tonyballz wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 10:37 am

the finger genius wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 8:55 pm

tonyballz wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 7:41 pm I've been lurking around this joint for 10-15 years, not sure how I discovered it. I never enlisted because I didn't think I had a lot to say (I'm not much of a joiner either). However, during COVID I signed up to a couple of music forums out of sheer boredom and (mostly) enjoyed the experience. So then I had to WAIT and wait for the PRF to get rolling again ... and here I am. Its a great and unique community. I was kind of scared it was gone forever.

I know several bands who have recorded at EA and all have high praise.

Wait, are you not Dr. Tony Ballz of Balls Effects? I'm confused.

I joined maybe in early / mid 2000s, I think I found this place from a post on the old Tape Op Message Board (TOMB.) I realized soon after that I knew a poster or 2 IRL and started coming back more often, spending more time.

I am not. I am Tony BallZ of Tucson. I wasn't aware there was another on this board, what's the protocol here? I can change my username if necessary to avoid further confusion. I've been saddled with this nickname since 1993 or so.
Some years ago, there was another Tony BallZ in Arizona who unfortunately died of an asthma attack. I have asthma as well, and several of my friends were freaking out for a while.

Hey Tony! Welcome to the board. You could always put “Tony Ballz AZ” or something, to avoid confusion.

Sorry about the weirdness last time I saw you in Flag. I had no idea that was about to happen.

Tony and I go back about 30 yrs, errybody.

I came to this forum in 2004 out of a fixation on the works of FM Steve. I was a committed Big Black/Rapeman nerd as a teenager, and sought out Shellac as soon as I read of them, interviewing them for a university paper on my twentieth birthday (they were absolutely lovely) when they played in Camden in the mid-90s. This writing on this forum grabbed me: very smart people with a lot of knowledge about all kinds of fascinating stuff. I've learned a lot from here, picked up some of my favourite books, records, movies, art and ideas. If I ever finish anything worth sharing, I'd owe something to some of the FMs here. Best of all I've made some very good friends here, and I'm massively grateful for that. My ferocious, internet typist days are over ten years past, but I've fond memories of enjoying arguing about anything my arrogance deemed I could score an idea on; I don't miss the arrogance, but I do miss writing as often as I did then.

in my lifechanging year doing a masters in Leeds 09-10, one of the other students was a guy from Chicago doing his dissertation on indie house shows. Up to then I'd more or less avoided punk rock, was more of a metal/prog guy. On his recommendation I read Our Band Could Be Your Life and started digging some of the music therein, especially Mission of Burma. He told me about EA and how he interned there, so I was interested to look more into FM steve and the whole ecosystem.

i was also super into forums, whenever I'd find something interesting I'd look for the associated board. So joining the PRF was a no brainer, and it's been a valuable timewaster ever since.

tonyballz wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 10:37 am

the finger genius wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 8:55 pm

tonyballz wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 7:41 pm I've been lurking around this joint for 10-15 years, not sure how I discovered it. I never enlisted because I didn't think I had a lot to say (I'm not much of a joiner either). However, during COVID I signed up to a couple of music forums out of sheer boredom and (mostly) enjoyed the experience. So then I had to WAIT and wait for the PRF to get rolling again ... and here I am. Its a great and unique community. I was kind of scared it was gone forever.

I know several bands who have recorded at EA and all have high praise.

Wait, are you not Dr. Tony Ballz of Balls Effects? I'm confused.

I joined maybe in early / mid 2000s, I think I found this place from a post on the old Tape Op Message Board (TOMB.) I realized soon after that I knew a poster or 2 IRL and started coming back more often, spending more time.

I am not. I am Tony BallZ of Tucson. I wasn't aware there was another on this board, what's the protocol here? I can change my username if necessary to avoid further confusion. I've been saddled with this nickname since 1993 or so.
Some years ago, there was another Tony BallZ in Arizona who unfortunately died of an asthma attack. I have asthma as well, and several of my friends were freaking out for a while.

A pair of Balls(z). Well I never...

prowler wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am in my lifechanging year doing a masters in Leeds 09-10, one of the other students was a guy from Chicago doing his dissertation on indie house shows. Up to then I'd more or less avoided punk rock, was more of a metal/prog guy. On his recommendation I read Our Band Could Be Your Life and started digging some of the music therein, especially Mission of Burma. He told me about EA and how he interned there, so I was interested to look more into FM steve and the whole ecosystem.

i was also super into forums, whenever I'd find something interesting I'd look for the associated board. So joining the PRF was a no brainer, and it's been a valuable timewaster ever since.

Hello! Nice to see you prowling around again!

I went about this bass ackwards, as I joined the Facebook group first a couple years ago, and now I'm here. TBH, I don't even know how I got into the FB group, I think Zuckerberg recommended it.
I'm a Big Black fan since picking up a used Racer X EP cassette in 199...3? 4? I started deep diving soon after, and sort of passively followed the Albini arc on and off ever since.
I've played in any number of shitty bar bands throughout rural Minnesota for too many years than I'd care to count. I saw Shellac at First Ave on my 40th birthday, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.
I'm knocking on the door of 50, and I've settled into dayjob/wife/kids fairly solidly. I perform as Elwood in a pretty decent Blues Brothers act, and we gig pretty hard in the summer months. We do the whole bit; horn section, costume, choreography, I even have a '74 Dodge Monaco painted up like the Bluesmobile.
What I appreciate about this group is the quality of snark that has a very particular appeal, and generates some pretty thoughtful responses. Additionally, with the amount of history and shared experiences many of you have had, this could have really been an inside baseball "you don't get it" kind of thing, but it isn't. I really appreciate that.

Oh, and fuck the Blackhawks.

jason_from_volo wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 2:41 pm

kicker_of_elves wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 2:29 pm …as I joined the Facebook group first a couple years ago…

Didn’t even know of the FB group. I try not to go on FB much. Is stuff like this discussed or is it more like social stuff?

And… go Blackhawks. Just not this year, apparently.

I like the Blackhawks on paper. I mean, you guys had Bobby Hull fer chrissakes. How can you not like that?

Dave N. wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 2:08 pm

tonyballz wrote: Wed May 19, 2021 10:37 am

the finger genius wrote: Mon May 17, 2021 8:55 pm

Wait, are you not Dr. Tony Ballz of Balls Effects? I'm confused.

I joined maybe in early / mid 2000s, I think I found this place from a post on the old Tape Op Message Board (TOMB.) I realized soon after that I knew a poster or 2 IRL and started coming back more often, spending more time.

I am not. I am Tony BallZ of Tucson. I wasn't aware there was another on this board, what's the protocol here? I can change my username if necessary to avoid further confusion. I've been saddled with this nickname since 1993 or so.
Some years ago, there was another Tony BallZ in Arizona who unfortunately died of an asthma attack. I have asthma as well, and several of my friends were freaking out for a while.

Hey Tony! Welcome to the board. You could always put “Tony Ballz AZ” or something, to avoid confusion.

Sorry about the weirdness last time I saw you in Flag. I had no idea that was about to happen.

Tony and I go back about 30 yrs, errybody.

Hey Dave! Thanks for the advice, I'm looking into altering my username. Just ordered my copy of the Fallow EP, welcome back! I'll get in touch soon and we'll catch up.

night_tools wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 11:54 am

prowler wrote: Thu May 20, 2021 5:27 am in my lifechanging year doing a masters in Leeds 09-10, one of the other students was a guy from Chicago doing his dissertation on indie house shows. Up to then I'd more or less avoided punk rock, was more of a metal/prog guy. On his recommendation I read Our Band Could Be Your Life and started digging some of the music therein, especially Mission of Burma. He told me about EA and how he interned there, so I was interested to look more into FM steve and the whole ecosystem.

i was also super into forums, whenever I'd find something interesting I'd look for the associated board. So joining the PRF was a no brainer, and it's been a valuable timewaster ever since.

Hello! Nice to see you prowling around again!

you too! please bring back the timmy avatar

I'm one of those weirdos that ended up getting here from the in person events. The first PRF BBQ was at my old practice space, but we thought it was only for FMs at the time. My band played the first night of the second BBQ and I heard a bunch of great bands and met some cool folks, but felt like an outsider. Kept getting invited back to play at various events, knew a handful of FMs in real life, had more friends that got here on their own, and kept meeting new folks at shows, and suddenly it got sort of obnoxious that my imposter syndrome was still flaring up. I had joined the old board, but only ever used it to lurk on event threads and Monthly Tribute posts.

At some point during Quarantine I realized a lot of the things keeping me sane were at least PRF adjacent. Going to shows and out with friends became tuning in to Friday Night Fuzzbox and all of the virtual events on Twitch. Hadn't touched a DAW since Cool Edit Pro, but the PRF Monthly Tribute Series stood in for weekly band practice.

Not certain what I have to add, but happy to be here and looking forward to actually posting this time around.