Monday, May 9, 2011

Skarp, Nux Vomica, and Embers!!!

Skarp, Nux Vomica, and Embers would be an awesome line up! Not long ago rumors started floating around that Skarp was reforming. Recently those rumors were confirmed (well sort of) when Skarp posted on their facebook page:

"Shows?............ coming soon........"

Another rumor that had been floating around was that Nux Vomica was breaking up. That rumour was dispelled recently by the fact that Nux Vomica has been touring Europe and announced plans to record their third album.


So aside from the fact that both of these bands are awesome there are other reasons why I would love for this show to happen. I'll explain why regarding each band:

Skarp

I first met Skarp when I was on tour with Kelly and my (Steve) previous band Lesser of Two back in 2002ish. Lesser of Two had completed a tour of Mexico and a mutual friend contacted us to see if Skarp could jump on the bill of any shows we had on our current tour. We had booked a show in Tijuana the day that they needed a show, and we were able to get them on the show.

To be honest the music Skarp was playing back then was quite different than the "blackout grind" they later developed. The thing that really impressed me about Skarp was that seemed to be genuinely good people, and not a bunch of pretentious scenesters. We had a lot of fun that night and got drunk on Mezcal. All the bands and all the people at the show had an amazing time. The tiny bar was packed, and despite the lack of a common language among most of the people that night everybody got along wonderfully in our mutual appreciation of music.

Later, when I came up to Seattle I would always meet up with the people in Skarp. Robert would give me the tour of Seattle of entice me to a house show in Georgetown. Joe would play shows with Embers in his other band Book of Black Earth. I remember the guys in Skarp used to live in this huge punk house on a hill. It had a sort of crusty collectivist yet debaucharous vibe to it.

I could go on about stories over the years, but suffice to say I'd see Skarp or the various members periodically over the years and hang out when we could, but over the course of time it became more hit and miss. It would be wonderful to share the stage with them again so could all re-connect personally as well as musically.

Nux Vomica

The first time I met Nux Vomica was at a show at Burnt Ramen in Richmond. My friend Rob from Somnolence warned me that they were an awesome band. I hadn't heard of them, but Rob was right:




Like Skarp, Nux Vomica impressed me with their lack of pretension and friendly attitude. It's hard to find bands who are BOTH amazing musically AND good people. So often their are musicians with hearts of gold who play mediocre music, or amazing bands who know it and are totally full of themselves. Whenever I meet a band who has both talent and heart I always try to maintain a connection and find ways to mutually support one another.

The next couple times Nux Vomica came through we made sure Embers was available to play, and that the show was good. Here's a video of Embers from that same show:



Also, as the next two years unfolded we found that Nux Vomica more than reciprocated our support. They played a show with us, Chris Control booked shows for us, and Just Dave made sure we were fed. I think having Nux Vomica play with Skarp would not only be a good combination musically, but it would bring full circle all the support that Nux Vomica deserves to play an awesome show such as this with a bunch of good people.

In conclusion I hope that Skarp and Nux Vomica like my idea and we can make this happen. Either way whenever Skarp or Nux Vomica play next you're likely to see me there whether or not Embers is on the bill.

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