|
Assume
the Position
An interview with The Standing 69s
By Bob
Ignizio |
| The Standing 69s l to r:
Blake, Rob, John, Lee, and Chris |
The Standing 69s (Chris – vocals, John – guitar, Blake
– guitar, Lee – bass, and Rob – drums) are a Cleveland based punk band. A
standing 69 is one of those sexual positions that looks like fun in a porno
movie but in real life can result in a trip to the hospital. In fact,
guitarist John says it was just such an occurrence that led his band to take
their name. “A friend of mine was doing the position with a girl in the
shower. She was a little big, and he couldn’t keep it going and wound up
pile-driving her,” he says. John never asked his friend if he suffered any
injuries to Mr. Happy. Some things are better left as mysteries.
Ok, you’re thinking, that’s a great story but what does
the band sound like? Well, it depends on who you ask. Vocalist Chris says,
“We’ve been called seventies punk, eighties punk, all kinds of things. I
think we have more in common with some of the newer southern California
bands. I think we’re pretty unique in the Cleveland scene” Rather than
waste time pondering exactly what adjectives to use to describe their
particular brand of punk rock, the 69s would rather spend their time writing
songs and playing shows.
The 69s write the music for their powerhouse punk
anthems collectively, but Chris writes most of the lyrics himself. He says,
“When we first started most of my lyrics were about my problems with my
baby’s mama. That kind of got boring so now I’ll write about things that
are funny to me, like some celebrity killing herself on a bridge or
something. It may not be funny to anyone else, but it is to me.” As the
old saying goes, when it happens to you it’s tragedy; when it happens to
someone else it’s comedy.
Humor is indeed a personal thing, and Chris’ idea of
what’s funny has on occasion gotten him into trouble. He says, “For an
Easter show I dressed up like Jesus.” Guitarist Blake elaborates, saying,
“He spilled some water on the floor and walked on it. It really upset one
fan. He wrote to the Cle Punk website and said he would never go to any
club that even booked our band.” Looks like he’ll be missing an awful lot
of good shows; the Standing 69s have been playing just about every venue in
NE Ohio that books local punk bands. Luckily most punk rock fans aren’t
quite so sensitive, and the band has steadily been building a respectable
following.
One area the band has done especially well is Akron.
John says, “At Annabell’s, some people were even dancing. Akron crowds seem
a little more into it.” When the 69s play their hometown, they often wind
up sharing the bill with some surprising acts. Chris says, “We sometimes
get the short end of the stick. We’ll get booked to play gigs with metal
bands, or this one new wave band from Portland called The Epoxies. For us,
though, it’s actually kind of cool. That way we’re playing for different
people than the same 30 guys who show up at all the punk shows.” Chris
likes the Cleveland scene, but he does see room for improvement. For
example, he says, “There are some bigger bands in the area that are more
interested in getting opening slots on national shows than working to build
up the local scene. You hardly ever see them at other local shows.”
But the The Standing 69s’ don’t dwell on the negative.
Their main goal is just to have fun playing together. Of course that
doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like to be successful. To that end, they plan on
sending out some demos to indie labels soon. Whether or not they get any
nibbles, you can expect a CD from the band in the near future. Blake says,
“We recorded 7 songs at Don Depew’s 609 studios a while back and just
recorded 7 more.” They plan to release the material as an album on their
own, and you can also hear them on the recent ‘ClePunk.Comp’ CD on Smogveil
records. Barring any unforeseen accidents in the shower, the future should
be bright for The Standing 69s.
Visit the Standing 69s
website.
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