Please join me in contacting our representatives asking them to support legislation that seeks to expedite the process the FDA uses to review drug applications. Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy has officially endorsed HR. 4132, the Faster Access to Specialized Treatments (FAST) Act, bipartisan legislation that was recently introduced in the House of Representatives. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to co-sponsor the FAST Act.

Background: Introduced by Reps. Stearns (R-FL) and Towns (D-NY), FAST puts into law an "accelerated approval" pathway for drugs that are in clinical trials with FDA and that are targeted to serious and life-threatening conditions, like Duchenne, that lack existing treatment options. Among other things, the bill would enable drug sponsors to request that their drug receive Fast Track designation by the FDA, and it would provide greater flexibility in designing clinical trials involving rare disease population. Given the challenges in finding a sizeable population with Duchenne to design an effective trial, this proposal holds promise for the development of drugs to treat the disease.

Portions of the FAST Act are included in the House's draft version of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). PPMD will advocate that the FAST Act remain in the final user fee package that passes the Congress. Thank you for all of your hard work and for joining us in this important & simple action.

To take action on this issue, click here!

Ernst Choukula was born the third child to Estonian landowners in the late autumn of 1873. His parents, Ivan and Brushken Choukula, were well-established traders of Baltic grain, who—by the early twentieth century—had established a monopolistic hold on the export markets of Lithuania, Latvia and southern Finland. A clever child, Ernst advanced quickly through secondary schooling and, at the age of nineteen, was managing one of six Talinn-area farms, along with his father, and older brother, Grinsh. By twenty-four, he appeared in his first "barreled cereal" endorsement, as the Choukula family debuted "Ernst Choukula's Golden Wheat Muesli," a packaged mix that was intended for horses, mules, and the hospital ridden. Belarussian immigrant silo-tenders started cutting the product with vodka, creating a crude mush-paste they called "gruhll" or "gruell," and would eat the concoction each morning before work. The trend unwittingly spread, with alcohol being replaced by sheep—and then cow's—milk, and the demand for the Choukula's "cereal" reached as far south as Poland and as far west as the northern Jutland province of Denmark. It wasn't long before the unmistakable image (the original packaging, a three-gallon wooden vat which featured a burnt etching of a jubilant, overalled Ernst holding a large dog and grinning broadly) made a pop-cultural splash throughout the entirety of Europe and northern Africa. In fact, Tunisia's "Carthagian Sand Crunch" was seen as the first imitation of the Choukula form; the aforementioned product was presented in broad leathern bags with the woven insignia of a nude tribesman holding a sword and a bunched stalk of oats. Sadly, this would neither be the first nor the tamest appropriation of Ernst's iconic visage. Meanwhile, in the "textile paradise"-region of Schenectady/Elmira New York, General Peter Mills—a celebrated turret gunner in McKinley's navy—was first beginning to mine America's seemingly insatiable desire to consume food before high noon. The trend, initially known in the United States as "brekkfest" had first appeared in 1903, with Dominic Eggo's invention of "wassled" or "waffled" bread, and really picked up steam throughout the teens and twenties, when eating in the morning was no longer deemed a sin by the Anglo-Catholic church. News of Choukula's economic domination across the Atlantic fascinated and troubled Mills, who was eager for similar success. In 1927, while vacationing the Iberian peninsula, he first encountered three discarded barrels of "Duke Choukula's Animal Supplement" (the name and design of the product had undergone several makeovers throughout the previous seven years, the most recent of which featured Ernst dressed in a cape and tiara, reflecting his family's oft-disputed ties to Eurasian royalty). Immediately intrigued, Mills brought one with him on his boat ride back to the States, and spent the twenty-three day trip obsessively studying the packaging. In the spring of 1929, General Mills' "Prince Chocula's Morning Digestive" was picked up for distribution in three dozen pharmacies, grocery stands and agrarian carts throughout New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and northern Maryland. The public response was confused and angered at the recipe's savory, clove-like sting; apparently a confusion over the name led many to believe the product was made from chocolate, and by 1931 the formula had been updated to reflect the nation's collective sweet tooth. In 1932, boxes were labeled simply "Count Chocula's Chocolate Food" and Peter Mills was named Life Magazine's "Humanitarian of the Year, 1933." Ernst Chocula died in a Ukrainian cabin, penniless and alone, having descended into a type of brain-madness.

The subject of St. Louis' infamous BRAIN SANDWICHES came up again today when a guy I follow on Twitter tweeted, "Never apologize for eating brains, they're delicious." He wasn't exactly tweeting about brain sandwiches (in fact, I'm still not quite sure WHAT he was tweeting about), but then, a short time later, Lewis Reed, president of the St. Louis Board of Alderman, tweeted that Saint Louis Bread Co. was seeking St. Louis' best homemade sandwich, to which I, of course, replied, "Brains!"

That photo above was taken by my friend, Bill Keaggy, and posted on his Flickr account several years ago.

Now, I've never actually eaten a brain sandwich, much less MADE one. At least I can't ever recall eating one, anyway. It's not entirely out of the question that I may have consumed one as a kid, though. My dad, an avid squirrel and rabbit hunter (and proud eater of all things weird and soulfoodesque), would often crack open the skulls of the squirrels he'd bring home from his little hunting trips out to the woods of far west St. Louis County, scoop out the brains with a spoon and eat them right there at the dinner table. Yeah, he was pretty hardcore. I could never bring myself to eat it, though. The whole spectacle just grossed me out a bit too much. But prepared cow brains on a sandwich served up with some pickles, onions, and a side of potato salad doesn't sound that bad, does it? Well, that's what you can get at Fergie's Bar on Lemay Ferry in South County. And it's just $6.50. Ferguson's Pub at 2925 Mount Pleasant St. in south city also serves cow brain sandwiches (after having briefly switched over to pig brains during the whole "mad cow disease" scare a few years ago), and there's are even cheaper at $6.25 plus tax. That's right, I just called both establishments, and, as of today (August 24, 2011), you can still get fried brain sandwiches at at least TWO pubs right here in St. Louis. I plan on doing exactly that very, very soon. I'll be sure to post photos and a review here afterwards, too. ;)

 

PlayCorkball.com, my informational site for the game of corkball has been revamped once again. I decided to dump the old phpBB message board since it just wasn't getting used and convert the whole thing over to a simple but functional Posterous blog. The reason I decided to use Posterous for it was because the also offer a very simple yet nice message board that, much like Google or Yahoo groups, also serves as an email list.

Speaking of corkball, as you can see posted on the blog, the 33rd annual Don Young Corkball Tournament takes place this Saturday at Jefferson Barracks Park. The whole thing gets underway around 10am and lasts throught the day and into the early evening. Should be pretty fun! Come on out if you're interested in checking it out. They also have pickup games out there on Sundays at 1pm for those thinking of picking up a bat and playing.

I found some photos of an old college-era penpal who I'd love to reconnect with after all these years. Her name was Cricket (may have also spelled it "Crickett") and she was from Sherman Oaks, California. We used to trade punk/hardcore flyers and stories back around 1986-'87, and then I guess we just lost touch. I believe we probably found one another in the pen-pal/classified sections of either Flipside fanzine or Maximum Rock'n'Roll (MRR). She was one of those people who I'd write to who helped keep me sane back when I was stranded in that little Missouri cow/college town. I don't remember Cricket's last name, but I'm hoping someone out there may remember her. She had TONS of cool punk flyers from the infamous Los Angeles punk scene of the early- to mid-eighties (while I do still have a lot of those flyers, I don't seem to have any of the letters she wrote me), so maybe someone will recognize her and be able to give me her last name or contact information. If so, please post it in the comments section below. The first two photos are from August 1985 and the last was from January 1986.

Thanks for looking!

I haven't recorded an episode of NOISE ANNOYS since February, and there are lots of reasons (excuses?) for this, but the two biggest reasons were that the show was dropped by Real Punk Radio, and because I began a new project collecting songs for the Hideout Comp Series on the GaragePunk Hideout.

I never actually received an official notification from Real Punk Radio that Noise Annoys had been dropped. Instead, I had to email them to find out why my last show wasn't included in their stream. Jason emailed me back a short note saying they were dropping all of their pre-recorded (non-live) shows. No explanation beyond that. I tried to follow up and find out more, but never got any sort of response from either him or HellKitten. So that was that. The main reason I started doing that podcast was because it was part of both Real Punk Radio AND the GaragePunk Podcast Network. I tooled the show so that it would be mostly music with much less DJ interruption. Short, sweet announcement breaks, heavy vocal distortion (megaphone effect), and a fast-paced style was created to enhance the show's sound for streaming radio, but also worked for podcasting. Oh, well. That sucks.

So I decided to take a short break from Noise Annoys and concentrate on pulling together some music for a compilation series showcasing some of the bands and artists on the GaragePunk Hideout. That little idea exploded into quite an elaborate scheme, and when it was all said and done, I had over 150 bands that submitted songs and I had to weed through it all and pull out the best songs and assemble some comps from them. So many of them were really good that I ended up with FIVE volumes from those first 150 or so submissions. You can read how all of this sort of came together here. If you're not an active member of the Hideout, I'd encourage you to get the comps from one of the many online music retail sites, such as iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Napster, and so on. The cheapest place to get them is probably Amazon, where they're selling for $6.99. Click here for Vol. 1 and here for Vol. 2. The next volume will come out on June 20. Stay tuned! Oh, and I'm still taking submissions for future volumes (starting with #6), and the current deadline for that is July 1. Click here for instructions, but remember that you MUST be a member of the Hideout to be included. Like GRGPNK Records on Facebook and follow it on Twitter.

The podcast will return at some point. I actually cleaned off my desk in the basement last weekend, so that was a big step towards getting back in the podcasting saddle. I'm hoping I can put together another episode soon... maybe even before June. We'll see. Of course, as with a lot of this stuff, you can keep up with news about Noise Annoys via either Facebook or Twitter.

In addition to all of that other stuff I've been doing, I've been assisting a friend of mine in Australia who set up a podcast/online station called Blue Marble Radio. Basically this involved redesigning and streamlining their site and podcast feeds a bit, which included putting together a new test/demo site for him. I'm pretty excited about the potential this "station" has to offer, and I'm looking forward to working on it some more, once we get some of the technical stuff out of the way. So hopefully there'll be more news on that later. Facebook | Twitter

There should be a couple of new releases on my other, older record label, TIRC Records, coming soon, too. I'm actually working on FOUR, in fact (The Reem, The Cripplers, Tomorrow's Caveman, and The Nevermores). Just waiting for the people involved to get me stuff first. So watch out for those! Facebook | Twitter

I've also been busy with family stuff such as PTO, Cub Scouts and youth league baseball with my son, Miles. I was also contacted by a distant relative recently which has lead to updating and adding lots of information on our family tree at Ancestry.com, which always seems to be a very time-consuming, exhausting task. Oh yeah, and my day job, too. Unfortunately, corkball has also taken a back seat lately as I just haven't been motivated to get the gang together and start playing some pickup games at Tower Grove Park yet. Just not enough time.

So yeah, that's what I've been up to these past few months. We have a family vacaction scheduled for June, and I'm really looking forward to getting away from the daily grind for a while and taking a nice trip out West.

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The Young Lions Conspiracy, I.S.A. "What Are You Doing to Participate?"

The Young Lions is a group of like-minded individuals who believe in living life to the fullest and continuing to move forward — always moving forward — because if you are not moving forward you become stagnant. It is a group that promotes an attitude of diversity in both sound and everyday life. Keep your filters wide open. You don't have to do what everybody else does and once you realize that it frees you up to be yourself and express yourself in ways that only you can ever realize. It's much healthier and fun to listen to all kinds of music and find the connections. The sounds with true soul will ring out loud and clear! Just keep doing your best and by all means keep pushing your expression. Stay true to the cause and don't get caught up in any of "their" hype.

If there's any one person involved in the underground punk/rock'n'roll scene today that is the be-all end-all to this embodiment of the Young Lions Conspiracy, capable of pulling together influences from various music styles ranging from punk/new wave, free jazz, folk blues, reggae, soul, funk and rock'n'roll and combining them to form his own unique style, it's Tim Kerr of Austin, Texas.

I first became acquainted with the work of Tim Kerr back in college in the mid-1980s, when I heard my first Big Boys records. The Big Boys provided me hours of musical enjoyment and curiosity (hell, they played sloppy, fun, rebellious funk'n'roll better than ANY band before or since, IMHO, including the way overrated Red Hot Chili Peppers), as did other classic '80s Texas punk bands like The Dicks, The Butthole Surfers, Scratch Acid, Really Red, The Offenders, etc. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the Big Boys had a bigger impact on me personally than similar bands such as The Minutemen or any other funk/ska/soul punk bands at the time (until, that is, I discovered NoMeansNo, but that's another story altogether). At the time I had no idea who Tim Kerr was or that I'd be a fan of his various musical endeavors over the next 17+ years. But as time wore on, I would continually see his name associated with other bands that I liked, namely Poison 13, Jack O' Fire, The Monkeywrench, King Sound Quartet, and most recently, The Now Time Delegation. Around the time that I first got the Jack O' Fire Beware the Souless Cool LP, I noticed an interesting looking logo showing a clenched fist grasping a harmonica with the words "Young Lions Conspiracy" circling it and the words "What are you doing to participate?" scrawled below. Ever since then I've been wanting to ask Tim about the Young Lions, to find out exactly what it's all about and where it came from. Here's what I found out.

Interview by Kopper circa 2001/2002, originally intended for inclusion in Head in a Milk Bottle Vol. 2, #3

HIAMB: I once read an interview with someone named "Big Daddy Soul" on an insert that came with the Lord High Fixers' Talking to Tommorrow 10". This was from back in '95. Who is he?
Tim Kerr: "Big Daddy Soul" is a person who has been documenting the Young Lion's Conspiracy for some time... But the point of all of this is the thoughts and ideas and how they make you think or pertain to you. That's what's important, not the source-bearer.

HIAMB: Well, in that particular interview, he mentioned that the Young Lions Conspiracy was growing from that of a smaller underground organization built on the realization of facts and ideas brought about by cause and effect and demise of organizations that have come before and organizations that are happening now. What sorts of "organizations" are these? Sounds like a modern update on the word "conventions" as it relates to customary practices or rules for artistic behavior, am I right? As in musical conventions? This rings of the old artist/poet bohemians and beatniks revolting against convention, or living and creating in an unconventional, nonconforming way…
TK: Organizations as in a group of people trying to organize, get something going… Something that is growing. Conventions are stale old get-togethers, staying within the confines, conventional. They're an excuse for funny hats and throwing water balloons out of windows when in fact, why do you need an excuse! (smile) Once again, the beauty of all this is the individual's interpretation and yours on that interview was great!

HIAMB: It was also stated, though, that "the lack of information is in reality the strength." How is that so?
TK: You can get bogged down with "information" and forget to really think about what is being presented to you. Really think about the words and sentences instead of where the book came from. How many times have you been at a show where people are talking about, "well, so-and-so is in this band so therefore they're great!" instead of just listening and deciding for yourself how it makes YOU think or feel without any other outside information except what is being presented to you. Once again it's the ideas and emotions and how they relate to you — not the bearer of the ideas.

HIAMB: How did you first get involved with the Young Lions?
TK: I read something on the back of a Sun Ra record and that's what got me interested. It was a collection of thoughts that were exactly how I was feeling.

HIAMB: Where did the manifesto or idiom of the YLC originate? If there is a manifesto, what would that be?
TK: I'm not sure when this all first started but the main emphasis is on staying open-minded, because if you are open at all times, you are learning at all times.

HIAMB: So, obviously you must have been really moved, intrigued, and even influenced by that Sun Ra record. What other artists or musicians, like him (jazz or otherwise), did you take influence from?
TK: There is so much! I listen to different stuff all the time—John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, early John Martyn, Nick Drake, Irish traditional, Minor Threat, Minutemen, Aaron Copland, Fugazi, Curtis Mayfield, The Impressions, Sly and the Family Stone…

HIAMB: Everything I've read about the YLC seems to be somewhat vague, yet precise in its vagueness. Do you think that's accurate?
TK: I don't think it is vague at all. Bottom line: Stay open to what is happening around you and learn. You never know who will be next to be part of your family or your new favorite food or song or book or cool place and so on. Celebrate your time here. That is not vague at all, to me, and it makes so much sense that I try to apply it at all times to my time here. This original seed, or idea, is completely open to grow to become your own philosophy, coming from your own experiences, because everyone's experiences and their interpretations will be different. The only given is if you shut yourself off from things then you shut yourself off from living life to the fullest, along with all of the knowledge and emotions that come with that.

HIAMB: Do you encounter a lot of confusion, misunderstanding or even hostility from some people regarding the Young Lions movement?
TK: I get asked questions but not a whole lot. The only hostility comes from people who think that, because a thought or experience is written down, then the writer must think of him or herself as above the one receiving the message, when in reality it's just one thought, one person's opinion or interpretation, a kind of "did you ever wonder or think this?" that is there for your discussion, thought or time. A human being trying to connect with another human being.

HIAMB: Some people have viewed the YLC as just another elitist clique. Why do you think that is?
TK: Well, first of all people are going to "view" what they view no matter how spelled out it is for them. I can only speak for myself, but I am not concerned with someone's "bag it, tag it" quick attitude they may have applied to me or my choices, or anyone else's for that matter. If you understand the "stay open" first lesson of the Young Lions Conspiracy, I personally don't see how you can equate that with an elitist clique.

HIAMB: I don't think they put that tag on it once they know what it's all about—in fact, I'm sure that once they DO understand the message that these preconceptions diminish considerably—but I think that just by having a name associated with it, and a name that also includes the mysterious word "conspiracy" in it, makes them feel that it's somewhat elitist, or an inclusive club, something out of The X-Files or something... know what I mean?
TK: Yes, I do (smile). We were having a long discussion about this question and were coming to some of the same conclusions. A name is something to rally around for better or worse.

HIAMB: List some of the best teachers you've encountered in helping you on the road to realizing your ideals that shaped who you are today.
TK: For me, it's a combination of people, incidents, experiences, etc. that I learn and am learning from. You can pretty much learn from anything. There are things that have made a strong impression on me such as the original community spirit of punk/hardcore, friends and friends to come who are doing or creating different things for the right reasons.

HIAMB: What about books or literature? Who are some of your favorite authors, thinkers, or philosophers? Read any good books lately?
TK: I am reading the autobiography of (jazz genius) Anthony Braxton right now. Sun Ra's biography really made a lot of things inside me connect. I like Brendan Behan's stuff and the book A Prayer for Owen Meany (by John Irving) was really great. Of course Howl (Allen Ginsberg) is pretty amazing and dead on... and yes, I have read all of the Harry Potters and thought they were great! (smile) There is a guy that I read about in Shane MacGowan's biography (A Drink With Shane) that writes a lot of stuff on zen and tao that is really great but I can't think of his name right now.

HIAMB: I'm curious to know what other sorts of entertainment you enjoy. What sorts of movies do you like, for example?
TK: I like movies like To Kill a Mockingbird, War of the Buttons, coming of age-type stuff and things that have to do with subcultures... documentaries, etc. I like seeing old '40s/'50s/'60s Americana "ideal"-type things... architecture, mom and pop stores, etc. I like traveling and going to thrift stores! Bicycles, skating, scooters...

HIAMB: Skating, yeah… isn't that how you broke your wrist?
TK: Yeah, I had just landed a sweeper and after the initial stall... I went forward, and the board did not. (smile) It was bad... I have a plate. Oh well.

HIAMB: A what? A sweeper…?
TK: What? You don't play your Tony Hawk skater game? (smile) A sweeper is when you skate up to the edge or lip of where ever you are skating and kick the board out from under your feet and while holding the nose with your hand, you sweep the tail of the board across the edge, then land your feet back on it. Uh… understand? I never thought about describing these things; it's harder than the trick!

HIAMB: Let's shift gears here and talk about some of your contemporaries. What do you think of Mick Collins' work? I see a lot of similarities between the two of you. You collaborated with Mick on the King Sound Quartet project back in '96 and recorded some amazing stuff. What exactly caused the failure of the 2000 King Sound Quartet session (with Matt Verta Ray of Speedball Baby) that was to have evolved into the second album? And do you think you and Mick will ever be able to get back together on any future projects?
TK: Uh... (smile) I don't see any similarities at all, other than we have both been in bands. He comes from a completely different cut of cloth and I, and I will just leave it at that. The failure of the King Sound Quartet meant the birth of the Now Time Delegation. We gave 120%, Mick didn't.

HIAMB: Sounds like you two had quite a falling out! The similarities I was getting at are the obvious connection to blues, soul and R&B that you both seem to share, how you both pull influences from classic artists to create your music, and the fact that you've both been involved with so many bands over the years. Sorry if that question struck a nerve. I suppose the two of you could have similar tastes/experiences in music but differ substantially when it comes to personal philosophies and ethics.
TK: Don't worry , I was not upset (smile) and yes we are completely two different people that happen to like similar things... You were completely right in your assumption.

HIAMB: Were the songs on the Now Time Delegation album originally slated for the second KSQ LP? And does the Now Time Delegation plan on recording another record soon?
TK: Most of the Now Time songs were intended to be the next King Sound, so yeah. I'm not sure what is going to happen with the Now Time Delegation... Everyone is really busy.

HIAMB: What about Billy Childish? He seems to be continually evolving, and exploring new musical directions with his various bands over the years. His new band, in fact (The Buff Medways) seems to be heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix. AND he's a great poet, artist and storyteller as well. Have you ever spoken to him regarding the YLC and its similarities with Stuckism (his artistic movement)? The philosophies or manifestos seem almost identical in theory.
TK: I will thank you for this one, that is indeed a compliment, and yes we have become good friends. We have talked about a lot of things and just recently about maybe doing something together at some point.

HIAMB: Please list the bands you've played with in the past.
TK: Big Boys, Court Reporters, Poison 13, Bad Mutha Goose and The Brothers Grimm, Seventh Samurai, Jack O' Fire, Fist Fight, Lord High Fixers, King Sound Quartet, Monkeywrench, Now Time Delegation, and Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee.

HIAMB: You've been in so many bands over the years… What has been the main reason behind them breaking up? Is it differences in artistic/musical direction? Internal problems?
TK: Bands are like riding in the station wagon with your brothers and sisters when your parents took you on those long vacations… at some point you have to get out of the car. (smile)

HIAMB: What's been the most bizarre/crazy experience you've had from playing in all of those bands over the past 20 years? The one that really sticks out in your memory the most?
TK: There really are too many... really! Everything from Biscuit (Big Boys) covered in motor oil and honey, the couple of, uh, small riots, and being wined and dined in Bad Mutha Goose. The first time the Lord High Fixers went to Japan, being thrown in the air like the Eskimos when The Monkeywrench played Spain, recording The Quadrajets record in someone's house where we had the drums in the kitchen and amps in the bedrooms and bathroom, doing a question-and-answer thing at a college in Slovenia and being on their national news with the first question being ‘What is the Young Lion's Conspiracy?'… etc... etc...

HIAMB: When and where was your best show ever? The one that really blew you away as a musician/performer... what were the circumstances, etc.?
TK: Any Lord High Fixers shows, period. Especially the early ones when no one knew what we were up to or what to expect. Just the look on friends' faces was priceless.

HIAMB: Tell me about Sweatbox Studios (in Austin). You obviously do a lot of production for other bands that record there. What's your philosophy on how to get the best sound out of a band?
TK: The Sweatbox is owned by Mike Vasquez. I started helping out friends there when they would record and have just stayed there. The room is great and has a really great sound! I am into getting the best sound with the mike placement and stuff, instead of using studio tricks. I'm also really big into the "feel" of the music and set it up to where you don't have to wear headphones, which I, for one, prefer.the big thing to remember is that you want to be able to look back at that experience and smile. When you play that record 20 years from now it should bring back great memories about that one documentation at that one time with that one set of people.

HIAMB: What if a band wants to get you to produce their stuff… What should they do?
TK: I don't do this for a living, though I do it all the time (smile), so the beauty for me is I do things I like. I also like the idea that if someone wants to work with me they have to work a little to try and get a
way to get a hold of me. That kind of weeds out the people that don't really have their hearts into the choices they are making in the first place.

HIAMB: So, the name of your newest combo is The Total Sound Group Direct Action Committee. If that doesn't sound like a Young Lions name, I don't know what does! How does this band differ musically or creatively from any of your previous bands, especially the Lord High Fixers?
TK: To me it's an extension of what the Lord High Fixers had started but just pushing it further. There is a Hammond organ that has been prominently added to the mix, along with new people and new sets of ideas.

HIAMB: Who is in the new band? Mike Carroll? Anyone from any of your other previous groups that we may know?
TK: Yeah, Mike is singing. Pat is our organ player and he has a band called McLemore Ave. He played on some Jack O' Fire and Lord High Fixers stuff, too. The drummer is Ben who has a band where he plays guitar and sings called Attack Formation. He was in Tune In Tokyo and has played some with Sean Na Na. Nick plays bass and also plays bass for The Crack Pipes.

HIAMB: Explain the idea behind the Young Lions Conspiracy compilation CD coming out on Estrus [Note: As far as I know this comp never saw the light of day -kopper, 2011]. Are these mainly bands that hold these same artistic/creative ideals or are they mainly just your favorite bands right now?
TK: This was (Estrus head honcho) Dave Crider's idea which (I think) started from the realization that there were some cool bands that I was talking about but he just didn't have enough resources to help. He asked me if I would be into doing some sort of comp with bands that I knew of or felt were coming from the same sort of ideas or philosophy that the Young Lions encompassed or were part of the Young Lions. I haven't really had a lot of time to think about it yet, but I think it would be cool to have a combination of old and new stuff on it.

HIAMB: What other current musicians, bands or record labels out there do you believe are in tune with your philosophies and are carrying the Young Lions' torch and planting seeds?
TK: Estrus, Touch and Go, Dischord… great, great, honest, human beings! As far as musicians or bands, there are just too many to mention and I wouldn't want to leave anyone out.

HIAMB: One of the best new bands I've heard lately has been The Lost Sounds, from Memphis. Are you familiar with them? And what's your opinion of the White Stripes? Worthy of the hype surrounding the duo?
TK: The Lost Sounds are cool as well as The White Stripes.

HIAMB: Finally, can we ever hope to see your new band perform live in St. Louis? It doesn't seem like your previous bands ever did much touring.
TK: It would be great to play there so who knows, maybe! (smile) All of the bands from Jack O' Fire on have all had people from other states, cities and everyone had or have regular jobs so you can't take off for very long. Total Sound are all in Austin so it might be easier to pull something off. What're the thrift stores like there!? (smile)