I'll Stay Warm By The Fire Burning Inside Of Me
I used to be in a band called Gargamel’s Revenge.
Gargamel’s Revenge never had a chance. A good band needs to be a graceful dance with the balance between chaos and form and Gargamel’s Revenge was absolutely formless. We couldn’t even finish writing a song. We’d try to apply the discipline of song construction in my garage but we always ended up just freaking out for 30 some minutes with no effort toward repeating ourselves.
The main offender was always DFJ, the guitar player.
I’d have my microphone and Greeze was at the drums. We’d try to work out the details of a song and DFJ would get irked or some shit and just start freaking out. I mean. Don’t get me wrong. It was pretty cool. He can play the fuck out of a guitar but me & Greeze would just kind of look at each other and frown. Resistance was futile. Greeze held down the beat and I just yelled whatever popped in my head.
I remember thinking DFJ might be crazy. He was—like—possessed, gripped by something he couldn’t control, out of his mind, beside himself. He played that guitar like he was murdering something. He looked pained and sometimes he’d hit a chord and just scream like a dying animal, louder than his amp, louder than the drums.
He was only 22. I wondered if he’d ever strike a balance between his musical gifts and his fire. A couple months after forming, I pulled the plug on the band. I think I hurt DFJ’s feelings. DFJ stands for Derek Fucking Jones.
Last month, DFJ (now 28) recorded 6 songs in his kitchen with an acoustic guitar. He mailed it to Jenna, we popped it in, and the first sound of his voice stopped me cold because it sounded like this:
The initial connections to the paper ghost wails of Neil Young and J Mascis are immediately apparent, but there’s more here. Something else. And it took me a couple days to figure it out. Somehow, in the way he bangs out chords on his guitar and in the strain of his voice, DFJ reveals the sound of the sadness that inheres in W. Michigan. This is the sound of being strange with a church on every corner. Of struggling to be different while constantly being earthed by the gravity of sameness. I can’t even hear him squeal “Drink up the blues / Sleep all day past the evening news” without wet lonely cheeks.
But by the time I make it to end of the last track, that sense of loneliness gets all fuzzy and blurs—how? like magic—into hope. Derek Fucking Jones didn’t burn up in his own fire. He found a place where it keeps him warm. It’s good, Derek. It’s really good.
SUPPORT AWESOME MUSIC MADE WITHOUT COMPROMISE BY ARTISTS WHO STICK TO THEIR GUNS AND STRUGGLE TO MAKE ENDS MEET BY WORKING AT PIZZA HUT. EMAIL DEREK AT mermaidburgersonplanetbelch@gmail.com AND BUY “UNTAMED POSSESSIONS/POP CULTURE SATANISTS” TODAY. It’s only 7 bucks. Dude needs a new bike.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Reader Comments (18)
You're right. His voice does sound like a place. It makes you stop.
I adore you Derek, and miss having you play your guitar on our couch. I miss the kids from West Michigan, and I miss our families (hi mom). I don't however, miss the poverty, and the judgy stares, and the feeling that I was being sucky for daring to have tattoos and children in the same lifetime. Fuck You Muskegon, You suck! But the kids I met there were genuine, and artistic and fun. I miss you guys often.
So send DFJ some loot, so he can put it in someones gas tank and come visit the BHJ's and play guitar on our couch.
Jenna
THIS IS FUCKING ACE! WOW!
ps - where's my photo credit?!? just kidding. what's mine is yours.
xoxo
we almost had a song...
take back the night
you gotta have a plan
if you want to destroy
this whole fucking city...
REVENGE!!!
gonna go out tonight
& make my momma proud of me
A-1 bail bonds has money
call & ask for Tommy D.!!!!!
Ha ha, G. Now I remember but wasn't REVENGE where we'd always lose him? We'd be all "REVENGE" and DFJ would be all "AAARGHHHHHHH!"
Wow. Those songs woke me the fuck up!
W. Michigan judgy ? Come on. Can't a bunch of Republicans live in one place without being called to task for looking askance at a suspected non-republican?
Derek is a beautiful human being.
it's great derek, really fucking great.
he needs to pack up that guitar and head to a city near me. or our yard. whatever.
thanks for sharing this BHJ & Jenna.
if only i wasn't at work and had a decent computer to listen to anything on. what i was able to make out in between the 70 or so pauses my shit computer added sounded great tho. im always down to support independent creatives. that bike looks pretty sweet actually. seems like Derek could use a new pair of jeans over a ten speed.
seriously though...
when are you going to answer the burning question everyone's been thinking but too shy to ask?
how do i get the phone # of the dude wearing the pink prom dress in the first picture?
that look is fierce, yo.
It's nice to see that not everyone has to sell out.
Dude. Is that you with the Goody Trail? Sounds like me and my friends. I'll be sending my 7 bucks no doubt.
Stef -
The dude was dressed in the pink prom dress, because the picture was taken at the "Tribute to Transvestites" show. Everyone has to show up dressed as the opposite sex.
i remember sharing a tiny two bedroom apartment with dfj, his girlfriend, and my girl friend. we would sit around playing acoustic guitars for hours, with the occasional break to put a neil young record on. it was a good month or two that he lived with us and i was definitely inspired by him as a musician.
good post bhj, and its been a while since i have seen, or even talked to you. i hope you are well.
--phill
Why is nobody saying that Gargamel's Revenge is the best fucking name for a band?
Clearly it is.
sending my money in as soon as i have some. this is my favourite kind of music to discover. thanks.
i wish i lived in the same city as this boy.
show my housewife
great page
http://bit.ly/e7UW76