Keith, Scott and Ken begin playing on a roof somewhere. Looking for a drummer they hook up with Paul White who months before had run into Keith on a dirt road in Katmandu and was looking for somewhere to go. Keith suggested Taiwan. Keith, Paul and Scott had all attended St. Olaf College in Minnesota.
Todd meets K for the first time at Roxie's Bar, telling him a story about a crazy American he had heard who years earlier had dropped acid with a small Japanese man who was into very large women and the two had wandered the jungles of outer Taipei doing their best Rambo impersonations. After telling this story Todd would discover afterwards that K was the acid dropping American. This solidified their burgeoning friendship. It made it special.
Paul and Todd work out a deal for the band to play their first shows at Catch-22 Pub in Taipei.
Paul moves into Bushiban Pub to live and the band moves their equipment along with him.
Many days and nights of practice and shows ensue.
The band are in a quandry when they meet Mark Gwinn and it turns out he has a nice voice. After discussions with Todd they somewhat lamely begin doing shows with Mark. Somehow it all works out and they remain friends.
Keith sets off some Mace in the toilet of Roxie's Bar, forcing everyone to evacuate.
Noticing that Taiwan National University has an outdoor stage with an electrical outlet that's live, the band plays the first of 3 shows.
The band plays its 2nd live show at NTU. This time they actually advertise. The track is full that day. NTU was where the band frequently relaxed by playing ultimate or "muddy sock" soccer in the rain.
Badfish in Africa play their Halloween gig for Taiwan TV's morning show. The Taiwanese seem fascinated by these Western foreign devil barbarians. This seems to be a major reason for their appeal. Chinese come to their shows and look upon them with a certain bewilderment.
The band gets invited to headline an outdoor show at a local supermarket. After 4 songs the electricity gets turned off with sausages and expletives all around.
Along with Double X, Badfish play their New year's Eve show at National Taiwan University.
The band works with producer Tim Cunnigham at Crystal Records Studios (Rough Trade) and record Botulism.
Paul leaves the country and Mark wanders off to sing somewhere and the band continue with Charles Amdahl on vocals and Chaz Dewald on drums. They change their name to Viral Parade and play several gigs at Bushiban Pub.
The Taiwanese record industry takes notice and offer the band the use of a 32 Track studio to re-record several songs on Botulism. The studio provides a drummer and final touches are put on the album.
Badfish in Africa play their final show outdoors at the Taipei Train Station. The band meets with record executives backstage and ink their recording contract. They fail to mention to the record company that they are leaving the country for good that day.
Mark (followed later by Chuck) and Ken fulfill contract obligations by hiring other musicians to impersonate the band and tour.
|
|
