Good morning—Wayne again. Ok, here’s Part 2. Remember, these are my thoughts and feelings from the era of EBLC. I am not speaking for Brandon, Chris, Dave, or Timbo (king of Mutant Pop).
Part 2—SO, WE’RE NOT GONNA BE FAMOUS?…IF I COULD CLIMB THE WALLS OF THIS BOTTLE…CONNIE LOVES ANNIE…
After that first practice, we continued playing and rehearsing with Dave. It did not take long and he knew every song record by us (well, pretty close). He also played every song perfectly—like a machine. He was definitely the shot in the arm we needed and even the disagreements stopped for a bit.
Playing in a band that makes ZERO bucks is always a labor of love. In 1999, we knew there was not going to be a record deal, major or big indie, that was going to pay the bills. Not that it was every our first concern. While recording Earthbound For The Holiday the year before, Mass Giorgini (super pop punk producer) was a big help in trying to hook up us with Ben Weasel and Jughead’s label, Panic Button, or Fat Wreckord’s offshot, Honest Don’s. With Mutant Pop’s blessing, Mass sent copies of Earthbound off but everyone passed. Panic Button (I think it was Ben) hated the name and the percussion parts that Chris added to some songs and Honest Don’s was kind of interested but Fat Mike (from NOFX) thought Brandon sounded too much like himself! Words of encouragement were given and we were happy…Not everyone can be famous!
Seriously, it was fine. We understood (and still do), most people did not likes us but we were thankful for the ones that did. So, we embraced being on Mutant Pop. Timbo treated us more than fair. He encouraged us when we needed a “pick me up” and he was the first to let us know if something sucked (like our attempt at our own “Ten Golden Greats” record—ten songs in ten minutes on one 7 inch, done with success by our then label mates, Portland’s, THE AUTOMATICS).
Brandon kept bringing songs to practice and we kept working together—getting them churned out. The plan for EBLC was working; going at the 50/50 rate. I loved them all. “Sweet Sad Goodbye”, “Teenage Hate Band”, “Insomniac Killer” (at the time titled “Pissing At The Sun”), “Eye Doctor” plus many others were worked on during this time.
1999 was also a time when we played more shows than before and did not cancel half of them! It was a blast during those shows. Dave, Brandon, myself, and Chris (who always played incredibly at gigs) rehearsed hard for and tried to make set lists that flowed together well. I recently watched two shows from this time and was surprised just how good we played.
Unfortunately, I was crawling inside a whiskey bottle at an increased rate during 1999 as well. I enjoyed our bar shows much more than the all ages ones. But, ever resourceful, if we played a show where the kiddies were at, you better believe I had a book bag or gym bag with a bottle of Ol Grandad or Early Times in it. I remember playing an all ages show with Kung Fu Monkeys and Boris The Sprinkler in Cincinnati…being heavily buzzed but still found time to run upstairs and chug as much as I could in a bathroom stall before starting our set. Yeah, very sad.
Brandon was going through the highs and lows of a new relationship and we often drank together. Anyone who reached out to me or confronted me about my drinking was met with anger or one of my objections from my laundry list of excuses…Work was stressful, band was stressful, life was stressful—I’m sad, I’m happy, I’m depressed, etc. I always kept an excuse or reason handy.
As we were planing shows and a recording session for the summer, there was one show I was looking forward to in particular. Our Mutant Pop label mates, DIRT BIKE ANNIE, were coming to town to play a show with us in nearby Huntington, West Virginia. In early summer, just before the show, our Earthbound For The Holiday and their Hit The Rock album was released the same day on Mutant Pop. I was a fan—BIG fan. I knew all the songs, all the lyrics and was extremely excited to see them play.
No one had GPS in ’99 so we set up a time and place to meet so they could come to my place and hang out before the show. A Burger King close to my house was chosen and me, Dave, and my two year old son drove down to meet them. Jeanie was the first one out of the van to greet us, followed quickly by Adam, Dan, and Deano. The four of them seemed so genuinely nice I instantly liked ’em.
Once we were all hanging out—before the show, before the crazy two day after party; I honestly felt like I had known DBA for years. We had went through a similar thing with the TEEN IDOLS but this was stronger…this felt like family…