Diary of a Band: Odessa Stair
October 16, 2009 by nataly
Filed under Diary of a Band
When Eat Our Cocks, Dr. Dog: The Odessa Stair Story is released in book stores everywhere, readers may be surprised to learn that we weren’t always the SteveDanPat line-up that girls dream about at night. There are a few former soldiers that helped turn Odessa Stair into the fear-mongering hit machine that it is now.
Doug’s an old friend of mine who has the noble distinction of being the first person to join the band, and the not-so-noble distinction of being the first one fired. Nevertheless, his enthusiasm for guitar was second-to-none. As October ’08 ended, I taught him my songs and accompanied him on bass.
I met Jonathan through Craigslist at the beginning of November. A great guitarist with an amazing sense of rhythm, he could turn my lamest riffs into garage rock anthems. He also taught me the most important question to ask potential band mates: “So, uh, you don’t do coke, right?”
I hadn’t talked to Dan in years when we met up at our friend’s sex toy party last April. The grotesque dildos on display sparked our discussion about making music that sounds like a giant rubber dick getting shoved into your eye. He took over on bass a few days later. I moved to the drums, which at this point consisted of a tom and a frying pan.
We were having fun but things weren’t… right. The greatest band in the world sounded pretty awkward, which is to be expected when half of your drum kit is used to cook breakfast. Morale was starting to dwindle. People were skipping practices or ignoring phone calls. By June, Jonathan had quit, and I decided to let Doug go. It’s never easy firing a friend, but I wanted a real drummer and I no longer saw room for two guitarists. People often see this as harsh, but that’s usually because they’ve never met a real man before.
Dan posted an ad on Craigslist for a new drummer (an excerpt: “You’re going to be part of a movement that will destroy lives.”) and only Pat was brave enough to respond. Pat auditioned with pure gusto and declared his love of trashing hotel rooms. He was the perfect fit.
I’m still friends with everyone and their influence can still be heard in the band; Jonathan and Doug have writing credits on many of our songs. I’m grateful for their help getting Odessa Stair off the ground. Without them, Hipsters Eat Soy Animals would have to find some other sap to write diary entries for free.
~ Steve
Man, if you’ve got the whole of the text from that CL post, I’d die to have it. I thought it was in my e-mail… but was sadly mistaken. That shit needs to be in the “Eat Our Cocks” manifesto.
For your pleasure:
Our current drum kit is a mount tom on a chair, an omelet pan, a snare, and a crash.
If you’re interested, you have to have some semblance of rhythm, a primal urge to rock, and preferably a contempt for most of humanity, as you’re going to be part of a movement that will destroy lives.
Being slightly out of your mind will help, but burn-outs need not apply. Actually, maybe you should apply, burn-outs. We’ll see how it goes.
Lyrically, we explore such themes as “that bar you like sucks,” “torturing your girlfriend,” and “basement prisoners who may or may not be bleeding to death, but can’t die yet because they need to witness our rock-n-roll show.”
Influences:
The Residents, Cromagnon, DEVO, No Wave scene, Arthur Sullivan’s “The Lost Chord,” Ujangong mask dance, Virgil Thomson
You can listen to some of us here, but we may be taking a slightly different direction. A more awesome direction.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Odessa-Stair/83987172668?ref=ts
E-mail that little CL link thing, or communicate via the facebook thing.
That would surely work for weeding um out!
Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post in your blog with the link to you?
Yes of course. We’d love that.