The Final Treepeople Tour, August, 2023: A Retrospecive

 Journal entries (somewhat augmented):

Treepeople ‘Jaunt Tour.’ August 2023, final shows

8/1/23

The drive up the Columbia River Gorge [on the day before, Monday, 7/31/23] was beautiful, as it always is, traffic was light, it was a gorgeous day. [ok, so this is probably the least scenic stretch of the drive up the Gorge, but I was ya know, driving, and the scenic stretch is the part of the drive where you really have to focus. Even so, I probably shouldn't eh…take photos while driving, period. 'Nuf said.]

Part of getting ready for these shows has always been about listening to the songs of the set over and over again so that a groove is dug into my/our/brain/brains.This method works but it is a bit maddening and tends to make you sick of your own band! A joke between me and Scott (who also applies the groove digging method) is “I am SO sick of Treepeople!” 

So on the drive to Boise, I didn’t listen to any Treepeople. I had borrowed Dug Martsch’s van, it worked out well as he had lived in Portland for a short time and had left it there, so he needed it driven to Boise, and I needed to bring my drums (I HATE playing other people’s kits and am very attached to mine, a ‘66 Ludwig, made the same year I was, as I always say,  thus the 8 hour drive vs the one hour flight (it takes me the same amount of time to fly to Boise as it does to commute by bus to work in Portland!) so it was a win win. 

My babies, purchased in 1990 for $500, made the same year I was; 1966

His van had a CD player, so I listened to some comp CDs I made when I lived in Boston (2003 - 2008), it was a little snapshot of what I was listening to at that time: Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Satisfact, 7 Year Bitch, Flaming Lips, Cheap Trick (the debut lp, of course), Throwing Muses, A Tribe Called Quest, my ‘guilty pleasure’ at the time, Queens of the Stone Age and many other bands. The tunes propelled me through the Gorge and into the shrub desert that leads into Boise proper.

8/2/23

The day of the first rehearsal wasn’t until Wednesday, 8/2/23, so I had a decompression day on 8/1/23, which I needed, as I was coming off a very stressful week at work. I did some reading, took some old man naps, and watched some news. Then off for a nice salmon dinner at a bar near the hotel I often stay at, a new tradition now when I am in town, which also includes a shot of Makers, neat, a tumbler of ice with a few limes from which I mix a cocktail of whisky, some ice, melted ice water and squeezed limes. Though we are only ramping up for two shows in town before hitting the road, this is similar to how one kills time on tour, and interestingly, similar to how one does the same when you retire. On an interesting note, one night I randomly sat next to the driver for The Breeders, who had some amazing stories about her journey as one of the few women drivers in the biz, and the sexist bullshit she has had to endure.

I am about to release a solo EP, a first for me [I have released home recording demos over the years, but that's it]. I am both excited and nervous about it. I mention it, for beyond blatant just self-promotion (which I am allowed on my own fucking blog) as it is the next focus in my musical life. As my friend and producer (who produced this record) Steve Fisk said in relation to Treepeople members and solo music after Treepeople; "No one's heard from you yet."

I did have to chat a few times with the guy who is covering for me at my big, complicated, demanding job, but I have promised myself not to log into my email at all anymore this whole trip. I am grateful for my job, and I don't hate it, in fact I plan to retire in it. But ya gotta disconnect. Rock n roll ain't a bad way to do that.

We rehearsed at a place called The Warehouse in Garden City where a number of local bands rehearse, a nice room. It took us awhile to set up and get going as is often the way the first day; setting up is slow, you need to figure out the best arrangement of equipment for the best sound for the room…Dug had recently toured in Europe with his band Built to Spill, and had recently played some out of town solo shows, so he is a little behind on rehearsing Treepeople songs, he will catch up, he's a pro, and he already sounded pretty good. In fact, we sounded way better than I expected, considering we haven't played together in 4 years (since just before COVID in 2019, when we played at the VAC in Boise). These songs are challenging (especially on drums!) but we were determined. 

End of journal entries.

First day load in at The Warehouse

8/3/23?

Note that I don't have a journal entry for 8/3, but our friends Meredith Swassing, Daniel Yoshida and Kenneth Cole were there, and Kenneth & Meredith recorded some great videos of our rehearsal that day.

Treepeople rehearsing Fishbasket, 8/3/23, in Boise, Idaho ~ Filmed by Kenneth Cole

Snippet of Treepeople rehearsing the song Handcuffs, 8/3/23 ~ Filmed by Meredith Swassing

Boise, 8/9 & 8/10/23

We played 5 shows with only a week's worth of practice, 4 years since playing together last: Two shows in Boise to kick it all off at the fabulous new arcade Realms, the first show opened by State of Confusion, the hardcore Punk band 3 of us in Treepeople formed in the mid '80s (then the band morphed into Treepeople). Incidentally, SOC had the honor of playing the first ever show on that stage, at a party at the end of our week of reunion shows in April of 2023. Thank you, Meredith, for your persistence and insistence on that happening. It's a family biz, you see, opened by her son and ex husband.

One interesting thing that happened at this show was that the guy in Boise who makes and sells merch for both Treepeople and State of Confusion also road-manages the legendary LA Punk band FEAR and he asked if State of Confusion wanted to play a show with them the following week; “Um, yes, please.” (more on that later in a separate entry on the State of Confusion reunion shows).

All the shows were supported by the mighty Prism B*tch (who did their first ever tour with us back in 2018).

Photos of Prism B*tch and all other photos are by the author, unless otherwise noted

The second Boise night our direct support was our sister Boise band Dirt Fishermen, who we came up with in the early days in Boise and played many shows with. It was perfect that our last Boise show was with them. They ripped it up, as usual.

We got our sea legs with these shows, and people had a lot of fun, but also, as with all these last shows, it was bittersweet; Boise spawned us and has always been good to us and we thank you. 

Then Treepeople hit the road. Our old friend and Merch Guy Supreme, Dave Wall, ate ice cream with a Buck knife. I was impressed enough to take a photo:

Portland, 8/11/23

Portland was up next at the beautiful old theater The Aladdin, where we played to a nearly full house of warm and friendly Portland fans with Seattle's Patrons of Husbandry, featuring one of our favorite Seattle songwriters, Rusty Willoughby. They played a beautiful, flawless set, Portland loved it and so did we. 

Prism B*tch was up next, and they were made to play on a stage like that and killed it that night.

Prism B*tch in action, click for video ~ Filmed by the author

The Aladdin begins to fill up. A wonderful show, thank you Portland!

Fan filmed 'medley' of Treepeople set at the Aladdin, Portland, OR, 8/11/23 

~ Filmed by Rezellen

Seattle, 8/12/23

We were asked by the Seattle radio station KEXP to play on their live room show, so we left Portland about 7 am to make load in. As often happens after playing a show, I took forever to unwind and be able to sleep, and thus I got a whopping 2.5 hours of sleep before we hit the road. 

When we rolled up in Seattle at KEXP, and began to unload, Scott realized he left his guitar in Portland! Oh shit! Luckily Doug had a spare guitar, Scott played his familiar red Stratocaster. The staff at KEXP were lovely to us and it was super fun! Thank you KEXP! (Note: As of this writing this has not been released, but will be soon, and I will of course post it here).

A note about KEXP: When out of towners bought the beloved college radio station KCMU years ago, we in the Seattle scene were bummed and assumed they would ruin it, but they sure proved us wrong!

Dug showing Lilah Rose of Prism B*tch how to play the Treepeople song Funnelhead @ KEXP 

 

Click here to see Treepeople on KEXP, 8/12/23

The Seattle show on 8/12/23 is being described by many folks (old friends from our Seattle years who we trust and who don't blow smoke up people's asses) as 'epic.' As I have written on social media, I agree (and as you may know about me, I also don't blow smoke up my own…nevermind). 

It felt great playing in our second home town to so many dear old friends, including people to whom we owe a great debt, like Steve Fisk, John Goodmanson and Stuart Hallerman. 

And later, Scott and I discussed how we both felt our departed member and Scott's brother Pat in the room that night. 

Pat 'Brown' Schmaljohn, ripping it up at the very beginning of the band at rehearsal in 1988, playing my gone but not forgotten State of Confusion bass

On a negative note, we had already scheduled an early show, starting at 7 pm, but The Crocodile informed us last minute that there was a 'dance party' scheduled after our show and we had to start at 6 pm! While we love the Crocodile staff, always, and the new room, while austere, sounds killer, this was bullshit and our aforementioned old friends were kicked out! Boo Crocodile! (though in full disclosure, many of our  Seattle fans are older, like us, and some were happy about an even earlier show!)

Seattle friends from way back at the Crocodile show (Left to right behind me, in the center): Film score composer/drummer Steve Cavit, Cedric Ross (AKA Fred Roth) of the bands Imij, TAP and The Fred Roth Review), Stuart Hallerman, owner Avast Studio. Note that, nope, I was not high, quit that stuff years ago, but I do have neural issues on my left side and thus my left eye is droopy! ~ Yours, Self Conscious Wayne).

Seattle friends from way back at the Crocodile show: (Left to right behind me, in the center): 

Cedric Ross (AKA Fred Roth) of the bands Imij, TAP and The Fred Roth Review, John Goodmanson, producer/musician, Steve Fisk, producer/musician

This show was opened by our favorite Seattle band, whose studio Electric Eel we rehearsed beneath in the '90s, The Purdins. They tore it up with their introspective, sad but humorous pop Punk.

Prism B*tch brought it again, as they do every night, and as I have mentioned, they won many new fans that night. 

Sadly, I have no live Prism B*tch photos from this show as during their set I was taking a nap upstairs in their hotel room, which they graciously offered me, as I only had 2.5 hours of sleep the night before, so I will just use this awesome photo from their Instagram:

Treepeople, playing the tune Handcuffs, Seattle, 8/12/23 - Scotty was on fire that night! Seattle was our best performance for sure. 

~ Screenshot by author from Janet Crisp's video, see actual video here 

Bellingham, 8/13/23 - Last Treepeople show ever…😕

Bellingham was fun, a smaller show like the ones we came up playing. We were conscious of the fact that it was our last show ever, but it was a chill night, and a relaxed, looser set. The crowd had a great time and so did we.

[in the first post of this entry somehow this next section on the openers got cropped, apologies to the bands!]

Opening was the mighty band from Spokane, Washington who we played with at Treefort once, Itchy Kitty. They were incredible and topped it off with a killer, intense version of Talking Heads' Psycho Killer.

Prism B*tch were relaxed and in the zone and had people dancing. A great show all around!

The always killer Itchy Kitty, who murdered it that night

The ever awesome Prism B*tch

After the show we drank and laughed and partied like we were young again, complete with wacky antics and a trading of stomach punches and face slaps between Dug and Teresa, some ritual, and then the throwing and catching of peanuts in the mouth, while the slow realization that this was it settled in; the long journey, that started with the forming of a hardcore punk band called Dissident Militia in Boise, Idaho in 1983, had ended. Then, sipping whisky in the hotel and telling tales and finally, sleep.

Wayne and Teresa, drummer friends for life!

Group shot of the whole 2023 'jaunt' tour crew. Photo by Lauren Poole

The next morning we had a nice breakfast with our road crew and Pr*sm Bitch and then we all went our separate ways....✋

The last breakfast with the whole crew. ~ Photo taken by our wonderful waitress (on a personal note, it blows me away how much I look like my dad as I get older. RIP)

What a ride. What an honor. Thank you friends and fans for all of your support over the decades!

❤️ Treepeople

PS - Why the last shows? I have a disability, a numb left leg and partially numb left arm and hand, and it is getting harder and harder for me to play punk drums. I want to go out while I still sound good! This doesn't mean I am done drumming or playing music! I just can't play fast drums or bass anymore (and that is also partly why the State of Confusion shows were also the last). ~ Wayne

State of Confusion Reunion Shows, Boise, ID, April 21st & 22nd, 2023

State of Confusion (SOC) is playing 2 reunion shows in Boise, Idaho on April 21st. & 22nd, 2023. The last reunion was in 2011, and this may be the last (we're gettin' old!) Watch this space for ticket info end of February. 

Hope to see you there!

Poster design & layout, Scott Schmaljohn, artwork Cliff Green and Pat Schmaljohn, repspectively.

Shows played in loving memory of Pat 'Brown' Schmaljohn

I'm still alive! Good things coming soon in the realm of this blog and of punk history: A State of Confusion reunion at Treefort, this March!

Happy New Year! I hope you are all as well as can be after all that we have all been through in the last couple of trying years (really, five, if you count the Trumpocalypse - and I do - that just keeps going and going like an authoritarian Energizer Bunny, or maybe a cockroach is a better metaphor, except, that would be a major insult to cockroaches, who are actually crucial to the environmental health of our planet). I am hanging in there after some trials in addition to what we have all have experienced, more on that in the next entry; speaking of which, I am working on that now (entries going forward will take me longer because, as I have mentioned, I am writing of the mid '90s, when my music career was very busy, as were my jobs that actually paid the bills, and then, you know, there were also self-created personal trials - it's all part of the music, ya know!).

Enough of that. Here is some good news; State of Confusion will be reuniting at the next Treefort Music Festival this coming March (exact dates/times TBA, watch this space and social media, but the fest is March 23rd - March 27th). 34 years since State of Confusion disbanded & reformed as Treepeople, 11 years since SOC last reunited in Boise, 23 years since Pat Schmaljohn left Earth. We honor him by reforming at Treefort, 2022. What the world needs now is super fast, skull ripping punk with something to say.

This go ‘round, we are excited to add Troy Wright to the ranks, who played drums for SOC a short time & came back to play bass on Treepeople reunion tours (2018-2019). Troy follows Pat’s roles in both bands; now singing in SOC & playing bass in Treepeople. Pat would approve. See you there!

In other news, from here on, we are putting the 'SOC' in social media! Spread the word!

SOC on Twitter 

SOC on Facebook

(Instagram coming soon!)

State of Confusion LP  'A' Street

We hope you had a great New Years and that you are ready to do some (respectful, nonviolent and observant of social distancing) thrashing!

"Tammy's clappin', where's all your taste, in your ASS?...God, we'll send 'em home with Tammy, an' all their equipment too...Yeah, their goin' home with you tonight, and play for you all night long..."  ~ Martha, co-owner of The Crazy Horse Salooon (where SOC cut our teeth) to her cocktail waitress Tammy as we were about to play a song, covertly recorded and lovingly used as the intro to the SOC song, 'Creeps' 

"...I have tried to understand the nature of your war/But it gets darker and darker, as I see more and more..." ~ Pat Schmaljohn, from his lyrics to the State of Confusion song, 'Decency.'

 

          

Pat 'Brown' Schmaljohn doing his thang in SOC, Boise, Idaho, 1985 ~ Photo by Brian Bothwell

Your blog author as young man (and a whole other being, really), when he played bass in State of Confusion and lived on Schmidt beer and ramen, too poor to afford a shirt, apparently ~Photo by Brian Bothwell

The State of Confusion is a pro-vaccination band. Get vaccinated! For yourself, your family, your community, and so we can END THIS FUCKING THING ALREADY!

Yours, with Love, Wayne Ray 'Rhino' Flower II

Music History, Part 19: The Later Boise Years 1988-89

Disclaimer: Memory is a funny thing, and an elusive one. Meaning; I might have some of this wrong, as 1. My memory is not always accurate, like anyone and 2. It is from my perspective only. Any friends  who were there, feel free to correct me or add things I have missed. It helps! Also, no gossip on anyone here, it ain't about that. Personal details are on a surface level, and friends, girlfriends and others are re-named to respect their privacy. People in bands generally put their names out there on albums and in interviews anyway, and are not in the habit of staying anonymous, and therefore are named here. That said, anyone who is in the blog that wishes me not to use their name has only to ask.

Note that I have begun folding hyperlinks into titles, so many of the bolded words are now hyperlinks.

The real beginning of Wayne's ear damage at the Dinosaur, Tad, Pure Joy Show in Seattle in 1988

The excellent album by Dinosaur, 'You're Living All Over Me', SST, 1987 - Note that this is a later release and displays the name 'Dinosaur Jr.', but this was originally released before they changed their name from 'Dinosaur' for legal reasons

The members of Treepeople were fans of the band Dinosaur when they were still called just Dinosaur and not 'Dinosaur Jr'., a name they switched to after some deadhead band threatened to sue them because it was also the name of their band, which formed earlier (or so I heard) [Upon reading the wiki page on Dinosaur, this band actually featured ex-members of Country Joe and the Fish, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Hot Tuna, Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. Oops]. Doug had discovered them at some point and played them for us. We dug them, too. The music was raw, emotional, loud, and kind of punk, since, like us, some of the band members came from a hardcore punk background (Deep Wound).  It can't be denied that Dinosaur majorly influenced Doug's songwriting style, especially after the powerful Dinosaur album, 'You're Living All Over Me,' came out. In my opinion this album pushed him to play electric guitar exclusively, but I could be wrong. Our songs took on more of a rock edge, and this fit well with Scott's style, as he was already very rock in his playing, especially when playing leads. Many people used to tell us we sounded like Dinosaur, even some reviewers noted this, so, in the characteristically dry humor of Treepeople, we came up with the joke slogan; 'If you love Dinosaur, you'll like the Treepeople.'

 

Left: Dinosaur promo photo, 1987-ish Right: Dinosaur playing live around 1988

We saw there was a Dinosaur show coming up in Seattle with our friend Tad's band, TAD opening, so a few of us and friends made plans to go see it. I asked my friend Paul (RIP) to come with me and share in the gas money and driving, I drove my '76 Volvo 245 wagon. Doug and I believe his girlfriend drove up with some other people in their car.

The show was at The Central Saloon in Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle. This saloon is billed as 'Seattle's oldest saloon' and has been around in one form or another since 1892, when gold miners still went there for dinner and drinking and thus it is a large box of a place, like all good Western saloons. We arrived and filed in to stand before the stage. By the time we got there, the place was already packed with people. 

Pure Joy took the stage and pumped out some great pop punk. We had never heard of them before. They were impressive. Next up was Tad. I think this was the first time we had all seen the band, and I remember thinking it was weird that Tad was playing guitar and singing when I heard about it. But they killed it and were super loud and BIG and bassy. We were impressed with Tad's ability to scream in such a primal way and somehow still make it melodic. As I have mentioned before, TAD was a major influence on the Seattle sound, and brought a heaviness to it that no other band did, but also brought a pure musical layer, in that, not only had Tad been a classically trained percussionist in his youth, but also the band collectively cared about the music, and that was their main focus. It wasn't about impressing anyone or trying to be a certain 'type' of band. It just came out of them and it was fantastic. See footage of this show in this excellent documentary on TAD, 'TAD - Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears' here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEAezTt5-TQ&list=UL8PJo7g1Lz-Y

Tad and Kurt Danielson reaching 'The Brown Note' at the Dinosaur show, Central Saloon, Seattle, 1988 - Screenshot mine from the film 'TAD - Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears'

Dinosaur was incredible. To this day, it was one of the top 5 live performances I have ever seen. They were RIDICULOUSLY loud and I was loving it. As I hint at in the title of this section, I am pretty sure the true beginnings of my tinnitus started at this show. I became totally immersed in the music; my hair was in my face, I threw my head back and forth, feeling it. Dinosaur was at their peak at this time, and they were very tight and focused. A lot of the intensity of the band, I came to find later after talking to friends who were friends with the Dinosaur cats, and reading about it in the excellent book, Our Band Could Your Life, came from the tumultuous relationship that Jay Mascis and Lou Barlow had. I have found in general that this kind of tension creates great music. That same idea has proven to be true in many bands I have been in as well. I see it as sort of how the tension in a sexual relationship creates great sex sometimes. Weird, I know, but I swear it's true. Think of your favorite bands and then think about this metaphor. 

After the show, we all drove up to Capitol Hill to an apartment a group of Boise people had moved into recently. We were following one of them there and he was very drunk. Before he got in his car, he threw an empty beer bottle in the air and it crashed in the middle of the street, then he tore up the road and up the hill, weaving madly in his Volvo. I could barely keep up with him. At a stop light, he got into an argument with the guys in the car next to him. Some people I was giving a ride to started getting in on it and yelling out the window until I told them to shut up or get out. The guys who my friend started a fight with followed us to the parking lot of the apartment building and were ready for a fist fight. The perpetrator, my friend from Boise, ran away and slunk into his apartment (typical), leaving me and Paul to deal with the angry young men. Somehow, Paul talked them out of wanting to fight.  

Recording with TAD's 'cultural guidance' 

H-Hour (Tad's band from Boise) had moved to Seattle around '86. They had transformed into a harder, more edgy rock band by then. The first showcasing of their new sound was on a rare compilation record put out by CZ Records in 1989 called 'Another Pyrrhic Victory' (I happily own the first pressing on red vinyl!) with a great song called 'Medley', an aptly named journey through some heavy, emotional rock driven by Tad's incredible drumming. Other bands on the record are Malfunkshun (a band that would become Mother Love Bone), 64 Spiders, Green River, and My Eye. But that record hadn't come out yet at this point in the tale, and by the time it did, H-Hour had broken up and Tad had recorded an amazing solo 7 inch record with two songs on it, released in 1987; 'Ritual Device/Daisy' that Sub Pop released, which was a large part of steering the retro-'70s style Seattle bands into playing a harder edged music with a driving, heavy beat. Other bands like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains were also helping to create this sound, a more punky, metal take on bands like Led Zepplin or Black Sabbath. The Tad single led to the band TAD.

Tad Ritual Device/Daisy 7 inch on Sub Pop, 1987. There was no cover for it. I still have it. It still rocks.

Tad Doyle had settled in to the Seattle music scene very quickly, and had made excellent connections, which was a major benefit to us for years, and it is not an over-statement to say that we (Treepeople) would not have gotten as far as we did in Seattle without his help, which he offered kindly and consistently. The first manifestation of this help was to connect us with a recording session at Reciprocal Studios with the infamous Jack Endino, who had been recording/producing all the Sub Pop bands at Reciprocal, including TAD.

  

Jack Endino standing in front of Reciprocal Recording Studio, Seattle - Photo retrieved from: 

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/467485/producer-jack-endino-recalls-recording-nirvana-soundgarden

As we arrived in Seattle for the session, I realized I had forgotten my drum cymbals! This greatly stressed me out, and I was given a hard time by my bandmates about it, understandably. Luckily, Tad loaned me his cymbals. We arrived at Reciprocal, which was located in the Fremont area of Seattle, and was one of the tiniest buildings I had ever seen. It was in a triangular shape to boot. Jack Endino was welcoming and mellow, with a friendly, crooked smile and a head full of hair. We set up and got to it.

It was our first experience ever as musicians in a 'real' studio with a producer who understood the type of music we were playing, and Jack Endino definitely knew what the hell he was doing (we worked with him again on our next session, more on that later). It was intoxicating, and it focused us. I believe that after this session, 'it got real', as they say. We realized there was so much more we could do than just play for fun and record demos. There was a whole machine in place in Seattle, and it was a friendly machine, at least it was then. People in the scene were nice to us, and nice to each other. Bands were in friendly competition at the time and the scene wasn't that big, though Sub Pop's marketing genius made it seem much bigger. Things hadn't blown up with Nirvana yet, and the, as Tad calls it, 'major label feeding frenzy' hadn't commenced. But shit was happening, and we would never approach our band the same way again.

The result of this Reciprocal/Endino session was our first 7 inch record with the songs 'Important Things/Handcuffs/In My Head'. If you listen to the first demo tape and this record back to back, you can hear the departure we had made musically. Besides Doug playing an electric strat now, the songs were more serious in terms of subject and tone.

Doug and Scott began to form the 'jigsaw' guitar puzzle they became known for, with each of their styles complimenting each other in an odd way. In the studio when you mix tracks together, you start by dialing in a sound for each instrument. While you do this, you mute out everything else. During this process while mixing Treepeople records, I was always struck by how one would never think, hearing Doug's guitar parts solo and then Scott's solo, that they would go together at all. But they did, and I think the jigsaw puzzle metaphor is apt. With this 7 inch, it became a signature of our sound.

Also, I began to focus more on creating some space in the drumming, adding far less fills, and the fills I did add were more strategically placed. This was due in large part to my listening to the drummers who were influencing me like Murph from Dinosaur and Mark Pickerel from the Screaming Trees. I still felt like I was kind of faking it as a drummer, but less so. Looking back, I was better than I thought I was at the time.

Busted

Seattle Bicycle cops in Volunteer Park, Seattle - Photo retrieved from: http://www.seattle.gov/police/units/bike_patrol.htm

During this trip to Seattle, we went with Tad to Volunteer Park to hang out. We went past some bushes to a trail at the end of the park to drink some beers. Riding up the trail were some bicycle cops, a man and a woman. They wrote us up citations for drinking in the park, which was a bummer. Doug was not of legal drinking age at the time and had been using an old ID of mine to get into bars. The cops didn't even notice this, as they split us up into two groups to write us up, and Doug and I were in different groups. This was great for Doug, but shitty for me, since I ended up with two citations! Later, after getting back home, I called the Seattle Municipal Court about this and played dumb. "Somehow I got two tickets," I said, making sure to sound bewildered. The woman on the phone said, "It sounds to me like that cop had it in for you. We will drop one of them."

First Treepeople 7 inch record, put out on our own Silence label - Note that in the picture of Doug on the record label, the mic stand was an upside down ski pole. That's how we rolled. Also notice that we credit Tad with 'Cultural guidance', which was indeed an apt credit - Design by Pat Schmaljohn, photos by Todd Haley

Finishing touches on the record

We returned to Boise with a 1/4 inch tape of the mix of our recording session which Pat edited himself (as in put the songs in proper order and chose the precise endings) on a reel to reel tape machine he bought. This made us all a bit nervous, watching him take a razor blade and scotch tape to the recording we had just done, but he pulled it off.

He also designed the covers on his Mac home computer, using a photo that a friend, Todd Haley, had taken of us playing in our jam room for the back cover, and one of me individually from a photo essay he was doing for school for the cover. It is of me buffing the floor at the Boise Co-op that I cleaned at the time on a graveyard shift. The floor buffer, incidentally, was named 'Lucinda' by me. I like the picture and I think that the oddness of it (many people could not tell what I was actually doing) helped sell the record a bit (see pictures above).

In general, I think this record, both in terms of music and packaging, was the best thing we ever put out ourselves (on our own label, Silence) and I am still proud of it. We now had a decent calling card and we began to send it around for reviews to see what the world thought. 

Hear the song, 'Important Things' here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmqJ6FEYzMM
Hear the song, 'In My Head' here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJoWVtxN8P8

Read a review of 'Important Things/In My Head' 7 inch here: 

http://onebaseonanoverthrow.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-stayed-away-from-what-doesnt-want-me.html

Next: From the small pond to the big pond