So my boss and I were talking the other day about some old Athens bands when he mentions that he used to play in a few himself. It was great getting to chat about the 11:11 and the “I and I” despite them shutting down long before I was even born. He asked if I collected any Athens stuff. While I do have a few things that have personal sentimental value, I’ve never really gotten my hands on anything authentic besides that old Tasty World Dan Matthews gave me. “We’ll fix that,” he said. Soon enough, I found myself in possession of many of my boss’s original fliers and other posters that he had collected over the years. Brilliant stuff…
It got me thinking about a lot of the Athens bands that we never get to hear about, even in the old books and videos. Never even so much as a mention but still there, part of whatever the heck this Athens music thing is. Stumbling across names like “Matching Fibers” is one of the great thrills of this strange Athens music obsession of mine. What did they sound like? Was it a good show? And so on and so forth until I drive my roommates crazy.
There are certain disadvantages to being my age and trying to find out who these bands were. Usually, if I’m in conversation with someone who was around during that time, they’ll name the bands they remember. Those bands are often the ones that “everyone” remembers for one reason or another. But some bands were just garage acts, never doing much besides a few shows. What of them?
I do gather a lot of my info from a few groups on Facebook and the Rewind site but there’s only so much that I can gather. I’d really like to start gathering a lot of recordings and posters from these bands and getting them out to the people again. Maybe not official recordings but I know there were a lot of bands that had a soundboard recording or two.
What will I do with this stuff? Post it here, probably if everyone’s willing. We’re a nutty little community and I love hearing from you. And it’s pretty dumb that I can’t provide the level of detail and care to other bands from the past because I just wasn’t there. And now for random band name-dropping to give an idea of what I’m looking for…
I’m talking about bands like Eat America, The Violets, Little Tigers, and more info on Athens staples and related bands like Method Actors, Is Ought Gap, Limbo District, and the like. As much as I love R.E.M. and Pylon, believe me, I’ve got enough material on them. If you’ve got something to share, I’d recommend posting it to our facebook group. Or, as always, emailing to athensmusicjunkie@gmail.com.
On a side note, we may have to have a long discussion about this artwork. They don’t make posters like this anymore…
athensmusicjunkie.com 
sometimes being in a band is just for fun. sometimes bands don't do anything great or contribute much to the community around them. sometimes people in these bands are fully aware that they're just fucking around. sometimes people don't remember them for a reason.
sheesh. there are forgettable movies, paintings, anything else you want to call art, it's not like every band that's ever existed in athens is magical by default. get over it. you romanticize EVERYTHING.
Um, I'm just trying to get more info on some of those bands Mr/Miss Anon. Did it ever occur to you that some of us just want to hear and see this stuff? It's not magical. Most of it is painfully average. But hell, if I want to find out about old bands, that's my right. You're welcome to come along for the ride if you want.
There's a bunch of bands that may not have gone anywhere but that made a big impression on me. IMO that's enough, to touch one person that will remember your song or a show years later. Right now I'm remembering a song by a groovy hippieish band called Luminous that had the words “Please don't wake me” in the chorus. Great song, awesome show one night followed by people jamming and us all dancing on the corner of College and E. Clayton. Didn't go anywhere, but what an awesome memory.
So are you ever going to scan and post the Tasty World? Hope so