In those mid to late 80’s days there were a lot of punk/hardcore bands and a few metal bands reaching across they aisle. The great handshake was happening. Excel, Suicidal Tendencies, DRI, Antrhrax, Crumbsuckers, Ludichrist, and almost all the bands I put in my big list. But other bands like Faith No More kinda slipped us into metal. Or Black Flag’s My War (side 2) was, and still is. the heaviest thing ever done in punk. But that lead us into finding the Melvins. Wow, the Melvins.

So in early 87, I think it was, I moved to Richmond Virginia. And basically got a music education. For those of you who don’t know Richmond is the silent giant of music. You would be shocked at how diverse and forward thinking the music scene down there is. I was shocked, and I was from Chicago-and we’re known for being quite knowledgeable and innovative about music I might add. But in Richmond I went to Virginia Commonwealth University. I lived on the 5^th floor I think of this dorm building, and there were some guys on 7^th floor who were pretty cool (I’m not gonna list their names, but a few are or have been in famous bands now).

Well down in Richmond for better or worse, there was pretty much just one club. And maybe 2-3 bars that would have bands every once in a while. So whenever anybody came through they all had to play the same joint/s, so you’d see punk, metal, funk and anything in between depending on what night you went. And since there REALLY isn’t a lot to do most people just went to the club. So I started seeing a lot of stuff I hadn’t ever paid much attention to. And I met this guy named Greg in my dorm. I think he had seen me in some of my “gear.” In those days I was quite a….dresser. I’m not going to say I was the height of punk fashion, but I had some stuff. And tons of t-shirts that let you know what I was into. So Greg hooked me up with a lot of that crossover metal/punk. And a lot of people in town. He knew one half of Richmond and I seemed to know the other, and in no time at all us 2 guys had all KINDS of people who had lived in the town their whole life talking and hanging out. The stuff we created STILL has impact today over 20 years later.

But that was a big part of my metal conversion. Step 2 was my move to New York City about a year and a half later. I have found a job in working for and Israeli moving company (but that’s a whole other kind of story). So I got to town and started acting in movies and TV (and that too is an entirely different story). But I started going go CBGB punk rock/hardcore Sunday. And many nights in-between I went to all other kinds of clubs. At some point I met a Puerto Rican kid named David and we decided to start a band. We got this Polish friend of his to play bass. They were both from the Lower East Side-I mean the REAL alphabet city; Avenue C and D. But we went to a lot of shows. A LOT. And we practiced in his “apartment” (the projects) with his sweet and gentle mother right in the next room. I meant the most loud, brutal hardcore/metal blaring out of these projects a couple of nights a week HAD to be illegal. It was crazy! And looking back I don’t even think I have any pictures from my nearly 10 YEARS in Manhattan.

But sometimes we had to leave Manhattan and go to Brooklyn. To a club called L’amours. I can’t even begin to describe being in a metal club in Brooklyn. And being BLACK too. I mentioned once on this blog before how I have an anthropology degree, and one of the things I learned studying anthropology was the nature of outsiders. Outsiders in groups tend to be allowed unusual access, that a normal member of group doesn’t have. So as a Black guy, people always assumed I was there for a reason. Like a reporter, but more likely they assumed I was the drug supplier. (I would get asked AT LEAST a dozen time every night I went out for drugs). But that was my big conversion. My time in NY.

One night in particular stands out. Well 2 nights. In about 1987 I took a trip to NY from Richmond and went to CBGB’s for the first time. It was the record release for Prong. GOD I loved that show. I mean I walked in on them playing and in ONE SONG they went from sounding like Scratch Acid to Destruction. I just couldn’t believe it. And if you’ve never seen Tommy Victor play, then you just don’t know!

A few years later maybe…1989 I went out to Bay Shore, Long Island I think. I was there to see what I think was the first show for Biohazard. Hilarious, by the way. But they were the local band, the out of town “main act” was an unknown group from the Bay Area (Northern California), called Blind Illusion. Oh my GOD. Again just sick. I couldn’t BELIEVE my ears. But maybe I’ll go into that show some other time. I will tell you about an odd thing that happened; some girl in white Doc Martens walked up to me and said “hey, I’ve seen you at a bunch of shows in the city (NY). And you need to get into this band these band members are in.” You know how before a band plays, they have music playing in the club. Well they were playing Primus. The demo tape. The guys in Possessed had switched into Blind Illusion, and then some of those guys had bled into Primus. Ta dah!

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