Change Of Scenery Reason For Shoveljerk’s Move To West Side
FROM FOR THE RECORD (Saturday, August 24, 1996): The photo on page 2 of the Friday Weekend entertainment section was of Guzzard. The photo caption was wrong.
Rumors of Shoveljerk musicians packing their bags for Seattle have been very active in clubland in recent weeks. So I dropped singer-guitarist Paul Hemenway a line this week to get the scoop.
“Yeah,” he said hesitantly. “We’re moving.”
The band, now based in Coeur d’Alene, isn’t relocating with the hopes of gaining more opportunities, though. It’s already established a solid fan base. And it’s locked in with a record deal.
From the time when Shoveljerk’s members were in Black Happy until now, it has never really mattered where the band lived.
Really, Shoveljerk members are only looking for a change of scenery.
“It’s just time for a change of pace. I’ve lived here in the Inland Empire for 22 years,” says Hemenway, 28. “God knows, we’re not moving to Seattle to be part of the Seattle scene.”
Shoveljerk will fulfill four more concert dates, including tonight’s at the Northern Corner, before packing up and heading to the west side of the state.
Once the band - including bassist Mark Hemenway, guitarist Greg Hjort and drummer Mike Tschirgi - gets settled, its members will hunker down and start putting together songs for a new album.
In January, Shoveljerk made its major-label debut with “Swarm.” Thanks to a fair amount of national radio play and a cross-country tour opening for Stabbing Westward, the album has sold marginally well.
The cover for tonight’s show at the Northern Corner is $4. Show time is 9:30 p.m. The names of the opening bands were unavailable.
Guzzard’s growing pains
Touring sucks. Any band struggling on the road and playing for the door night after night will tell you that.
Take Guzzard, which is in the middle of a three-week tour of the U.S., for example. (Guzzard plays the Northern Corner on Thursday.)
On Monday, Guzzard band members arrived in San Diego with a total of only $9 in their pockets. They hadn’t eaten all day and the three members - Pete Beeman (drums), brother Tom (vocals and guitar) and David Paul (bass) - had eaten only once the day before.
If it wasn’t for the sound man arranging for some free sandwiches, Guzzard might not have eaten that day at all. They were conserving the rest of their money for gas.
“It’s rock bottom out here, man,” Pete Beeman said from a pay phone in Hollywood this week (courtesy of The Spokesman-Review’s toll-free number).
That night, the Minneapolis trio, which has produced three outstanding albums on high-profile independent label Amphetamine Reptile, played to just 40 people.
They’ve had several club dates canceled and a show scheduled after their Spokane appearance is 1,100 miles away in Fargo, N.D.
“We’re just kind of suffering on the road and waiting for our record to come out,” said Beeman, about “The Alienation Index Survey” due out Sept. 24. “Hopefully, it will be a little bit easier for us the next time.”
The four-year-old punk band hasn’t gotten discouraged, though. After all, it has been awhile since the band has traversed the U.S. And interest usually spikes when a new album comes out.
What Guzzard does have going for it is an excellent new record in “The Alienation Index Survey.”
As on previous efforts, Guzzard scuttles in all sorts of dizzying directions, like a jazz combo juiced on caffeine. The music bruises like a linebacker and rants like a convict on death row.
My advice: Buy this gem when it comes out. But first, go to the band’s show. Music starts at 9:30 p.m. The cover is $2.
Acid rock
Jackie on Acid drummer Rob Dent once played in a band with heroin poster boy (and part-time Stone Temple Pilot) Scott Weiland in Huntington Beach, Calif.
The band was called Soi Disant, but it’s not something Dent wants to brag about.
“It was like high school time. It was a very fledgling thing for me,” Dent says. “It was kind of the first thing I was in. They kind of went off and did their own thing and I went off and did my own thing. And he beat me to the finish line.” (If you call court-ordered rehab the finish line.)
Dent and bandmate guitarist Garth Parker would rather talk about their Jackie on Acid, which plays Outback Jack’s on Saturday.
After all, the Seattle quartet, rounded out by vocalist Leslie Hogard and bassist Steve Hoffman, has hatched a searing debut - “Moink” - that’s causing tremors in the Northwest.
On “Moink,” JOA harvests a hardy yield of rhythmically tight, melodically sweet, funk-inflected hard rock. The disc calls to mind other monumental Seattle bands such as Hammerbox and the Gits.
So far, the record has fared well in the Northwest, saleswise. It’s also selling steadily overseas, partly because the band’s label, Blue Rose, is based in England.
“A lot of countries are really picking up on the record,” says Parker. “We’ve sold quite a few copies in Germany and in Japan.”
Yeah, but how are you guys doing in Belgium? I asked, referring to a line from the movie “Singles.” “We’re huge,” Parker and Dent reply simultaneously.
In coming months, the band hopes to further promote “Moink” at several music festivals, including the “F” Music Festival (Los Angeles), North-By-Northwest (Portland) and the CMJ Marathon (New York). The four also hope to go overseas for an extensive tour.
Royball and Aggro Craig are also on the bill for Saturday’s show. The cover is $3. Bring ID.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NIGHTWATCH PICKS TONIGHT: Shoveljerk at the Northern Corner SATURDAY: Jackie on Acid, Royball, Aggro Craig at Outback Jack’s THURSDAY: Guzzard at the Northern Corner