Tag Archives: Cola Freaks

Three Years at The Monster House

Jimi “James” Payne posted this over on Banalization.

James “Jimi” Payne

For the past three years I have lived in the Monster House, a DIY punk house in Columbus, Ohio. I co-founded the Monster House with Pat Crann, Austin Eilbeck, Ryan Eilbeck, Jeff Love, Kristina Markey, Matt O’Conke, Joe Scarbro, Dylan Taylor-Lehman, and Nick Wong. A few weeks ago the last three original roommates – besides me – left. And, as of this week, I’m moving out as well. A group of our friends still living at the Monster plan to continue hosting shows and events. On October 8th, Apache DropoutLandlordReverse The Curse, and Cody Troyan are performing there.

After “the jump” is a list of every performer who occasioned the “stage” at the Monster House in the last three years. 400 different performers have played over 150 shows booked by over 20 promoters. The list is representative of the Columbus punk scene as well as the national DIY touring circuit from 2007-10.

More than 30 people paid rent at the house during this time span.

Continue reading

Jay Reatard’s Triumphant Return

reatard

MP3: Jay Reatard – It Ain’t Gonna Save Me
MP3: The Black Hollies – Gloomy Monday Morning
MP3: Bryan Scary and the ShreddingTears – (It’s A) Gambler’s Whirl

Pels ikke bjørnen før den er skudt. Or, don’t skin the bear before it’s been shot. That seems to be exactly what Jay Reatard’s old band members tried to do when they walked out on him in October. (But then again, that’s punk music, right?) Inconvenient timing (due to them being on tour at the time) seems to be the only downside from this situation as Danish band Cola Freaks are now officially on board the lo-fi garage punk project and have been trucking through Europe with him since. This seems to be a win-win situation, as he is finally visiting Columbus again (Sunday night at the Summit), now with a kick-ass European punch and seemingly quite happy about the new additions. He spent 10 days in October recording in the Freaks’ hometown of Aarhus and has gone on the record about it, saying, “It sounds exactly the way I wanted these songs to sound like live when I wrote them.” (Cue proverbial twisting of knife.) It’s a good time to be Danish, as Jay and the band will also be opening for The Pixies on their Doolittle tour that kicks off this weekend in Chicago. Oh, and now Reatard’s former rhythm section is apparently joining up with Wavves.

Reatard video and info on the Columbus openers after the jump. Continue reading