Wednesday, March 23, 2005
STATIC 99 IS DEAD
Static 99 is dead...we are now Void of Course. This name change comes right in time for a full-band change.
Here is the deal...I am sorry that I have not kept up on making sure everyone is current on the continuing saga of Ned the Wino...but I have been so preoccupied with the Clint search this past week, the demise of Static 99 seemed unimportant in comparison. But I suppose that inquiring minds still want to know...
Friday March 11th...
The night of the big show. Craig shows up drunk. With him, is his 62-year-old girlfriend. Yeah, that's right, 62 years old (please keep in mind that Craig is 26...he is "recipricol" dating if you catch my drift). His girlfriend (I don't believe that anyone acutually caught her name throughout the course of the night) smells of cheap "old lady" perfume and is decked out in a long black skirt and blouse, black pumps, and a plethora of gold jewelry. As Cyndi is quoted as saying, "She looked like she was going to a funeral." She speaks no English. Craig answers her in broken Spanish. We are quite confused by what is going on with all of this. Craig is spotted drinking at least 4 beers before we are even set to go on at 10:30. Vic is frantically putting together his drum kit (which, by the way, was large enough to be heard loud and clear at the Staples Center). Eric, the bar manager comes up to me at one point in the night and says, "Your drummer doesn't play out much, huh? Anybody who plays out that much would never bring a kit that big to a place this small."
I am set to play 5 solo songs and then the band will come on and play the 5 that they have prepared for the show. I tell them this countless times before the show. I wrap up the second song, and Vic hops up on stage and starts hitting drums. I turn to him and say, "That is only two songs. I have three more to play before you are supposed to come on." He looks incredulous and gives me a dirty look. I don't know what is going on. We've discussed the plan several times. Finally, I say to myself, "fuck it," and only end up playing three songs before I ask Craig to come up and join us.
The show is completely opposite of what I expected. Craig plays amazingly well. Better than I have ever heard him play. Perhaps it is the adreneline combined with the cheap tap beer. But I have seriously never heard him play so well. Vic is a disaster. It is like one big drum solo throughout the entire show. I am competing with him from start to finish, screaming over extraneous and completely unneccessary fills, crashes, and bangs. I have never heard him play this way; he never did that in practice. I cannot conceive of what is going on here. After the show, he is pissed off. There are no young girls for him to hook up with. He scopes out the bar and attempts to talk to several women, then storms off. (I thought you were married Vic). Craig stays awhile to drink several more free beers and then swaggers out of the bar with his "old lady." "Adios," I shout after them.
Fast-forward to Saturday...
Saturday March 12th...
Craig calls me up at 2pm. He is still on a high from the show the night before. "We fucking rocked," he screams into the phone. "And I fucking got laid last night!!" (oh, the horror of that visual). "Did you get laid?" he asks me. God, Craig..."I'm saving myself for mechanic boy," I tell him. He then precedes to tell me for the next ten minutes about how much we rocked. (I would have to disagree). I politely get off the phone and tell him I will speak to him tomorrow...
Sunday March 13th...
7:28am
A message is left on my voice mail by Vic...one word..."psychotic"
"Hello, this is Victor. I just got a message from Beaver down at the practice space [Beaver is the owner of the space]. Basically, I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but he wants his money. Now, I don't know if you had other arrangements with him, but your and my relationship together is now over. You need to find a new drummer. Basically, you just need to find a new band. I have had it. I think pretty much everything of yours is out of the space, but if you have any shit down there, you need to get it out. Whatever arrangement we had, is over."
Okay...what the hell is this all about? I had no arrangement with Beaver. Why would I even be paying for the space if I didn't even know that this band was going to make it through it's first show? Craig had already quit the band once. Craig was not paying Beaver until Monday. I thought that would be fine for me as well. I don't know what "arrangments" he's talking about. And I don't know why he's "had it." Why do crazy people say crazy things??? Because they're crazy. Yeah, that's right. And who breaks up the band on a voice mail at 7:30 on a Sunday morning? That's like breaking up with someone you've been seeing for several months in an email. Crazy. Oh well, he was a disaster at the show anyway.
Beth, since she is my manager and ordinarily handles these kinds of things, calls up Vic later that day. As predicted, he is screening his calls. She leaves a message that we just wanted to find out exactly what had happened because we didn't want to leave on bad terms. If he could give us a call when he gets the chance. Basically, we just want to hear how completly psychotic this story could get.
Monday March 14th
Craig calls me up. Apparently, Vic is very pissed off and believes it was very immature to have my "girfriend" leave him a message. First of all, she has a name. Second of all, who's calling who immature? Vic broke up the band over voice mail. Craig tells me that they have both been very "patient" with me. What in the hell are you even talking about? Are we even from the same planet? Patient over what? Those two have acted like juveniles since day one. Between being drunk at practice and showing up two hours late, who is really the one being patient in this situation?? He tells me to call Vic up myself. I do not suck anyone's dick, but I appease him just because I am curious to find out exactly what is going on. Vic does not pick up the phone. I leave him a message stating that I just wanted to talk to him so that we do not leave this on bad terms.
Thursday March 17th
7:59pm
A voice mail is left for me by Vic. Even crazier than the first one...
"Hello, Debbie. This is Victor. I talked to Craig. He still wants to continue what you were doing. I assume you want to continue what you were doing. I don't know what's going on with you. I don't know if you are still willing to play with us. Maybe we can sit down and chisel out some sort of agreement. If you have an further obligations to fulfil, I will finish those and I will do it professionally. Or if you have any new songs to learn. Any shows to play or if you want to record a demo with us. Whatever you want to do. Let me know if you still want me to do it. If you don't, I have three other drummers that I could call. They would probably play a lot better than I have. And they're great guys. I'm sure you'd get along with them well. There's no bad blood with me. I guess I just needed to get my point across to you. Hope things are well and that you're okay. Give me a call if you want."
Ummmm....what is going on here? What point were you trying to get across? And now you're pretending like everything is fine and you want to play in the band again. Are you insane? Do you even remember leaving that other irate message? Again, I am so confused as to what is going on. I do not return the call because frankly, I have no idea what to say to this man...and he carries a gun...and kind of scares me, to be perfectly honest...
Sunday March 20
10:57am
Another message is left by Vic...who by now, I think is clinically insane...
"This is Victor. This morning, I was called by that club down in Whittier. They want to book you to do a show. I don't know if you want to do that. It is a fun thing. Let me know if you want to do the show with me and Craig or if you want to do it by yourself. I could find you another drummer to do the show. Give me a call and I'll fix that up for you."
Ummm....now, first of all, the club he is talking about is a pizza parlor in downtown Whittier. Why on earth I would want to play at such a place is beyond me. Second of all, what is going on. He quit the band. He left me a nasty message only a week prior that made no sense. It was not clear what he was even angry about. Now, he is booking us shows? What is going on here? Craig calls me up to ask me if I have heard from Victor. He really wants to play some music because it is "good shit." I am at a loss as to what to even say to these people. Clearly, I cannot be in a band with them. They were decent players, but not good enough to put up with all of this psychotic back-and-forth behavior. In my book, Static 99 is dead. They died the moment that show was over and Vic threw down his drumsticks and stormed out of the bar.
Fuck Static 99...my new band is Void of Course...anybody know of a good drummer or bass player in the L.A. area????
To be continued...
Static 99 is dead...we are now Void of Course. This name change comes right in time for a full-band change.
Here is the deal...I am sorry that I have not kept up on making sure everyone is current on the continuing saga of Ned the Wino...but I have been so preoccupied with the Clint search this past week, the demise of Static 99 seemed unimportant in comparison. But I suppose that inquiring minds still want to know...
Friday March 11th...
The night of the big show. Craig shows up drunk. With him, is his 62-year-old girlfriend. Yeah, that's right, 62 years old (please keep in mind that Craig is 26...he is "recipricol" dating if you catch my drift). His girlfriend (I don't believe that anyone acutually caught her name throughout the course of the night) smells of cheap "old lady" perfume and is decked out in a long black skirt and blouse, black pumps, and a plethora of gold jewelry. As Cyndi is quoted as saying, "She looked like she was going to a funeral." She speaks no English. Craig answers her in broken Spanish. We are quite confused by what is going on with all of this. Craig is spotted drinking at least 4 beers before we are even set to go on at 10:30. Vic is frantically putting together his drum kit (which, by the way, was large enough to be heard loud and clear at the Staples Center). Eric, the bar manager comes up to me at one point in the night and says, "Your drummer doesn't play out much, huh? Anybody who plays out that much would never bring a kit that big to a place this small."
I am set to play 5 solo songs and then the band will come on and play the 5 that they have prepared for the show. I tell them this countless times before the show. I wrap up the second song, and Vic hops up on stage and starts hitting drums. I turn to him and say, "That is only two songs. I have three more to play before you are supposed to come on." He looks incredulous and gives me a dirty look. I don't know what is going on. We've discussed the plan several times. Finally, I say to myself, "fuck it," and only end up playing three songs before I ask Craig to come up and join us.
The show is completely opposite of what I expected. Craig plays amazingly well. Better than I have ever heard him play. Perhaps it is the adreneline combined with the cheap tap beer. But I have seriously never heard him play so well. Vic is a disaster. It is like one big drum solo throughout the entire show. I am competing with him from start to finish, screaming over extraneous and completely unneccessary fills, crashes, and bangs. I have never heard him play this way; he never did that in practice. I cannot conceive of what is going on here. After the show, he is pissed off. There are no young girls for him to hook up with. He scopes out the bar and attempts to talk to several women, then storms off. (I thought you were married Vic). Craig stays awhile to drink several more free beers and then swaggers out of the bar with his "old lady." "Adios," I shout after them.
Fast-forward to Saturday...
Saturday March 12th...
Craig calls me up at 2pm. He is still on a high from the show the night before. "We fucking rocked," he screams into the phone. "And I fucking got laid last night!!" (oh, the horror of that visual). "Did you get laid?" he asks me. God, Craig..."I'm saving myself for mechanic boy," I tell him. He then precedes to tell me for the next ten minutes about how much we rocked. (I would have to disagree). I politely get off the phone and tell him I will speak to him tomorrow...
Sunday March 13th...
7:28am
A message is left on my voice mail by Vic...one word..."psychotic"
"Hello, this is Victor. I just got a message from Beaver down at the practice space [Beaver is the owner of the space]. Basically, I don't know what the hell is going on with you, but he wants his money. Now, I don't know if you had other arrangements with him, but your and my relationship together is now over. You need to find a new drummer. Basically, you just need to find a new band. I have had it. I think pretty much everything of yours is out of the space, but if you have any shit down there, you need to get it out. Whatever arrangement we had, is over."
Okay...what the hell is this all about? I had no arrangement with Beaver. Why would I even be paying for the space if I didn't even know that this band was going to make it through it's first show? Craig had already quit the band once. Craig was not paying Beaver until Monday. I thought that would be fine for me as well. I don't know what "arrangments" he's talking about. And I don't know why he's "had it." Why do crazy people say crazy things??? Because they're crazy. Yeah, that's right. And who breaks up the band on a voice mail at 7:30 on a Sunday morning? That's like breaking up with someone you've been seeing for several months in an email. Crazy. Oh well, he was a disaster at the show anyway.
Beth, since she is my manager and ordinarily handles these kinds of things, calls up Vic later that day. As predicted, he is screening his calls. She leaves a message that we just wanted to find out exactly what had happened because we didn't want to leave on bad terms. If he could give us a call when he gets the chance. Basically, we just want to hear how completly psychotic this story could get.
Monday March 14th
Craig calls me up. Apparently, Vic is very pissed off and believes it was very immature to have my "girfriend" leave him a message. First of all, she has a name. Second of all, who's calling who immature? Vic broke up the band over voice mail. Craig tells me that they have both been very "patient" with me. What in the hell are you even talking about? Are we even from the same planet? Patient over what? Those two have acted like juveniles since day one. Between being drunk at practice and showing up two hours late, who is really the one being patient in this situation?? He tells me to call Vic up myself. I do not suck anyone's dick, but I appease him just because I am curious to find out exactly what is going on. Vic does not pick up the phone. I leave him a message stating that I just wanted to talk to him so that we do not leave this on bad terms.
Thursday March 17th
7:59pm
A voice mail is left for me by Vic. Even crazier than the first one...
"Hello, Debbie. This is Victor. I talked to Craig. He still wants to continue what you were doing. I assume you want to continue what you were doing. I don't know what's going on with you. I don't know if you are still willing to play with us. Maybe we can sit down and chisel out some sort of agreement. If you have an further obligations to fulfil, I will finish those and I will do it professionally. Or if you have any new songs to learn. Any shows to play or if you want to record a demo with us. Whatever you want to do. Let me know if you still want me to do it. If you don't, I have three other drummers that I could call. They would probably play a lot better than I have. And they're great guys. I'm sure you'd get along with them well. There's no bad blood with me. I guess I just needed to get my point across to you. Hope things are well and that you're okay. Give me a call if you want."
Ummmm....what is going on here? What point were you trying to get across? And now you're pretending like everything is fine and you want to play in the band again. Are you insane? Do you even remember leaving that other irate message? Again, I am so confused as to what is going on. I do not return the call because frankly, I have no idea what to say to this man...and he carries a gun...and kind of scares me, to be perfectly honest...
Sunday March 20
10:57am
Another message is left by Vic...who by now, I think is clinically insane...
"This is Victor. This morning, I was called by that club down in Whittier. They want to book you to do a show. I don't know if you want to do that. It is a fun thing. Let me know if you want to do the show with me and Craig or if you want to do it by yourself. I could find you another drummer to do the show. Give me a call and I'll fix that up for you."
Ummm....now, first of all, the club he is talking about is a pizza parlor in downtown Whittier. Why on earth I would want to play at such a place is beyond me. Second of all, what is going on. He quit the band. He left me a nasty message only a week prior that made no sense. It was not clear what he was even angry about. Now, he is booking us shows? What is going on here? Craig calls me up to ask me if I have heard from Victor. He really wants to play some music because it is "good shit." I am at a loss as to what to even say to these people. Clearly, I cannot be in a band with them. They were decent players, but not good enough to put up with all of this psychotic back-and-forth behavior. In my book, Static 99 is dead. They died the moment that show was over and Vic threw down his drumsticks and stormed out of the bar.
Fuck Static 99...my new band is Void of Course...anybody know of a good drummer or bass player in the L.A. area????
To be continued...
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