Half Baked Records History at Somber Reptile 1995

Next came a band from Athens called Slumberjack. I was introduced to them through another Athens band Hayride. Athens had become almost an haven for me during this time period - I like to call this the Athens era. At the time, I was living in a huge house in Atlanta with three other musician-types. I had a day (9-5) job as they all had a night life. I found myself not being able to sleep during the night and going straight to bed when I got home from work. Even now that I live alone (one of the few luxuries I refuse to give up), I still have problems getting to sleep at night. On weekends, to escape from my difficult home life, I would go to Athens on the weekends and stay with Hayride. They always had an open-invitation for me to sleep on their couch. I would hang out with them during the day and we'd go eat together at the Taco Stand or the Mean Bean. At night, we'd go to shows at the Atomic Music Hall or the 40 Watt. I'd always try to buy them drinks for letting stay with them but they would refuse, saying they loved having me around. Athens had a great scene then - Hayride, Harvey Milk, Jack-o-nuts, Magneto, Slumberjack, Asa Nisi Masa, and a little-known band called Olivia Tremor Control. Chris, the guitarist and singer in Slumberjack lived with Hayride. I had seen Slumberjack play many times before I signed them at a club I worked at called Somber Reptile. They totally rocked! They were also very loud (They would pass out cotton balls to the audience at their shows). I released their 3-song 7-inch entitled High Heat June 22, 1994 with a party at the Atomic Music Hall in Athens. Slumberjack was probably one the most accessible bands on my label. I wasn't crazy about this band like I was about the other bands on my label, but I liked them a lot. Slumberjack broke up shortly after the release of their record. Their intentions were good, however, they just could not get their shit together.
At my birthday party at the Somber Reptile in the summer of '94, I ran into Mitch and Danette of Pineal Ventana. I had known Mitch for a really long time. He was the frontman of King Kill 33, an Atlanta scene legend. King Kill was really entertaining. Mitch would run around the stage, make these contorted faces while rest of the band was pretty much to themselves in the background. They played songs about conspiracy theories - JFK assination, the moon landing, etc. The band had broken up that previous summer, but Mitch formed a new band called Pineal Ventana with his girlfriend Danette on vocals. They played their first show with BOB at a WREK party. They went on to put out their own single with really disturbing artwork in the Spring of '94. It was one of my most favorite records that year. At first they performed mostly improvisations, but as time went on, they found there sound and really impressed me. I decided to ask them if to join my label at my birthday party. They agreed and I was elated. A four-song 7-inch entitled Philosopher Stone was released on Halloween of '94 with a party at the Clermont Lounge. BOB opened. It was BOB's big comeback show - they hadn't played since their CD release. I was a proud label owner for the first time in a while.
Around the fall of '94, BOB, Pineal Ventana, Tweezer, and Suzybeat all approached me about doing a theme record together. I said cool! We would get together at the El Azteca Mexican Restaurant on Ponce de Leon (affectionately nicknamed the "Punk-rock ass-kicker" for their incredibly strong margaritas) and talk about the record. We were a motley crowd, infamously known by the wait staff. We would flip tortillas across the table at each other (with salsa on them). This would make a huge mess, annoying the wait staff and the customers. The first couple of meetings, we got absolutely nothing done but drunkenness. The taking of the promotional photos was quite fun. We took a ton of us in front of the El Azteca when an ambulance had just pulled up in front. We all could never agree on a theme or artwork. In fact, I think some of the bands are still pissed at one another because of the artwork. It took until March of '95 to actually get a record pressed. The theme was about four different crimes: a bank robbery (Suzybeat), serial murder (Tweezer), child molestation (Pineal Ventana), and Vietnam War crimes (BOB). The release party was held for the 4-song 7-inch entitled Quadruple Felonyat Dottie's on March 8, 1995. We then booked a 2-day tour to North Carolina with everyone except Suzybeat participating. Our first stop was Wilmington, NC at the Bourgeois Pig. Pineal Ventana had this huge bag of popcorn and threw it on BOB during their set. It was hilarious. Our next stop was the Turtle Club in Greensboro. The club did little or no publicity and plus it was spring break - no one showed. We didn't let that bring us down. We had our own show. Everyone was drunker than hell. We found a Barney doll in the parking lot, ripped its insides and voice box out, and would wear it on our heads during the show. The voice box was also found singing in many songs. Travis of Pineal Ventana also subbed in for Timmy of Tweezer during Tweezer's set and no one noticed. It was one of the funniest times that I can remember about my label. A few weeks later I went with BOB on tour to Florida, New Orleans and Texas. I loved touring with my bands; it was something I didn't get to do that much since I had a full time job.
In the summer of '94, my friend Brendan who worked at WREK had a a party with Pineal Ventana and Clobber playing. Allan in Clobber was also had worked at WREK. Brendan and Allan used to do the punk rock show called "The Good the Bad and the Ugly". They were hilarious when they were on the air. I rarely ever missed their shows. One day, Allan and Brendan had a disagreement about the show and I, as General Manager of WREK, was forced to intervene. I sided with Brendan and Allan took it personally. In fact, he didn't speak to me until I saw him at Clobber's first show at the Somber Reptile with Jawbreaker at the Somber Reptile in the Winter of '94. I just dropped by the Somber to check out Jawbreaker; I didn't even know Clobber were playing. They blew me away. I went away from the show dying to see them again. I finally got that chance at Brendan's party. After the party, I went up to Allan and asked him to be on my label. And to my surprise he said okay. I was so excited. I adored Clobber. They had this incredible energy. Allan would jump up and down, all over the stage, occasionally knocking a mic stand down. At the end of the show, he would either jump into the crowd, jump back into the drum kit, or smash his guitar. That energy would rub off, I would end up jumping up and down at their shows. However, it was also that energy that got them thrown out of clubs. It wasn't until almost a year later, that their 3-song 7-inch with "Get Smart" b/w "New Year" and "Crazy"was released at Dottie's at May 6, 1995.