neutral milk hotel demos

[shannon]

"Jeff almost lived in the Monroe House, but moved out after just one night in fall 1993 because the signal from KLPI was bleeding into his Fostex X-26 four track, making it impossible to record there." And yeah, there were lots of parties and playing and such but it was more just a place for people to hang out and play around.

The book sounds quite an interesting read, and as you can imagine I'm very eager to hear what was written about my former home, and all of the wonderful people I knew back then. But I can assure you that Jeff did live in that house in the fall of 94. This could easily be confirmed by any of the people who lived there at the time, John Fernandes, Jana Nolan, Kirk Pleasant...Scott S. wasn't living there at the time, but was always around, and I'm sure he would also confirm that Jeff lived there when I said he did. I even recall that Jeff left behind a string of christmas lights and a built to spill poster, which came from a show Jeff played with them in shreveport louisiana earlier that fall. I have no idea how long he was there before I moved in, but he WAS there. (not that I'm suggesting you're implying I'm wrong, I just wanted to be sure that it's clear that he was there at that time as well)

[Danen]

It seems a solid book - I'm always skeptical of anything not using the source (ie:Jeff isn't one of them) but he DID give full approval of the project and all other applicable people (the band members, etc) are quoted.  Here's a rough cut about the Monroe House, which occupies about a page and a half of the second chapter:

"Ross Beach lived in the Monroe House in the summer of 1993, when the housemates threw five all-night parties, each drawing about 150 people (not counting the inevitable visit from the Ruston police). Olivia Tremor Control - then comprised of Will (Hart), Bill (Doss), and Jeff, drumming with meal coat hangers, presumably because he couldn't afford drumsticks - was the unofficial house band, sharing informal bills with a variety of Ruston and Monroe groups.  Ross remembers that Jeff "usually played a solo acoustic set during which the entire loud raucous party would become a hush, with people sitting down on the floor to take in his performance. Anytime he took the stage, it was immediatly compelling." "

It also notes the presence of the "Fun-O-Mat" across the street and that the house once "hosted shows by Sebadoh, Beat Happening, Pork and Viva Knieval (Kathleen Hanna's first band)." This part is quoted by Spillane, who notes that the Gerbils were essentially the opening act for all these bands.

And that's pretty much it about the Ruston house.  Does this sound right? I'm curious to know where details may be off (Scott and Ross Beach seem to be the only two sources for the house, but it doesn't say for sure)

[Andrew_TSKS]

hey shannon, by any chance did you know a guy named william mills? he went to nlu in monroe, and was associated with that whole nmh crowd. he had a band called brown tower for a short time that he played guitar in, and he tells me he played drums in nmh briefly, but it would have been back in the early demo days, when band lineups weren't all that settled or long-lasting. anyway, we went to high school together. he was in that area doing the school thing from 1992-95, and i'm just curious if you knew him.

[shannon]

And that's pretty much it about the Ruston house. Does this sound right? I'm curious to know where details may be off (Scott and Ross Beach seem to be the only two sources for the house, but it doesn't say for sure)

Well, I moved to Ruston the summer of 94, and into the house either late september or early november of 94. I just spoke to my friend Jana, who lived there both before and during the time I was there. She confirmed to me that Jeff was there before me and that I did move into his room, just as I remembered. However, she said he was only there for a very short time, maybe only a week or so, and that the entire time he was up in the room recording. Ross wasn't living there at the time, he was around the corner (i later moved in to a house next door to Ross, one of about 500 places where I lived in two years!) Will Westbrook from the Gerbils also lived in that attic room at some point; the first time I met him he came into my room and got some of his drawings that he'd left in the closet. It could be that Ross and Scott simply forgot that Jeff lived there in 94, especially considering neither of them lived there at that time and it was a very short period. I wasn't living there when those bands you mentioned played there, but I was there for Low, Butterglory (anyone remember them?), Fitz of Depression, Chocolate USA, and a few others. Seeing Low perform in my living room was certainly a highlight of my younger days!
The Fun-o-mat, later the Dry Dock, was indeed across the street. When I lived there, though, it was a soul food resturant called Sweet Peas. However, I did spend my very first E6 moment there, on halloween of 1992. That's the night I first met John Fernandes (then still in high school, and playing violin in the band Smilin Joe Fission with other E6 members). I went to a halloween party in a town called Arcadia, which is about halfway between the town where I lived (a town where scott was once the manager of our local pizza hut!) and Ruston. This long haired skinny boy came up to me and told me he liked my shoes. We talked for a while and he invited me to go to a party in ruston with him and the two girls he was there with (one later became my best friend, jana). So I went along with them to this party which was at the Dry Dock. We were all underage though; John, Jana, and Beth were all 17 and I was 18. So we sat outside on the sidewalk and watched the party from outside. And that's how I came to be part of this group of friends.

By the way, when I spoke to Jana today, I told her all about what's been going on with the demo tape. She lives in Athens and is close with Scott and his wife Sally, and she's going to talk to them and see if Scott will talk to Jeff about it. (Ross has already emailed Jeff, but he told me it sometimes takes him a while to email back). Hopefully this means we're close to knowing what Mr. Mangum's opinion on the matter is.

hey shannon, by any chance did you know a guy named william mills? he went to nlu in monroe

The name doesn't sound familiar, but I might recognize him if I saw him. I didn't spend a lot of time in Monroe, except to go to a place called The Loose Caboose, where a lot of good bands played. Lots of K records stuff is what I remember... I'm sure if he was in monroe at the same time as i was in ruston, we were probably at a lot of the same shows and parties.

[Nicholson]

Butterglory (anyone remember them?)

They actually were mentioned on this board not too long ago, in the White Courtesy Phone forum, in the thread about gift ideas. Someone gave their boyfriend a Butterglory CD because they had a crush on their boss, who used to be like the bass player for that band. Or something similar.

This just amused me to mention.

[Danen]

Thanks for the reply, Shannon!  I actually printed it off and folded into the book as an appendix of sorts on the Monroe house.  Very interesting info.  If you talk to Scott ask him what he thinks about the book, if you don't mind. Curious to see if what was said was what was printed. Really, it seems a solid read (and VERY good analysis of 'Aeroplane' sessions) but I'm curious to hear what an interviewee thinks.

[RoyBiggins]

I sought out Butterglory once becuase of a time I saw the Mountain Goats play "Cubs in Five," and John and Peter said Bill Gates would spearhead the Butterglory revival.  That was funny.

Turns out they're good, too.  I actually like Matt Suggs' solo stuff a lot too.

[Danen]

Butterglory was a Matt Suggs act?  Ah - now I know why they're important.  Curiously, Sugg's new band (White Whale) is playing here (in Fayetteville, AR) on Friday with Xiu Xiu.  Should be an fascinating show, to say the least. Looking quite forward to it.

[woejilli]

Hey everyone, I just got back from my weekend under a rock.

DID I MISS ANYTHING?

[jebreject]

I just ordered the book!

[Em]

FYI, a Seattle Weekly article deems this thread "fascinating."

[Andrew_TSKS]

hah, that was weird.

[Maaik]

It's too bad this thread isn't linked directly, cos it takes me some searching to find just the right dead thread I'm looking for, and I ain't no n00b.

Also, yeah, it is really weird having a discussion I took part in cited in the Seattle Weekly.  Hello there!  I wonder if Doug Wolk posts/lurks here.

[jebreject]

were internets famous, yo

[Maaik]

FYI, a Seattle Weekly article deems this thread "fascinating."

I told tMO about that and she just laughed and replied "I think yogurt's good.  Pizza's good too..."

[CannibalsHymn]

has any one heard the hype city soundtrack that NMH did?

[jebreject]

uh huh

[rockmeamadeus]

Oh sweet... just another step in the Last Plane posse INTERNETZ TAKEOVER.

[Akhliber]

It's one thing if you find a dusty old diary in an old building that's been vacant for a hundred years and you know what you're holding is some archive from the past.  
I have a really hard time with the idea of treating a living person's personal recordings the same way.  

I have a very hard time playing people any of my music, even the small handful of things I've been proud of, and the idea of someone hearing not only the few songs i'm willing to share but also the hours and hours of 4-track tapes full of nothing but incredibly confused noise really does freak me the fuck out.  I would be embarrassed enough if I so much as went back through it all myself, on headphones, with nobody else around.

For people like me who don't really have real musical talent or knowledge, sharing even the stuff i ended up being pretty happy with is difficult enough.  The idea of someone taking all the ugliness and clumsiness and all the absolutely graceless times of growth and purging and sharing them with a bunch of strangers really is a scary one.

If I never made music again, the world wouldn't really be losing anything.  But if it were acceptable to take one another's private recordings and make them fair game to others, I think there would probably be a lot more people pushed away from making music altogether, and that could be a huge loss.

[bYul]

This is so sad/funny/ridiculous:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=10139311

"Do you need any artwork for your band?"
"When are you guys going on tour?"
"you= the shizz"

Yet another reason Jeff won't and probably shouldn't come back.

[rockmeamadeus]

Oh lordy, lordy, lordy. That is depressing.

[DCDave]

I didn't see that much that was sad about it.

[rockmeamadeus]

Not sad like ohhh boohoohoo his fans are such pawns but depressing as in a complete wastge of internetz. Much like the entirety of MySpace itself.

[jebreject]

the internet is a wastage of internet.

[Lucy]

meh, without the internet i wouldn't have you guys, so i feel kind of obliged to stick up for it, at least a little bit...