WHERE IT STARTED - LOKAL LOUDNESS FEB. 1992 February 8, 2016 / by John "Stoney" Cannon LOKAL LOUDNESS FEBRUARY 1992 This month we take a look back at what was going on at Lokal Loudness this time of year during 1992. This was THE very first issue of Lokal Loudness and it was an exciting time for us and for the music scene. All we knew were that we dug reading rock mags and what else was cooler than punk zines? So we went for broke. Sure the look may have been raw and the grammar and writing may have sucked royally but then again it wasn't our goal to be some super pc corporate mag. So Augusta got what we gave and the rest is history. Well... at least Lokal LoudStory!. FRONTLINE-D. Richards HELLO AUGUSTA!!!!!!! Looks like our lokal area is about to build a music scene previously missing in these parts and we’ll be here to tell you every gory, hellacious, sick f’n detail! Unless you just moved here or have had your head clear up your ass in the past five or so years then you’re aware of the injustices (or chicken shit bands) that have kept lokal rock from broadening it’s musical spectrum to it’s fullest potential. Well the time has come for a change and our lokal musicians are tired of all the drawbacks and aren’t going to take the shit anymore. Not from teachers, clubowner, the mayors or even their own mothers. They realize music is about freedom to be what you want, say what you want to listen to and play what you want. Rock n roll is all about expression and it doesn’t matter if you listen to thrash, punk, glam, hardcore, etc because it’s all just rock n roll and it’s here to stay. It seems that on a national level that either a recording band is not allowed by our city officials or are just too big a bunch of pussies to come to Augusta and party with us. (With the exception of KISS, Cinderella and David Lee Roth) When bands do come play they play places like the Post office where people under 21 aren’t able to see them and people over the age are too drunk to remember them. So how do we solve this problem? Well first of all we should learn to appreciate and support those who WILL play for us, our lokal bands. These bands know that the myth of Augustans not wanting to see lokal talent is bullshit. The proof is there. The Coffee Shoppe welcomed all original types of rock bands and in it’s three month existence had quintupled it’s attendance and the benefit concert in Grovetown brought out over 200 people despite rain and a major club or label act. Next we vote out the idiots in office who are trying to take away our music and those too young to vote must petitions, protest and influence others to do the same, if not for yourself then do it for the bands who bust their asses to please the faithful die-hard rockers in this God forsaken town. Fighting with each other won’t help either. Work together and soon we will prevail. COVER STORY-FAMILY JEWELS-AUGUSTA’S NO MORE by NAJ NONNAK Every month starting with this premiere issue, we here at LOKAL LOUDNESS will feature a lokal artist or band whom we feel has the talent to break out and away from Augusta’s music scene. This month we take a look at a band that has been playing their own brand of blues stomp rock around Augusta for a little over a year and are now starting their takeover of Atlanta clubs such as PJ’s and the Wreck Room. FAMILY JEWELS’ roots go back to the spring of ’91 when guitarist/vocalist Fred McNeal and drummer Patrick Turner teamed up to create a vehicle to work on original material. The time together has created a bond of friendship and creativity that has helped FAMILY JEWELS survive and move through a number of obstacles. These obstacles include lokal cover cob bands that have criticized them (probably out of creative jealousy) as well as time lost while trying to replace their original bassist. FAMILY JEWELS, which also includes guitarist/vocalist Paul Sieg and recently acquired bassist Brian Stachura, began as a lokal teen favorite and hope to come back and play for the youthful audience again real soon. Not long ago I sat down with Fred and Pat and discussed these and other topics that concern FAMILY JEWELS. LL - So how’s Atlanta been treating you guys? PT – Atlanta’s real cool. We get accepted great and people dig us more than in Augusta. People have more access to us there so we can build a better foundation. LL – What are some of the differences between Atlanta and Augusta? FM – Atlanta’s a lot more receptive to original music and people don’t expect you to play fuckin’ Pearl Jam covers and no rednecks yelling out “Freebird” every other song. PT – Just bigger and better. Like us! FM – The only decent places to play in Augusta are the Post Office and the now defunct Coffee Shoppe. LL – I hear when it comes to Augusta you prefer playing for the teens. PT – Money doesn’t matter when it comes to playing for the kids. FM – They seem to have more of a grip and appreciation for original music. PT – You’d think it would be the older people who would rather listen to originals. FM – They close off their ears when they turn 30. LL – So when are you planning on returning for a teen show and will it be alone or with some other bands? FM – We’re talking about doing something in April with Tijuana Park. PT – We definitely want to do something together locally soon for all-ages. FM – Especially since we have a 4-track bootleg that has been circulating around Augusta without our help. LL – What lokal bands do you see possibly breaking out of the Augusta scene within the next year? PT – I think SOUL DAMAGE * has the best potential to break out of Augusta. FM – I don’t know. There are so few original bands around here and those that are original are more concerned with musicianship than songwriting. LL – What are FAMILY JEWELS common influences and where do you think they fit in? FM – Hanoi Rocks, Led Zeppelin, the Stones, Motley Crue, Sex Pistols, GNR, Crowes, KISS, Dolls and anyone else that has a clue. PT – We don’t just rip people off, we adopt concepts and ideas and apply them to us. LL – If you had a chance to tour for a major label band, would you and who would you prefer it to be? FM – Hell Yes! PT – Hell fuckin’ yeah! Either the Crowes or GNR. LL – What is the possibility of any FAMILY JEWELS material being released? I heard your tape and I think it’s great. FM- We’re thinking about putting out some 8-track stuff we did with David Bradberry. We’re already selling tapes in Atlanta and hope to have something in Augusta by March. Since we’ve taped every one of our live shows, we might throw in a couple of very drunken strange thing on it. LL – Now that the readers know who you are, how about a little band history for those who might not know. FM – Pat and I started jamming in ’91. We just clicked and started writing songs not too long after that. I think it was November/December when we started to put together a band. We got Stoney (Cannon) to play bass and Pat went to school with Paul and we thought that he was obnoxious enough to fit in. Our first show was a keg party over behind Golden Dragon and we got busted for playing too loud (twice – Rhineharts complained) which seems too happen anytime we play parties. Stoney left in the summer of ’92 and we went through more bass players than underwear. Then we met Brian who shared the same basic influences and ideas as us. So now we have a solid line-up again and we’re just trying to go out and shove it down peoples throats. LL – What can we expect from FAMILY JEWELS in and out of Augusta within the next year? FM – We’re gonna try to get and eastern club tour lineup up opening for someone decent. PT – As far as Augusta goes we’ll just keep trying to put together shows with other bands and putting out tapes. FM – We’ll either open people’s ears or deafen a few. LL – I appreciate you taking the time out to chat. Any last comments or advice for any of our readers who may want to tackle the lokal or Atlanta music scene or even just a message for Augusta? PT – As far as advice goes, stick to your own stuff and believe in yourself and don’t be afraid to ask advice frompeople who are a little more ahead of yourself. And try not to make too many enemies (laughs). FM – Anybody doing good original stuff has our 100% support and we’ll do whatever we can to help em out when we’re in a position to do so. I’d also like to say to any amateur musicians, don’t be so overly concerned with the technical aspects of playing your instrument. Playing 64th scale notes, flams and plegms is nice and fine but the average person could give a shit. I mean, you can say what you want about the guy, but Keith Richard’s songs, or Jimmy Page’s for that matter will sell more records than all of the Yngwies of the world together. Think about the context of the song and your band rather than how to make your instrument stick out. *Soul Damage turned into the band KINGTHURSDAY, who until there recent breakup a few weeks ago were touring regionally as a Jagermeister band. WHERE ARE THEY NOW FILE: All of the Jewels moved to Atlanta. Drummer Pat Turner played with members of THE BRASS and recorded a cd which featuring a track with Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmeister on it Recently he played bass in a short-lived project with McNeal on drums and Sieg on guitar and vocals called THE REJECTS.. Rhythm guitarist/vocalist Paul Sieg has been working on originals while maintaining his day job as an investment banker. After a short-live FAMILY JEWELS reunion in ’99, guitarist Fred McNeal and bassist Brian Stachura for SAINT FRIDAY featuring members of the Georgia Satellites including Rick Richards. Stachura has gotten out of the music game and McNeal now divides his time between SAINT FRIDAY, 9 Lives Wednesday night house band BITCH and playing bass in former Black Crowes bassist Johnny Colt’s band ASPHALT BLASTER. FRESH FLESH – MOTHER MAY EYE & HEIR TO RUIN-S. CANNON Every month we plan to show insight into some of Augusta’s younger bands. This month we will explore the intertwining history of MOTHER MAY EYE and HEIR TO RUIN. Originally a part of CONFUSION, drummer Ricky Garner and vocalist Jason Crowden were eventually joined by Thomas Stark on bass and guitarists Donnie Terral and Darryl Cliett. Together through 1992, they played several parties and the Martinez Community Center to promote their ep release – “Welcome to Reality”. They eventually split in June 1992 with Ricky, Jason and Donnie leaving to form MOTHER MAY EYE with bassist Jesse Crim in a mixture of funk and metal. Introduced to the public for the first time Augusta 15th at the Coffee Shoppe on opening night of Rockwars ’92 and have appeared on two other occasions as well as opened the Hurricane Relief Concert in Grovetown. Their set in August was hot enough to secure them a spot in round two of Rockwars on October 24, though they will be playing without Jesse who left for personal reasons. About the same time in August, Thomas and Darryl were joined by former CREMATION members Michael Dinkins and Blaine Prescott on drums and guitar and were set on moving in a heavier, more metalized direction. Spurred on by bands like Metallica, Pantera, Sabbath and the Sex Pistols, they set forth to make music that appeals to their personal beliefs and built a set of 95% original fury. Classified as one of the progressive metal bands, they see their brand as simply metal and nothing else. HEIR TO RIUNS’ first show was also at the Coffee Shoppe on September 26th with MOTHER MAY EYE and SPLIT DECISION and they also played a blistering set in Grovetown. Now with a new guitarist (Blaine left the band for personal reasons) these aggressive rockers can get back on track. HEAR TO RUIN along with their counterparts MOTHER MAY EYE will eventually grab you and whip you into a state of confusion. THE WHERE TH “F” DID THEY GO FILE: Guitarist Blain Prescott went on to join legendary lokal metalheads dieAGNOSTIC. Their only cd release is a must lokal release and in their day the band played to lokal audiences up up to 800 kids and were the driving forth behind the creation of the annual Bloodfest concert series. Vocalist bassist Jason Crowden went on to front SHINEBOX handling vocal and guitar duties. Darryl was the guitarist on the first KINGTHURSDAY recordings before joining THE BROTHERHOOD who he played with until 1998. SYMON SEZZ – SEZZ WHO by Delilah Richards Combine the strong influences of Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Dokken and the Red Hot Chili Peppers and what do ya get? Well according to a recent editorial in the Metropolitan Spirit, the magic mix creates the smorgasbord of rock and roll known as SYMON SEZZ. Formed in mid-91, the members of this North Augusta quartet consist of guitarist Matt Keenan, bassist Randy Adamek, drummer Danny Neu and vocalist Dale Lewis who have stuck together despite the usual occurances that attempt to stop lokal bands plus a few not so usual obstacles that would halt many a young band on any level. The questions LOKAL LOUDNESS now wants to ask of SYMON SEZZ are: What happened to the comeback show? The magic return? The new conquering of Augusta? For those of you out there that are at odds to what I am mumbling about, well here’s a short summary. SYMON SEZZ, who happen to be one of my favorite lokal bands were said to be a tight knit group of non-quitters, but I was quite disappointed to go to the Post Office January 27th and find myself watching another group (IN LIKE FLYNN- who did put on a great show but you know what they say about expectation) when I was hyped on seeing the return of SYMON SEZZ. The triumphant return of Matt Keenan, the killer basswork of Randy Adamek and theoverall rockfest that Augustan’s call SYMON SEZZ. LOKAL LOUDNESS is challenging (pleading is more like it!) SYMON SEZZ to contact our rag for an update on one of Augusta’s lokal favorites. Some of the things that have been circulation are: Danny and Dale are fighting (they seemed to be having a pretty good time at the Hellhounds show) Matt’s condition has worsened (we at this rag sure hope not) Randy has been dying to play much more challenging music (what?) Whatever it is we sure hope that SYMON SEZZ gets in touch and lets us know what’s going on.. They are sorely missed on the Augusta scene. BACKLINE-S. CANNON In addition to our monthly FRESH FLESH picks, we also try to leave you with a little extra news about some of the rock & roll happening that are going on in the CSRA. GOOD NEWS AUGUSTA!!!! SOUL DAMAGE is back! After a short vacation from the scene that they had just begun to conquer, the funky rockers have returned and the word LOKAL LOUDNESS got from brothers Brian (vocals) and John (guitar) Panowich is that they are excited and eager to get back to business. During their vacation SOUL DAMAGE (who also include bassist David Kernagan and new drummer Danny Beard) found time to record a few songs and stabilize their line-up. Danny, who come straight out of the band CHILDREN OF EDEN, should be a valuable addition. Good luck to original drummer James Lewis. Speaking of CHILDREN OF EDEN, Tony and Dave were recently seen playing originals at the Post office on open mic night. They are currently looking for a bassist and drummer to complete their line-up. For more info write to LOKAL LOUDNESS courtesy of the address inside the front cover. Other rumors (????) include the formation of FAGAN with former members of VALHALLA. Seems CATBOY are no more. The band that many considered to be the rulers of the Post Office have split and the talk is that Chris Eddinshas reunited with some of hisIMPULSE RIDE buds. Kudos to Matt Keenan of YMON SEZZ who is recovering from cancer surgery. The band was recently featured in an article in the Metropolitan Spirt which talked about their soon to be return to the Augusta scene. Keep rockin’ and fightin’! Last but not least, look for the debut from new band TIJUANA PARK featuring former members of CHISEL. They plan on an April show with FAMILY JEWELS!!!! COOL!!!! The new 3-song release from PEOPLE WHO MUST is out now and just released January 29th, the Haunted Pillar Presents Compilation which includes lokal artists such as SMILE, 100 YEAR SUN, BURNING BUSH, PHIL HAMELTON, COURDEROY DAYS and JOSEPH BRENNAN and soon to come, LOKAL LOUDNESS’ own compilation “Soundtrack for the Newsletter” which will include 10 of the areas newest (within a year old) rock/metal bands. Among those slated to appear are FAMILY JEWELS, TIJUANA PARK, HEIR TO RUIN, MOTHER MAY EYE, TRIPHAMMER and more. Keep an eye out for these and many other releases locally.