Posted by Anthony on May 30, 1999 at 13:53:58:
Sweatfest 99
New Orleans Surf and Garage Festival
July 2 , 3 , & 4 , 1999
Mermaid Lounge
1100 Constance - at John Churchill Chase
in the Warehouse District, New Orleans, Louisiana
Three days of surf , garage , and punk to celebrate the release of N.O.-Fi
on Turducken Recordings & Root Beer Extract Records.
Friday July 2 - 9 PM til
Saturday July 3 - 8 PM til
Sunday July 4 - 4 PM til
Bands:
Darkest Hours (New Orleans) Reds (Dallas)
Fez (Mobile) Royal Pendletons (New Orleans)
Jonny and the Shamen (Mobile) Sir Finks (Austin)
King Louie, The One Man Band (NO) Sons of Hercules (Austin)
Macguillicuddys (New Orleans) Squares (Atlanta)
Persuaders (New Orleans) Sums (Harrisonburg, VA)
Ramparts (New Orleans) and more
Activities:
Bar-B-Cue
Egg Toss
Hula Hoop Contest
Sack Race
Tricycle Race
Water Melon Seed Spitting Contest
and more
Contact Information:
Anthony DelRosario Christopher Kirsch
518 Bordeaux St 7532 Maple St
NO LA 70115-1606 NO LA 70118
anthony@turducken.net rootbeerextract@usa.net
(504) 895-3494
----------------------------
N.O.-FI a live documentation of New Orleans Garage / Surf / Punk
Back in the fall of 1998 there was a storm brewing out in the Gulf
of Mexico . It was a category 3 storm named Georges and all of the local
meteorologists had predicted a direct hit on New Orleans . Just in case
you didnt know , New Orleans sits 8 feet BELOW sea level , and a direct
hit on New Orleans would be devastating . Most of the residents had begun
to evacuate New Orleans , leaving the city a ghost town . To make things
worse , the storm made the sky a muted grey with an almost artificial
light appearance . New Orleans had a very erie quality , and there was no
surprise most New Orleanians were headed for higher ground .
Enter Anthony DelRosario and Christopher Kirsch . Anthony - a DJ
for WTUL , local promotor , employee of Autotonic , and proprietor of
Turducken Recordings ( the label that has brought you fine releases from
the Hong Kong , Dominions , Pee Shy , Strawberry Presents and more ) .
Christopher - a graphic designer and printer by trade , he too had just
started a indie label Root Beer Extract . Anyway , Anthony was headed out
of town in the threat of Hurricane Georges . On his way to Memphis he
stopped by Christophers house to pick up some records to distribute while
in Memphis . Anthony and Christopher sat out on the front porch of the old
shotgun house talking about what their next release would be . One of the
things discussed out in the wind and rain was a couple of old records
Christopher owns , N.O. Questions / N.O. Answers and N.O. Experience
Necessary - these releases documented the Punk / New Wave scene back in
the early 1980s and today are quiet rare and expensive . Most of the bands
on these compilations had released only a single , if even that - with the
exception of the Red Rockers , whose first album is quiet revered by
collectors . Anthony and Christopher made comparisons to this fact and the
fact that most of the current local garage , surf , and punk bands have a
single or two out . So that day a seed was planted in their heads and a
lose partnership was born along with the beginning of N.O.-FI . Anthony
headed north and Christopher boarded up his windows and road out the storm
(well , as you know , Georges changed its mind and decided not to destroy
New Orleans) .
Over the next few weeks after the passing of Georges , Anthony and
Christopher talked about the compilation again . Kicking around ideas ,
they decided to record it all live . This seemed only natural - no other
compilation in New Orleans history had been a live recording and the
Mermaid Lounge had just upgraded their recording equipment . Studio
recordings of garage , surf and punk bands are nice and all , but they
seem to lose something . They felt like these bands should be captured the
way they really are , and the only way to do it is to record them live in
front of a audience . Christopher began talking to friends in bands -
Royal Pendletons , Leopolds , Ramparts , Persuaders , etc. - to see if
they would be willing to be on a garage compilation . Anthony began
setting up shows for the recordings . So , on December 10th of 1998 the
recording began with the Royal Pendletons and Darkest Hours . January 8th
of 1999 brought the Leopolds to the stage of the Mermaid Lounge for
recording . The Persuaders and the Macgillicuddys recorded on April 1st .
The recording wrapped up a week later with the Ramparts and the Famous
Monsters on the 10th of April . May has been filled with editing and
mastering and planning for the record release of N.O.-FI
The release of N.O.-FI has been set for the Fourth of July weekend
(what a better time to have a co-release from two indie record labels than
Independence Day itself ?) . Somehow the record release snowballed from a
night of music into a three day event , a festival if you will , and
Sweatfest 99 was born . Anthony sent out an e-mail to some other friends
asking if any out-of-town bands would like to play in New Orleans in July
and the responses poured in . Bands from Austin to Atlanta to Detroit to
Virginia responded saying the were willing to drive in to partake in the
celebration of the release of N.O.-FI .
------------------------------
Bands on N.O.-FI:
Royal Pendletons
Michael Hurtt - Vocals , Guitar
J. Matthew Uhlman - Vocals , Guitar
George Thomas Oliver IV - Organ
King Louie Bankston - Vocals , Drums
Self proclaimed Kings of New Orleans Garage Rock (even though King
Louie is the only native of New Orleans . Matt and Mike hail from Indiana,
and Tommy is from Michigan ) They play a fine mixture of obscure covers
to finely written originals . Over the past seven years they have paid
their dues here in New Orleans and out on the road , including two
extended tours as well as trips up to Bloomington and Detroit on occasion.
They have managed to release 4 singles on various labels and a full
length CD/LP on Sympathy for the Record Industry .
Darkest Hours
J.Matthew Uhlman - Vocals , Guitar
Peggy ONeill - Vocals , Drums
Art Boonparn - Bass Guitar
J. Matthew Uhlmans side project . Even rawer than the Royal
Pendletons , this trio is stripped down with only guitar , bass , and drums .
Peggy ONeill formally of the Gories is on drums and backing vocals. They
recorded back in December so keep an eye out for a upcoming release from
this trio and a mid-west tour this fall .
Persuaders
King Louie Bankston - Vocals , Guitar
Jason Craft - Guitar
Brett Duffee - Drums
King Louie fronts this band which consists of two guitars and
drums . King Louie sings about all things New Orleans , from the Dixie
Buzzards (a Mardi Gras Marching Club thats been around for over a hundred
years) and Ponchartrain Beach (an amusement park that closed while Louie
was still a child) to songs about nervous breakdowns . They have two
singles and a limited edition full length LP out , and have already toured
Europe . Look for them this fall on tour .
The Ramparts
Art Boonparn - Lead Guitar
Tommy Meunier - Rhythm Guitar
Christine Andre - Bass Guitar , Vocals
Jay Thomas - Organ
Aron Culotta - Drums
Fronted by Art Boonparn (when hes not busy with his indie band
Hotchkiss) and formed back before Surf was made popular again by that
movie , this group has a fine mixture of covers and southern style
originals . Theyll be going into the studio in late July to record a seven
inch , with a mini tour to Oxford and Memphis for late June .
The Leopolds
Fletcher Maumus - Vocals , Guitar
Marc LeBlanc - Vocals , Bass
Aron Culotta - Drums
The Sonic Sons of Surf formed their trio while they were still in
High School . The boys have been inspired by a combination of the Ventures ,
Beach Boys , Sonic Youth and the Talking Heads . They play a mixture of
straight ahead Surf originals as well as chorus pedal riddled songs with
strange lyric topics . As strange as it sounds , it all comes together well .
They celebrated the release of their first single on Root Beer Extract
Records this past fall . Marc is currently attending Brown University ,
Aron is studying at Tulane , and Fletcher , well , hes headed up to NYU
this fall .
The Macguillicuddys
Paul - Vocals , Guitar
Clyde The Slide - Drums
Mr. Jheri - Vocals , Bass Guitar
These bastard sons of Iggy and the Stooges play straight forward
Rock N Roll . Raised listening to the New York Dolls , Black Sabbath and a
little bit of Lynard Skynard ., they took their time picking a drummer ,
going through over twenty before finding Clyde the Glide . Not much else
is known about these boys except that they hail from Gentilly . Their
first single was released on April 1st , with a tour coming late summer .
The Famous Monsters
Devil Doll - Lead Guitar
Vampire Girl - Rhythm Guitar
She-Zilla - Drums
What can one say about the Famous Monsters ? Well , theyre still
spinning around this planet we call Earth promoting their CD In the Night.
When theyre not jumping around the globe , they do call New Orleans home.