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The Battalion
Page 3
Friday • November 15, 1996
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Highs & Lov
Today’s Expected
80°F
In a haze of booze,
inhalants and rock music,
Archers of Loaf is making
its way to moon-dom.
By John LeBas
The Battalion
T he Archers of Loaf, a rock band from Chapel
Hill, N.C., is playing at Vertigo Sunday night.
Guitarist Eric Johnson took a break from the
band’s national tour and contacted The Battalion
from a pay phone this week, eager to tell the stu
dents of Texas A&M just what it’s like to be a tour
ing rock musician.
As it turns out, Johnson’s life is hectic — the
Archers play 200 shows a year in support of its first
major label release, All the Nation’s Airports —
which is filled with sarcasm. Johnson explained in
a candid interview how the band hooked up with
its growling, 6-foot-8-inch singer, and that he and
his bandmates would rather be “rock moons” than
rock stars, and how fame is allowing them to move
from inhalants to ....
Batt: How did the band get started?
EJ: We all met at Chapel Hill — we were all
working at the Waffle Shop there. We were all
into the same music and decided to jam. That
was in 1991 or 1992. Then we met our singer,
Eric Bachmann.
Batt: In pictures, Bachmann doesn’t seem to fit
the mold of a singer — he’s a pretty big guy.
EJ: Yeah, he’s 6-foot-8. We actually met him in
jail. He was in the drunk tank with us — I was
“painting” the cell, (laughs)
Batt: But how did you get the name, “Archers
of Loaf”?
EJ: We used to travel home for the holidays to
gether to save money, and one Christmas break
we stayed at a Best Western in Greensborough.
We were watching some comedy channel, and
there was this cartoon mouse with a bow and ar
row, shooting bread. Our singer thought of it, but
he was on inhalants.
Batt: Oh really?
EJ: Say, what kind of paper is this? You probably
can’t put most of this stuff in, anyway.
Batt: Oh well ... back to the band. What does the
Archers of Loaf sound like?
EJ: I’d say we sound like a ship of fools, playing
rock music — rock stars.
Batt: Do you consider yourselves rock stars?
EJ: Not really rock stars ... more like rock moons ...
rock planets. But I think being a rock star would
rule. We could move up from trash inhalants to the
good, clean stuff. Are you going to the show? If you
do, bring some Liquid Paper.
Batt: We’ll see.
Archers of Loaf
EJ: You know how it seems like people in show
biz can break more laws? Well, we do that. It’s all
about money, and how good your lawyer is. We
trash a lot of hotel rooms. The thing is, when you’re
under the influence of drugs, you forget a lot of
what you do, and it makes it easier to get caught.
Batt: What’s it like being from Chapel Hill, a
town with so many other bands?
EJ: It’s pretty awesome — you get a lot of free
beer. But there’s a lot of infighting among the
bands. There probably wouldn’t be if all the bands
were as good as us. That’s why we tour so much —
to spread the word, (laughs)
Batt: Do you play in small college towns like
College Station very often?
EJ: We usually just tour primary markets, but
we sometimes play the small college towns. We’re
from a small college town. Everybody has to get
their rock.
Batt: Archers of Loaf recently signed to Elektra.
What’s it like to be on a major record label?
EJ: It’s pretty great, because now we’re label
mates with Metallica and Pantera, which are the
bands we’ve always wanted to play with. But with
fame, your privacy is invaded. I had to get my
phone number changed back home. But I got a
new car. I think it’s worth it.
Batt: What’s the future look like?
EJ: We’re not looking for success, but we’re not
dodging it, either. As long as we’re writing music
that we feel good about, we’ll keep playing. One
great thing about being in a rock band is the music
is immortal. I’ll leave my mark on this planet — or
maybe more of a stain.
I (might's Expectej
64°F
To in or row's!
Expected Hil
Finding a dream in a cafeteria, Pelicans fly to musical nirvana
78°F
Tomorrow Ni£
Expected Lfl!
63°F
By Kimber Huff
The Battalion
G *
I
ene Moore and John Herzog dreamed of being
in a rock band for as long as they could re
member — or at least since junior high. To- j#
ion courtesy of Toward the end of 9th grade, they decided to make
this dream a reality and form a real band.
■ Moore played guitar, and Herzog played
bass, so all they needed was a drummer.
While sitting in the cafeteria at Brown High
Sc hool, they saw Anthony Castaneda at the
ei id of the table.
■ “We got Anthony in because he was sit
ting at our table, and we heard he played
ials
30 P.M.
f/etf Chlttu (J( drums,” Moore said.
11 The band was complete.
k They came up with their name after
tl eir health teacher told the class about a i;
disease that could cause a person’s neck to
swell up like a pelican.
I Castaneda said that’s when the band decid-
. ed to call themselves the Pelicans.
7.93 Although the band formed early in high school,
md lightly fried, | was a while before it played anywhere,
mashed potatoes. band shirts before we had songs,” Moore
said. “The first time we practiced was at my birthday party.”
1 By the end of high school, the Pelicans were playing gigs
LRFECTION throughout their hometown of Taylor, Texas, taking pride in the
FEAK
fact that every time they played, whether practicing
or at a show, the police showed up.
“They said it wasn’t because we were loud, it
was just because of the music we were play
ing,” Moore said.
In Bryan-College Station, the Peli
cans have played at Verti
go, Cow Hop and North-
gate Cafe.
Herzog said cops here
seem to be more tolerant of the
Pelicans’ loud music.
“In College Station, they’re
more like, ‘That’s good music,
but can y’all keep it down,”’
Herzog said.
But to the Pelicans, volume
seems to be a major ingredient
in style. Moore described their
music as “primarily loud.”
“We’re just loud,” Moore said.
“We would be as loud as we could,
but our amps aren’t very loud.”
The Pelicans write their own music,
but band members do not think lyrics
are the most important part of their songs.
“Me and Anthony always badger each oth
er about writing lyrics,” Moore, the lead singer,
said. “He writes the lyrics, but I sometimes use them.”
The Pelicans said the audience should expect a high-energy show.
“I guess we’re pretty interesting to watch, Castaneda said.
“Sometimes you have to watch out in the audience, Heizog said. A
We had band shirts before
we had songs. The first time we
- Pfacticed was at my
birthday party."
- Gene Moore
the Pelicans lead guitarist
cymbal might fly out.”
The band is playing at Vertigo tonight, and Moore said the show
will be deafening.
Castaneda said he lost a lot of his hearing last summer due to the
volume at which he plays.
“Expect from us lots of loud music,” Moore said. “People coming
to the show might want to bring ear plugs.
Castaneda said the Pelicans like the Bryan-College Station music
scene because its size allows them a chance to play more. Their fu
ture plans are indefinite, though.
“We’re thinking about having a CD in the next seven or eight
^BQ ribs in Tex* Patterns of Tradition
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iRAEBER, CARTOON EOH® 1
Hausenfluck, Christie
:ney Walker & JoAnne Whitte*j
ner Huff, John LeBas, Aaron
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•avid Boldt, Bryan Goodwin,^
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& Angie Rodgers
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:hael Depot, Ed Goodwin,
sity in the Division of StuiH 1
IcDonald Building. Newsroom
Idress: http://bat-web.taw
oyThe Battalion. For campus.
45-0569. Advertising offices!
lay. Fax: 845-26T8.
stick up a single copy ofthe
ir.To charge by Visa, MasteiO 11 '
Dave House, The Battalion
Rebecca Ewing Peterson will be signing copies of her
3ook, Dreams of Aggieland, tomorrow from 11 a.m. to
during the fall and spring 5
versity holidays and exam fi
m.TX 77840. Postmaster: S*
m university, collegesia«« boon at the bookstore in the Memorial Student Center.
By Joseph Novak
The Battalion
S ome say a quilt is worth a thousand words.
Dreams of Aggieland is a new book written specifically to help all
quilters, from the beginner to the expert, produce quilts that shine
forth with Aggie spirit.
Rebecca Ewing Peterson, a junior construction science major, is the
author of the book. Peterson said she had always
wanted to get into quilting, but had put it off until
later in life. Suddenly, she discovered “later in life”
had arrived.
“I did two quilts last spring,” Peterson said. “One
for a baby that was being born in July, and one for my
daughter, who was coming up on her senior year in
the Corps of Cadets.”
After showing her two quilts to owners of quilt
shops in Houston, Peterson said she was encouraged
to sell patterns of her designs.
“When I sat down and started figuring how I
would market and manufacture the patterns, I was
reminded of other designs that I had done,” Peter
son said.
“And in trying to figure out what would be feasible
to pattern as packages, I decided it would be a lot
easier to just write the book.”
Writing the book also gave Peterson the opportu
nity to display themes of Aggie lore and spirit, as well
as the opportunity to talk about the inspirations pre
sented by architectural designs.
Dreams of Aggieland contains eight quilt patterns
and four border patterns. Four of the quilt patterns
and two of the border patterns are contemporary and
are designed to appeal to both male and female col
lege students. However, four of the quilt designs and
two of the borders are based upon research of Texas
A&M architectural history.
The patterns of tiles from the Chemistry Building, the Old Veterinary
Hospital (now the Civil Engineering Building), the Petroleum and Geolo
gy Building (now the Halbouty Geosciences Building) and the Agricultur
al Engineering Building (also known as Scoates Hall).
These four designs have been transformed into quilt designs that can
be constructed into Aggie quilts with colors other than maroon and
white.
The other four quilt designs — the Howdy, Ags!, the Block T, the Tessel-
lating Block T and the Highway 6 — are designed to immortalize the pride
and traditions of Aggieland with a quilter’s touch.
Two of the borders — the Elephant Walk and the Highway 6 — are in
tended to complement the quilt patterns with thoughts of Aggie pride.
Peterson said she wrote the book with the non-quilter in mind.
“The instructions are very specific as to how to build them,” Peterson
said. “It presumes a general knowledge of sewing, but someone who has
never quilted before can do the most difficult
quilt in this book.”
Peterson began working on this book in July
while she was tending to 13 hours of summer
school. In September, she received approval to
write the book as an independent study for three
hours of technical writing.
“What I didn’t realize at the time that I ap
plied for it is that it suddenly meant I was en
rolling in that book as a class, which meant I had
to finish the book this semester because the
grade was due,” Peterson said.
Having spent 17 years in the printing indus
try, Peterson had experience as a professional
print seller as well as a print buyer. With this
training, she was able to construct the 156 illus
trations in the book.
Upon completion, she marked the book un
der the publisher heading of Good Bull Press, at
Newman Printing in Bryan printed.
Peterson said quilting satisfied her urge to
construct, and it also satisfied the textural and
color interests she had.
"Quilting is also a very nurturing kind of
thing,” Peterson said. “When you make a quilt,
you put a great deal of yourself into it. And gen
erally it’s something you do for someone you
love as opposed to doing for material consideration or for selling.”
Peterson recommends quilting for anyone.
“Quilting, I would recommend for anyone who wants or desires a con
structive way to express themselves, particularly those people who are
mechanically inclined, who like building things,” Peterson said.
"Quilts give you a real sense of building because of the step-by-step
layering and the processes involved in quilting.”
Dreams
Aggieland