Close up of a pole in San Francisco at Haight & Cole 1990
I designed our logo and we blanketed the poles of San Francisco with flyers, night after night, especially the week before a show. We would divide up the neighborhoods: SOMA (south of Market), upper Haight, lower Haight, Castro, Polk street. Those were the hotspots. The poles were so covered and recovered with paper that you could put one up and there would be someone 30 seconds behind you with another flyer from another band, armed with a staple gun and ready to cover up whatever your shit was. We would climb on top of the hoods of cars or news stands to get our posters higher on the poles so they would be harder to cover up. We were relentless and ruthless when it came to our flyers; we didn’t have a lot of money but we had lots of time, creativity and energy. We put them in the windows of shops along Haight street and plastered them all over bus stops.
flyer from The Paradise Lounge June 3 1990
Within six months we had a loyal following, as the crowds had grown larger with every show. The Nightbreak in the upper Haight was our home base; we hung out there, played there, and supported the other bands. Our (very talented) friend Jessica Tanzer took photos for the band. We had friends at Haight Asbury Music for help with gear and also at Wasteland (the local thrift store) where used to borrow clothes for our shows since we were all broke. We recorded a demo (cassette) tape and sold them at shows.
We all had “day” jobs: Wanda was a chef, I did bookkeeping for a computer dealer, Shaunna did administrative work at a car dealership, and Linda was a waitress – although I use the term loosely – at the Spaghetti Western in the lower Haight. Because of large turnouts, our gigs had begun to pay a little bit of money, which helped cover the studio rent.
After gigs I would sleep in my clothes and then go to work in them the next day. The smell of the bar lingering in the fabric served as a momento of the previous night’s show – and fed my hope of not having to pull a 9-to-5 job forever.
Our first press package. Artwork by CHILLHOUSE.
Soon we had some reviews in print and we put together a press package. I designed the cover and also used the artwork to make some t-shirts. Our band didn’t just play in clubs; we lived in them. I remember going out every single night: to rehearsal, then out to hear music or just out to meet friends – always at a gig at a club, either our own or another band’s. Almost all of our friends were in bands too, we played shows together and hung out together, did drugs together, cruised together. I’m pretty sure I’ve met everyone I ever dated at a bar.
4NB t-shirt artwork by C. Hillhouse; a very young Janeane Garafolo seen wearing one captured by my friend Gary X Indiana
Initially I didn’t feel any real battle to get signed; we were all trying to, I suppose – and the vast community and exceptional music (and art generally) was intoxicating. San Francisco was buzzing. The Nightbreak, I-Beam, DNA Lounge, Paradise Lounge. and Slim’s provided the scene, and Sister Double Happiness, The Sextants, Honeypot, Spokepoker, Enrique, and Stone Fox are just some of the bands you could hear spilling out onto the streets of the Haight, Folsom, or 16th Street on any given night.
