`i was to undergo two violent, profound, episodic (schizoid) experiences both related to the band. during the summer of 1976, following jim and mike"s departure for art school, i had a series of powerful visual, audible, and religious toned hallucinations (all non-drug induced) that continued non-stop for about one month that led me to be voluntarily admitted to a pontiac mental ward. niagara and my parents helped me through a difficult recovery (thorazine, stellazine, you name it) and within six months i plotted the next variation of dam, but now under psychedelics to equalize the fog. a second "backflash" happened over one year later while promoting the new "punk-fueled" band during a visit to new york city. at great humiliation and distress i was flown back to detroit in spaced-out condition and quickly dismissed by the band which could no longer engage my "syd barrett" antics. recuperation followed and i continued basement musical and magazine experiments through the 1980"s with compatriot barry roth under the nightcrawlers moniker....
jim shaw was the reluctant spiritual leader, he named the band and gave it his depressed/ fatalistic edge. watching jim play noise guitar was amazing. he would furiously and spasticly attack the instrument forcing every squeal and sonic utterance he could wring from it"s k-mart pick-up. it was nothing short of miraculous the effects produced, from exquisite in-tune celestial harmonics to shattering monstrous roars. mike"s contrubutions were often the most experimental and irreverent, derived from his total rejection and abhorrence of mediocrity. we played by instinct, often getting lost inside our miasmic cloud. early dam created a machine-like trance/drone similar to the effect of eastern ragas. our "songs" were often created on the spur of the moment, ridiculous take-offs and spoofs on classic rock, mondo monster movies and youthful-dementia. we would play these once or twice at the most, recording a version and then go on. imagining an audience for this was outside of reason.at most there were 30 people who came to hear us. one of them david fair was to begin half japanese a couple years later after checking out our squall. calling all girls was an original dam tune that found itself changed on half jap's first single.` <#(@_$$?>
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{{destroy all monsters--DAM MAG/GEISHA THIS!-xerox'd magazine--1976-1978{{ <&^*)@_>
