The Intelligence in Rockin' Out

Let me apologise for the long hiatus. "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans."

As a fan of the rock 'n' roll music, I probably gave my Mother more than a few sleepless nights. Hanging out at all-age music clubs like the Embassy and Call the Office in London meant that I met the occassional hooligan, no doubt (and the neighbourhood in which the Embassy was located in the 1990's was far from desirable), but an often overlooked positive aspect of listening to music (and I mean really listening), going to live shows, and bumping shoulders with indie rockstars is that a few of those "rockstars" are actually smart. In my own case, I developed a kind of friendship with one-half of the 90's bass and drum duo, the Inbreds, from Kingston, Ontario.

I was first turned on to the Inbreds while watching an episode of MuchWest--Terry David Mulligan was interviewing (another intellectually stimulating band) the Rheostatics about their work on the film Whale Music (based on a superb novel by Paul Quarrington, by the way). As he often did after an interview, Mulligan asked the band what video they'd like to see (I assume expecting they would pick one of their own). After a second or two of humming and hawing, Martin Tielli blurted out "Prince! by the Inbreds." Mulligan seemed momentarily confused, but then recovered in fine style with the quirp "a band from Kingston, Ontario, am I right?" And so I was introduced to the Inbreds. The video for "Prince" had perhaps never before been played on MuchMusic, so it was a wonder that Mulligan had heard of this truly indie band at all. "Prince," about a "toy dog on wheels," was recorded on a four-track recorder and the video was shot with homevideo equipment, and featured Dave Ullrich and Mike O'Neill horsing around at an old quarry. But the song and video was more than enough to inspire me, and within a few days (after some investigation) I was a full-fledged Inbreds fan. How many other Inbreds' fans were born that day is difficult to say, but with Tielli's selfless request for the "Prince" video, the career of the Inbreds was in many ways launched. I bought the Inbreds' full-length album (featuring "Prince"), Hilario, on cassette--for $12 postpaid from their very own record label, PF Records. And within less than a year, I had worn my copy of Hilario out--the cassette had given up the ghost, so I was forced to replace it on CD. No doubt that cassette wore out because it was constantly playing in my Mother's 1991 Cavalier, which I drove a lot. For several months or more, Hilario, was a musical staple. I caught my first Inbreds show in London, Ontario at the Embassy (along with Trout and King Cobb Steelie) on 4 June, 1994, and I would see them at least seven more times in the next 2.5 years.

To say they were my favourite Canadian Indie band would be an understatement. The Inbreds, in my mind, embodied all that was great about Canadian Indie Rock--their music was excellent, at once melodic and rockin', they recorded and produced their own stuff on a tight budget, and they were just two guys--who toured in a Cavalier! Better still, they were approachable and friendly guys who didn't shy away from their fans. At that very first show in June 1994 I introduced myself to Dave Ullrich and for more than a year after that we maintained a friendly correspondence. And this was in the days before everyone was living online, emailing their every thought and query. I wrote letters, by hand, to Dave; and Dave wrote letters, by hand, in response. At those following seven shows Dave never ceased to seek me out, and we'd have a friendly chat. I even queried Dave in making the big decision about what university I'd attend. As I knew that he and Mike had attended Queen's in Kingston, I turned to Dave for advice on Queen's. Even after the Inbreds released Kombinator, and became bonified indie rock superstars, Dave remained friendly. Only through passing years and changing interests did our correspondence cease. So, in truth, my Mom had very little to worry about. The Inbreds were not only an outlet to rock out to, they were my intellectual peers.