Bored Out: Interview with Don Howland

In 2016, Ryan Leach at the Bored Out website conducted a lengthy and in-depth interview with Don Howland of Gibson Bros., Great Plains and Bassholes. Here is some of that:

Ryan: How did joining Great Plains come about? Did you learn bass to play in the band? 

Don: I did. I bought a bass from a kid in a trailer who needed money to buy a gun. Bass isn’t hard to learn. I was good enough to play pretty quick. There were only ten or fifteen people in the Columbus scene. Ron and I knew each other from the record store. Amrep (Michael Hummel) and Jim Shepard were around—all the Ego Summit guys. In a bigger city we would’ve likely been acquaintances, but in a city the size of Columbus we all became compadres I guess. I was the youngest in the group. I was an outsider, being from a white flight suburb, but it was no big deal.  Tim Anstaett of the Offense went to my high school, so when he moved back to Columbus from Florida there were two of us. 

Ryan: You wrote for the Offense and contributed to some of the last issues of New York Rocker. 

Don: That was thanks to Tim Anstaett from the Offense. He gave people free reign. Tim had an insane work ethic. Whatever his passions were at the time, he’d devote thirty-six hours a day to them. He wrote a telephone book-sized tome on bass fishing in Florida. Andy Schwartz and Ira Kaplan at the New York Rocker were very open to the fanzine vibe.  Through New York Rocker—I also sent some of my work with the Offense to him—I got to know Robert Christgau at the Village Voice. I started writing for the Voice. Christgau was a super nice guy. I probably learned more about writing and English from him than from anyone else, and I’ve taught English for twenty-one years. Christgau would spend two-and-a-half hours editing a two-hundred-fifty-word piece. That was a great experience. I started with the Voice in ’81 and wrote for them until the early ‘90s. There wasn’t a whole lot of great music going on then. The early ‘80s were rough. When punk died—and you could tell it died—hardcore came along and it’s like, “Shit. This is not the same. There are no girls here anymore. It’s just like a football game.” I wrote for Spin as well.

Agit Reader: Ego Summit - Summit Talks

Veteran Columbus writer Stephen Slaybaugh wrote about Ego Summit for The Agit Reader back in 2008, here is some of that article:

When the annals for the rock scene of Agit hometown Columbus, Ohio are written, there are certain names that will stand out, their direct input and/or influence sewing a thread that cuts across decades and perhaps generations. Taking their cues from the “anyone can do it” ethos of punk, but losing some of the urbanity for distinctly Midwestern accents and skepticism, a close knit bunch of book-fed and alcohol-bred minds formed the nucleus of the indie-genous scene in the late ‘70s and throughout the ‘80s and into the ‘90s. Don Howland, Mike “Rep” Hummel, Jim Shepard, Tommy Jay, Ron House—among others, the contributions of these five to the Columbus pantheon (if there is one) can’t be overstated. Gibson Bros., Great Plains, V-3, Quotas, Bassholes, Slave Apartments—Columbus’ musical DNA can be traced directly to these bands. 

But despite crossed paths in various combinations, it wasn’t until a weekend in 1997 that those five all got together so that, as Hummel put it, “some documentation to that fellowship (would) be recorded on tape before the participants doddered off into old age.” With Jay, Hummel and friend Jerry Wick (of Gaunt) manning a four-track, the group convened at Jay’s studio barn in the rural suburb of Harrisburg and recorded over two days. The result was The Room Isn’t Big Enough, an album released on Hummel’s Old Age/No Age label under the fitting moniker of Ego Summit. While the contributors’ credentials spoke for themselves, the album received little attention when it was released.

New Additions: The Room Isn't Big Enough by Ego Summit

Is Ego Summit the Columbus equivalent of a super group? The coming together of artists to form a one-off project from bands such as Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Mike Rep & The Quotas, V-3, Bassholes and more. Maybe none of those bands made an impact nationally, but locally, they all have are all of legendary status. It does speak to the stature of this release that it has been re-released twice, once in 2009 on CD, and then again in 2013 on vinyl. I managed to track down an original copy, and glad I did, as the artwork is much more DIY than the re-releases, a cool aspect of many Columbus records.

My Husband's Stupid Record Collection checks out Blue Roots by Bassholes

For a couple of years, a woman kept a blog detailing the journey through her husband's record collection, which was called "My Husband's Stupid Record Collection." In 2014 she pulled out the debut album "Blue Roots" by the Bassholes and gave it a spin, here are some of her thoughts:

“I Can Tell By The Way You Smell,” immediately reminded me of “Fell in Love With A Girl,” (I linked to the video because I haven’t watched it in so long! And thought this was a good reason to.) and now this band sounds a lot like The White Stripes to me! Especially with just two people, it’s lost that 90s feeling for me and now I can really hear how The White Stripes must have been influenced by this band. I really liked this song and also appreciated how dirty it sounds compared to “Fell in Love With A Girl” which has a more produced sound. 

The next song goes back to a blues/slightly grunge feel, and I’m liking how this band seems to be taking many rock and roll influences and making their own music with just two people. I don’t know why I keep coming back to that, but I guess I’m just really impressed by the raw yet pleasing and dirty sound a two person rock band can create. And loud too! 

All of these songs are pretty short, most are under or just over three minutes on the first side and even shorter on side two. I think these work as short songs, but I’m not feeling that big of an emotional connection with this music. I do like it, and while I think it would be a good live show, I just can’t see myself getting completely lost in this music, although it does feel like the musicians are getting lost in it and having fun.

Video: Bassholes - "Microscope Feeling"

Agit Reader: Feature - Bassholes Basement Tapes

For Agit Reader #77, Stephen Slaybaugh sat down with Don Howland of the Bassholes back in 2009 to discuss their latest release "...And Without A Name" released on Columbus Discount Records. Here's a snippet:

Do you think you’d have had the longevity that you’ve had if you were trying to do this full-time and were in a van together six months out of the year? 

DH: No, I went into the Bassholes hating touring, so that was never a consideration. Our one brush with fame, I suppose—on this level anyway—was when we had the Matador record. They wanted that over-produced double-album on In the Red (When My Blue Moon Turns Red Again), and instead I gave them Long Way Blues, which to me is by far the best record we ever did. It was just so freaking weird, they didn't promote us at all. We could have toured and played with Matador bands a lot, but we really didn’t do that. We opened a couple shows for Yo La Tengo. Man, talk about pain! Oh my god that was rough. I like people who have a particular sensibility to mine, and I don’t think there are that many.

New Additions: When My Blue Moon Turns Red Again by Bassholes

Like a number of bands, I had never heard the Bassholes before starting this book project. From the punny name, I didn't know what to expect - was this a jokey band? I quickly learned, no, they are not. And what I learned is that more than just being a good band, they were in some respects ahead of the curve in the 90s that would later produce The Black Keys in Akron and The White Stripes in Detroit, being a guitar/vocal and drum combo. My first of what is now many acquisitions is their 1998 album "When My Blue Moon Turns Red Again," a double vinyl album that encapsulates just about everything I've heard from the band, from it's most locked in and straightforward to its most jarring and experimental.

Know Yer Band: Bassholes

Band: Bassholes

Members
Guitars/Vocals - Don Howland
Drums - Rick Lilash/Lamont "Bim" Thomas

Releases
1992 - Blues Roots (Archive Series - Volume One) album (In The Red Recordings)
1993 - Cowtown EP Vol. II 7" single (Anyway Records)
1992 - John Henry 7" single (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
1992 - 98 degrees In The Shade 7" single (In The Red Recordings)
1994 - Baby Go / Hell Blues 7" single (Honeyman Records)
1995 - Hey O.J. 7" single (In The Red Recordings)
1995 - Lion's Share / Jesus Book 7" single (In The Red Recordings)
1995 - (She Said I Had A) Problem / Change Had To Come 7" single (Bag Of Hammers)
1995 - Haunted Hill! (Archive Series - Volume 2) album (In The Red Recordings)
1996 - Interzone 7" single (Seldom Scene Records)
1997 - Moody/Microscope Feeling 7" single (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
1997 - Deaf Mix Vol. 3 album (In The Red Recordings)
1998 - Long Way Blues/1996-1998 album (Matador)
1998 - When My Blue Moon Turns Red Again album (In The Red Recordings)
2000 - The Secret Strength Of Depression (Live At KSPC, Claremont) album (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
2003 - Out In The Treetops 2x7" ep (Dead Canary Records)
2004 - Broken Chamber Music compilation album (Secret Keeper Records)
2005 - Bassholes (Dead Canary Records)
2006 - Jack At Night 7" single (Solid Sex Love Doll Records)
2009 - Archive Series - Vol. 7 ...And Without A Name album (Columbus Discount Records)
2010 - I Feel Like Sleeping 12" EP (Columbus Discount Records)
2013 - Boogieman Stew album (Columbus Discount Records)
2015 - In The Dumps album (Not On Label)

614 Magazine: Where Did the Punk Rockers Go?

Interesting question posed by Chris Gaitten of 614 Magazine back in 2015:

In 2008, CDR released the first of the unheard stash, Tommy Jay’s Tall Tales of Trauma, from Tommy Jay, a member of the Quotas. Jay and Rep hailed from a tiny hamlet just south of Grove City called Harrisburg, where Jay had created a practice space and studio in his home. For decades, a rotating cast of musicians known as The Harrisburg Players rehearsed and recorded there, influencing and often comprising Columbus’s underground bands. 

CDR hit overdrive in 2009, starting a singles club in addition to the new releases, reissues, and previously unheard music. They distributed 16 records that year, often at the expense of relationships and showering, Smith said. Over time, they put out releases from lo-fi luminaries like Cheater Slicks, as well as the next generation of bands like Psychedelic Horseshit 

Their production levels decreased in subsequent years, as bands like Bassholes and Cheater Slicks only recorded new music every so often, and the unreleased Harrisburg stash was eventually tapped. Koe-Krompecher had revived Anyway, and other local labels like Superdreamer Records had begun popping up.