Blake Babies hope you'll chip in for an Earwig

The Blake Babies are running a PledgeMusic campaign to allow them to release the Earwig demos on vinyl. Perfect if you have a thing for vinyl and/or Juliana Hatfield.

Indieobit: Mikey Welsh

Mikey Welsh, former Weezer bassist, has died, according to a post on his Facebook wall:

We are deeply saddened to announce that Mikey Welsh passed away unexpectedly today. He will forever be remembered as an amazing father, artist, and friend. May he rest in peace.

Born in New York in 1971, it was in Boston that Welsh thrived as a musician. He was a spine to a number of Boston scene acts, gaining the experience which would see him join first Juliana Hatfield's touring band, and then The Rivers Cuomo Band. When Matt Sharp quit Weezer in 1998, Welsh made the move from Cuomo's side-project to main band.

He was with Weezer for four years - although the band spent some of that time on hiatus - and appeared on the album The Green Album. He left in mysterious circumstances in 2001, a mystery finally cleared up in an interview with now-defunct music website Rock Salt Plum:

Basically, a lifetime of doing drugs and being undiagnosed as having Bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and borderline personality disorder finally caught up with me when I was 30 years old.

At the beginning of a 3-month European tour with Weezer, I started slowly falling apart. Without getting too graphic, by the time the tour was winding up, my weight had gone down to about 140lbs (I'm 6'2") and mentally completely wiped out. When I returned to the states, my family had made plans for me to see a psychiatrist in Boston. First though, we had to play a few dates around the U.S., and perform on The Tonite Show (which ended up being my last performance with Weezer).

By the time I got to Boston, I was having a complete nervous breakdown. It ended with a severe suicide attempt (an overdose). I was found and rushed to the hospital where I had come to within minutes of my heart completely stopping. I was in a coma for a few days, and woke up in a lockdown psychiatric ward.

There was a happy ending, though - Welsh left music behind to start a second career as a visual artist, in which he enjoyed some success. He would even return to play bass with Weezer a couple of times, guesting on a couple of tracks during gigs in Vermont and New York.
Mikey Welsh died in Vermont. He was 40.

I collect, I reject: Wool offers

Wool FM is an interesting volunteer-run station in New England, and they're having a fund-raising drive. Much of it you'll have to go to America to take part in, but there's three lots which you can bit for online:

Original contact sheet from photo shoot for Throwing Muses album "House Tornado." Autographed by Kristin Hersh.

Original recording notes for song "Mania" by Throwing Muses. Track Sheet with notes in pencil. Hand-typed lyrics (on an actual typewriter) typed by Kristin Hersh, with production notes and doodles from Throwing Muses. c1988. Autographed by Kristin Hersh.

"Untitled," by Juliana Hatfield. Original painting, acrylic on canvas board, 9" X 12" 2009.

All three things would make an excellent gift for a discerning person, don't you think?

Bookmarks - Internet stuff: Juliana Hatfield

Juliana Hatfield takes to the Huffington Post to call for help with stray dogs in Puerto Rico:

Strays are referred to as "satos" in Puerto Rico. "Sato" is a derogatory term for "street dog" and usually refers to mutts. Purebred dogs are generally more highly valued on the island. Many islanders treat the satos as a nuisance, as pests, vermin to be kicked away. Satos are routinely abused -- poisoned, shot, beaten, cut by knives, burned by acid or hot oil or boiling water, deliberately hit by cars -- or simply neglected, left to fend for themselves. And, on their own, they breed; strays are born to strays and the problem literally grows.

Bookmarks - Internet stuff: Celebrity Rehab

Juliana Hatfield watches Celebrity Rehab, freeing up time for the rest of us to just sob silently to ourselves. This was Heidi Fleiss' last TV work before she went in to Celebrity Big Brother. But, obviously, there were others:

Mike Starr is the former bass player of Alice In Chains. He’s a “hardcore polydrug addict” in the words of Dr. Drew. When asked the inevitable — does he have any history of trauma — Mike tells the doc, “Yeah — trauma from losing my band.”

Being fired from Alice In Chains? Trauma?

“I was the best bass player/entertainer there was.”

Really, Mike Starr? Really? I never even knew the guy’s name (or face) until I turned on the TV to watch this show. I think part of Mike’s problem is that he has a little bit of a skewed perspective on himself and where he fits into the world and history.

New Juliana Hatfield

Something to look forward to in 2010: Juliana Hatfield is promising a new record for February. It's been recorded in an apartment on an eight-track, which means both that it's stripped down and laid bare, and - more importantly - it'll be into profit from about the sixth download. The record is called Peace And Love, and, in case you're interested, this is the tracklisting:

1. Peace and Love
2. The End Of The War
3. Why Can't We Love Each Other
4. Butterflies
5. What Is Wrong
6. Unsung
7. Evan
8. Let's Go Home
9. I Picked You Up
10. Faith In Our Friends
11. I'm Disappearing
12. Dear Anonymous

Yes, yes. We're all fascinated by what track seven is going to say.

Bookmarks: Some stuff to read on the internet: Juliana Hatfield & Evan Dando

If this is the sort of chapter that got cut from Juliana Hatfield's memoir, you surely have to read the stuff that made it?

On the night that Carl and Evan’s mom came over, we had a bunch of boxes of shrink-wrapped Nicely, Nicely albums stacked up in the condo pad. Gary, who happened to be there at the condo pad that night, and who happened to be what some people might characterize as “radically progressive” politically, and very knowledgeable, seemed very interested in Carl.

Gary asked Carl where he was from.

Carl said that he lived in Washington, D.C.

Then Gary asked Carl what he did for a living.

Carl said that he was a journalist at the Washington Post.

Gary smiled and then it dawned on all of the rest of us simultaneously that this man, who had looked vaguely familiar, was CARL BERNSTEIN. Of Woodward and Bernstein. Evan’s mom’s friend was one of the two Washington Post reporters who broke the Watergate break-in story which helped to bring about Richard Nixon’s resignation. The two guys who, literally, wrote the book about the scandal (All The President’s Men), and who were played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman in the movie.

We all tried to stay cool and restrain ourselves from yelling out, “Holy Shit! You’re Carl Bernstein!” or “Oh my God!” and jumping up and down and hyperventilating but it was difficult because this man was a really important historical figure — kind of an American hero, who’d helped bring a dirty president down. And he was standing in our kitchen shooting the shit with us dirtbag indie rocker kids.

Before he left, Mr. Bernstein bought two copies of Nicely, Nicely (eight bucks each). We wanted to give them to him as a gift but he insisted, graciously, on paying. He removed the shrink wrap and had all of us Blake Babies sign both albums. He gave one to his son and left with the other one under his arm.

[An unpublished chapter from When I Grow Up by Juliana Hatfield]

Bookmarks: Some stuff to read on the internet

Juliana Hatfield continues her exploration of her back catalogue - reaching Congratulations:

I found a way to throw in the word “jellyroll” because I wanted to — was always trying to — vie for inclusion into the rock and roll continuum, which started back with all the blues guys who sang about “jellyroll.” And then there was Lou Reed. I wanted to be included in that club. The rock and roll boys club. For the same reason, I named my first album “Hey Babe.” Like Lou Reed sang. It all comes back to Lou Reed, doesn’t it?

Something to listen to: Juliana Hatfield

The kind-to-kittens and charitable people over at Stereogum are currently offering for stream or email-swap download a brand new track from one of our stone-solid heroes, Juliana Hatfield. Hurrah!