“Feb 9! Feb 9! “
February 9, 1964 was truly a day that changed the world.
February 9, 2002 was truly a day that change MY world.
60 years ago today, The Beatles performed live on The Ed Sullivan Show. There is no denying that the world has not been the same since, at least in the eyes of pop music, culture and fashion. It also apparently redefined fun! Watching it now, it may seem to some, a benign performance, at least compared to some live TV performances that came after, (Ahem, Fear!) but you can’t deny the sheer exuberance The Beatles have. It’s transcendent and Ringo’s snare fucking pops!
However, as much as I love The Beatles, this isn’t about them. It’s about February 9th 2002, which became the first day of the rest of my musical life.
I had been playing in bands since the 6th grade, around 1995. There was the ska band, the cover band, the punk band and the whatever my first band was. All were great, played great shows, recorded, etc. but it wasn’t until the formation of the band From. in my senior year of high school, where I really decided to hit the gas with this whole being in a band thing.
At the time, all I wanted to do was play in a surf band. I was obsessed with the classic surf groups from the 60’s and more currently, The Bomboras and Man...Or Astroman? who to this day, I still “borrow” moves from their drummer, Birdstuff. My best friend Daniel and I formed a new group with that surf idea in mind and wrote and recorded a “spooky” surf song called “Graveyard Stomp” for a contest that KROQ’s Kevin and Bean had put on. We ditched school to drive to Burbank to hand deliver the CD to Kevin and Bean and lo and behold, they eventually played it!
To keep the band moving, we recruited another good friend, Daniel to play bass. He was less inclined to be in a straight forward surf band, so as we started writing tunes, it got more genre-less. Surf was the starting point, but we ended up writing songs that were all over the place, likely due to the fact that we were listening to a lot of Mr. Bungle, King Crimson and basically anything that tickled our pickle. The band became what one online blog called “Dick Dale Meets King Crimson from Hell” which I find both apt and kinda rad.
We played our High School talent show first, but it was February 9th, 2002 where we played our first “show” show. A VFW hall was rented in Redondo Beach, California and renting halls was one of the only options young bands had then, aside from playing a dive bar where kids weren’t allowed. No thanks. It was a matinee show, from 12-5pm. We opened the show and it was us and a handful of punk and pop punk bands so we stuck out like a sore thumb, but that was to our advantage. As we played more shows and got more followers, many compared us to another great South Bay band, The Minutemen whose music was sorta technical, sorta punk, but not stuck to any genre. I took it as a compliment! Our sound put us in a place where we could play anywhere and we used it to our advantage, especially when cops were called whenever we played a house show. Let’s just say they let us play on over other bands…
Anyway, thanks to our friends Rob and Liz, the show was captured on video. I still have the VHS tape and digitized and uploaded only one tune, which was our cover of The Chantays “Pipeline.” It’s fun to see kids in a dance circle pit while that song plays. I think our version rips, frankly.
All of this is to say, that since that matinee show on February 9 2002, not a month has gone by that I haven't played a gig, COVID aside. It kickstarted my life moving forward. I never looked back, at least not until now as I write this.
From. (yes, the period is supposed to be there and yes, it was 15 years before fun. did it!) gave me my first tour, my first full length album and we were part of cultivating a cool, local music scene that lasted a few years, longer than the band even, which broke up in 2003. Our album is why I started Otik Records. We needed a “label” so why wait for someone when you can do it yourself?! That DIY attitude was the core of From., from the way we dressed, to the songs we wrote. There were no rules as to what we could or couldn’t do, but as a 17 year old, it’s hard to know what was conscious and what was just us doing us. We did what we thought was cool and that was it. Our hybrid of surf, prog and punk and regular guy attire made no sense, but it worked, and for the year we existed, we accomplished a lot. February 9 ignited that for me, so I’ll always hold this day in a special place.
Life has moved so fast in the last 22 years that I haven’t had much time to reflect on it, and I certainly have no need to go back there, but I am proud of what my friends and I accomplished so early on. We had a tribe of fellow musicians and friends who lived horizontally, meaning we had no masters and no hierarchy. We just did things collectively and trusted each other. We booked shows, threw parties, made compilation CD’s (more on that later) and supported one another. Of course, it was before social media and before our reliance on smart phones, so we were in the moment, enjoying each other. I hope there are some 17 year olds out there now aiming for the same goals and perhaps there might be a rad local punk (or surf) show happening tonight that will kick start a scene. Maybe that’s wishful thinking…?
Does anyone out there have a touchstone date they’d like to share?
(SIDE NOTE: The full history of the band From. was written over COVID as part of a long term project I’m working on. I may kick that back into gear this year for paid subscribers?)
Great write-up that brought back my favorite childhood-teenage memories. Full History, please.