Jay Wasco, Johnny Skilsaw, and the Swiss Army Bass!

I came across this posting on Boing Boing about a wonderful place in Los Angeles called Apex Electronics that specializes in cool space-age electronics and other assorted flotsam and jetsam. It got me thinking about an old friend who to me epitomizes the Piltdown Hoax / hacker ethic. I first met Jay Wasco at Giant studios in NYC. Giant was a sprawling rehearsal space that started in the 80's but is mostly remembered in the 90's (at a different location) as it played host to some well-known (Black 47 and White Zombie) but mostly unknown bands (like every band I was in!) Jay had a "luxury suite" filled literally to the knees with wiring and audio equipment and of course his signature Swiss Army Bass. A keyboard screwed onto a bass that he played hammer-on style with one hand and the keys with the other (check out the YouTube performance more vids here). When I heard what came out of Jay that day, my jaw dropped. It was the kind of performance that makes you want to give up playing. Jay paid the bills by recording people's demos and my band, October’s March, quickly enlisted his talents. Jay was not only a musical wiz but an engineering one, the kind of guy who would salvage a massive 2-inch recording console and rebuild it just because he can. In addition to the SAB, he's also created a sideshow of freak instruments!

Soon after, he moved out of Giant and into a small loft space in the garment district. OM spent an entire year recording our three-song-demo with Jay, not just because we were overindulgent (we were), nor because Jay was so inexpensive (will engineer for food!), but because we loved hanging out there (even with his ancient, decrepid cat!) Jay's band Johnny Skilsaw was a popular local band that featured the sonic assault that is Jay and the incredible drumming of the late Nick DiCorato. Nick was a great guy and his story is a heartbreaking one but thankfully his work is available to be appreciated. My band played one gig with JS but we mostly attended their gigs where, because their setup was so elaborate, we were cajoled into roadie work. The best time we ever roadied for them was on their incredible gig as part of the evening's entertainment at legendary producer Jack Douglas' wedding. It was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom and featured members of Aerosmith! That was a great night!

JS was a ferociously loud band. Where most concert goers belly up to the stage, the crowd at a JS show usually stepped back about four feet and were uniformly leaned back like trees after a nuclear test. Jay is a prolific musician who fronts several projects to cover his spacious musical tastes and Zappa-esque penchant for classically-tinged weirdness . His main work is with Skilsaw which he is reforming and will be opening for the new "supergroup" Army of Anyone which features former Filter frontman Richard Patrick and the DeLeo brothers of Stone Temple Pilots. He also does some corporate stuff. It's good to see Jay out there unleashing more of his outrageous creations. His website may be a web designer’s worst nightmare but it’s a wonderful trip through crazytown--lots of music and riches! It's also the first website that I have ever known to openly embrace the horizontal scroll! Rock on Jay!

(Photo credit: swiss_army_hand originally uploaded by sillydog)