Thursday, March 5, 2026

Introductions are in order...


Edhead (g) and Mustard (v), or 1/2 of Garden Weasel are doing this here thang, pictured here with none other than Steve (d) and Brian (b) of Garden Weasel. Gonna be reviewing music, because that's what the world needs, another music blog, right? It's all about aural pleasure!


Back in 1991 (photo by Karen Shriver), this was our hobby, you might say. To be honest these were some the best times I ever had! Ed gives you the lowdown on those days in his Garden Weasel Diaries, which are an epic read if you want to know what it was like back in the days when it was a mostly organic, DIY process to create music. It takes some balls to get some like minded folks together to create original music and put it out there to be loved and/or hated. I am especially keen on the live experience, because it's one thing to slave away in the studio (an experience I was never keen on) and completely another to stand up in front of an audience who are either going to throw underwear or vegetables at you...hahah! It doesn't matter if I like an artist, I still respect that they have the moxie to put themselves out there to be applauded or ridiculed.



A couple years ago, Garden Weasel had a Blues Brothers moment, and got the band together for a reunion show. I had a blast getting together with three dudes I have loved for 30+ years, and it was my honor to play music with folks that I respect, not only as musicians but as human beings. So here we are. I do not have any credentials to review music other than to say I have been a fan of music in it's most general sense, since I was in the womb when my Mom was frequenting clubs like The Intersection on Temple St. in the Rampart District of LA. In the blogging sense I have been at it now for close to 20 years with the Mustard Relics blog and then the Reliquias de Mostaza blog doing numerous review, interviews and general nonsense. Ed on the other hand is an accomplished musician with a lifetimes worth of creating music under his belt. He's been blogging for longer than I have, in fact an inspiration for me to start blogging in the first place. With that said, we shall commence with the reviews and request that folks comment and share their thoughts. 


Addendum:

Hey! Ed chiming in here – Justin’s introduction pretty much sums it up. It’s pretty wild to still have a good friend I stay in touch with after 35 years and still have so much in common regarding music, philosophy and life.  When we met, he was an LA guy and I was a rural NorCal kid, both living in Arcata, California, immersed in our local music scene, partying with friends and seeing every show that came through our area. MDC, DOA, the Vandals, NoMeansNo, Meat Puppets, Crimpshrine, Tragic Mulatto, Jawbreaker, many other bands all came through sleepy, hippie Arcata and formed our connection with the outside world and the greater music scene. Local bands like Grimace, One Man Running, Brent’s TV, Dieselhed, Dukes of Burl, Jane Maxwell band, the Leftovers, SFM were our friends and it seemed like several nights a week we were all in the same place at the same time. Zines, stickers, fliers, bands, pranks, record stores, cheap beer, weed, drugs, house shows and late-night donut shops was our world for a few years, before folks started either graduating from college, moving away for work or starting families and jobs – the scene was there for us until it wasn’t. Looking back – it was a short transition time in life between high school and true adulthood. Every town, every region had a scene and the Arcata/Eureka scene was ours. Many folks are still there – the true locals – but the rest of us moved outward in a punk diaspora away from Humboldt County and into the rest of the country and world. I now call Vancouver, Washington home and see a variety of music in Portland, Oregon several times a month. Look for some videos and show reports from me starting soon! 



 

2 comments:

  1. Oh this will rule. Two of my favorite people online doing a blog together? Hell yes! Also that GW live set is killer. All those times my shit backyard band covered GW songs (with me making up words if I didn't know them) came back.

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