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DENISE DOMIZI
wo decades ago, when Athens was not
yet coming down from the bingfc of an
era that put the city and its music on the
national pop culture radar, the under
ground rock scene was thriving. A recent art
school graduate from Massachusetts named
Timi Conley drove south in a rusty 1979
Toyota Corolla seeking a place for his college
band to take off in a new direction. His first
stop was Athens, and from here he planned to
spend some time in Austin. After arriving in
Athens, Conley ran out of gas—and never left.
A few months later, Conley's bandmates,
bassist Dave Domizi and his brother, drummer
Scott Domizi, also made the migration from
Massachusetts to Georgia. The three rented a
small house in Five Points that Dave says was
"just close enough to code to legally rent."
A few weeks later, in the summer of 1991,
Fuzzy Sprouts plugged in and played their
first Athens show in the depths of Club Fred,
a gritty, basement punk club below Fred di
Toronto's Pizzeria.
While the zappy, psychedelic funk-rock
didn't quite call in the masses at first, it did
catch the ear of Club Fred booking agent
Ripley Keller, and it wasn't long before the
guys were regulars. Opening for Athens hard-
rock favorites such as Hayride and Lagerhead,
Fuzzy Sprouts quickly became a familiar name
throughout the underground club circuit and
earned the band its rightful place in the local
scene.
"Athens gave our music, and us as players,
a chance to grow," says Dave. "We learned
how to use spatulas to pay the rent, how to
survive on the road, sleep in vans and on
floors, and how to score killer deals at thrift
stores."
Conley and the Domizis spent their days
working jobs as restaurant kitchen staff, tele
marketers and any other work they could find
to pay the bills while they fostered their craft.
Conley notes that even in their day jobs, they
were able to soak up inspiration that affected
the development of their sound.
"We came to Athens and got dishwashing
jobs listening to James Brown and George
Clinton," says Conley, "We were from New
England—it ain't got that soul like here... We
got gritty and scrappy and added that to the
fluff."
Over the next 10 years, Conley, Dave
Domizi, guitarist/vocalist Michael Wegner—
who joined the band in 1993—and a rota
tion of drummers including Scott Domizi,
Scott Nutt, Tim Payne and Seth Hendershot,
released three independent albums: Hey Buddy
(1996), Live & Sassy Picture Show (1999) and
Liquid Light (2000). Fuzzy Sprouts played
numerous shows locally, toured often and
quickly became known for their miscellany of
onstage pranks and stunts, including highwire
tricks and assorted pyrotechnics. Among their
list of show memories are a flaming birthday
cake, live llamas, a sold-out show in which
patrons of Atomic Music Hall drank the bar out
of beer, and an event referred to simply as The
Naked Party. "If you have to ask," says Conley,
"you weren't there."
Fast-forward 20 years from that first fate
ful night at Club Fred, and the building that
once held Fred di Toronto's Pizzeria is now
home to Chelsea's Gentleman's Club. Several
classic venues—The High Hat, Tasty World and
Atomic Music Hall—have all fallen to the way-
side. The downtown area has seen dozens of
openings, closings, facelifts and changes, but
the Sprouts are still banking on one certain
fact: the kids love to party.
Although the band called it quits in 2001,
after 10 years of full-time recording, touring
and painting the town with hard rockin' party
tunes, they have yet to fully conclude their
career. Members of the band have continued
to collaborate in several other local projects,
including Abbey Road Live, The Magictones,
Cosmic Charlie, Conley's own project Kite to
the Moon and Wegner's group Whisper Kiss.
The Sprouts are also known for their sporadic
reunion shows—the last of which Dave jok
ingly calls the "17th annual farewell concert."
Now, in honor of their 20th anniversary as a
part of the Athens music scene, Fuzzy Sprouts
are hosting a special reunion show in the
newly re-opened Georgia Theatre.
As a band renowned for their tricks and
shenanigans, it's hard to envision what the
guys might have up their sleeves on such a
momentous date. Though Conley, Dave Domizi,
Wegner and Hendershot are all now fathers of
children aged three to nine, do not expect a
tame or toned-down performance.
"The Georgia Theatre, being so brand-new
and unspoiled, makes one wish to defile it
in some glorious fashion befitting its grand
majesty," Conley says. After 20 years on the
scene, it's unlikely that Fuzzy Sprouts will ever
really change their partying ways—and we're
OK with that.
Carrie Dagenhard
- WHO: Fuzzy Sprouts, Hayride
WHERE: Georgia Theatre
WHEN: Saturday, Sept. 10,9 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $10
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SEPTEMBER 7. 2011 • FLAGPOLE.COM 17
