SPECIAL -- INTERVIEW with VANESSA BRISCOE HAY of PYLON
We're talking the New West "Box" & reissues, their beginnings, and the new Pylon Reenactment Society on the way.
T-BONES: When Pylon was beginning, it was Art students at UGA (in this sort of fertile crescent for creativity) taking the Punk ethic and applying it with their study of aesthetics. What are your memories of being in this pool and hearing about Pylon coming together?
VANESSA BRISCOE HAY: I really don’t remember hearing too much about the project at the time. Roommates Randy Bewley and Michael Lachowski were friends from the UGA Art School. I had met Michael during an independent study class taught by Robert Croker. We hung out with the same group of people - art students, professors, drama students, and a group of kids coalescing around the B-52s. In October of 1978, my friend Rhonda and I were in the front row at the GA Theater. Randy asked us if we had heard “ it” - he had played a tape by his band- to be honest, I hadn’t heard it, but I told him it was nice.
T-BONES: You auditioned on February 14, 1979. Were you already writing lyrics, preparing for this? Also, your lyrics are terse, descriptive, and rhythmic on their own - when you heard what Randy, Michael, and Curtis were playing did you get "pictures" in your head. I get the feeling personally your lyrics are snapshots.
VANESSA: Well, even though I had been writing poetry since I was a pre-teen—it didn’t occur to me to bring anything to the audition. There was an orange notebook that had some lyrics typed up neatly and placed on a music stand next to a microphone. I just tried to make what had already been written fit. As time went on, I took over most of the lyric writing process. The ones I wrote were usually suggested by the music. But, I did a couple of collaborations with Michael. We used the lyrics from a Scrabble game to write some for the song “K.” So, those were partially formed by chance. Every song was different. It would take a book to write it all out. If I was thinking about a specific situation, I would try to distill it down to some sort of universal idea. The lyrics could be amusing sometimes, but I always delivered them seriously. We weren’t about camp, but we had our fun.
T-BONES: First record. "Gyrate" You four went in with definite ideas of what you had to record (even leaving the singles purposely off the record,) was that education for you. Did it give you a sense of direction or even change how you were creating?
VANESSA: Well, it did in a way. Practice was so loud that I couldn’t hear myself. In a booth or controlled sound environment, I could hear what I was doing —and the band could too!
T-BONES: How fortuitous was it to first know the B-52's (who you played in Central Park with) and then have Fred Schneider pass your demo to Hurrah's where you chose to open for Gang of Four - who you then toured with? When all of this was happening was it a blur? What do you remember in going from playing Athens to New York to traveling the US and the UK as a touring band - all those leaps happening in what two years?
VANESSA: We were extremely lucky to have the B-52's take an early interest in us and to give us a boost many times. Fred Schneider in particular was a huge cheerleader for Pylon. His friend Robert Molnar was the doorman for the Mudd Club and knew everyone and got the tape to Ruth Polski at Hurrah. She left Hurrah and went elsewhere - management maybe (she brought quite a few British acts over) Jim Fouratt later took over that job at Hurrah and he helped us there and later at Danceteria and the Peppermint Lounge get bookings. We became good friends with the mighty Gang of Four and were lucky to get to tour with them a few times in our early days. We had a grand time.
I remember quite a bit. We had a lot of fun traveling around the country. Curtis, our drummer, was a great storyteller, and so is Michael. Randy and I tended to be quieter. At that age, everything was fun and there was quite a bit of laughter. We all got along really well. Pylon had the whole touring thing down to a science. Curtis built a cage in the back of our van to hold our equipment. In front of that was a platform bed that two people could nap on if you kept your knees bent. We - well everyone but me - would drive- it was not uncommon for us to get in the van and drive straight thru to Boston or New York switching drivers, getting gas, stopping to eat, and snapping photos of everything. Once we got to the hotel or club, whichever one came first, depending on time, we’d blow in and set up. Club soundpeople usually loved us because it was just bass, drums, guitar, and one vocal mike. Back then there weren’t separate monitor mixes at the club level. It was very loud. I was lucky if I could hear anything. We’d do soundcheck and ask if there was someplace interesting to eat nearby. Perhaps we might call a friend or two to come to hang out. We might write postcards, maybe go shopping or perhaps to a record or music store if there was time. Michael eventually made a Rolodex in which he wrote down contacts, door people names, nearby Mexican restaurants, etc. Back then, you had to call venues on the road from a payphone. He always kept a roll of quarters. Sounds quaint now. I think the more we played, the better we got. We enjoyed the physicality and immediacy of performance.
T-BONES: Second record. "Chomp." You mentioned that "Gyrate" was the result of strict organization, while "Chomp" was looser. Were you purposefully stepping away from "Rock" music per se to find your own medium (artistic)? In addition, a lot of what I personally like about "Chomp" is how your lyrics are so ambiguous - it is like you are giving us the puzzle pieces and instead of them following a set pattern to create an image, they create many different images based on the order you assemble them in.
VANESSA: "Gyrate" - we already had a lot of songs written. As we wrote more music together, I became interested in the sound of words and enjoyed things like false rhymes. I didn't want to give away too much of a personal experience, so I’d start out sometimes with more personal lyrics and just start crossing things out in an attempt to make them more universal. The idea for the lyrics to “Beep” began with an article I read at breakfast on the road one morning. The headline “Four minutes until midnight” intrigued me. So, I read about the doomsday clock. At that point, it had just moved forward. Right now I think it’s 2 ½ minutes. The bulletin of Atomic scientists decides this.
I started thinking about what made life on earth special and then started thinking about what it would be like to be the pilot and then the person on the ground. It’s oblique, it doesn’t spell it out, but that is where I started.
T-BONES: The box set. How was finding the Razz Tape and listening to those performances that you have not heard in years?
VANESSA: It was startling to hear—the performance is raw and full of energy. The quality of the recording is very good. We are lucky that Chris Razz kept it safe for 40 years.
T-BONES: So much of the box set is an assembly of your history and tribute to Randy. When you took on the project, how did you feel about this journey into the past?
VANESSA: We definitely do not want Randy to be forgotten. It is important he be remembered. Michael put a memorial to him in the first pages of the book which ends with the white pylon.
At first, the initial idea Jason NeSmith and I had was to just find the original mix tapes for the first two albums and singles. The more tapes we collected, the more we began to realize it was a big project. Much bigger than we imagined. Pylon actually ditched more songs than I had remembered. Pretty much at every step - we asked ourselves what would Randy do? What would he think? I had assisted with the previous two reissues on CD. But, he and his friend Jeff Calder had done most of the heavy lifting. Jeff was looking for and finding things - and Randy was deciding which tracks to use. I helped with the organizational side and went into the mastering studio to help make decisions. In this case, Jason took it upon himself to track down everything he could. I gave him connections. Jeff Calder brought tapes, I had some, I had some of Randy’s. Mitch Easter sent some. Chris Razz shared his tape. Our former soundperson Paul Butchart had some others and a local record store owner Todd Polharski had some too. Jason baked, digitized, and restored a beaucoup of tapes. He archived everything he could find. Where I am going with this is - that there were certain songs on almost every one of Randy’s personal compilations - like "Danger III." That informed us that he maybe he would have wanted it included.
T-BONES: Of course, Pylon's music goes on with you and PRS. What is coming next? The new single "Compression" dropped on Halloween Is there a new album in the works?
VANESSA: As everyone knows Covid hit the music business hard in 2020. Recording and touring plans are scrubbed until we can decide how to safely return to rehearsal. . There is a new album in the works—I hope we can find a safe way to practice and record. I am a pretty patient person. Hopefully soon.
At the end of September this year, Timi Conley, the organizer for Wild Rumpus, a yearly enormous Halloween parade with associated events, reached out to us and many other local acts and asked us to participate in a Halloween broadcast.
Filmmaker Dan Aguar had set up a space to tape some of the bands and offered to film us too. I asked if I could make a video instead of using an unreleased recording we had made. (For Part-Time Punks/KXLU with Josiah Mazzaschi in LA) I offered to pay Dan to shoot some footage and edit it myself. He asked if I had an idea and I did. I wrote him a simple script including props. My idea was a homage to David Lynch, one of my favorite directors. He got my idea right away and asked - which David Lynch? We both laughed. He then assembled a pro team. Dave Nix and Dan himself did the camera work. Teresa Duncan, the props master for the largest stage in the area, did our props- I wanted a red raft - she professionally repainted a yellow duck raft red- she also made a mask, and found all the other objects we needed right down to a lounge chair by the stagnant pool with book and sandals.
The shoot was set up in Jason’s yard which has enormous electrical Pylons next to it. I could go on and on about that yard. It is a microcosm of some strange land. As we were shooting, Dan pointed out that the song was really too long for a video. So, Jason edited it for time. On the second day, our friend Greg Bowdish brought his Pylon themed art car in for the road shoots. Then, Allen Rowell did a superb job of editing. I am super happy with it.
T-BONES: Did you ever think in 1979, you would be signing boxes of your music and seeing your name on the street in Athens? You were always building up credit as an influential band, now it is sort of set in stone.
VANESSA: I had no idea. I didn’t see this happening at all. Nope Nope Nope.
Finally, we have this little game we play called MUSICAL CHAIRS
I shout out the name of an artist, and you give me the immediate musical memory that flashes into your brain.- and maybe name a song that is also associated with them
LOVE TRACTOR
VANESSA: Silver helium balloons floating over the bar at Tyrone's OC. They are playing a favorite song “Fun to Be Happy.”
THE SWIMMING POOL Q's
VANESSA: Anne Richmond Boston singing Little Misfit at 688 in Atlanta.
GUADALCANAL DIARY
VANESSA: Opening for Pylon at the I and I Club playing “Watusi Radio”
MISSION OF BURMA
VANESSA: Sharing a bill with them at the Underground in Boston. The room is low and smoky. The stage is almost floor level. They are playing “Academy Fight Song.”
TALKING HEADS
VANESSA: Opening for them at the Fox Theater in Atlanta. Tina Weymouth is pregnant and playing bass. Long shadows behind the band on stage. They are playing “Psycho Killer”
R.E.M.
VANESSA: Green Tour. Black and white film - projecting words weather and government behind the band.
Pop song 89
Should we talk about the weather?
Should we talk about the government?
Huge and sincere thanks to Vanessa and the rest of Pylon and PRS as well as Brady Brock at New West Records. The PYLON Box completely sold out! However, T-BONES has expertly repressed reissues of their pair of classic albums "Gyrate" and "Chomp." Both are highly recommended.