I can honestly say that the last two years of my life were the hardest I have ever experienced. I finished my master’s degree, got married, lived through a fatal car accident where my passenger died, spent months in court fighting a nine-month jail sentence… Usually I would end such a long, intense run down with a “Good times!” but I really can’t joke about experiences like that.

Now my life has calmed down and I can finally concentrate on doing what makes me happy — obsessing over music. So, for my first blog post since my hiatus, I am going to share some unreleased live tracks of my old band the Popular Shapes.

The shapes started in 2000, when the guitarist/singer Phi (real name Nick,) bassist/singer Lee and I started hanging out at shows. I used to love Phi and Lee’s old band The River Rats; they gave Screeching Weasel and the Angry Samoans a run for their money. But back then, whenever we talked about music, it was typically about our mutual love for the Pixies, Devo and the Hot Snakes. It just made sense to start a band with those influences in mind.

Originally I played second guitar and my friend Tim played drums, but Lee and Phi thought Tim was “too good” and once it was suggested that I play drums, I no longer had a choice in the matter. I didn’t own a drum set, having sold my old one for a bass, but I was so excited about the band that I did some shady freelance writing just to buy new drums.

After we started writing songs, we brought in Trent, former bass player for the Ninja Boners, to play lead guitar. He was playing in bands like Weird Science, who we really didn’t want to sound like. But then again I don’t think Trent wanted to spend much time in that band either. At the first practice, it clicked — if we had recorded that practice, we it would be worth releasing.

The next thing I knew all I wanted to do with my time was play our songs. (Of course I was getting my bachelor’s at the time and the band probably didn’t help my grades much.)

1. Here Come the Pancakes/Speedboats: These were written by Phi and were two of our first songs. “Pancakes” became our set opener for the majority of shows. It was kind of a hit it amongst our fans but for some reason we could never record it in the studio with that same energy. Our demo version of it, which is OKAY, ended up on the “Dirtnap Across The Northwest” compilation. We later tried to record it for the album, but failed miserably. This version of “Speedboats” was recorded before Phi wrote a dissonant lead for the chorus. To be honest, the album version sounded better without that lead, but Phi and Lee really liked it. Que Sera Sera.

This recording was done by Jim the Bootlegger at the Breakroom (now Chop Suey) with a mini disc recorder and a SM 57. We opened for the Catheters that night and I heard that the band was nervous about playing after us when they saw our set. In the end, they still kicked our asses, but then again, they were pro.

2. A Symmetrical Girl: Trent penned this over-the-top pop song, which is pretty typical of what he wrote back then. It also gives a glimpse into what he would be doing later under the name TV Coahran — heavily Sparks-influenced pop with toy pianos, acoustic guitars and seriously goofy lyrics (Township of Cecil? What the fuck.) He would write other songs like this, including “Sack of Noise” which we played out a few times, but after awhile we started getting really sick of this kind of poppy-ness and pretty much rejected many of the songs Trent brought in. It wasn’t until he started writing more abrasive riffs like “Fluorescent Bikes Depressing” that convinced us to give him another chance.

This was recorded at the Crocodile (RIP) at the “Video Madness” showcase. During the Seattle International Film Festival, the promoter at the Croc decided to put on a showcase where local bands would cover songs that had videos directed by famous directors in town, namely Spike Jonze, Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry. We wanted Aphex Twin’s “Come to Daddy,” but somebody already nabbed it, so we took the next best thing — Chemical Brothers “Let Forever Be.” The showcases were a flop; maybe ten people showed up to each one. I think the directors had come out to the press saying they were boycotting the shows.

3. Xmas Yeah! This is the second song I wrote for the band, but one of the first songs that we were stoked to play. It was one of those moments in the set that I looked for to and only once I did get sick of playing it. We played it every show.

Andrew Pardo, the sound guy for Graceland (now El Corazon), recorded this from the board and even took it home to mix to mini disc. He did a nice job, but too bad we weren’t in top form that night. That was in 2003, when everybody in the band really hated me and I was getting ready to move to California. We were at the height of our popularity but since there was this tension in the band, we really didn’t make it any farther (that is until after I left and the album came out.)

4. Ads On Police Cars: We had the jam in the middle of this song first and I basically wrote this as a vehicle for that jam. I used to love playing that part and I think everyone else did too. In videos of us playing, we typically try to play it cool except for me, since I’m playing as fast and loud as I possibly can, sweating buckets the entire time. But when it came to that part, we all lost our shit. I would lose myself in that riff. The only problem was that Phi could NEVER remember his part. He had three or four different riffs that he would play because he could never remember what he played the first time we wrote it. Kind of ironic since right after we wrote it, Phi stopped everyone playing and said “Everyone remember EXACTLY what they were playing.”

This was recorded again at the Crocodile through the board. That night we opened for Guitar Wolf, which would’ve been a dream come true if I was a bigger Wolf fan. They even helped us unload our van. What really surprised me was the low turnout. I had seen them a few years earlier and they packed the venue with fans howling during the entire two-hour set. At this show, the Croc was maybe half full.

Before we played, Zack Static, who was apparently chaperoning the band, took me aside and told me that we couldn’t hang out in the backstage after our set. He wanted us to just grab our shit and get out of there, which is kind of inconvenient because it meant we had no time to rest after our set. His reason? “The Wolf” needed time to prepare for the show. According to Zack, before every show “The Wolf” sits alone in a room and puts himself in some trance state or something. How much preparation do you need to scream “Lock and Loll!” a bunch of times and kiss your Joan Jett pin?*

So, that’s just a few tracks from the hours of live recordings I got piled away in my closet. If your interested in that stuff, maybe you want to hear what I’m doing now with my band the Owners. Well, it’s your lucky day!

Excellent Virus

I recorded this all by myself, playing all the instruments and programming the drums.

*No offense to Zack or Guitar Wolf. Zack is an amazing guy and I still love those Guitar Wolf records. Also, the Wolf’s behavior isn’t as bad as it could be: when we played with Electric Eel Eye, I caught the drummer in the backstage with his pants around his ankles talking to his dick. Now that’s a pre-show ritual!