ALPHA HOPPER INTERVIEW FROM TRANSLATE #10

 Last year I chatted it up with Irene (vocals) and John (guitar) from ALPHA HOPPER for the most recent issue of TRANSLATE zine.  We discussed lots of legal hypotheticals, drunk bike riding, and Star Trek, amongst other things.  This is the unedited version of that interview.  Their record "Alpha Hex Index" is a whopper of weirdo punk, but super fun and catchy.  Since they couldn't play any shows in the last year or so to promote it consider the show they have coming up in Buffalo on 8/27 as their official record release show! 

 

Irene, as an immigration lawyer, are you able to represent people in areas of the law that are not what you specialize in?  For instance, if you were to be approached by someone accused of embezzlement would you be able to represent them?

 

I:  Ryan, are you asking me this for real life reasons?

 

No!  Just follow where I’m going with this.

 

I:  When you’re a lawyer, or allowed to practice law, you can give someone advice and go to court.  But you can do that for whatever you want, or have to do.  So I can do any kind of law, but the trick is to know it because each practice is so specialized and specific.  Asking if I can do embezzlement law I’d have to study the whole field and practice it.  So I could, but it would probably have to be my specialty.

 

J:  Is there any time you would want to go to court for embezzlement?

 

I:  I don’t know, maybe for fun! Every legal field has it’s exciting parts right?  Maybe the embezzlers are multi-million dollar corporations who…  I don’t know. 

But, yeah, one part of doing the law is you specialize in doing what you’re really good at and what you’re learning about. So that’s why most lawyers tend to stick to one thing.

 

So your advice would probably be, ‘I could represent you, but you would be better off going to these people’.  So that leads me to John- is there any time where you might find yourself requiring legal resources?

 

J:  (laughs) This is really funny because I’m actually very thankful that Irene does immigration law because my wife is from Brazil and we got married and she had to apply for a green card, and all that stuff.  When that came up I thought, ‘I know just who to call.  We’re going to get this right the first time’.

I don’t have any legal expertise, but if anything the law should be avoided at all costs.  I have a rule that you shouldn’t sweat unless it’s for sex, rock n’ roll, or running from the cops (laughs).  So the law is not for me.  But in this case we needed to do it.  So my wife and I called Irene so she could help us fill out these forms and do things the right way, because there’s nothing scarier than a border- all the customs and shit.  That’s like a whole other set of law because when you cross over, say, to Canada, they can just pull you over and reject you.  You can have all the proper paperwork and they can still fuck with you.  They can call you liar, it’s completely up to the border guard’s discretion.  It’s crazy to me, the idea of borders, and ‘you shouldn’t be in this country’.

 

Did either of you find any obstacles when pursuing the green card process, or was it fairly easy?

 

J:  The only part that was difficult was that we were going back and forth with visiting each other- Sao Paulo to Buffalo, back and forth.  And one of the last times we did this before getting married is we landed in Canada, and drove into the US because it was cheaper to fly to Toronto and Buffalo is only two hours away.  We got stopped at the border and they wouldn’t let her in.  They were saying, ‘we think you’re lying to us, we think she already lives here’, which was very stressful.  And she wasn’t living here at the time, she was just visiting.  We were thinking, ‘we should get married and get this taken care of so it never happens again’.  But yeah, they wouldn’t let her in and she got stuck in Canada for a couple weeks.  Luckily, I knew someone in St. Catherines (Ontario, near the Buffalo border- ed.) and they let her stay with them for a couple weeks.

 

So Irene when you were assisting in that process did you find there to be a lot of hurdles, or was it fairly easy to help John with this?

 

I:  Not really.  Sometimes immigration is just paperwork- you fill out the forms, tons of forms, and you gather the evidence- which is whatever you need to prove whatever you’re trying to do, like I’m petitioning for my spouse and here’s the evidence that we’re married.  The hardest part is always getting everything you need together, like ‘give me the last five years of your work history, all of your education, all the places you lived, all your family.  It can take a really long time.  I mean, I can’t remember what I ate yesterday, ya know? 

But John and Carol were perfect clients.  They were on top of it.  I got to sit back and relax.  On my end it was pretty easy.

 

Have you had situations that were extremely difficult?  Were there situations where clients were given a really hard time?

 

I:  Kind of all the time.  We’re super lucky in Buffalo, and this is not the case everywhere.  In Buffalo we have pretty fair immigration judges.  Most of the cases I do are asylum cases.  And they really consider everything fairly and equally.  So we’re super lucky because when you make an argument you know it’s being heard.  When you submit evidence you know they’re considering it.  They’re actually weighing in instead of just saying ‘no’.  So that part of it is really good locally.

But the bigger problem is really the whole immigration system.  Over the last four years everything has been getting harder, and harder, and harder. There’s minutia that has been requested of clients that, unless you hire an attorney, you’re not going to know how to fill out that form.  Some people requesting asylum will be rejected because they might have missed checking off a box, or not answering a question that isn’t applicable to them.  Like, instead of answering ‘none’ or whatever it’s just not answered and out of 200 whatever questions they miss this one and their whole thing gets thrown out.

My boss said it perfectly- you don’t need a huge overhaul of the whole system to make it hard, you do these  little things that make impossible for any person to do anything and  that’s how you fuck them over.

 

It’s like a death by a thousand cuts sort of thing.

 

I:  Perfect.  I’m going to start using that one now (laughs).  It’s not like this one thing, it’s just little by little, step by step, getting harder.  I feel like I spend half my time at work figuring out how this law changed so my client can get through it.  It’s extremely annoying and it’s embarrassing how the government has treated asylum seekers at the border.

 

Let’s jump back to not the real life situation you had to deal with, John, but if there were a fictional legal issue you found yourself in, what do you think it could be?

 

J:  I’m pretty good at staying out of trouble these days.  You get a little older and you get a little tired of getting yourself into trouble! I’ve been known in the past to have a couple soda pops.  Luckily, I don’t have any history of driving drunk.  But doing anything else, like riding a bicycle drunk, I’ve done.  And you can get in trouble for that!  So I’ve definitely ridden my bicycle home drunk because I’ve definitely crashed a couple times.  No permanent injuries, but you get a couple soda pops in you and, ya know.  But I’m surprisingly well-behaved.  Irene, what would I get myself in trouble with?

 

I:  John is a  responsible young man now.

 

J:  I get away with everything.

 

He did just incriminate himself over riding while drunk.

 

J:  Yeah, they’re going to come get me now.

 

Would you feel comfortable representing him if he were caught riding while drunk?

 

I: (laughs)  I shouldn’t represent people if know them.  But yes, I would.  Actually, John would do a fine job representing himself.  He can talk his way out of it.

 

Is that the strategy?

 

I:  John, didn’t you have some issue with going through jury duty?

 

J:  I got called for jury duty.  I went and got called in, and then got selected for the smaller group where they interview you.  So I got in the room while they’re trying to pick the people who are going to be on the jury.  So the gentleman on trial was up on a drug charge, selling drugs or whatever.  So the attorneys each get to talk to the potential jurors to see who they want on the jury. 

So they call the first person up, some suburban white lady, and she just says, ‘my uncle is a cop so I just believe that everything a cop says is true’.  And the attorney tries to make an argument for the guy and she just says, ‘I just believe cops so I believe he’s guilty automatically’.  And you can see the judge rolling his eyes, like she’s saying this just to get out of being on jury duty.

The next guy gets up and just says, ‘I’m racist, that guy is African-American, and I’m racist’ because he’s also just trying to get out of jury duty.

And then they call me up and I’m thinking, ‘this is stupid, I’m just going to tell the truth’  So they ask me if there’s any reason I can’t serve.  They ask if I’ve ever been a part of the jury process.  So I let them know that one time I was a witness at a trial.  So I let them know that one time a friend was at a guy’s house and he freaked out because he took too many mushrooms so I was called to come pick him up and when I got there it turned out to be a drug dealer’s house and the police showed up, the guy got into a fight with cops.  I never got into any trouble, but I witnessed it.  So the lawyers asked why I was there and I explained it.  They asked if that situation applied to what I was being asked to be a juror for and I told them that I thought all drugs should be legal and that I didn’t think that guy should be there at all because he’s probably got his own issues.  So then the lawyer asked me, ‘so you’ve bought drugs before?’  And I said, ‘oh yeah, absolutely!’  And they asked me if I still buy drugs and I said, ‘oh, from him?  No, not from him.’

At that point the whole courtroom started laughing and the judge had to hammer his gavel.  And the prosecutor was like, ‘well, I’m going to get rid of this guy right off the bat’.  So I got out of there basically by saying that I do drugs.

 

(laughs)  That’s a good way to get out of jury duty.

 

J:  Yeah, they kicked me right out.

 

Well, in terms of more legal drugs, you’re a bartender.  Has that informed your music at all, seeing as it’s a social atmosphere, or you may be surrounded by music at a bar, or musicians?

 

I:  John only works at fancy bars.

 

J:  I would  say the biggest way that has influenced my music is that over the years I’ve waited on a bunch of grumpy old people that are just miserable and hate all young people, they don’t like where the world is going, they don’t understand what’s happening now.  They’re just curmudgeonly, old-attitude, and with a lot of hate.  I also get a lot of people who do the, ‘so you’re in a band’ thing.  I just try not to have that conversation.  They’re like, ‘what kind of band are you in?’ and I will sort of agonizingly say, ‘puuunk?’  And they always reply with something like, ‘oh, so like Red hot Chili Peppers?’  And I always just agree, like, yeah, sure, just so I can get out of having a conversation with them.

But then you get people who say things like, ‘I always wanted to do this, but then I didn’t’, or ‘when I was younger I did this thing and if I stuck with it…’  Of course, they’re just miserable people who work their boring-ass day jobs forever.  And now their only personality is going out to eat and get drunk and working a job they don’t like.  And I believe that is quintessential to my whole idea of ‘don’t become that’.  Whenever I find myself hearing a band and thinking ‘I don’t like this, I don’t get it’ I have to remind myself not to be old and jaded.  Or if I ever get like, ‘I’m just going to be lazy today’ I think, ‘no, there is going to be plenty of time to be lazy when you’re old.  Now is the time to do work, go on tour, and do art until my liver explodes, or I crash my bicycle into a bus.’

 

I:  Is this where we segue very casually (laughs), into how this whole time I’ve been trying to express that my world revolves around watching Star Trek?  I‘ve been trying to find an opening where I could ask, ‘what about Jean-Luc and his legal issues?’

 

(laughs) Picard has legal issues?  Are you going to spearhead space law?

 

I:  I’m saying that when we immigrate into space I truly hope that perhaps the profession I’m in right now will change a little bit.

 

J: Would you make it your job to formally define what is the Prime Directive?

 

I:  Yeah!  That’s pretty good.

 

I was going to segue into ‘does your profession inform your lyrics’ and upon my reading of Alpha Hopper lyrics, which I think can usually be open to interpretation, seem to be more about escapism than your job.  Maybe I’m wrong.

 

I:  No, that’s super accurate.  I don’t really write much about my job because it just feels like other people’s situations are not my story to share.  The stuff that people have to deal with is tough for them so I try not to get those stories to come out in my music.  If I’m going to scream about something I want to scream about fun things.  Maybe it’s not so much the case with our newest record, but I feel like a lot of my songs are sci-fi inspired.  And I think a lot of people, myself included, love sci-fi and I can find fun things to express with that.

 

I think maybe you have already planted the seed for the next Alpha Hopper record with the Star Trek- Jean Luc-Picard space law thing.

 

I:  We were brainstorming on ideas on how to promote our record and I thought, ‘what if we act out a scene from Star Trek, but instead of the people from Star Trek it’s us?’  Why don’t we green screen ourselves onto the set.  I think Doug (drummer) will be Picard and I’ll play Deanna Troi because I can pull the hair off.

 

J:  It can be “Alpha Hopper:  Captured By the Borg”

 

You already got a title!

 

I:  Our record can be packaged inside a cube.  Think about it.

 

ALPHA HOPPER is playing Buffalo on 8/27/21 (the link was in the beginning of this article).  Here's a flyer for it:

 

CONTENT THAT YOU DESERVE- REVIEWS TO PUT SPUTTER IN YR SKIN SOCK

 It's at that point in the summer when I'm more than ready for some rain.  Everyone thinks it just rains all the time out here in the Northwest but it's bone dry all summer.  Yeah, I know, climate change.  It's real and while some sun is nice yr boy enjoys living near the woods, not the Gobi Desert.  But speaking of heat, how about some guaranteed heaters on record right now?  All this new good stuff might be why I'm sweating out here.  Check it out:

ANTHESIS/ BOTFLY/ CELL PRESS/ GREBER split 12”

Alright, I’m going to attempt to write my way out of confusion here.  This is a 4-way split LP, except there’s more like 5 groups present here.  Between each band an additional performer under the name Clouds Become Oceans supplies relaxing instrumental segues so as to break up the thunderous roar of the groups taking part in this thing.  So it’s more like a 5-way split?  Whatever the case, the bands listed on the front of the record all emerge out of a gnarly metal-esque/HC/sludge stew where seeing them all on the same bill would make total sense, but maybe get a little redundant?  Each band does a great take on essentially the same thing.  If this were like a 15 band compilation I’d probably get real tired of it real quick.  But since it’s four bands it makes it a little easier to separate out the differences in each.  Anthesis seem to be the most metal of the bunch.  They drop a single long and punishing slow dirge filled with anguished screams, a couple “Enemy Of the Sun”-style Neurosis parts, some blasting, and a closing section with lots of sick double bass.  Cell Press is members of Great Sabatini and Architect slugging out riffy sludge and insanely good drumming that comes off like old Melvins and Keelhaul having a petulant asshole of a kid.  You get two tracks from them, the second one “Cell Prescient” being the better/more rocking of the pair.  Greber also offer a couple grimy-ass slabs of feedback-heavy sludge with a bass so deep light fails to escape when in its presence.  Botfly closes things out with a unique sound that is a somewhat more melodic take on all the aforementioned bands.  They’re still decidedly heavy but opt for grungy-90’s heavy as played by metal dudes.  I dig it.  Eastern Canada represent. (AncientTemple Records/ No Funeral Records)

 

BITTER BRANCHES, “Along Came a Bastard” b/w “Fraudulent” 7”

I was somewhat dismissive about Bitter Branches debut EP last year and I think, in retrospect, that it was difficult for me to grasp Tim Singer doing vocals in any band that did not sound like a 4-alarm fire at an orphanage.  Every band he’s done to date (No Escape, Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye, Family Man, etc) has been extremely caustic and his perpetual howl where every utterance sounds like someone just hit their last straw over and over again matched the intensity of those bands.  Bitter Branches takes a somewhat different tack.  Musically it’s still aggressive but the players seemed more schooled in Swiz and post-hardcore rocking where if Jason Farrell was on the mic things would sound completely natural.  Having these rocking, but still vicious in a different way, songs fronted by a living embodiment of Travis Bickle takes a little getting used to (especially if you’re familiar with these people’s previous bands), but once it settles in it’s really cool stuff.  These two tracks are a warm up to an LP coming some time later and I just love the cover art homage to the Sub Pop singles series. (Equal Vision Records)

 

BLOOD SUN CIRCLE, “Deep Cuts”

All good things are worth waiting for and having the boys in Blood Sun Circle grace us with one more record, even after they have ceased being a band, is just a little taste of Christmas come early.  Even though these 7 songs were recorded a couple years back they sat dormant as the members gravitated towards other projects and life stuff, but here they finally are now to enjoy.  While those who have paid attention to their activities for years now will no doubt have expectations for anything the Gorham brothers are involved in to be heavy and super loud Blood Sun Circle has always taken a route that relies a bit more on tension and the slow build rather than immediate pummeling. Yet make no mistake, even though these songs may have a lot of parts that aren’t riddled with distortion they are still loud.  They can pierce with uneasy tension without dragging you along for too long (most songs hover near the four minute mark) and then strike in a way that sounds more like a natural progression rather than a sudden shift and it’s only after the song has passed you notice how it has cleaved clean through you.  Plus, for those keeping tabs, you can see how this has lead into some of the members current project Bent Limbs (who dropped an LP earlier this year) in terms of progression of sound into even more morose and quiet tension-filled unease.  Midway point “Pact Of Dogs” is a completely acoustic song (with violin and cello accompaniment) that could be a funeral elegy for a lonesome camping trip in the high desert, while both “Dead Ringer” and “Eyes In the Rye” have the most “aggressive” feel on the record with a sort of chugging riff in both, which is not to say ‘you’re moshing’…  more like ‘you’re in rapt attention’.  We’re grown ups here, let’s impress listeners intellect rather than get them swinging their arms. Once again, vocalist/guitarist Bob Gorham puts together a beautiful design for the record, as he has done for all the groups releases. (Drops Of Us)

 

BRAIN CAVE, “Log World” 7”

I’m sorry to say I’m a little late to the party with this band.  They released an incredibly wonderful full length in 2020 and I didn’t catch wind of it until the beginning of this year.  It would have easily made my top 5 records of that year had I known of it.  But here’s my chance now to fill you in on Cleveland’s Brain Cave as they have just released this new 4-song 7” that continues their post-hardcore call-to-arms.  Imagine Quicksand with an added layer of sludgy space grunge hammering out both fuzzy anthems (“Promotion To Autopilot”) and outer-space ‘ponder-the-size-of-it-all’ droning heaviness (“Final Miles”) while hiking in a misty forest as the sound of a sasquatch keeps you moving.  Which is cool because I think half these songs are about hiking by your lonesome in the woods anyway.  I’m right there with ya.  Come out to the Pacific Northwest and I’ll show you some foggy trails.  We’ll jam this record the whole time and it will be the perfect soundtrack.  Go grab this and pick up their long player “Stuck In the Mud” while you’re at it.  (Head2Wall Records)

 

EYECANDY, “The Promontory”

This band sounds like they could be scoring the soundtrack for “Pretty In Pink” if it were directed by Tom Hazelmeyer and the cast of “Repo Man” stopped by to do some cheap drugs.  It’s both forlorn and scuzzy.  It’s the sound of daydreaming about asking your crush to the dance but being absolutely disgusted with yourself at the thought of doing so.  I think a lot of that has to do with the vocals, which have a very ‘I want to scream but all this Xanax is making it tough’ style to them.  Imagine all the cleaner parts of Hammerhead’s “Ethereal Killer”, or Love 666 but more mid-tempo, and you got a start of what’s going on here. However, it’s not all the aforementioned.  Eyecandy seem at their most ambitious on the track “Scrap”, which starts off with boisterous post-hardcore groove as performed with as much racket as possible before moving into an unnerving and Unwound-ish quieter section, and then the whole thing explodes into a big almost symphonic, swirling caterwaul in it’s final minute. (The Ghost Is Clear)

 

MALLWALKERS, “Do Something Drastic”

In concept and execution a punk band like Mallwalkers should not exist.  Do you know how hard it is to manage 9 grown-ass adult musicians with grown-up lives into a functioning group, let alone playing shows and trying to split a dollar 9 ways?  That might be part of why the Buffalo collective called it quits a couple years back.  However, before splitting they managed to lay down an entire third album….  consisting of 16 tracks.  How?  Good lord.  While that just seems like too much let it be known that most of these songs average out to a couple minutes each (minus the longer opening song).  Musically things shift between bouts of brief three-chord punk bliss (“Get Some More”, “Scram”), suave post-punk deconstruction (“Half Let Down”), and rhythmic dub and added percussion (“Half Let Dub”, “Breaks”).  There’s plenty of horns (it’s NOT ska!), some organ, frequent shifts between guy-girl vocals, and 100% fun, dance-y punk rock n’ roll goodness.  Not to mention it comes in a fantastic package featuring art/layout by Ryan Besch (Your Cinema).  It’s an excellent way to go out.  There’s no reason for anyone to feel short-changed by this band when they give this much parting material of quality, wrapped up in a beautiful package.  Heck, for all I know, they put a bow on top of it too. (OnePercent Press)

 

QUICKSAND, “Distant Populations”

I’m not crying tears of joy, you’re crying tears of joy.  On the second album of full-on reunited Quicksand material they go back to some more aggressive sounds that were lacking just a bit on “Interiors”.  While that record was a fine return for a band that hadn’t released anything in over 20 years it definitely showed them exploring more of the melodic and space-y sounds that they were known for introducing to hardcore way back in the 90’s.  But critics will say it often leaned too hard into that side of their sound.  I tend to agree but I’m not mad about it.  “Distant Populations” still explores that side but they save it for the B-side for the most part as they play around with drifting sonics on tracks like “The Philosopher” and the interlude “Compacted Reality”.  But let me tell you about the A-side.  Yes, the A-side is heavy on the hits here as the entire first half of this album is so pleasing to the ear, as each player does what they do so well, reminding long time fans (me) why Quicksand are so special.  They evoke both the familiar, as well as taking it to the here and now, which is a hard thing to manage for bands that either reunite, or have been at it for a very long time.  Quicksand find success here and it’s an absolute joy to listen to.  From the lead off track, “Inversion” with it’s catchy sing-along, to the quick paced “Lightning Field” combining some more current aspects of their sound with a breakdown evoking some of the best of their older stuff, while “Katakana” has a serious “Can Opener” vibe to it.  I think old heads will be pleased with this, even though I don’t think of this as a band rehashing the hits, but rather bringing great elements of their past into the framework of the songwriters that they are now. (Epitaph)

 

STUCK, “Content That Makes You Feel Good” EP

This is the new Stuck EP and these are their problems.  Maybe I just didn’t pay attention to the lyrics in their last record, the exceptional “Change Is Bad”, but on “Content That Makes You Feel Good” guitarist/vocalist/recording engineer Greg Obis really lays out modern issues facing our society in a very direct and well-written way amongst their taut and precise post-punk clatter.  They’re very good at making their sound come off as minimalist yet inserting a number of elements which really add a lot of depth, emotion, and catchiness to their overall sound.  And going back to the lyrics, each song builds upon an issue; whether it be the non-stop work cycle, the scam of the gig economy, or the abuse suffered by demonstrators during last summers marches against police violence in Chicago; and it culminates in a ‘the whole system is flawed’ analysis on “White Lie” before concluding with bringing it back to personal accountability to reach out to those we think we may not have anything in common with (but probably more than we think) on “Playpen Of Dissent”.   If it’s laid out that way on purpose I applaud them for constructing the EP like a story of sorts, and if not, well, congratulations anyway.  I think I am especially surprised because this is a band that I think most people appreciate due to their expertise at refining noise rock and post-punk into perfectly distilled rock weirdness that you can hum along to.  It’s not often a band of this style has a lot to say in a way that speaks to all, and additionally doesn’t come off as lecturing or preachy.  An excellent EP all around in terms of subject matter as well as being sonically exciting. (Exploding In Sound)

NEW GRIZZLOR RECORD! PINKO UPDATES! BANDCAMP DAY RETURNS!

 

GRIZZLOR, Connecticut’s most aggressively annoyed noise rock trio, return with their second LP, “Hammer Of Life”, out this fall on Hex Records and the band’s own Hermit Cave imprint.

After a couple years of down time where the group began breaking in a new drummer and churning out the “Coolness Factor 6” EP the reinvigorated lineup found themselves in a writing flurry, which has resulted in the 11 new tracks on “Hammer Of Life”.

Guitarist/vocalist Vic Dowgiallo once again handled all the recording and mixing duties (via the band’s own Hermit Cave Studios) and arranged for the art and layout for the record.  Hex Records has once again jumped in to handle production and distribution for this assault on humanity.

GRIZZLOR has not strayed from their mission- carpet bomb away the stress of daily living in society with loud, abrasive, and riff-addled noise rock with warped and irritated vocals.  Song titles such as “I Don’t like You”, “Live Negative” and “Death By Wetsaw” ought to give some indication of their modus operandi.

Comparisons to the likes to early Melvins, Drunks With Guns, Weedeater, and Deadguy would not be out of place and are in line with the general vibe of misanthropy, self-isolation, and disappointment with society in general.

“Hammer Of Life” will be available on October 1st, 2021 on digital and CD worldwide.  Vinyl copies will be available shortly thereafter (approx. November 2021).

 

And as of today you can hear the first single from the record, "Talking To Yourself" over at New Noise Magazine.  Check that out HERE.

Pre-order the CD/digital/LP HERE or HERE!

 

GRIZZLOR will be doing a handful of shows leading up to the release of “Hammer Of Life”, including a stint heading down to No Coast Festival in Denton, TX, which will serve as the record release show for the record.

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OK, next order of business:  PINKO, "You & You" repress...  where is it?  It's coming very soon.  Just like every other record on Earth lately they're all delayed by a myriad of factors.  This is an issue with every pressing plant.  But the latest news from the pressing plant is that they are going to press within another week, so I'm hopeful this thing will quickly get wrapped up and into your mitts.  Planning on shipping the week of 8/16.

 

There's a few of the special covers left and you can grab that HERE.

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Last bit of business:  BANDCAMP DAY IS BACK!   So on Friday, 8/6/2021 Bandcamp will be foregoing their cut of sales so that means it's a good time to grab some things, like pre-ordering the new GRIZZLOR, or any of the other deals we always have going on.  Additionally, we will be selling off another test press, this time ALPHA HOPPER, "Alpha Hex Index".  When I say I put a lot of time into these test presses I'm not kidding around.  This may be the most complex of them all with multiple block print layers, reflective paper, and even a friggin' handmade OBI strip!

Take a look and tune in on Friday!