Your Food: a band self-described as "arty-hardcore" (they were neither) that existed in Louisville KY from 1982-84.
APPETIZER:
Teen buds John Bailey (guitar) & Wolf Knapp (bass) began hanging out, then practicing at the Punk House (aka 1069) in the fall of 1981. They were soon joined by resident Tari Barr (ex of The Dickbrains) and took on the name Orange-Orange and played a few shows. In early 1982 they were joined by Doug Maxson (vocals; also ex of The Dickbrains), who'd recently returned to 1069 residency from NYC. Because of the existence of similarly named bands (think: Agent Orange), a name change was decided upon. Charles Schultz, resident and also ex of The Dickbrains, came up with Your Food. Your Food played locally and in nearby Lexington and recorded a 5-song demo at 1069 on 4-track reel. Towards the end of the summer 1982, Tari decided to leave the band for other pursuits. She was quickly replaced by Charles Schultz.
ENTREE:
The classic model Your Food began playing out a lot, often in non-traditional venues, letting neither lack of payment nor lack of audience stand in the way. Primarily aided by Wolf's BEOG college grant, they recorded and self-released POKE IT WITH A STICK, the first punk album to come out of Louisville. On the strength of the LP they began playing further afield, again to Lexington and then up to Bloomington for a show with Get Smart!. With the aid of a $400 van that burned a gallon of oil every 100 miles, they decided to start travelling to the East Coast, where fame and fortune surely awaited. In October of '83, the played a desolate old ballroom in Baltimore, then made a bit of a splash at a punkfest at Oscar's Eye in D.C. (where they were referred to as "four walking scarecrows from Kentucky.") In December they actually made decent money at a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken, which was immediately countered by a royal screwing in Boston by the Rat Club (for two full sets they received--but in advance!--full payment of two draft beer tickets apiece.) After a New Year's Eve show in town, they again packed their bags and gallon milk jugs of used motor oil, this time back to their fan base (Barbara Rice, publisher of Truly Needy) in D.C. A show in Richmond VA had to be cancelled because the van broke down before getting out of D.C. The following night they played a magnificent show at the 9:30 Club in D.C. where attendance was a bit off because of a freak blizzard. On the drive home, the van's clutch went out in Cumberland MD. A parental credit card number paid for the repairs, and the band exhausted the rest of their funds (rent money) for food and a room for the night. The next night, the van's transmission died outside Clarksburg WV. They managed to coast off the Interstate to a service station where 1) the death of the transmission was confirmed, 2) it was revealed that no one within towing distance worked on transmissions, 3) they were offered $25 for the van. The band declined the generous offer. Another parental credit card kept them from dying overnight in the van from hypothermia; a Western Union money order from another parent enabled them to rent a U-Haul trailer hitch; another parent drove up with a rented station wagon strong enough to pull the van home. Your Food returned broke, broken & broken up.
DESSERT:
Your Food reunited for consecutive Derby shows at Louisville's Uncle Pleasant's in 1991 & 1992--the latter show was recorded to DAT by Steve Good, and later dumped to disk (Eat It!). Half-a-dozen decent quality live cassettes have been dumped and excerpted to disk (Full Meal Deal). No master tapes for the album exist; a digital transfer from vinyl has been effected.
As well, three tracks from Poke It are included on the Louisville label Noise Pollution's May 2007 release Bold Beginnings; an incomplete collection of Louisville Punk 1978-1983. This excellent compilation is available directly from Noise Pollution: louisvillenoise.com
For a preview of this CD, go to the Myspace page for Bold Beginnings.
For a massive archival look at the Louisville scene from that era, check out the site at louisvillepunk.
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