Burn your eyes down
Frances Simmons: acoustic guitarI still get chills when I listen to "Borrow My Body." I know, it's unspeakably lame for a 36-year-old guy to lie on his living room rug at 1 in the morning, feeling the hairs on his arms stand up as he listens to a 12-year-old indie-rock single, but dammit, that's exactly what happened last night when I recorded these songs onto a CDR for eventual posting.
Erik Grotz: drums
Scott Hudgins: guitar
Sean Harris: bass
Aurora Paralysis were a great band from Richmond. I met the group's singer, then named Frances Simmons and now named Frances Francis, after she sent me her self-produced cassette. She called her one-woman band Aurora Paralysis, and while I haven't dug out that tape in a while, I remember it being a total revelation. Spooky, beautiful home recordings that presaged the "slowcore" movement by many years. I remember a 4AD influence, but that could be a retroactive memory.
Anyway, I loved Frances' tape and wrote about it in my fanzine, Retro. (I don't remember why I called it that, but in classic early-'90s pretentious style, each issue had a different "surname": Retro Rocket, Retro Potato, etc.) Frances called me after that and I went over to her house, which was beyond perfect for the music she made--lots of heavy dusty furniture and lace, like she'd surreptitiously moved into some old spinster's rooms after the old bat croaked.
We stayed friendly, though her social circle was completely different from mine. A couple of her friends started the Eerie Materials label. I liked those guys, though their borderline-anarchist lifestyle more or less completely freaked me out--I believe one of them sold bodily fluids for a living, for instance.
The Aurora train gathered speed. I played the tape for my friend Erik Grotz, who loved it and sought out Frances with the intention of starting a band with her. The band they ended up with was called Aurora Paralysis as well, and it basically reorchestrated Frances' tunes. Live, they were completely incredible. Talk about chills--I could hardly believe how great they were and was terrified of what people would think of Eggs after they saw Aurora.
Nevertheless, we did a few shows together as well as a split single, their side of which is "Borrow My Body." I think it's the best song Aurora ever did. They did only one recording session, which I gather was a somewhat tense experience for all involved and which probably foreshadowed the band's eventual dissolution. From that session, two split singles--the one with Eggs and another with Young Love--emerged, as well as one proper single on the short-lived Richmond label Brilliant.
"Stick Man Waltz" was one of the band's few (maybe even one of two) songs that they composed as a unit. It points to a direction Aurora might have pursued had Richmond entropy not caught up with them. As I understand it, the band didn't so much break up as the members just kind of stopped calling one another. Cellist Bill Cassler had either quit or stopped showing up before they'd ever recorded with him, which is another pity in a career lousy with what-could-have-beens. But I don't like to focus on missed opportunities--I'd rather remember the crazy parties the Aurora kids threw. Because they were all Richmond folks, they smoked like Frenchmen and wore heavy clothes. Bill Cassler could do anything, I quickly learned--including walking with his back two inches off the ground in a limbo contest.
Erik and Scott still play together in Tulsa Drone, one of my favorite current RIC bands. I don't know what Sean is doing musically, but I saw him backstage at Ozzfest so I guess the charm is still working. Bill I believe is in the Marines, and Frances is going to grad school in Richmond (actually she might be done by now) and recorded for a bit in the very early 2000s under the name Her Love Filled the Room. Here's a tribute site to Frances that should answer any questions better than I ever could.
A final note: You may, if you pursue some of these links, come across some of my early attempts at music writing. I disclaim all responsibility for their quality.
posted by Andrew Beaujon at 01:20
7 Comments:
Richmond still has no idea how lucky it was to have such great weirdness as Eerie Materials as long as it did.
I was incredibly lucky to befriend those guys shortly after I arrived in Richmond. I felt honored to join and take part in their weirdness, even as "Normal Citizen".
Frances has gone through her high and low points, but she is still making very haunting music as Her Love Filled The Room. Even though I never know exactly where she is, I still consider a friend.
enjoyed the aParalysis post. so are the MP3's temporary? to be gone in roughly a week? it was nice to hear them again (my aurora singles - including "the messenger/bubble song" are packed away).
so i was reading an interview with one of the Labradford people (maybe Bobby Donne) in which he mentions Brainflower(?). i have practically zero information on them, but heard a tape years ago. i remember it had some Godspeedish dynamics without sounding anything like them. does anyone have recordings of that stuff today? an MP3 appearance of Brainflower would be most.welcome!
and thanks for the MouseyGirl site advert. i learned about the early 90's(?) Richmond music scene relatively late and continue to be surprised (picked up a Jettison Charlie tape for 3 bucks at a record store closing just a few months ago). played the Eggs Exploder this evening and - what can i say about this elixir? - it's like, i dunno, an East Coast answer to Uncle Meat ('cept Zappa doesn't *swing*, doncha know...).
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It took the Eggs 'Obliviist' single to turn me on to the 4-song greatness I came to know so very long ago as Aurora Paralysis. Wow, I had long ago lost this single somewhere (don't hate me for losing a cherished item), and sorely needed this. When are the Scaley Andrew mp3s coming?
Brian Tunney, as I live and breathe. How the heck are you?
Still an Eggs fan and still waiting for the reunion......
Brainflower was a fantastic band. They were the best band back then I think. there were pioneers many years ago in Richmond. They were living in an old milk factory building and had equipment everywhere. this was in 88-89 when I got to Richmond. The scene back then was great. so many band local and coming through town. I used to have a tape butit is long gone. It actually did not live up to them live. I saw them t the Metro a few times and then the next band some of them turned into, Slang Lauss
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