The City Museum has always been a friend to St. Louis artists of all kinds. From employing local artists to work on the establishment's many oddball attractions, hosting art shows to providing a venue for some of the most memorable concerts in town (Fishbone, anyone?), St. Louis has always been able to count on support from the sprawling adult playground. Even St. Louis' rambunctious punk scene has been able to find a home there throughout the years. A memorable show in the early 2000's with Cut The Shit from Boston had rowdy kids circle-pitting on skateboards on one of the Museum's upper floors. The short-lived but highly-buzzed St. Louis band Bill McClellan, Motherfuckers! (named in honor of the Post-Dispatch columnist) had a song called "Get Fucked Up and Hit Your Head on Stuff", paying tribute to the weekend routine of many a St. Louis punk. When touring bands come through town with time to kill, the first destination on the St. Louis must-see list is always the same: The City Museum.
Even with the tragic recent passing of owner / creative force of nature Bob Cassilly casting a shadow over the days, the City Museum is still ready to be the home of the odd and awesome, opening the rooftop on October 30th exclusively for the punks, when it will play host to the record release show and "Longest Time Spent on a Ferris Wheel" attempt of St. Louis hardcore band the Masculine Journey. We sat down with Mark Plant and Travis Morgan of the band (guitarist and bassist / World Record hopeful, respectively -- also City Museum employees) and talked about the upcoming release, setting world records and what it was like to work for a St. Louis Icon.
"Counter-Counter Culture" by Masculine Journey
Daniel Hill: So, how did this show come about?
Mark: Well, we all work at City Museum. T-mo [Travis] has been working there for a lot longer than us, but the rest of us started a few months after we recorded the record. After Rick, our supervisor, brought up the idea of a show we knew it had to be the record release.
Tell me about the ferris wheel ride. Are people from Guinness really going to be there, or how does that work?
T-Mo: There is not going to be an official from Guinness there, but we are going to follow all of the guidelines that we have to to make it official. Basically, I need a couple of notarized witness statements and some video and pictures of the event and it is legit.
As of right now Guinness has no recorded Longest Ferris Wheel Ride, so basically anything over 24 hours is considered a "marathon" record. I'm going to shoot for 36 hours, but I have to stay awake the whole time. After I hit 24 hours I plan on just going until I pass out.
Interesting. So you have only yourself to beat. What provisions will you be bringing? What happens if it rains?
T-Mo: I plan on tracking down a portable dvd player to use. Anything I need people can just hand off to me as I pass them by, so I'm not too worried about starving or dying of boredom.
As long as it's not raining tigers and wolves I'll go for it. If it looks like it will be some crazy storm we may reschedule. Really if it seems like I probably wont get struck by lightning I'll go for it.
I heard a rumor that you are going to play Masculine Journey's set with a wireless set-up, from the ferris wheel. Please confirm this.
T-Mo: We can't completely confirm, but we are going do some test runs.
More ferris wheel dives!
Mark: The stage will be at the bottom of the giant white slide, so start planning dives now.
That rules. Ok, tell me about the new seven inch. Do you have a label putting it out, or will it be self-released?
Mark: Completely self-released. I basically have a copy shop set up in my room that I am printing and cutting all the packaging myself with. It's been a long process, but it's way worth how pretty these records turned out.
How many songs will be on it?
Mark: Eight songs at 45rpm. We recorded them back in January when we were still called Suburban Smash. We decided to change our name and quit doing Suburban Smash songs during the recording process because of how far we've come since 2007.
Describe the overall sound of the record, as if you were doing so for someone who has never heard you guys before.
Mark: It's really fast, loud and chaotic. It takes a little influence from every era of hardcore, maybe if powerviolence bands were way into revolution summer in DC. One time a kid at a show told me our music made him feel uncomfortable, like he just saw his sister naked. It's like that. Chorus pedal.
