022: Ben Verellen
Ben was quite young when he first accosted Dave at a show about a missing lyric sheet in an Excursion record. At the time he was the kid brother of the Botch singer, and though he always will be, he quickly established himself as a force to be reckoned with on his own. Dave tricks Ben into revisiting his days as a junior high gang member and divulging how he escaped the life in part by stealing everything he could get his thieving mitts on. And Ben thought they were just going to talk about Straight Edge…
Check out Ben’s website for VERELLEN AMPLIFIERS: http://www.verellenamplifiers.com
LIKE the Nobody’s Nose page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/noseynobody
Follow Nobody’s Nose on Twitter: @NOSEYNOBODY
Most of these conversations will contain shorthand speech and insider info that both parties will be familiar with and won’t necessarily stop to explain for the listener. Whenever possible, Dave will provide some after-the-fact definitions and descriptions. Like your own personal eavesdropping translator.
Scroll down for photos.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
HARKONEN: Click HERE.
HELMS ALEE: Click HERE.
The Edge Of Quarrel: Dave’s movie. Click HERE.
(Or buy a copy from our store.)
BOTCH: Click HERE.
STRAIN: Click HERE.
TRIAL: Click HERE.
UNDERTOW: Click HERE.
Excursion: Dave’s now defunct record label.
GREG BENNICK: See episode 1 of this podcast. Also click HERE and HERE and HERE.
CHOKEHOLD: Click HERE.
SPEARHEAD/BALANCE OF THE WORLD: Click HERE and HERE.
Aaron Edge: Played “Rolo” in THE EDGE OF QUARREL and is the tattoo’d person in the cover photo. Has many band credits, Including GENUINE, HIMSA, and currently PROCESS BLACK. See episode 14 of this podcast.
GENUINE: An Straight Edge project band. Aaron Edge would play the music and often have friends step in for vocals. Released the “A Bond Still Strong” LP on Excursion. A handful of copies of this record are available in the Nobody’s Nose store. Click HERE.
Cody Votolato: Rocky’s brother. Member of WAXWING, THE BLOOD BROTHERS, and many others. Not interviewed for this podcast. Yet.
“At Both Ends”: UNDERTOW’s LP. Click HERE.
BLOODLET: Click HERE.
REFUSE: An early incarnation of the band that would become UNDERTOW. Not to be confused with REFUSED from Sweden.
Real Art Tacoma: Click HERE.
Brian Skiffington: One half, or both, of the Skiff Twins. Click HERE.
CHAMPION: Click HERE.
STAYGOLD: Click HERE.
MOUTHPIECE: Click HERE.
Rainfest: A 3-Day hardcore music festival held in the NW every May. Click HERE.
UNBROKEN: Click HERE.
RESSURECTION: Click HERE.
JOUGH DAWN BAKER: Click HERE.
SLOWSIDEDOWN: They have a song on THIS COMPILATION at 26:05.
NINEIRONSPITFIRE: Click HERE.
THE ANSWER: Seattle Straight Edge band from the early-2000s. Had a Record and CD on Excursion.
LEFT WITH NOTHING: Click HERE.
HIMSA: THIS VIDEO has Bigfoots.
INTO ANOTHER: Click HERE.
UNDERDOG: Click HERE.
BOLD: Click HERE.
ICEBURN: Click HERE.
ENGINE KID: Uh, how have I never seen THIS VIDEO before?
ORANGE 9MM: Click HERE.
QUICKSAND: Click HERE.
Ron Guardipee: Sang for BROTHERHOOD and ran Overkill Records. See episode 6 of this podcast.
Breaking Away: A movie that featured a quarry. Also a killer movie that you should watch. Click HERE.
N.W.A.: Click HERE.
Colors: The movie. Click HERE.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE: Click HERE.
Lollapalooza: Click HERE.
AEROSMITH: Click HERE.
GREEN DAY: Click HERE.
SEAWEED: Click HERE.
NIRVANA: Don’t let it trick you. Click HERE.
Sub Pop: A pretty famous Seattle record label. CLICK HERE.
SPARKMARKER: Vancouver, BC band. They were fantastic. Click HERE.
The Chronic: The classic album from Dr. Dre. CLICK HERE.
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT: Click HERE.
INSIDE OUT: One of the best Hardcore bands anyone ever saw. After they broke up in 1991, singer Zack de la Rocha went on to form RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Click HERE and HERE.
Brian Cook: Played bass in BOTCH and played/plays in other very good bands too. CLICK HERE.
Fallout: Fallout Records and Skateboards. A Seattle institution. RIP. Click HERE.
GODHEADSILO: Click HERE.
THE LOCUST: Click HERE.
Dave Knudsen: Played guitar in BOTCH. Now in MINUS THE BEAR. CLICK HERE.
CATHARSIS: Click HERE.
RINGWORM: Click HERE.
INTEGRITY: Click HERE.
Thrasher: THE go-to skateboarding magazine and an early source of information for many on Punk Rock and Hardcore. Click HERE.
STRIFE: Click HERE.
GOATSNAKE: Click HERE.
Greg Anderson: Click HERE.
PEARL JAM: Click HERE.
Mahdis: Mahdis Keshavarz. See Episode 4 of this podcast.
Matt Bayles: Seattle-based record producer. Plays in bands sometimes too. Click HERE.
Demian: Demian Johnston. Played bass for UNDERTOW. See episode 16 of this podcast.
THE MURDER CITY DEVILS: One of the best bands out of Seattle in the 90s. They also played various members of the punk gang in THE EDGE OF QUARREL. Click HERE.
ROY: A band featuring Ben and BOTCH guys. Click HERE.
THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES: Click HERE.
YOUR ENEMIES FRIENDS: Click HERE.
Chicago Music Exchange: I hear this is a good place to buy a Verellen amp. Click HERE.
Ben playing in HARKONEN:
Ben in THE EDGE OF QUARREL:
Here is one of Carrie Whitney’s photos from the filming of THE EDGE OF QUARREL.
Spot Ben near the middle:
And check out Carrie’s photo site HERE.
Young Ben at the UNDERTOW/MOUTHPIECE garage show in 1994.
Can you spot him?
That last photo by LEX SPAHR.
Check her out in episode 12 of this podcast.
I’VE KNOWN YOU TOO LONG
David Larson is a screenwriter from the Seattle area who ran an independent record label called EXCURSION for many years. Over the course of the last three decades, Dave has formed friendships with a large number of people who have made an artistic impact, mostly in the world of Punk Rock and Hardcore music. Many of these people have gone on to greater and more varied adventures in the worlds of art, film, music, politics, and activism. In this podcast, Dave uses the timeline of their first meeting to explore back and forth through their histories to try and gain a better understanding of how they came to be the people they are today.
They say history is written by the conquerors, and while none of these campaigns are complete yet, it is time to get some of these tales nailed down before they are lost to time and age.
Check out Dave’s episode of the WORD ON THE STREET podcast HERE.
Check out Dave and Ron Guardipee’s episode of the EDGELAND podcast HERE.
DIG THAT INTRO MUSIC?
That’s Polymorph, a project by my friend Bryar Herrick. He has a ton of stuff you can check out here:
https://polymorph.bandcamp.com/
While you’re at it, give his other bands a listen: TICKLE TRUNK and THE DARKWAVE DEMO.
Also:
Check out books by Boris D. Schleinkofer at AMAZON and SMASHWORDS.
To get his audio book, ESCHATOPOLIS: CITY AT THE END OF THE WORLD, click this link:
And finally:
Dave’s book SHADOW KILLER, a story set in the world of Hugh Howey’s book WOOL, can be found at Amazon for Kindle here:
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.