Sherpa

Back in 1998 or so, I was spending time in Michigan and staying at my friend's house. When I was carrying all my luggage into his apartment, he said, "You're like a Sherpa," and I thought, "Wow, that would make a great name for a band." Soon thereafter, I was back in San Francisco, roadying for The Mermen (Who have a great new album coming out) At the same time the band, "Fantomas," was just beginning to form and I was inspired to write some short, weird songs while discussing Fantomas with Mike. I was also listening to the film composer, "Manabe," who wrote these great, short film pieces. Also, the record store, "Amoeba" had just opened in the Haight and had a lot of Kraftwerk and OMD CDs on sale, so I was heavy into that too. Anyway, my friend gave me a little Casio keyboard and a Shure SM58 and told me to go record. The first tape I came up with is the "Lost Tapes, Pt. One." I tried to write a bunch of little compositions keeping all of the aforementioned influences, calling the project, "Sherpa." I came up with about 38 songs, made a cover at Kinkos (Drawn by my friend, Mike Peoples in New Orleans, way back in 88) and dubbed off about 20 copies of the tape. I then sold them on the Secret Chiefs 3 southwest tour -each tape had a different "secret song" on it and I encouraged people who bought the tape to try and exchange songs with each other. I don't believe that ever happend.

The second recording is "Lost Tapes Part Two." This contains far more experimental recordings, some of them dating back to 1991, through 2007. My influences were far more vast than the previous recordings, but still kept a certain "Sherpaness" to them.

The "Nasturtium" recordings are more recent, recorded within 2006-2009. These too have are fairly experimental, mixing surf guitar, ambience and African percussion. Anyway, I've uploaded them to Mediafire, and they are all free to download. Enjoy!


Cover by Michael Peoples

The Lost Tapes Pt. 1

The Lost Tapes Pt. 2

Nasturtium

Pinky


Also, please leave a comment if you like what you heard...

Interview with Dissent

This came from my fanzine, "Licentia et Pax."

Help Support the Proposed Superstore ban On Maui

Everyone's signature can help! Off-Island, or Hawaii residents. Help us protect Maui's small businesses by signing this petition

Petition


The Maui County Council is currently considering a bill prohibiting new or expanded Superstores on Maui.

These stores are an economic disaster most places, but in a place like Maui they are especially destructive to the economy, environment, infrastructure, and island way of life that makes Maui the paradise it is. Big-box stores would force more local businesses to close, and prevent others from opening. In these tough economic times we need to protect our people and businesses and find more sustainable ways to look at development, and there is nothing "Sustainable" about a Superstore.


We hope that all Maui residents, small business owners, and those who love Maui will sign our petition and let the Council know that they are in support of a BAN ON SUPERSTORES on Maui, Molokai, and Lanai.


The Council will be discussing and voting on this bill at their March 20th meeting. We do not have much time, so please:


1.........Sign our petition


2..........Write a comment for the Council in the "comment" section


3..........Copy the URL and send to friends and associates on Maui.


Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for your concern for the issue. With your help we can Protect Maui from Superstores.

A letter from Rob of A State of Mind 1984?

Raw Power

This is from my old fanzine, "licentia et pax, somewhere around 1986, or possibly 1985. Raw Power was, and is, one of my favorite bands. Maybe, we can get them to Hawaii this year!

Agent Orange and D.I.

Flyer art by Ben Lyon

Hey Everett Dowling!

Your ugly houses look so UGH!




Everett Dowling wants to keep local people locked out of his private resort. It's a new "Sun City" for Maui. Private resorts are not what aloha is all about.