Tag Archives: Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits

December 10, 2011

I Heart Honah Lee: “Life Won’t Let Me,” Asbury Lanes, NJ and the Charleston, Brooklyn 2011

By Green Day Mind

I began writing this back in June 2011, after Honah Lee had their CD release party at Asbury Lanes this past summer. I got stuck in a writing slump for a number of reasons, but I’ve jump started a little in the last week due to some extreme Green Day fan weirdness, which I will have to relate one of these days. Sigh. But, as I love Honah Lee to bits and pieces, I wanted to finish this post off before I wrote anything else. I said awhile ago that I would, and so I am. <143

Honah Lee Release Party Flyer - Asbury Lanes, Asbury, NJ - June 17th, 2011 -- All Honah Lee posters by Anthony Catanese

I haven’t been up to writing lately. For those of you who visit Green Day Mind for new stuff on Green Day and the band’s side projects, other bands and musical adventures, sorry that I’m lame. Several issues and incidents including a health concern overwhelmed me these last months and American Idiot’s closing here in New York wiped me out! I’ll write about the end of American Idiot… one of these days, as Pink Floyd would say. It was a slightly traumatic day, and no, not because the show closed, but that certainly is a part of the story. It was blazingly hot that last day of American Idiot on Broadway in NYC, April 24th, 2011. The temperature one day was freezing, and the next day, “ho as hell.” I got dehydrated and fainted across the street from the St. James, in front of the Phantom of the Opera, and had to go to the hospital by ambulance where I got seven stitches in the emergency room because I smashed my head on the sidewalk, thereby prompting me to miss the matinee. When I came to, I swore that someone had walked by and randomly curbed me! Um… not so good times. I made it back to the evening performance of the final show and subsequent concert, but the day wasn’t as fun as it should have been. Thanks forever to David and Jaymee and Val who helped me that day. I will be forever grateful. (And sorry about all that blood on the hoodie…)

That head-meeting-sidewalk incident came two months after getting a black eye at the last Frustrators show that I attended at the Phenomenauts’ Command Center in February 2011. Both incidents knocked my mojo out of whack, and were a little embarrassing. Not only did I need to heal from the head injuries but I also had a scare about my thyroid (yay for no cancer!) and for me, it takes some time to heal from acute embarrassment! Some say it’s only rocknroll, but there is that part of me that says, “What the fuck, rocknroll?” There’s more to the story, but I’ll have to save that tale for one of these days, again, as Pink Floyd would say.

Speaking of Pink Floyd, did you catch Roger Waters and David Gilmour’s performance earlier this year of Floyd’s classic, “Comfortably Numb,” when Waters toured Pink Floyd in London? It was my theme song for a bit this year, and if you haven’t seen the performance, you should! Rogers and Gilmour rarely perform together and may never do it again. “Comfortably Numb” is one of my favorite all-time songs and the album it derives from, The Wall, is both a classic LP and one of the best adaptations of a rock-record-turned-musical-movie ever made. I saw Pink Floyd back in the 1980s at Nassau Coliseum and God was in attendance at the show. Or, at least, I think I saw him.

“Comfortably Numb” – Pink Floyd with Roger Waters and David Gilmour – O2, London, May 2011

Luckily while recovering from my head injuries and acute embarrassment, Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits came through town twice–once for a show at Lulu’s in Brooklyn on June 7th–and then later in September for a crazy successful show put together by Mike CM (or Chickenman) at Tommy’s Tavern in Brooklyn that included acoustic sets by Bobby Joe, solo gigs by Mikey Erg and Franz Nikolay and PEOP’s Fly, and bands Devastation Wagon and Bobby Joe’s tour mates from out West, the merry men of Sherwood Forest, Tornado Rider, complete with cello as stringed guitar. It was a great night, though it would have been nice if Mike had been at his own show. Alas, he had some issues and fell off of the planet for a bit. He’s on the mend now and I’m hoping for more shows from him if he wants to still do it. Mike seriously knows music and the eclectic lineup he put together at Tommy’s oddly worked and was ripping fun.

I’ve seen a bunch of bands in addition to Bobby Joe and Honah Lee since the end of American Idiot including Social Distortion at the Stone Pony in Asbury, NJ, the Foo Fighters, the Pogues, Fucked Up!, The Cro-Mags, Dear Landlord, the Dopamines, Against Me!, Dengue Fever, TV on the Radio, Fishbone, Frank Turner, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Screaming Females, Japanther, Girl in a Coma, White Wives, Declan Bennett, the Atom Age, and three boys from American Idiot making their currently nameless band debut, in Manhattan and Brooklyn. I also caught a Halloween show put on by a little band called Green Day in a little room in Manhattan called Webster Hall Studio. I went to Baltimore’s Insubordination Fest in August and saw a ton of great bands there, and witnessed Emily’s Army’s debut on the Insub Pop Punk Circuit. They put on a great show and taught those mean old pop punkers a few lessons on how to pop punk it. All of these bands helped with the mojo, but seeing Honah Lee regularly throughout the year injected me with doses of irreverent Jersey, sorta like a Jersey form of B12 or something, shot in the butt. Or something.

I’ve seen Honah Lee ten or more times this year (yes, I know, there’s something wrong with me), including Asbury Lanes on June 17th, a few of their other shows at the Mill Hill in Trenton, the Court Tavern in New Brunswick, the Loop Lounge in Patterson, and twin nights at the little basement venue of Williamsburg’s Charleston Bar on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. I traveled to Jersey to celebrate my birthday in March with these twerps, but of course they went on last at 1:00am and I had to catch a 1:27am train back to Brooklyn. I heard three songs and missed my birthday toast. Boo. In other words, I heart Honah Lee. I mean, how can you not heart these four crazily demented, but lovable, faces?

WE ARE BOLDLY GOING NOWHERE FOLLOWING A DREAM, AND PROUD OF BEING NOTHING IN THIS BROKEN MUSIC SCENE

Honah Lee (Tim Hoh, Jim Graz, Joseph Wolstenholme and Anthony Catanese) is a catchy, fun, loud, live band. Tim’s nasally-thin trumpet of a lead voice combined with Dim’s rock guitar licks and Jim’s bass and Tony G.’s drum rhythm section is a steady groovemaker when they get to revving and in Tim’s case, roaring. “Gimme something with a badass tempo” says their song, Bobby’s Dead, and I agree. I’m quite fond of the way these guys roll out their backbeat. I always expect to scream out some lyrics whenever I see the guys, as I’m fueled by that deceptive and steady rhythm just below the surface and lyrics that touch basic human chords: the futility of trying, even if you can’t give up; desires noted but not acted on; “don’t be me, cause I ain’t shit,” and whatever other rage within that needs tempering by a cheery attitude of desperate fun. It’s a little cathartic.

In general, “Honah Lee’s” songs are rhythms and lyrics that most listeners will embrace on the spot. If I still had my meaningless job at that publishing company, I would have blasted ‘I Hate My Job’ each and every day on my way to work. The song is almost a rallying anthem in which the masses can unite, but ultimately as Tim shouts ‘You gotta do it if you wanna get paid’. “Honah Lee” sings about what is universal. These guys would have been writing songs about girls ten years ago. Now, they write about the monotony of work and the general ambivalence that we all feel towards life at times. —The Real Musician – Review of Honah Lee/The Plurals Split EP, “Lick It.”

Honah Lee, First show at the Charleston, Sometime 2011

we play along like there’s nothing wrong, yea, we make it look so fucking fun… don’t. be. me… cause I ain’t shit”

—Don’t Be Me

Honah Lee - Loop Lounge

It’s neat to see Honah Lee’s audiences grow since that epic show at Don Hill’s back in February 2010 when Honah Lee and the Mystic Knights of the Cobra opened for the Foxboro Hot Tubs and only a handful of people in the room knew their name. Prior to and since that show, they’ve consistently built an audience and constantly play gigs all over New Jersey and surrounding areas. It’s even more neat hearing audiences sing along with them.

Honah Lee / Bobby Joe Ebola

Honah Lee’s twin shows at Brooklyn’s tiny basement venue, the Charleston–about the size of Trenton’s Mill Hill–in the heart of Williamsburg, USA have been laid back and relaxing, whether hanging on the Charleston’s comfy outdoor seating, inside at the long bar, or downstairs in the basement music venue. The Charleston’s small performance space is outfitted with an outsized speaker system that can blowout musicians and audience alike. At that first show, Tim knocked his beer over during the first song. It puddled at the band’s feet and leaked through the holes in his shoes. The crowd was small, but the band gave it their all and won them over, despite the crappy sound and loss of beer. I was happy that they were playing in Brooklyn and the crowd had a good time. What more do you need?

I was wondering… what you gonna do, what you gonna do? Can I hang out with you, say I can hang out with? … I don’t want to know what’s on your mind… there’s just nothing to do

I Was Wondering

Honah Lee / Statues of Liberty

This second time around at the Charleston on Friday, 12/3/2011, the band’s sound was clearer and cleaner, no beer was spilled, the crowd was thicker, and most of them were there to see Honah Lee, which is pretty great since it’s only their sixth or seventh time playing in Manhattan and Brooklyn, including that epic show at Don Hill’s. Nicole M-W and her husband Anthony J-M-W (who I saw perform as lead singer in a smoking-hot Rage Against the Machine tribute band earlier this summer) and Cathryn, who I’ve met on fleeting occasions during the stage production of American Idiot, were there, along with some of Honah Lee’s New Jersey friends and New York fans. Not The Bees!, a New Jersey band that tours on the local circuit with Honah Lee (one of four bands on the Charleston bill) filled out the front area of the audience, so there were more than a few people who knew the songs. Probably the best moment came during Honah Lee’s song, Leave It To My Goddamn Brain, when Tim admonished his lyrical antagonist to… well, “fuck you”… with the crowd answering in support built on a steady uptempo beat, ending in a shared chorus and accompanied by their best middle finger salutes.

Honah Lee / Sports Bar / Atom Age

Nothing will beat the Honah Lee CD release party sing-a-long at Asbury Lanes back in June, though, except maybe the day when I see them play larger rooms. Why? Because almost everyone knew the lyrics to their songs and were more than willing to scream them back in abandon at the band, egged on by the driving rhythm section and teased by rock riffs. I can honestly say that this night was a highlight of my entire summer, and the gritty splender of the Lanes and beautiful Asbury Park made a perfect backdrop for exercising some demons. Good times, good people, good screaming.

The Queers / Honah Lee

I’d only been to Asbury Park one other time, a quick trip to catch Social Distortion’s show at the Stone Pony earlier in May 2011. This time around, my friend Liz and I rented a room at the Asbury Berkeley and ended up in a beautiful suite on the quiet, i.e., non-Honah Lee-staying, side of the hotel. We had an expansive view of a never-ending crystal blue Atlantic Ocean and the restored Asbury Park Pavilion. We got to town around 6:00, explored the Boardwalk, marveled at the ocean and the architecture, went back to the hotel for a minute and then off to Asbury Lanes.

Honah Lee / Cryptkeeper 5

Asbury Lanes is a bowling alley turned band venue, with a stage nested in the lanes, a solid sound system and ample dance floor. The Plurals, an outstanding trio from Lansing, Michigan, was on the bill that night, with Lakeside Drive, Radio Exiles and Communication Redlight. Honah Lee went on last with a full audience of hardcore HL fans, friends, and family who knew almost every damn word to the songs. The resultant (slightly intoxicated) singalong ended ultimately in audience members storming the stage as someone ran by in a taco costume. Or was that a hot dog costume? I don’t remember.

“Coca cola drives me crazy. Sex and cigarettes all night. I’m a liar like, a priest, the messiah, I’m insane.”

—Sex N’Cigarettes

Honah Lee / The Plurals

Honah Lee’s simple, heartfelt lyrics and chords are tinged with touches of irony and a little ennui; simple, singable choruses invite the audience to “scream it out” with them. (Although Tony, the curmudgeonly drummer, says he hates it when the audience sings along. I don’t know if he’s serious, he hates everything.) I know a few people who don’t like Honah Lee, comparing them to Weezer and such (as if that’s a bad thing), but I just don’t get it.  Weezer is certainly an influence, but so is Screeching Weasel. In fact, Honah Lee has a song coming out soon in Ben Weasel’s defense. Pop-punkers tend to dismiss them for one reason or another, and that’s their prerogative. Whatever the reasons, Honah Lee may not move mountains, but it was way neat seeing them move the V.F.W. audience in Somewhere, New Jersey this summer, cause when Honah Lee gets into a groove, their melodies flow well and Tony keeps a badass tempo behind guitarists Tim and Dim, and bassist Jim rips some deep, moving basslines. Tim encourages the room to drink (anything), always raises his glass in a toast to the audience, and off they run. Looking at that room of people in Asbury was amazing, as the crowd sang with the band, and more than a few antics broke out. They have a solid rapport with their audience.

Fuck responsibility, I don’t want to do a goddamn thing, but sit on my ass, and watch tv, drink some beers, and smoke some weed… LIFE WON’T LET ME… YOU WON’T LET ME… TIME WON’T LET ME… AND LIFE… WON’T… LET… ME…” –

–Life Won’t Let Me

Honah Lee / Beardo the Man

Honah Lee work their asses off playing music, promoting their shows with well-crafted flyers, booking gigs, recording tracks, criss crossing New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Ohio, and other States to play. Yea, they may be strange, but it warms my heart to see a group of guys work hard despite the odds by “BOLDLY FOLLOWING A DREAM GOING NOWHERE,” even in the face of this “BROKEN MUSIC SCENE.” I’m hoping that one day they’ll be as big as Bieber… haha, I kid… but I would like to see a whole mess of folks in an audience screaming their lyrics back at them in a mad dance. I’m not sure how big a “mess of folks” would be, but the moment itself will be a solid, fun time of musically shared zeitgeist, some antics, and a beer or two.

I’ve lost my heart I’ve lost my soul I lost myself in the…. rock and roll….

Loss for Words

–

Fifteen Years of Tim Hoh

On a slightly sad note, after seeing the band off from their Charleston gig on Friday, the boys made it back to New Jersey, and the next day, the band and their lovely wives, fiancees, and girlfriends all went to their friend’s wedding. Everyone had a mirthful time celebrating the nuptials. Towards the end of the night, Tim, who has been known to go off and take a leak in the woods, found himself off the side of a cliff instead of an expanse of soft, dewey, grass, and hurt his back in the subsequent 12-foot drop. He has to stay off his feet for a little bit, and according to their Facebook, the band will have to cancel a few shows in the next weeks, but hope to be back before the end of the month.

Next time Tim, go to the men’s room.

You can hear the album, Life Won’t Let Me, on their Soundcloud.

All Honah Lee flyers courtesy of Anthony Catanese. More flyers here.

Photo of Honah Lee from album, Life Won’t Let Me by Michelle Lawlor

“Bobby’s Dead” – Honah Lee at Asbury, June 17, 2011

*Filmed by me, not a videographer…

“Gimme something with a badass tempo… gimme something that will stick in my head… gimme something with some real emotion… ya give me something so I know I’m not dead…”–Bobby’s Dead

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March 24, 2011

Do You Know Your Frustrators? – Contest Winners

By Green Day Mind

"Gabriel! Your "Griller" CD is coming your way, baby! SQWARK! Does anybody else see that pink bunny up there, or have I just been drinking too much lately?" - Zombie Stanley by Art Tedeschi

If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering if you won a contest or something. I won’t keep you waiting, so let’s get right down to it.

Thanks to everyone who entered! I know that the questions were a bit frustrating, but hey, welcome to my world!

Winners: Gabriel Bernard and Marisa Graham!

Only one person correctly answered all twelve questions and he was also the first person to send his answers in. Literally… The first person. It probably isn’t fair that he won since he runs his own Frustrators fan website and knew all of the answers. Congratulations, Gabriel Bernard! You win a CD that I am pretty sure you already own!

"F" - Released October 12, 2010 - Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits. Baby Goat of Rock Photo by Corbett Redford I, 1942. Cover design by Jon Carling

The second place winner is Marisa Graham. Marisa took the photograph that appears on the back album cover and insert to the Frustrators’ 2000 EP, Bored in the USA, taken at the band’s second-ever live performance, at 924 Gilman. It’s probably not fair that she won, either, but Marisa was the first person to answer eleven of the questions correctly as well as the second person to enter the contest.

Marisa’s only incorrect answer was to Question #11: “What is the name of the upcoming album by Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits that lead singer Jason Chandler designed the album cover for?” Marisa answered F, which was released by Bobby Joe Ebola last year on October 12, 2010, on Silver Sprocket Records. The album that Chandler (lead singer of the Frustrators and graphic artist) designed the cover, CD, and booklet art for, Meal Deal with the Devil! is Bobby Joe’s upcoming album and book release due in mid-2011. (See below for more!) Sorry about that, Marisa! But, on a bright note, you won what you wanted… the Frustrators bag. Congratulations!

Prize #2: Frustrators Felt BackPack Bag

A shout out goes to Crystal S. who was the only other person to answer eleven of the questions correctly, but unfortunately, I have nothing else to give away but my sincere thanks for taking the time to enter the contest! Unfortunately, your answer to “Did the Frustrators play their first ever live gig at 924 Gilman?” was incorrect. See below for the answer!

Gabriel and Marisa, send me your mailing addresses at greendaymind@gmail.com and I’ll send your items out as soon as possible. Or just wait until I email you, one or the other!

Dang, that was frustrating! What is this? School?

And here’s the answers. I have to say, it was great fun looking this stuff up! But then again, I’m a nerd…

1. The Frustrators have four songs/EPs/Albums on the Adeline Records label. What are the four Adeline numbers of these recordings?

Griller - AR 046

Might as Well... Can't Dance - "Trout" - AR 008

Achtung Jackass - AR 020

Bored in the USA - AR 005

The Frustrators have four songs/EPs/Albums on the Adeline Records label. Each record released by Adeline is numbered in the Adeline logo by the order of release. The numbers for the Frustrators releases are: Griller AR 046, Achtung Jackass AR 020, Bored in the USA, AR 005, and Song #6, “Trout,” appeared on a Adeline showcase album entitled Might as Well… Can’t Dance, AR 008.

2. The band had two potential names before settling on “The Frustrators.” Name one of the potential names.

This was the hardest question because it’s not readily found on the Interwebs. In fact, I had to ask where to find it! But I did try at first. Kinda. Sorta. Anyway, here’s the bebo.com inteview posting from The Frustrators to find the answer.

Where did you guys get the name The Frustrators?

It’s funny about the name. At first we wanted to call ourselves “the Ropers.” It is such a great name. It brings to mind all kinds of good things, like cowboys and Three’s Company (that show with Suzanne Sommers, the landlords were named the Ropers). It was cheesy. We liked it. But we found out there was a band signed to Velocity Girl’s label in DC already named “the Ropers.” Ooh, we were pissed. So then we came up with “the Regal Beagles,” which was the bar in Three’s Company. And we had them put that name on the flyers for Backyard Believers [the venue of the band’s first show], and then we found out there was a ska band in LA with that name! So now we were frustrated. And that is where the name came from.

The answers, the Ropers and the Regal Beagles are from a television show that I watched a lot back in the day, Three’s Company. In fact, I think I got most of my life’s philosophy from this show, which is really, really weird. The show’s plot entailed three roommates, Janet Wood, Chrissy Snow and Jack Tripper, two women (one bombshell blond, Suzanne Sommers and one brunette everywoman, Joyce DeWitt) and one man (John Ritter, one of the funniest guys on the planet, RIP). The three mixed-gender roommates lived together because of the cheap California rent and hung out at the local bar called the Regal Beagle. The show ran from 1977 to 1984, a time when men and women who weren’t married or related were beginning to openly share homes as roommates. If you weren’t married or related, you were living in sin, even if everyone had their own bedrooms! Their landlords were Mr. and Mrs. Roper. Mr. Roper (classic comic genius Norman Fell) was opposed to a mixed-gender living arrangement if the man was straight, so Jack had to constantly pretend that he was gay in order to satisfy Mr. Roper’s rental requirement. Mrs. Roper (the wonderfully wry Audra Lindley, seldom without a drink in her hand) loved her dopey, but cheap husband and liked the tenants, and she knew that Jack was straight. Jack also had the heavy hots for busty and blonde Chrissy. Believe me, hilarity ensued. It was a show full of classic comedic pratfalls, subterfuge, innuendo, double entendres, and boobs. Ah, the 70s.

All in all, I’m glad that the potential names, the Ropers and the Regal Beagles, were out of commission because The Frustrators is the perfect name for the band, and I totally get where their sense of humor comes from. Oh and yea, cowboys, too.

3. Name the Frustrator who sculpted the zombie version of Stanley the Chicken which appears on: the cover of the Griller 7″ vinyl, inside the CD fold-out, and on the t-shirt worn by Mike during the tour? (See the t-shirt on Mike)

Zombie Stanley - Sculpture by Art Tedeschi - Courtesy of the Frustrators

Mike and Stanley - Photo: Kerry Harris

Art Tedeschi, drummer of The Frustrators, is a former makeup artist among other professions, and sculpts and does life casts for fun. He sculpted the zombie image of Stanley the Chicken. In fact, it’s called… Zombie Stanley! If you’re wondering how it was made like I was, Tedeschi was found in his corner of the bunker and asked. He says that: “It was sculpted by hand with stone clay, I used clay tools to do any detail work, then painted with water-based paints and finally, it was fired in a kiln! He is the Zombie Stanley!” Tedeschi went on to to say: “I used to go to all the make-up trade shows in LA and got to meet some cool professionals. I even modeled for the make-up artist that ran the dept. for Buffy the Vampire Slayer teevee show. He gave me a vampire forehead and when I wore it outside, no one seemed to notice. That’s LA for you.”

Needless to say, when he mentioned Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I swooned. Best teevee show ever.

The sculpted head is pretty amazing, and the details and coloring are nicely done! I did not ask what the inspiration was for the Zombie Stanley sculpture. I figure that I’d leave that to the Frustrators themselves to explain one day, but there is a slight resemblance to a certain bass player…

Griller EP Special Vinyl Cover with Zombie Stanley

4. Which two Frustrators members played with Green Day on an episode of Mad TV?

Terry Linehan Performs with Green Day on Mad TV

The two Frustrators members who played with Green Day on MAD TV were Mike Dirnt and Terry Linehan. Jason White was on tour with the Influents during this performance and Terry stepped in for him. Linehan is part-owner of a bar located in Providence, RI called the Scurvy Dog. Arrgh! Pirates! Go in and have a drink if you’re ever in the nabe! Terry is also in a band called Hope Anchor. They recently were featured on a compilation album of cover songs called, Failed Tribute Bands and have a pretty awesome version of “Stand By Me” included [Direct LINK to song track here]. I was listening to this compilation celebrating the 100th release of the independent record company, 75orLess, and there are some gems on it! The download is free, so check out Hope Anchor as well as the other local bands that appear on the free download.

5. The animated cartoon character in the tease leak to the song, “Prettiest Girl” has a name. What is it?

Joy McQueefy

Joy McQueefy, Punk Princess! Find her on Facebook, where she occasionally gives out punk beauty wisdom such as:

Joy’s Punk Princess Beauty Secret #2 — Discounted white-label Japanese cosmetic contact lenses that say they’ll make your eyes look bigger and show up at your house in a crushed box wrapped in newspaper are TOTALLY WORTH THE PINKEYE LADIES!! I looked awesome for a few minutes there, and will do it again just as soon as my stupid antibiotics run their course.

6. What year did their first live performance take place?

They partied like it was…. 1999!

7. Did the Frustrators play their first ever live gig at 924 Gilman?

The cover of “Bored in the USA,” shows the Frustrators at their first-ever show performance… but it’s not taken at 924 Gilman. The first-ever live performance by the Frustrators took place at an outdoor vintage car event called the Backyard Believers, a week or so before the Gilman show, which took place on August 20, 1999! The answer to this question is found in the link below, though the Backyard Believers part was a bit more difficult to track down on the Internet. The Wayback Machine Archive of the Frustrators old website had to help me with that one.

The Wayback Machine Archive has links to two photos of that first show, but the links are dead. Pictures for this gig’s show might be lost forever in the bunker, back in the days of actual film!

This passage is from an interview that Lis Booth of “PunkGlobe.com” did with JasonC last year:

The big photo on the back of “Bored in the USA” was from that [Gilman] show. I think Gilman was our 2nd show, and maybe the first one where we called ourselves the Frustrators. … I just Googled it, yes indeed it was our 2nd show and the first one where we used the name “The Frustrators.” It was in 1999. At that show we handed out hand-burned copies of our unmastered “Bored in the USA” which had just been mixed. It was our first indoor show so it was nice.

8. What two legendary and well-known venues besides 924 Gilman did the Frustrators play in 2001?

The Fillmore in San Francisco and the Troubabour in Los Angeles. The shows were for an Adeline Records showcase. The Frustrators were on the bill with several Adeline bands, including The Influents: Jason White, Bill and Greg Schneider, and Willie Samuels. An archive of old postings at Greenday.net and a list of past shows at the Influents website helped with this one.

9. From which European country does a rock surf band named “The Frustrators” come from?

If you hear talk of the Frustrators touring around in Europe, make sure it’s the Frustrators from California! There’s a surf rock band from the Czech Republic who share the name, “The Frustrators.” Sadly, it’s unlikely that the first and true Frustrators will ever tour in Europe, so if you find yourself at a Frustrators show in the middle of a landlocked, former Eastern bloc country with awesome beer and limited available surfing, you are probably hearing the surf rock Frustrators of the Czech Republic and not the ironic pop-punk Frustrators of the East Bay. Check out the surf rock Frustrators at their Bandzone.cz site. They aren’t bad!

10. Within the last week, The Frustrators posted Youtube videos on their Facebook page of several young bands covering Frustrators songs. Name one of the bands, the country that they come from, and the song that they covered.

There were four cover songs (two acoustic solos and two band recordings) that were featured on the Frustrators’ Facebook last week. One of the bands were Loudstuff from Italy. The other was The Razorblades from Brazil. Both bands performed “I Slept with Terry.” It’s nice that they support these young bands from around the world. If you have a cover of a Frustrators song, whether solo, acoustic, with a band, in your pajamas, whatever, send it to them at their Facebook page.

Loudstuff – Italy – I Slept with Terry [Starts about 5:30] – 2009

The Razorblades – Brazil – I Slept with Terry – 2009

11. What is the name of the upcoming album by Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits that Jason Chandler designed the album cover for?

Meal Deal with the Devil- Bobby Joe Ebola and Children MacNuggits - Design by Jason Chandler, Horrible Comics 2011

Meal Deal with the Devil- Bobby Joe Ebola and Children MacNuggits - Design by Jason Chandler, Horrible Comics, 2011

Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits will release their upcoming recording Meal Deal with the Devil! later this year. The cover features Chandler’s characters, “The Flies.” Kinda adorable. From what I understand, there’s a comic or graphic book that goes along with the album. Combined with the storytelling genius of those Ebola dudes, Corbett Redford III and Dan Abbott, and Chandler, it should be pretty awesome. I can’t wait to hear and see what these guys have cooked up for us!

Meal Deal with the Devil will be released in mid-2011 on Silver Sprocket Records and I think that Bobby Joe Ebola is gearing up to tour this summer. Don’t miss these guys if they pass through your town! Keep up to date with news from them at their website. Bobby Joe Ebola is currently working on videos from their album, F, released last year. Photo stills posted on their Facebook page from the video shoots range from mimes in a bar to psycho pig-snout human butcher demons. Hmm! Check out the video to their release from last year, Freaky Baby, from Funny or Die.

The answer to this question comes from a press release at Silver Sprocket Records as well as a blog posting from yours truly, Green Day Mind.

12. Name one other band that Mike Dirnt has recorded with that is not Green Day, the Network, the Foxboro Hot Tubs or the Frustrators.

Everyone who entered the contest sent in the name of the same band that Mike Dirnt has recorded with: Screeching Weasel. You can view the DJ Rossstar video below, starting about 2:30, for more bands that Dirnt has recorded with.

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January 22, 2011

“Griller”… eh? – Frustrators™ Reveal Name and Cover Art of New EP

By Green Day Mind

Somebody turn Stanley over! He’s done!

Yesterday, 1/21, the Frustrators™ revealed the title of their new 7″ four-song EP! And not only did they reveal the title, but they revealed the awesome cover art as well! And not only that, but they revealed a completely mind-blowing lineup of fellow East Bay musicians who are hitting the road with them in February!

All of this stuff at once would usually point toward only one conclusion, but don’t worry, it’s probably not another sign of the Apocalypse!

Instead, it’s a nice sign that we’re all a few steps closer to actually hearing the new EP from Mike Dirnt, Jason Chandler, Art Tedeschi and Terry Linehan!! In fact, the EP will be released on CD, FEBRUARY 15th, on vinyl, FEBRUARY 18th, and other digital formats on FEBRUARY 22. WOOT! The vinyl will be released through Dr. Strange Records and the CD and digital formats through Adeline Records.

Griller? WTF?

I have to admit, I was a little stumped when I read about the EP title, unexpectedly announced by the California mini-tour MCs, Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits, early yesterday. I was like, Griller? Eh? That’s the album title? WTF?

The Frustrators™ Facebook page was having yet another crazy conversation, this one about potential titles, and no one was making guesses anywhere close to that (lots of ball jokes, though). Jimmy Zeus gave a cryptic clue: “Well our other two EPs have titles that make fun of overexposed top-40 monuments to over-production…” I had no idea what he was talking about until I remembered that their first and second recordings are named after albums by Bruce Springsteen and U2, namely, Born in the USA and Achtung Baby.

This all happened before I briefly saw the EP cover art later in the day, and couldn’t pay attention to it long enough to catch what was going on with the title. It had been a busy day and then I tried to win lotto tickets to American Idiot at night. I didn’t win the lotto and that’s ok, because it’s so frikking cold outside, I’m just glad I got home before the temperature hit the freezing mark.

When I finally got home and sat on my couch, I saw the awesome cover art that “make[s] fun of overexposed top-40 monuments to over-production…,” this particular top-40 monument being the late, great, and strange… Michael Jackson, or more specifically, his 1982 album, Thriller.

After eight long years of waiting, the Frustrators™ finally bring you brilliant, and dare I say, sexy (ooh, Stanley! your hot!), new cover art by the creators of those classic recordings, ACHTUNG JACKASS and Bored in the U.S.A. (which certainly aren’t monuments to over-production… or any production, actually… I kid, Denny!) Griller:

Ooh, that Stanley, he's a... Griller - EP Cover Art Courtesy of the Frustrators

Maybe it's just a thing about Vegetarianism and not Michael Jackson. But I doubt it.

Yes, it took me a teeny bit of time to realize what I was seeing and then I… cracked up with laughter… and some horror… or maybe I was just feeling a little thrilled!

Now, if the music is as good and irreverent as the artwork, I’d be way happy!

Stanley is one sexy chicken (or is he a cock?) on the album cover! However, I’m not sure if I should eat him or rescue him from the grill. Alas, unlike some members of the Frustrators™, I am not a vegetarian. Sigh.

After the jump, read more about the EP, the record release, and the hot-shit lineup packed with a week’s worth (2/18-2/27) of outstanding shows in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. And… SEE A PREVIEW OF OTHER NEW ARTWORK FROM THE FRUSTRATORS™ LEAD SINGER JASON CHANDLER FOR THE COVER OF BOBBY JOE EBOLA’S EP, MEAL DEAL WITH THE DEVIL COMING SOON!

Tour Lineup and Art Work After the Jump!

Continue reading

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Adeline Records, Frustrators, Green Day's Other Bands, Mike Dirnt

December 27, 2010

What’s Up with Green Day and “TOP 17 QUESTIONS THAT *AbbeyFox* WOULD ASK BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG ON JAN 9TH THAT @PatrickHealyNYT WON’T”

By Green Day Mind

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, you Green Day fans, you!

Green Day's Pink Bunny! - From GreenDay.com

I realize that I haven’t posted anything since December 5th when Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits came through NYC and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, the holiday season did me in mentally and physically from Thanksgiving to Christmas and I had to take a little break from writing. I’m happy to report, though, that I saw Bobby Joe Ebola’s Corbett and Dan as well as Honah Lee in Trenton and was able to catch all of Bobby Joe Ebola’s NYC and Brooklyn shows. They are the nicest guys ever and made it back to the East Bay safe and sound after the tour. Good Times and Good News! They are releasing more music mayhem in the coming year, I’ll keep you posted.

There’s not that much news-wise going on with Green Day at the moment since their tour ended, but Mike Dirnt and his wife Brittney did have a baby daughter in November by the name of Ryan Ruby. Congrats to them! I also heard that Billie Joe and Tre played a club somewhere in California, but I really didn’t pay that much attention to it. News leaked through a Chicago blog that Billie Joe was in town talking with producers about a Chicago-based run of American Idiot, but, it’s a blog and those are rumors, so take it with a grain of salt. I post off-the-beaten trail news items on my GreenDayMind Twitter, so go and follow me for Green Day and American Idiot items as well as news of other bands. Other than that, it’s been pretty quiet mostly, and you can read up on any other information about the band on their official site, GreenDay.com and of course, the GreenDayAuthority, as well.

Yes, it is Awesome as Fuck – Live CD/DVD, March 2011

Amazon.com put up a pre-sale announcement regarding Green Day’s upcoming live CD/DVD called “Awesome As Fuck,” or… AAF for short. As you may know, the title comes from signs made by fans that morphed from a “Thanks” to Green Day in Paris to letting Green Day know that they were “Awesome As Fuck” in Denver and a simple, “Welcome Home” in San Francisco. If you’d like to read more about the signs, you can read a post I wrote back in September that explains both the origin of the signs and the Awesome As Fuck phrase Punknews.com linked to it recently, and that kinda made my day! But don’t read the comments to the Punk News posting, because of course “punks” hate Green Day and take every opportunity to slag them off that they can take. They are arses.

Green Day’s Youtube Channel briefly posted a banner announcing the album, but it was quickly taken down. Fortunately, someone at the Green Day Community snagged it before it disappeared:

Awesome as Fuck Live CD/DVD Banner

It’s a great logo and amazing that Green Day’s Pink Bunny will possibly be the artwork for the album. There’s no official details on the nature of the recording yet, but word on the street is that the DVD portion of the set is from a show in Japan and that the live album CD will be from Green Day’s North American Amphitheater Tour from this summer, but nothing is confirmed yet. I repeat: Nothing is Confirmed Yet, so don’t ask me because I don’t know! All we really know is that the title of the live album will be Awesome As Fuck and that the release date as of now is March 15, 2011, so stay tuned until further notice!

Billie Joe on Broadway Returns for January/February Run and New York
Times Interview with Michael Mayer and Patrick Healey

Billie Joe at St. Jimmy - Photo by Getty?

Billie Joe returns to Broadway in January and February, and Green Day Land is abuzz with excitement. Fortunately fans from around the world will be coming in for it, but unfortunately, those same fans have to be prepared for bad weather that may get them stuck coming in and out of New York City. In fact, as I write this, I’m stuck in Detroit (my hometown) after my flight back to New York was cancelled on Sunday due to a snow thunderstorm/blizzard that hit the East Coast and shut down travel from trains, planes and automobiles. If you’ve ever been stuck in Detroit, you know that I’m miserable, but, I’ll get out eventually. I hope. All I can say is be prepared for winter weather. I remember when I went to see Pinhead Gunpowder back in February when a winter storm caused major havoc and I had to scramble to get to Berkeley for the once-in-a-lifetime chance of seeing the mercurial Pinhead Gunpowder play a benefit show at 924 Gilman for their friend, Anandi. It was well-worth it, but nerve-wracking nonetheless. We are all going to pretend that the weather will be lovely from here on out and everyone coming in from the nether regions of the world to see Billie Joe on Broadway will encounter only good weather and good times. Prayers to the Lushie Gods are certainly in order for that one! Billie Joe will be back starting this weekend, January 1st, and though he will have two weeks off during the two months, there will be a total of fifty performances with him staring as St. Jimmy. The schedule for Billie Joe’s performances can be found at the American Idiot on Broadway site. Tony Vincent, who originated the role of St. Jimmy that Billie Joe will be doing, leaves the cast as of December 30, 2010. I was going to see Tony again in the show this week, but sadly, Snowpacalypse 2010 will now prevent that.

Patrick Healey, an Arts and Entertainment writer at the New York Times, will be interviewing Armstrong and Michael Mayer coming up on January 9th at the Times Building on 43rd and 8th Avenue. (Information on the sold-out event can be found here.) If you remember when Jordan Roth interviewed Armstrong and Mayer at the 92 Street Y back in September, the questions were pretty run-of-the-mill and, well, tame. Of course, at the American Idiot talkbacks, there were a lot of good questions as well as uninformative ones such as “Can I give you a hug, Billie Joe?” but I have a feeling that Healey just won’t be asking the questions that are really on the minds of fans, and with that in mind, the ever-funny Abbey Fox has written up a Twitter-based list of 17 questions that she would like to ask Billie Joe.

I don’t really want to see Billie Joe’s feet (though if the opportunity arose…), but she has composed some classic and funny rejoinders that will unfortunately, never be asked, but are on the minds of many Green Day fans – or, at least the Mind of Abbey. I asked her if I could reprint her questions below. Here’s the list, and let’s hope that Healey will get the message and ask at least one question. After all, Jordan Roth did use one of Abbey’s questions at the 92 Street Y. I hope you are reading this, Healey!

***** @GREENDAY SPAM ALERT WARNING*****

TOP 17 QUESTIONS THAT **@AbbeyFox** WOULD ASK @GREENDAY BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG ON JAN 9TH THAT @PatrickHealyNYT WON’T

1) Can we see your feet? @greenday

2) Tom Fucking Kitt. Have you licked his face? @GreenDay

3) What can you tell us about AI the movie project. And no bullshit, you gonna play St. Jimmy or what? Cuz you should. @greenday

4) You said you felt like a goddamed Bway rookie & you fucking loved it. What might you look to next to feel like a rookie again? @greenday

5) Your Steve Jobs rant in South America. WTF? @greenday

6) In 2010 @GreenDay gave us the summer USA HO AS HELL TOUR. Any chance Reverend Strychnine Twitch launches a 2011 HOS IN HELL TOUR?

7) When are you going to create a line of mens and womens socks? Discuss. @greenday

8. What was the best gift you got or gave for Xmas? Worst? @greenday

9) Tell us about creating a distinctly different St. Jimmy than Tony Vincent’s. @greenday

10) Rodeo Queens: future plans? Or just drinky time fun? @greenday

11) Tell us about AWESOME AS FUCK and the live cd/dvd. Do you realize how much fans shit themselves when they saw the AAF title?

12) Of all your side projects, which one, if any, are you itching to get back to next? @greenday

13) As AI comes to a close how will you keep these amazingly talented people tangled in your @GreenDay web? Where does the show go next?

14) We’ve heard you have a lot of new shit written. Any connected theme thru it? Tell us about it. @greenday

15) What’s the status of getting a new @GreenDay man cave? Where do you go when Mrs. Armstrong tells you to get the fuck outta the house?

16) Whats the fucking deal with dropping twitter like a bad pit stagediver? @greenday

17) The audience heard you shrieking backstage before your St. Jimmy entrance. It got the audience pumped too. Tell us about that. @greenday

And with that, I’m going to go back to my Mom’s house in Detroit and be stuck some more until I can manage to make it to NYC. I hope you all had a lovely holiday and an excellent upcoming New Year’s Eve.

Best, Green Day Mind

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December 5, 2010

NYC Bathroom Pass Tour with Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits

By Green Day Mind

Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits - Dan Abbott (l.) and Corbett Redford III (r.)

West Coast sunshine, music and hilarity is coming to brighten our oncoming East Coast Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), as the days get colder and Winter lurks just around the corner. Brr. The East Bay‘s Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits are making their way to New York, New Jersey and surrounding areas! Woohoo! I mentioned back in October when Bobby Joe Ebola began spreading their Children MacNuggit wings again after a “Bush Administration-era hiatus,” that they were flying this way in December and well, it’s December and they are… uh… on their way!

Before arriving in New York and New Jersey, the Ebola duo of Corbett Redford III and Dan Abbott will kick off a mini-“Kill Yourself with Hugs” tour with Tartar Control for four California shows from 12/2-12/5/2010 and head straight to Minneapolis afterward on 12/6 for the start of the “Get a Bathroom Pass” tour with shows at two venues. From there, it’s a whirlwind, two-week tour through the Midwest and East Coast from Monday, December 6th to Monday, December 20th, including said Minneapolis, along with Duluth, MN, Appleton and Milwaukee, WI, Chicago, and Lansing, MI before hitting Philadelphia and Wilkes-Barre, PA, Trenton, Brooklyn, New York City, and finally, Boston. Whew! That schedule is exhausting just thinking of, but after a ten-year break from working as a duo, Abbott and Redford III are ready for road action, and being from California, they’ll have to stay constantly on the move around these parts just to stay warm.

"F" by Bobby Joe Ebola & the Children MacNuggits Review in Maximum RocknRoll - Click to read

I’ve been listening to their new album, F, and I highly recommend heading over to Silver Sprocket Records for a hard copy or Amazon for a digital download. If my recommendation doesn’t convince you, you can read a review of the album at the indie music blog, FensePost. The review includes two songs, “The Only Difference” and “Life is Excellent,” a song that makes me laugh and cry and shout out loud with its ranty yet bouncy chorus of “Life is excellent, the tap water tastes like excrement, the skies rain poison, but I’ve got to pay the rent.” Well, ain’t that the truth?

It’s a bit difficult to categorize their music, but the tags on their Bandcamp site (where you can hear two live recordings of the band) pretty much sum them up: anti-folk black metal alternative pop comedy rock Oakland. Uh, ok. Suffice it to say that you think their songs will be serious from the music, and then all of sudden they’re singing about polyamorous girlfriends (“Poly”) or friends and radiation poisoning (“The Crazy”) or bands that go on killing sprees (“Postcards from Inferno (I’ll See You in Hell)”). In other words, you never know in what direction their songs will take you, but it’s certain that you’ll laugh. Through the laughter of F there are serious underlying themes about migrant workers, consumerism, or environmental damage, among others, but they never hit you over the head with it. Or, hardly ever. I mean, with a song called “Sweet S**t of Christ,” you pretty much know what side of the religious coin they rest on. Their philosophy might be summed up in a Ghandi quote mentioned by Redford III in an interview at Uncle Critic: “If I had no sense of humor, I would have long ago committed suicide.” Yep. That about sums it up for me.

By the way, Billie Joe Armstrong has mentioned them as one of his favorite bands, and they “borrowed” one of Mike Dirnt’s cars for their recent “Freaky Baby” video while he was on tour. I believe that they eventually told him. I hope.

So do yourself a favor and fend off the SAD by catching them on the road when they come to a Midwest/East Coast town near you. I’ll be — at the least and hopefully all — in attendance at two of their shows when they hit New York, Don Pedro’s in Brooklyn, and The Cake Shop in Manhattan. I’m super excited by both shows, particularly the Don Pedro show as the Max Levine Ensemble, who I’ve heard a lot about but have never been able to catch (along with 50 Million, Weird Fantasy Band and Cheesequake) will be on the night’s bill with them. The Cake Shop show is sure to be fun, too, as it’s a Mike Cm Production show with local bands, Ergquist, House Boat, Mirrors and Wires, and the Tattletales. And remember, you get a free pizza with a purchase of a beer at Lulu’s in Brooklyn. Rumors are that they’ll be playing at ABC No Rio on the Lower East Side in Manhattan and maybe New Brunswick, NJ on Saturday, Dec. 18th, but as of now, there’s no confirmation.

Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits are looking for venue help with the Wilkes-Barre show, so if you can lend a hand in that surrounding area, give the band a shout-out on Facebook or their official contact page. For tour information and locations for the complete “Get a Bathroom Pass” tour, head on over to the Year-End Recap and Tour Page. See ya there!

New York City and Surrounding Areas – 12/15-12/19/2010

* Wed., Dec. 15th – TRENTON, NJ @ MILL HILL BASEMENT w/ CAPTIVE, DAY IN AND DAY OUT & ALL AGES — 300 S. Broad St./10PM

*Thurs., Dec 16th – BROOKYLN, NY @ LULU’S w/ THE PARKING LOTS, WEIRD FANTASY BAND AND MORE! — 113 Franklin St./9PM

*Fri. Dec. 17 – BROOKLYN, NY @ DON PEDRO’S w/ 50 MILLION, MAX LEVINE ENSEMBLE, WEIRD FANTASY BAND AND MORE! — 90 Manhattan Ave./8PM

*Sat. Dec. 18 – NEW YORK, NY @ TBA!

*Sun. Dec. 19 – NEW YORK, NY @ THE CAKE SHOP w/ ERGQUIST, HOUSE BOAT & THE TATTLETALES! — 151 Ludlow St./8PM

Here’s two videos of Bobby Joe Ebola, both from shows at Gilman, “Kool-Aid Man” from a 2007 show and a song from their current album, F, called “Sandwiches and Ammunition” from a April Fool’s Day performance in 2010.

Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits – “Kool-Aid Man” – 924 Gilman, 2007

Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits – “Sandwiches and Ammunition” from F – 924 Gilman, 2010

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , | posted in East Bay Punk, Other Bands

October 12, 2010

Freaky Baby (Official Music Video) – Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits

By Green Day Mind

Freaky Baby EP Cover Click for iTunes

East Bay band and Vaudeville-punk act, Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits, released a four-song EP recently, Freaky Baby, on iTunes and made their first music AND rap video. [iTunes LINK HERE]  The video to Freaky Baby is a little… freaky, but don’t get your panties in a bunch about the content. I’m sure it’s a parody of, and a statement on, the awesomeness of booties. I don’t know the band very well, but they are legend and funny as hell and have rattled around the East Bay since 1995, though according to their website, they took the Bush Administration years off, and are ready to hit it again. I was sitting in a Williamsburg bar recently waiting for a band to start, and folks in the bar were talking about them. They are starting a tour of the U.S. in the next few weeks. I wouldn’t miss them if I were you. [TOUR LINK HERE] The band consists of guitarist Dan Abbot and singer Corbett Redford.

I saw them as one of the opening acts for a Mystic Knights of the Cobra show back in February. They were stretching their performance wings after their hiatus, if I remember correctly. They were pretty great as a two-piece, and from what I understand, they have added a full band, including two members of the Mystic Knights of the Cobra, drummer Joshua “Gryptron” Wharton and bassist Sean “Night Moves” McTiernan. You can spy with your little eye the two Cobras in the new video released on Funny or Die, below.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits just held a video release party at Thee Parkside in San Francisco on 10/08 with Emily’s Army, The Secretions, The Angel and Robot Show (Angel Nova and AR-7 from Phenomenauts) with a special appearance by the Bay Area Derailleurs, the bike dance troupe featured in the Freaky Baby video, they being of the awesome booties. Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggits tour starts 10/19/10 in Las Vegas, and after making their way through various towns and festivals in the South and Midwest, will hit the New York City area in mid-December. See you there!

11 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in East Bay Punk, Other Bands