1998-1999

Members:
Nathan Anderson: Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Vocals
Scotty Bauer: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Vocals
Eric Bush: 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.

The Put-Outs had a pretty rocky love/hate relationship for the duration of the group. Every practice either Nate or Ryan would show up a few hours late and then get on the other one about being late. I remember once having to pick up Ryan from a downtown Safeway, still drunk from the night before, two hours late for practice. The boys would often fight about the songs not being tight enough. They would tape every performance and then point out the mistakes at practice. The main source of discontent seemed to be the songs that Ryan and Nate had written together. They would get drunk and write songs together and then only months later Ryan would get angry about the funny lyrics that Nate had written.

All of this tension eventually came to a head late some August night at what would be our last show. The show went later then Scotty, who had to be at work the next day, expected and he became frustrated with the rest of us who refused to stop playing. This led to a band fight outside of the bar, 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