Los Angeles based label, METROPOLIS RECORDS is currently home to GARY NUMAN, BAUHAUS, GANG OF FOUR, MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE, SKINNY PUPPY, ELECTRIC SIX and now Vancouver’s FLASH BASTARD! METROPOLIS is one of the few labels left operating on the notion that signing decent music is a worthwhile endeavour. After what has been the 10 most catastrophic years in the history of music, we’re left with a cynical and poverty stricken music business landscape that will only put money into what it feels is mainstream and “no risk”. Sadly what that means is only the lowest common denominator is ever catered to. Gone are the days when a band like The Clash could be signed. Realistically, in 2015, nobody that matters can be signed. From Bob Dylan to The Beatles to The Sex Pistols to Nirvana… by the standards of today’s climate, none of those artists would stand a chance! Thankfully a handful of labels still exist, METROPOLIS being one of the best among them. So after years of watching the FLASH BASTARD saga unfold it’s nice to finally see them join an impressive roster.
Clockwise; Flash Bastard reunion at the Rickshaw Theatre, In Los Angeles 2014, The Bastards redecorate the Scorpion’s dressing room and German-Canadian relations hit lowest point since wartime.
FLASH BASTARD came out of the late 90’s Canadian punk rock booze can scene. The early shows were chaotic, messy and sometimes violent affairs. The band made an immediate impression on the Vancouver scene, due to the force of their personalities… unfortunately, for many people it wasn’t a positive impression, thanks to the combination of teenage testosterone and pre-facebook lack of discretion. The classic line up was Donal Finn, Pete Mills, Danny Fazio and Shawn Mrazek and I can attest that they were a handful back in the day. One of the first big shows they played was with my old band, PSYCHOMANIA at the notorious strip club, The Penthouse for the aptly named Anarchy In BC.
Anarchy in BC full page Discorder Ad, Teenage Bastard.
Back in the mid to late 90’s, there was a veritable explosion of doomed post-grunge bands that sprung up in the sleepy port city of Vancouver. In a reaction to the dressed down slacker sensibilities of the Seattle Grunge scene, Vancouver dressed up and drew on a New York influenced style of Punk rock n’ roll and British Glam! FLASH BASTARD were one of the best bands of that era, as well as one of the most unpredictable. I remember getting a copy of the bands demo tape which was “produced” by Tom Anselmi (SLOW) and Jamey Kosh, and instantly knowing that they actually had the talent and songwriting chops to back up all their swagger (They’ve always had a strange fixation on KISS, which I could never understand!). I was instantly hooked by their first song, “C’mon” which was a punk rock re-write of Bowie’s “Hang On To Yourself”.
“Looking good boys, now can you hold that pose for 10 years?”
Before they managed to fuck everything up, they did accomplish quite a bit in a short period. They developed a solid following, they got a couple interviews broadcast on Much Music whenever there was a slow news day and they made an excellent, classic video with director Rebecca Russell-Martin for “Rock N’ Roll Must Be Destroyed”. Pete and Danny enjoyed a brief cameo playing themselves in Bruce McDonald’s truly awful film “Hard Core Logo”… I recently tried watching it again and it remains truly awful. In 2000 the band signed to MOTLEY CRUE bass player, Nikki Sixx’s Americoma label. Unfortunately, It was a classic case of too much too soon, and in a spectacularly short time period, FLASH BASTARD‘s teenage delinquent behaviour, proved to be too much for Mr. Sixx to handle. The band famously managed to get themselves thrown off a tour opening for MOTLEY CRUE and The SCORPIONS and have their album shelved indefinitely by the label.
Donal with Friends, Donal with no friends, Pete Mills on LATV 2006.
While Flash Bastard were busy fucking up their music careers up in Vancouver, I was busy doing the same down in Los Angeles. I had caused a big buzz with my project, SOUL KID #1 and was courted by Interscope and Warner Bros. before signing to Dreamworks. After making my debut album, I recruited Donal down to Hollywood to play bass. Since I was on a major, they made me audition him. So after a parade of excellent bass players, Donal walks in the room, demands to play bass “acapella” and then proceeds to pluck out perhaps the most amateur version of “Louie Louie” ever, while my A & R department watched politely aghast. After weeks of arguments, Donal was eventually “allowed” into my band. But the die had been cast for me and the suits never quite understood my sense of humour, shortly after Donal had joined, my relationship with Dreamworks started to nosedive!
With Marc Godfrey (Soul Kid #1) on LATV 2006, Donal learns that Marxism has nothing to do with Harpo!
Flash Bastard guitarist, Pete Mills also followed the musical migration south and set up in California… by 2007 it was getting crowded with Canadians down there so I thought it would be a good idea to go back to Vancouver for awhile. Without my coat tails to ride on, Donal and Pete were forced to reconcile their differences and after 10 years of sitting on the shelf, Nikki gave them back their long lost album. In 2011 France’s Black Cat Records finally released Flash Bastard’s debut album “Rock N’ Roll Must Be Destroyed”! Ironically, rock n’ roll had been destroyed over the previous decade. The music business went down as quickly as the dinosaurs did when a meteor hit the planet. The rise of free downloads and streaming, had systematically obliterated rock n’ roll and in 2015 making music is no longer a viable profession for those who weren’t already independently wealthy.
Wild the new album, Donal has his ballsack adjusted for photoshoot.
So here we are, after 15 years of riding the music business roller coaster, I sit down with Donal Finn for an informal look back at our misspent youth in the Vancouver post grunge punk rock n’ roll scene, our experiences and escapades in Hollywood, our participation in the Nikki Sixx sex tape, and the making of the new album “Wild”! This is the first in a series of BAD VIBES podcasts, enjoy and remember to go download the album and stop being thieving bastards, so that good music can once again prevail. 🙂 Visit METROPOLIS RECORDS
VAMPIRE BAT, MARC GODFREY interviews FLASH BASTARD, DONAL FINN…
SECRET AGENT RECORDS MAGAZINE 