tallchris wrote: Wed Jun 05, 2024 4:59 pm Great, long, rememberance from Robbie Fulks on Fbook:

https://www.facebook.com/share/Ea9GHj4c ... tid=WC7FNe

Oh gawd, great read...

Almost forgot about this:

The main thing I got from Steve I think, which is also a core part of what to me has been most valuable and enduring in punk/indie/alternative music scenes, is the idea that what you do matters just as it is and just the way you do it, and you don't need to compare yourself to some other thing or worry about how you measure up to it.

Because usually it's all about comparison and measuring up. This is what you should be doing, this is where you need to be, this is where things are happening, these are the people whose opinion matters... A rejection of this idea, on a practical level as well as in expressed intent, is what I have most closely associated with him.

Over extended periods in my post-adolescence, I have wanted to distance myself from the subcultural spheres I was brought up in, because of a gradual recognition of the snobbery and narrowness they were sometimes inclined to, and their sometimes unwarranted hostility to outsiders (and the recognition that I myself was behaving a lot like that). I have learned many things from this too, but this mentioned insight is one that I feel to be as vital as ever, one for which the battle is not over, one whose call remains waiting to be received and answered by whomever needs to hear it (and there are many).

That, and a notion of "work-ethic" that didn't make me want to self-murder. Not something I have applied as fully to myself, but just knowing that it's possible means something.

I just couldn't be here for a little while.

The day before the news of Steve's death I was recording a song that I wrote 15 years ago that I never actually got down on tape. I found a scrap of paper in the pocket of a shirt that I hadn't worn in more than a decade and it had the names of 13 songs written down on it. I had recorded/demoed all but three. I started a new job in late April and I now have a schedule with 2 days off during the week and on my first Monday off I decided to take an hour and put this song down on the 4 track. It was fun and felt good to "finish it". Have it be something that exists, however imperfectly, in the world rather than just an old thought in my head. I decided to do the other unrecorded songs on that list, plus a few more that I remembered from the same time period. My plan being to try recording one a day on my days off over the coming weeks. The next day I heard the news about Steve. Every time I'm recording, for the past 25 years, I think of some bit of advice or best practice or recommendation that I soaked up from Steve. But more than that it's the attitude. The permission to feel valid in what I am doing, even if it's silly or bad or whatever. The mentality to keep going, see something through, catch the idea while it's vibrant and to know enough to know when to leave it alone. When something isn't going to get better. That mistakes are one of the most interesting an important parts of the process. That making something as good as you can has nothing to do with precision or perfection. Over the last 6 or 7 weeks I recorded 10 songs. Mostly from 10-15 years ago that had never been put down, a couple new ones that came to me while working. All 4 track cassette, didn't spend more than an hour on each one. Now I'm working on something else and I'm just going to put these away for a while. I'm not some self righteous maniac that thinks the world is starving for my creative output, but Steve's death was a stark reminder that our time here is very limited, however long it may feel. And if there is something to say, something to do, something to express, we have to do it in that time. So many things will ultimately end as thoughts in our heads, without having been communicated, but the work itself is important. To try. He pointed the way and gave us so many tools.

I feel deeply for this community. Keep working, everybody. I've got my new Electrical Audio pencils.

Tom Wanderer wrote: Thu Jun 20, 2024 11:04 am ..but Steve's death was a stark reminder that our time here is very limited, however long it may feel. And if there is something to say, something to do, something to express, we have to do it in that time. So many things will ultimately end as thoughts in our heads, without having been communicated, but the work itself is important. To try. He pointed the way and gave us so many tools.

Part of me has thought about this for sure. Steve didn't coin the phrase "Don't Quit" but I've heard him use it before like many around here.

The other half has just felt extremely unmotivated: to quote a friend, "feels like the end of an era". It's not just Steve either. Seeing so many labels and studios fold over the last 15-20 years, other heroes dying, music increasingly being treated like disposable 'content' on par with dog lip synching videos on TikTok, etc. It's been great seeing tributes come out of the woodworks over the last month, but that's starting to fade too. Steve was kind of the last thread into the world that made me want to do it in the first place, and somehow managed to stay active, modern, and relevant (and often more optimistic about the state of things than I have been). There are others still around of course, doing their reunion/reissue tours and whatnot, but it's not quite the same.

I hope to end up back in that first place but am not quite there yet.

That side-uh me that finds humor in eccentric things half-misses when some wiseacre would come to the board, get repeatedly confrontational with Steve about something, and finally Steve would just say, "I get the feeling you don't like me." Classic!

Anyway, logging in here cuz last night I was revisiting some music and listened to this Man Or Astro-man? song "Anoxia" for the first time in a while:



Was struck again by what a great little slice of atmospheric music it is. A bang-up job capturing that. It's kind of how I prefer my audio now, be it rock or electronic music: moody, in just the right measure. Nice sound quality.

I don't know if this is the place to ask this, but I can't stop thinking about Steve's wife, Heather. I know she was diagnosed with early stage Parkinson's years ago. I have no idea of their finances or any life insurance policies. Does anyone know if she is going to be able to sustain herself? I don't mean to stick my nose where it doesn't belong. I'm just asking if anyone close knows if she will be okay. The reality is that this forum is really a fraction of what it once was and I don't know if we could come together enough to help if help is needed. That's all I wanted to ask. Delete my post if it is out of line.

trey wrote: Tue Jul 02, 2024 10:49 pm I don't know if this is the place to ask this, but I can't stop thinking about Steve's wife, Heather. I know she was diagnosed with early stage Parkinson's years ago. I have no idea of their finances or any life insurance policies. Does anyone know if she is going to be able to sustain herself? I don't mean to stick my nose where it doesn't belong. I'm just asking if anyone close knows if she will be okay. The reality is that this forum is really a fraction of what it once was and I don't know if we could come together enough to help if help is needed. That's all I wanted to ask. Delete my post if it is out of line.

I don't think it's out of line at all. I'm hopeful that there were life insurance policies active, and given the studio will be an ongoing concern, she'll realise an income from it.