December 4, 2013
Hello Kiddies—it’s Wayne again and it’s time for Part 5 of my story on the Eternal Bad Luck Charm album and the year 1999 (and hell, we may hit part of 2000 as well) leading up and past its recording. Remember,this is my version and memories of that time; I’m sure Brandon, Chris, Dave, and Timbo (The Mutant Pop King) would say “What’s he smoking?” and remember a different story. Thanks for all of the positive feedback and enjoy.
Part 5—AN ALL AGES SHOWS CHASED WITH SOME ALCOHOL…NO MASS FOR EBLC…”THE NEW SONGS TELL THE STORY”…
After the summer session at The Infinity Closet, we played a couple of local shows to sort of test the waters of the new material and promote the just released, EARTHBOUND FOR THE HOLIDAY (still my favorite Dungs record that needs its own story one of these days).
Both were all ages shows with one show being at a local bar (can not remember the name and it has been closed for many years). Upstairs, where the stage was located, the space had been converted to a safe “all ages” venue. The neon beer signs had been taken down and bed sheets were draped over the liquor bottles. Downstairs, it was a different world. Country music blasted from the juke box, lots of beer on tap, and a wide, wide choice of liquors. Needless to say, this is where I stayed to get warmed up for the show.
In the 90’s, our show attendance was either feast or famine. Anywhere from twenty to three hundred bodies. The one thing I have always dug about all ages shows is the younger people are usually more enthusiastic and will spend their money on merchandise because they are not trying to get smashed (or they getting smashed with alcohol they smuggled in…like me!).
At the all ages show with the downstairs bar, we had just had a huge batch of new shirts made to sell. About fifteen or twenty minutes after the doors opened, I went by our merch table and asked why the new shirts were not on display and was told we had already sold out and copies of EARTHBOUND were selling very well, too. I celebrated by going back downstairs to drink. I was almost completely GONE by show time but Brandon, Chris, and Dave could still not talk me into riding the mechanical bull.
The only thing I remember about the set list from these shows was we played a ton of songs from the newly released EARTHBOUND FOR THE HOLIDAY and we ran through five or six new songs to gauge what the kids thought of the EBLC material. The songs were the faster, shorter, more typical Dungs songs (safe songs) and the response was positive.
My drinking continued to increase during that summer. The argument I made at the time (and for years after) was that I was not a drunk. Not at all, I just liked to drink. How could I be a drunk? I worked, I was a nice guy, I showered…Drunks are those crazy people you see out in the street screaming at imaginary people. No one was fooled but me.
With the band sounding tight and plenty of new material in the arsenal, I contacted Sonic Iguana and booked time in October to record the new album. After lots of talks with Timbo and everyone in the band, we decided to not have Mass Giorgini produce EBLC. I was definitely bummed. I had learned so much from Mass about playing bass from our time together and he was just an incredible producer and person. The decision was purely a financial one. We had done the math and we could get more days, at a lower price if we used someone else. Mass was very understanding and he knew Mutant Pop was not getting rich from the connie dungs. He suggested Fergus Daly. Fergus had been active in the Lafayette-area punk scene since the 1980’s fronting Civil Disobedience plus he was an engineer for our DRIVING ON NEPTUNE record from a few years prior. So, Fergus was the man for the job.
So, with the studio time booked, we continued to rehearse when we could find the time. Everyone was working full time plus Dave had to drive three hours to get to Ashland. He would usually be my house guest and stay for a few days so we could cram in practice time and watch Russ Meyer movies.
In September, as we were about to start playing, Brandon told us he had seven new songs that he wanted us to work on for the new record. I laughed because at first I thought he was joking. “The new songs tell the story” was how he worded it.
He wanted ETERNAL BAD LUCK CHARM to be a concept record. But instead of a made up story, it was the story of his current relationship. It was going to be totally true…I did not want to do a concept record. I wanted the 50/50 record we had talked about all of this time. But, he stood firm on the subject. Brandon had never acted this way before. Generally, no matter the line up—we talked things out and made a group decision. Was I happy? Hell no! Could I have quit? Yes, but I did not want to leave these guys plus I thought I might be able to change his mind in a few days.
Even though I was drinking at the practice and every practice, I remember playing “All That I Have Left”, “P.S. I Miss You”, “Typical Tattoo”, etc and thinking this is not what we should be doing. I wanted the angst of “Teenage Hate Band”, the catchy and frantic, “Carnival Blue”, the quiet/loud/quiet, Pixies-like feel of “Eye Doctor”. I think everyone but Brandon was nervous and everyone could feel the tension. All I could think was I needed more alcohol. I could not wait for practice to be over. I knew I was going to get super smashed and call Timbo so he could shoot this ludicrous idea down.