Plaid Retina
Encyclopedia
Plaid Retina was an American punk rock
band
from Visalia, California
, formed in 1986 and active until 1996.
Don Hudgens joined metal band Oblivion, a high school
band established by Travis, Jeff Gilley, "Bryan T" Thompson, Alarick Garcia and Mike Matthews. The crew for that band also included Matt Morris and Jeff Beck. It was at this time Hudgens and Matt Morris met up with Kelly Casper, who was part of that scene at Redwood High School
.
Even though the band was not from Los Angeles, the band managed to keep up with the underground scene in Los Angeles (150 miles from Visalia), which was what made them unique in their small-town local scene. Heavy Metal's definition, however, was about to be shattered by a plethora of different influences. The advent of hardcore punk
acts such as Minor Threat
and the Suicidal Tendencies
, whose first album made a huge impression of the metal scene, caused the members of the band to splinter.
that Morris' parents, Bill & Brenda, were using as a shed, located in a huge backyard away from the neighborhoods. They convinced Kelly Casper to join in on bass with Matt playing guitar
and singing. This incarnation was called "Misc.", which happened to be scribbled on the first cassette tape they recorded on. The music clearly was leaving metal behind and headed full speed toward hardcore punk and skate rock. The music was played and performed as brash and as abrasively as they could possibly deliver it, and recorded with a 'ghetto-blaster
' onto very old used cassette tapes that were actually found in the boxcar, with vocals by both Morris and Casper sung directly into the built-in microphone
. Gary Stallions also played second guitar for an appearance at a Redwood High School
talent show
. They were kicked out of the talent show when panic ensued because no one other than the punk scene knew what was going on when the fast music and slam dancing erupted.
scene on that side of town years earlier around 1982. They changed the name to Aggravated Assault, the band then started to gravitate toward Fresno, California
, a city 40 minutes north which had an active punk scene, shops and interesting places to skate, especially in its classic downtown area. Hudgens and Morris posted a flyer at "The Record Factory" which led to their first real gig at the legendary Knights of Columbus
Hall, opening for the Wimpy Dicks (San Luis Obispo) and the Sea Hags
. Repeated trips to Fresno led them to meet Dale Stewart of Capitol Punishment at his record store in Fresno, Stage Dive Records, which although not in Visalia, became one of the bands favorite hang outs whenever they could get a chance to be there.
style rhythms, which proved to be sound advice. Stewart connected them with the studio A.I.R. (Audio Image Recording) in Fresno at Van Ness and Bremer owned by Grey Gregson (update needed). This was the team that recorded the self-titled debut album, Plaid Retina, that when pressed was actually a little 7" but was in fact a formidable full length album (relatively speaking). Plaid Retina was a furious debut with a devastating rhythmic pace comparable to Minor Threat and D.R.I. Stewart also introduced the band to the staff of the Maximum RocknRoll
magazine where David Hayes entered the picture.
Hudgens used the magazine as a resource to communicate with people all over the world via mail
. External influences other than hardcore punk began to appear and the band started experiencing with these influences. David Hayes then released Plaid Retina on Lookout! Records
, the Berkeley
based label he formed with Larry Livermore
. Since the album was already recorded, releasing it was done fast and efficiently.
The East Bay
and San Francisco Bay Area
then become an additional focal point for the band. Morris got a van
for the band, so national touring outside of California could begin.
, and Travis from the "Oblivion" days joined on bass. Boxcar was recorded again with Grey Gregson at A.I.R. and was a cassette tape demo
that consisted of covers on side A, and originals on side B. A sort of introduction of Travis to the world.
Thru the mail, Hudgens crossed paths with Musical Tragedies, a record label in Germany that later released Boxcar as a 7" EP. Once again, since the material was already recorded, this project was able to be pressed and released very efficiently.
The originals on side B had a noticeable tempo
relax from the first Plaid Retina release. However, the external influences other than hardcore have yet to show themselves - that will happen with the next release, Pinkeye. The band spent a lot of personal time exploring these influences and getting them ready before presenting a radical change in their sound.
After the release of Boxcar, the band began touring around the United States.
in Visalia, to stunned audiences. The music featured dramatic twists, tempo changes, stops and starts that seemed ironically rhythmic.
The music still felt at home in the punk shows, because it has retained its brashness (and in some tracks, high speed tempos) in spite of the original approaches.
Pinkeye, the band's first full length 12" album, was released via Lookout! Records in 1989, and was recorded at A.I.R. by Grey Gregson.
A friend of the band, Tony Sevener, loaned Hudgens a wide array of cymbal
s that helped the drum sound stretch out a little, along with some experimental drum effects by Grey. The new material was also performed on local Public-access television
cable TV show, "The Shout Club".
Visalia pro skater Tom Knox met the band and most of Pinkeye appeared on Santa Cruz Skateboards' Strange Notes #3.
presented two different pressings of Rejection on Duck Butter Records, one of the pressings having hand screened art and clear red vinyl.
The Rejection era was an enthusiastic period, because the Rejection EP was recorded and released in Fresno. Ironically enough, the band got popular across the country first before they did locally due to the albums and touring, using the Berkeley/East Bay area as a springboard. Even though the band had roots in Fresno, they only really knew a handful of people, mostly from the Capitol Punishment camp (due to the distance from Visalia) and this release brought them more inside the scene. Tim opened different doors and they met many new friends. Many more live performances in different venues in the city started happening. The local scene received the majority of the hand-screened versions.
The evolution of the music continued, some of the more conventional approaches still on Pinkeye (even though that album was very original) can be heard melting away.
Travis acquired an Ibanez
left-handed bass guitar and also came across an Ampeg
combo bass amplifier
which would later define his sound on the albums and tours to come.
Matt started experimenting with Yamaha
SBG Model guitars.
"I sat on a milk crate that Matt got for me to play drums from the beginning all the way to Rejection. We also used it to haul the stands and the pedal. If I broke one I just went to the back of a grocery store and got another one. I played a nice Yamaha kit I got before Pinkeye but couldn't make the payments and had to go back to pieced together pieces of crap." -Don said.
. The album was recorded by Billy Anderson at the Razor's Edge in San Francisco.
If Rejection was a local breakthrough, Mind Tracing did the same for the band in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many more Bay Area gigs were to follow in venues not just in the East Bay, along with significant new friendships forged with bands such as Schlong, False Sacrament, Neurosis
and Victim's Family
.
Brad Weaver joined the band. Around this time, Matt Morris put together certain pieces of equipment that helped define his sound: a Mesa/Boogie amplifier (from the factory, purchased around the time of recording the album) in conjunction with a Roland JC-120 amplifier, a Paul Reed Smith
guitar, and a complex, well defined system of delay and other effects.
Going Down CD, 1991 Shmin Esso / Duck Butter SE / DB021]] -->
Not long after its release, Matt teamed up with Tim Biskup
to release Mind Tracing on the dual Shmin Esso / Duck Butter conglomerate, Shmin Esso being Matt's label.
At that time, Hudgens got a Tama drum kit
.
in Garden Grove California, before the band moved to Austin, Texas
.
While still in California, Don acquired a Gretsch
drum kit (which will define his sound through the remaining years).
In Austin, Mark Hughes joined on keyboards
and Travis switched equipment from his Ampeg
to a new Trace Elliot
rig .
an unreleased album. However, the song "Sperm" made it out as a single for a heavy metal compilation.
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
from Visalia, California
Visalia, California
Visalia is a Central California city situated in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley, approximately southeast of San Francisco and north of Los Angeles...
, formed in 1986 and active until 1996.
The Beginning
The history of Plaid Retina begins in [984, in Visalia, a small city in California Central Valley, when drummerDrummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Don Hudgens joined metal band Oblivion, a high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
band established by Travis, Jeff Gilley, "Bryan T" Thompson, Alarick Garcia and Mike Matthews. The crew for that band also included Matt Morris and Jeff Beck. It was at this time Hudgens and Matt Morris met up with Kelly Casper, who was part of that scene at Redwood High School
Redwood High School (Visalia)
Redwood High School is a secondary school in Visalia, California, United States. The public high school serves students from the north central section of the city....
.
Even though the band was not from Los Angeles, the band managed to keep up with the underground scene in Los Angeles (150 miles from Visalia), which was what made them unique in their small-town local scene. Heavy Metal's definition, however, was about to be shattered by a plethora of different influences. The advent of hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
acts such as Minor Threat
Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980 and disbanded in 1983. The band was relatively short-lived, but had a strong influence on the hardcore punk music scene, both stylistically and in establishing a "do it yourself" ethic for music distribution and...
and the Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies
Suicidal Tendencies is a U.S. crossover thrash band founded in 1981 in Venice, Los Angeles, California by Mike Muir, its leader and only permanent member. The band is sometimes credited as one of "the fathers of crossover thrash"...
, whose first album made a huge impression of the metal scene, caused the members of the band to splinter.
Misc.
In 1985, after the breakup of Oblivion, Hudgens and Morris saw that together they might be able to accomplish their own band, so they gave it a shot and set up shop in an old railroad boxcarBoxcar
A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...
that Morris' parents, Bill & Brenda, were using as a shed, located in a huge backyard away from the neighborhoods. They convinced Kelly Casper to join in on bass with Matt playing guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and singing. This incarnation was called "Misc.", which happened to be scribbled on the first cassette tape they recorded on. The music clearly was leaving metal behind and headed full speed toward hardcore punk and skate rock. The music was played and performed as brash and as abrasively as they could possibly deliver it, and recorded with a 'ghetto-blaster
Boombox
Boombox is a colloquial expression for a portable cassette or CD player. Other terms known are ghetto blaster, jambox, or radio-cassette. It is a device capable of receiving radio stations and playing recorded music , usually at relatively high volume...
' onto very old used cassette tapes that were actually found in the boxcar, with vocals by both Morris and Casper sung directly into the built-in microphone
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
. Gary Stallions also played second guitar for an appearance at a Redwood High School
Redwood High School (Visalia)
Redwood High School is a secondary school in Visalia, California, United States. The public high school serves students from the north central section of the city....
talent show
Talent show
A talent show is an event where participants perform their talent or talents of acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, drumming, martial arts, playing an instrument, and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, sometimes for a reward, trophy or prize...
. They were kicked out of the talent show when panic ensued because no one other than the punk scene knew what was going on when the fast music and slam dancing erupted.
Aggravated Assault
Casper had to leave the band amicably, so Don Hudgens brought in Rob Anderson, who grew up with him during their teens and knew Matt Morris from the local BMXBMX
Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...
scene on that side of town years earlier around 1982. They changed the name to Aggravated Assault, the band then started to gravitate toward Fresno, California
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, a city 40 minutes north which had an active punk scene, shops and interesting places to skate, especially in its classic downtown area. Hudgens and Morris posted a flyer at "The Record Factory" which led to their first real gig at the legendary Knights of Columbus
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....
Hall, opening for the Wimpy Dicks (San Luis Obispo) and the Sea Hags
Sea Hags
Sea Hags was an American glam metal band from San Francisco, California. Their style has primarily been referred to as sleaze metal.-History:...
. Repeated trips to Fresno led them to meet Dale Stewart of Capitol Punishment at his record store in Fresno, Stage Dive Records, which although not in Visalia, became one of the bands favorite hang outs whenever they could get a chance to be there.
Plaid Retina
Stewart convinced the band to change its name to Plaid Retina (the name itself was a group decision), mostly to help them grow just in case they grew out of the piston-pumping D.R.I.Dirty Rotten Imbeciles
Dirty Rotten Imbeciles is a thrash metal/crossover thrash band from the United States that formed in Houston, in 1982. The band currently comprises founding members, vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist Spike Cassidy, as well as drummer Rob Rampy and bassist Harald Oimoen.D.R.I...
style rhythms, which proved to be sound advice. Stewart connected them with the studio A.I.R. (Audio Image Recording) in Fresno at Van Ness and Bremer owned by Grey Gregson (update needed). This was the team that recorded the self-titled debut album, Plaid Retina, that when pressed was actually a little 7" but was in fact a formidable full length album (relatively speaking). Plaid Retina was a furious debut with a devastating rhythmic pace comparable to Minor Threat and D.R.I. Stewart also introduced the band to the staff of the Maximum RocknRoll
Maximum RocknRoll
Maximum rocknroll is a widely distributed, monthly not-for-profit fanzine based in San Francisco, USA. It features interviews, columns, and reviews from international contributors...
magazine where David Hayes entered the picture.
Hudgens used the magazine as a resource to communicate with people all over the world via mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
. External influences other than hardcore punk began to appear and the band started experiencing with these influences. David Hayes then released Plaid Retina on Lookout! Records
Lookout! Records
-History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock...
, the Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
based label he formed with Larry Livermore
Larry Livermore
Lawrence "Larry" Hayes , best known by the pseudonym Larry Livermore, is an American musician, record producer, and music journalist. He is best known as the co-founder of Lookout! Records.-Biography:...
. Since the album was already recorded, releasing it was done fast and efficiently.
The East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
and San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
then become an additional focal point for the band. Morris got a van
Van
A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...
for the band, so national touring outside of California could begin.
Boxcar
At some point, Rob Anderson quit to become a MarineUnited States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, and Travis from the "Oblivion" days joined on bass. Boxcar was recorded again with Grey Gregson at A.I.R. and was a cassette tape demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
that consisted of covers on side A, and originals on side B. A sort of introduction of Travis to the world.
Thru the mail, Hudgens crossed paths with Musical Tragedies, a record label in Germany that later released Boxcar as a 7" EP. Once again, since the material was already recorded, this project was able to be pressed and released very efficiently.
The originals on side B had a noticeable tempo
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
relax from the first Plaid Retina release. However, the external influences other than hardcore have yet to show themselves - that will happen with the next release, Pinkeye. The band spent a lot of personal time exploring these influences and getting them ready before presenting a radical change in their sound.
After the release of Boxcar, the band began touring around the United States.
Pinkeye
Before the new album's release, the band debuted much of the new material in outside stage matinée performances at the College of the SequoiasCollege of the Sequoias
College of the Sequoias is a public two-year community college located in Visalia in Tulare County, in California's San Joaquin Valley. The current enrollment of COS is 13,000 students, and the college offers a variety of transfer, vocational, and community-based classes, including the fire/police...
in Visalia, to stunned audiences. The music featured dramatic twists, tempo changes, stops and starts that seemed ironically rhythmic.
The music still felt at home in the punk shows, because it has retained its brashness (and in some tracks, high speed tempos) in spite of the original approaches.
Pinkeye, the band's first full length 12" album, was released via Lookout! Records in 1989, and was recorded at A.I.R. by Grey Gregson.
A friend of the band, Tony Sevener, loaned Hudgens a wide array of cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
s that helped the drum sound stretch out a little, along with some experimental drum effects by Grey. The new material was also performed on local Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV show, "The Shout Club".
Visalia pro skater Tom Knox met the band and most of Pinkeye appeared on Santa Cruz Skateboards' Strange Notes #3.
Rejection
Tim BiskupTim Biskup
Tim Biskup is an American artist generally considered to be a part of the group that has been dubbed "lowbrow" or pop surrealism...
presented two different pressings of Rejection on Duck Butter Records, one of the pressings having hand screened art and clear red vinyl.
The Rejection era was an enthusiastic period, because the Rejection EP was recorded and released in Fresno. Ironically enough, the band got popular across the country first before they did locally due to the albums and touring, using the Berkeley/East Bay area as a springboard. Even though the band had roots in Fresno, they only really knew a handful of people, mostly from the Capitol Punishment camp (due to the distance from Visalia) and this release brought them more inside the scene. Tim opened different doors and they met many new friends. Many more live performances in different venues in the city started happening. The local scene received the majority of the hand-screened versions.
The evolution of the music continued, some of the more conventional approaches still on Pinkeye (even though that album was very original) can be heard melting away.
Travis acquired an Ibanez
Ibanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass produce...
left-handed bass guitar and also came across an Ampeg
Ampeg
Ampeg is primarily a musical instrument amplifier manufacturer headquartered in Woodinville, Washington, though they also manufacture guitars to a small extent...
combo bass amplifier
Amplifier
Generally, an amplifier or simply amp, is a device for increasing the power of a signal.In popular use, the term usually describes an electronic amplifier, in which the input "signal" is usually a voltage or a current. In audio applications, amplifiers drive the loudspeakers used in PA systems to...
which would later define his sound on the albums and tours to come.
Matt started experimenting with Yamaha
Yamaha (manufacturer)
is a multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, electronics, motorcycles and power sports equipment.-History:...
SBG Model guitars.
"I sat on a milk crate that Matt got for me to play drums from the beginning all the way to Rejection. We also used it to haul the stands and the pedal. If I broke one I just went to the back of a grocery store and got another one. I played a nice Yamaha kit I got before Pinkeye but couldn't make the payments and had to go back to pieced together pieces of crap." -Don said.
Mind Tracing the Going Down
David Hayes presented Mind Tracing the Going Down, Plaid Retina's second full length album, in 1991 on Very Small RecordsVery Small Records
Very Small Records is an independent record label, formed in 1989 by David Hayes, co-founder and former co-owner of Lookout! Records. The label releases primarily pop punk and punk rock records....
. The album was recorded by Billy Anderson at the Razor's Edge in San Francisco.
If Rejection was a local breakthrough, Mind Tracing did the same for the band in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many more Bay Area gigs were to follow in venues not just in the East Bay, along with significant new friendships forged with bands such as Schlong, False Sacrament, Neurosis
Neurosis (band)
Neurosis is a post-metal band, based in Oakland, California. They formed in 1985 as a hardcore punk band, and their sound progressed towards a doom metal style that also included influences from dark ambient and industrial music as well as incorporating elements of folk music...
and Victim's Family
Victim's Family
Victims Family is a punk band formed in 1984 in Santa Rosa, California by bassist Larry Boothroyd and guitarist and vocalist Ralph Spight. Drummer Devon VrMeer completed the trio. Their sound blended punk, heavy metal and jazz, making them difficult to categorize into a single genre...
.
Brad Weaver joined the band. Around this time, Matt Morris put together certain pieces of equipment that helped define his sound: a Mesa/Boogie amplifier (from the factory, purchased around the time of recording the album) in conjunction with a Roland JC-120 amplifier, a Paul Reed Smith
Paul Reed Smith
Paul Reed Smith , is a luthier and the founder and owner of PRS Guitars.Smith is originally from Bowie, Maryland. He made his first guitar while at St. Mary's College of Maryland, and continued to build guitars after he finished college, making them one at a time, one a month...
guitar, and a complex, well defined system of delay and other effects.
Going Down CD, 1991 Shmin Esso / Duck Butter SE / DB021]] -->
Not long after its release, Matt teamed up with Tim Biskup
Tim Biskup
Tim Biskup is an American artist generally considered to be a part of the group that has been dubbed "lowbrow" or pop surrealism...
to release Mind Tracing on the dual Shmin Esso / Duck Butter conglomerate, Shmin Esso being Matt's label.
The Spark.
The Spark. was an EP released on Very Small Records and recorded at Sergay's Recording Emporium in the San Francisco Bay Area.At that time, Hudgens got a Tama drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
.
Dead End Mind
Third full length album on Very Small Records, recorded at House of Faith, Northern California. First to be released on compact disc.What I Can't Have
EP on Joey Edwards' Little Deputy Records. Recorded by Scott GreenallScott Greenall
Scott Greenall, is an artist from Garden Grove, California. Although suffering from Cerebral Palsy since birth, in 1992 he started a small multi-track recording studio in his grand-parents garage....
in Garden Grove California, before the band moved to Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
.
While still in California, Don acquired a Gretsch
Gretsch
The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...
drum kit (which will define his sound through the remaining years).
In Austin, Mark Hughes joined on keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and Travis switched equipment from his Ampeg
Ampeg
Ampeg is primarily a musical instrument amplifier manufacturer headquartered in Woodinville, Washington, though they also manufacture guitars to a small extent...
to a new Trace Elliot
Trace Elliot
Trace Elliot is a United Kingdom-based bass amplification manufacturer, and has a sub-brand, Trace Acoustic, for acoustic instruments.-History:...
rig .
Unreleased album
The band recorded in MemphisMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
an unreleased album. However, the song "Sperm" made it out as a single for a heavy metal compilation.
Discography
- Plaid Retina - Lookout! RecordsLookout! Records-History:Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop rock, reggae fusion, acoustic rock, pop punk, and indie rock...
(1988, 7" vinyl) - Boxcar - Musical Tragedies (1990, 7" vinyl)
- Pinkeye - Lookout! Records (1989, 12" vinyl)
- Rejection - Duck Butter Records (1990, 7" vinyl)
- Mind Tracing The Going Down - Very Small RecordsVery Small RecordsVery Small Records is an independent record label, formed in 1989 by David Hayes, co-founder and former co-owner of Lookout! Records. The label releases primarily pop punk and punk rock records....
(1991, 12" vinyl)- Also released on compact disc via Shmin Esso/Duck Butter Records in 1991
- The Spark. - Very Small Records (1993, 7" vinyl)
- What I Cant Have - Little Deputy Records (19??, 7" vinyl)