Video: Spanish Moss by Moviola

Tape Op: Moviola - Recording All Over The Place

Veteran Columbus journalist Stephen Slaybaugh spoke with several members of Moviola back in the early 2000s for Tape Op magazine following the release of their 2001 album Rumors Of The Faithful. Here's the beginning of that interview:

At first glance Columbus, Ohio's Moviola seems like the perfectly conventional band you'd expect from the heart of the Midwest — a couple guitars, a bass, a drum. But as anyone who has heard the band's records will attest, they hover far above the heads of most conventional rock bands. Their recordings are imbued with a post-modern sensibility, both in lyrical bent and sound. When it comes to sound the appropriateness of their name, a piece of machinery akin to a nickelodeon, becomes readily apparent. There are elements both old and new, rock standards and otherworldly nuances. Often labeled 'lo-fi', they've transcended the limitations of their homemade studios through innovative tinkering to create some of the past decade's most immediately engrossing records, namely 1997's Glenn Echo Autoharp and its follow-up, The Durable Dream, both on the Spirit of Orr label out of Boston.

New Additions: Waste 7" single by Moviola

Moviola are one of a handful of bands included in the research for the book that I actually had some familiarity with from years back. Back when I first started playing in a band, Moviola were already well established, and their album The Durable Dream (1999), Rumors Of The Faithful (2001) and East Of Eager (2004) were all on my record buying radar. I never caught the band live, but when future releases popped up, I would give a listen, and usually enjoyed what I heard. What I didn't do is go backwards and check out their early/mid-90s era, at least not until now. I decided to start by picking up their very first release - the 7" single Waste released jointly on Anyway and Eardrop Productions. It's interesting to hear the bands evolution, which started much louder and noisier, to the 2000s and their mellowed indie rock sound.

Know Yer Band: Moviola

Band: Moviola

Members
Guitars/Vocals/Keyboards - Jake Housh
Guitars/Vocals - Jerry Dannemiller
Keys/Guitar - Scotty Tabachnik
Bass - Sam Demkee/Ted Hattemer
Drums - Ted Hattemer/Greg Bonnell

Releases
1993 - Waste 7" single (Anyway)
1994 - All By Myself 7" single (Ratfish Records)
1994 - Lookin' In 7" EP (Anyway)
1995 - Split w/Cobra Verde 7" single (Wabana Ore Limited)
1995 - Frantic 10" EP (Spirit Of Orr)
1995 - Cowtown Vol. IV split 7" single (Anyway)
1996 - Split w/Eric's Trip 7" single (Me Too! Records)
1996 - Next Door 7" EP (Ata-Glance)
1996 - The Year You Were Born album (Anyway)
1997 - Brainhole 7" single (Wabana Ore Limited)
1997 - Crowding The Sky 7" single (Home Base Music)
1998 - Kitchen Waltz Preabmle 7" single (Kim Will Kill Me)
1998 - Glen Echo Autoharp album (Spirit Of Orr)
1999 - The Durable Dream album (Spirit Of Orr)
2001 - Split w/Eyesinweasel 7" single (Spirit Of Orr)
2001 - Rumors Of The Faithful album (Spirit Of Orr)
2002 - Split w/Handsome Family 7" single (Spirit Of Orr)
2004 - East Of Eager album (Anyway)
2007 - Dead Knowledge album (Catbird Records)
2012 - Split w/Hiss Golden Messenger 7" single (Pale Rider)

Donewaiting on Mark Eitzel (2012)

There aren't many write-ups specifically about the Naked Skinnies, probably due to the fact the band last just over a year and managed just one seven inch single, and Mark Eitzel (as mentioned in more than one article) isn't particularly interested in talking about it. Still, whenever he puts out new material, it occasionally gets mentioned, like this 2012 entry at Donewaiting.com:

Mark Eitzel and Columbus go way back. At one time Eitzel wrote for Tim Anstaett’s The Offence, and his early, Joy Division-esque band Naked Skinnies began here. They were the “hero band” of Ron House, who played lots of shows with Naked Skinnies and helped put out the band’s first 7-inch, “All My Life,” on “Naked House Records” in 1981. Eitzel formed the Skinnies, his precursor to American Music Club, with Greg Bonnell (AMC, Moviola), John Hricko and Nancy Kangas before heading out to San Francisco. Though Eitzel doesn’t recall the period with particular fondness and has yet to permit digital dissemination of the aforementioned 7-inch, it’s better than he remembers it to be and a fascinating look into how Eitzel started out.

New Additions: All My Life single by Naked Skinnies

Some Columbus releases going back thirty or forty years ago are still fairly easy to come by, thanks to plenty pressed and distributed. Then on the other hand, you have something like the Naked Skinnies lone seven inch single, All My Life / This Is The Beautiful Night, released in 1981 on Naked House Records. Fronted by a young Mark Eitzel, the band featured future Log/Moviola member Greg Bonnell on drums, and was (according to a chat with Ron House) released on Naked House Records thanks to a few bucks Ron provided to help get the single pressed. Knowing the career Mark Eitzel would carve house, it's interesting to hear his earliest recordings and musical output.

Know Yer Band: Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments

Band: Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments

Members
Vocals - Ron House
Guitar - Bob Petric
Bass - Keith Baker, Craig Dunson, Philip Park
Drums - Nora Malone, Bruce Saltmarsh, Elliot Dicks, Ted Hattemer

Releases
1990 - 7" split single w/Monster Truck Five (Datapanik Records)
1991 - 7" single Career Interruption Code (Datapanik Records)
1992 - 12" single You Can't Kill Stupid (Datapanik Records)
1994 - 7" single Negative Guest List (Siltbreeze Records)
1995 - 7" single Punk Rock Secret (Bag Of Hammers)
1995 - 7" split single w/Monster Truck Five, Moviola and Gunshy Ministers (Anyway Records)
1995 - Bait And Switch album (Onion Records)
1997 - Straight To Video album (Anyway Records)
1997 - 7" split single w/Fat Day (Ratfish Records)
1997 - You Lookin' For Treble? compilation album (Year Zero)
2000 - No Old Guy Lo-Fi Cry (Rockathon Records)
2011 - 7" single Burning Trash (Negative Guest List Records)

Entertainment Weekly 1995: Columbus, Ohio - Local Heroes

Back in 1995, Columbus was getting some serious attention while the major labels were scouring the land for the next Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Entertainment Weekly made their way to town and reported on the happenings in this piece:

On a recent Friday night in Columbus, Ohio, a garage-turned-art space-turned- recording studio called Magnetic Planet is the site of a hastily arranged concert featuring Gaunt, Appalachian Death Ride, Moviola, Lincoln Logs, and Monster Zero-a sampling of the city’s formidable, if largely unknown, rock & roll roster. Despite the thundering punk-pop, the BYOB event has a disarmingly casual air; there’s no cover charge and virtually no distinction between the musicians and the slacking audience from Ohio State. It may not look like the future of rock & roll, but in the current clime of the music biz, it’s a record-company executive’s dream. Major labels have been on the hunt for the next hitmaking hamlet since well before the orgy of Seattle signings. In fact, the search for the Next Big Scene dates back to the early ’80s discovery of R.E.M. in the boho enclave of Athens, Ga. Since then, Austin, Tex., Champaign, Ill., Chapel Hill, N.C., San Diego, and even Halifax, Nova Scotia, have been candidates for the title.