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We recorded 51% at this posh recording studio called Angel Recording.
There were pictures of the OJays on the wall and stuff (nothing
against those guys). The engineer (Mike Way) was somewhat of
a shween (you've heard of the king of the jungle, well this
guy was the dick of the woods). He didn't like us and we didn't
like him. He told me i was playing beyond my capabilities. So
what, we were paying for the time. I remember setting the snare
drum sound and he said it was the worst snare drum he ever heard.
I thought it sounded like the English band the Fall. I love
51%, but this butt plug made it sound too clean, oh well.
The Defnics recordings we did with Mike Crossen on 185th all
ruled as far as i'm concerned. Suicide Trip is my all time fave.
Here's the story on that. We went in the studio one afternoon
and started laying down basic tracks. We did three songs that
day, Suicide Trip, Life So Fast and Brandon's ditty My Girl.
Mike Hudson was there overseeing his Terminal buddies in action.
If you haven't heard it, Suicide Trip has a long solo at the
end. We never practiced it like that before we went in the studio,
I think
it was an idea that just sprung up. So, Johnny, Brandon and
Bill (a.k.a. Robert Conn) lay down the rhythm track. I was kinda
scared because the end of the song seemed to go on forever while
I listened to them play. So next it's my turn to do this thing.
I'm sitting there on a bar stool in the middle of the recording
room with headphones on and my Stratocaster looking through
the control room window. All my buds are on the other side watching
me. Mike Crossen rolls the tape and everything was cool up until
I get to that solo thing. I did make a little mistake on the
chord change in the first chorus, I smeared the barre chord
a little but it sounded good! Now it's time to jam. It was all
made up there and became a template for every other time we
played it from then on. And to be truthful no other version
came off as well as that one did. I made up some kind of descending
riff for the beginning of the solo and after that it was all
vibratos and noisy soloing to give the impression of a bad trip.
So I'm wailing away for a while and I think it's all good and
I'm ready to throw in the towel so I look up and both Mikes,
Brandon and Bill are waving their hands in a KEEP GOING motion.
I'm all OH FUCK, they're all keep going. So I put my head back
down and kept going. They had the advantage of seeing the counter
on the tape machine and knew I was only half through my part.
It seemed like an eternity. I dug in and kept playing. Recently
I recognized the spot in the song where I looked up. So after
a while I reverted to the descending riff to end the solo which
happened at exactly the right time, just dumb luck. After all
these years of recording and playing that moment is my most
treasured. It's funny how a million things can go wrong in a
studio but when they go right it's better than bustin' a nut.
Mike Hudson said it was the second favorite song he ever sang
on. When I asked him what was the first, he wouldn't answer.
(Bob Sablack) |
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I spent a lot of time with the Defnics in the early 80's. We
practiced right next door to them and often-shared chords, amps,
beer, and whatever drugs were available. I was especially proud
to loan Brandon my Kustom bass amp when they went to record
"Suicide Trip" for the Cleveland Confidential
album. The first time I saw the Defnics was downstairs at Tucky's.
I watched in awe as they bashed through an hour set of original
'77 Style' punk. Bob's "Johnny Thunderisms" echoing
through the ex-show bar. After "Life So Fast," Robert
Conn casually announced, "That was our Punk Rock song."
Soon after we became good friends. I'd often show up at their
rehearsals with quarts of beer (they'd supply the weed), and
listen to them practice. Occasionally I'd get to sing "Bodies"
or "Sonic Reducer" with the Defnics as my backing
band. I was in all my glory. I think the moment that sums up
our friendship is when we all went down to Akron for Grand Slam
II. I vividly remember doing 80 mph down I-77 in my parents'
Delta 88, when the Defnics pulled up next to us and wanted to
exchange a couple joints for a few beers. Still doing 80 Johnny
and I pulled our cars close enough to each other to make the
exchange. Norb, Paul, and Crevo rolled down the windows and
passed them a couple beers each. The transaction went so smoothly
I often wondered what nearby motorists must have thought. We
probably looked like some Drunken Acrobatic Motor Vehicle team
(DAMV?) . Who knows, maybe we all missed our calling?
(Scott Stemple) |
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