*2 tracks on each side, a short program of whats going on right now. *An international release, split between Scotch Tapes of Canada and my label, No Clear Records. *Cover art by legendary Florida collage artist, Brad Kokay.
Interested parties hit the button below! (6 dollars for the record and 2 for shipping)
IMPROVISATION Meandering thoughts pulsate through the dark filter of my scattered brain as I hit "record" on a microcassette recorder intended to collect professional dissertations at the push of a button and a loosening of the throat. Three instruments fill a room formerly inhabited by a bed that occupied the entire floorspace. Two grown people with furniture too large for their 2 bedroom 1920 cottage, unwilling to relent in their self motivated task of filling every millimeter of this house with markers of vacations and better times. They look in from the past, a recent history of giving up on America and fleeing the current education dump. No looking back. The guitar, bought in the northernmost corner of the continental US, buzzes with excitement. Borrowed drums and a cassette player purchased from a dead man's estate sale filled with a tape that hit me in the neck a few years ago.
Transitions Art Gallery, 2007ish: A whirlwind of sound mixing voices, rewinding, noise and hiss fills the air at the punk art space. Tapes chucked into the audience by experimental auteurs Hal McGee and Andrew Chadwick. A high velocity cassette collides with my neck and I choke on my own laughter and short breath. "Ironing Folk," says the tape.
Present Day: Mind blank with anticipation, I turn the ceiling fan on for some extra background noise. We set a timer to give the improv one of two concrete reality cornerstones: Time must have a stop. 3 movements. Go.
Interview: Blast & the Detergents vs. Ghost Hospital: Mike from Ghost Hospital and I have played a lot of shows together, he even performed with my improv noise group, The Billfolds, at 2008’s International Noise Conference in Miami. We share a split lo-fi cassette as I play my alter ego Modern TV. Needless to say, this is a loaded interview between two friends.
Christopher Nadeau: yo Ghost Hospital: so whats happening? CN: not much. biked downtown and nothing was going on so we pretended like there was for an hour and now we're home. hey I have a serious question for you. who would win in a fight? a t rex or a flying saucer? GH: a flying saucer, i'm afraid. those little arms just don't cut it. CN: hmm. i see what you're saying. one good chomp though... GH: true. hey check this out: rocket reducer in chicago picked up some copies of the record. just got em in today. SS picked up some too and Florida's Dying. SS and Flo Dy both sold out the first day (SS in 4 hours) and had to reorder. CN: that is huge news! its great to think that more than just a circle of friends is hearing yr tunes. i love that feeling. GH: its nice to hear when complete strangers besides your friends dig the music you put out. its rewarding. CN: so you just went through the process of mastering some recordings of yours, dealing with a vinyl pressing plant and putting out your own 7 inch record on your label, Teen Ape Recordings. how was that whole experience? GH: it was quite a learning experience trying to shop around and find the best quality work for the best price. i shopped around for months trying to find the best that i could afford. i mastered with Jason Martin of this band Starflyer 59. he does all his recording and i'm a big fan of the sound. reverb soaked surf pop. CN: where is he geographically? GH: riverside, ca- south east of LA. lots of pressing plants have their own in-house master guys, but from what i heard, they usually suck. unless you go thru united and they sub with Prarie Cat who is the best around and cheapest from what i heard. CN: its amazing how america sprawls and sprawls. i feel somewhat cut off down here in florida, but here we are dealing with east of LA and San Francisco and Indiana and bla bla bla. for example, you started playing music in Pittsburg- how does playing music up there differ from down here in flor-ee-da? GH: its more eclectic here… kind of like the population seems- like no one is really from here. pittsburg to me has a more regionalized sound… which happens to be bad. there are like 250 strokes rip off bands in pittsburg CN: ha- thats not good for anyone. GH: this band Kim Phuc from there put out a great single last year. CN: your 7 inch has been moving around the country quite a bit in the couple weeks since you've unleashed it on an unsuspecting public. how would you describe the ghost hospital sound in 12 words or less? COUNT EM DAMNIT!!!! GH: single white male seeking alpha male seeking robot fireflies in outer space. i really think florida has a lot of good shit going on right now. CN: ha- we played at the brass mug last night and the band that played before us covered rebel girl by bikini kill. GH: oh wow-how was it? CN: they did a pretty lame version b/c i think their guitarist was into different music like eric clapton or something. GH: that's hilarious. he had no clue. CN: so when we played we asked your bassist, kat magyar, to sing hamster baby with us and she totally owned that bar for 3 minutes. it was amazing. GH: cool that you guys pulled it out of the hat like that. im still convinced that transitions is probably the most receptive to Blast and the Detergents bar none. i love that place. CN: yeah transitions art gallery consistently bleeds integrity, situated in the beautiful old rusty industrial sector of tampa behind the skatepark of tampa. all ages shows are just the way to go. bar crowds down here are all washed up grubby socialites. but thats ok- whatever works for them, you know? GH: yeah, seems like that everywhere. 21 and up you get these really snobby, stella drinking art critics constantly NOT having a good time. punk to me is a good time CN: haha they wouldn't know art if i took a shit on their face. what is the best way to make a guitar feedback for a full two minutes with the least amount of effort? GH: a dan electro and the gain on 11. it also helps to be broken hearted. CN: on that note- thank you for your slapdash answers to my slapdash questions. i'm going to cut and paste this interview like a bastard burroughs wet dream and hope to salvage a couple lines for our friends in san francisco- lets hope the dinosaurs and flying saucers at least have a coherent message for us when the time comes.
Christopher Nadeau skronks, contorts, writes songs and guitars in Blast & the Detergents and Modern TV and he’s sponsored by no one… d’uh.
3 song ep released on random colored 7inch vinyl records. Crushing post punk fury packaged neatly into a little over 8 minutes of damage. Conversation starters and opinions too! $7.50 includes shipping and includes download code and hand screenprinted covers by Permanent Makeup's drummer Susan Dickson. Limited to 300.
12 song masterpiece by post punk wizards. Sweeping revelations and blistering sounds pulsate throughout. Cover art by drummer Susan Dickson. LPs hand screen printed and released by No Clear Records and CDs released by New Granada. Named "Best of the Bay" album of the year 2013 by Tampa Bay's Creative Loafing. Listen:
Blast and the Detergents: Brain Time Now (ncr 010) 17 song weirdo punk epicfest. 2nd full length recording from Nadeau bros and Ben. Known to cause heart palpatations. Cover art by Christopher Nadeau and recording by James Bess. Free Download:http://blastandthedetergents.bandcamp.com/album/brain-time-now.
Permanent Makeup: Permanent Makeup (ncr 009) Debut recording - 8 songs of post punk magic featuring James Bess guitaring/voice, Susan Dickson drumming/voice and Chris Nadeau bassing/voice. Cover art by Susan Dickson and recording by James Bess. Free download at:http://permanentmakeup.bandcamp.com.
Time Misses a Beat: Blast and the Detergents (ncr 007) Full length digital album with 12 tracks of minimalist science fiction no wave punk. Two guitars and drums crash through 11 originals and 1 neil young cover. Recorded live in the studio by James Bess with minimal overdubs, the raw tradition continues and plows forward into the future. Free download at:http://blastandthedetergents.bandcamp.com/album/time-misses-a-beat.
Out of Print:
Screaming Void, Lo-Fi Motel (ncr 003) Split cassette tape between Modern TV and Ghost Hospital. Lo-fi schizo mix of songs and sounds. (reissued as Scotch Tapes 105: www.scotchtapes.ca)
BLAst BLAst BLAst EP: Blast and the Detergents (ncr 004) Noisey punk from Florida's underbelly. 6 tracks of rock n roll mayhem unleashed by recording first or second takes all in the same room with 3 vocal overdubs on the whole thing.
No Clear, No Eyes volume 2 (ncr 005) 24 tracks of Florida underground voodoo magic. Eclectic mix of genres not usually thought to go together (but they do). punk, no wave, garage, noise, avant-garde, experimental, folk, hardcore etc.
Songs That Don't Fit Together At All: Mess Folk (ncr 006) Nova Scotia noisey garage punks crank up and get even more irreverent than usual. A hodgepodge blend of songs and feedback induced comas, this release will get the kids talking for sure. Not to miss!
Split 7": Blast and the Detergents/Ghost Hospital(Scotch Tapes 200/ncr 008) 4 tracks of vinyl magic from Pinellas county, Florida wizards bombard the world with their versions of punk or whatever sub genre you want to crap on. Ghost Hospital's second vinyl experience and Blast and the Detergents' first- an instant classic of underground American culture.