Journal Journey
Week 29: 24 July 2016
With all the talk of the 90s going on right now, I wanted to revisit part of the decade that had a huge impact on my life, both as a musician and as a person. In the summer of 1991, I joined a Tallahassee band called Shatterposts. They had been playing together for a while, but since I was relatively new to the scene, I had only seen them a couple of times. I remember them reminding me of a manic combination of The Feelies and X. I still don’t know the background about why their original guitar player, Chip Kreis, left, but I know how they found me: Christine Burrell.
One afternoon, Christine was conducting one of my last training sessions before I could do a solo, daytime DJ shift on V-89. Errol Kolosine, one of the station’s Music Directors, came into the booth to update our CDs in rotation. We were chatting about local bands and upcoming shows, and Errol admitted that his band hadn’t played out in a while because they couldn’t find a guitar player. I was so new to Tallahassee’s scene, and college rock in general, I stayed very quiet about my own guitar playing.
“You know, Stephen plays guitar,” Christine offered.
I froze.
“Good one,” Errol scoffed, heading back to his office.
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I thought that was that, but a few days later, Errol pulled me aside and admitted that he thought Christine was joking. I confirmed that I did play, and we set up a time for me to come by his house to audition with him on drums and Jon Lammers on bass. Their lead singer, Kellie Parr, was going to come by later. (I think Errol wanted to see if I know what I was doing before wasting everyone’s time.) I learned a couple of their songs, and I brought one of my own to show them. I had no idea what I was doing, but I guess it worked.
Our first show as a reimagined Shatterposts was 18 September 1991. We were the first band on a three-band bill, opening for The Reivers. Since they had been on hiatus for a while, we treated this like a comeback show. We had warned long-time fans of the previous incarnation of Shatterposts that we would be heavier, so when the lights went out, Kellie shouted, “We’re back, motherfuckers!” and we ripped into the opening of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.” After a few measures — point made — we transitioned into one of our new songs. I think we only kept two old Shatterposts tunes in that first show, “Custom Pine Box” and one more I don’t remember the name of. We closed the set with an up-and-coming single off an album that was released just the week before: “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
It was a strange time.
Shatterposts stayed together for a couple of years, releasing an album in 1992, my first time on record. We toured every now and then, playing Pensacola a lot — we got very familiar with I-10, including which exit you should use if you need to hose two passengers’ worth of vomit out of a rented minivan.
Don’t ask.
I learned how to pack smartly for the road, and how to cram a band’s worth of gear into the back of a Chevy Astro van. I also learned how to be a bandmate, and what compromise really means — not that I always put it into practice. After a couple of years, though, the band started to implode.
18 July 1993
Shatterposts called it quits Tuesday. After a Kellie-less practice, Errol told Jon and I that he wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to stick with it. This led to the Shatterposts disbandment. We talked about paying off the rest of the CD’s debt, but we don’t really want to do a “final gig.” Sean knew about our break-up before Kellie did, I think. Ah, well, I’m leaving soon. Sunday, Seale and I begin our road trip to New Yourk City. Anything to get away from here for a while. I’ll come back to a new apartment, a new band with Jon (and who knows who else), and a new semester.
That road trip I mention included a stop at Jones Beach to see Neil Young and Booker T and the MGs with Soundgarden and Blind Melon. Maybe I’ll tell you about that show soon, before Temple of the Dog hits the road again. But I digress.
I’ve already talked about how instrumental V-89 has been in my life. It led me to Shatterposts. Shatterposts led to flanders. flanders to Gruel. All of it to Foo. And life-long friends. If plans hold up, I’ll get to see a lot of them again in November.
