Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Grudge City Activities
Posted By Gavin Sheehan on May 5, 2009, 3:48 AM
Its hard to
comprehend sometimes due to location alone, but some of the harder corners of
our music scene stretch back to the late 70's. While the initial generation was
watching Donny & Marie, their kids were bringing what we currently have to
life. But documentation (let alone albums) are difficult to come by these days
if you want to take a look at the past.
--- But that's recently started to take change as Grudge City Activities has taken
up the task of both reviewing the past and updating on the present. Offering
info on longtime bands from The Boards to Massacre Guys to Iceburn, concert
reviews and interviews, plugging current shows and groups, and overall
promoting the music scene both past and present. I got a chance to chat with
website creators Dan Fletcher and Trevor Hale about the website, their careers
in both media and music, thoughts on the current scene and a number of other
topics.
Daniel Fletcher & Trevor Hale
http://www.grudgecityactivities.com/
Gavin: Hey guys, first off, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Dan: 24 years old. Born in
Trevor: I’m 28 years old, I’ve lived in
Gavin: What first drew you into music, and who were some of your
favorite acts growing up?
Dan: My genes I guess. I've been drawn to music since my earliest memories.
In kindergarten, I knew all the words to my mom's Clash, Costello and Talking
Heads tapes. Third grade brought me an acoustic guitar and Nirvana's Nevermind.
Fifth grade, a skateboard, Minor Threat, Black Flag and the Bad Brains. All
downhill from there.
Trevor: I’ve been around music my entire life. I grew up listening to
The Doors and the Rolling Stones and I learned how to play Social Distortion
songs with my dad’s band when I was in Junior High. Someone turned me on to the
Misfits and Black Flag and those tapes became the only ones I listened to.
Well, that and Soundgarden.
Gavin: Along the same lines, how did you get into writing?
Dan: Math hurt my brain so I stuck with what came easy. That just
happened to be music and writing.
Trevor: Telling stories and writing are things that I’ve always been
good at, so I just stuck with what came naturally. The older I got, the more I
liked it and I see no reason to stop now.
Gavin: You're currently up at the U in your last semester. How's the
program been for you up there?
Dan: I majored in Anthropology... who we are, where we came from, how we
got here. I'm addicted to understanding the foundations of things.
Trevor: I’m working on a degree in film and creative writing and have
been since 1999. It’s been great, and I’m as close as possible without actually
being finished, but soon enough I’ll have a degree in unemployment. I’ve got
the world at my fingertips after that.
Gavin: How did you get involved with writing for the Daily Utah
Chronicle and what was your time like there?
Dan: I got a job there as a receptionist during my freshman year. I'd
been writing for a short-lived, local publication called Melting Music. The
Arts & Entertainment guys had read my stuff and liked it. I got fired from
the receptionist job and hired by A&E the same day. I spent a year writing
music features, then took a year off to tour with the band First Blood. When I
got back, I accepted a position as an editor for the A&E section.
Trevor: I’d been doing freelance work for City Weekly for a few
years when Dan got the A&E editor job. He called me and said they needed
someone to write about music, and I jumped at the chance and wrote for them all
of last year. When Dan decided that one year as the editor was enough, I took
the job. We started from scratch and I’ve spent the last year as the editor of Red
Pulse Magazine. Unfortunately, the newspaper business isn’t quite what it
used to be and they had to cancel it at the end of spring semester. It’s kind
of a blessing in disguise though, because one year as the editor of a college
newspaper is plenty.
Gavin: Was it just a natural progression to write for City Weekly
too, or was that something you just wound up doing?
Dan: I interned with the Weekly last summer. It was a great
experience. They were in the midst of a major re-design and all the talk of
multimedia content, blogging and web presence became a major inspiration for
GCA.
Trevor: I’d actually been contributing as a freelance writer for a few
years before I started working at the Chronicle, so it was kind of a
reverse progression for me. I loved the work at both publications and hope I
can continue in some capacity in the future.
Gavin: You've been in a number of bands over the years. What's your
experience been like as a part of our music scene, and what band was the most
fun for you to play in?
Dan:
Trevor: They say you never know what you have until it’s gone, and
that’s true. I loved being on tour but I always loved coming back to SLC and
playing in front of the hometown crowd the most. And aside from the first time
I ever played in front of an audience—with Renaldo and the Smoothies when I was
15—the seven years I spent with Cherem is probably the most fun I’ve had. There
were times when I couldn’t imagine anything being more stressful, but now I’ve
got stories to tell for the rest of my life.
Gavin: Where did the idea come from to start Grudge City Activities?
Dan: When I started going to hardcore and punk shows in the mid-90s, one
of my favorite things to do was collect zines. It didn't matter if they were
about hardcore, hardline, animal rights, politics or art. I loved the idea that
a person could spill their heart with a few pieces of paper, a pen and the
street knowledge to get free copies at Kinko's. Last summer, I got to thinking
about how much I missed seeing zines and how much the rise of the internet had
impacted the scene. My position at City Weekly was getting me psyched on
web design, video production and blogging and I realized that blogging was a
great way to revive the spirit of the zine. Trevor and I had spent many late
nights talking about music while driving lonely stretches of desert asphalt on
tour with the band Cherem, so I knew we were on the same page. On the 4th
of July, we were walking from a barbecue at a friend's house to the Sugarhouse
park to watch the fireworks. As we passed Barnes & Noble, heading east on
21st South, we got to talking about hardcore and the internet. Three days
later, GCA went online.
Trevor: Dan pretty much said it all, but I’d been toying with the idea
of trying to do a local hardcore/punk-related podcast for a little bit, but I
just didn’t quite have all the details in place. Dan mentioned the idea of
starting a blog and the ball just started rolling.
Gavin: Did you believe it had an appeal or was it more of a chance shot
in the dark?
Dan: We knew there was a demand in
Trevor: I honestly thought that it would be read by—at the most—10-12
people that we were friends with. When people actually started getting into it
and we started getting compliments and visits from people all over the world,
we were shocked and flattered, so we just kept going. A few weeks ago, our
domain host had some kind of problem and the site was down for almost an entire
day and we got e-mails, phone calls and text messages asking when it would be
back up. It’s just a great feeling to know that you’re doing something that so
many people can enjoy.
Gavin: How do you go about getting band histories for all these defunct
bands?
Dan: The simple answer: MySpace. Everyone's accessible these days. But
honestly, those early bands may not be putting X's on their hands and screaming
hardcore anthems anymore but, for the most part, their members still love the
music and treasure the memories the scene provided them. Everyone we've spoken
with has been more than happy to reminisce.
Gavin: Was reporting news stories pre-planned or something you just fell
into doing?
Trevor: We never had an official discussion about it, but sometimes Dan
or I would read a story that we thought more people should be aware of, so we’d
post it. We want people to enjoy coming to the site to see videos or read about
what band is coming through, but if they can maybe learn a thing or two while
they’re at it, awesome. I don’t ever see GCA becoming the place to be for
“breaking news bulletins” but there will be the occasional news story.
Gavin: How was that first month for the website being online?
Dan: The first month knocked me off my feet. We debuted July 8th
with 74 views. We sat back and said to ourselves, "Nice, some people are
into it. Now we can work out the kinks before we start promoting and building
readership." The next day we had 142 views which kept rising until we were
hitting 200 a day by the end of the month. This put some pressure on but it was
a great trial by fire. We churned out so many ideas during that first month:
opening a video and photo archive to collect old material and catalog new,
telling the history of
Trevor: I was shocked at how much people liked it. Dan and I would be at
a show and people we’d never seen or met before would come up and tell us how
much they liked the site and thank us for what we were doing. I was surprised
at the reaction, but at the same time I was thrilled that people were taking an
interest in it.
Gavin: What's the reaction been from bands both former and current?
Dan: It's been great from both ends. Our goal from the start was to give
the bands of
Gavin: You're now promoting shows via the website. Will you continue to
do more and plan, or is it mainly for stuff that interests you?
Dan: We've always promoted shows. It's a major part of what we do. We
don't book shows, we're not a business, but we do send touring and local bands
in the right direction and do our best to make hardcore shows in
Trevor: We’re definitely not in the business of trying to become
full-fledged concert promoters, but we do get a kick out of putting on smaller
shows that might skip over
Gavin: A little state-wide, what are your thoughts on the local music
scene, both good and bad?
Dan:
Trevor:
Gavin: Is there anything you believe could be done to make it better?
Dan: Bands need to branch out and play shows with bands they may not be
comfortable playing with. All of the bands listed above should be able to play
all-ages shows together. It's beginning to happen and it's great to see.
Trevor: I agree with Dan 100% on this and that’s one thing that we’ve
tried so hard to do with the website. There’s no reason that someone that likes
watching XReflectX shouldn’t enjoy going to a Form Of Rocket show, but
somewhere along the way all these different bands regressed to their own little
corner of the city and carved out their own little niche and that was that.
That’s not the way things should be, and slowly but surely, they are getting
better.
Gavin: Who are your favorite acts in the scene right now?
Dan: Without a doubt, Eagle Twin is my favorite local act. I've loved
everything that Gentry Densley has created from
Trevor: I’ve loved Form Of Rocket since the first time I saw them and
I’m still in awe each and every time I watch them play. Their chemistry is so
strong and so brilliant that they sound nearly flawless at every show. The fact
that they’ve been around as long as they have says something, too. The average
local band is lucky to make it two or three years, but to be pushing the
envelope as long as they have is really impressive. And City To City is a band
that not nearly enough people talk about, but they never cease to put a smile
on my face.
Gavin: Some radio stations have been playing local music, but only for
certain periods of time. Do you believe it helps the scene or makes it feel
more exclusive?
Dan: I can't say I've tuned into these local shows but I'd say any
exposure is good exposure. If a youngster's sitting in their parents' basement
rocking out to some mainstream garage/stoner rock revival garbage and turns on
X96 to hear the crushing blues riffs of Eagle Twin, that rules!
Trevor: I think radio is in the same boat as newspapers. Why they can’t
mix local bands with the big name bands is beyond me. Whether you’ve got an
album that Warner Brothers paid five-million dollars for or you went and spent
a week with Andy Patterson and put it out yourself—good music is good music.
That’s why the internet and satellite radio are winning.
Gavin: What's your take on local labels, and do you believe they help or
hinder local artists?
Trevor: In this day and age, labels are just about obsolete. There’s not
much more they can do for you that you can’t do yourself just as good. I think
it’s awesome that local labels are keeping that DIY spirit and giving bands a
little boost, but with so many other resources available there’s no reason your
band can’t put out a record and go on tour with or without a label.
Gavin: What can we expect from you and the website the rest of the year?
Dan: Great, great things... a complete history of Salt Lake hardcore,
epic new video features and continued coverage of everything you need to know
about the past, present and future of hardcore in Salt Lake City. Our
One-Year-Anniversary BBQ Bash will take place July 9th featuring
locals Collapse and XReflectX alongside touring bands Parasitic Skies,
Unrestrained and Signs Of Hope. Details are on the site. We're also working
with the Salt Lake City Film Festival (which will make its debut this August)
to showcase a new documentary on legendary
Trevor: We’re figuring out new tricks and coming up with (hopefully) new
and entertaining ideas all the time. And we’re still having fun while we’re at
it, so as long as you guys keep digging it, we’ll keep doing it. So thanks for
the support and keep checking the site.
Gavin: Aside from the obvious, is there anything you'd like to plug or
promote?
Dan: How about Gavin's Underground for helping us give
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