614 Magazine: The Ultimate Columbus Mixtape

Back in 2014, Kevin Elliott of 614 Magazine spoke with a bunch of Columbus musicians such as Pat Dull, Paul Nini of Log and Elizabeth Murphy of Times New Viking to put together a mixtape that covers the last few decades of Columbus music. Here's a sample:

“Refried Dreams” – Cheater Slicks (1999) 

One of best things about living in this town is having the opportunity to go see one of the best punk bands on this or any other planet play in a bar about the size of your living room twice a month.  They’ve put out almost a dozen stellar records since defecting to Columbus from Boston in the mid-90’s, but if I had to pick a track to include on the next Voyager launch, it’d be the title track from 1999’s Refried Dreams.  I’ve broken my glasses twice whilst losing my shit during live performances of this song. 

— BJ Holesapple (member of Necropolis and Vile Gash as well as founder of Columbus Discount Records)

Video: Greenhorn at The Treehouse in 2008

Columbus Alive 2016: Greenhorn revisits past in rare reunion show

Back in 2016, brothers McGann and Spurgeon kicked the tires on Greenhorn for a rare reunion show and spoke to the Columbus Alive regarding their show at Ace Of Cups:

More than two decades after Greenhorn’s initial break-up, the rare reunion show remains a cause for celebration - a trend the band members attribute, in part, to the youthful confidence with which they forged the music. 

“I remember the days when Greenhorn first started playing and we had this sort of us against the world mentality,” said guitarist Mark Spurgeon, who joined his brother, singer/guitarist Dan Spurgeon, for an early January interview at a Clintonville coffee shop. “We really believed in what we were doing ... and when I remember the young man in me, I’m not surprised when people say, ‘That song is so meaningful to me,’ or, ‘That song defines my experience at [now-defunct rock venue] Stache’s.’

New Additions: Through The Thick Of It 7" single by Greenhorn

At some point in the heyday of Donewaiting.com, someone was putting together compilations of 80s and 90s Columbus bands and distributing them via CD-R, and one of those volumes was Greenhorn. I was a fan instantly, as the sludgy, thick guitars and plaintive vocals reminded me of early Dinosaur Jr. It was until recently for this project I actually started pickup on Greenhorn releases because, not shockingly, most of their music isn't available to stream online anywhere, like this seven inch single released on Anyway Records in 1994.

Know Yer Band: Greenhorn

Band: Greenhorn

Members
Vocals/Guitar/Keys - Dan Spurgeon
Guitar - Mark Spurgeon
Bass - Steve McGann
Drums - Pat McGann

Releases
1992 - 7" single Conversations With Myself (Anyway Records)
1992 - 7" single The Progress (Datapanik Records)
1992 - 7" split single w/V-3, Belreve and Gaunt (Anyway Records)
1994 - 7" single Through The Thick Of It (Anyway Records)
1994 - 7" Liars' Song (3 Beads Of Sweat)
2005 - Self-Titled album (Lord Baltimore)

CMJ Magazine 1995: Localzine - Columbus, Ohio by Ron House

Back in 1995, CMJ (the College Music Journal, if you're not familiar, had Ron House of then Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments profile the city in the August edition. Ron walks you through the music, food and drink retail and media of the time in a pretty nice time capsule of the era.

Video: Pet UFO Reunion Show 2008

Lollipop Issue 15: Pigasus by Pet UFO Review

Back in 1994 Pet UFO put out their first of two full length albums, Pigasus on Burnt Sienna Records. Lollipop, which was a long running print zine before it went digital (and is now Lollipop Magazine), reviewed the album upon release in Issue 15. Here's a bit of that:

Singer Souci Broskowitz is so incredibly desirable as she kicks the male sub-species in the balls again and again. She gouges the eyes and spits in the scars of any and all who cause her pain. The songs read like diary entries and, for a change, I care. The songs go beyond personal; the lyrics and the vocal chords that spew them are covered in guts. One obvious exception is "Lecture 19" which is just plain fun. It's about plants. I quote: "Botany turns me on at night/when I think of what plants do with the light/I just wanna hug a tree/photosynthesis is so good to me!" Gosh, do you think it's one big metaphor for how beautiful the gift of giving is? Processing the waste of others and turning it into something beneficial at no expense to you or them? Why do you want to chop me down? Am I reading into this too much?

New Additions: Washington Ave. 7" by Pet UFO

One of the fun aspects of picking up releases by bands is I often have no idea what they sound or the lineup of the band prior to putting the needle on the record. Pet UFO is one of those examples. A band name I had heard going back to my time moving to Columbus, but never actually having a chance to check them out as they were done in the mid-90s. I got their 1993 seven inch Washington Ave. from Burnt Sienna Records at a record swap in town and, although I heard them described simply as "punk," there is always a unique twist waiting, and Pet UFO is no different. Lead singer Souci Broskowitz gives a throat shredding performance that is refreshing in its raw and energetic simplicity.

Know Yer Band: Pet UFO

Band: Pet UFO

Members
Vocals - Souci Broskowitz
Guitar - Kevin Happell
Bass - Byron Weaver
Drums - Tony Painter

Releases
1993 - Flush 7" (Burnt Sienna Records)
1993 - 7" Split w/Bugman, Clay and Pretty Mighty Mighty (Burnt Sienna Records)
1993 - Washington Avenue 7" (Burnt Sienna Records)
1994 - Pigeon Heaven 7" (Burnt Sienna Records/Double Deuce Records)
1994 - Pigasus album (Burnt Sienna Records)
1995 - My Name Is Esther Cohen album (Double Deuce Records)

Columbus Alive 2017: Little Brother’s, big shoes

In 2017, ten years after the closing of Little Brother's, the Columbus Alive looked back with an oral history of the venue, talking with Dan Dougan and a variety of other Columbus music folks.

Ten years after the last notes rang out at Little Brother’s, Dougan’s rock clubs are still revered as much as they are missed in the city’s music scene. For years, local rockers and concertgoers have been on the search for “the new Little Brother’s,” a mantle most recently bestowed on Ace of Cups, whose owner, Marcy Mays, is intimately familiar with Stache’s and Little Brother’s from her time in Scrawl.

Video: Washington by Tiara

Radio Free Tobias: Some Q & A with Eric Rottmayer

Back in 2005, Tiara was a busy band, releasing both a new album (Chained To The Crown) and a split 12" with Miranda Sound thanks to Donewaiting.com. Around that time, lead singer/guitarist Eric Rottmayer conducted an interview with the blog Radio Free Tobias, here's some of that:

RFT: It seems to me like a lot of people listen to it (straight pop-rock type stuff), but there aren't a lot of people playing it.  

Eric: Yeah, I know. I don’t really know the reason for that, but that’s how it’s always been. The Columbus scene has always been kind of strange, I think. For us, at least, we started playing in a totally straightedge, punk rock house, and that’s where we played our first show, it's called the Neil House. And that was strictly out of necessity, I mean, that was the place we could play. We made friends with some of those people because they accepted us into that scene. We weren't playing punk rock at all. But it helped us get out foot into the door, meeting a lot of people. We were sort of accepted even though we were playing a lot of pop things. We would have people boo us. I mean, we don’t really fit into a lot of these different things, so some night we would be booed, and some nights someone would come up, out of the blue, some crazy punk rock kid would come up on stage and be like "I really understand what you’re doing". And that was really cool. So, it's hard if you’re really trying to do something that’s not typical. It wasn’t that we were really trying to do something that wasn’t typical; we were just doing what we liked. 

New Additions: Tiara / Preston Furman split single

Out and about in Columbus recently, I stopped by Records Per Minute and dug through the seven inch selection, coming out with a few gems, including this Tiara and Preston Furman split single released on Seldom Scene Records back in 1996. Tiara was a band that I was instantly a fan of when I first moved to Columbus, as they had just released their debut Calling The Whales and would continue to be proficient during the early half of the 2000s, along with lead singer Eric Metronome's voluminous solo output around the same time.

Know Yer Band: Tiara

Band: Tiara

Members
Vocals/Guitar - Eric Rottmayer, Matt Leaver
Bass - Brian Freshour
Drums - Brian Moore
Guitar/Pedal Steel - Eric Kang
Jessica Faller - Keyboards

Releases
1996 - Split 7" w/Preston Furman (Seldom Scene Records)
1996 - Find The Time 7" (Lizard Family Music)
1998 - Split 7" w/Silver Scooter (Voice Of The Sky)
1998 - Calling The Whales album (Hub City)
1999 - It's A Message 7" (Glazed Records)
2000 - Again Cast In (Anyway Records)
2002 - Titletron (Grand Theft Autumn)
2004 - Summer Of The Lion, Summer Of The Lamb (We Want Action)
2005 - Chained To The Crown (We Want Action)
2005 - Donewaiting.com split 12" w/Miranda Sound (Donewaiting.com)

2008: Columbus Alive's Top 100 Columbus Albums of the Past 30 Years

Back in 2008, Chris DeVille of the Columbus Alive had the (un)enviable task of compiling "The Top 100 Columbus Albums of the Past 30 Years," which is archived over at RateYourMusic.com. As one might expect, this evoked some strong emotions amongst the message board commenters at the time at Donewaiting.com, from "you picked the wrong Gaunt album" to "who the hell are the Silver Wings?"

Video: On My Mind by Them Wranch

It's Psychedelic Baby: Royal Pines interview with Joe Patt

Joe Patt has been in a variety of bands for the past several decades, most recently Royal Pines, but also The Hairy Patt band and Them Wranch. Here's an interview with Joe from It's Psychedelic Baby back in 2015:

Do you have any funny or interesting stories from live shows or performances that you’d like to share here with our readers? 

JP: Oh my God, there have been many sad and funny stories over the years with the many bands I’ve been in.  One of my favorites to tell is when Them Wranch was playing in Morgantown, West Virginia back around 2000.  Right before we went on I had an emergency bathroom break because of some awful West Virginia food we’d eaten.  I’m sure it was excellent, but maybe I had too much or it simply didn’t agree with me.  Anyway, I used the backstage bathroom which was actually upstairs and quite a walk from the stage.  I clogged it up and there was no plunger, so it overflowed.  This is all happening while I’m hearing the guys in the band impatiently making noise on stage, waiting for me.  I run down to the bar and ask for a plunger.  They have one and I run back in front of the stage and wave the plunger at the guys telling them I’ll be ready in a minute.  I plunge the toilet and clean up the mess and I don’t really remember playing that night.  We actually ended up spending the night in that apartment above the bar which was great, but unfortunately some meth head lived next door and he was cranking cassettes of 1970’s Pittsburgh Steelers radio broadcasts all night.  We didn’t get much sleep that night!  That’s another thing about the road…  You don’t get much sleep.  “Bradshaw, back in the pocket…”

New Additions: Medium Rare by Them Wranch

Even though we were playing shows around the same time as I was in Columbus in the early '00s, I never got a chance to check out Them Wranch. While I won't be able to correct that mistake, I rectified it somewhat by picking up their sophomore album Medium Rare on Orange Recordings from 2001. Featuring Joe Patt from The Hairy Patt Band (who will come up at some point on the blog, guaranteed), this is the kind of grizzled garage rock I wasn't really into then but have grown to appreciate.

Know Yer Band: Them Wranch

Band: Them Wranch

Members
Vocals/Guitar - Andy "Ranch" Robertson
Vocals/Drums - Joe Patt
Bass/Vocals - Gerald Morrison

Releases
1998 - God Bless Them Wranch 7" (Mind Of A Child Records)
1999 - Beware Them Wranch 7" (Medium Rare Records)
2000 - Big Noise From East Maynard album(Medium Rare Records)
2001 - Medium Rare album (Orange Recordings)

Terminal Boredom: Datapaniked in the Year 2005 - A Look Back at One of the Best Labels of the 90s

In 2005, Justin at Terminal Boredom more or less dissected the entire Datapanik Records output. Here's some of that:

People always ask me if I'm from Ohio, and are usually surprised to hear I've only visited once. My obsession started circa '93 when the first record by the short-lived Pet UFO was sent to my high school's radio station. In hindsight, that record sounds pretty dated (although I recall someone at Flipside called it as important a debut as the Germs "Forming"...only time will tell) but it came with a press release playing up Columbus as the next big scene, specifically highlighting MRR's declaration of the New Bomb Turks first LP as the best punk record of previous five years. I picked up the album soon thereafter, and was hooked. Tracking down a year or two's worth of NBT records (surely a half-dozen or more, given how prolific they were in the beginning) wasn't very hard, with one exception: their first couple records on Datapanik. It seems that even as the records were coming out, people were recognizing it as one of the most important labels of the 90s. But thanks to eBay, and a little passing of time, a single that once went for $20 can often be found for a single $5 bid (with major exceptions of course.) Here's a buyer's guide for the uninitiated.