After meeting in kindergarten class, best friends Andy and Doug started playing music together in 8th grade. Influenced by Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Clash, 999, Foghat, Stiff Little Fingers, Generation X, AC/DC and The Cars, they were known as CLuB ZeRo and played regularly for most of their junior high and high school weekends.
After the demise of CLuB ZeRo, the two drafted Mark Kanak, followed quickly by Carlos Huddleston to play bass guitar and called themselves, judge nothing. Influenced by the midwestern sounds of Husker Du and The Replacements and the pop punk sounds of The Descendents and Agent Orange, judge nothing created their own sort of pop/punk/rocknroll. A few demo cassettes were recorded and the guys were given a taste of life on the road.
This taste was unlike their experiences that they had growing up in the small Midwestern town of Alton, which was also home to the world’s tallest man (Robert Wadlow), the first man to die for “freedom of the press” (Elijah P. Lovejoy) and a lady who killed her children (Paula Simms). This taste quickly grew into an unsatisfied hunger. Carlos, unwilling to travel in near poverty-like conditions in a hot, smelly van with pink shag carpet which would serve as home for months on end, bowed out gracefully.
Oddly enough, a friend/roadie/fan/fellow purveyor of malt beverages named Flea was drafted to fill the role of bass player. With shoeboxes full of demo tapes, boxes and boxes of t-shirts and a cooler full of Gatorade, peanut butter, jelly and sardines, the touring machine was ready to roll.
After touring most of the country’s best and worst clubs and dives, and opening up for some of the country’s best and worst bands, the machine was finely honed and the guys were ready to make it “official” by signing to Chicago’s cool indie label, Thick Records (where cds are still available).
Amid their busy tour schedules and road adventures, they were able to hunker down in a studio in Chicago to record, “I’m A Big Girl Now” in 1995 followed by “Riveter” which was recorded in 1996 in Ft. Collins, Colorado at The Blasting Room, the studio owned and operated by their buddies Bill Stevenson, Jason Livermore and Stephen Egerton from The Descendents and ALL, who also produced the album.
In 1997, after the “Northern Near-Death, Black Ice Everywhere” tour, the guys threw in the towel, eerily near the location of Buddy Holly’s plane crash (read the whole story on the blog). It truly was the day the music died. WATCH THIS PAGE FOR RARE AND UNRELEASED SONGS AND PICTURES TO BE POSTED INTERMITTENTLY.
Suitcase Music Video
Judge Nothing played at my high school to raise money for Art Club. They were with Pave the Rocket and Blind Ernie, a band from my high school. I was always amazed that JN could have such widespread appeal yet still remain so local. It's hard to say whether one should be upset that they never got the recognition and success they so richly deserved, or happy that they were never spoiled by the corporate music machine. Probably upset is the proper emotion since their authenticity was so strong not even Suge Knight and an army of record execs could shake their integrity. On a lighter note I need to find those Wesley Willis covers. RIP Wesley and Judge Nothing.
was just in alton! went to grafton a lot????? wtf??? hung out with lainee, allison, bridget under the arch to see sonic youth....days of glory!!! we miss judge nothing! heh! hope you're all good! long live! xo from ny, laurie
