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The Weird Lovemakers were a Punk rock band based in Tucson, Arizona from 1994 to 2000.
Contents
1 Members
2 History
2.1 Pre History
2.2 Early years
2.3 Middle Years
2.4 Final Years
2.5 Post Breakup
3 Discography
4 External links
5 References
Members
Héctor Jaime (Vocals, Bass)
Greg Petix (Vocals, Guitar)
Gerard Schumacher (Drums, Vocals)
Jason Willis (Guitar, Vocals)
History
Pre History
Greg Petix and Gerard Schumacher first played together in the Tucson, Arizona band The Lonely Trojans (manning the Drum & Bass slots respectively), along with Chris Morrison who handled Guitars, Vocals and the composition of the majority of the band’s music. Shortly after the Lonely Trojans moved to Chicago, IL in 1990, Petix and Schumacher formed the Weird Lovemakers both as an avenue for Petix’s growing catalog of songs, and as an outlet to explore their interest in playing different instruments than in the Lonely Trojans (Schumacher moving to Drums and Petix to Guitar/ Vocals). . Using a rotating collection of band names, such as “Strap-On Vulva”, “Man Goo” and “The Obsequious Motherfuckers”, they also first played shows in Chicago as “The Weird Lovemakers”, perhaps most notably with Dave Riley (formerly of Big Black) on Bass.
In 1992 the Lonely Trojans moved back to Tucson, Arizona where Petix and Schumacher’s project continued as Irving, also the title of a song composed by Petix centering around one of his primary lyrical themes; that of the sad social outcast. In 1993 after a number of lineup changes, Irving (now composed of Chrissy Bruce: Guitar, Bob Fanning: Bass, Greg Petix: Vocals & Guitar, and Gerard Schumacher: Drums) recorded a self titled cassette on their own Swonk imprint, containing early versions of several songs that would go on to become Weird Lovemakers mainstays. Within a year of the tape’s release Bob Fanning & Chrissy Bruce had been replaced on Bass and Guitar by Héctor Jaime (ex-Skolliwol) and Jason Willis (ex-Textile Industry), and with this lineup came the final name change to the Weird Lovemakers.
Early years
Upon formation the band began laying out what would eventually become a core collection of internal governing guidelines. The first and most important was the “No Veto” concept: Petix felt strongly that any song which a band member wanted to play should be allowed perpetual public airing as long as the primary songwriter still wanted to perform it. Having been frustrated by several of his previous bands in which various members had refused to play certain musical styles and/ or songs, he was resolute that any and all musical options be given their fair day by the Weird Lovemakers. Often described by the band as a “revolving dictatorship”, this rule insured not only that each member had a “backing band working for him”, but that if any member of the group was unhappy with the type of music being played it was incumbent upon them to simply write and demand the performance of the music they preferred. As a result, every member of the band was active in song writing and several disparate musical influences and styles (including Norteño, New Wave, Doo Wop, Hardcore and Pop) can be heard over the duration of the group’s output. The other guiding principal outlined was that the band would never turn down a show offered to them, nor would they go out of their way to try to get on an upcoming musical bill (such as with a national touring act). This “Never Decline, Never Request” rule was broken more often in their final years (mostly on the “decline” front), but in the formative stages of the group’s development it not only insured that the Weird Lovemakers would play more often than most of their peers in the Tucson scene (they would gig as frequently as 5 shows a week and occasionally at multiple parties and clubs in a single evening), but also that they could largely avoid the hassles of trying to “sell themselves” to bookers and promoters when it came to opening slots.
Within the first month of their formation the group set about self-recording 3 songs that would see rapid commercial release, eventually composing their contributions to a split 7″ with A Band Called Moss (Ghost Town Records), as well as a track on a local CD compilation entitled “Echoes From Tucson” (Third World Underground). The next year would see the group winning the first of multiple awards in the local Tucson Area Music Awards competition (“the TAMMIES”), and the recording of a 4 song single they self-released on Swonk entitled “Irving”. From the very beginning Petix and Jaime split the vocal & lyrical duties of the band fairly evenly, and this distribution would continue until the group’s demise.
Middle Years
The “Irving” single brought the group to the attention of Tucson area label Gouramie, and as a result the Weird Lovemakers spent much of 1995 recording their 29 track debut CD “Electric Chump” at Waterworks West utilizing producer Jim Waters, who would go on to helm the majority of their subsequent recordings. The 1996 release of this CD would bring a degree of national attention to the act, precipitating several West Coast tours as well as an invitation to perform at SXSW. In 1997 the group forged a relationship with Seattle, WA based eMpTy Records (via the recommendation of fellow south-westerners Scared of Chaka and Washington’s Kent 3), and in 1998 eMpTy would release their second CD/ LP “Flu Shot”, instigating a relationship that would continue until the group’s end.
Final Years
After the release of “Flu Shot”, the group was approached by Tucson label Star Time records about self-recording a full CD of songs not slated for their next eMpTy studio release. The resulting album “Back 20” (the title refers both to the “back 20 acres (81,000 m2)” a centrally located home of a former slave might enjoy if given his promised 40 acres and a mule, and was insular band-slang for the act of leaving equipment in the van after a late gig rather than unloading it), would prove to be the final studio recordings released by the Weird Lovemakers during their active existence. A subsequent live CD release on eMpTy entitled “Live: Bigger Than A Cookie, Better Than A Cake” documents the band on tour in Seattle on June 18th, 1999 (also the date of guitarist Jason Willis’s 30th birthday), and contains several otherwise unreleased songs.
In 2000 Héctor Jaime decided to leave both the band and the Tucson area for San Francisco, CA, though not before helping record a document of the group’s final collection of material. The resulting album was slated to be released by eMpTy records under the name “The Weird Lovemakers Must Die” in 2001, but legal issues with the label and the decreased activity level of the band forced its ultimate cancellation. The recordings have languished without release to date, but in 2006 the San Pedro, CA based Punk imprint Recess Records announced their plans to release the album under the name “The Weird Lovemakers Are Dead” (“The Weird Lovemakers Must Diet” having also been considered) sometime. Nobody really believes this anymore, but nobody really blames them either — the Recess Records guys are super cool dudes.
Post Breakup
After the Weird Lovemakers’ dissolution in 2000, each of the members went on to join other punk rock bands. Jaime played in the original lineup of San Francisco based Radio Reelers and can be heard on their first three releases, Petix went on to form The Cuntifiers (still active, no releases to date), while Schumacher and Willis played together in The Knockout Pills for the duration of that group’s existence, 2001 – 2006.
In 2002, at Club Congress’ annual “great cover-up” show (a multi-night event with many local bands performing short sets of cover songs), Tucson pop-punk band The Retainers played a twenty minute set of Weird Lovemakers covers to an audience that included Petix, Schumacher, and Willis (possibly the only time in “cover-up” history that the artists whose songs were being performed were present at the event).
The Weird Lovemakers have remained close friends and have reformed for about a half dozen shows in both Tucson and Nogales, Sonora. Most of these performances have been connected to anniversaries, weddings and deaths within their local music community, but the likelihood of many future reunions seems remote given Schumacher’s 2007 return to his native Australia.
Discography
1994 “The Winding Down” on “Echoes From Tucson” Compilation CD
1994 “Split 7″ w/ A Band Called Moss” 7″ Single
1995 “Goddess” on “Tammies ’95” Compilation CD
1995 “Irving” 7″ EP
1996 Electric Chump CD
1997 “Milton Bradley” on “Brine Storm” Compilation CD
1997 “Hector’s Hardcore” on “Only 14% Defunct” Compilation Cassette
1997 “Eric the Half A Bee” on “The Bright Side of Death” Compilation CD/ Cassette
1998 “Split 7″ w/ The Impossible Ones” 7″ Single
1998 “This Man This Monster” on “If the Drugs Don’t Kill Us the Boredom Will” LP
1998 Flu Shot LP/CD
1999 “Mr Fantastic” on “Underachievers 3” Cassette
1999 “Sampoerna High” on “Day Dreaming in an Empty Station Wagon” Compilation CD
1999 “Jenny Piccolo” on “Girls Kick Ass” Compilation CD
1999 “Native American” on “Underachievers 4” Compilation Cassette
1999 “Pool Hopping (New Wave Mix)” on “New Wave Explosion” Compilation CD
2000 “Back 20” CD
2000 Live: Bigger Than a Cookie Better Than a Cake CD
2000 Must Die (unreleased, slated for eventual release as “Are Dead”)
2000 “Secret Origins of The Weird Lovemakers” CD-R (Collection of compilation and out-take material. Mass market version unreleased.)
External links
The Weird Lovemakers
“Get Uptight” Video Clip 1996
“Uncontrollable Urge” Live Devo Cover 1998
“S I B (Swelling Itching Brain)” Live Devo Cover 1998
“She’s Tight” Live Cheap Trick Cover 1999
“Vegemite/ Slow Ride” Live 10/7/00
“Me #1” Live 6/14/01
“Tired Of The Way That I Feel” Live 6/15/01
“I’m All Right/ I’m Not All Right” Live 6/15/01
“Waiting For The Action” Live 6/15/01
“Mr 420” Live 6/15/01
References
Seigel, Stephen “Soundbites: The Lack of Lovemakers”, Tucson Weekly, October 5, 2000. Accessed October 5, 2000