Alive: Creative minds - The Central City Recording Guys

Columbus has always been home to a number of recording studios, some lasting a few years, and a are few lasting decades. Central City Recording was more the former than the latter, but still has an impact, per this profile in the Alive circa 2009.

The people behind many a recording studio have envisioned their business as a hub and catalyst for the Columbus music scene. Few have been as successful at realizing that goal as the brain trust at Central City Recording. 

“Our overriding mission statement is to provide a resource for the music scene and for the musicians here in town and as far as we can reach,” explained studio president Andrew Dodson. “To that end, it has always been important to us to be as active in everything as possible. If we can help out, we’re going to help out.” 

And they have. Dodson, Max Lewis, Ben Miller and Erik Smith are constantly seeking new ways to support the sounds coming out of this town. 

They’ve had a hand in events including the Rock Potluck, ComFest, Agora, Independents Day and the Here Comes Your Weekend Parking Lot Blowout. They rent their studio, a state-of-the-art facility in a Clintonville storefront, to freelance engineers and offer it for free to charity projects like Blues for a Cure. Dodson, Lewis and Miller teach classes at Jazz Arts Group’s Jazz Academy.

Video: All My Life by Naked Skinnies

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: Naked Skinnies

Band: Naked Skinnies

Members
Vocals/Guitars - Mark Eitzel
Bass - John Hricko
Drums - Greg Bonnell
Organ - Nancy Kangas

Releases
1981 - All My Life 7" single (Naked House Records)

YouTube: Cocteau Twins Fever on WBNS

If you're at all familiar with the history of Columbus music, this video should not come as a shock. In 1985, the Cocteau Twins came to Columbus on their first, short tour of the US thanks to the efforts of Tim Anstaett of The Offense Zine and Kurt Scheiber of No Other Records. You can read more about it here at this Dangerous Minds post.

Video: Silo The Huskie Perform Northern Southern on Channel 19

Penny Black Music UK: Interview with Silo The Huskie

After Silo The Huskie signed to Headhunter/Cargo Records for a re-release of their debut album, there was a lot of (deserved) buzz swirling around the band. Here's an interview they did with a UK website Penny Black Music around that time:

DA : Tell me about Columbus, Ohio. Is it a good scene?  

BB : Yes, band wise there are tons of bands, and a lot of different musical styles. It's also real cheap to record and to rent out a place to practice. Unfortunately, most Columbusites seem to like restaurants and sports more than local rock acts, so not a lot of people come to shows. But it's still a lot of fun to get real loaded and play with your friends. It's kind of like baseball...  

PC : Columbus as a city is nice. It's large but it still has a small town feel to it, and it's cheap to live here. Unlike Chicago where the prices are high and there are tons of bands, you can exist in Columbus and be known in "the scene". There are some great bands that have come from Columbus, and some great bands that are in Columbus right now. I think part of "the scene" loves people to fail, and we expected that from people when we signed with Cargo, but there have been people that have been very supportive, and the negative people are the small minded ones who want to be local heroes and not to try and expand out of the city. 

New Additions: Sons Of Columbus by Silo The Huskie

I was lucky to see live and play a few shows with Silo The Huskie back in the early 2000s, so revisiting them for this project was a good reminder of what a great band they were. Like a lot of "local" bands, often times the sheer volume and intensity of their live shows doesn't translate to the recordings. If you were only to hear them recorded, it would be a completely satisfying experience, but on their second and last album "Sons Of Columbus" from 2003, they manage to get as close to the raucous live experience as anything they laid down to tape.

Know Yer Band: Silo The Huskie

Band: Silo The Huskie

Members
Vocals/Guitar - Brian Barlup
Guitar/Vocals - Kevin Spain/Chris Bair
Bass - Pete Cline
Drums - Darike Harper/Stuart VanVyven

Releases
1995 - Possum Jim / Shipsong 7" single (Channel 83 Records)
1998 - Silo The Huskie album (Half Life Records/re-released 2000 Headhunter)
2003 - Sons Of Columbus album (Tiberius 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)