About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 24, 2011)
ou have to have been where you were \J to get to where you are. That's the story that takes shape when Jared Gandy, Theo Hilton and Dain Marx dis cuss their collective experience in the punk band Zumm Zumm. While they've all gone on to notoriety with bands like Witches, Nana Grizol, Here Comes a Big Black Cloud and oth ers, Zumm Zumm is where they cut their teeth. Sitting around a table at Little Kings, the trio recollect and re-recollect moments, finish each other's anecdotes and half-attempt to explain harebrained ideas that almost weren't or never were. It's a confusing array of information. The group formed in 2001 and first formulated its musical identity at fondly remembered DIY practice space/venue Tight Pockets—"before it was Tight Pockets," notes Gandy. The first show set the tone for the band: theatrics, noise and an exuberance that could only be described as youthful. "Our first show was at the Caledonia, and it was some show that Andre [Gallant, then of Carrie Nations] put on. We had really good costumes, but we didn't have any songs," says Hilton. "We billed ourselves as 'Athens' premier queercore band,"' says Gandy. (At one point, the band had tossed around the idea of starting a Madonna cover band called The Immaculate Collection.) That initial set fea tured strippers, mock-whippings and Hilton drawing a Zorro-like double-Z emolem on audience members' chests. On a video docu ment of the show, says Hilton, "you can hear our friend Susie saying, 'They're so bad!' and Andre's like, 'Sing into the microphone!"' From there, the band continued on a simi lar tear, recording constantly, touring and working in a steady, if haphazard fashion. Without settling on an easily defined sound, an eclectic and jokey aesthetic began to coalesce. "I almost want to call it a primordial mess, but it's not really a mess; it's cohesive to me," says Gandy. "A lot of songs ended up climbing out of the ooze." Following a chaotic set at one of Orange Twin's first shows at its bucolic outdoor pavil ion—which saw the bandmembers stripped to their underwear and caked in red clay mud—they were invited to tour with Elf Power during the spring of 2003. With the help of guitarist Ian McCord (Wade Boggs), Zumm Zumm summarily subjected Elephant Six fans across America to their noisy punk and con frontational dancers. ' That tour almost broke us," says Hilton, eliciting a huge laugh from Marx and Gandy. "We were on tour in this 1972 Dodge van with a flame job, and the gas tank had a leak that just pissed out gasoline constantly—to the point where we brought it to a shop and the guy was just like, 'Get it out of here!"' A short while after that tour, Hilton, Marx and friend/tourmate Madeline Adams moved to Bloomington, IN; from there, Marx headed to Portland. (He has since moved back to town and has joined no fewer than three bands: Crun Pun, Gnarx and Green Thrift Grocery.) Since then, Zumm Zumm has only made spo radic appearances. But the band reveals that the experience shaped them as musicians and friends; it's worth noting that it was on tour with Zumm Zumm that Hilton first encountered future allies and eventual bandmates in Defiance, Ohio (a band, not a place) and. Toby Foster. "We used to practice for five hours at a time four or five days a week, which is crazy because I've never done anything like that," says Hilton. "And then go watch movies all night," adds Gandy. "Yeah, go smoke ciga rettes at The Huddle House and write lyrics," laughs Hilton. Beyond the bonding experience, it seems the band also provided an outlet for its members' weirder ideas without any pres sures whatsoever. Says Hilton: "The experience of being in Zumm Zumm versus other bands that are really special to me is, I feel like with any band, I put a lot of attention and time and effort into it. With Zumm Zumm, there was less of this idea of needing to get things done or move at a schedule, and more of an idea of exploring what we could do and spend ing a lot of time doing things in different ways." Jeff Tobias \ WHO: Zumm Zumm, Madeline Adams, Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship WHERE: Go Bar WHEN: Monday, Aug. 29,10 p.m. HOW MUCH: $5 (suggested donation) V J imac Georgia's Apple Specialists »» JBL C % B a m A. 5 H o V 4r m * « § OKIHS SAME AS [ASM FINANCING NDWTHMH'MMKHJ, 2ft / PeachMac is pleased to announce o grr., 3 i ,v, ; y ^ 1 * y / the s jmnri'*'. f rorr ' o// through >p\ 10, 2011, h--;' u!J^ *. off'-' ng 12 months same as cash financing to/,.;"is or y pur' r.ase '/ V200 v mom 'm-m r o 2dr. ’ a ’ " ?■ ‘ Take home ulv" .jv- , 3 - -n orMae, hohtnino Mst Mar kook Air, or th'- revolutionary iPad 2. Drop by today to i'-arn more or /isit p'-achnrio'.corn. peachmac ipads • macs • ipods • software • service 1850 Epps Bridge Pkwy (near Trader Joe’s) • Athens 706-208-9990 • peachmac.com AUGUST 24,2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 15
