INTERVIEW: CHRIS THOMSON PT II
Tony Rettman: When you entered the DC punk scene in the mid-80s, could you sense it was at a turning point?
Chris Thomson: While I was entering during what could be called a downward trend, it didn’t feel that way. I knew I had missed out on a lot but bands like Scream, Marginal Man, and GIs were still performing regularly. They might not be the ones that everyone name-checks but Scream were always great and looking back now, I’m kinda in awe of them. There were weird more arty/confrontational bands that took shape, like 9353 and No Trend. And I really enjoyed United Mutation, Malefice, and Nike Chicks.
In a previous exchange, you mentioned the change in uniform and style during this time. I think some room was being made for art punks, women, metalheads, and stoner kids. The narrative that things had changed was certainly there — think of Minor Threat’s “Salad Days” song. I also thought it was weird that anything time-stamped after 85 was somehow inferior to what came before in terms of punkness. I do agree that shows were getting bigger and the new folks had a different agenda. It wasn’t like the “pioneers” disappeared, but it felt like they took a step back and regrouped and that left a void for folks who wanted attention and fame to be super punk and start shit. Punk had been new and exciting but by ‘84 I could see how it was getting tiresome. It’s cool if you want to wear liberty spikes in the mid-80s but you should probably acknowledge that it’s not terribly revolutionary. And in terms of speed trails, metal and thrash took playing fast to a whole new level during this time. I’ll also add that the old-timers were protective of what they created and they kept things from getting out of hand at the shows. So if I went to a show and didn’t see any familiar faces I knew I should definitely keep my wits about me. I would say by the late ’80s the days of circle slamming and being aggressive were mostly over.
Tell me how you remember the whole 'Revolution Summer' thing popping off in DC. The reformed Rites Of Spring kind of took off over the summer and fall of ‘84. There were shows at non-traditional spaces like Hard Art Gallery and Food For Thought restaurant which was owned by Dante’s Dad, Bobby Ferrando. So while ‘85 is considered revolution summertime, things were already building. New bands making an appearance at this time were Beefeater and Grey Matter. By that fall, it felt like the DC folks had regrouped and a sense of comradery returned. I wanted to be a part of it and that’s when Lunch Meat got off the ground. At the start of ‘85, the buzz was building especially about Rites Of Spring. At NPC 2&3, Guy had departed but was replaced by Amy Pickering of Fire Party, Dischord, and 930 Club. We had unlimited access to a xerox machine and would make weird art and fliers and started a campaign against our boss, James, mostly out of boredom. The goal was to revolt against him for his normie ways. After a few months of making art inspired by 60s and 70s antiwar and political action posters, our inside joke somehow found itself on a R.O.S flier, the one of Amy’s and my xeroxed, smooshed faces saying a revolution is coming, I think. The flier was for a show at Chevy Chase Community Center, which was a sleepy community center in my folk’s neighborhood. On the bill were R.O.S, Beefeater, and Lunch Meat. I believe Scott McCloud was the one who organized it. That was spring of ‘85 and I remember it being one of those shows where every band was great especially R.O.S. It was a moment where everyone was like, “Something is happening here.”
Walk me through the formation of Lunch Meat.
The summer before my senior year I had been in this band with Scott, Alexis, Eli, and Melody via the Summer Youth Employment Program. So when school started up in the fall of ‘84 I wanted to keep the momentum going and asked Scott and Alexis to play together and added Bobby to the mix. I had always wanted to be in a band and had played music with people in 10th and 11th grade but I would hardly call them bands. In my head, a punk band needed a drummer, guitar player, bass, and singer. So I felt like I had all the components. I just needed to bring everyone into the same room. I wouldn’t say Scott and Alexis were punk kids and they might have even been a little reluctant, but through our summer band, they were drawn into the scene via the R.O.S shows. Eli, who had been in the summer band, his older brother Eddie was in R.O.S, so I think that also inspired Alexis and Scott to check out what was going on. During late ‘84 early ‘85, Bobby via his older brother Mark was invited and encouraged to hang out at Dischord House in Arlington, Va and I tagged along. Having worn out my copies of Subject To Change and Out Of Step when they came out, it was a big deal to spend time at Dischord. Being OK’ed by all those people gave me the courage to form a band and Ian was a source of encouragement. I believe the first Lunch Meat show was at the CC community Center in early ‘85 with a teen band from the ‘burbs who had a PA system. I think Lunch Meat played 6 or 7 times over the year, wrapping up in the fall of ‘85 when we all went off to college. By the time we broke up we had all become good on our instrument and playing as a band. During holiday break ‘85 to ‘86, we regrouped and came up with more songs and became Soul Side. I think we wanted to make a delineation between the Lunch Meat era and the new more intricate songs we were writing. I should also mention that Eli Janney was a critical part of the Lunch Meat story. He helped us record four-track demos and document the initial Soul Side work and might have even played keyboards on some of it. Being a year older than us, Eli hooked Lunch Meat up with a gig at UMass. We took Amtrack to get there.
Was the revolution summer thing an influence on the formation of Lunch Meat?
I definitely think R.O.S was an inspiration and I certainly wanted to be part of this new collective revitalized scene that was happening. Our timing couldn’t have been better as we got props for being a younger band and while we were more punk and hardcore in style our ethos was seen as being part of the revolution summer vibe.
What were some of the bands' first shows? What was the reception like?
Our first show was mainly for our high school friends and the reception was good. By ‘85 there weren’t many punk kids in the traditional sense of the word at Wilson High School so I think our friends were excited that we were playing music. As we played more “scene” shows, we started getting props from the “pioneers” who I think responded to our youthful energy and that we were once removed from themselves, we were continuing a tradition. We had approached Cynthia Connolly about playing at DC Space and the deal was that the bands were responsible for paying a room rental fee and taking care of sound. To make it work Bobby approached HR who was focused on Human Rights at the time. I remember a trippy encounter of going to HR’s apartment to make our pitch and get his commitment. The show went off without a hitch and there was money to cover costs and we got in front of the downtown folks. Playing with R.O.S and Beefeater was another big show for us. I remember being backstage with Scott and Fred “Freak” Smith. Fred was so generous and encouraging, he insisted Scott use his half stack instead of Scott’s fender twin. He was like, “Do what you got to do. You need to set it on fire, you need to beat the shit out of it, I give you permission.” We had set these goals, first, we’re going to play a show, then we’re going to play DC Space, then we’re going to play 930 Club, then we’re going to put out a record. We were really lucky and got to do all those things. I feel like our last show as Lunch Meat was at the 930 in Aug ‘85 where we played with R.O.S and some 930 folks as a benefit for one of the door guys there. I remember we were included along with Mission Impossible in that Flipside DC Family Tree issue, which was also a big deal. As all of Lunch Meat headed off to college, DC continued to produce new bands like Embrace and Dag Nasty.