Thursday, February 15, 2007

Starry Night Records Genesis

Starry Night was started in 1995 by myself and Eric Fron as Take Out The Trash Records. At the time, central Illinois was a hotbed of punk and emo and our desire was to help document the movement and indulge ourselves in our love of vinyl records.

We were just one tiny player in what then was a big game. Polyvinyl, Playingfield, Grand Theft Autumn, PunkPlanet, were all taking off in the Chambana/Bloomington/Normal area alone, never mind Chicagoland.

The great bands of the time are too numerous to name.

And so, we made a handful of records with loving care.

Here is our limited catalog:

TOTT/SNR #1 Rumple 7": Melodic hardcore punk out of Rockford, IL.

TOTT/SNR #2 SSB 7": Hardcore from Urbana. A limited release of 300 on red vinyl.

TOTT/SNR #3 Hand to Mouth/Mary Me 7":

Hand to Mouth was this amazing band from Urbana that played politicore melodic punk with wit and so much energy. They were an incredible live band and I am very proud of this record.

Mary Me was a side project formed by Rob Arrol and featuring Todd Bell and Roy Ewing from the seminal emo band, Braid. If you don't know who Braid was, look it up.

As far as I know this was their only stand alone release, but they did appear on several comps for Allied Recordings.

"Arrol formed mary me in the fall of 1994 with Roy Ewing and Todd Bell (rhythm section for emo kings “braid”). Partnered with John Yates’ Allied Recordings, mary me appeared on several of Allied releases, including the “Emergency Broadcast” EP; “Need Me Never” EP and “Attack of the Indie Snatchers” CD sampler. Mary me disbanded in 1996. Arrol went on to play in several Champaign “super groups,” including: Belva Plane (w/”Twiggy’s”/”June and the Exit Wound’s” Todd Fletcher; “Little Engine’s” Matt Pearson and “Titanic Love Affair’s” Ken Hartz); Mutual High Life (w/”Titanic Love Affair’s” Ken Hartz and “Cowboy X’s” Alex Moore); and Shotgun Wedding (w/”Moon Seven Times” Brendon Gamble and Lynn Canfield). Arrol was also a founding member of Todd Fletcher’s “June and the Exit Wounds,” along with Peter Pollack and Champaign rock notables Don Gerard (“The Farmboys,” “mine.,” “Moon Seven Times”) and Charlie Dold (“The Farmboys,” “Milo”"

TOTT/SNR #4: Nekhai Naaza cassette only: This was to be a 10" that never happened. Nekhai was hardcore from Israel in the vein of Los Crudos.

In 1996 Eric and I split the label and I went on to do a couple of projects with my Starry Night label.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have the Take Out the Trash signel with H2M and MM. I'm also familiar with Arrol and his many bands. Dick Justice was a precursor to mary me. They played more than they recorded (MUD records) and toured extensively throughout the Midwest. Mary me formed after Arrol left DJ and quickly got them signed to Allied Recordings. You're correct, they did several comps. (vinyl and CD) for Allied. However, the Need Me Never EP was a stand alone 7-inch. John Yates did the cover and featured it in a retrospective of his artwork a few years back. Mary me also did some one offs - I have a punk take on Grease CD that has a MM doing the Rizzo song. I think they also did some international comps. They were working on a full length for Allied when they broke up. Sorry for being so long winded - thought you might like to know. Also, check out, http://c-umusic-schmusic.blogspot.com/2007/02/where-are-they-now_08.html.

Knocko said...

Jason, I was just reliving the good ol' days, trying to see if I could find some HTM music to listen to online. I came across this nice little bit of history you've recorded. Awesome.

I'm Eric, the bass player from HTM.
It's really nice to see your kind words! I was just fortunate enough to have been along for the ride.

Have you heard much from the other HTM folk? I've had some random encounters with them through email and such, but it's been hard juggling the past with the present.