Agent Orange and Old Man Winter

So Old Man Winter decided to drop a big frosty dump on Denver the day before we were supposed to drive over the mountain passes to play a show in Carbondale Colorado with surf/punk legends Agent Orange. Normally a crusty thrash band like CLUSTERFUX probably wouldn’t get a change to play with a band like that or even really fit on a bill like that, but my good friend Joe McCumbee set up the show and invited us over. Thanks Joe.

Anyway, the official snow depth at my house right before we left was 18 fucking inches of frozen water particles. That’s a foot and a half of snow my friends! A foot and a half! We had been himming and hawing on whether to take the van with all of our gear or opt to drive my wife’s car with 4-wheel drive and borrow amps and drums when we got there. After much deliberation and watching all the traffic cameras on I-70 we opted to go punk rock style and take the Bonaventure for this icy adventure. As it is right now we are forging our way through the slush and snow and moving along at about 45 mph.

I’m glad we decided to go all out and make this trip. Agent Orange is playing in the town where I grew up at the bar my Dad used to own. That would make sense maybe if Carbondale wasn’t an old coal mining town on the western slope of Colorado that when I moved away only had a population of about 2-3 thousand people. But ya see, Carbondale is nestled in the Roaring Fork Valley snuggled in between Aspen and Glenwood Springs on Killer 82 (that’s the name of the highway since so many people have died on it). The Valley (as we refer to the area as) has always been a special place in many ways, one of those ways being punk rock.

How did punk find it’s way to the area? Who knows, some say it was the Miller brothers from Glenwood who were California transplants. Joe thinks it had something to do with Dan Schneider discovering it, but for me it was Brian Kimbrell and Dave Wright in Carbondale. Dave used to ride his skateboard in an army jacket with combat boots on and a gas mask listening to his walk-man jamming to Black Flag, the Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedy’s and the Sex Pistols.

Punk rock blossomed in the area and a real scene was born. In Glenwood EOS and Legion of Faith were the hardcore Punk bands that influenced many of us and inspired us to form our own band FIA. Although we dreamed of someday playing with EOS we rebelled against them as they adopted a more 7-Seconds type sounds we tried to mix our influences of Filth, Destroy and Aus-Rotten. We recorded a couple of tapes and traded with a few of the afore mentioned bands. We wore spikes and leather, charged our hair and went to war against the “All punks” as we called them, they listened to All and we thought that was lame.

There was a time where you could go to the pizza place in Carbondale on a Friday night and see 20-30 hardcore punk rockers hanging out drinking, skateboarding, fighting and cranking the music of the Exploited, Filth, the Subhumans and Nausea. To someone from out of the area this sight was too much to behold and they snapped pictures like tourists in London’s Kings Row.

Carbondale wasn’t ready for a punk scene but that’s where we lived and that’s what we were about whether they were ready or not. With our “fuck it all” attitude we ruled the streets and hills. At least we thought so anyway.

As the years went on most of us moved away, but a scene always thrived there with Joe McCumbee often at that helm playing in bands and booking shows. Now 15 years later we are pushing our ’88 Chevy van through the snow to play with Agent Orange in Carbondale. When I was an 18 year old punk rocker raising hell on the empty streets of Carbondale I would have never dreamed that Social Distortion would ever play in Aspen or that Agent Orange would play in our town, Carbondale. It’s the power of music, the power of punk rock! UP THE PUNX!!!

End of Story

Today I burned a cassette I got back in 1987 to CD and put it in my ITunes. The tape was EOS - End of Story.
The Roaring Fork Valley on the Western Slope is a speacial place and for many reasons. One of those reasons happens to be hardcore punk rock! Carbondale and Glenwood are at the west end of the Roaring Faork Valley with Aspen on the other end, all are on the banks of the Roaring Fork River.
Glenwood had a punk scene in the 80's and Carbondale soon followed. There were two main forces from Glenwood, Legion of Faith and EOS. Carbondale had FIA and later Up Yours. I was in both of those bands.
Legion of Faith was a more hard hitting skate thrashcore band. They never really released any recordings but were awesome live. They had a very raw and aggressive sound.
EOS (End of Story) also hailed from Glenwood but took a slightly different approach blending the harmonies and melodies of Dag Nasty with the metal influenced guitar riffs and speed of DRI. They released a cassette in 1987 known as the "airplane tape" that was sent around the world. I believe it was reveiwed in MRR and Flipside. They opened for the big punk bands of the day (Dag Nasty, UK Subs, 7 Seconds, the Vandals, etc...) and for a time were the kings of the Roaring Fork Valley. They also had a song on the first Colorado Krew 7" compilation w/ Again, Acid Pigs and others.
EOS influenced my friends and I as we put together thrash and hardcore punk bands. We dreamed of being able to open for EOS.
As the days and years went on I became friendly with most of the members of EOS, especially the drummer, Joe McCumbee. He and I became the best of friends and were inseparable for many, many years. We are still close bros today.
Listening to these songs today took me back to a time where music was more magical, I'd lay on my bed looking at posters of Black Flag and Megadeth dreaming about smashing the system, getting wasted with my friends and making music. Music brought the kids of the valley together, EOS brought the kids of the valley together and were essential to making the valley the unlikely home of so many punk rockers.
Over the years EOS broke up and rebanded several times with different members. Although the glory days are long gone they were captured on this little tape recorded at a fish hatchery w/ Joe on drums, Stevo on vocals, his brother Eric on bass, and Dan and Dave on guitar.
EOS!

Millions Of Playing Children?!!!

Being a parent and a punk rocker you have to keep yourself mindful of things like it's not a good idea to wear your MDC - Millions of Dead Children shirt when you take the kids to the park.

Get in the Ring

Fox News is bullshit. It's new entertainment. It's to journalism what WWE is to sports. Sure, there are some talented people there but it's scripted, we know it's fake. That brings me my idea here that I would like to sell to Vince McMahon. He, being the king of 'sports entertainment' should go into the new business. 'News Entertainment'. Oppsosing view points could get in the ring and settles their differences tag teaming with their favorite wrestler. Just imagine, John Cena and Glenn Beck teamed up against Tripple H and Keith Olberman in a steel cage, first blood match!!!! "Can I get a 'Hell yeah'?"!!!!!!

Peace and Tofu

Former Cro-Mags frontman, John Joseph's book "Evolution of a Cro-Magnon" is the shit. I first read it back in March and was blown away. That is one tough dude, he shouldn't be alive! Most of us that grew up in hardcore / punk / metal have some stories and were in some shit at one point or another, but this dude was on another level. I read it back in March and have recently been skimming through it reading different sections. I loaned it to a friend and it was too much for him to handle. He is in a very positive place spiritually and just didn't want to subject himself to the negative emotions he was feeling from reading it. The book will do that to you. At times it's horrifying. My brother recently borrowed it from another friend and I'm interested in what his thoughts on the book will be.
John challenges society, the music industry, your spirituality, our judicial system, the prison system, our eating habits and has his eyes open to the Illuminati and New World Order. He knows the score.
Some may find his Krishna faith hard to deal with but I am intrigued by it as I am with Hinduism and Buddhism. There are many similarities there that I enjoy exploring. His hard stance on abortion is not my style though, we certainly differ in opinions there.

The new Clusterfux CD will be out on October 26th. 'Problem//Reaction//Solution'

"Peace and Tofu"

Get in the Pit

Well ho-de-doe! Here we go! I have a blog page. This will be a place for all my random thoughts on hardcore, punk and metal.

Just got the Beyond Possession is Beyond Possession LP for my birthday. A delightful blend of Cryptic Slaughter and early Agnostic Front. Crossover rules! I remember these guys from back in the day and on a Thrasher Skate Rock comp, never had any of their stuff though. This record is full on thrashcore all the way. Flip up your hat bill and get in the pit! I've been spinning these record all weekend. Good luck trying to find it fro a decent price. It usually goes for a pretty hefty price tag on ebay.

Just downloaded the new TSOL album off the Hurley site. If you didnt already know it's being offered for free download. Frankly I'm glad I didnt have to pay, it's not that exciting. Since they got back together they have released three albums, Disappear being the best and having the most energy. Too bad, I have always been a big fan and would really like to hear them do something worthwhile again.