1998-1999

Members:
Nathan Anderson: Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
Scotty Bauer: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Vocals
Eric B.: Drums, Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Ryan Slattum: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Vocals

Guest Appearances:
Melody: Violin at various shows
Rich Reece: Drums on “Burf” at various shows
Brad Bush: Vocals on “”Burf” at various shows

One of the biggest regrets of my "music career" was never releasing
the planned Put-Outs album.

The Put-Outs, as far as I recollect, began with Nate and Ryan getting
drunk and writing songs together. When they decided to start a proper
band Scotty was a natural choice to join the group, having previously
played with Nate in Youth In Asia. How long they practiced as a
three-piece I do not know. When they called me and asked me to play
drums, I was very excited and nervous. They were older than me and
were notorious for writing complex songs as well as being
perfectionists. When I joined they already had at least 15 songs done
to perfection.

We practiced more than any band I knew at the time, at least two times
per week, roughly 4-5 hours per practice. All three of the guys wrote
songs and would switch instruments accordingly. They eventually even
let their 19-year-old drummer write a few songs. Nate wrote the
majority of the lyrics and I think the best way to describe The
Put-Outs' sound is very intricate, complex songs with intelligent,
obscure, yet somewhat goofy lyrics. We thought up many band names and
eventually decided on The Put-Outs. Ryan really wanted to call the
band The Food and remained bitter about The Put-Outs name for the
duration of the band.

After practicing for only two months we started playing regularly at
local Salem venue Tommyjohn's, opening every Tuesday for a while for
Aftertaste. After that we played every week headlining above label
mates Pretty To Look At. Somewhere in between all of that I have a
vague memory of playing this show in Keizer at a huge barn-like venue,
with some high school goth band opening and an out of town ska band
headlining. Did that happen? We eventually started playing every week
at Tommyjohn's without a supporting band. I remember this going on for
some time, playing once a week, two sets, for 4 hours of music. This
meant more practice, trying to keep roughly 50 songs at the level of
perfection that the boys demanded. This, in turn, meant more fighting
and tension.

All of this tension eventually came to a head late some August night
at what would be our last show. The band got into an argument after
the show, which in turn led to Nate throwing his guitar, face down,
down the sidewalk. The Put-Outs never played again and we never
finished our near completed 10 song cassette. There is, however, a
live recording floating around, proving that I once was a good
drummer. And we are all still superb chums.

-Eric