Tag Archives: Jim Shepard

Screaming Urge Interview: Columbus Punk History and Much More


Screaming Urge High Street 1980

MP3: Hitlers In Brazil
MP3: Skitzo Brain
MP3: Killa Poe Lease (Kill the Police)

I wrote an article on Screaming Urge in this week’s The Other Paper. Screaming Urge were a pioneering punk band from here in Columbus that had their last performance on Saturday. The band had a lot of interesting things to say, so I figured I would post the interview with Columbus legends on Donewaiting.

The three above songs are off a cd Screaming Urge just released called Gory Years. Gory Years has remastered versions of Screaming Urge’s two albums, and their coveted 45. Classic material recorded from 79-81. I believe you can obtain a copy of this cd by contacting Screaming Urge’s Facebook.

I interviewed Michael Ravage (MRav), and Myke Rock (MRock) for the Other Paper story. Dave Manic, who also played in Great Plains, was not there for the interview because he lives in Erie, Pa. Dave Manic did play the reunion show. (Shirtless but without a half-beard). Danielle Kline who took the photo for the Other Paper story also asks a few questions.

W: What was Columbus, OH like in 1978?

Michael Ravage: We couldn’t get into any clubs. They wanted bands like McGuffey Lane. Cover bands. There was no punk. There was us, The Blades, (two bands whose names I couldn’t make out.hopefully someone post the bands names in comments)

W: How did you get into punk?

MRav: I was listening to a lot of Iggy Pop so that’s how I got into it and then went from there to the Sex Pistols.

W: Where was your first show?

MRav: Believe it or not it was at the Campus Methodist Center. I invented a thing called the ‘Nowhere shows’ they were called “Nowhere Fests,” we couldn’t find any place to play. I rented out the hall and we called it “Nowhere ’78” we brought the four punk bands together to play and that was our first show.

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Overlooked in Ohio: Vol. 4 (Kevyn and the Kasualties)

Editor’s note: “Overlooked in Ohio” is a feature in which we ask an Ohio-based artist/music enthusiast to tell us about a band or bands from the state of Ohio (past or present) that deserve some love. Our fourth installment comes courtesy of Ron House, a guy you likely already know from Great Plains, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments and/or his most recent band, Sandwich (currently recording). Or from his days at Used Kids. Read on for his reflections on Kevyn and the Kasualties.

MP3: Kevyn and the Kasualties – Holy Trinity

Kevyn and the Kasualties‘ first LP is ambivalent even before you put it on: one side is labeled “Punk?” and the other is “Pop?” Pathology on vinyl is always better with a crack rhythm section and Kevyn had Nudge Squidfish and Rudy Krash n Burn (not real names heh heh). They went on to form V3 after this release which shows that at least Jim Shepard was listening to this confused, heartrending, and ass-kicking LP. Like more than a few post-punkers in the mid-eighties, Kevyn was torn between Hardcore’s demand for manly toughness and Alternative’s feeble plea for originality. Four songs on the punk side are disquisitions on his aesthetics; as he sings in-the-pocket punk in his nasally midwest Johnny Thunders style all he can sing about is punk. Injustice for Kevyn struck home only where his music was. “Let’s Kill R-N-R.” “Screw FM.” For a man determined to be “Drunk Loud and Obnoxious” there is something almost polite and modest in his ambitions. Continue reading