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 Adam Ritchie and his band inside the DMZSteve Schmidt and Link Smith skating in DMZ parking lotSteve Schmidt, somewhere between the heights and downtownGrove Circle Punx - Andy Conrad, Utrillo, Bryan Spinas, Matthew Thompson, Jason White, Josh Bentley (92)
 added story to The Link Springs Forms Event The Link Springs Forms added story to New Wave Festival added story to DMZ opens added story to DMZ opens added story to New Wave Festival added story to Econochrist forms added story to Hatful Day plays their first show added story to Big Boss Line forms added story to Women's City Club Show  |
Red 40 heyday  // I think it's safe to say that over half of mid-90's Little Rock punks either fell in love or out of love at a Red Forty show. It's also important to note that in the last few months of the bands existence, teenage girls ACTUALLY swooned at the shows. I've never seen anything like it. // A few years back, I was diggin' through the crates at PDQ Records here in Tucson and came across the Red 40 7". What a find! // Red 40 was a great band to hear and watch. I never saw them play as a four piece though. I remember Colin was always laughing and kind of joking whenever he was playing and yet he always managed to stay in time even though he was playing a lot of octaves, power chords and melodic patterns. But to me that really complimented the sound. I remember the day that 7 inch came out and they were selling some of the copies (the ones with out the red lettering) in front of Das Yutes. I also remember seeing them at State Street and they did a really good cover of Elivs Costello's "Vernoica." To this day though anytime I would see Ben Nichols play I have to bust his balls and yell out Red 40 songs. But I did see him play accoustic at a fest in Memphis that a friend of mine put on a few years back and he did Red 40 songs and I sang all the words as he was and he was like "thanks for singing along that was awesome." I will say that Red 40 did the pop/punk thing very well that it didn't ... (More) // Red 40 was a fun band for me. I'd played guitar for a while, but never in a band. Ben Nichols was looking for some people to play with, and Steve Kooms, John Housley and I started messing around on some songs he'd written in the back of his dad's furniture store. We played at the "Punk Picnic" as a four-piece, but for some reason, John dropped out. Ben wrote a lot of songs, and we just learned them. It was a fun thing for me and Kooms to switch instruments. He came up with cool drum parts, and my guitar playing was decent (lots of octaves, power chords, the open chords I'd learned up to that point, and some 2 stringy melodic stuff). It was tough to get attention from girls being in band with Ben. All of the songs were about girls, and most of the audience was girls, so I would dress up occasionally and do my best to be attractive to them, but all eyes were always on Ben. Steve and I, as a joke, started referring to the band as Ben Nichols & the Red 40. Then we started acting out by drinking a lot ... (More)  Trouble submitting your story? E-mail towncraft@matsonfilms.com Matson Films reserves the right to edit all responses. Please be courteous to your community. |
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Ben Nichols
Das Yutes
Red 40
