Loose Nut
We’ve been practicing a lot. There’s this never ending inside joke between the guys in She’s Still Dead at rehersals: “Think Black Flag”. What would the hardest working hardcore band in history do?
Should we attempt to play 150 shows in 2012? “Think Black Flag!”
Should we attempt to release a full length LP and a couple of 7 inchers within the next six months? “Think Black Flag!”
Should we attempt to be the first American metal band to ever tour the country of Cuba? “Think Black Flag!”
A new book is being released this year entitled “Barred For Life”. It’s a photo journal depicting thousands of Black Flag fans who have decided to have the Black Flag bars tattooed on their bodies. The thing about that particular tattoo is that, in essence, it’s a rite of passage. You see someone with the bars tattoo, and immediately, you have an idea of what that person is all about.
At She’s Still Dead practice this weekend, our drummer Mark Antee walked in and pulled something out of his pocket that appeared to be a hunk of mud. Upon further inspection, it turned out to be a cracked, faded, dirt encrusted cassette tape of Black Flag’s “Loose Nut”.
You see, Mark was a hardcore kid. He would skateboard with his friends to UNO’s campus in the early 90′s, and buy beer from The Cove (Yes, you could buy alcohol and drink on UNO’s campus up until 2005 when Hurricane Katrina destroyed The Cove – the recreation area on campus where students could grab a bite to eat, buy a beer, or play pool between classes. They would also sell alcohol to minors). Keep in mind, Mark wasn’t even a student there. He wasn’t even in high school yet. Then, he would set dumpsters on fire behind grocery stores, break bottles, and attend whatever punk show happening that night in New Orleans.
Mark, now all grown up, told the rest of the band that he visited his mother earlier this week. His mother is blind and his father is deceased. Mark does all of the lawn work for his mother as needed. While mowing the back yard, Mark noticed something sticking out of the ground. He made his way over to it, yanked it out of the Earth, and behold, his Black Flag cassette from his childhood!
Mark recalls vividly playing this particular tape incessantly. The Flag rules, okay? One day, the tape inside the cassette popped while playing. Whatever boombox that he was blaring the cassette out of began to eat the tape. Mark immediately took the tape out of the boombox to inspect the damage. Long, broken strands of tape hung from the now unplayable Black Flag cassette. Angered, Mark made his way to the back door of his mother’s house, and chucked the broken cassette into his back yard. This happened in 1990.
Mark lived in the Gentilly area of New Orleans while growing up. That area was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. We’re talking many feet of flood waters. Although busted, flooded, and unplayable, Mark’s Black Flag cassette is still here. It just took 22 years for Mark and The Flag to meet again.
Black Flag – I’m The One
