2020 comes to a fiery conclusion with the Camel Toe box set. This was one of my favorite projects in terms of creativity and friendship, so they deserve an expansive DELUXE BOX SET. This band featured Aaron Ford, Jason McPanko, Matthew Williams and myself. We often collaborated with other Carrollton musicians like Garnet Faulkner, Mark Poucher, Kipp Lovvern, Fain ?, and Gregory Sanders. This band flourished in 1994-1995, and reunited sporadically over the years. Last seen in 2015. This collection feature all of the Bite my Bagel release, tracks from the CD, Gigante Picante and numerous live cuts and 4 track recordings.
LONG-WINDED LINER NOTES FROM THE BASS PLAYER
Gather round children and let me regale you with the tale of Camel Toe. The year was Nineteen and Ninety Four, and I had just entered my first year of College in Carrollton, GA.
The first Quarter was underwhelming. The dorm atmosphere was kind of loud, gross and dumb for me, so I was pondering transferring back to my hometown of Dahlonega, GA. As I lay the groundwork to leave Carrollton, I decided to check out the local music store and maybe get a fresh set of strings. On my way out of this shop I see a flyer posted seeking a bass player. It named influences Nirvana, Fugazi and Janes Addiction, but also had the warning NO SPANDEX. I called the number and reached drummer Aaron Ford. He told me the band Yellow 5, had a gig at the Corner Café and that offered a chance to meet and see if we fit together well.
At the show, which I think was on a Thursday, I first approached Jason Wilson asking “Are you Aaron?”. It turns out he was just a skateboarding friend/neighbor of Aarons, who along with guitarist Matthew Williams formed the band Yellow 5. Aaron was a Senior in High School, Matt a Junior, Jason like myself a Freshmen in College. The show had an acoustic format and featured many covers from Nirvana Unplugged (Kurt Cobain had just died the previous April), as well songs by Cracker, Pearl Jam and some originals.
This led to an audition and quickly joining up with the trio to prepare for an electric debut. This show is captured on the cassette release BOTANY. The Nirvana presence is still strong, but now an even harder edge is on display with originals like the Rage Against the Machine flavored Groovybreakcream, the Primus laced Handicapped Parking, and originals like Take and Amira.
The band continued to evolve freely along with the friendships. We held the door open to ANY influence which allowed us to explore and attempt to replicate a lot of the diverse sounds of the 90’s. Mr Bungle and Fugazi casts large shadows, but also Dave Matthews and jammier elements. A weirdness began to germinate and soon the shows were stranger and looser than before.
At one point I moved from the dorms into Drummer Aaron Ford’s basement. This allowed endless conversations about EVERYTHING, and an opportunity to jam our way into being a unique and creative rhythm section.
We played 2 out of town shows. One at the Wreck Room in Atlanta which was horrible because we did not take amps. Prior to the gig we called and asked the soundman what to bring and he said, just drums and instruments would be fine. We assumed this meant backlining gear with another band, but in reality it meant we were all playing with pedals running into direct boxes for one of the shrillest gigs in history!
The other at the Somber Reptile went better, but out best gigs happened at the Corner Café. There we linked up with other original bands like Space Jockey and MP Chassis to create a mini Indie Rock scene.
The NO SPANDEX line came back to haunt us when we performed covers by Skid Row and Guns and Roses, but they were performed with so much gusto that we eventually forgave ourselves.
All of us spent a lot of time eating Taco Bell, making collage flyers, and playing the Corner Café several more times until Aaron graduated and went abroad for College. After BOTANY, we went to Norcross to record our studio debut BITE MY BAGEL. A miscommunication to the pressing plant led to us receiving 100 cassettes with all of the content on the A side and blank B’s. We felt like a blank B-side was a disservice, so we recorded 100 unique B-sides to accompany the release. A 4-track release called Gigante Picante followed, and finally another studio set recorded in Bremen simply called The CD.
In the following years I continued making music with Matt and Jason in many, many projects, and on rare occasion the Camel Toe has reunited. Most recently at Alley Cat in 2015.
More at Brefmint.com
Yellow 5 “Botany” (1994)
Camel Toe “The CD” (1996)
Pingback: 365/2020 PROJECT – Stabercrombie.com