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The Best Game On Grass It’s stupid beautiful out, and Irv is on his way to play golf at Pine Grove. First, he’s gotta grab some premium coffee from the gas station next to his shop. This is where our paths cross.“Walk with me,” says Irv. As we step out into the sun, I follow him back around the car wash entrance, through the little gap between the fence and the wall, and into the adjacent parking lot. We come up on this giant green garage door that’s indented into a massive green building (I’ve always wondered what this place is).“Grab that for me.” Irv motions to one of his two coffees that’s precariously perched on a funky green metal protrusion. It’s a strange piece, but it must serve the building some structural purpose. When did he even put that there? Irv’s quick. He opens the door, flips on the lights, and disappears down a long hallway before I realize he’s gone. You can tell this is his home. We’ve entered his wood shop. This place goes on forever. There’s a room for cutting, a room for sanding, a room for varnishing, a room for drying. He’s even got a screw-gun. That’s right; it’s like a nail gun…but with screws. Wild, eh? Irv was born and raised in Westvale. And if he’s anything like me, he was probably wandering around the reservoir, swatting tennis balls at Cherry Road, and walking across the pipes. Still, he attended SUNY Potsdam, and that’s where his business was born: American Made Games, Inc. The game at hand? ‘Original Washers’ Irv’s been crankin’ ‘em out for six years, and ships almost all of his product out-of-state. Only you have the power to change that. Check it:

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April 2013, 5

Livin’ in the City Mikey “Eyedea” Larsen said, “I’ve been a lot a places, and I’ve seen a lot a faces.” The people are different; the circumstances – the same. This tale shows that young Joseph and my close friend, who we’ll call Syd, share similar experiences, despite having no knowledge of each other’s existence. JosephisafifteenyearoldyearoldBrooklynresidentridingtheL-trainwith his skateboard and headphones. He’s on his daily commute back home from school in Manhattan. While here on earth, Joseph digs skating and riding hisBMXbikewithfriendsinMcCarrenPark.Hismusicalinterestsinclude‘Mac Miller’ and ‘Avenged Sevenfold.’

Joseph, have you ever been stopped by the cops?Um…I got stopped by them…for – writing on the walls. I actually got arrested for writing on the train, and they told me that I gotta do – I was, um, on sixty dayprobation,so…theyputmeintothePinkSmithgraffitiprogram.So,Iwentto Queens and – I joined the program.

What’s the Pink Smith graffiti program?Well, my instructor, like, paints murals. She’s an artist. So we paint, instead of doin’graffitiaroundthecity.Peopleexpressthemselvesin–indifferentwaysso – it’s cool…I like tattoos. I – I wanna be a tattoo artist. I’ve been practicing drawing. I’d like to go to school for it.

Boom.UrbanlivingputJosephface-to-facewiththepolice.Duetoawell-implementedprogramandJoseph’swillingopenmind,heisabletobenefitandgrowfromhisexperience.Syd’sinteractionswiththepolicearelessencouraging. It’steno’clockonawarmsummernightinTheDerangedYearofOurLord Nineteen Hundred and Seventy Four. Syd and his friends are standing outinfrontofGotchCarr’sbaronWarrenSt.inSyracuse.Thebar,namedafter a legendary Syracuse University athlete, is a popular spot for gay men to socialize at night. This is much to the dismay of the bar’s owner, but hey, he likes the money…The police pull up and demand that everyone get back inside. This happens frequently. From time to time, “especially during election year,” Sydsays,thecopsevenarrestandfineGotchCarr’spatrons.Theyarechargedwith ‘loitering for the purpose of engaging in deviant sexual intercourse.’ Who the fuck are the police to determine whether Syd’s or anyone else’s consensual sexual intercourse is deviant? Furthermore,Sydrecountsmultiplelate-nightweekendtransactionsbetweenthebar’sownerandthecops,involvingthehand-offofabrownpaperbag. The whole circumstance is corrupt to the core. Fortunately, Syd was able to channel his frustration at being persecuted. He started volunteering for the ‘Gay Freedom League’ in Syracuse. After seeing an ad in the Syracuse New Times, he began spending three hours a week manning a telephone support line for gay individuals, despite prank callers threatening to kill him. Joseph downstate and Syd midstate. Joseph younger and Syd older. Bothpersecutedforbeingdeviant.Merriam-Websterdefines‘deviate’as:to stray especially from a standard, principle, or topic. If not for deviation, would not the world and every person, idea and song in it remain stagnant and unchanged, trapped in a box? Thank you, Joseph. Thank you, Syd.

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Habitual Line Crossers OnAprilEleventh,DougAldrich(dougaldrichdesign.com)andSamOctigan(samoctigan.com)pooltheirrecentvisualcreationsatThreeNineteenScholesSt.inBrooklyn.Wehavetocrunchtosetupthespaceintime.Theshowiscalled‘CrossingLines.’ Dougcuesupthemusic,andSamstartstomopthefloor.Backandforth, cleansing the space. Readying it to bear fresh ideas. He uses steady, even strokes. The work is going quick, but he never rushes. “There’sgottabeahammerinheresomewhere,”DougandIsaytoeach other. We lift our feet into careful tiptoe position, getting ready to walk acrossthewetfloor.Mymindlagswithindecision–‘ShouldIfuckthisfloorup?Wegottafindthathammer.’ Beforewecanmakeamove,Samexclaims. “Wait…just wait…wait.” He’sright.Deepbreath.Onethingatatime. Whenthefloor’sdone,wedecidetogogetbagelsandcoffee.Octigankindlyagreestoalittleprobingwiththetaperecorder:

Where are you from?I was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. Lived there all my life – except for a year when I lived in France.

What nationality is ‘Octigan’?I’mprettymuchlikefifteenthgenerationAustralian,sopretty–prettyboring.Ithink,ahthenameis,like,Irish.ButI’vegotanunclethat’sreallyinto,like,familylineageandthere’safewdifferenttheoriesonhowtheOctiganname

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came to Ireland. It looks like, I think Spanish settlers came to Ireland, and initiallythenamewas‘D–apostrophe–Octigan’…yeah,that’sprettyfuckenboring(smiling).SoI’mIrish,ifanything.

How old are you?Twenty-nine.

What was your family life like growing up?Ah, pretty good, pretty standard, pretty suburban. I grew up in a cool place to grow up – always stuff to do, always kids to hang out with. Australia doesn’t have like a huge divide between the poor and the rich. So, the middle class makesuplike,yaknow,eightypercentofthepopulation…Differentfromalotof places, I think.

Are there any Australian food staples?Well,Australiadoesn’treallyhaveit’sowncuisine,youknow?Becauseit’sacountry made up of all different nationalities and types of people, which kinda means that the food is really good because there’s a great selection. There’s a lot of, ya know, immigrants in Australia and they cook great food. For me, personally, some staples are, like, pub meals – chicken parmesan, burgers, steak kidneypie,thatsortofthing.It’sgoodfood.It’snot,yaknow,finedining,butit’sjustwhatIlike,really.There’sallkindsofgreatfood,(especially)incapitalcities…MelbourneisthecapitalofthestateofVictoria.Canberraisthecapitalof Australia. It’s in between Melbourne and Sydney. So Melbourne and Sydney arekindofrivals,inaway.TheycreatedCanberrabecausetheycouldn’tdecideon what the capital of Australia was gonna be.

You earned a degree in Multimedia Design from Holmsglen Institute in TwoThousandThree. What was that experience like?When I graduated high school, I was really into, like, animation, and that sort ofthing,butatthetimetherewasn’treallyonespecificcoursetofocusonandMultimediaandDesignwassomethingthatyoucoulddoandmajorinanimation, so that’s what I did. It was a really great course.

Then, in TwoThousandSeven, you snatched a diploma of Graphic Arts and Illustration from Chisolhm Institute. What prompted you to go back to school for this degree?After I graduated from the multimedia design course, I got a pretty good internship at an animation studio, and I realized from doing that that I just really didn’t enjoy doing animation. I was still pretty young and still sort of, trying things out. So I had worked really hard on like, getting there, and then once I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do, I was in a bit of, ya know, limbo so I took some time and worked odd jobs, saving money. I realized that illustration andfineartwasmorewhereIwantedtofocus–abetterwaytogetoutwhatIwanted to get out. Animation is like, you’re working on one project for a long period of time – very technical, very tedious. It just wasn’t for me. And then, so, illustration is like the opposite of that. I mean, you can do a job in an hour and thenmoveontosomethingelse,ifyouwant,yaknow?You’vegotmorepower,morerange,moreoptions.Sothat’swhyIwentbackanddidthatspecificcourse

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inillustration.Didthat,andsincethen,I’vefreelanced.

Two publications in which you have been featured caught my eye: Dazed and Confused Korea and Lost At E Minor. What can you tell me about these?DazedandConfusedisaBritishpublicationandI’vebeenfeaturedontheironline section a couple times. The Korean team, or whatever, used some of my work for their editorial pieces. I can’t read it, so I don’t know what the piece is about. Then sent me copy and it looks really cool. That was a bit of a buzz actually.Itwaslike,myfirstlikenon-Englishspeakingfeature,orwhatever.Itwas really cool. Lost At E Minor is an online blog content source. They featured my work once, and they’re kind of unique, in that they get basically anyone to writearticles–tosubmitcontent.Oneoftheguysthere,heaskedmeifIwantedtowrite,likeatopfiveYoutubevideo–like,findthetopfiveYoutubevideosand write a bit about them. And so, they’re based, really, worldwide. They’ve gotanofficeinNewYork,anofficeinMelbourne,Sydneymaybe…

How did you get linked up with Aldrich?Yeah,DougTheThug(smiles)…So,IplayinabandinAustraliacalled‘IronMind’,andaboutjustoverayearago,wetouredwith‘Backtrack’fromLongIsland,andDoughappenedtobegoodfriendswiththoseguysso,yeah,thatwasayearago,andacouplemonthsafterthattourfinished,IcametovisitNewYorkforthefirsttime.Ialreadyhadfriendswholivedhere,whoImetinFranceso, I don’t know, I’d never been to the States before. I always really wanted to come,soIfinallygotouthere.

You had never been to the U.S. before that?It’salongflight,man,youknow.(laughing)…Butso,IcaughtupwiththeguysinBacktrackwhoDougisreallygoodfriendswith,andsostraightawaywefiguredoutwe’rebothlike,prettymuch(have)similaroutlooksonworkandart, and ah…lots of different stuff, really. And so we kept in touch. At the time hewas,ah,creatinghisfirstshow.SoIwasreallyinterestedinthat.Ihadtoleave before it opened, but we stayed in touch, and asked him how it went…Andthen,likefourorfivemonthslater,Ihithimupagainandsaid,youknow,look if you’re gonna do something like that again, let me know in advance. I’d love to be involved in it – send some work over, or even come over for it, you know. And basically, this exhibition evolved from there. We talked more and moreaboutitandfiguredajointexhibitionwouldsuit.Wejustbouncedideasaround and… here we are. So, it was a pretty organic process – no real dramas. Basically,Ithinkthebiggestissuewaslike,lockingdownavenue.ThatwasreallywhereDougcamein.ReallyallIhadtodowasbuytheticketand,ah,make the work.

You recently toured with ‘Iron Mind’ throughout Australia. What was that like?That tour, with Expire, was like two weeks only. There’s not that many cities in Australia, so that’s about as long as a tour in Australia can be…So, we started upthetopinByronBay.AndthenfromByronBay,wewenttoBrisbane.WeplayedanumberofshowsinBrisbane.Thenwewentbackdownto,ah…Sydney. We played a couple of shows in Sydney. Then we played some shows along the coast – sort of beach towns, which was cool. Then we went, ah, all

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the way back down to Melbourne which is where ‘Iron Mind’ is from. Then we wenttoAdelaide,andthenthefinalshowwasinMelbourne…Wehadatwelve-seater van and then we had a trailer attached to the back with all the gear inside.

Why did you choose Expire to tour with this time around?The way it goes is um…you know if a band comes about – if you can do it, you should do it. From our perspective, it’s like, one of the premier tours. Like, when‘Backtrack’cameoutitwaslike(wedidthesamething).Theshows(aroundAustralia)areguaranteedtobegood.It’sgreattowatchacoolAmericanband play every night. So, it’s not like we’re scratchin’ our chins goin’, ‘oh maybewe’lldothat,maybewewon’t’–weDOit.SummerinAustralia–it’sguaranteed to be a good time.

There’s one photo of you guys all crawling around on some rocks in your swim trunks; where was that?Yeah,that’sClamdenFallsinBrisbane,Queensland,reallynicespot.

It reminds me of these rocks I saw last October, in Jawbone Flats, Oregon. Apparently in the summer, you can see topless girls sliding by. Did you see any topless girls?Have I seen topless girls!?

At the Falls specifically.No,notoplessgirlsatClamdenFalls.

Any best / worst memories of a tour?We’vebeenprettylucky–nobreak-ins,nostolengear,nothin’likethat.Playingisalwaysthehighlight…meetingpeople,hangingout…Probablythebesttimethe band has had together – we went to New Zealand last November, and New Zealand is a beautiful place, man. It wasn’t like, a rushed tour, you know. We hadalotofsparetimeandwerereallywelllooked-afterbythepromoterthere.So, yeah, we’d never been there before and being driven around, staring at the (land)–itwasincredible.NewZealandwasdefinitelyahighlight.

There’s a photo of you guys spelling out Iron Mind with rocks. What’s the story behind that?That was in New Zealand. In the center of Auckland, there’s a park called OneTreeHill.It’sbasicallythecenterofavolcano.Soit’salllikevolcanicrock. That photo was taken, like, twenty minutes after we landed. We got to the airport, we got picked up by the promoter, and we were driving back to his house, and he’s like, ‘We’re passing this great spot, you guys have to check it out.’ We could see that people had already spelled stuff out – someone had done a Slayer one – it was pretty cool.

Yeah, that reminded me of Andy Goldsworthy’s book ‘Time’. You should check it out.

As a visual artist, you are represented by ‘Just Another Agency’. Do they help coordinate and fund Iron Mind tours?

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No. We don’t work with any booking agency; we don’t have a manager; we do it all ourselves. We just work directly with the promoters.

What is ‘Suppression Records’?It’sasmalllabelfromPerth,whichisinWesternAustralia.AtthetimethattheyputoutourEP,theywerebeingrunbyamatecalledChrisBorbidgewhousedtoplaybassinabandcalled‘Blackout’.They’reworthcheckingout.They’rea really cool band, but he doesn’t play in them anymore, and he doesn’t run ‘Suppression Records’ anymore. Like, one of his – another mate, ya know, took over,basically…Oneofthefirstrecordsthat(Borbidge)putoutwasthefirstrecord that we put out so it was a new experience for everyone.

Why the name ‘Iron Mind’?Well,originally,thebandwascalled‘HoldUp’…Um,sortoflike‘hold-up(withagun),orlike,yaknow‘holdup!’(wait)–dumbname.So,overtimeoursoundchanged and ‘Hold Up’ didn’t suit it anymore. We had like, a heavier, tougher sound, and with the lyrics I was writing, ‘Iron Mind’ just kind of suited. I think it’sagoodsoundingname.Peoplerememberit;itreflectsthebandalotbetter.It’stoughbutit’s…notlike,corny.Youlookatitandlike,it(canmean)havingastrong mind.

What singers really inspired you, growing up?Well, growing up, I don’t know; I loved Metallica. I wouldn’t say that, like, the soundorformofJamesHetfield(directlyinfluencesmysound).Butsomeofmyfavoritevocalistsarelike,H.R.fromtheBadBrains,JohnandJosephfromtheRamones,alotofDanzig–justguysthatareanimatedandintoit.

I noticed you’ve been reading the Neil Young biography, ‘Waging Heavy Peace’. Can you relate to Young’s life as a musician?IlikeNeilYoung…Idon’tknowifI,um…Ithinkanyonewithlike,liberalpolitics can relate to him…good musician – stuck at it.

Expire has more melodic vocals. Have you ever experimented with other vocal sounds in the past?No. ‘Iron Mind’ is the only band I’ve ever been in. I’ve never really experimented, like, with different styles. My vocals have evolved over time. Actually, we’re working on a new record right now…and I am trying to like, I wouldn’t say experiment, but trying to change things a little bit from last time – just so it sounds – just to give a little bit more depth to it…I’m always trying to improve on writing – better songs, better lyrics, more interesting vocal patterns. ‘HellSplitWideOpen’waslike,everysong,everyphrase,everywordwasjustat like a hundred percent – a hundred percent…so this record I wanna kind of, um,haveabitmoreebbandflowoftheenergytokindofemphasize(songs)–nothing too drastic though.

What does the word graffiti mean to you?Hmm, like, I know a lot of graff artists and I’m sort of on the peripheral of it, I guess. I’ve never written, ever. I’ve always liked it though. I guess I have a pretty good understanding of the culture, ya know, where it’s come from and

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what’srealandwhat’snot.Irespectit.Butyeah,I’mnotawriter,myself.Ilikewhat I like…The politics and stuff don’t involve me, but I’m aware of it, you know…Thereisanaspectofvandalismtograffiti–realgraffiti.It’snotaboutrespecting other people’s property; it’s about getting your name up there. I mean, there’sanargumentpeoplecanmake.There’ssomegraffitiartiststhatdon’tdoanything illegal, you know what I mean. So, I guess there would be some people – I mean, I don’t really give a shit, but there’d be some people who’d criticize thatandsay,oh,that’snotreallygraffiti,yaknow.Like,you’renotreallyagraffitiartistunlessyouyou’redoingitacertainway.

You and Doug have designed some cool skateboards in the past, but a lot of your respective works are very different from each other. Has any of Aldrich’s work inspired you to do something different?Absolutely. He’s really into typography. Type is something that’s always really gotten away from me, ya know? I mean, a lot of people really overlook type. A lot of the times, it’s considered an afterthought to whatever image it’s accompanying. To see someone that’s really got a strong grip on it – like with this collaborative piece that we worked on recently – just to see him free hand it – block it out – it’s really cool. I don’t think I’ll switch my major to type, but watchinghimdoitwasdefinitelyinspiring,yeah.

Well, you guys, wanna blaze; wanna get outta here?Yeah....You’vegot,what,threeorfourmorepagesthere?(smiles)

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April 2013, 13

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Aftermuchmeasuringandnailing(wefoundahammer),sixo’clockrolls around, and the show is born. The joint buzzes. DougAldrichagreestodropussomeknowledgeinbetweenshakinghands and selling prints of his work. Aldrich is one of the featured artists andcoconspiratorof‘CrossingLines’.HeiscurrentlylivingandworkinginBrooklyn.

So why Brooklyn?ItstartedwhenIwasgonnagotoschoolatPratt.AndIdid;Iwenttoschoolthere,butitwasjustmoreofameccaofalltheinterestsIhad.Yaknow,IwasgettingenoughoutofSyracuse,butIwasfindingmyselfhavingtotravelmoreand more to seek out more events and more things I was into. So it all kinda just linedup.ThenIendedupinschoolandthenfinishedupschool(andrealized)here is kinda where I have to stay to put my mark in this whole art world. I don’t consider myself here for the rest of my life; I might move at some point, but it’s a good place to establish myself and start off.

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So what made you decide to do ‘Crossing Lines’ here and now?I mean, I did a show one year ago at the same time, and was kinda getting my feetwet.Myfirsttime,Ididn’tknowwhatIwasdoingnecessarily.Itwentfairlywell,butIdidn’treallybranchoutandreachanewaudience.Yaknow,Ihad hoped on doing another show in the future, and then Sam kinda just threw outtheideatome.Youknow,Ihumoredtheideaandweexchangedalotofthoughts on it, went back and forth and ya know, it just ended up happening.

How do you go about making an event happen? What were some of your biggest snags? Imean,itstartswith–yougottafigureoutageneraltimeayear.Yeahyougottagetaspace,butwithaspace,theywannaknowwhen.Yougottagettheavailability. So we had to put down a general idea of when, and then we started just kind of, ah…we didn’t really throw out the ideas of what we were doing work-wise.Wejustmadeourownworkandthenstartedfeedingeachotheralittle more information on what we were each looking into. I had a venue – I was gonna use the same venue I had used before. I had that locked down, and then the owner actually lost the space so, it just kinda fell apart, and, ya know, it wasn’t his fault. I had to scramble to make up for that. I started with a lot of different searches. I was emailing a lot of places and not really getting back much. It’s a tough scene doing an art show. I hit up some old teachers of mine, people I knew and then I got forwarded some links of places to check out and eventually, ya know ended up with this place. I checked out a few others, but this one seemed like the most logical so I went with it.

How do you promote and event like this?That’s one of the things I struggle with – maybe not struggle, but I’m learning. Ijustdoitallmyself,yaknow–handingoutflyersinpersonandtellingallmyfriends, posting on facebook, on my blog, other friends posting it for me, and you know I have a few friends with similar interest in creative outlets and they help me out in certain ways. It’s a lot of friends helping friends…I do blindly send stuff out, but more times than not it doesn’t really get me anywhere. Most times people don’t really wanna look into something they’ve never heard of – they don’t have time to check out every person that says they wanna do something so, you kinda have to be aggressive and you can’t really expect things to happen – you have to just go and get it, and be in people’s face about it.

How did you meet Octigan?Well, his band toured with a band from here that I’m good friends with. He was over here visiting for about a month, and we got introduced and realized we havealotofsimilarbackgroundsandinterests.Youknow,webothcheckedeach others work out and, ya know, it’s not every day that I meet someone that has the same mindset and the same head on, and outlook on their work and same quality even.

For the second year in a row, you’ve made a multi-artist show happen in April, in Brooklyn. Are you planning on making this an annual deal?Yeah,Imean,Ilovekeepingthewholeideaoffriendshelpingfriendsgoing.So,maybe not the same month every year, but I’d like to try to do it once a year – maybe more than that. We’ll see where it goes.

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You worked in a Mexican restaurant here in the city for a while. What did you like / dislike about that experience?I like some of the people I worked with. I like the food…I also disliked some of the people…and disliked how bullshit it was – the feeling of knowing that I’m not really making anything that does anything for myself, I was just handing some snobby white person a plate of food that they were…not even that grateful for…I was balancing that normal job and doing freelance and it got to be too much, and then so I just hit the ground running with the freelance…I still have my ups and downs. There’s times where I’m doing well and then I hit a plateau whereitjuststops.Youhavetoconstantlyberemindingpeoplethatyou’restillmakingthingsandnotjustfloatingby.

You’re a Syracuse native. Tell me what you’ve done for the community there recently?Recently,Ipaintedarestaurantthatservesgelatoandcoffee,called‘CrêpeandGelatoBoulevard’(ThreeFifteenS.ClintonSt,ArmorySquare)I’malsoteachingasmallyouthclassonmuralsandgraffiti.Yeah,it’satwodayevent–two different classes, and the piece that the kids make will be in a children’s art showattheM.O.S.T.I’mreallyexcitedtogivebackinsomesortofwaywithsomethingthatinfluencedme.

What’s your favorite place to eat in Brooklyn?I’mgonnasay,rightnow,‘PiesandThighs’…It’sallabouttheSoutherncomfortfood.(smiling)(Note:YoucanusuallycatchDougieatDinosaurBBQanytimehe’sinCuse)

What does the word graffiti mean to you?I mean, it’s whatever it wants to be. I mean…I think ultimately it’s just painting things that you wanna paint without really any…ya know, you’re not really mindful of others and what you’re painting on – you’re just putting something in everyone’sface.It’slikeself-advertisement…andthatsoundskindacommercialand stupid, but essentially it’s just bein’ aggressive, and I think it’s bein’ a bad kid.Ithinkrealgraffitishouldstillhavesomeformsofdoingsomethingyou’renot supposed to – something slightly criminal. There’s people that make it into a career and it’s a paid lifestyle and it’s more mainstream. Some argue that’s not graffiti.Ithinkthere’sabadkidattitudethathastobeassociatedwithit.

Why visual art? What’s the attraction? Why not be an accountant for IBM or a regional manager of Aldi’s?I mean, I like making something visually appealing that also makes someone think and appreciate my thought. I could have a thought, but how different am I fromsomeotherpersonthathasthesamethought.Yaknow,there’ssomethinga little more individual about expressing it in a visual way that I think is really important. I don’t think I’d have any really big impact as an individual if I was doing just a normal job as an accountant or something like that.

What’s next in the immediate future?Makin’ more work, whatever opportunity comes my way, I’m open for it. I’m just approaching one thing at a time. Who knows…another show in the next year andplentyofotherjobsin-between–justconstantlycreatingwork.

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What’s one piece of advice you would give to an aspiring artist – somebody trying to get their work out there?I think hard work is most important. No one’s gonna give you anything in this world.Youhavetogooutthereandseekit.Ifyoureallywantsomething,youhave to show it. And you’re gonna get put down time and time again. That persistence is the only way you’ll ever achieve anything. It’s a cold world.

Tell me about ‘Eternal Power’. This piece really stands out to me.That was actually the last piece I made and it was kind of…ya know, I made it pretty quickly. I based it on an original sketch that I already had that I really liked, but I never really had a use for. I had a really good talk with some friends of mine on the topic of religion and what it means, and it started withjustChristianityandthentheBibleanditspread from one thing to another. We had a really positive talk, I thought. I found a way to incorporate that into that sketch that I had. Ultimately, we came to a lot of different conclusions. It was a pretty long talk, but what I was trying to imply is the idea of religion being such an old thing, and there’s so many different outlooks towards religion. They all think that they’re the pure and almighty, yet they all have these special codes that seem to contradict each other time and time again. That being said, it’s just about the stress. Like, this guys freakin’ out. What is the real religion – how do I know this one is the one that’s gonna bring me to the better afterlife or whatever they believe in. I think that it’s just such a twisted and big word, it’s funny how it’s such a big part of society and culture, and yet noonecanreallydefineit.Andeveryoneonlygivesexplanationsbasedontheirown research. And some are more knowledgeable than others. I think it’s really funny, when you start stating a fact, or say something that they can’t back up, their immediate response is that it’s taboo and they dismiss you and they get offended and that’s it. They don’t even want to question something. And I like to takealookat(topics)withopenandcriticalthinking,yaknow…Ididn’tmake

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the piece to bash any one religion or give off my political or religious views. I just wanted to put it in a way to say that there should be open thought for a lot of things that are involved in religion.Yaknow,thingsthat were written in all these ancient books, where they came from and how they translate over time. Society’s outlook and the waysof(the)timesreallychange, and so do a lot of these laws of what’s acceptable and what’s not. Just an example is inChristianitywiththeBible;It’ssuchanancientold book. With how many changes and hands that it’s been through, how do we knowthatthat’sthefinalwordon(religion)…SoI’mjust very critical on that way of thinking. I think, really, religion should – to not bash it and to follow up with what I said – I think it can really be any person’s way of getting through life. Everyone needs something to count on and rely on when life is really beating them down. So, religion can come in all kinds of forms. It doesn’t need to be that(specific).HowIseeit, it could be a music style. The way that someone followsitanditinfluencestheir life and makes them think differently. I mean, that ultimately could be religion.Youdon’thavetobelieveinonepersonorXnumber of gods.

Photos:AmandaCarnella

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So…that’s how I see it. It’sveryopen-ended.

What’s your favorite cartoon character?(laughs)Shit,alltimefavorite…Ah man – there’s just so many different – cause I have to think about what time period I have to narrow itdownto…I’mgonna-I’m gonna say Mickey Mouse…yeah. Just in the sense of how he has stood the test of time, and he has evolved. I really like his early stages, even pre – Walt Disney.

Awesome, thanks for your time, man.

Meanwhile…K-Radholdsdownthespace’s back corner. Here’s an eavesdropped excerpt from a conversation he was having with this otherguy:

Kid: “‘SpringBreakers’is like a commentary on modern youth whereas ‘Kids’ is more like youth at the time that it came out”

True or False? Ask your friends…ask your enemies…ask your parents.

Photo: Amanda Carnella

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K-Rad: What was that one movie that came out like last summer or last spring that was kinda like fake documentary setup where it was like this kid who has like a house party and shit got way outta control?

Doyouknowtheanswertothisquestion,reader?Ifyouthinkyoudo,emailmeandIwillpasstheanswerontoK-Rad,whoislosingsleepasyou

read this.

Later that night, back at the house, we all enjoy some crosstalk and cheap jabs. The mood is galvanized by Reggie’s enormous dump that he proudly retrieved from the toilet to show everyone. “Look at the size of it,” he saysbeforeK-Radsmacksitoutofhishand.I

shamelesslypryOctiganwithafewmorequestions:

The track ‘Look Into My Eye’ off of ‘Hell Split Wide Open’ begins with a sample saying “Death is a million times preferable to one more day in this life.” What is that? That’s from the Jonestown death tapes – Jim Jones, yeah that’s Jim Jones.

Can you tell me about an oil on canvas that you painted in TwoThousandTen called ‘Untitled’ The silhouetted figure reminds me of the image on Elliot Smith’s self-titled album. What’s the meaning behind this work?I,madethat–thatwasthefirstpaintingIdidwhenImovedhomefromFrance–IlivedinFranceforayear.Yeah,itwasmadeforagroupshow…Itwasmoreof a study of posture and facial features and I just grew it from there. I really just liked the result and submitted to the show…There’s sort of different layers to it.

Around the new year, you did a project with Mike Danischewski at the Containers of Modern Art at People’s Market? What recycled materials did you use for the piece?We mainly used a bunch of recycled gig posters – like posters for shows, that sort of thing. We clipped up a bunch of those and Mike – he’s a photographer

April 2013, 21

AnAldrichOctiganCreationCheckoutJoeHubbasvideoofhowitwasmade.GotoDougsblogat

dougaldrichdesign.com

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April 2013, 23

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North Korea Conflict Potential

Is North Korea going to bomb the United States? What’s the deal? There’stonsoftalkflyin’aroundpopularmedia,whichStzaCracktellsusnottolistentoo,butthen…whodowelistento?Orshouldwenotlistenatall? I’m almost as frustrated as Mike Muir in that Suicidal Tendencies video, ‘Institutionalized.’SomebodygetthatdudeaPepsi…AllIwantisaPepsi! ConnorMurphytookresponsibilityforthisdebatebyaskingafewquestionstoawell-respectedhistoryprofessorathishighschoolhereinSyracuse:

Does North Korea have nuclear arms?Ah, as far as I know, it seems as though they do. I do believe that that has been confirmed–notontheground,buttheyhaveactuallytestedthemunderground,I believe.

Do those missiles have the capability to reach the United States?From what I have gathered and read, it doesn’t seem to be possible. They can reach some of our allies, but not the United States itself. They’ve had a few disasters – where rockets have gone wild – and have blown up, and things like that. So, I think they’re trying desperately, but I’m not certain that they’ve acquired the technology yet.

Has North Korea declared war on the United States?Ah, nooo, not in so many words. They threatened us with attack, and, but they haven’tissuedanofficialdeclarationofwar–Idon’tknowifthey’ddothatanyway.

What is the status of the armistice that was reached at the end of the Korean Conflict? It’s still in place – I don’t think they announced that they were reneging on it…butactually,theymayHAVEdonethat.But,Ithinkasfarasthewestisconcerned,it’sstillinplace,andtheDemilitarizedZoneisstillthereandstillvery heavily armed.

April 2013, 25

Do YOU think North Korea will try to bomb the US? I don’t think it would serve their purposes to bomb the United States; I think it serves their purposes to bluster against the United States. Their people are in such horrible condition, starving and all. I think the only solidarity they might have is in having an enemy. And they have a huge army, and I think that when the leaders bluster against the US, it’s one of the few rallying points they might actually have.

If you had ten minutes of Kim Jong Un’s time, what would you say to him?(Throwshisarmsup,leansbackinhischair)WhattheHELLareyoudoing!(laughs)…andwhy.Imean,thethingabouttheNorthKoreanleaders,(thatis)the present one and his father – they seem to like western things. They seem tolikewesternfilm,andso,it’sveryoddtomethattheydowhattheydo.It’sconfusing to say the least. Again, I think it might be the only rallying point they have. I’m not really certain though.

Cool. Thanks, Mr. Conti. So,thefirstpersonwhosetimeItapwiththisissueisthecuteolive-skinned girl riding Greyhound. LuccawasbornandraisedinCórdoba,thesecondlargestcityinArgentina. “It has almost two million people living in the city and almost fivemillioninthewholestate…soit’sreallybigcomparedtoBinghamton,”shesays,laughing.HerfatherteachesatSUNYBinghamton.SoLuccalived in the U.S. from ages fourteen to seventeen before she moved back to Argentina. After earning a Food Science degree from an Argentinean college inDecember,Luccamovedagain–backtothegoodol’U.S.toworkasahostess at a ski resort restaurant in Idaho for four months. She is now on her waytoNewYorkCity(inthesamebusseatasme!)tovisitsomeArgentineanfriends who are traveling as well. “Argentina is not in a good place right now. So, I don’t see a lot of opportunities there. So…I have no idea what I wanna do with the rest of my life!” Lucca recommends listening to ‘Soda Estereo’ – “It’s like…classic Argentinean rock.”

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A smile never leaves Lucca’s face. When it comes down to brass tacks with this month’s worldly question, she is earnest, but aloof.

Do you think North Korea is going to bomb the United States?IfIhadtosay…Iwouldn’t–Iwouldn’tthinkso,no.(laughs)

If you had ten minutes of Kim Jong Un’s time, what would you say to him?I really wouldn’t – I really wouldn’t know where to – to start – or what to say or anything, but…I get your point… I actually haven’t been on top of the subject a lot.

Just from a humanitarian standpoint though – don’t bomb people, right?Don’tbombpeople,yeah.(laughs)

OneNewJerseyresidentwhorefusestoprovidehisfirstname(“Idon’even knowyou!’),respondswithafirm“No,”ashefrownsandshakeshishead. He wears a feathered fedora, a tan leather jacket, suit pants, and slick gangstershoesfromthefifties.Hiselbowsrestcomfortablyonhisknees,ashesitsinacornerchairofaforty-square-footloungewithinthebowelsofPortAuthorityBusTerminal.AtallcanofBudweiseriscasuallynestledinonehand,while his other hand politely reaches up to shake mine. It’s easy to see that he’s done talking.

“GodBless,”hesays,asiftosay“FuckYou”thepolitestwayheknows how. I thank him for his time and turn to walk away. Just then, the man sitting across from him desperately exclaims, “They can’t reach us, though…”

I stop; look directly into his bugged drunken eyes. “I hope not,” I say. As I push my way out of the corral, I can hear him insisting repeatedly, “They can’t…they can’t!”

April 2013, 27

Eerie…That feral bastard’s words echo for some reason. It’s as if he has gone from drunk, to insane, to unintelligible, and then he somehow pushed through to this even father out level of clairvoyant thought and communication that’s really fucking gripping. Ormaybeitwasjusthiseyes.

TheinteractionwithNissaismuchmorecomforting: Can you spell that?

En – Eye – Ess – Ess – Ehe…It’s Scandinavian.

Nissa is an attractive young woman of Scandinavian, Hungarian, Italian, and German descent. She is a Syracuse native who attended Nottingham High School. While there, she enjoyed their rich art program and block scheduling. She also participated in cross country, indoor track, crew, and played the saxophone. When asked about her work experience, she said that she has toiledintheparkinglotofthe(NotSo)GreatNYStateFair,andworkedatthePetitBranchLibrary,nearwhereshegrewup. Overall,NissaseemstohaveenjoyedherSyracuseadolescence,despitebeing a bit introverted. Even though she describes her high school as ‘the most suburbanoftheSyracuseCitySchools,”itwasstill“abitofacultureshock”for her when she began attending Syracuse University in TwoThousandEight. “I’ve never seen so many preppy white girls in my life,” she says. Nissa notes that there is a large refugee population at Nottingham, and many people speak languagesotherthanEnglish.Onthistopic,NissarecommendsTheWorldWeCreatedatHamiltonHigh,byGeraldGrant.Itprovidesinsightintothesocialpolitics of high school. Furthermore, she believes this particular book was writtenaboutNottinghamspecifically. The opportunity to go to SU was made available by a reduced tuition program for city school students called the “SU challenge.” After a year there, Nissa decided to move on. “Syracuse is primarily a research school,” whereas “teaching is secondary.” So, she transferred to St. Lawrence University in the north country, where she graduated in TwoThousandTwelve.

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Currently,sheislivinginWilmington,Delaware,workingforthe Franciscan Volunteer Ministry. Members of this ministry volunteer alloverthecommunity.Nissa’snicheisattheCreativeVisionFactory(thecreativevisionfactory.org),whereshehelpspeoplewithbehavioralhealthissues to turn their energy into art. Inthefall,NissawillbeattendingevenmoreschoolinBuffaloinorder to obtain her degree in Library Science. Nissa recommends listening to‘MumfordandSons’andBachataandMerengue,whichissomekindofDominicanmusicthatdefinitelysoundsworthcheckingout. Today, Nissa is heading back to St. Lawrence University to chum around with college pals and likely eat a Mikey’s Special at Sergie’s pizza inCanton,NY.Mikey’sSpecialsarehandmadewithloveandtendernessbyhomeboyextraordinaireAlexBain.ShewillstopbrieflyintheCusetograbcoffeewithhermother(ifthebusmakesitintime!). Ahh, Syracuse. A good place to be from, they say. “I never got to know thecitybecauseIjustreallywantedtoleave,”sheconfidestome.You’renotalone, Nissa. I, myself, was guilty of this mentality at one point. I hope to make upforit.Rightnow.ByLayin’somePipe. Anyway,let’sgetdowntobrassapes:

Do you think North Korea is going to bomb the United States any time soon?I really hope not. I really, really hope not, but you never know – ‘cause he seems really unpredictable.

If you had ten minutes with Kim Jong Un and an interpreter, what would you say to him?That’s a question I don’t think anyone has ever asked me…Um…I would just wannaseehispointofview,firstofall,toseewhatI’dbegoingagainst.So,like, ‘how do you feel about us and why’. And, ‘this is why you shouldn’t bomb us’…’cause, ya know, it’s just mean.

Willisamiddle-agedfellawholives,works,breathes,eats,andhypothesizesinSyracuse–oftenwhilewearingaMarioBros.t-shirtandsporting a Zelda tattoo. He frequents the gas station where I work, and has a profound ability to balance simple perverted jokes with deep emotional puzzlers.

Will, do YOU think North Korea is going to bomb the United States?Not at all.

April 2013, 29

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If you had ten minutes with Kim Jong Un and an interpreter, what would you say to him?Idon’tthinkI’mqualifiedtosayanythingtohim.Tobehonestwithyou,Iwouldn’t even know where to begin…My ten minutes with him would be more about questioning about his culture in general and learnin’ about his shit. Like, I wouldn’t even really be that concerned with the whole thing – like, I’d be like,‘Yaknowthankyouforthetimeandbytheway,yaknow,pleasedon’tbombus…’But,Idon’tthinkthatwe,asasociety,havearighttostopthemfrom developing nuclear power plants, which unfortunately, can lead to nuclear weapons, but I mean, they’re just tryin’ to get by like us. I wish they weren’t aggressive, but who am I to say their form of government or their politics are wrong…I mean, look at the economy in our country. We’re kinda at the bottom of the barrel – just for the government to print money – they print it at a debt. Like, they gotta buy it from the reserve. So, as soon as they print a dollar, it costs adollarthirtyfivethattheyowetoprivatecitizensthatownthefederalreserve.

Woah. That’s a lot to keep track of, Will.

Tom is an elder gentlemen who breezes around town sampling coffee andchocolates,andbestowinghigh-spiritedwisdomuponeveryonehemeets. He’salsofunnyasshit.Everyday,hewalksapproximatelyfivemilesandbelievesfirmlyinOmegafishoils. Having lived in Syracuse all his life, he will tell you about when the buses were cheaper, the movie theaters more prevalent, and downtown was alive with excitement.

So, Tom…Korea…the U.S…bombing in the future – what say you?Nope.They’replayingBrinkmanshipDiplomacy;Takeittotheedge–takeittothe brink – and then back down.

Hmm,Brinkmanship…I’llhavetogooglethatlater…

Let’saskthedudefromtheVerizonstore:

Verizon Store Dude:(shakeshishead)No…no…justbigtalkfromalittleman.

April 2013, 31

Okay,how‘boutthisguy?HisnameisDan.HeisaregularcustomerandaSyracuseresident.DanenjoysMountainDewandCamelCrushBlues. He feels that the North Koreans are going to set off a missile of some kind,buttheywillnotfireitattheU.S.becausethey, “Don’thavetheballstodosomethinglikethat.”

Swayze Patisahandsomesix-foot-fourSyracuseanwithanaffinityforskiing,poloshirts,andHondaCivics. It is three in the morning when I’m awaken by the weight of “The Walrus,” as some like to call him, bearing down on me. Apparently he is bestowinguponmesomestrangeformofalate-nightgreeting.

Ah! Get off me, dude…Oh, Swayze it’s you…So, do you think the North Korean’s are going to bomb us?Honestly dude, I don’t think whether or not they do or not – it’s not gonna matter…because we got sh – fuckin’ tankers – outside – just chillin’…well, Idon’tknowifthey’retankersnecessarily,(laughs)butyeah.Theyhavelikemissile interceptors and shit. We got ThirtyThousand troops over there, chillin’. Andah…yeah,ifanythinggoesdowndude,wegottheF-Sixteensjustcirclin’aroundNorthKoreareadytaBOMB‘emout…Iftheystep,we’reabouttaanswer…We’re boutta swat ‘em off the boards – just hand through the glass backboard.

So, if you had ten minutes of Kim Jong Un’s uninterrupted time, what do you think you would say to him?(longpause)I–I’dprollyaskhimifheplayedPokémonwhenhewasyounger(laughs)…AndthenI’daskhimwhyhewassomadatus…um,andthen,Idon’tknow, I’d prolly ask him how serious he was about bombin’ us, ‘cause of the fact that we would just straight, like, take out North Korea – a hundred percent. I’m mean, it’s fucked, but we would. We’re in that age right now. I mean, all our money, all our funding, everything goes to the military, so we got mad loot invested in just blowin’ people the fffuck up…So, yeah if it happens, we’re just gonna decimate like a huge portion of North Korea.

Well, this has been interesting indeed.

Conclusion:Takethatoneextraskateboardrideandgetthatcutegirl’snumber,but don’t go bustin’ out windows and stealin’ cars just yet.

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The Life and Times of Aaron

Everyone can relate to relationship problems. There are lots of people in the world, andwealllikedifferentflavorsofVitaminWater,smoke different cigarettes, worship different corporations,havedifferentwallet-foldingstyles,and different ear shapes. It’s easy to see where problemscanarise.Oneofmyleastfavoriteproblems is when everyone else is acting, eating, sleeping, driving, watching TV, pushing things,

walking, and sitting, in patterns that just don’t line up with the stuff I’m trying to do at that exact moment. Sometimes, I gotta choose what to do and who to do it with. Sometimes…I gotta bail on shit. What do you do when life gets like this? Let’s ask Aaron…

Is it okay to stand your girl up at the mall?Well, a couple things just happened with the family – is it already on? – whoops that’s gonna sound bad…ah…me and the family had a little bit of a dispute kinda thing – a little bit of an issue and a miscommunication goin’ on. I just happened to be late to the mall. Unfortunately she doesn’t have a phone. I couldn’t get a hold of her, or else, otherwise the situation kinda would have been a little more clear. So, I guess we’ve all made that mistake at least once, and we try not to make it again. I’m hopin’ she’s not mad at me at all in any kinda way. I’m hopin’ she’s still ah, still tryin’ to work things out basically. I’m waitin’ to hear back from her as we speak, actually.

How are you going to hear back from her if she doesn’t have a phone? Actually, ladies and germs, that’d be the funny part. We have only talked throughfacebooksofar,sorightnowI’mactuallyalittlefifty-fiftyrightnow.Tryin’ to do a little bit of the detective work – see if she’s legit or not…That’s prettymuchallsIcangivesrightnow…Yeahpeople,ifyou’relisteningtothisright now – or whenever the heck you do – I didn’t try to do it on purpose. Everybodyknowsthingshappen.We’reallhuman.We’reallflawedattheendof the day. I wish I could go back in time and change this though. So, that way I wouldn’t have done this to her.

What do you plan on doing differently in the future to avoid a faux pas such as this one?Well,whatIplantodointhefutureisdefinitelymoreorsoobvious,yaknow…Make sure I, ah, straighten things out, and ya know, and communication can be more easier.

Well, Aaron, do you think North Korea is gonna bomb the United States?Idunno,dude…Idon’tknow,thewayitSOUNDS–itsoundsliketheywill.Sounds like they got those missiles ready to go off sooner or later. The question is when…

April 2013, 33

So, if you had ten minutes with Kim Jong Un to present a case explaining why he shouldn’t bomb us, what would you say?Whothehellisthat,firstofall?

That’s the dude in charge of North Korea.Save those missiles for the ah, for the person that you’d probably need it more against than us.

The Rise and Fall of Recess: A Drive with Paul and Kara from Syracuse

RecessCoffee,atOneTenHarvardPl.inWestcottNation,wasestablished in TwoThousandSeven. They recently opened another location at SixOhOneTullySt…Itisnowdefunct.

When did the Tully St. spot open up?Paul: Ah, I wanna say eight months ago.

Was it a solid spot? You and Kara went there once, correct?Kara:Oh,wewenttheremorethanonce.Paul:Wedefinitelywentmorethanonce.Kara:WewenttheDAYtheyclosed…Itwassad.Paul: It was somber to say the least…ah, but it’s kinda always somber in there, a little bit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than one other customer in there –

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maybe one time. I have to say, I feel like the level of awareness about that space is just not where it should be for a business to survive…even with a product as wonderful as Recess coffee.Kara: And it wasn’t in a neighborhood where it could be successful…like that neighborhood isn’t…isn’t quite there yet. And um, I don’t know, even like their whole layout was kinda weird though. I mean, they didn’t have, ya know little coffee shop tables or couches – it was just like the two giant tables –Paul: TheyhadtwoGIGANTICwoodentables!Kara: Like, ‘we’re all gonna drink coffee and eat together,’ ya know, they we’re likegiantdinnertables.(laughs)Paul: Weird…Kara: (laughs)Itwaskindofweird.Paul: Buttheambiencewasreallynice.Itwaswell-lit–Kara: There was art on the walls.Paul: Art on the walls…they had a nice shelf full of games.Kara: There was that phone booth book thing outside – Paul:Ohyeah,theyhadthebookexchangeoutfront!–Ifyouhaveabookyoudon’t want, just put it in this old phone booth, and then you take a book…take a book, leave a book.Kara:AndPaulgotaHardyBoysbook(laughs)Paul:TheMysteryoftheMysteriousMystery,orwhatever(laughs)Kara:(laughs)

Damn, that sounds essential. It’s too bad that the spot didn’t survive.Paul: Welll, I think another coffee shop actually had a similar problem. Another local fella couldn’t make it work there either.

I’ve heard about other activity at SixOhOne Tully. What can you tell me about that?Paul: Well, it’s a two story building.Kara: Is it?Paul:Yeah,Ithinkit’sathreestoryjob,actually.Kara: Really?!Paul:Yeah,there’salittlestaircaseintheback,andthere’sawell-informedbulletin board – I think they have pottery classes; they do sculpting and ceramics…There’s a community garden next to it – that’s just dead. Everything inthereisDEAD.It’sawful;it’sdepressing.Kara:Yeah,it’skindasymbolicofthewholeplaceitself.Paul: YoucouldtellpeoplewejustSOPSYCHEDaboutitforlikeaweek,andthen just, ‘eh.’Kara: And again, it’s like, the neighborhood is not quite there yet.

PaultoldmeaboutsomethingthattheydowhereheusedtoliveinCaliforniacalleda‘blockpush.’Takeaweekend.Getyourfriends/enemiestogether and buff that dumpy part of town right around the corner. Mow the lawn, pick up trash, whatever. There is also a local volunteer group called Operation Northern Comfort who makes Syracuse nicer in lots of different ways. Email me to participate.

April 2013, 35

Who is ‘The Citizen’

I’minthebackseatofPaul’sNeon.WearearrivingatsomerandomchurchinWebster,NY.PaulisparkingwhileKarasits shotgun. They are both guilty of helping to create a series of cinematic shorts that you absolutely must watch.

Paul: Ahhh, I don’t know; my head is like miles away from there right now. (soundofcigarettespacking)

C’mon, I’ve got a few easy ones…When did you guys start making ‘The Citizen’?Kara: Ehh, like, I think the initial conception was maybe – when we started talking about it was, what, like a year and a half ago maybe?

How many episodes do you have so far?Kara:Four.We’restartingproductiononthefifth.

Who is the writer?Kara: Ah, we all are. We all have written episodes. We’ve all directed episodes.

Who does the filming?Kara: Um – Paul: (slightlyirritated)Thatwouldbeme.Kara:Mr.Gonzales,ourDP.Paul:IAMtheDP,whichstandsforDirectorofPhotographyKara: Yes,itdoes.ItdoesNOTstandforDoublePenetration.(laughs)

So what’s been going on recently with ‘The Citizen’?Kara: Well, we just released episode four online. And, we are tryin’ to make somemovesonepisodefive,um–Paul:ButthereISepisodesixthat’sbeenwritten.Thereisanepisodeseventhatis in the, sort of, outline phase – the script isn’t written. We try to keep at least three of ‘em in some stage of production.Kara:Like,pre-productiononone,productiononanother,post-productiononanother.Paul:You’rewritin’onewhileyou’reshootingone,whileyou’reeditingone.

Where do you film ‘The Citizen’?Kara:AlloverCentralNewYork.Paul: Anywhere and everywhere.

How much does it cost to make it?Paul:NotaDAMNthing.Kara: The cost of coffee.

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How can I watch ‘The Citizen?’Kara:JustgotoWEARETHECITIZEN.COM,friendusonfacebook,andvisit us on youtube…we will be taking a break over the summer on releasing episodesonline,sowecankindaregroupand,yaknow,keeponfilmingandgetacoupleinthebagbeforewestartreleasing‘emagain–HOWEVER,wewillbe doing a Kickstarter to raise some money for – we need some good sound equipment. We need a new lens, we need…more coffee. So, we’ll be doin’ a Kickstarter to try and fund our ventures – Paul:“kick-start”it,ifyouwillKara: Yeah,wecandosomemorecooleffectsandshit,likehaveexplosions,buysomeC-Four,youknow

C-Four’s not cheap.Kara: Exactly…wewillbestarting(ourKickstarter)soon.We’llprollyhavedetails on the website and on facebook, so everyone go check that out!

Bus TalkCreated by the bus, for the bus.

April’sbus-talktopicmanifestsasIridetheSolvay-AveryacrossGeddes, up behind Fowler HS. A young man and woman are barking and moaningbackandforth.Theissue?CouldJesusandtheDevilactuallyhavebeenbrothers?Let’saskthebus:

CentropatronA is elderly. He rocks a cane and sports a ‘Walk With Jesus’ hat.

Patron A: I believe in Jesus. I don’t know about the devil, but I believe in Jesus.

(Note:thisdudedefinitelybelievesinJesus)

So, what about them being brothers, what do you think about that?Ahh, nah, no way…nope.

April 2013, 37

CentropatronBsits behind patron 1#.HewearsanorangeCuseteeshirt.HelookslikeLarryBirdatageOneHundredFourteen.

Patron B: No, they’re not – they weren’t. They weren’t brothers. Nope.

How do you know?Patron B: Well,‘causeIreadtheBible.Devilwasanangelwhotriedtotakeoverandgotkickedout.ReadtheBible.It’srightinthere.

CentropatronC sits nearby. She is elderly and plump with rosy cheeks and large facial features. She’s not quite glowing, but her eyes are warm. If I told her I was hungry, she’d probably invite me home for soup and grilled cheese.

Do you have an opinion on this topic?Patron C: I dunno; I’m Jewish

Patron A:(interrupts)TheGardenofEDEN–withAdamandEve–theDevilkept tellin’ ‘em to eat from the tree of knowledge and Jesus wasn’t even around then!

Where’d you get that Jesus hat?Patron A: Regional Market…you know those Asian people that have all those boxes that sit out and stuff? They got a table with hats…I got another one that says ‘Jesus is my boss’.

CentropatronD is a young college student. He is intelligent and willing to talk, despite being slightly confused.

Patron D: Well,I’mMuslim,soIhavenoideawhattheBiblesays.I’veheardthough,thattheDevilwasanangelwhogotkickedoutofheaven…doyouknow anything about this?

No, I just though it was an interesting topic.Patron D: I wish I could be more help.

CentropatronE is a young woman with short blond hair wearing headphones and sitting in those roomy front handicapped seats.

Can I ask you a question?Patron E: Is it the same question you asked him

Yes.Patron E: I…don’treallyknowmuchabouttheBible,tobehonestwithyou.So, I’m not really sure how to respond.

That’s okay. That’s valid.Patron E: Canyou–canyoure-explainittomeagain?

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Were Jesus and the Devil brothers?Patron E: Jesus and who?

The devil.Patron E: Ah…is it just my opinion or is it based on text or what?

Just your opinion.Patron E: Okay,lemmethinkaboutitforasec…okay,thisisbasedtotallyonmy opinion, not based on text or anything. Um, okay, so Jesus was kinda the duality of man and God supposedly. So, my opinion is that it’s possible because hewasinman-formandwenaturallysin,whichmakesusallatleastsomewhatrelatedtotheDevil.AndtheJesuswasalsoanimageofGod,whichsupposedlywe are too, but he was…exploited somehow – like, he was the son, or God, or, I’m not really sure what he is…yeah I guess that’s my opinion.

CentropatronFisanattractivewomaninhermid-twentieswithtightfittingdenim jeans, a tiny tan leather jacket, gold chains, gold rings, gold earrings, giantsunglasses,andapinkipodcover.ShesipsanoversizedDunkinDonutscup from a straw. She pauses for ten eternal seconds as she sucks on her straw before licking her lips and coming up with an answer.

Patron F: It’s possible…I can’t even – I have no comment…it’s possible, I mean–it’sfunny.(smiles)

CentropatronGisarotundveteranwhohasbeengoingtoOCConandoffsincethe NineteenEighties. He is kind and willing to participate.

Patron G:WellIdon’tknowthehistoryoftheBible,orwhatever,butah…Idon’tthinkit’spossible,no.TheDevilwasanarcangelorsomethin’likethat,andJesuswasbornlongafterthat.So,theDevilwasaroundlongbeforeJesus–so, yeah, it’s not possible. I don’t think it’s possible.

CentropatronH is boring and I can’t remember what she looks like.

Patron H: No.(shakingherheadandscrunchingherface)

CentropatronIistheslightlymoreannoyedmaleversionofPatron#8.

Patron I: Ah, I don’t hav – I don’t care

CentropatronJis very large, wears glasses, and has a head of thick braided hair.

May I have a minute of your time?Patron J: No.

CentropatronKlookslikePatronJ,butwearsabigsmile

Patron K:(shakesherhead)

April 2013, 39

You don’t think so?Patron K: I don’t think so.

How come?Patron K:Ijus’don’t.(laughs)

CentropatronLismiddle-agedandsitsinthebackofthebus.Sheisverybothered that the bus is late and is sharing this fact at high volume to someone ontheotherendofherCricketphone.SheresemblesaminiatureJackthePumpkinKingdressedinblackshinyleather.

Patron L: Nope,nope.(shakingherheadrapidly)JesusKICKEDtheDevilouuuttaaheaven.Theyain’tbrothers.(laughingabsurdly)There’snoway…theDevil,hewastheHEADangel.Inheaven…buthe-he-he-hegotMADatJesus…For puttin’ US…Aheada HIM… So – so, Jesus – Jesus knew dat he had, he had a, ah, he had a dark heart. So, he kicked him…outta heaven. And a bunch of the angels went with him that weren – that didn’t agree wit him – went with him.Hewhipped‘emwithhistailandtheywentwit‘em…so.(nodsherheadrapidly) Strangedays,indeed.Conclusion:Youdecide.

Ishtar Eggs Holidays. Work and school are often cancelled, family and friends gather in a central location, and ninety percent of the random people that you run into give you positive wishes stating the name of that particular day. Grammar schools practice and describe them to students, parents teach their young to participate. Overall,theyareapositive,unifyingeffort.But,theybegquestions.DerrickJensen(DERRICKJENSEN.ORG)comestomind,asheoftentalksaboutpremisesthatareslippedbyus.WhodecidedthatSantaClauswasaNortherner? Why are certain holidays still around? Who can I write to about getting a Holiday started? Why isn’t Frank Zappa’s birthday on the calendar? Questions… So, Easter was technically in March, but my friend Nate has some interestingwordsaboutitthatcan’twaituntilnextyear:

Nate: Easter was – is – actually Ishtar. It’s a Sumerian goddess of the earth andfertility.Andso,theycelebratediteveryspring.AndtheCatholicchurchdecided, ‘well we gotta get these people away from this pagan holiday because it was a fertility holiday, so everybody’s hookin’ up and doin’ all this other crazyshit.Theywerelike,‘N-n-n-no,we’regonnausethisone–Jesusrose

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HERE.ThisiswhenJesusrose.’MostoftheChristianholidaysarebasedoffofChristianholidaysbecause,Imean,theactualdatesofwhentheyhappenedarenowherenear–likeaccordingtotheBible,theactualdateofJesus’birthwassometimeinlikelateJanuary?ButtheyputitonDecemberTwentyfifthbecausetheTwentyFirstisthewintersolsticesoallthePaganswerecelebratingthewintersolsticeanyway,sotheChristianswerelike,‘N-n-n-no,thisisChristmasnow – so you can still celebrate – but we’re making it so you’re celebrating Christmas,we’renotcelebratingthesolstice.’

Do you celebrate Easter?Notreally.(smiles)Ididn’tlike–yaknow,mymomgavemeawholebunchacandy and I was like, ‘oh, ah, that’s nice, you gave me candy because I broke my leg. That’s awesome.’ She was like, ‘No, Sunday’s Easter.’ I was like, ‘No, it’s Nate’sbrokenfootday(laughs)…No,yeahIcangetbehindthecandyandshit.Any holiday really; any chance to go celebrate. It’s like everybody’s gonna wish mea,yaknow,‘happysomething,’I’mlike,fine,Illtakeit!

April 2013, 41

Longboard Term of the Month:

Theft, Rebellion, and WWE Moves…An Afternoon At The Trading Card Store

With: Aaron Himself.

I try not to bring, ah, too much publicity on this, but ah –

What was the name of the place?PlaytheGame,ReadtheStory.

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Thatisat–IbelieveitisNorthClintonStreet.Ifmostofyouthatarelisteningto this know where Spaghetti Warehouse is, it’s right next to it – it is in the same building – they are literally two seconds of a walk away from each other…’causetheyare(handgestures)door-door.(laughs)

When did the incident occur?This was one week – er no – was it two weeks ago, pardon my French. It was oneofthedates.Pardonmeformymemorynotbeingthatgreat,but…butyeahthis was one or two weeks ago.

What went down, exactly? Were you there?Iwasthere–yes.AndIknowthekid.Iwasactually,Iwouldsay,KINDAfriends with him. I wanna more say acquaintances though, but, he seemed like an okay guy to me. Um, but, he got picked on a lot – got bullied. So, I’m not sure if his reason was vengeance – to get back at the people that tormented him…or if this was him showing his true colors – I don’t know. I haven’t spoken tothekidandapparen–wedoknowthatheisbannedforlife.InPlaytheGame, Read the Story rules it is automatic life ban to steal let alone from the store, but from other people as well…It’s one of the golden rules, pretty much. That’swhy–that’swhytheycallittheAUTOMATIClifeban.Becauseaslongas there’s evidence against that person, then, they’re pretty much out the door.

Tell me more about these golden rules.Wellthisisoneof‘em,andI’mnotreallysureabouttheothersbecause(smiles)these things don’t happen every week, ya know. They just enforced this rule as thekidwasbeingescortedout.Basically,theytoldus,‘Look,’yaknow,‘Thisisan auto life ban,’ ya know.

Alright Aaron, let’s back up a little bit. What really went down two weeks ago at Play the Game?Well,mindyou,Iwasoneofthe,ah,firsthandexperiences–rightthere.BecauseIhappenedtobefriendswithboththekidthatgotaccusedandIwasfriends with the guy that got stolen stuff from, as well as, I’m a fairly known, well-favoritedcustomeratPlaytheGame.So,Iwasinatoughspotwhotosidewith, but at the end of the day, I can’t, ya know, align myself with a criminal, I guess…I actually didn’t see half of it.

What DID you see?Well,fromwhatIwastoldthatIDIDN’Tsee,akidwasaskingtolookthroughotherplayers’cards–Yu-Gi-Ohcards.Alotofpeopleprobablyknowaboutthegame,andstuff.Basically,hetookadvantageofthem,kindabeingunaware,yaknow – they were kind of being distracted by other players inside the store. He basically took the stuff, he went over to Spaghetti Warehouse as his temporary hideout.Andhewasactuallyun-sleevingtheirstuffandputting‘em(thecards)into his own sleeves – makin’ it look like they were his. The other guys found out their stuff was missing and so everyone, ya know, there was a little bit of a – not exactly a search party – but three or four people were looking. A couple went into Spaghetti Warehouse itself, other people was going up and down the street, seeing if he had ran off, or he would have called for a ride or something.

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Turns out, they got him in Spaghetti Warehouse. They brought him back to play the game. That’s when I saw him coming through the doors, and everyone was trying to be peaceful. When he got approached by the employees, they tried to go easy on him. They actually tried to play good cop, bad cop with him in a sense. And, as soon as evidence wasn’t going in his favor because he couldn’t exactly back up his own word and plenty of people had proof against him, he just turned into this person that, ya know – he tried to act like the tough guy fromthatpointonwards.Heactuallythrewafistatoneoftheemployees,andthisemployeeisnotonetobemessedwith.Heisapart-timebouncer,so,ah,he only did what he did outta self defense. They actually had to call the cops on him.(theoffender)

What kind of move did the employee pull on the offender?Actually,ifyouwatchwrestling,it’scalledtheDDT.Yeah,itwasontoashelfcase.He(heemployee)wasn’tchargedofanything,thoughbecauseitwasoutofself-defense,andhewasalsoclearedonaccountofheisdefendingthestorefrom larsony. So, he was in clear of doing what he did to defend.

Can you describe the DDT?Youbasicallygrabyourarmaroundtheotherperson,overtheperson’sneckandyou get ‘em to kind of tilt their head downwards, and then you just kinda drive ‘em into the ground. He didn’t do this one into the ground though. He did it kind of in a sideways like way on a metal shelf. The kid was in pain…ya know, obviously.

Were there other customers in the store at the time?Oh,ofcourse,thisplaceisconstantlypacked,yaknow.Youcanactuallysitthere and hang out. This isn’t like most stores. It’s a place where people can actually be for, ya know, from the time they open ‘til the time they close, just sittin’ down, hangin’ out, eatin’, and havin’ a good time. It’s not a store where yougottaleaveinacoupleminutes(likethestoreIworkin).Youdon’thavetobeapatroneither.Youdon’thavetobuyanything.Youcanjustwalkrightinthereandjustchillout,yaknow.But,ah…basically,theywerejusttryin’tokeeporderandmaintainbalance.Yaknow,makin’surethingsdon’tgetouttahand.

So what happened next?Well,thekidwasalreadyonthegroundfromtheDDTandhewasclutchinghisribs in pain, and moaning in pain, so all the cops had to do from that point was just handcuff him, and then, ya know, take him away. He sounded like a pretty upset person because he actually screamed a famous line from the movies – I’m pretty sure you remember it.

What’d he say?Hesaid,‘Youwillnevertakemealive!’Heyelledthatthroughoutthewholestore vicinity. I’m pretty sure even fricken Spaghetti Warehouse people and people outside the doors were catchin’ it. And yeah people, this is a famous line I’mprettysureyoucandatebacktoagesago.Heactuallysaidit(smiles)…yadon’t hear that too often in real life…In all seriousness though, it was a little bit of an awkward situation though because, ya know, how do you adjust back to

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normal setting? How do you get focused back on what you were doing when this whole thing disrupted you.

Do you think this will affect whether or not you hang around Play the Game in the future?Oh,welltobehonest,IonlygothereonceaweekonSaturdays.It’sonlyopentopeoplethatplaymygame(Yu-Gi-Oh)specificallyonThursdays,Saturdays,and Sundays, but if I found a ride, I would go Thursday and Sunday. So, no, this will not affect my frequent going there.

Are there any changes being made to ensure that something like this won’t happen again?Basically,peoplearekeepingacloserguardontheirstuff.Thestore’spossiblegettinghighersecurityinstalled.Theydohavefourtofivepeopleworkingthere at a time. It’s kinda hard to picture, actually. How this kid was getting away with stealing…They may be getting security cameras; they may also be looking for people that have security or bouncer backgrounds so that they can help keep order in the store more often.

Do you think what this kid did was right or wrong?Well(sighs),tobehonest,ladiesandgerms,yaprobablywouldn’tthinkofit,but maybe some of you probably would as a laugh…I was once a bullied kid, yaknow.Andthiskidisfifteen,sixteenyearsold.SoIknowwhatit’slike.He’s probably goin’ through a lot right now, and ya know, maybe it was just the whole being tormented – he just couldn’t handle it anymore, and he wanted to have his turn – his time for the spotlight. So, that’s the only reason I can justify this…yaknow…asrevenge…’causeIknowalittlebitaboutit.But,yaknow,as much as I like to be empathetic, as much as I tried to show this kid sympathy – and he never harmed me, did me anything bad. We were on okay terms…but, I just can’t justify stealin’ from the store because the store didn’t do anything wrong.

Do you have any ideas on how to help people who feel they have to act out in this way?I just think people need to talk to people like him, and understand the condition that he has is tough to deal with at times. And I just try to stress that that kid told me that he doesn’t really have a lot of friends and that’s all he was looking forwhenhewasatPlaytheGameReadtheStory.Hewastryingtogotheretohave fun. Alls I can do is just try to reach out to people like him on a personal level.Becausewhenyoubullyandtomentkidd,theydostufflikethisoutofanger and out of hatred.

This incident obviously hits home with you. Any last comments?This one last comment’s a heartfelt one actually…I’d just like to say, Nick…I’m pretty sire you know who you are, ‘cause you’ll probably remember this forawhile,ifnotforever…ifIdon’tseeyouatPlaytheGameanymore,thenI wish you luck on your future endeavors, and in life in general. I hope this doesn’t, ya know, affect anything. I always thought you were a good friend; I tried to steer – tried to teach ya the good stuff that I can…I know we had our times where we kinda picked on each other a little bit, but that was more so a friendly rivalry…but yeah…wish ya luck, man.

April 2013, 45

AWAREHOUSEA Tale From: Karl Parker

AttheNewBadlands,orBadlandsII—awarehouseoffGenesseeSt.acrossfromWegman’sinEastSyracuse(whichwaslabeled“TheHive”whenIwentonAprilTwelfth;it’sjustbeforetheoverpass),yourencounterwithcuttingedgemusicwillbeupclose&personal,raw&real&loud,almostdefinitelyrewarding.Duetonon-massivehumanerror,Iwaslatefortheshowbutcaught—inthatrelativelysmallspacewithawesomehighmetalceilingsanddrywallreinforcements/soundproofingonthewalls—twoquitedifferentbandsyou’llwanttocheckout.Thefirst(reallythesecond)bandwasBloodMoney,a powerful, somewhat sludgy but rhythmic trio with often interesting time signatures and ways of attacking songs, building to moments that broke into others,asscreamsofword-ragewentthroughourbones.Grungethrusts,bassvibrations,fierceenergy&focusbouncingoffthedrywall—BloodMoneyplaysas a tight unit with no bullshit or frills, the bassist and the guitarist alternating vocals.AttimesreminiscentofNirvana’sBleachatitshardest/slowest,thisBloodwasdefinitelyworththescantMoneywepaid.NextwasKittyLittle,an underground band among underground bands, having been together since TwoThousandOne,butonlysporadicallyplayingout—lasttimeinSyracuse,orSear/Accuse,orSewercuse,wasfiveyearsago.Alsoatrio,reminiscentofandadmittedlyinfluencedbySuperchunk&thePixies—withasuperchargeddrummer,afemalebassist/vocalist,andasomewhathigher-pitchedbutnonscreamingguitarist/leadvocalist—KittyLittle’ssongswereoccasionallyharder-edgedbutwerealwaysmelodic,tight,asgenuinelycatchyasyourfavoritegatewaydrug.Poppunkyes,butsmarter&moreinterestingthan

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GreenDay.Wheredoespost-punkendandpop-punkbegin?Stylisticchoices&commercial/marketingsuccess,yousay?Atanyrate,havingablast,KittyLittlegotourlimbsmoving,withnewerandoldertunes(somefromtheirfirstalbumKnowNoShame),endingwiththe,well,utterlyfuckingdelightful“IWannaBeYourMan.”Seeing/hearingthesebandsinthisspace,wewererightinsideeverysecond of what they made.

The Badlands Strike Back It’s SevenThirty on a Sunday night. I’m standing in a full parking lot in front of a blue warehouse on James St. across from the Wegmans. I’m two hours andfortyfiveminuteslateaccordingtotheflyer. But,wait.Ihearcrash.Ihearride.Ihearfuzz.Ismellbodies.Iseesmoke.Bloodpumps.WhiteEconovan.There’ssomedudes.I’mlookingfor‘Cavities.’Pennsylvaniaplates.Coulditbe?Nope.

Buthere’swhattheyhadtosay:

Matthew: The name of our band is ‘AIIA’.Alex: Ayahh!, Ayahh!

Who thoughta that?Matthew: Alex came up with it. It’s a vowel.

And you guys are?Matthew. Joe. Mike. Alex.

How long you been playing together?Matthew: Well, these guys are our –Joe:IamNOTpartoftheband.Matthew:Yeah,theseguysareourfriends.Andum,AlexandIhavebeenplayin’ in this band since ’07,buttheseareourboys(nodshishead,makingeye

April 2013, 47

contactwithboth)thatcameheretosupportus.Alex: They’re both strapped.Mike: I’ve known these dudes for a long time.Matthew:Yeah–beenhangin’withthesecatsforawhile…OurbandstartedinOhSevenwhenIlivedinNYC,andIwouldcommutebackandforthtoSyracusetopractice,orwewouldpracticeinNewYorkwhenwecould.Alex: SmashStudios(smiles)Matthew:ButthenImovedbacktoSyracuse.

Where can people go to find your music?Matthew: Bandcamp.AIIABandcamp.Orthefacebook.Alex: Or,ifanybodywantsto,like,journeybackintime,theycangototheMyspace.Matthew:WehavemusicforsaleonBandcamp.WehavefifteenrecordedsongsspreadoutoverthreeEPsthatareavailable.

So do you guys remember the previous Badlands?Matthew: Ohyeah.Playedtheremanytimes.Manytimes.

Are you bummed that it closed?Matthew: Well, I’m glad that there’s a place to have shows. This place is a little bit better, actually. There’s a place like this in Ithaca that’s a warehouse kinda like this and I like it. It’s pretty cool. There’s space to setup – in the fucking venue, so that’s cool.

What advice would you give to people playing in bands that are trying to get their music out there?Alex: Move to a big city.Matthew:(looksattheground)Iwouldjustsayah…(looksupquickly,makeseyecontact)DowhatEVERitisthatyougottado.Andit’sdifferentforeverybody.There’snotlikeoneplanoranything.Yougottafigureoutwhatworks for your band.

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“Is that the door you go in?” I ask some guy.

AsIpullitopen,Iamenvelopedby‘BloodMoney.’Igettocatchthirty seconds of my favorite fucking tune that they always play last, and I am greeted warmly by Hardcore Joe. Somehow, I’m always in the right place.

IspottwofellasthatIrecognizefrompastshows.OneisasortofIan-Mackaye-looking dude with thick glasses and the other a furry guy with a mustached smile. After a moment of hesitation, they graciously agreed to answer a few of my questions.

What’s your role here at the Badlands?Greg: Just volunteers, all around facilitators, anything that needs to get done, basically. Volunteers are people that paid the initial rent and then work a lot of the shows and do a lotta work on the space in between shows.Ryan: And might I just add, ah, so far, Greg has done like ninety percent of it (laughs).He’sontopashit.

Where are we exactly? There are a couple different addresses floating around.It’s actually FourtyTwoTwentyThree James St. It’s across the street from Wegmans in East Syracuse, right next door to The Hive salon – in the same warehouse. There’s a few other local businesses in here.

Who do you guys rent the space from?Greg: Um, we rent it from this – Ryan: Someguy(smiles)Greg: it’scalledHornCompanies–theyactuallyownthebuilding.They’relocated centrally just around the corner here. They just rent out all sorts of different properties, and I kinda like, told ‘em what we were gonna be doing

April 2013, 49

here, and he just rented us the space. It’s commercially zoned for like storefront, basically,Butwe’reusingitasan‘artstudio/practicespace’–that’showwe’redisguisingit(smiles).

Do you rent it by the night?Ryan: Well, for the venue, for promoters, it’s by the day, but I mean, we rent the wholespacemonth-to-month.Greg:Yeah,we’reonaleasefortheyear,fortheactualspace.Forpromoters,wedo,it’sah,thirtyfivepercentofthedoorintakewithaminimumofseventyfivedollarsandacapatthreehundred.So,you’llneverspendmorethanthreehundred,butwewon’ttakeanylessthanseventyfive.Anditenablesustowork with smaller promoters. We’re not the kinda space that should be taking on shows where there’s gonna be two hundred kids at the door, ya know. We’re tryin’ to work with smaller bands and people who aren’t necessarily working

on a certain level to want to play in bigger venues in the city – ‘cause there are otherplacesforthosekindsofbandstogo.So,we’rekindoffillingacertainspecificnichehere.It’snotlike,aVENUE–like,weget,wegetlikeemailsfrom bigger bands with promotional stuff all the time. And, that’s just not the kind of thing that we’re doing here at all.

What happened to the old Badlands on E Fayette St.?Greg: Um,wejustgotalotofnegativeattentionfrom,ah…firemarshalsscrutinizing(Badlands)andothervenuesinthearea.Thevenueoperatingnextdoortouswasprettymuchlikeafree-for-alldrugshowartspace,sothatwasgiving us a lot of negative attention because we were associated with it, but we were also doing something totally different.Ryan: There was a lot of work that needed to be done on that building.Greg: Yeah.Ryan: It was like, in really bad shape, and I don’t think the landlord wanted to put any money into it. There was like, electrical issues.Greg:Yeah,thatwasthefinalstraw.Itwasanissueof:WEneededstuffdonetoOURspace,buttheneighboringspacedidn’t.So,hechoseto–tobootusout…But,fortunately,therewereapartmentsandeverythingupstairs,soitwasn’t really anything that could have really lasted much longer, I feel, with the complaints coming in from people and stuff.

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How do you promote shows?Greg:We just have a blog and facebook for the space.Ryan:Yeah,thevenuedoesn’tdo…promo–Greg:Yeah,weactuallyonlyrentoutthespace,soanysortofpromotionisupto the person putting on the show.Ryan: I mean, like, I – Greg:Well,there’snosortofbuilt-incrowd,atall.Ryan: I mean, I do all the web stuff for this space. And, like, I’ll list all the shows as they come up on our blog, just to like, have a list, and then on the facebook it’s just like, the day of the show. It’s up to the promoter to do the work on their own.Greg:Yeah,absolutely,andthat’sabigpartofit.Ryan: Wewantpeopletofigurethatout,youknow,sopeoplegettingintoDIYand into punk and into putting on shows to learn how to do that on their own – Greg: Yeah,it’sverymuchthat–doitYOURself(laughs)Ryan: Not-haveusdothatforyou.Greg: We’ve done enough to provide the space and that’s really where we draw the line.

How does a band get a chance to play here?

April 2013, 51

Greg: They really have to work with local promoters. Um, or book a show themselves. Honestly, I would say if a band wants to get booked here, they should book themselves; they should book bands that they like that are friends of theirs and invite all of their friends to come out.

So, bands should contact you guys directly?Greg:Yeah,everythinggoesthroughtheBadlandsemail.Ryan:Yeah,ifyou’relike,alocalband,don’tgotoashowjust‘causeyou’replayin’ it.Greg: Absolutely.Ryan: Go to shows because you wanna like, ya know, be a part of this.Greg: Yeah,that’sabigthing,iscomingouttoshows,showingattendance,yaknow,showingsupportfortheDIYcommunitybecauseit’snotjustabout–yaknow everyone’s in bands – everyone has something like that going on. It’s like such a common thing that you shouldn’t really be here just to promote your own band. It’s a whole lifestyle that you should be promoting, ya know.

When did Bandlands II open?Greg: Um – Ryan: Now.(everyonelaughs)Greg: Maybelike,twoweeksago.Aprilfirst–Aprilll3rdwasourfirstofficialshow, I think.Ryan: Yeah.

Is there anyone else involved in paying rent, collecting money, and generally keeping the nuts and bolts greased?Greg:Ohyeah,there’s–Ryan: There’s several other folks.Greg:There’slikeagood,likedozen,twelveorfifteenpeoplewhoactuallydonatedthefirstinitialrenttwoyearsagowhenwefirststarted,andtehnhelpedoutwithrentwhenwegotintohere(BadlandsII),aswell.They’llvolunteerto

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work shows, um, anything we need in between, basically. There’s like, varying levels of membership. Some members just pay the membership fee and then they just use it so they can book shows here at a lower rate. And then there are people who are like – very active, who are like working the shows and helping to work the emails and stuff like that.

Is there room for other art mediums at Badlands II?Ryan: Yeah,man!Greg: We’re absolutely open to anything. The only thing is, loud music can’t be until after seven in the evening, but, like, if we were to do an art showing, we coulddefinitelydosomethingallday.We’redefinitelyopentoanykindofusefor the space, as long as it’s all ages, for everyone, you know.

Asiftoaccentuatethatlaststatement’sall-inclusiveethos,AIIAblastsout a unifying chord. Heads turn. Energy is pooling as they gear up.

Ryan:Plus,there’sthetworoomsbackthere(pointstobackofspace).They’regoing to be rented out as, like studios – art spaces.

How much does it cost to go to a show at Badlands II?Ryan: It varies. It depends on the promoter, man. The promoter sets the price. Yaknow,themorebandsyagot–themoreout-of-townbandsthatneedmoney,ya know, will prolly get a lil’ more.

(Note:Ipaideightdollarstoseefourmind-bendingbands)

Any music off the top of your head that you recommend?Ryan:AsfaraSyracuse–like,‘BloodSunCircle’–isawesome…Andoutoftown…I’ve been really into, ah, let’s see, ‘Restorations’ is real good. I get a lotta reissues,sothat’soldshit.Ineednewshit(smiles).‘Restorations’willbecomin’up at the end of May, but not here; they’re playin’ somewhere else…

April 2013, 53

Thehouselightsgooff,andfluorescentredbulbsgivetheroomadigitalfuzzglow.Peoplepluginandself-consciousthoughtmelts.Anysocialnervousnessbrieflysizzlesandevaporates.Musicplays.Andplays.Andplays.

Afteroneofthegrimiestfist-clenchingsetsoftheevening,there’sachancetochatbrieflywiththevocalist.Ican’tforthelifeofmerememberthisdude’sfuckenname,buthere’stheshitthatcounts:

So, you’re not the usual vocalist for this band?No, I’m not the normal singer, but, ah, some shit went down and I guess – I’m just testin’ the waters tonight I guess.

Will you continue with these guys permanently?I’m feelin’ it so far, yeah, for sure.

And where are you guys from?Rochester,NY

And the name is?Ah,‘BurnEverything’

How can people find your music?Psh,Ithinktheygot‘BurnEverything’Bandcamp,ifI’mrightIthinkit’sfreetoo.Youcanjuststreamtracksorwhatever,so…

(Note:Thisistrue.Ifyoudoonethingtoday,listentoit)

Cool man, thanks for your time.

Livemusiccontinuesaspeopleperusefiftycentbandbuttons,teeshirtsandold/newvinyl. Outsideintheparkinglot,thereisachancetospeakwithtwomembersofoneofthemostuniquelypleasingandeclecticoutfitsincontemporarymusic.

What’s your first name?Ethan.

Who do you play with?Um…’CounterPursuit’

How long have you been playing in Syracuse?I guess since I was in high school probably. Like, eh, late ninties.

So what do you think of the new space?I think it’s great man!

Justthen,Ethan’sfellow‘CounterPursuit’-istAdamemerges.

What do you think of the new space, Adam?

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Um, really happily surprised. It’s pretty awesome. It looks cool. It smells good (laughs).Itsmellslikewood,yaknow?ButIwassurprised;MattJamiewastellin’ me about it and he said it had really high ceilings and it was kinda long and I thought, it sounds like it’s gonna sound like shit there, ya know. And he waslike,‘noo,itsoundsgood.’AnditDOESsoundgood.Theydidagoodjobputtin’ up the wood siding and stuff to kind of like take some of that roomy sound(dampeningquality)outofit.But,you’recloseenoughinproximityto the band that you can hear the sound and there’s also a, because of the tall ceiling there’s a weird, like reverb that really helps…but that was just after hearing like only two bands…I think it sounds really good. What do you think?

This is my first time here, so I’ve only heard about two bands play, as well, but I agree.Adam:Yeah,I’mexcitedtoseemoreshowshere.Iwasjusttalkin’toRyanHexaboutit,getting’thelowdownoneverything…BetweenthisplaceandGORHAMBROS.(OneEighteenSeeleyRd.)andthepracticespace,we’vegotsome pretty cool places for shows right now.

Adam also plays in ‘Stonelord’ and ‘Spliffs Riders’

AttheendofthenightIaminthevan,queuingupan‘OrganizedKonfusion’tapethatIboughtforadollarNinetyNineatSaversinWebster,NYtheweekendbefore.AnotherAdam,whosingsintheband‘InsufficientFunds,’taps on my window. “Here ya go. It’s even clean!” he says, as he tosses an I.F. tee shirt into the van. He goes on to talk of an I.F. show in a barn in Earlville, NYattheendofJune.Stayedtuned,folks;staytuned.

Tanto Lives TheclockreadsTwelveEighteenandFifteensecondsPMatCentroHub in downtown Syracuse, and that scruffy dude sitting two seats up has got to have something underneath that two by three foot rectangle of sketch paper andmaskingtape.Butfuck.Thetransferthatawaitsisdrivenbyatrueboss.Aman who never blinks. Never raises his voice. Never bites the curb. Never drives underthrityfive.Whenhecomestoanintersection,dumptrucksyieldandEscalades reverse. And his bus leaves at Twelve Twenty sharp. Curiositybeatsfear.

Hey man, what-chyou got there? Smiling,heunveilshisself-portrait.

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What’s your name?Steven.

And youre a student?Yes,Iam.

Of what?Ofart.(smiles)

Where?OCC.

Syracuse local?Ah, I’m originally from Vermont, but now I’m – I’m here.

What’s the title of this piece?It’s entitled ‘Tonto’…but, um…one person said, ‘oh you think you should call it that ‘cause of the Indian reservation nearby?’ but no one seems to be offended by it (smiles).

Where can people find more of your work?Well, I don’t have anything online now, so…

Well, we’ll keep an eye out for you on the street.

56, Layin’ Pipe