While I have no memory of the setlist played by Raspberry, I'm quite sure we would have played this rocker called William T. Ryker (yes, I know that's the wrong spelling). We played a lot of house shows back in the day--they were the best too. Every once in a while, however, we just had to go big. It wasn't often we got to host bands like Bikini Kill and Fitz of Depression. Someone in our community called up a member of Bikini Kill and invited them to play in Pullman, WA because that's the way shows happened pre-internet.
I remember it was difficult to load gear into the upstairs of the old Combine place. We had to climb some rickety stairs in the back. If you've never lifted a Fender Twin amplifier, I'm here to tell you they are back-breaking things. And putting on a show at the Combine meant renting the space, borrowing a P.A., and praying that kids would come out. On weekends, the Combine felt like a ballroom. It was our Filmore except with a small stage, which made us feel like we could all reach out and play each other's instruments. On weekdays, I also used to do my homework there as it was just a few blocks from my last apartment in Pullman.
Oh yeah! The song... This is just another unreleased song from the Phil Ek recordings made in December of 1994 at John and Stu's in Seattle. Pay close attention to the guitar tone. We plugged my Les Paul Standard straight into some massive stainless steel pre-amp to get the kazoo-like fuzz. Phil didn't have to convince me it would be great. All he had to do was remind me that he did the same trick with Doug Martsch's guitar.
It's too bad Raspberry isn't out opening for Bikini Kill now.
Thanks again to Warren Gardiner for mastering this track. Please seek him out at www.gardineraudio.com for all your mixing and mastering needs. Also, please excuse the horrible digital noise at the end of this track. Warren tried really hard to clean this up but unfortunately, due to the nature of how long this was stored on Digital Audio Tape (DAT), there was nothing to be done. Think of it as a little extra feedback! Many thanks to Sean Lennon for transferring the DAT to computer. Much appreciated, amigo!