Music and Composition

In the spring of 1997 an amazing musical bonding happened. Shane, the guitarist and musical wellspring for Pint o’ Guinness and I started hanging out more and more. We had been friends and bandmates for several years at this point; but, up until this point we had never really collaborated much outside Pint o’. Conveniently, Pint o’ was to be on hiatus for a few months while some of our other band members were studying abroad in Ireland. During that short period the two of us made an attempt at writing a few songs for the band. The more we got into the process though, we realized that the songs probably wouldn’t fit with Pint o’ Guinness–but they were too cool to just throw away. The songs were deceptively simple but melodic and layered with multiple harmonies. In many regards you might say this was our Simon and Garfunkle moment. Shane was clearly Simon and I was Garfunkle. It was also at this time where the two of us realized how closely our voices locked together,  a little erie to be honest. We managed to record two of the songs written, again for the Campus Music Network at the University of Puget Sound and you can find those two tracks listed below. We called ourselves Skivereen, which is an old world word for a person who binds leather books, seemed fitting. Since then the two of us have come together to do a few other bits and pieces here and there, but life happens. I’m not sure posting those tracks would be entirely appropriate for various reasons. Shane now plays in several amazing progressive metal bands which are definitely worth checking out. Notably Lucid Spiral and Holophrase are two of them. Onward, through the fog!

Skivereen Tracks:

Skivereen–winter days

Skivereen–Few and Far

In the Spring of 1995 at the University of Puget Sound a chemical mixing of multiple musical genres transpired: 1 part punk, 1 part SKA, 1 part metal, 1 part folk, 2 parts Celtic, and a dash of bluegrass to taste. The end result was a flavor and combination that can only be described as Pint o’ Guinness, the punk rock irish carnival of mayhem and chaos. At any one time during our 5 years as a band there could be anywhere from 5 to 8 members, with instruments ranging from Tin Whistle, Banjo, Mandolin, Bodhran, Guitar, Accordian, Drums, Bass, Sax, Clarinet, Trombone, Trumpet, Fiddle…the list goes on.

Sound Life Section of the Tacoma News Tribune, March 17, 1998

Ultimately we all played several instruments and swapped places often. I was a part of this delicious mess, from the band’s early inception all the way to the bitter end. From practices held in a campus chapel basement– being kicked out by security officers, to concerts in front of hundreds of amazing fans. We were a force to be reckoned with and went nowhere quietly. By some standards we were an early version of The Pogues, or close to bands like the Dropkick Murphys. An odd brotherhood that spawned a number of other projects and bands but to this day in many regards still stands out as the musical pinnacle of success for a number of its members (but then what is success?). I could write volumes on band stories, fights, political battles, and the stuff that makes films like Spinal Tap so sad, funny and true. But this perhaps for another day, yes? As for recordings, there are many, sadly none of them ever really did justice to represent the juggernaught of sound we created live but you can imagine right?

Check these out for size yo:

Pint o’ Guinness–The Train

Pint o’ Guinness–Whiskey Watered Down

Pint o’ Guinness–Sometimes

Towards the end of my high school career and early college days there was a strong desire to play in a heavy metal type rock band. To quench that desire there were several outlets. The first was the band SKWAT, in which I played bass. SKWAT consisted of a bunch of my friends from school who had a passion for mediocre punk rock covers of musty old tunes and a love for the heavy metal sensation GWAR. In short SKWAT was a GWAR tribute band that included costumes and stage antics that would make the ordinary concert goer a little queasy.

You may have seen other bands...but they ain't SKWAT!

The goal was to be as funny and offensive at the same time, hopefully with some intelligence but not much class; we were after all still teenagers for the most part. Two of the brothers involved in the project even spent a summer living with GWAR learning how the band makes their costumes and stage props. Pretty amazing stuff. In the end, we really only ever recorded one original song tastefully titled S.B.D….Like I said pure class.

To hear the glory of SKWAT check out this ditty:

SKWAT–S.B.D.

After the untimely demise of SKWAT in 1995 there was still much music to be made and more chaos to be had. That’s where the Campus Music Network at the University of Puget Sound came in handy. Each year the network would put out a CD of all the bands playing on campus at the time. As a goof, my friend James (also in SKWAT) and Brian (founder of the Campus Music Network), and I recorded a tiny little hidden track for the CD that came out in ‘96. We called ourselves the Sluts, the song title actually has a long sordid history that would be pointless to try and describe in writing, it’s more of a visual thing anyway. We recorded the thing in three takes and for what it was, it wasn’t half bad:

The Sluts–Through The Nina