Idxplosion
Image created by Scott Seeber
Background:
Idxplosion was, hands down, the best live band I've ever played in.
Joe Sears, our lead singer, not only had a great voice but was also a commanding front man. The circle of sweat around his mic stand said quite a bit. Teary-eyed and shaking fans in the front row said the rest. He made very strong connections.
Scott Seeber played drums and had a great ability to meld rhythmic ideas from across cultures. Since our sound was a fusion of metal, shred-rock, funk, soul, reggae, hip-hop and ambient noise, his rhythm sense was essential. Without his ability to get us into and out of different grooves, we wouldn't have been able to write the kind of intense and lengthy arrangements that we did.
Clay Ptacek played guitar and at the time, he was known as "Thirty Fingers Clay" because of his unbelievable speed, accuracy, taste and imagination. (More than a few guitar players wanted to sell their gear on the spot after witnessing what he would do to a guitar).
I remember seeing him grab a brand new pick, start a song and then proceed to tear into an absolutely blistering solo. I was standing just a few feet away and thought I was going to sh*t a brick. When we were done, he held up the pick to show me that he had worn off almost 1/3 of the pick in that one assualt.
I played bass in the band and had free reign to do almost anything I wanted. Fretted and fretless basses made the stage, fingerstyle, slap&pop, multi-handed tapping and any other technique I thought I could pull off became mainstays. Multi effects pedals and pure slight-of-hand allowed all kinds of trippy textural possibilities on top of it. It was fun.
Bonus Videos:
① "Never See Sunday" live at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS circa 1990.
② Here is another bit of footage from the Omega Movie 1992. We're performing "Jigsaw Puzzle Man" live for a mere 3000 people and share the stage with some of the best regional live bands of the day.
I've keyed this video to start right at our performance but there are many other worthwhile performances to be had if you just start the video from the beginning. The whole video gives a great perspective on just how good the music scene was in those days.
③ Here is more footage from the American Rights Festival in 1992. Click the video and it will take you to YouTube where you will be able to see rare footage from an inspiring show. Too bad our closing song got cut off when the tape ran out... it was going to be killer! (P.S. Our part of the video starts at around the 28:00 minute mark. Click here to see this incredibly rare Idxplosion footage
Studio Notes:
The studio takes were recorded at the old West End Recording Studios in Kansas City, KS around 1991 (I think). Everything was cut live in the same room and then a handfull of overdubs went on a few days later (harmony vocals and a few ornamental guitars). We only had $600 to buy tape, make the recording, mix and master it, so there wasn't much opportunity to get fancy.
Most of the tracks are first takes. We had to re-cut one song because of an engineering glitch and we re-cut a second one to get a better take, but basically, we walked in, set up and let'er rip.
Super Elastic Bubble Plastic was sort of our signature song. Bad Brains and P-Funk influences abound.
Viking Love Song featured menacing guitar/bass harmonized riffs and a kick ass vocal. It was as fearless as a Viking to be sure.
Soul's Reasons is one of those songs that's wild and angry for awhile and then vulnerable and beautiful in the end. Joe's vocal is spectacular. The whole second half of the song is improvised and the part he lays down is shocking.
Chain's Made of Money was made up on the spot because we still had about 3 minutes of tape left. Pretty tasty fretless bass playing, if I do say so myself.
In your Face/Freedom in Soweto makes my hands hurt just thinking about playing it again. BTW, all of the crazy sounds you hear in the transition between songs are coming from Clay's guitar. Don't ask me how he does it.
Boombox Recordings:
All of these songs were recorded on my old Panasonic boombox with built-in microphones. Considering how puny the tape actually is in a cassette, I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.
Clarence the Horse was written by Clay and it was about some creepy recurring dream he'd had. I don't know about the dream, but I do know that his guitar playing kills on this take. Check out the melodic development, passion, speed, articulation and pure inventiveness as this track plays out. It will give you a good idea of how enormous our live, 3-piece sound was.
Like an Evening Shadow is classic Id; mixed time signatures, changing tempos and a multitude of attitudes all in the same song! The Jeff Beck and Dixie Dregs influence peek out a little in this tune.
Freedom in Soweto demonstrates some of Clay's crazy good feedback control and the stompin' drums and bass just set it off. This track will make your palms sweat.
Viking Love Song was always a crowd pleaser and this take will give you an idea why. Compare it to the studio version and you'll see that we could deliver.
I Wish for You Tonight has such a great guitar solo. Slow, passionate and dynamic. I also get to play my fretless bass and sing backups on this one.