Seattle Years Disclaimer: As I enter the Seattle years in this music blog, the above disclaimer goes double, because so much happened and there are so many details to cover in this 14 year period; so many shows, so many bands, so many friends and so much change in my life. As a result of this and the fact that the four of us who formed Treepeople found ourselves in the midst of a scene which blew up around us and attracted the eyes of the world just 2 years after our arrival, not to mention the 12 years I played music following that, I am bound to, hell, I will forget something.
This means two things: I will be coming back to entries and adding things to them over the months following publication, and, that the part of the above disclaimer where I ask for help from people in keeping me honest and in remembering things is crucial to them. I thank anyone ahead of time who was there, and, those who weren't there who have access to valid info, for helping me to correct errors in dates or chronology. Yes, I have the Internet, but many bands, scenes and things I will cover did not receive the attention I feel that they deserved and thus I will recall them mostly from memory, or rather, memories; mine and those of friends. Also, friends who were in bands which I do not happen to mention, please don't take it personally, just remind me. I have created a monster in undertaking this blog, one which I am determined to ride until the end!
Lastly, as mentioned, this scene gained national attention, and thus, needless to say and as we all know, many bands/people became famous, became rock stars, were/are admired by millions, etc and etc...This makes another part of my original disclaimer even more important. This memoir is intended to tell my story, from my perspective. I have no intention of creating a place where people can seek gossip about famous people, nor is it about 'name-dropping'. I write of my impressions of people, bands, and the Seattle scene from the '90s into the early 2000s. I protect those who are my friends fiercely because a symptom of being known is frequent intrusion into their lives beyond a level that I feel is acceptable. Thank you for indulging me this disclaimer.
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My other blogs: Short Story Long - (Top of mind, conversational, formal essays, photo essays, etc.) Artwork, Poetry
'GRE' continued...and concluded
Artwork by Mike Scheer www.mikescheer.com
"We fooled 'em again."
As Doug Martsch put it in a recent correspondence on 'GRE', "... I wanted us to sound like a real band and I think with this record we finally succeeded..." Many people who are fans of the band may think this is an odd statement about Treepeople, but as soon as I read it, I nodded in agreement. When we started this band, we had completely stepped out from the familiar, comfortable formats of our previous, respective music projects (State of Confusion and Farm Days) and a couple of us were new to our instruments, or, as Doug puts it, "...Scott was really the only master of his instrument--you and Pat were new to yours and I had bigger ideas than I was ever able to pull off...We were not the best musicians and our previous recordings were very loose and unfocused, but we were slowly improving..." And we were improving, we always strove to get better and better. I also corresponded with Scott Schmaljohn about GRE', he wrote; "...I remember being excited to record the full length GRE. I thought the songs were strong and we were hitting new heights with our skills and collaboration..."
In general, we never took ourselves too seriously as musicians, or felt that we were 'The Shit'. Quite the opposite, in fact. After we played shows to good reception, my half-joke was to say to my bandmates, "We fooled 'em again." What I meant by that ties into some of the things Doug wrote to me. I often felt that I in particular was fooling people into thinking I was a 'real' drummer, and yet, Doug points out, all these years later, that my drumming (to him at least) was a key part of our sound. I am humbled by this; "... I remember always thinking that your drumming made us special and was key to making us Treepeople. You were so thoughtful and meticulous and always pushed yourself beyond your current skill level. I could never put my finger on it, but you had your own very unique style, the way that very few drummers do, to my mind. Like Grant Hart...sort of unorthodox, and very musical--not just keeping the beat, adding something special to each and every part..." For me personally, this exchange was an interesting lesson in insecurity and self perception vs. others' perceptions; Whether it is an overly positive or negative self-perception, others often see you far differently than you could imagine (and it also made me remember that Grant Hart was a major influence on my drumming, and I think I forgot to list him earlier when discussing my influences as a drummer).
I feel that all of our insecurity as a band was woven into the very fabric of the group, and inevitably was a big part of who we were as a band (and yet another reason why the lp title, 'Guilt, Regret, Embarrassment' was so apt). I feel like we were a better band because of this self-doubt, frankly, as we were always striving and working toward the goal of sounding better than we did. When a band is cocky and thinks they are 'The Shit', they tend to get lazy and as a result their music suffers. Of course, it is also possible to go too far into that self-critical rabbit hole, which ain't good either! "...No doubt's a hard habit to kill..." indeed.
'When a band is cocky and thinks they are 'The Shit', they tend to get lazy and as a result their music suffers.' (Photos - Creed and Smashing Pumpkins)
Around the time of the recording of 'GRE', as I have pointed out in previous entries, this striving to be a 'real band' led to a strict rehearsal schedule, "...the real key to gre was all that rehearsing. It felt to me like Treepeople was the main priority in all our lives and practicing three or four days a week for three or four hours a night is was made us any good..." Doug observes (I agree). Scott Schmaljohn feels the same; "... We were there for one reason. Make music and get that music out. We all sacrificed so much to be in Seattle...We practiced, practiced, practiced. That is all we wanted and all we cared about..." Doug also brought back memories of our routine in Georgetown, the area south of Seattle where we rehearsed, which is in some ways sort of the Brooklyn of Seattle (see entry #23 for more on Georgetown:
http://amusichistory.blogspot.com/2014/03/music-history-part-23-early-seattle.html
) in that it is an area just outside the main city that was considered out of the way but now has been majorly gentrified. In 1990-91, pre-gentrification, it was a mostly industrial area with very few stores where we could buy beer and snacks, so we went to the AM/PM mart prior to every practice as part of our routine. This, in addition to our rigorous practice schedule and the band being the main priority, was comforting to Doug; "...stopping at the convenience store in Georgetown for some drinks and snacks, that was an amazing time for me..."
I actually found a photo of the AM/PM mart in Georgetown in the early '90s. This was our pit stop for rehearsing in Georgetown where we bought beer, snacks and cigarettes before every rehearsal
(Photo retrieved from: https://s3-media2.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/upYxzR8WtXgdlHSjwEFQww/ls.jpg)
All of the above was wrapped up in 'GRE', it was a time when we were starting to come together musically, (if not personally for some of us) and ironically the time at which my role in the band started coming to an end (the 'Beginning of an Ending' I alluded to in the first part of this series on 'GRE'). Doug also added "...It was so incredible to be included in the lives of my musical heros [sic], and cultural mentors and soulmates. Thanks for having me..." And we, of course, all felt lucky to have Doug's immense talent as part of the band as well, or as Scott puts it, "...I always knew Doug was an amazing song writer, and I always knew someone, somewhere would eventually realize it..."
Finishing touches...
(Photos retrieved from: http://polesawreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/tree-pruning-guide.jpg
I remember the mixing being pretty grueling and long. It was the first time seeing Steve Fisk and Stuart Hallerman in full-on production mode, and it was impressive. I had never seen actual professional production in action on a full length lp. It became clear to me how much work was involved in this task, and this experience made me appreciate some of my favorite albums even more in terms of mixing, mostly the pre-punk stuff, as the production on many punk records was notoriously poor (excluding of course the major label financed late '70s early '80s stuff like Talking Heads, The Clash, Blondie, etc., most of which were produced by the same folks who produced the aforementioned '60s and '70s mainstream rock albums) and this poor production was most often due mainly to financial constraints. Financial constraint was a major factor for us as well, since we didn't have a label and we were paying for everything ourselves (though I am sure Pat paid for most of it). Scott also reminded me that Fisk was gracious about this; "... Steve Fisk is an amazing producer, friend and musician. He was always there for us even when he shouldn't have been for lack of sufficient funds. (He let us pay over time, interest free!)..."
Producer/Musician Steve Fisk (Photo retrieved from:
"...The sessions were hard work. They were up for it. Everybody had strong opinions,especially in mixing but I remember them being good at compromise. On all of our sessions we employed they [sic] 90's trope of doubling the power chords and panning them hard left and right. When they are dutifully playing the same chords it creates a fat wide "monoish" sound. These guys were having too much fun and went into twirly leads which were very jarring being panned all the way out. A fun war..." - Steve Fisk (from a recent comment on this blog).
Since we were so tight, we were able to knock out the live tracks pretty quickly and spend most of the studio time mixing, and paying attention to little details, for instance; some of the tom fill accents I did that were a little more quiet than my usual bashing style, another little thing I had added to my drum vocabulary where I did two quick hits on either the floor or rack tom as a little accent added to the rest of the beat; bud-um (for a good example of this, listen to the first song on 'GRE' called 'No Doubt'). Keep in mind that this was before digital editing software, we had recorded on to 2 inch tape, and so every tweak was done manually on the board itself in real time as the tape passed (a task which could easily be done digitally now). Fisk couldn't possibly handle every one of them physically, so we were assigned tasks; I would raise the volume of the track that the little tom flourish was on every time it came up, then turn it back to the original volume, so as not to cause it to blare super loudly during my normal tom bashing, all the while, Scott would be at the helm to boost guitar leads, and so on. We got it down to a science, and it was kind of fun. Stuart Hallerman was also part of this tracking and mixing process. One night Fisk couldn't make it, Stuart recalls, and we tracked all the guitar overdubs in one night with him at the helm (quite a feat!).
Random 'GRE' Memories...
Steve Fisk said, of the mix for the song '(I'm Gonna) Miss You (When You're Dead)' and specifically about the way he had panned the guitars in one particular spot, "...Some girl will be alone in her room listening to this on headphones and love it..." (from memory).
Fisk also accidentally knocked Pat's bass on to the floor and chipped the finish. Pat had placed it pretty precariously, balanced on its back on top of his amp, with a cord trailing. As Fisk remembers it from a comment on the first 'GRE' entry on this blog; "...I started off the Avast session by accidentally knocking Pat's bass to the ground. It was precariously balanced with its cabling plugged in. But I AM clumsy and managed to mess up the finish real good. I offered to have it fixed but Pat chose to just move on. I could see in his face that he was furious. Then he just swallowed or something and let it go. Pretty cool for a punk rocker..." Again with the aptness of the title 'Guilt, Regret, Embarrassment'! I knew Pat pretty well, and I know that the reason he was cool about it was because it was Fisk who did it, and he liked and respected Steve. If I had done it, it would have been a whole different story, and that fury would have been unleashed at me (not to imply that he didn't like or respect me, it's complicated)! And in fact this fury was unleashed at me regarding his bass at the last show I played with the band, not long after the 'GRE' sessions, which I will get to.
I was pretty goofy from the long hours, both drumming and mixing, and at one point, I had moved my pony tail to the top of my head, saying to everyone that it was how Mark Pickerel (one of my drum heroes) wore his hair when we saw his band Screaming Trees play at the Central Tavern with TAD recently. I mimicked how he swirled his head around, making the pony tail twirl, and said how I had been impressed by him doing that (keep in mind this was well before the current annoying trend of 'man buns') and I saw Pat eyeing me with disgust. Later, when we weren't around Fisk, he gave me a wrath of shit for doing that. I had clearly embarrassed him (again with the aptness of...oh never mind) and that adds to my theory about his respect for Fisk, because otherwise he wouldn't have cared.
Release and Reception of GRE: (Spilled Milk)
(Photo retrieved from:
I have no memory of how we ended up going with the punk rock record label Toxic Shock, based out of Tucson, Arizona, to release 'GRE'. My guess is that it had everything to do with Pat, as he was the one who handled most all of the business side of Treepeople. I can also guess that our connection with them began when we had Toxic Shock sell and distribute records for our punk band State of Confusion before. I do remember we hit up local Seattle labels Sub Pop, Scott remembers delivering our previous ep to them himself, and maybe this is a prehistory to why they declined 'GRE' "...I personally delivered "Time Whore" to Jonathon [Jonathan] Poneman who sat across [from] a scared Boise 23 year old. That was when you could actually get a meeting with one of the two owners of Sub Pop. I was jacked up on coffee and said "this is coming out regardless of if you or we put it out." I never heard from him again, and he wouldn't take my calls. No Sub Pop for Treepeople. :(..." (They did, however, distribute 'Time Whore', which was a big help). We also hit up CZ Records, but they passed as well (Daniel House, founder of CZ Records, later expressed regret about not signing us, but would later sign the band after I quit). I remember a rep at XXX Records, the label that had released the Jane's Addiciton debut (one of our favorite records at the time) expressed interest early on, but he was fired and that opportunity died (this tends to happen a lot, and happened again with an MCA rep interested in a later band I was in, Violent Green).
I am sure there were other labels Pat sent tapes to as well. I think that by the time Toxic Shock expressed interest, we were ready to sign with anyone! Bill Sassenberger, founder of Toxic Shock Records, expressed his view of how the release went on a detailed online personal and label history; "...Guilt Regret Embarrassment" was an appropriate title for TREEPEOPLE's Toxic Shock release and summarized the relationship between the band and the label. I was guilty in delaying its release due to financial constraints, the band may have regretted signing the recording contract with us, and Daniel House is probably embarrassed to admit we showed an interest in the band long before he did. Regardless, "G.R.E." stands the test of time as the band's best albums [sic]..." All true! It took forever for it to actually come out (I think close to a year) and we were indeed regretting signing with Toxic Shock, but there we were. We weren't savvy at the business end of putting out records on other labels at all, and had always self-released.
Read the entire entry from Bill Sassenberger here:
"...Guilt Regret Embarrassment" was an appropriate title for TREEPEOPLE's Toxic Shock release and summarized the relationship between the band and the label..."
Bill Sassenberger, founder/owner of Toxic Shock Records, pictured here at his record store, the Toxic Ranch, in Tucson, AZ (Photo retrieved from:
The good news was we had managed to negotiate a contract that had a five year escape clause, and were grateful for that when we re-released it on K Records years later. One thing that is really cool about the Toxic release is that the CD included, as bonus tracks, every single 7 inch record we had released, including an unreleased alternate version of the song 'Handcuffs' (the original version being on the very first 7 inch record, 'Important Things/In My Head/Handcuffs', which was replaced and left off of the Toxic release) and thus stands as an extensive historical document. Also included are a couple of songs not released anywhere else, like the song, 'Lives' (leftover from the 'Time Whore' sessions) and a weird little tag on to the pop tune 'Pretty Girl' called 'Flame Grape' which was essentially an adaptation of part of the Butthole Surfers tune of the same name (another band I may not have mentioned that was a big influence on Treepeople, and especially on Doug). My understanding is that this version of 'GRE' is hard to find these days (though it is of course on the ol' Youtube: GRE on Youtube) but I could be wrong, and, once it did come out, it was hard to find even then! Distribution and promotion were very poorly done, and we were incredibly disappointed. We had met with Bill briefly when we did a little west coast tour, he is a really nice guy, and he has a solid place in the history of punk rock and punk rock distribution. Many of the rare, cool punk records that we couldn't get from Pushead in Boise or Raunch Records in Salt Lake City, Utah, we got from Toxic Shock (and Pushead bought from Toxic and distributed through them as well, and, illustrated some of Toxic's comp releases).
Again, looking at it now, many people may be surprised at why it was so hard for us to find a good label to release this record, but at the time, we were playing a style of music that wasn't really a thing then; pop punk (though it wasn't too heavy on the 'pop') and retro '70s rock was still the shit in Seattle, so those labels didn't see our record as tantalizing. Also keep in mind this was released just before Nirvana's album 'Nevermind' came out and changed the music landscape in Seattle and the world, bringing on the 'major label feeding frenzy' which trickled down and led to all sizes of labels coming to Seattle to 'browse' and to sign bands right and left. It really is a shame in retrospect. I feel like this record would have done very well if it were properly promoted and distributed, and may have changed the course of the band.
But at this point, that is all... 
Design of 'GRE'
Up to this point, members or Treepeople (mostly Pat and Scott) were responsible for the artwork we used on almost all of our releases, but for this record we tapped our old friend from Boise, the phenomenal artist Mike Scheer, who lived in Portland, Oregon. We first met Mike many years before when our very first band in the early '80s, Dissident Militia, played a great show with Mike's whacky, fun and original Boise band Oats in the Pan. His artwork was incredibly original (still is), and the art he did for 'Guilt, Regret, Embarrassment' made our record stand out on the rack at stores. It is the kind of cover that compels one to pick it up, even when one knows nothing of the band. Mike creates a world all his own which pulls from childhood cartoons, Disney, and nightmares, and one that is populated with surreal, animalesque characters living in Dali/Cartoon background-like landscapes.
Nothing fancy otherwise; black and white, simple lettering for the name of the band, the name of the record is on the back cover, which includes another awesome piece of Mike's work.
Front and back cover artwork for 'Guilt, Regret, Embarrassment' (from K Records re-release) by Mike Scheer (www.mikescheer.com)
Photo retrieved from:
The lettering for the insert and labels of the songs was hand-written by our friend and badass drummer of the Seattle hardcore band Christ on a Crutch, Eric Akre, whom we had known since his days as a 16 year old playing in the Richmond, Washington hardcore band Diddly Squat, and who would eventually play drums in Treepeople. As Eric recalls, "...Doug and I lived together and worked together at a telephone marketing job. He saw how child like my hand writing was and asked me to write out the song titles. I mix in some cursive handwriting at times and I think that adds to the silly/fucked up way it looks..." I think it adds a nice, personal touch to the overall packaging.
Reception of 'GRE'
The reviews of 'GRE' (at least the contemporary ones) were mostly positive (in my recent searches there are a few more recent, negative, or at least underwhelmed reviews). Scott Schmaljohn had an insightful take on the reviews and how they reflected our place in the Seattle music scene of the '90s and how we handled it, "...Great reviews of GRE proved our persistence to keep forging ahead, despite the initial response to our new breed of alt rock in Seattle. Things were looking up, and it seemed as though we could make an impact, especially with the "grunge" scene exploding around us. It is hard to persevere at times when you get knocked down. Had we listened to the initial bad reviews of our music, we could have ended before GRE. Pay no mind to the nay sayers and trust your heart when you believe in something as strongly as we did..."
Here is a sample of a few of the local reviews, and a review of the record release party we played for the Seattle band Hammerbox (their record release, also, their singer was Eric Akre's sister Carrie, a very talented woman) around the time of the release of 'GRE'. These are photos are from my personal scrapbook, kind of a funky layout, but I ain't no graphic artist...You get the idea! (click open images for easier reading). Also, if you have other reviews of 'GRE', please send them to me!
This is from the list of the 'Top 200 Northwest Records of All Time' as part of the 200th issue of the now defunct Seattle music & culture rag, The Rocket
- From my personal archives
From Seattle music & culture rag, Hype Magazine, November, 1992 (see crop of actual article below for easier reading) - From my personal archives.
I was excited to see that they used artwork from our record as a header for the whole reviews section.
From Seattle music & culture rag, Hype Magazine, November, 1992 (see larger layout of article & graphics above) - From my personal archives
From Wire Magazine, 1991
- From my personal archives
From Seattle music & culture rag, The Rocket Magazine
- From my personal archives
From Hype Magazine, 1991 ('grunge-like tendencies'? Haha, WTF?)
- From my personal archives
- From my personal archives
Touring to support the record...sort of...
...didn't actually happen much. Maybe we felt un-enthused due to the lack of promotion, or maybe we were too broke, or maybe some of us couldn't get time off of work, I honestly don't remember. As I mentioned, we did one West Coast jaunt where we stopped by the Toxic Ranch to meet with Bill, pick up records and play some shows. In a correspondence with Scott Schmaljohn about 'GRE' he remembered a detail that I had totally forgotten; "... "Pearl" was the beer of choice down in Tucson. "Have another Pearl" he [Bill Sassenberger] would say in an old west accent. (that is the way he talked.)..." My memories of this tour are vague at best, which adds to my feeling that it was a pretty uneventful tour, though I believe it was the tour where we played on the radio at KSPC in Claremont, California (see Part 27 of this blog for links to some songs from this performance -
Treepeople live on KSPC, 1991) and even then, it was pretty mellow. The town was sleepy, lots of old folks everywhere, and no one came to check us out at the radio station (the staff was very nice). We belted out a set and got back on the road. That all said, I am glad we have that document of the band at that time.
The way it usually works when a label puts out a record is that they are pretty involved in helping the band tour and promote it, but my memory is we didn't get a lot of that. The main reason was that Toxic Shock had no money, so we were left on our own, and at that time booking agents would have balked at doing a tour for us as they would have no idea who the hell we were (I didn't blame them). I assume we did some sort of record release/relief party in Seattle and Boise, I honestly don't remember! Sad, but true. Maybe someone out there can help me?
Final thoughts on 'GRE'
Well, there you have it, everything I could pull together about 'Guilt, Regret, Embarrassment'. I thank the many folks who helped with these entries, especially the thoughtful contributions of Steve Fisk, Scott Schmaljohn and Doug Martsch, they would have been pretty boring and incomplete without you! I feel that this record stands on its own among the contemporary albums from the time, and especially from Seattle at that time. It represents a time and place in all of the lives of the band members and the extended family (thanks to Anna Fell for her excellent perspective on that!), has wrapped within it all of the individual and collective anxieties of the band members, the fear of war, the personal and professional tension, and is a document of our evolution as musicians, and a time of truly becoming adults in the world, and musicians for life, all through the seemingly long, though ultimately short, three years we had existed as a band at that point.
If you had never heard the record before reading this, and/or have listened to some of it and like it, buy a copy!
It will help K Records, a great indie label, and, members of Treepeople get a little piece of that too (not that we will be quitting our jobs because of it or anything, but anything helps in these times!). Buy it here: http://shop.krecs.com/collections/all/products/klp069
I urge people to comment on any of these entries and share thoughts about 'GRE'! Next entry, at long last, back to the memoir format.
Some thoughts on 'GRE' (add to this in the comments section below):
"..Wayne, and am super grateful for it [blog entries on GRE], as well as what it represents, ie you and the Treepeople legacy, extended family, etc. Towards the beginning you mention soliciting folks for their take on if and why GRE is important and suffice it to say that I recognize it as a classic album, a high watermark to be reckoned with for all time. Seriously. Great stuff..." - Dan Trager, friend and fan
"...Guilt, Regret and Embarrasment was as important to me as Fugazi and Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind.
I always thought of the band as a mixture between the two. Much thanks..." - Mike Spine, friend and fan
"...so awesome. I liked reading how you were riding the faders during the mix- hadn't thought of that old school manual process in a long time now that everythings automated. After GRE was released you guys came through Eugene, played at Johns Alley and then crashed at our house- remember that? Pat was pissed cause our "party" was so lame. haha! you guys were so influential on our scene musically, and GRE still holds up. thanks for posting this blog..." - Scott VanDusen, friend and fan
