Volume 4, Issue 10
May 16 - May 29, 2002
By Virgil Dickerson
Saturday, May 25, 2002, will mark one of the saddest days for Colorado punk rock.... It is the day that Pinhead Circus will be playing their final show. After 10 years of blood, sweat, and tears, the guys have decided to call it quits. A sad thing indeed, but this story does not have a typical ending.
I remember the first time I saw Pinhead Circus play. The date was Friday, September 1, 1995. The date is so memorable because this was also the first day of Suburban Home Records. Suburban Home started as a fanzine and was something I worked really hard on during the summer of 1995. I finally picked up the first issue from the printer on September 1, which was perfect timing because the Dr. Strange Records tour was coming through Denver that night. Schleprock, Man Dingo, Brown Lobster Tank and some band called Pinhead Circus were slated to play. I was already familiar with Schleprock, Man Dingo, and Brown Lobster Tank because all of the bands were on Dr. Strange, and Dr. Strange was one of the most popular punk labels at that time. Schleprock never showed up but the show still went really well.
Pinhead Circus took the stage and blew everyone away. I remember thinking, "Who are these guys?" and "Where are they from?" because I had never heard of them. I went to the merch table after their performance and met Scooter, the guitarist. I gave him a copy of Suburban Home and he gave me a copy of their album, Nothing Groundbreaking . I took the album home and listened to it non-stop. The album was as good if not better than any of the punk records being released nationally and since they were local, we got to see them play often. I soon found myself attending every Pinhead Circus show.
Going to Pinhead Circus shows exposed me to something new, a scene. The Denver punk scene at that time was an extended family that included not only great new bands, but some really incredible people. I soon became part of this scene and got to see amazing local acts like Four, Crestfallen, Random Victim, Eleventh Hour, the Facet, Qualm, and so many others. The scene back then really was like a family and I made a number of friends that are still really close to me.
Through the years, I witnessed Pinhead Circus go from a good local band to an incredible national act. I saw them start out with local label Black Plastic, and then sign to the large punk label BYO Records. Pinhead Circus pretty much paved the way for Colorado punk rock. They toured the U. S. when most bands were content with being just a local band, they recorded and released albums when most bands did not even know where to begin, and they did all of these things with integrity . . something you don't see in bands these days. The impact they left on Colorado will not soon be forgotten. I know I would not have started a record label if it wasn't for Pinhead Circus and the amazing local music scene they introduced me to. For this I am eternally grateful.
One of my fondest memories of Pinhead Circus is the CD release party for Detailed Instructions for the Self Involved , their first album for BYO. Their signing to the large California label was like a victory for the Colorado scene and their release show was our celebration. The show was completely sold out and people were going nuts. I remember thinking that if a punk band from Colorado could get signed to such a successful punk label, it could happen for some of the other great bands in the scene.
From their website, Scooter says, "After ten years, we have decided to retire Pinhead Circus. It has come to a point where the band has become Trevor and I and various replacements that filter in and out way too frequently. Instead of asking someone to step into another's shoes, we want to find someone to build a new band together. It has been ten years and we have accomplished a lot more than we ever thought we could." They accomplished more than most bands in their 10-year career. They toured the U.S., Canada, and even Japan. They released four albums and recorded a number of songs that found their way onto EPs and many compilations. And they influenced a young scene and helped it to become one of the best punk rock scenes in the nation.
Pinhead Circus' last show closes a very important chapter for Colorado punk rock. Lucky for us, this story doesn . t have a completely sad ending. The members of Pinhead Circus will re-form under the moniker Love me Destroyer. Love Me Destroyer will feature Scooter, Trevor, and Dave from Pinhead Circus and Chip from Jedi 5 from Arizona. The new band will pick up where Pinhead Circus left off and surely take it to the next level. Expect to see them playing shows before summer's end.
Pinhead Circus's last show is at Tulagi's in Boulder, on Saturday, May 25. Also playing the show are Deville, Recover, Stereotyperider, and the Hacks. Pinhead Circus, you will be sorely missed. Thanks for all of the memories.
Two hundred jazz fans and assorted musicians milled around the large room and slowly took their seats. The air would soon be filled with the sounds of a constantly evolving musical career. "I'd like to thank you all for coming to a jazz concert on a Sunday afternoon," Fred Hess said. "That's really something." The Fred Hess quartet broke into "Going There," one of the seven tracks on from it's new release, Exposed .
This was not a concert to revisit "classic" jazz tunes or to revitalize well-worn standards. This was all about an artist's new musical language. Hess performed with passion and fire, trading solos with trumpeter Ron Miles and offering Ken Walker space to stretch out and develop stunning, thoughtful bass lines and melodic passages. With Tim Sullivan on drums, the four men worked skill- fully and spontaneously, bringing Hess' compositions and inspiration straight into the ears of the appreciative audience.
After earning a well-deserved reputation as a saxophone player, composer, teacher, and leader of the Boulder Creative Music Ensemble, a few years ago Fred Hess found himself, surprisingly, on unsteady ground. "When I made the record with Ron [Miles] and Ginger Baker (1999's release Coward of the County ), this fellow James Carter (tenor sax) played on it. He's one of these young guys from New York who is just really great. I realized that he could do everything that I could do. And, he had some other stuff that I couldn't do! My plan for the record was blown because he knew all about what I was going to play. So I thought, "Wait a second. I better rethink all of this." "For the past three years, essentially, I've been practicing," Hess continued. "The result is a different record done in a different way."
Hess spent the last twenty years successfully exploring the possibilities and extensions of tenor sax legend Lester Young's vision -- the floating, easy, clean grace in the tone, the indifference to strict chord charts, the imaginative and subtle swing, and the rich, atypical color tones. Hess melded Young's cool style with the free jazz movement and ensemble improvisation techniques, inevitably creating a signature style of his own. Then, he realized that wasn't enough. He could do more.
"I had to do some research," Hess said, laughing. "I had to find out what Carter was doing, what this different style of playing was that I had missed. Essentially, these new guys were following [John] Coltrane's legacy from the 1960s. Remember Giant Steps ? That whole idea is called symmetrical harmony. You create patterns of chords or melody that slice the chromatic octave evenly into whole steps or fourths or whatever you like. This is highly different than usual chord progres- sions based on major and minor. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities. You have a pattern to follow and work with, and what you play rides over all that "underneath" stuff. It has a motion of its own. And because it's a symmetrical base, it ends up back where it started. It's a totally different musical language."
Hess' new compositions start with small motives, little chunks of melody that root the song in a certain style or vibe. As Hess discovered and practiced the symmetrical patterns, his playing became more virtuosic, more fluid, more advanced. The small melodies grew and expanded into flurries of beautifully improvised complexities. The patterns became more natural, less rigid. "The big difference came when I simply took the chords out of the music altogether," Hess said. "Isn't that wild? The melody, those small motives -- that is the structure."
Exposed is a practical application of Hess' growth and hard work. Although "Cruise" is a generous eight minutes long, a simple "rat-a-tat" motive, oddly jerking in and out of improvised segments, is all it takes to tie the different moments together. "JHM," named after Hess' small grandson, is spry and jumpy, perhaps reflective of the youthful inspiration for the tune. Both live and on the record, the solos and improv seem to spring from the long melody, almost frantic and kinetic. The symmetry that drives Hess' playing seamlessly hovers above the other sounds, the formula and technical mastery only present within the mind of the soloist. The audience hears the power, the creativity, the magnetic new language.
"Joe Said" swings hard (within symmetrical fourths, of course) -- Hess included a specific bass line taken from a Joe Lovano sax melody. "Circles Squares and Stars" uses small flashes of squeaks, flares, and blurps, creating a sonic expanse of musical atmosphere. Both the live performance and Exposed end with "Good Question," an apt conclusion "perhaps it's Hess' way of giving us a little something to ponder.
Hess plans on getting the guys from the studio back on track for spring gigs in NYC, hitting the jazz heavies at The Knitting Factory and other regional hotspots. The Fred Hess Quartet on Exposed includes Paul Smoker on trumpet, Ken Filiano on bass, and Damon Short on drums. Hess calls this newest project a long lesson in "motivic improv." We should all congratulate him on a job well done.
Find out more at www.cadencebuilding.com. --Judy B.
This debut CD from the Boulder quartet can easily and justifiably be called "modern bluegrass." Many cute and quirky terms, like "rockygrass," "jamgrass" and others of that ilk attempt to contemporize the genre's sound as it evolves and changes. But bluegrass began as the musical signature of Kentucky's Bill Monroe over 60 years ago, and the performers who have yielded to Monroe's aesthetic while jumping ship to create a new sound are the ones who keep the music alive.
Enter The McCloskey Brothers. The self-titled CD brings modern songwriting and post-Grateful Dead song structure together with good ol' blue-grass music. The two brothers, Todd and David, trade vocals (although nothing in the liner notes indicates who is singing and when) and add a strong Eddie Vedder-esque vocal sound to the tunes (contrasting with the typically nasal tone or tight, shared lead harmonies). While the mandolin and banjo are used all over the record, it's never self-indulgent and stays fresh the whole way through. The MMB is steadfastly committed not only to the music but to the muse that motivates them. The band invites its listeners to "dance with us along the path to soul freedom, purity, unity and light. . . . as a band, we celebrate the present in its infinite glory, and exercise our soul's mighty ability to love."
The record's fifteen tracks span the depth of the band's potential. "Together Home" begins as a fast high-lonesome rocker, highlighting the brothers banjo technique. "Hurricane" shows more country roots, and "Let the Party Begin" moves along like most good jam bands. The diversity is great because it's tied together by the band's obvious love for bluegrass and the experience of being late 20th century commercially-influenced musicians. It's a strong record. See more at www.tmbb.net.
By Alex Neth
Photos by Sean Hartgrove
Even though their band is making a name for itself as a pummeling metal juggernaut, the guys in Rogue don't just want you to think they're a one-trick pony. "We're a big mixture," Lead Singer Bill Terrell said, reclined on a couch in the band's East Colfax rehearsal space. "Every one of us is into different types of music, and it all comes out. We are heavy, we're an aggressive band, but we have the ability to do a number of things. We do a lot of clean styles, a lot of heavy styles. We're probably one of the most diverse bands around."
It is that sound, dubbed "heavy gumbo" by Terrell, that is wafting Rogue along the high road to rock and roll success. The Denver quartet --comprised of Terrell, bassist E. A Schuster, guitarist John Bollack and drummer Devon Kimzie-- is now in its sixth year of existence, and set to release its third CD, Rogue Nation , at a May 18 show at The Ogden Theatre. Despite the group's growing popularity both locally and nationally --KBPI's Uncle Nasty, whose A Band Called Horse will also be playing at the May 18 show, is a big supporter, and the group has played with metal faves like Megadeth, Dokken and Alice Cooper-- they remain true to the dream that got them this far.
"I wanted to be a rock star since I was a kid," Terrell said. "I went and saw Kiss when I was eleven years old and I was sold on it immediately. And I'm from a real shithole small town, so it was like my way out."
His bandmates agreed. "I can't see myself being a work-in-the-office guy for very long," Bollack added. "It just doesn't work. It's really fun to perform music."
Clearly, the members of Rogue enjoy what they do. Touring, which isn't something every band looks at with a joyful eye, is in their blood.
"We plan on touring until we're old and grey, pretty much," Terrell said. "We've got a lot of big shows coming up. We've got the record release, we've got a coliseum show booked for August through NIPP, with a couple of big national bands. . . when you get involved with record labels, a lot of things are up in the air a lot of times. If it were up to them, we wouldn't be releasing this record until the end of the summer. We don't care what they think. We're tired of sitting on it."
Giving the people what they want is central to the Rogue philosophy. Decidedly unpretentious, these are guys that would rather sit and rap with you about the Avs game then give you the rock star treatment. "Come up and talk to any of us, we'll talk to you. There's no big egos," Bollack said. "We don't have any jerks in this band."
Still, they find that success, in an insular scene like Denver's, breeds contempt among some. "We like people. That's why we play music, you know what I mean? But still, the higher up you get in town, of course you're gonna get hated. That's when you know you've got some success. We've got some success, put it that way. Some people dislike us just because we're successful."
Their Denver fan base is loyal in the extreme, but, like many local bands, Rogue finds their true groove playing in front of new crowds. "We kick ass on the road, big time," Terrell said. "On the road, we've never played in front of a crowd that didn't like us." Bassist Schuster echoed that sentiment. "We've been well- received everywhere we've been," he said.
Part of that probably has to do with the band's keen sense of the public -- they travel in a tour bus or RV instead of a van because, as Terrell put it, "when you pull into a town in a van, people look at you like you're gonna rob their shit. When you pull into a town in an RV, people are trying to give you things." They are co-operative with local radio stations, friendly with their fans, and seemingly, genuinely awestruck by the attention they receive.
"We get radio play. It's 'Rogue's coming into town, maybe we can get them to drop by the studio.' Well, Duh!" laughed Kimzie.
Still, accolades earned on the road don't always make life easier at home. The dreaded tag "local band" is one that might as well be a single scarlet letter.
"Three full-length albums. There are only a few bands around town that achieved that.... our whole outlook is, if you don't like it, suck nuts. You can't please everybody....five years without a KPBI show, we hold every attendance record in this town for 21 and over. Every one. And we have yet to do a KPBI show. It has nothing to do with whether we're a good band."
Still, Terrell stressed that there are plenty of people around town who support them --the guys at NIPP, Uncle Nasty, and most of all, their loyal fans. The people who will be packing the Ogden on May 18, paying a mere $5 for a genuine rock and roll show. The people who have helped them achieve their dream, realize their sound. The members of Rogue Nation.
All Rights Reserved © 2002 Go Go Media, LLC, Denver, Colorado