FROM THE 200LBU ARCHIVES: BRIAN McMAHON (ELECTRIC EELS)
With my mind still shifting back into place after yet another jam-packed week of health-related bologna, I’m going to dig into the archives and pull something out that you maybe never read before and/or forgot you had in hard copy form languishing in your basement.
The 200 Pound Underground was a fanzine that I started with Nick Forte in 1996 that lasted five issues. I remember someone referring to it as an ‘Avant-Garde-Scumbucket’ fanzine and I think that title still sticks in the present day. The ‘zine covered psych-rock, proto-punk, noise, and a bit of Jazz with an irreverent attitude that was heavily in debt to Touch & Go, Forced Exposure, Rock and The Pop Narcotic, etc.
For the first issue, Nick and I interviewed Brian McMahon, a former member of early 70s cacophonous Cleveland proto-punkers, the electric eels. At the time, Brian had just released his excellent first solo CD, 17 Volts and we were curious how that came about as well as the history of the eels. Below is the interview as it ran in the ‘zine.