Early 1990s Low-Fi Summerside Punk & Metal

As I said in an earlier post, we don't just play the Blues around here. In the early 1990s I was a drummer in a couple Punk & Metal bands. My old bandmate Mike 'Skin' Bernard is working on a documentary about the years 1993-1994 when Summerside had a pretty vibrant local 'alternative' music scene. The same type of thing was happening in many towns in North America at the time with the Punk DIY spirit still kicking around. The scene continued after this, well into the 2000s to today, but certainly in S'side there has been nothing since like what we had in 1993-4 with teens making recordings, renting halls for shows, contacting the media & almost wilfully trying to make something happen in our sleepy town.

The early nineties was still a cassette culture for most of us, so, recording meant using 4 & 8-track cassette recorders. None of the bands from the old scene would ever have been able to afford such a luxury as studio time & tape & so the cheaper option of home track recording was ideal. Of course this cheaper option was reflected in the sonic quality of the recordings (Noise titled their demo '$194 Down the Toilet,' ha!) but what are you gonna do when you're 17 & ain't got a dime? My two bands recorded demos & EPs on cassette 4 & 8 tracks. Several of the 'Slam in Summerside' shows were captured from soundboard recordings. One of us (usually Trevor McKinnon) would give the soundguy (someone we would hire for the show) a tape. Soundboards in those days had tape decks on them & you could record whatever the mics were picking up. Of course, this was not an ideal option either because only certain things would get miced & turned up because other things, like amps & drums, were often already loud enough for the audience to hear . . . so these soundboard recordings are kinda like a puzzle with certain pieces missing.

The home of the three to four 'Slam in Summerside' shows was the Kinsmen Centre. The Kins Centre was on North Market st. It has since been renovated & is now the RCAF Wing . . . home of the West End Blues Band in the Summer of 2010 (see previous post).

This is Schpinsch playing 'Toogreennotred' at one of the

Slams in '93-'94. (song cuts off near end, sorry, will

upload complete version later)

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9677577
Toogreennotred (T. McKinnon-Schpinsch)

Blinding my eyes so I can't see
Point your finger point-blank at me
Blame me for things that I never done
That answer's simple where I come from

Choking my air so I can't breathe
Watching you fall is all that I need
Blame me for things that I never done
That answer's simple, where I come from

I want to post tunes from some of the other bands from the Slam shows, namely Tolerance, Noise, Llid & Electric Deadhead but I'll have to get permission first . . . & find some of their recordings. There's some great video that's been uploaded to Youtube from one of the 'Slams' . . . in fact, what the hell, this is Tolerance performing their tune 'Closed Minds' at the Kins Centre in 1993. Tolerance were a very talented Thrash Metal band from Wellington, PEI. Where most of the other 'Slam' bands were going through the learning stage Tolerance were already pretty much at a professional level of performance. This song kicks major ass.

Before I go here's an old Schpinsch tune written by Trev McKinnon called 'Ineffective.' I think Trevor has recorded & played this tune several times in different bands but this would probably be the earliest version. Hard song to categorize (if you have to) but it's almost industrial Death Metal er something. Jamie Peters was Schpinsch's vocalist & does some pretty good throat singing here. This is from another 'Slam in Summerside' at the Kins Centre.

More Summerside Hardcore down the road . . .

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=9678769

Ineffective (T. McKinnon-Schpinsch)

Ineffective I am
And I'll always be
A broken-down man
For everyone to see . . . Go!

Ineffective I'm locked

In my own cell
No one knows my pain
In my own private hell . . . Go!