regarding this event. www.nationalfolkfestival.com

H OOKAHS words: Adam Lipper image: Jim Callahan M u s e i f A l l o u s h s t a r e s i n t e n t l y a t t h e 3 2- i n c h , f l a t- s c r e e n T V mounted on the wall in Sahara. Dressed in his usual black nylon pants, white tee attire, the 35 year old silently cheers f o r h i s t e a m . Ye t , t h e M e d i t e r r a n e a n r e s t a u r a n t / H o o k a h b a r i s any thing but silent.

A t m i d n i g h t M o n d a y, t h e 4 - f o o t- h i g h u p p e r l e v e l i s p a c ke d .

Te n V C U s t u d e n t s c h a t a b o u t m o v i e s a n d l a u g h o v e r p l a t e s o f c h e e s e f r i e s a n d g y r o s . I n t h e b a c k c o r n e r, f i v e m e n , w h o a p pear to be of Middle Eastern descent, are glued to the game.

To t h e r i g h t o f t h e m , t w o c o u p l e s a r e s h o w i n g t o o m u c h P D A .

In front of each group are sever al three-foot high water pipes.

“ T h e a t m o s p h e r e i s s o r e l a x i n g ,” s a y s A l l o u s h . “ Yo u c a n c o m e here and chill out. When the student s have a break and have t i m e , t h e y s m o ke h o o k a h h e r e . T h e y e n j o y h e r e a l o t .”

Sahara, located on Grace St., is one of three hookah bars in d o w n t o w n R i c h m o n d . A l l t h r e e b a r s a r e i n c l o s e p r ox i m i t y t o the VCU campus.

A h o o k a h c o n s i s t s o f a h e a d , b o d y, w a t e r b o w l , a n d h o s e .

The moist, of ten flavored tobacco is placed in the head and i s h e a t e d b y a l i t c h a r c o a l d i s k . T h e s m o ke t r a v e l s d o w n t h e b o d y, p a s s e s t h r o u g h t h e w a t e r, w h e r e i t ’s c o o l e d , a n d m o v e s u p t h e h o s e , b e f o r e i t i s i n h a l e d b y t h e s m o ke r. O n e w a t e r p i p e l a s t s f o r a b o u t a n h o u r. A t S a h a r a o n e h o o k a h c o s t s $ 12 . 2 0 .

R i c h m o n d i s n’t t h e f i r s t c o l l e g e t o w n h o o k a h b a r s h a v e a ttached themselves to, says Thomas Eissenberg, direc tor of the clinical behavioral pharmacology laborator y in the depar tment o f p s y c h o l o g y a t V C U.

I n t h e e a r l y 2 0 0 0 ’s , h o o k a h b a r s p o p p e d u p i n c o l l e g e t o w n s s u c h a s K e n t , O h i o , h o m e t o K e n t S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y ; Te m p e , Arizona, site of Arizona State Universit y; and For t C ollins, C o l o r a d o w i t h C o l o r a d o S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y, s a y s E i s s e n b e r g .

Since then, college students have become regulars at hookah b a r s b e c a u s e t h e y ’r e c l o s e t o c a m p u s , t h e y s t a y o p e n l a t e , t h e y s e r v e f o o d a n d t h e y ’r e v e r y s o c i a l , E i s s e n b e r g s a y s .

E r i c W a l z , a V C U m u s i c e d u c a t i o n m a j o r, i s o n e o f t h o s e r e g u lars. He star ted smoking hookah at Aladdin E xpress his freshm a n y e a r. A t f i r s t t h e 2 0 y e a r o l d w a s s ke p t i c a l . W a l z d i d n’t know how using a water pipe would af fec t his lung c apacit y or t h e n e g a t i v e e f f e c t s i t c o u l d h a v e . W h e n h e s m o ke d c i g a r e t t e s i n t h e p a s t , h e h a t e d i t , W a l z s a i d . H o w e v e r, W a l z e n j o y e d t h e way hookah tasted and the nice nicotine buzz he received.

M o s t i m p o r t a n t l y, h e e n j o y e d h a n g i n g o u t w i t h f r i e n d s .

When he heard from friends and hookah-bar employees that smoking an entire hookah was the equivalent of one cigarette, W a l z s t a r t e d u s i n g w a t e r p i p e s m o r e f r e q u e n t l y. H e b e g a n going to Sahara t wo to three times a week. Now entering his j u n i o r y e a r a t V C U, h e f e e l s t h a t h e’s s e m i - a d d i c t e d .

“ P a r t o f t h e r e a s o n I f e e l t h a t I ’m a d d i c t e d i s t h a t i t ’s s u c h e a s y a c c e s s a r o u n d h e r e ,” a d m i t s W a l z . “ I l i v e a h a l f b l o c k away from a hookah bar and they give us free hookahs bec a u s e w e g o t h e r e s o o f t e n .”

Eissenberg is concerned that water pipes could become a w e s t e r n h a b i t . H e’s o n e o f t w o p r o f e s s o r s d e v o t e d t o s t u d y i n g h o o k a h s i n t h e U. S . W h e n E i s s e n b e r g s u r v e y e d h i s I n t r o d u ction to Psychology class of 70 4 student s, he found that 20.3 % had used a water pipe in the last 30 days.

“A l o t o f p e o p l e a r e u s i n g w a t e r p i p e s a t V C U,” s a y s E i s s e n berg.

THE OTHER SIDE 63

G e n e r a l l y, c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s i n t h e U. S . t h i n k t h a t h o o k a h s a r e less dangerous than cigarettes, states Eissenberg. One of the common beliefs among water pipe users is that the water f i l t e r s t h e s m o ke .

“ I f y o u c o m p a r e [ s m o k i n g a h o o k a h ] t o c i g a r e t t e s , i t ’s m u c h less [dangerous ] bec ause the water cleans out much of the n i c o t i n e ,” s a y s A l l o u s h .

This is somewhat of a my th, counters Eissenberg. Although t h e w a t e r d o e s c l e a n o u t s o m e o f t h e n i c o t i n e , i t d o e s n’t f i l t e r t h e c a r b o n m o n ox i d e , c a r c i n o g e n s a n d h e a v y m e t a l s i n t h e w a t e r- p i p e s m o ke , h e s a i d . A l s o , t h e l a b e l s o n h o o k a h s m i s l e a d , s t a t i n g t h a t t h e r e’s n o t a r i n h o o k a h t o b a c c o . T h a t ’s b e c a u s e t a r i s n’t c r e a t e d u n t i l t h e h o o k a h i s s m o ke d . W a t e r- p i p e s m o ke c o n t a i n s t a r, s a y s E i s s e n b e r g .

On the positive side, the tobacco in a hookah is half the temperature of the tobacco in a cigarette. Some of the dangerous aspec ts of smoking increase as the temperature rises, says Eissenberg.

Overall, there is a lack of knowledge about hookahs, states E i s s e n b e r g . M o r e r e s e a r c h n e e d s t o b e d o n e r a p i d l y. “ We h a v e t w o c h o i c e s ,” s a y s E i s s e n b e r g . “ We c a n t r y t o l e a r n as much about them before a lot of kids star t using them, or w e c o u l d f i n d o u t t h a t e v e r y o n e’s u s i n g t h e m a n d t h e n w e’ d h a v e t o l e a r n a l o t a b o u t t h e m . I ’ d p r e f e r t h a t w e’ d l e a r n a l o t a b o u t t h e m b e f o r e .”

Even past 2 a.m., Sahara remains alive with the buzz of chatter c u t t i n g t h r o u g h t h e l a r g e , w h i t e c l o u d s o f s m o ke . I f E i s s e n b e r g w a n t s t o s u c c e e d , h e h a d b e t t e r h u r r y.

64 THE OTHER SIDE

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D ISTANCE, D ECISIONS, AND DESTRUCTION words : Tyler Bass image: Adam Juresko Matt Taibbi of the New York Press once pointed out with disdain for peers, any stor y shows it s true weakness that could have been written in one room with a television, a Rolodex, and a telephone.

So, it is with sorrow that I admit I could not make it up to the Homestead resor t to c atch Sen. Allen’s first debate with the competition.

Af ter winning the June 13 primar y against Harris Miller, Democratic challenger Jim Webb is to face of f against Republic an incumbent George Allen this November. According to yesterday’s Rasmussen poll, Allen and Webb are squared away with 50 0 random likely Virginia voters at 47% and 4 2 % respec tively. B y the time of the first debate, the Israeli-Lebanese conflic t was alread y 10 days esc alated. Ever y mainstream c able news net work flooded with coverage at the time.

On June 22 at the Americ an Bar A ssociation debate, George Allen was a firm suppor ter of Hezbollah’s status as “ terrorist s.” He boasted, “ [ C onnec ticut Senator] Joe Lieberman was my Democrat par tner on having the Europeans list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization to interdic t any financing of Hezbollah.” Syria and Iran are behind financing the group, he added.

Amid serious unrest in southern Lebanon, President Bush expressed his confidence that our at ypic al allies could be brought around to ending violence. “ You see, the thing is,” he explained to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, “ what they need to do is to get Syria, to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it’s all over.”

Hezbollah, literally translated as “Par t y of God,” is a civilian and militar y group formed in the early 198 0s to fight Israel.

At the debate, Jim Webb stated, “Hezbollah is a direc t result of the empowerment of Iran, so now we have a larger problem to deal with.” At the same time, Webb says he seeks cooperation from countries in the Iraq region.

C -SPAN ran a fascinating yet ex tremely awk ward inter view with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, cour tesy of CBS. Mike Wallace kept tr ying to get him to address the widespread concern that his militar y forces supplied Hezbollah with rocket s, and Iraqis with Improvised E xplosive Devices that kill Americ an soldiers. Invariably, Ahmadinejad would change the subjec t, firing back cr yptic questions such as “ Why are Americ ans killing . . . Iraqis on a daily basis? ” and “Are you the representative of the Zionist regime or a journalist? ” Ahmadinejad clearly sees himself as justified bec ause the United States has not secured Iraq, and we provide Israel billions of dollars in aid and militar y equipment ever y year.

Even having visited Iraq on several occ asions, Sen. Allen’s retrospec tive about the Iraqi infrastruc tural over throw stays positive.

“It’s a countr y that is ver y grateful,” said Allen in debate. “ The people, regardless if they’re Shiite, Sunni or Kurd, are grateful for Americ a liberating their countr y.” Jim Webb, on the other hand, reiterated that the Iraqi war has been a strategic failure.

B y all of the most recent account s of Iraq opinion, that nation’s people are not grateful. An ABC poll last December repor ted that half of 1,722 “randomly ” selec ted Iraqis say that it was wrong for the United States to have invaded, up 11 percentage point s from the previous year. The London Sunday Telegraph repor ted the result s of a British Ministr y of Defense poll. C onduc ted conspicuously by the British, it appeared last August that “65 per cent of Iraqi citizens suppor t attacks [ on Allies ] and fewer than one per cent think Allied militar y involvement is helping to improve securit y in their countr y.”

THE OTHER SIDE 67

Facebook.com provides a good way to track down people in the United States as exasperated with one another as they are with war in general. One N Y U alumnus, identif ying himself only as “Judah the Macc abi” star ted an online group based on the “ top ten reasons” he suppor t s Israel. Throughout the course of the battle and resulting Aug. 14 ceasefire, 8,9 31 Facebookers joined in what I c an only presume is agreement. In a message to me, he said, “ We suppor t [ militar y c ampaigns ] when they have to do with hunting down the terrorist s that kill our innocent civilians ( including women and children ), which involves going to war with the bastards.”

I al so got in contac t with Cit y Universit y of New York ( Baruch ) student, Dardan B., an Albanian stud ying here. He suppor t s Hezbollah along with others in a signific antly smaller Facebook group. In contrast to the current administration, he does not see Hezbollah as terrorist s. A s he says, “I acknowledge and condemn resistances that sometimes apply terrorism as par t of their struggle.” Whether your definition of terrorism includes oblique aiming of Kat yusha rocket s into populated areas, or accepting massive “collateral damage” for the sake of deterrence, is at play.

His responses to my questions happened to highlight major ideologic al dif ferences bet ween the obser vers I contac ted. For your consideration, the following dialogue is construc ted from my correspondences.

Judah expressed his suppor t for Israel first and foremost “bec ause Israel is a liberal democrac y, the only one in the Middle E ast. It provides a model for future democracies in the region.” However, Dardan says to the contrar y, “It claims democrac y, yet it illegally occupies land and treat s the inhabitant s therein as second-class citizens. Not to mention jailing democratic ally elec ted of ficial s.”

Judah notes, “Israel preser ves and has made accessible the holiest sites of my religion, regardless of my faith or religious background.” (Judah himself professes Judaism. ) Dardan says Israel 68 THE OTHER SIDE

“claims to uphold secularism, yet it s mere foundation is based on a religion with approximately 70 dif ferent and disparate interpretations.”

Judah says, “Jews should have sovereignt y over their eternal homeland ( ever hear of the Bible?), no matter what anyone says.

Af ter living in exile for 20 0 0 years, we deser ve it.” Dardan says, “According to my last discussion with an Or thodox Jew, I was told the Torah has 70 dif ferent interpretations. This perplexed me and made me realize Zionism truly lacks a sound argument.” Those interpretations inform Dardan, “Jews who have been exiled must not return until the Messiah comes.”

“Israel has one of the most moral armies in the world,” says Judah.

“In order to limit the loss of human life, Israel frequently put s it s soldiers at risk through house-to-house combat instead of more secure air strikes against hostile threat s. Additionally, the IDF [ Israeli Defense Forces ] drops leaflet s telling civilians to leave an area ( which consequentially gives away the element of surprise to belligerent s ), all in the interest of preser ving the sanc tit y of human life. In both c ases, this minimizes the loss of civilian c asualties.”

Note the cost s of this terrible war. Lebanon grieves 1,30 0 dead and 3,60 0 wounded civilians. Israel suf fers the loss of 4 3 dead and 1,350 civilians wounded. It s militar y honors 117 dead and 4 0 0 wounded. Hezbollah it self claims only 8 5 fighters lost, but the Israeli Defense Force claims more than 50 0 of their ilk dead.

50 0,0 0 0 Israelis are displaced, along with 1 million Lebanese.

“Israel has thousands of prisoners in it s jail s,” says Dardan. “In fac t some of them are democratic ally elec ted members of Palestine and /or Lebanon’s parliament. Others have been in jail for perhaps dozens of years. Unfor tunately, Israel has in the past been known to prac tice tor ture as well.”

The t wo strangers bemoan histories racked with guilt and blame for entire ethnic and religious groups. “For over 3,30 0 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish c apital of the world,” says Judah.

“I feel that Jews before the creation of Israel and loc al Arabs had gotten along fine,” says Dardan. “ To this day, refugees in neighboring countries hold their original keys to the houses that were demolished within Israel,” he adds.

The Israeli militar y c ampaign, contended Judah, was conduc ting exac tly the same thing the United States is doing in Iraq and Afghanistan, “except these terrorist s have a dif ferent name for their group – Hezbollah.”

Last month in a Honoluluan bar I ran into a young Army man, Sam, who seemed barely my senior, if at all. Even during transit through the id yllic Oahu, his thought s opened up back in Baghdad, undistrac ted by the nearby stranger lurching back from our concrete stoop to puke into the wet sand.

Sam’s appraisal on the help and hur t ratio of current U.S. inter vention? “I’d say it’s about half [ good ] and half [ bad ] .”

Sam repor ted that some Iraqis would indeed walk up to him in the street s and ask to shake his hand, to thank him for his work.

“Still,” he said, his eyes far of f on the urban strip-lit Pacific, “I c an’t help but sc an the sides of these roads for people sitting down, ac ting funny.” On the way back to the airpor t, I tried to imagine getting any where near under that much scrutiny, having to examine the imminent possibilit y of an Improvised E xplosive Device. I shuddered.

Gearing up for the November 7 ballot – even with millions of dollars in business interest s in contest – Allen and Webb sought to secure future c atharsis at Homestead. “ We’re going to have a beer November 8th, one way or the other,” said Webb. “All right,” said Allen.

THE WAY O UR G ENERATION S EES M OVIES :

TOM CRUISE IS A GOOD ACTOR , AND A GREAT M OVIE S TAR words: Teddy Blanks

image: R. Anthony Harris

C r uise ha s been f ired f rom his produc tion d e al at P ar amount .

T he s tudio’s of f ic ial re a son is that they d o not f ind his “re cent c onduc t ” to be “ac cept able.” P re sumably they are ref er r ing to his c ouc h-jumping, p s yc hiatr y-b a shing, b aby-hiding r ampage Us Weekly ha s d o c umented so f aithf ully over the pas t ye ar. Let’s ju s t a s sume f or a moment that there is no ulter ior moti ve here, that P ar amount simply think s C r uise’s new public per sona has mad e him a le s s mar ket able t alent . T his is a dis tur bing thought : the s tudio is tur ning it s b ac k on one of Holly wood ’s l as t gre at mov ie s t ar s be c au se they think his t abloid he adline s w ill af f e c t his tic ket s ale s.

In New Yor k magazine this June, Ken Tuc ker went to gre at length s to d ef end Tom C r uise’s public it y meltd ow n as a br illiant pie ce of per f or mance ar t . “ C an I ju s t s ay that I f ind something both loonily s weet and sne ak ily admir able about the w ay C r uise is now c ompor ting himself ? ” He a sked , and even I wouldn’t go that f ar. T here is hardly any thing s weet or admir able, and cert ainly nothing intentional about the s t ar ’s new media image. More than likely, there is a huge di v id e bet ween how C r uise think s he is c oming of f and how we ac tually see him. More than likely, he is a lit tle nut s, but w hy should this af f e c t our opinion of him on s c reen?

He slid into our he ar t s dre s sed only in so c k s, tight y-w hitey s, and an over sized dre s s shir t , c lutc hing a c andle s tic k a s a mic ro phone and lip -s y nc hing B ob S eger ’s “ Old -T ime Ro c k ’n’Roll .” If you d oubt the c ultur al imp ac t of C r uise’s per f or mance in this

s cene, ju s t se arc h R isk y Bu sine s s on YouTube.c om and see how many people have tr ied to imit ate his move s. S er iou sly. He’s hard not to love as a teenager: qualitie s that tur n some people of f about him now — his c o c k y big-mouthed toothy gr in, gener al c or nball nature, l ac k of height — are ac tually end e ar ing. T hrough the ye ar s, the se f e ature s have hard ened , be c oming a c olle c tion of inten se e c centr ic itie s that he k nows exac tly how to c ontrol .

He’s been remar kably c hoo s y f or his super s t ar s t atu s : in 2 5 ye ar s of ac ting, he’s only had 2 3 bona-f id e s t ar r ing role s. He ha s been in f ilms by C oppol a, DeP alma, Kubr ic k , S c or se se, Spielber g, and R idley S c ot t , and ha s been nominated f or three Os c ar s, f or B or n on the Four th of July , Jer r y Maguire , and Magnolia .

None of this prove s any thing, I und er s t and , except per hap s that C r uise is more than jus t an ac tion s t ar. Sure, ac tion s t ar Tom C r uise, w ho we happen to be ex po sed to r ight now, might seem to go hand -in-hand w ith any C r uise -is- c r az y belief s, but he is al so sor t of amazing. Mis sion : Impos sible 3 had him in top f or m, gr inning and shooting and spr inting like an ere c t penis. He is an exper t at this s tuf f, juggling his boy-nex t-d oor inno cence w ith his super-r ipped , super-tr ained Holly wood ac tion ar rogance.

A nother ver sion of C r uise is the c hee s y romantic le ad , a s in Jer r y Maguire , the d ow n- on-his-luc k spor t s agent w ho f all s in love w ith his single -mom se c ret ar y and le ad s C ub a Gooding Jr. to s af et y on a bed of c r isp B enjamin s. “ You c omplete me,” he s ay s, and she replie s, “ you had me at hello,” and I w ill c onced e that at this moment , it’s okay to hate Tom C r uise. But this ic onic moment of bad romance dialogue is sur round ed by an other w ise solid per f or mance. C r uise, a s we k now all too well , is ad ept at the meltd ow n, and the w ay his f ace f reeze s in a c ar-s ale sman smile w hile Jay Mohr f ire s him at the beginning of the mov ie is pr icele s s. His sub sequent , and muc h p arodied , spee c h at the off ice is an even bet ter f re ak- out than his l a s t Opr ah appe ar ance.

C r uise is at his be s t , though, w hen he c hannel s his egomania

into a c har ac ter in a w ay that allow s him to ex plore his ow n v anit y and narc is sism. A f ew ye ar s ago, in Mic hael Mann’s C oll ater al , he pl ayed a hit man w ho w a s other w ise a f r iendly, likable gu y. T hrough c onver s ation s w ith his c ab dr i ver, pl ayed by Jamie Fox x , we le ar n w hat le ad him to be able to kill w ithout emotion.

In w hat c ould have been a r un- of-the -mill thr iller, C r uise sell s u s a c har ac ter that ha s enough gr it to sur pr ise u s, and enough of himself to make the per f or mance intere s ting. Even bet ter is his tur n a s how-to - get-l aid moti v ational spe aker Fr ank “ TJ ” Mac kie in P aul T homa s A nd er son’s Magnolia , in w hic h he appe ar s in silhouet te, and his f ir s t line of dialogue is “ Re spe c t the c o c k .” He wor k s so well in this role that we s t ar t to wond er w hy he hasn’t alw ay s pl ayed this kind of d ouc he b ag.

Tom C r uise is of ten c or ny, d oe sn’t have muc h of a r ange, but is almo s t alw ay s b a sic ally ef f e c ti ve and almo s t never mis c as t .

S ometime s, he’s even sur pr isingly good . But more impor t antly, he’s an ic on, a hou sehold name. W hen we think of him, or the w ay he is mar keted to u s, we c onjure a sor t of all-A mer ic an image, a sex god f or the gir l nex t d oor. T his image is at odd s w ith his re cent public behav ior, but it’s al so at odd s w ith the qualitie s that make him so eer ily c ompelling. C r uise has alw ay s been slightly of f-put ting, his big no se and million d oll ar smile ju s t moment s aw ay f rom jumping into a ner vou s t w itc h. He is a s tr ange man, but a gre at mov ie s t ar. If the A mer ic an mov ie - go ing public ( and P ar amount ) c ould only c ut him some sl ac k f or his admit tedly biz ar re antic s, and re - embr ace him a s the kind of actor w ho se l a s t name in bold , c apit al let ter s on a pos ter is enough f or them to bu y tic ket s to his pic ture s, he c ould c ontinue to be as c hoo s y a s he ha s been, and make the mov ie s he w ant s to make.

A s f ar a s celebr it y s c and al s go, Tom C r uise ac ting nut s on some t alk show s is w ay le s s of a big d e al than it’s been mad e out to be. In 3 5 ye ar s, nobod y w ill remember that he p seud o -as s aulted Opr ah on national telev ision ; we’ll remember the mov ie s. S o let’s s tic k by him so he c an make some more.

Goto Richmond Recycles 71

TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY Director: Adam McKay Starring: Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Michael Clarke Duncan

Our new pack of comedy heroes -- loosely, Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson and the like -- have given us plenty of hilarious moments in the first half of this decade, but have yet to make a great comedy.

Surely they have one in them. Ferrell, as their emerging box office leader, has made a significant misstep with his new picture about an all-American white-trash racecar superstar.

Middle America’s past time, NASCAR would seem to have a full tank of attributes to be satirized, but Ferrell and co-writer Adam McKay mostly settle for cheap shots. The two seem to be trying to make a statement about nationalism and product placement, but they never really get anywhere with it. Meanwhile,

72 THE OTHER SIDE

the picture frame, with its bright reds, blues, and oranges, is so saturated with brand names that it becomes its own sort of meta-logo. Excuse me, but isn’t there something deeply insidious about using actual brand names to make a statement against product placement in sports? I dare you to think of a major brand or product that isn’t represented visually in Ricky Bobby. And when the logo-overkill finally results in a joke—Will Ferrell trades in his Wonder Bread sponsorship for a car painted with the word “Me”—it is not even funny.

The movie opens at a breakneck pace, and goes for almost 20 minutes with no jokes and all back-story, as if we need to see scenes from Ricky Bobby’s childhood to fully understand all of his psychological complexity.

When it finally slows down, the attention the opening pays to plot and character evaporates, and the jokes are allowed to lazily develop. Of course there are funny parts, but nothing revelatory until Sacha Baron Cohen appears as Jean Girrard, the French import who becomes Ricky Bobby’s rival. His scenes face-to-face with Ferrell reveal a comic chemistry that begs to be ex-

plored further somewhere else, with another premise. Jean Girrard’s obligatory sponsorship joke is the only one that really works: he drives the Perrier car.

THE NIGHT LISTENER Director: Patrick Stettner Starring: Robin Williams, Toni Collette, Joe Morton

Robin Williams proves he is still worth something as Gabriel Noone, the host of a popular syndicated radio show whose (much younger) male lover recently moved out to take some “space” from the relationship. In the midst of his depression, a publisher friend lends him this manuscript: a fourteen year-old boy’s tellall memoir of the unbelievable sexual abuse inflicted upon him by his parents. Gabriel begins a telephone relationship with the boy, Pete, who is a big fan of Gabe’s show, and who is dying of AIDS. Soon, he begins to suspect that Pete doesn’t exist, that he is actually a

fabrication of Donna, Pete’s blind caretaker, played by Toni Collette. This all culminates in one of the best and darkest movies of the year.

Relative newcomer Patrick Stettner directs this story as if it were a horror movie, and his Lynchian touches are so creepy because there is nothing supernatural about The Night Listener: we believe that this could actually happen.

the punched-in-the-gut restraint of a man who thinks he has nothing to lose, a man who, because his personal life is in shambles, will follow his strange obsession into dangerous territory. He does some things while trying to track down Pete and Donna that other movies might have characters do just to push the story along, but in his state, all of his actions are completely believable, and painfully so.

SCOOP

Toni Collette’s blind nutcase Donna is the best movie monster of the year. She somehow stirs up a mixture of sympathy and terror that left me feeling… well, icky. Kudos to the screenwriters and to Robin Williams for giving this film a flawed, fully developed, interesting protagonist, who also happens to be gay. His deteriorating relationship with his boyfriend is more than a plot device: it overcomes him, seems always to be in the back of his mind, even when the movie is concerned with more pressing matters. Williams plays Gabriel with

Director: Woody Allen Starring: Woody Allen, Scarlett Johansson

Woody Allen’s new movie is slight, and has none of the depth or intrigue of Match Point, his “comeback” from last year. But it is unmistakably a Woody Allen movie. It has all the makings of a great one too: murder, the occult, a character who appears from beyond the grave to give a young reporter a killer scoop, and, of course, the man himself. The only reason for those, unlike me, who are not devoted followers of his films, to see this movie is Allen’s performance in it. He has always been a kind

of cranky old man, and now he finally has the age to support it. He spends the duration of his screen time riffing on this and that, in a way that makes me long for his old TV specials from the 60s.

“I was born into the Hebrew faith,” he says, “but then I converted to narcissism.” Beside his jokes, the rest of the movie seems loose, frivolous, almost like he was so anxious to make another picture in London with Scarlett Johansson that he rushed the script just a little bit. And let’s just focus on her for a moment. Sure, she is great looking, and she worked just fine as a seductress-turneddesperate-lover in Match Point, but she is no comedienne. If Woody thinks he has found his next Diane or Mia, he is gravely mistaken. The girl is dead in the water next to him, no matter how many times she pushes those glasses up her cute little nose.

THE OTHER SIDE 73

A ll D olled U p A few years ago I found myself sitting in an honors dorm room watching several students furiously work on various projects – all due the next morning. I was working on a beer and a handful of pretzels. One of the beleaguered beerless was a young, slight, witty kid with a pair of newsprint-covered pumps. Being at the time the Fashion Editor for another publication and impressed as hell at the talent before me, I asked to borrow said shoes for that month’s fashion layout. Unfortunately, they had to be turned in for class credit and I never saw them again.

This past year I was reintroduced to Michael-Birch Pierce’s work at the VCU Fashion show. I was amazed at how far he had come in his craft and resolved to not let his creations get past me once again. His dresses flaunt girlish charm, recall a seaside breeze and flatter a classic 50s silhouette.

Michael-Birch (yes, that is his first name – not Michael, not Mr. Birch) was born and raised in Fredericksburg, VA and moved here to attend Virginia Commonwealth University. His love of fashion goes back to his

Editor’s Note:

early adolescence when he became fascinated with making outfits for paper dolls. He related to me his love of the Spice Girls and their stage costumes as a catalyst for his art. His mother served as another inspiration and cheerleader for his career.

“At that time I was doodling and making these paper dolls. My mom was a great encouragement as she herself is an artist. My friends would look at these doodles and compliment them as if I’d really spent a lot of time conceptualizing them when really I was just whiling away the time doing something fun. That attention gave me the confidence to know that I was good at it and should follow what seemed to be a real talent.”

These days Michael-Birch draws his inspiration from his design heroes Zac Posen, Roberto Cavalli and others. His design foci tend to revolve around nature – three dresses in his current collection drawing essence from the beach and maritime themes.

Michael-Birch is a full-time student at VCU and a great asset to the future of Richmond style and culture. Jason Levesque is quite possibly a god. I’m not sure but the effortless magnificence of his photography is certainly awe-inspiring. Check out his artwork and buy his new book at www.stuntkid.com. Also, next time you hit up a bookstore, go to the newsstand and check out this months’ Playstation magazine. That would be Mr. Levesque’s illustration work on the cover. Damn straight. Need Supply, Urban Artifacts and City Shoes once again graced me with their generosity and Bygones has offered a new addition to my accessorizing playground. Thank you all and see you in the aisles next month.

- Christian Detres 74 THE OTHER SIDE

“Stage costumes are another big influence. Of course I already told you about the Spice Girls, but my next collection is going to be reminiscent of 70s glam, riffing on the Bowie/Bolan gold lame´ set. I’m looking forward to finishing this next collection, graduating next spring and taking my talents to New York.”

I’m sure that Michael-Birch will meet with success in his move to the concrete valleys of 7th Avenue and rise to the steel mountaintops of Manhattan fame. His goals are a little more modest than my optimism though.

“I’d like to begin a career working as a junior designer at some large design house or retail chain, work my way up through the ranks and in the end either have my own line or just lead a design team at another label. I don’t need the adulation and attention a lot of people crave. I just want to have fun doing what I love to do. If I can’t look at my work with the same level of imagination and playfulness that I had designing paper dolls in my bedroom, then what’s the point? I don’t need to be Calvin Klein.”

Art Direction Christian Detres Photography Jason Levesque Styling Mary Heffley Hair/Makeup Mary Heffley Models Leah

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