Stevie Washington...The Angry Youth

Another one for the Back in the Day department. This was my shit back when MTV was still on the map. How many of you sucka remember this? Yes or no, check this out, enjoy that shit....

Mutant Mechanical Frequencies Grab Bag!

Mutant Mechanical Frequencies is my longtime electronic music project. I uploaded a 2-fer. It contains a revised version of 7734, which was the first cd's worth of material I recorded, and added to it 7734 MMIX which is a remixed version of the first cd. each release does contain tracks native to themselves. I started this project in around 96 or so as Mister Mother Fucker. It was mainly used for writing prose and spoken word at the time. MMF the music project came into being in early 2001. At that time I began using it also as a means to advertise ,my visual art under as well. Essentially it became an umbrella term for all of my artistic meanderings. Earlier this year I decided to change the project's name. Mister Mother Fucker was relatively original when i first decided to use the name after my original idea Mr. Happy face was already being used. As time went on I not only found it less and less original, I found it inconvenient as my son started getting into my music. Mutant Mechanical Frequencies came to me and I decided I liked it even better. I feel it describes what I do musically. It pays homage to the dozens of punk bands who had names that were shortened into initials who were always changing what they meant. Not to mention with the same monogram I dont have to return the engraved luggage!

7734 MMIX


Theme for a Cancelled Imaginary TV Show
Doing Shit To Get The Stuff
7734 or hell on an Upside Down Calculator
Yes and No Days on a Day When No Means Yes and Yes Means No
Satan Drives The Shortbus, I Ride Shotgun
Never Worry Forever On Your Last Day Alive
Numerous Undesirable Personality Traits
Dat Cruncy In Milk Groove
Famous Last Words Of The Last Man Standing
Yo... Buck Da Kickit!
March of The Ghede and the Commute of the White Collar Dead
Blind Naked Blackjack and Skunked Bathtub Rum
Healthy Dose of Angst and a Side of Insanity

7734


Satan Drives the Shortbus... I Ride Shotgun, Baby! (Six Six Mix)
Nu water Flow
Strip Blackjack and Dark Ghetto Rum
Da Crunchiest in Milk Groove
Yo... Buck Da Kickit (The Otha Side)
March of the Ghedeh (Baron Samedi Mix)
Travis Bickle VS NYC VS MMF (Vigilante Mix)
A Forest (Rain Forest Mix)
The Never Wednesday Family ( we Are the future)

I am also including one of my "Videos." Keep in mind the video itself it not Hollywood MTv matierial. It was made from stock footage, as all the videos I made were. 

Links to the other videos I made can be reached through the link above. The link below contains both EPs.

DOWNLOAD

Hieroglyphics - At The Helm

Classic Del with Classic Hieros, from their first album Third Eye Vision. Yes, they did indeed sample Southside Movement's "I've Been Watching You", as did The Beastie Boys on "So Whatcha Want: as well as countless other artists. Great track, cool video that kind of brings to mind earlier clips on MTV before it was complete garbage. Note to self, at some point I've got to write a bit about how great MTV once was, and how it died about 90 times some where along the way to present times.

Yeah I know... it makes little sense. That's partially why I find it humorous. Right so anyways, I been making this silly comics over at stripcreator They have templates using characters from webcomics already established. I suppose for an artist such as myself it kind of lack creativity, but I'm having a laugh anyways. What I have been doing is putting bits of dialogue from other works of media in them, and trying to make the characters and setting out of context with one another as well as what is being said. The spoken lines above are from the Marx Brothers film The Cocoanuts. That bacon chap is from a strip called Squabies and Mr. Christ is from one called Injokester. There will likely be more of these turning up. I can only promise you that they won't make much sense than these do. There are more to be found right here. Which if you feel the need will satisfy any curiosity. have fun with them, try and guess where the dialogue is from, or make some of your own.

You Bet I Got Something Personal Against You!

Classic art for the LA hardcore band Black Flag, done by legendary punk artist Ray Pettibon Ginn, brother of the band's guitarist and creator Greg Ginn! This is Heavy Stuff!!

Cooler Than Ice Cold...

So yesterday my friend Dave threw this up on his Facebook. It is what it says it is. This is Classic era Stevie with Wonderlove, making a LIVE (not canned) appearance on Sesame Street in 1972. This is EVERYTHING that cool should be, this is everything that cool is. I must of watched this clip 20 times in the last 24 hours, and I just can't get enough of it. I don't know whether to be happy or sad that this surpasses anything I have heard that came out in the last 10 years. The band knows they are in it, you can tell by their faces. That kid on the fire escape going fucking nuts... that kid can feel it too. I remember seeing this as a kid, and I know I was familiar with the song. If you grew up in the 70s you at least knew Stevie to hear him. I gotta say I enjoy this for what it is a thousand times more than I did then. This has every element missing from current good music. What can I say man, I like seeing people making good music, and having a good time doing it for people having an equally good time. Classic, it 20 years it probably still won't get better than this. Back in the day Sesame Street was some cutting edge, innovative shit. At any rate... Play it Loud, Turn it up More, and Play it again. Repeat.

Some Old Shit

 

Classic 1999 Interview w Ian MacKaye

Did This back in 99 when I was doing my first online zine. Of all the interviews I did, this was my favorite. It may now be a bit dated, but it was a fun interview with a great guy. I cannot say enough good things about this man.

Ian MacKaye- Vocalist and Guitarist of Fugazi/Co owner of Dischord Records

Ian MacKaye has been a mainstay in Independant Rock for almost the last 20 years. He and Jeff Nelson(played drums in Minor Threat with Ian) started their own record label, Dischord Records. He was lead vocalist of the legendary DC punk rock band, Minor Threat. He is currently playing with Fugazi. (While this was true at the time of the interview Fugazi have since been on an indefinite hiatus since 2002.) Ian Mackaye currently sings and plays guitar with Amy Farina as The Evens. He has produced many albums and guest appeared on many as well.

1. I am curious where you got the band name, what exactly does fugazi mean?

i found it in a book called 'nam' by mark baker. it's a series of recollections of viet nam vets. in the glossary the word fugazi is defined as military slang for 'a fucked-up situation'. (Of Note: I actually owned this book at one time, after this interview. It has since disappeared)

2. Secondly, do you still consider yourself straight edge?

i am still straight, but have never really considered myself 'straight edge'. from my point 's.e.' was a song that i wrote for minor threat... an expression of my frustration with the sense that people around me didn't respect the choices that i made in regards to doing drugs or drinking. the song later became the template for the movement of the same name, but i've never felt connected to that aspect of the idea. it was always about the right of an individual to live their life they want to. obviously the more fundamental elements of the 'straight edge' movement don't respect other people's choices in that area. i stand behind all of my lyrics, it was never a joke... but i think that people have a skewed idea of who i am and what i believe in.

3. Since the very beginning during the Teen Idles days you were always into the D.I.Y. thing. I am pretty sure I know the answer to this but in your own words what do you have against major labels?

in the beginning they had absolutely no interest in what the underground was up to, and when they did i had absolutely no interest in them. i don't necessarily have anything 'against' major labels, i'm just not involved with them. nor do i feel like it's necessary to be involved with them. the underground is a parallel community in my eyes, not a training camp.

4. Another thing which is a constant in your career is never ripping the fans off, most bands a good bit of their money off of merchandise. Fugazi, doesn't sell shirts, hats, etc..... your tickets are always $5.00, and if ordered through Dischord your records are extremely cheap. How do you make the whole thing work?

the whole operation of dischord and fugazi is hinged on doing the work ourselves. we don't have managers, booking agents, lawyers to pay, so we are able to extend the lower operating cost to the people who buy our records or come to our concerts. most people don't realize how little of a $20 ticket the artist actually sees.

5. Do you still talk to your ex-band mates Minor Threat and if yes what are they up to?

jeff(Nelson), the drummer, is co-owner of dischord and lives just around the corner. brian(Baker), the bass player, is playing guitar in bad religion and lives here in d.c. i ran into him the other night. lyle(Preslar), the guitar player, is working for sire records in nyc. we speak now and then. steve(Hansgen), bass player for a few months when brian wanted to play second guitar, lives here in dc and i bump into him every few months. i'm not sure what he's doing for a living. i think we are all on friendly terms, and i'm happy for that.

6. What is fugazi up to these days?

our feature length movie, 'instrument' has just been released on video (dischord #80) and will have occasional screenings. if people want to organize screenings they should contact us through dischord@dischord.com. a soundtrack to the film will be released in late april. we're touring iceland, england, ireland, and scotland in may. we've been working on writing and trying to figure the rest of 1999 tour-wise.

7. You've been in the music industry for almost 20 years now, what advice would you give bands who are just starting and want to make music their living?

if you play music because you love it, you won't be too disappointed if can't make a living off of it. be prepared to work hard.

8. What are you listening to these days?

right now i'm listening to the holy rollers (a late 80's dc band), earlier it was the ramones and lungfish. i've played the spirit caravan 'jug fulla sun' cd many times, and love the new hendrix 'band of gypsys' release.

9. Lastly is there anything you would like to add I didn't touch on?

conviction above content.

This short interview was originally 10 questions long, the missing one was asking specifically how Dischord records got it's start. The label  has a comp' out called 1981- A Year In 7 Inches, which has a fairly great description of how exactly the label came to be in the liner notes.  Essentially what he told me was he couldn't explain it any better than that would and he made me a copy of the entire liners and sent them to my house with a short note. How nice is that? Now I had a copy of A year in 7 Inches on cd already but he didn't know of course. So he basically gave me permission to plagiarize his comments in the cd!


I really need to try and re-contact Ian, and try to set up a more up to date interview.

The Magificent Clash List

So Last week... or the week before, some week anyway one of my friends sent me this thing on Facebook... basically it was a quick exercise take 15 minutes to think of 15 albums which really stuck with you over time.  Then you send the request to 15 more people and everyone kind of compares notes... sounds easy enough innit? Bullshit! The kind of people you'd usually send this kind of request to have the most trouble with such a simple request. I found even choosing just 15 people to send it to, to be rather difficult. At any rate, I did my list, and sent it on. I found myself thinking afterwards how much I had left off. It made me actually feel bad, and I find this somewhat humorous what with all the pressing things that you could read in the news at any time. None the less it saddened me, and after discussing it with a music addict friend of mine we surmised the only proper way to do this was to break things down further. Top whatever number of albums in so and so genre... in some cases maybe break that down further into a decade or specific year. Basically it had my mind racing over bands and making all sorts of rock lists in my head.One band that always comes to mind to me is The Clash, so needless to say in the past however long it has been I have fashioned more Clash lists in my brain than I know what to do with. This morning I was thinking about songs... not albums. The Clash put out a lot of covers, covers I quite enjoyed. Many of them reggae cuts, and anyone who knows me knows well that I dig reggae, and that I love The Clash. The following list is not about the covers, that is likely a list of it's own, which may or maynot show up here at sometime time in the future. This one is covering originals. No specific order here, and it's in no way concrete. I find it rather difficult to say with any finality what my favorite so and so songs might be, particularly with a band I enjoy as much as The Clash. basically I am saying, this could change at any time, but for right now my Top fave Clash songs and why are as follows:

Deny - From their first self titled album UK version. Of course they got much better as time went on, but the energy was there from the start. This song is heavy and angry like UK Punk should be, and I really like the bit near the end when Paul and Mick begin screaming out What a Liar.

(Whiteman) In Hammersmith Palais - Again from the first album,  US version. One of the few tracks from the first album to feature longtime drummer Topper Headon. Although this was only released a little over a year after the first album as a single in the UK, it shows a great amount of improvement on the band's playing. Some of which is likely due to Headon's drumming. We have that signature sound that went with all of their reggae flavored tracks present, with all the usual balls that comes with a Clash track. Yet at the time it was a break from what they were known for. This was known to be a favorite of Joe Strummers, and that in itself earns it yet even more cool points. The emotion on this track is what kills me, I saw The Mescalaros play this about a year before Joe passed and it nearly brought me to tears.

Safe European Home - First Track, Second LP. Possibly one of the LOUDests intro pieces I have ever heard. You could almost power an entire city on the fucking energy in this one. If you even have to think about why this would end up in my list, you haven't heard the song. They played it with even more enthusiasm live!

London Calling from London Calling - Yet another steamtrain hitting a brickwall intro, these boys really had a knack for starting the party with a bang! This is not one of their better known songs and enthusiasts favorite's for nothing. This was Joe Strummer calling out 1984, 5 years early, and his mates bringing up the soundtrack. Yet another scorcher live.

Guns of Brixton - from London Calling. rare Paul lead vocals and a fantastic reggae groove. Paul was arguably the most keen on Jamaican music and this would be the first song he wrote with the band. He was never comfortable with his singing voice, and I kind of think that alone makes the song even better.

Bank Robber - from Black Market Clash EP. If a gun were put to my head and I were forced to choose an absolute favorite track from The Clash, this would almost definitely be the one. Why? Well Have You heard IT??

The Magnificent Seven - from Sandinista. Joe Strummer, Rapper? say It Ain't So, Joe! It is so, and it is brilliant. Fucking Long Innit?

Ivan Meets GI Joe - from Sandista. This made the list based solely on the merit that it features Topper on lead vox. I don't think it a bad song in any way and it proves to be a strong track in the many sides of  Sandinista. I just happen to enjoy Headon's voice and I think it's a shame we didn't hear it more.

Rock The Casbah - Combat Rock. Yes I know, this song got very big, the closest to commercial that the band ever ventured. There have been plenty of good songs that got popular...even over popular. Keep in mind also, this was the first Clash album I bought, and at the time it was brand new. How many other Punk bands can say their record was played in dance clubs in the 80s?

Straight to Hell - Combat Rock. Yet another long time favorite for me. I always liked the drums in this track, and I used to think that U2 owed much of their early sound to this song... back before they got bigger than the planet.

... I think that's ten. I could probably go on, but I am tired of typing. My need to discuss the Clash seems to be satiated for the time being. Read the list, enjoy the list, enjoy the songs, or not.

see ya next time.

PS: Hours after I compiled this list I of course thought of many many songs that should of could of would of made the list, had I bothered to think harder on it. Most notable would be either of the Capitol Radio tracks as well as a slew of others. I also noted the lack of Mick vocal songs, please do not think I am not a fan of Jonesy. While I tend to enjoy the songs with Joe singing lead more so, I don't mean to lessen Mick's strength as a singer and song writer. Like I said, lists of these sort are difficult for me.

and Suddenly... It Happened!

For years people were after me to start and keep a blog. I am talking back to when someone said blog to another person in conversation, and that person had to ask what in fact a blog was. I was not interested at that time, and I am still probably not. Time will tell I suppose. Originally I intended to make this a spot that would be something like a 'zine, and discuss all things concerning music. I am a media whore though and I feel I cannot limit myself to just one topic of interest, even one as broad as music and it's infinite genres. I hold both film and thw written word in the same high regards as music, so i imagine from time to time I will also discuss motion pictures, vintage television, and books. I am both a writer and artist as well, so I could foresee some of that being brought to the plate here as well. Lastly I am an intelligent highly opinionated person who has been known to carry a soapbox with him. I can reckon I will likely stand on it in here, and preach it from the pulpit so to speak. If you know me... I mean really know me, nothing you see here will be shocking. So as we said in the good old days... don't do anything stupid, don't do anything crazy, and for fuck's sake don't do anything illegal.

Something is About to Happen.

In the near future, in this very spot, something life changing just might occur. But first there are armadillos to shave, and pheasants to milk. It's a chore some life I lead...