#don zulaica

[samurairobotics]

* Bay Area Magazine (May 7, '99)

EVEN BETTER THAN THE REAL THING?

Mike Patton puts his faith in Fantomas and Mr. Bungle So what if Faith No More is actually no more? Doesn't mean there aren't worlds to plunder. You've seen Imperial Teen (ex-keyboardist Roddy Bottum) grace these very pages, and perhaps you noticed the dreads behind the drum kit on recent Ozzy tours (Mike Bordin). But what's become of whisper-to-scream frontman Mike Patton?     He's quite busy, thank you very much. Besides forming Ipecac Recordings with Alternative Tentacles veteran Greg Werckman, two notable storm fronts are approaching. The first is the self-titled debut from Patton's hardcore pet project, the Fantomas, with Melvin's guitarist Buzz Osborne,  Mr. Bungle Bassist Trevor Dunn, and Grip, Inc.'s Dave Lomardo on drums. How to describe it... Carl Stalling meets island-era Anthrax? Words for this level of intensity are probably futile, but let's just say when the record hits, Marilyn Manson will have more in common with Stuart Smalley than your mother's worst nightmare.     That's the more immediate future. Then there's what may be an even bigger shocker: the summer release of, as Patton puts it, a "pretty fucking poppy" album from Mr. Bungle? "All I know is that to my ears and the ears of everybody in Mr. Bungle, it's our version of pop music," he says. "We wrote some simple songs, well, they're simple to us. I don't know, it's kind of Bacharachesque, a little bit of Beach Boys. Then there's some other shit that sounds like fucked-up Charlie Feathers rockabilly. It still gets around- put it that way."     Bacharach, Beach Boys and Bungle? There aren't too many bands that can mix Korn's nots with Zappa's schizophrenic sophistication, but these guys certainly aren't afraid to try. We caught up with Mike to talk about both projects.

How did the fantomas come together? i just wrote a bunch of fucked up music that had been swimming around in my head for a while. I probably wrote this stuff two years ago. Sometimes you write you write things and they get lost on your bookshelf, so to speak, and other times you see them through. And this was one that I really wanted to see through. So it was like, "Wait a minute. I've got to find some people to play this shit." Because this is a pain in the ass to play. I mean, it's fun because it's challenging, but, let's be honest, it's hard.

How would you describe the music? Fast. Really, really fast. Hardcore stuff mixed in with some noise, absolutely no improvisation at all, structured down to the bone. It's got a little cartoon music thing going into it, some B-movie soundtrack kind of influence, stuff like that. This music is like constant data being thrown in your face. It's not like verses and choruses. The structure of itis very easy to forget. It's a lot of details. It's a bunch of cherries on top of the cake, with no cake. The goal was to make very weird music that rocked and I think it happened, and thank God I found the right musicians.

How did you get this group together? Trevor, obviously, you've woked with for a long time. How did you get to know Buzz and Dave Lombardo? I knew Buzz from the Melvins, but we were just acquaintances. Same thing with Lombardo. I just met him once. These people came to mind as I was dredging through as many players as I could think of that would be good to play this stuff. The first drummer I talked to was the drummer in Sepultura, Igor Cavalera, a friend of mine. And he was into it, but he's coming from his own place, and I wasn't secure that that place was the right place for this music. Meaning, I sent him a tape and he was kind of like, "Well, these are some nice ideas. Maybe we can jam a little bit on this." Whoa! Wait a minute. This isn't jam music, bud. I know it dosen't sound like a song, but that's what I hear as a song. I was like, "Oh, fuck, the drummer is the cruz of this thing. In this type of music, you're only as good as your drummer." And then I thought, "Oh my God, Lombardo is the man.Of course!" How could I have possibly not thought of him sooner? These were pretty much my first choice guys, and I called them and they were excited and it worked together a little bit too easily. I'm still waiting for some kind of porblems. We all get along too well. The music is fun. We have a good time on the road. It's too easy. Something is going to happen.

Musically, did it come together quickly? We did a couple shows at Slim's. We rehearsedfor five days. They were like 20 hour days--it was brutal. Because not only were we attempting this music, but we were getting to know each other. It's a bit of a psychological adventure when you start a band; you never really know what your're getting. It's a weird gene pool, these musicians. Each one is their own ball of wax. Some more complicated than others. I've known Trevor half my life, so that was a no-brainer, and that make me feel good. Like, at least there's one guy I'm going to be able to count on. Buzz is a fucking wig, you know? He's amazing. But once I figured out how he worked, and how to make him comfortable and excited about this music, everything came together. Dave just chewed it up and spit it out. He's more than the prototype for all metal drummers. But what blew my mind, I think most people that come out of that scene are fucking boneheads. Let's face it. Even if they are good musicians, they don't want to be challenged. They don't want to try new things, especially drummers:"Keep me in the back; tell me what to do." Dave had way more energy than even I had coming into this. At the end of a 20-hour rehearsal he'd go, "I still want to work on this one part of it."

Shifting gears, what's this about the California pop album from Mr. Bungle? Was it a conscious effort to go for  simplicity, or did it just come out? It kind of came out. But when it came out it was like, "Wow, this is really strange. Let's see it through to the end." you know, let's make this record stand on it's own. Let's not worry about the other records we've make, whether it's going to fit into the grand fucking scheme of things, because there is none. Let's make ourselves happy here.

I take it that the music is stylistically all over the map. Pretty mich. There are contrasts, for sure. I don't know really how to describe it. It's over-orchestrated, put it that way. Pretty much on any point in the record, if you drop the needle, you would say, "This is five piece band." That's going to make for a fucked up live show. I don't know how we're going to do it, epecially the vocals.

You normally did all the harmonies on previous recordings. Are the other members of the band going to be doing a lot of singing live? I hope so. If not, we're going to have to hire a small choir or something [laughs]. I'm going to have to sit down and run through Harnony 101 with some of these guys. But they can all sing, so it won't be a big deal.

Speaking of big deals, I remember back on the first album there was some controversy of the song "Travolta," where you chabnged the title to "Quote, Unquote." Did anything ever really happen leagally with that? Absolutely nothing happened. Typical record company bullshit, where they create a problem before the problem has happened. It was pathetic. They were afraid that John Travolta, in between making this movie and that movie and trips to the bank, would fucking have the time to listen to a Mr. Bungle record, get upset, call his lawyer and sue Warner Bros. for millions of more dollars. Give me a fucking break!

So that was kind of rammed down your throat? [Sarcastically] Uh, yeah. They said we had to change it. At that time I hadn't been through that many of those kind of scares, hoaxes. And we just kind of gave in. It was kind of like they put a gun to our head: "Do you want your record to come out this month? If you do, you had better change the title." And it was literally at the last minute. I don't know, record companies love to do things like that.

What's Bungle's standing right now with Warner Bros.? I don't know if I'd we're on the chopping block, but they're watching us. Like a hawk, I think. We're on an album-to-album basis with them; we could be dropped at any time. That's my feeling, and I think that's a healthy attitude. Being on an album-to-album deal is, I think, really great in that your're not tied up for seven years in some situation that you can't stand. What happens is we'll make this record, if it sells a trillion copies, then they'll probably want to pick up the option for the next one. If it bombs, they might think about dropping it. To their credit, they've never put any constraints on Bungle. So far, they've been incredibly hands off. Almost suspiciously so. Like, "Do whatever you want," which always makes me think they don't give a flying fuck and may just be trying to humor me. I don't know. I always was suspicious of that, so to see any kind of reaction from them is, for us, i think, a promising thing.We'll see.

From BAM Magazine, May 7, 1999     NO EXIT - by Don Zulaica **Thanks To Marc B.**

[ruedalapalabra]

Deportivo Rionegro: un viaje al pasado

Por: José Barrientos Arango Se dice que el fútbol llegó a Rionegro en 1925, de la mano, o mejor, de los pies de don José Modesto Arbeláez, un ciudadano rionegrero que viajó a Europa, donde vio jugar esta modalidad deportiva. A su regreso, empezó a motivar a varios de sus amigos para practicarla en diferentes mangas y potreros de la localidad.

Pasaron los años, jugando aquí y allá partidos amistosos contra equipos de Medellín y de otros municipios vecinos. Pero solo fue en 1944 cuando el señor Hernando Gómez C. decidió inscribir el Club Deportivo Rionegro en la Federación Antioqueña de Fútbol- hoy Liga Antioqueña de Fútbol-, fundada en 1929. Y, así, comenzó su actividad deportiva oficial este equipo, al cual me vinculé en 1951, pocos meses después de haberme matriculado como alumno interno, 7° grado, en el Liceo Departamental “José María Córdoba”.

Dicha vinculación ocurrió de esta manera:

Uno de mis compañeros de grupo era un vallecaucano llamado Arturo Quijano Yacup, apodado “El Caleño”, quien ya jugaba en el equipo. Como en el torneo interno me había visto jugar, me dijo que iba a recomendarme a Alberto “Santana” Grisales, entrenador del Deportivo Rionegro, para que me desempeñara como defensa, a lo cual accedió, no sin antes obtener el visto bueno del presidente del Club, don Jorge Tobón Villamizar y el permiso del rector del colegio, don Luciano Ángel Vélez.

Antes de comenzar los entrenamientos, “Santana” me presentó ante los demás jugadores, a quienes les caí muy bien, a pesar de ser el más sardino del equipo, con escasos 17 años. Un grupo humano integrado por personas sencillas y maravillosas que me acogieron con mucha calidez y espíritu de colaboración.

(El autor caminando por Rionegro algún día de descanso del internado en los años cincuenta) Quiero resaltar algunas peculiaridades que encontré en esta organización deportiva:

Alberto “Santana” Grisales, además de ser el entrenador se desempeñaba como arquero titular, función que ejercía con mucha solvencia, a pesar de su baja estatura, que compensaba con una extraordinaria potencia para saltar. Sastre de profesión, tenía su taller en un local situado en uno de los costados de la plaza principal; en la parte posterior de dicho local tenía un gimnasio para entrenar fisicoculturismo, lo que le permitía participar en los eventos que organizaban los hermanos Ramírez en Medellín.

Como si lo anterior fuera poco, practicaba el atletismo y la natación. Era un deportista integral, pero lo que más lo distinguía era su sencillez, altruismo y capacidad de liderazgo, atributos estos que, unidos a su incansable deseo de superación, lo llevaron a capacitarse como profesor de Educación Física, para ejercer la docencia en esta disciplina en el Liceo “José María Córdoba”, donde desarrolló una encomiable labor hasta obtener su pensión de jubilación. Este meritorio recorrido de “Santana” por el deporte y la docencia, fue motivo suficiente para que la administración municipal de Rionegro le hiciera un justificado reconocimiento al designar con su nombre al moderno complejo polideportivo.

Otro aspecto llamativo en el equipo consistía en que varios de sus integrantes trabajaban la zapatería, bien como propietarios de pequeños talleres o como asalariados. Tal era el caso de mi compañero en la defensa (esquema 1-2-3-5 de la época) David Molina, veterano futbolista, alto, flaco, de largas piernas, que aprovechaba para sacarles balones a los rivales que intentaban pasar por su territorio. Otros zapateros eran los hermanos Mario, Humberto y Balmore Sepúlveda, ágiles y calidosos delanteros, con notable dominio del balón y certera pegada. Hermano de los anteriores, estaba Alfredo, “El Profe”, un hombre bastante robusto, que se desempeñaba en la línea media. Es importante anotar que en años anteriores Alfredo había sido docente de Química en el Liceo y posteriormente obtuvo el título en Economía, en la Universidad de Medellín, donde también fue docente y decano de la respectiva facultad. La alineación del equipo la completaban Arturo “El Caleño” Quijano, centro medio; Eduardo “El Cura” García, medio izquierdo y en la delantera estaban, además de los tres hermanos Sepúlveda ya mencionados, Gilberto Hincapié y dos jugadores que viajaban de Medellín, de quienes no recuerdo sus nombres, apodados “El Pollo” y “Picas”.

Debo agregar que entrenábamos lunes, miércoles y viernes en la engramada cancha Santander, donde también jugábamos dos domingos en el mes, a las 4 p.m., partidos programados por la Federación Antioqueña de Fútbol. Los otros dos domingos teníamos partidos en canchas de Medellín (Marte, La Floresta, Tejicóndor y Loyola), Bello, Itagüí y Copacabana.

Cuando jugábamos fuera de Rionegro, salíamos a las 7 a.m. en un bus escalera o sietebancas, de la Flota Rionegro o Transportes Chachafruto, que tardaba hasta cuatro horas para llegar a Medellín, por la destapada carretera de Santa Elena, incluida parada obligada en el restaurante “El Placer”, para saborear una taza de chocolate caliente, acompañada con arepa de maíz pelao o de chócolo y deliciosos buñuelos. Casi siempre regresábamos al anochecer. Todo un paseo de día entero.

(Paseo de olla con los compañeros de once. Octubre 25 de 1955. Rionegro, Antioquia) En esta breve evocación del Deportivo Rionegro de los años 50, debo hacer una mención especial al presidente del equipo, don Jorge Tobón Villamizar, distinguido comerciante, que puso al servicio de la institución su altruismo y su acendrado espíritu cívico. En esta encomiable labor deportiva lo acompañaron personajes como los médicos Julio César Ríos y Antonio Zulaica, el abogado y Juez del Circuito José Turizo y el comerciante Germán Salazar, entre otros.

A finales del siglo XX, el Deportivo Rionegro ingresó a la Primera B del fútbol profesional colombiano y allí iniciaron su carrera deportiva jugadores como Iván Ramiro Córdoba, Vladimir Marín y Juan Pablo Ramírez.

Con el correr de los años, el Deportivo Rionegro, emblema del deporte en el oriente antioqueño, desapareció del mapa futbolero colombiano. En un futuro, ¿podrá renacer de sus cenizas? Así lo espera y lo desea un veterano integrante del equipo que tenía como uniforme camiseta roja, pantaloneta azul y medias rojas.

(Equipo del desaparecido ICSO, Instituto de Capacitación Social de Medellín. Cancha de Tejicondor, 1963)

[maggiemayhan]

Craig Leon’s spent much of the last 15 years working on modern classical releases, and his FACT mix draws from that milieu, blending drone, gamelan, krautrock and microtonal work. It’s gorgeous, and features a sprinkling of unreleased works to boot. Bernard Parmegiani, Annette Peacock, Tony Conrad and George Gershwin all feature.

Tracklisting: 01. Bernard Parmegiani – De Natura Sonorum (Excerpt) 02. Ninel Cam and Philippe Zulaica – Obsession 03. Arthur Brown, Craig Leon and Cassell Webb – Morning Was Cold (Study for Nommos) 04. Famadou Don Moye, Baba Sissoko, Maurizio Capone – Acito 05. Alfred Henderson – Heel and Toe Polka 06. Annette Peacock – The Succubus 07. Ervin Speaks 08. George Gershwin – Prelude No.2 in C Sharp Minor 09. Lou Harrison – A New Gamelan (Excerpt) 10. Cassell Webb & Craig Leon – Oh Jesse (Unreleased Microtonal Experiment) 11. Berangere Maximin – Cracks (From the forthcoming 2014 release) 12. Tony Conrad With Faust – Outside the Dream Syndicate (Excerpt) 13. Mircan Kaya – Osman Um