Guillermo CastroWhen we talk about the future of Atlanta, we often talk about the intersection of commerce and art and the need for our creative classes — artists, designers, coders, developers, et al — to collaborate and create a vision for out city’s cultural and technological advancement. Viewed in that light, we can, in a very real sense, look to someone like Laremy Wade as a forerunner to or potential embodiment of that future.
A musician first and foremost, Wade has deep historical ties to Atlanta music. At age 15, he was a critical voice in the then burgeoning experimental and avant noise scene, and was an active participant during the early, heady days of Eyedrum Art Gallery and the formation of Deerhunter. Over the years, he has pursued a wide variety of musical projects from the noise duo How to Kick Yourself to the free improv stylings of When I Get Five to the black metal experimentation of Blood of Gingu, among many others. These days you can find him holding down the low-end for West End punks Blue Tower, unleashing abrasive riffs with post-punk trio Awkward Sounds, or churning out forward-leaning electronica and digital hardcore under the moniker XLC.
Outside of music, however, Wade’s list of accomplishments is equally impressive. As the founder and owner of Southern Soundclash Distro, Wade has become a leading voice in the city’s punk community and he says he is the first black person to own a punk label and distro, a claim we cannot neither verify nor dispute. In 2015, he partnered with Louis Rivera of New York hardcore mainstays Cro-Mags to open the TAANG! Records Music Lounge in the Metropolitan Lofts Warehouses, a space which he aims to make a key contributor to the further development of Atlanta underground punk culture.
And as if all that weren’t enough, Wade is also deeply involved in the technology sector, specifically working within the cryptocurrency market. An early adopter of Bitcoin, Wade has mined and developed his own digital currency, Sovereigncoin, which has been integrated into over eight global exchanges. Recently, I caught up with the artist and entrepreneur and talked about a variety of topics including his place and history in the Atlanta scene, the benefits of cryptocurrency, and the future of Southern Soundclash.
How did you first become involved with music?
My father was an avid music lover of jazz, funk, classic rock, et cetera. So I was exposed to various genres of music at a very early age — probably age 5 or so. This would also be the first time that I would own records and a record player as well.
At what point did you become interested in playing music? Did your father have a role in that?
I played the trombone in marching band when I was 12 and continued for the rest of middle school. After that, I joined a death metal band as a vocalist during my sophomore year of high school.
Did you listen to a lot of metal growing up? What drew you to death metal?
I didn’t get into metal until I was in high school. I grew up in South Florida in the hood where I didn’t have much exposure to metal. I was lucky enough at the time (about age 11 or so) to be introduced to punk via my middle school friend whose brother was in a band. Shortly afterwards, I went to my first show after he helped me sneak in. That was the Queers in Fort Lauderdale. I was the only black guy there and I wasn’t surprised at all.
My family, both immediate and distant, inadvertently “black sheeped” me because of the extreme difference of opinion, fashion, and music taste. For the longest time, I had to stand alone as one of the only blacks that I knew that was into the scene to this degree.
I got into metal via the rap group Onyx. They did a crossover song in the ’90s with Biohazard. I heard the growl of the guitars and I fell in love with extreme music. I just didn’t know how to access it much at the time. I would have to move to Georgia before I really started getting into metal and the occult heavily, which fueled me to get in to the extreme music scene even more and join a death metal band. I would later start experimenting with learning how to play the guitar because I wanted to be a metal guitarist. In the process, I got into experimental music and specifically harsh noise. So, I recorded a tape of my experimentation and gave it to Tony Gordon who ran Destroy All Music on WREK at the time. He liked it and forwarded it to Marshall Avett of Old Gold Records. They signed me immediately. I was so young that my father had to drive me so that I could sign the recording agreement and album publishing agreement. I would go to start playing the Atlanta underground experimental and hardcore music scenes representing Old Gold Records at age 15.
I remember that Onyx collabo, I think. Judgment Night soundtrack? How was it being one of the few black kids listening to punk and harsh noise?
I think I was viewed as a novelty by many of my friends, but eventually that fetishizing sort of calmed down. Then, I began to exert a more technological approach to my music by building machines to create noise and such. They grew with a pioneer and eventually appreciated it somewhat. My family, both immediate and distant, inadvertently “black sheeped” me because of the extreme difference of opinion, fashion, and music taste. For the longest time, I had to stand alone as one of the only blacks that I knew that was into the scene to this degree.
Was that experience a difficult one for you or was there a sense of empowerment from striking out on your own?
It was both. Initially disheartening, to see that even after ages of fighting for civil rights to set out and experience new realms of development for myself shouldn’t have been such a taboo by people who claimed to care about me. Eventually it would become fuel, and in my youth, angst and resentment toward “normals.” Picking fights with jocks, Christians, et cetera.
So at 15 you’re representing Old Gold Records. Trace for me your musical artist/band history from then to now.
I don’t remember the name of the death metal band that me and Jason Mitha started in. Jason would later join me as the other half of How to Kick Yourself, a spastic brutal noise duo of “hammer to the nose.” Hundreds of lo-fi electronic tape loop alley cat screams meshed with free powerviolence and grind-like playing over harsh noise. Needless to say, our first performance at Moreland Avenue Tavern back in 1996 was more of a performance art spectacle that was extreme. It was like the Haters and Sonic Youth got into a fight after school (laughs).
I liked having surprise performers during the shows. I was playing the guitar with a power drill that was connected to a contact microphone being run through an amp with various guitar foot pedals. Jason was screaming viscerally into the microphone with every knob turned to max on the club PA, and I had two other folks — David Chait was also playing guitar through foot pedals and an unnamed lady friend of mine at the time was stirring dried beans in a shoebox with a contact mic, guitar pedals, and so on.
The normal Old Gold crowd consisted of people in their mid thirties or older who were a part of an elite free jazz/noise/art/outsider music army. Our show was well received to the point where there was always great anticipation for the albums and the next show from the teenage noise duo. Marshall would eventually aid in us spreading our brand of insanity across Atlanta and eventually to the newly opened Eyedrum Art Gallery (the old MLK location) where we would come to influence other riot acts such as Zandosis.
Jason would eventually get burned out and quit and I went on to complete one last album alone before I got deep into the free jazz/noise/improv scene with Marshall, Tony, and Stewart Voegtlin. I began to do open improv performances monthly at Eyedrum and it would open the gateway to meeting other amazing musicians. There was a lapse between How to Kick Yourself and my next project, When I Get Five, where I joined the Marines for a couple of years, so I’d say that I got into the free improv/noise style of When I Get Five in 2002 at Eyedrum.
How did you become involved with Bradford Cox and Deerhunter?
It would be around this time that I would meet a young lady that would perform at the improv nights and she would be the one to introduce me to Colin Mee, who she had a crush on at the time. Colin and I hit it off as friends and he would eventually introduce me to Bradford Cox and his music fort located by Marietta Square called Notown. This would be the hub where the kids from Die Slaughterhaus and Gwinnett would come and jam/record/rant/fuck off. This was a warehouse that was occupied by Bradford’s father as an insurance office by day and Bradford’s music lab by night.
Colin, Moses Archuleta, Justin Bosworth, Bradford, and myself starting jamming for a while. One night at Marietta Diner, while Bradford scarfed down a Monte Cristo, we decided to put it together. This would eventually be called Deerhunter. I would quit after Justin’s death and go on to do other projects. Deerhunter became huge and Atlas Sound, which was always Bradford’s baby, starting as a very quaint project of unabashed solo howls that I would be a solitary witness to in the middle of the night as I lurked around Marietta to see the Door of Notown open and Bradford crouching over keyboards, microphones, recording equipment… He was always fiercely dedicated to his music and it paid off in the end.
Where did you progress to next?
I eventually got back to metal, but this time it was black metal — faster, bestial, darker. By this time, I had taught myself guitar from all of the experimentation of How to Kick Yourself and the improv/free jazz and noise scene, and I could tremolo pick faster than anyone that I knew. I would get with an awesome drummer named Adam from Kennesaw and Nathan Gombert played guitar. I wrote and arranged all of the songs based around my occult practices: strange, discordant guitar phrases played in odd times to black metal drumming. We were an instrumental band — two guitarists and one drummer. The band was named Blood of Kingu.
It was around this time I would meet young George Josh Feigert, who would eventually be one of the fountainheads of East Atlanta DIY with State Laughter and the Danner Street Collective. I had been frequenting C-111/C-12 in the West End when we linked up with Gavin Frederick of Stickfigure Distro in 96′. Now, this grindcore/screamo/experimental rock vibe was going strong with Josh’s peers and I would eventually link with him and Brandon Floyd, a young man with similar musical tastes and attributes to suit. We would go on to do various musical projects together including Leatherjacket which consisted of Bradford Cox, Brandon, Charlie Hicks, and myself. I will be releasing our album from this group on Southern Soundclash in the next month or so on vinyl. It’s called Diary of a Country Priest. We only recorded one album and had one performance that was at the old Lenny’s.
Brandon and myself would go on to have various unnamed experimental projects around town appearing at Kirkwood Ballers Club and doing house shows in East Atlanta. We had a rock outfit called Sister Circuit. We recorded a few songs and played a show at the EARL. My instrument was an electronic project lab that I had constructed to work as a light controlled theremin and drum machine. Also, Brandon played guitar and Brian Vice played bass.
Around 2008 or 2009, I would start recording occult hip-hop for Royal Immortal Productions under the alias XLC. Royal Immortal was owned and operated by KB the “Ghetto Shaman” who was handed the torch in New York by the Zulu Nation. The XLC mixtape will soon be released on both Southern Soundclash and Royal Immortal.
I was in the industrial band called Terror Cell with Pentivek Arcade of Pull Out Kings for a brief moment as well. We did a few recordings in the West End warehouses and played the Horrible Little Children Fest. In late 2014, I joined the band Awkward Sounds as a rhythm guitarist after reuniting with David Boyd and Troy Clark. We had been good friends for many years, but at the time did not collectively have the musical skill or drive. Eight years later, they had already started the band and I was able to give more volume with my style of guitar playing. I would eventually assist in the creation of two EPs, Sorry About the Blood and Letters from the Grave. Sorry About the Blood is currently out on cassette at most music stores in the L5P area, as well as my record shop, TAANG! ATL/ Southern Soundclash Distro. Letters from the Grave will be released soon on vinyl from Southern Soundclash.
And now comes the current band that brought me to you… Blue Tower. Louis Rivera from Cro-Mags and Antidote had to literally get into a fist fight with Jason Lee Vaughn to get me into the band (laughs). Louis can be found at my shop from Thursday to Sunday if you wanna bug him (laughs). He was the co-conspirator in the TAANG! ATL purchase deal that I made with Curtis Castella.
So what’s the deal behind Blue Tower?
Blue Tower embodies many things for me, so I strive to unify with the guys (Eric Porter, Jason Lee Vaughn) and take our form of West End hardcore punk to other arenas. We’ve played all over Georgia, so now I’ve planned some huge movements for the band. The first is the Blue Tower live album. It’s limited to 100 cassettes and 300 vinyl LPs. The Blue Tower/Rotten Stitches split has been delayed due to the Stitches guys having some personal issues to deal with. I’m sure that they’ll get it worked out. In the meantime, there will be another split coming out with Awkward Sounds to help promote the new releases for both bands.
Tell me about Southern Soundclash.
Southern Soundclash Distro and Record Label was started around January 2015 after I had been playing around Atlanta with Awkward Sounds with our punk union of guys and gals such as Darnier Combat, Rotten Stiches, Forsaken Profits, Bully Pulpit, Frick, Eliminate Earth, Above Repute, Blue Tower, Air Wolves, Ganges Phalanges, the Fact, and the Riggs, to name a few. I visited Gavin first to buy most of the stuff that I didn’t have enough money to buy in high school — that was thousands of dollars well spent. Later that year in the summer, I would become Louis Rivera’s roommate and we would get high and plan to contact Curtis and strike a deal for one of every item on the original TAANG! catalog. A couple of thousands more spent by me to enable this record store, label, and venue to get moving. It’s all really amazing, and after it all, what amazed me the most, is the fact that I’m the first black guy to own a punk label and distro.
How did you become roommates with Louis Rivera?
I had seen Louis lurking around the shows that Awkward Sounds was playing and attending. I don’t think he was there to see us, but he was supporting the shows in different ways. We played Up Your Athens Fest last summer and I had a chance to actually congregate with him for a while. We would end up hanging back in ATL after Athens and he needed a roommate. I already had a place, but not in East Atlanta, so I agreed to take a room there as well. This was a good start for me, now that I have a place there with Louis, one in the West End, and one in Decatur.
So did you guys come up with the idea for TAANG! together? Why did you want to do an offshoot rather than just starting your thing?
No, I had already started Southern Soundclash. TAANG! is only a wall of 50 LPs, that’s it (laughs). It’s more of the lounge and venue hall that’s TAANG! oriented. Louis has been friends with Curtis for over 20 years and I had the funding and the initial shop to add the small distribution for TAANG! into the mix. Southern Soundclash altogether has over 27,000 titles to choose from. The TAANG! ATL selection is only 50 LPs from that total. So, this is my own thing and I happen to have a small TAANG! distro inside of the large body of Southern Soundclash Records. Technically, I purchased more from Gavin than Curtis from TAANG!.
We wanted to have a venue but wanted a niche that wasn’t based on just trying to stuff a room with people.
Okay. Gotchu. Why did you want to create a physical space/store/lounge? Did you see some gap in Atlanta that needed to be filled?
Definitely. Here’s another fun fact for you. There’s no record shops in the West End except for me. Just do a little research. The music lounge is an idea that Louis conceived where you can hang out in the lounge and if you get an itch to play, you can go on the stage, plug in, and rip. We wanted to have a venue but wanted a niche that wasn’t based on just trying to stuff a room with people.
How are things working out with the store? What are your plans for 2016?
We are very deeply involved in the community here in the West End and ATL. The store is located inside of a cultural community collective called “Kuumba House.” Myself, Xak Cousteau, and a couple of others are responsible for the events here. We are also tenants who own lofts here. We receive not just music fans, but people who want proper information in the Atlanta underground. Plans for 2016 is to further integrate Southern Soundclash into the technology sector and have a larger propensity for communal change via the distro’s resources.
Are you familiar with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency?
As a concept, yes, but not so much from a technology side. But let’s move there now. Why/when did you first become interested with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency?
I first became interested in cryptocurrency and Bitcoin due to the lack of digital payment processors that did instant transactions with depositing and withdrawing from Forex Brokerages. Usually, these processes take three or more days. Bitcoin was emerging around 2012 (it started around 2009) to be a good digital payment processor that was anonymous and instant. I began to look into it and found that you could generate them with your computer! This mining process was the answer that I was looking for. Literally printing your own money and acting as your own bank. I was engrossed immediately and began to study everything about it and constructed a mining computer worth over $11,000. After a year’s worth of mining and research, I would develop my own coin called Sovereigncoin and began to create a campaign for adoption by the crypto community. I would eventually be integrated into over eight global exchanges and become the top crypto for two weeks straight. Now, some of the initial fad has worn off and my coin is still standing with an even larger market that it can be exchanged for. I have my own market with millions of dollars worth of inventory that Sovereigncoin can be exchanged for. I would also make my A.I. bots exclusive to the coin and add an additional service to back the coin, including the capability of exchanging the coin for use of trading time with the A.I. trading facility.
For someone who is new to the concept, what are the advantages to government backed paper money and the current banking system?
It gives an equal opportunity to support an economy of your peers and community globally. A community of people who are tired of having a pyramid structured economy and are willing to pioneer a new alternative by offering the goods and services of newly emerging businesses in exchange for cryptocurrency.
Blue Tower will perform tonight at the TAANG! ATL/Southern Soundclash Music Lounge in support of the Blood Royale (Austin), Tower (NYC), Gunpowder Gray, and Disable. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is $10.
More Info
Bandcamp: bluetower.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @bluetoweratl
SoundCloud: @laremy-wade