This one is FUN! Well, first off, what it is. It’s a 3 Way Split released by SLUG Tapes (Sou Inomoto) out of Tokyo. It’s a Compact Disc storing 60 minutes of sound, along with liner notes from Yatsutohi Yoshida (Government Alpha).
This all started for me when I landed in Baltimore for an overnight adventure with Nine Inch Nails. Relax, I was just there to see a show, we didn’t go out drinking or anything like that. But, I make it to the hotel, open the iPad and I have an email from Greg asking about doing a Split. Hell yeah I’m up for that, plus, I already have the sounds in the cupboard.
I had been making my way through three hours worth of sounds using the rig of the day, which was the Vox monster set-up, the old TOPLAP app by Joshua Parmentor, and a Jarmageddon by Moffenzeef. So, noise written for trio. There are three co-mingling sources on my track.
The first hour of sounds became The Two Minutes Hate (Hospital), and the second hour turned into The Combine (Fusty). The third hour was sitting in the cupboard.
As the project grew into a three way split with the addition of T.E.F., so it just kept getting better. I dug into my stash and pulled out 20 enjoyable (to me) minutes.
Before the dust settled, I learned that Yatsutoshi Yoshida (Government Alpha) was going to do the liner notes. I think Sou has a link to them on his Instagram. And that’s fun because I did a split with him back in 2000, and that he’s still going and strong is great!
When it came time for graphics, I wasn’t sure where to go. The original idea for those sounds was going to end up as “Remember the Maine” and I was planning on a riff on yellow journalism. But with these guys, I was more keen on representing what part of the map I’m from. It is an international release after all.
I’m from coal country, and one of my (admittedly not funny) lines is that to get to the beer store, I have to pass a coal mine. To get to the grocery store, I have to pass two.
When you pull coal out of the ground, you have to break it down to size to sell. With all of these mines around here, we had some huge coal breakers cracking big lumps of coal into little ones. The biggest of the them was the St. Nicholas – largest of its kind in the world actually. Must have made a fantastic racket in its day. They shut it down in ’65, so I never heard it going.
So, the idea to get pictures of it seemed like a good way to go. But it had gone from being abandoned and eerie to being blown to bits while I wasn’t paying attention. There ARE other breakers, but it turned out a Mr. Walter Arnold had been there, and got some great shots. I got in touch with him, and we struck an agreement on using one of his photos.
So that’s a real photo, of a real abandoned coal breaker that we would have to drive past to get to dart matches in Mahanoy City (which, at 3,500 people is not a city, but whatever).
I should have thought to get Walter in on the thank you list, dang it. Some things slip my mind when the time comes. But, consider this a belated shout out!
I was pretty excited when Sou and the guys chose that for the cover art!!
Anyway, you shouldn’t need this info, but since you never know, A Fail Association is Greg from Dada Drumming. If that’s news to you, you should look him up. He’s doing the Lord’s work at his label, and you’ll love his sounds. And T.E.F. is Kevin, who is also a member of Black Leather Jesus. I think you can put that on a resume. Those guys are both from Texas. I tend to tell Greg what the weather here is when I talk to him, and he amuses me by countering with his conditions, and they would melt my soul.
If you’re here and you want one, check out my shop. If I have copies, it’ll be listed. If not, or if it’s closer to you or you just want the download, here are some links.
https://scumcumcum.bandcamp.com/album/3-way-split-2
Anyway, that’s my latest adventure in noise, thanks for listening to the story!