Keep Laughing One Year Anniversary

     Another year down the tubes.  And I find myself here.  I challenged myself to  keep this boat floating for a whole year and I stuck to it somehow squeaking by with a post for every month in the last year.  It’s not all genius in fact many would argue the opposite.  I’ve even come clean admitting that I go back and edit posts well after publishing.  I admit writing is my weakest link.  But I can see I'm getting better and I know it's through my efforts with this blog.   

     It has become somewhat difficult these last few months.  My enthusiasm waned.  I questioned why I’m doing it.  I beat myself up over it.  I patted myself on the back.  I ran through the whole gamut of emotions.  I’m glad I made it a whole year.   

     What have I learned so far from this project?  Did you learn anything?  What does the future hold for KL?  All fair questions.

     I thought I’d be more engaged in writing through this blog but I have to admit it’s become more of a media outlet than anything else.  Every single post has included a download or link to some relevant information which relates to the writing and I’m convinced that few if any are reading the words.   It doesn’t hurt my feelings.   Maybe this was the point of the whole endeavor anyway?  To get these pieces of media out there for the world.  From there the public will decide if they want to experience them.  But it’s more than that.  Especially when you consider the musical side of what this blog has tried to “archive.”

     History is a strange thing.  We are living it everyday.  Some days I wish I’d kept a journal.  There are so many memories I’ll never be able to trigger again.  It makes me sad when I think about it.  Like so many others I can’t be bothered.  This blog has become a launching pad for me to try and retrieve those pieces of the past that are easily walked over as we move forward everyday. 

     While I’ve gone through some steps to try and carve out a “mission statement” I’ve by and large kept KL loose and flexible because honestly I’m figuring it out as I go.  Looking back it’s easy to see two distinct motivations behind the blog.  So in the interest of making things clear for myself I will declare:

     KL is a vehicle to spur a dialogue to make available, archive, and preserve historic music that cannot be found online.  The focus has mainly been recordings made by Las Vegas musicians from the 80’s and 90’s.  But I’m also interested in any audio or video from Las Vegas, NV over the last 30 years.    

   Also KL is a medium for me to publish my own creative endeavors including films, animations, photographs, drawings, and writings. 

     I never wanted to be the authority figure on Las Vegas underground music.  It just pissed me off that I couldn’t find the Fuck Shit Piss “Seven Song Demo” anywhere on the world wide fucking web.  There’s a million and one blogs out there devoted to the crappiest crust bands ever created.  You can find any jazz song recorded between 1930 and 1973.  But if you want to hear Substance D you are shit out of luck because everyone who had that demo threw it away back in 1995? 

     It was my sincere hope that others might see what I’m doing and perhaps make some of those artifacts available for me, and the world, to hear again.  Some people have stepped up.  Are others close behind? 

     A few people have come forward telling me about the buckets of demos they have.  Some have even mentioned sending me copies so I can make them available here.  So far all those people have flaked.  I won’t name names and bitch them out but I will let you know that my supply of local LV demos is dwindling.  This part of Keep Laughing may well be falling off the map in the next few months.  I still have a few records I’m considering making available here but we’ll see how it goes.   

     Once again I will post my wish list here in the hopes that someone out there still has these demos and can make them available to me as either mp3 files or as a hard cassette copy from which I will make mp3 files.  If you have access to any of these audio treasures please get in touch.

Substance D -demo

Catapult- First demo

Foot Long -Demo

Hairball/Forehead -split demo

Disrupt- demo

Nice Sucks- demo

Blue Ruin- demo

Generics- LP? EP?

OI ALTO- demo

Lady- Vicki Campbell demo

Propeller- demo

Organic- 7” & CD

Area 51- demo

System Rejects- demo

Sampson’s Army- LP

Any recordings of KUNV’s Rock Avenue

Any recordings of Fuck Shit Piss on KUNV

Recordings of the Hardcore Show on KUNV

Recordings of Lunch w/ PMRC on KUNV

     There are many many recordings I am forgetting I’m sure of it.  This is just the ones coming to mind today.  If you have access to these recordings please make them available before you die and your stuff gets thrown in a trashcan and hauled out to the LV dump.

     Other things I’ve learned from KL in the last year?  I admit it’s a bit unusual for me to try and combine these efforts to archive and preserve history as well as showcasing my own work in film, music, and other arty bullshit expression.  No one has come out and said they think it’s wrong for me to be doing it this way although someone did stop following KL after I published the photos of the flag I burned on top of Lava Butte. 

     Fuck em.  It all goes back to my main motivation.  I want to be a better writer.  I write and create where the inspiration leads me and I won’t stray from it to please anyone.  My writing is shining a light on a corner of the world that is fading away.  If anyone has taken offense to the criticism I’ve written about a band they were in that existed 20 years ago I can’t apologize.  If you want to set the record straight please write your own blog.

     I see no problem mixing my artwork and perspective with this mission of preserving history.  I follow a long line of obscurity that will never be pushed over into the mainstream.  Putting it all together in one lump on the internet only makes sense as I am more and more aware.  My worldview, expression, and history only has meaning to a few dozen people.  If that.  But it’s important to those few people.  They're told me how important it is.  So KL will continue into 2011.  

     Just the fact that I’m making available music from such disparate scenes as 5150 and Civic Minded 5 is a strange brew unto itself.  The only thread between those two besides Las Vegas locality is the fact that I saw them and understood why they’re both important.        

     This is all of the top of my head here December 14, 2010.  It’s bullshit that I would go back and edit these posts I know.  Eventually I’ll get to the point where I’ll have several articles being written concurrently so that my edits will be happening prior to posting them for the world to see.  I’m learning.  I hope you are too.

     On a side note.  I haven’t mentioned this but I am currently running for Vice President of the Union for which I am a member.  This union being IATSE Local 28 the Stagehands Union based in Portland, Oregon.  I mention this in closing for two reasons.  I wrote a great deal of material in my campaign for which I am most proud.  The year I've spent writing for this blog has helped me immensely in composing that campaign material.  If you are curious check it out.

     Secondly.  I find out the outcome of that election today.  I haven’t been nervous the whole time of this campaign.  But today my nerves are wracked.  Thankfully this blog and what I’ve written just now has calmed my nerves a bit.  Wish me luck.  

     Thanks for supporting Keep Laughing in this the first year.  Can another full year of laughter follow?  Only time will tell.

     I made the above stop motion video last night in honor of KL’s anniversary.  I was hoping to add audio but once again I'll go back and edit it later. 

Civic Minded 5 demo

     Civic Minded 5 were one of the best local bands in Vegas towards the end of the 90’s.  They were contemporaries of Part-Time Whore and we played with them a handful of times.  They were a good counterpoint to what we were doing.  While PTW was all overblown trying to be intelligent and arty CM5 were just balls out party attack.  Words and concepts weren't as important as the feeling.  Perfect example is the song Chicken Gender.  That song doesn't make a lick of sense and it fuckin rules.    

      Jason was the first guy I met from CM5.  He described their sound as pop punk which by and large is true, but this ain’t no bubblegum shit.  There are harmonies, but the vocals are gravelly and snotty pushing it into more punk rather than pop territory.  Some of these songs even border on the Filth sound where feedback and growls abound.  The first song on this demo is some searing hardcore.  Blistering really. Still I'm willing to bet every song on this demo will stay in your head the rest of the week after one listen.   It’s catchy but I hear equal amounts of aggression and goofiness.  It strikes a good balance which I think is a hard thing to pull off in the cookie cutter world of pop punk.

      I saw them at least a half dozen times.   They were usually pretty solid live although they had a problem keeping drummers.  I don’t know who the drummer was for this recording but the usual cast of characters are present.  That being Billy Venom on bass, Lazer Lavin on guitar, and Jason on the other guitar.  It seems like Jason should have had a flashy nickname but I don’t think he ever did.

      The cover tells you little aside from the fact that it was recorded at A-Able Mini Storage by Shimono in August of 1998.  I forget the significance of the Manatee.  They eat a lot.  I forget the significance of the name Civic Minded 5 as well especially considering they were always a four piece.    

 

      This is from their split demotape with Cobra Versus Mongoose.  Civic Minded 5 later released a record on Recess Records.  I think some of these songs re-surfaced on that record which was a solid release as I recall.  I'm digging the versions heard here.  Raw and lo-fi.  Just like how they sounded live.  

      They were a fun band.  I miss em.  I’m out of the loop and don’t know if they’re still together or not.  Here’s to Civic Minded 5.  I'm sure they're probably drinking right now.  I know I am.    

       Glad these songs are stuck in my head again.  Maybe I’ll try and add more commentary later?  This might be a good time to confess that I go back and edit all the text from these posts well after the fact.  Forgive me.  At least I’m becoming a better writer now right?

Download Civic Minded 5 demo below
1.  Bugman
2.  Daze
3.  Chicken Gender
4.  Wooly

East Side Ride

     This video was shot in 2001.  It's nothing to write home about just a short drive from the UNLV area to the Sunrise mountain area and back again.  I think I went to Greg Telles' old house off Owens Ave.  There aren't many people I know in that neighborhood anymore.  Greg Stokey being the only one to come to mind.  Best wishes to Stokey.  Does Larry Jones live on Linn Lane now?  That's a rumor I heard.  

     Ten years ago they put a wall up on Hollywood Ave which completely blocks your view of the city as you're headed down Hollywood.  Typical.  This video shows a portion of the view we all enjoyed before the wall went up.

     It also shows a small bit of the Sir Patrick house I lived in near the airport.  The airport bought the house we were renting and gave us $8,000 each to move away.  Yeah.  That was 2002.  They tore down the whole neighborhood and didn't even have the decency to put up a parking lot.  Not that I'm complaining.  I wish a couple of grand would fall in my lap again.  Come to think of it I'll probably play the lottery again this week.    

      Not much else to add here.  This video is a mix of stop motion and live action.  It's longer than it probably should be and the sound is awful but who gives a shit?  Every picture tells a story.  Here's a million stories coming from the Naked City.

Download East Side Ride here

DEAD27

    Here's a surprise.  This CD came out in 2003 and features two guys I remember from  the Vegas HC scene circa 80's early 90's.  Nigel and Tim.  Wish I could party with these guys again because they're good fun.  If you don't know these guys that's ok.  Chances are good you know a couple guys just like em in your own little world.    

SIDE NOTE #1
    One night me, Jeff Hughes, Greg Telles and Tim were out on the town drinkin the hell out of some beers when Tim had the bright idea to buy some acid from this girl he knew.

    It's not a good idea to start out sloppy drunk and then take acid.  But that's what we did.  The next stop on that party train was Nigel's house more commonly known as the Schmegma.  

    After a few minutes of tripping in the practice space someone started throwing shit.  Not sure why.  One thing lead to another and within seconds the lamp which was the only light source in the room got smashed throwing the room into total darkness.  Being that I was trippping on LSD it made perfect sense to pick up Nigel's drum set and throw it across the room as well.  Thankfully it didn't hit anyone and it didn't get fucked up.  But I got fucked up that night no question.  I still owe Tim $5 for that dose.  If you're out there Tim get in touch.

    I discovered this band from my old friend Tom Bert.  I guess we're friends?  Tom is another mainstay of the Weird East Side.  He's on Tim and Trav's level as far as being really far out.  He once told me he takes speed so it will limit the amount of marijuana he smokes.

  
    Stoked to hear Nigel and Tim finally got something going.  I always wondered why they never had a band before.  It's cool shit.  I'll break out some adjectives.  
    Frenetic and nervous hardcore with both feet firmly planted in LVHC.  They're not trying to be trailblazers in terms of experimenting with the genre.  It's pretty much where the style left off back in the late 80's which is cool.  At least they know what they're good at.  It's Las Vegas Hardcore with better production.  Spastic.  Speedy.  Offbeat.  Rough around the edges but there's some unexpected shit happening here in some of the songs.  I want to say it's a more mature style of hardcore but it's more like the opposite.  Regressive hardcore?  So many hardcore bands who later put out "mature" records lost their balls in the translation this recording stays true to aggression.  Some of it is so formula hardcore I almost hear it as pop hooks because that's how I'd expect hardcore to sound but when they get to experimenting they go into some cool shit that stays intense.  There's a stab at melody in some songs which I find a little lukewarm but overall it's a great find for those of us who haven't seen Nige or Tim in a few years.  I don't know who the guitar player is.    

Download Dead 27 CD

1.  No Way

2.  Horror of War 

3.  Subcritical

4.  In My Head

5.  Coffee

6.  Own Worst Enemy

7.  Bedroom Eyes

8.  Corporate Slave