The Feederz

The Feederz were a punk rock band from Arizona. They are infamous for their song "Jesus Entering from the Rear" which featured on Alternative Tentacles' Let Them Eat Jellybeans compilation, and for their provocative album covers. The Feederz have strong Situationist tendencies, and occasionally verge into anarchism; their songs are highly critical of government, consumerism, and religion.

Lead singer Frank Discussion is also known for his [http://www.feederz.com/subvert.html "subvertisements"] or "derailments", an adaption of the situationist tactic of detournement, as well as what he calls 'interventions' whereby one detourns physical events by intervening with an out of place element in the physical world, a tactic expressed as simply as placing disparate items in unsuspecting people's shopping carts, thereby raising the action beyond the level of mere prank to a conscious tactic used to undermine society and to express a unified critique of it. He is also known for being one of the developers of 'antistasiology,' defined as the comparative study of various types of tactics, strategies and organizational structures used by various resistance movements, both in history and those which are in present use.

History

The Feederz were formed in 1977 by Frank Discussion and Clear Bob (Dan Clark). Art Nouveau (John Vivier) later joining the group as their drummer. Before performing publicly, the Feederz issued a press release which the local media mistook as a terrorist communique. At their first show, Frank Discussion caused a panic by firing blanks from an AR-15 assault rifle into the audience. In 1980, the band released their first recording, a 4-song EP "Jesus".

In 1982, Frank Discussion wrote [http://www.feederz.com/bws.html "Bored With School"] , a diatribe against school and work posing as an announcement from the Arizona Department of Education, and distributed five thousand copies to local high schools. He fled Arizona to escape arrest for this incident and settled in San Francisco.

In 1984, Discussion reformed the Feederz with Mark Roderick and D.H. Peligro, with whom he recorded "Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss?". In Situationist style, the album sleeve was covered in sandpaper. In 1986, "Teachers In Space" was released with Jayed Scotti replacing Peligro on drums. Drummer Jayed Scotti was art partners with Winston Smith and created album art for bands such as the Dead Kennedys, MDC, and Crucifucks. The cover of "Teachers in Space" featured a photo of the Challenger disaster. Later in the decade, Discussion again disbanded the Feederz but by then their orbit of influence had expanded, for among their many fans was Kurt Cobain. A fan's post to the Nirvana newsgroup, alt.music.nirvana, revealed Cobain took a bumper sticker from the Feederz Teachers In Space LP and then proudly stuck it on his all-black Fender Stratocaster, made famous at the 1991 Reading Festival (see Reading and Leeds Festivals) in England, where Nirvana performed with Sonic Youth. The sticker read, "Vandalism: As beautiful as a rock in a cop's face", and in small type underneath were these words: "Courtesy of the Feederz: Office of Anti-Public Relations". (The bumper sticker message would become the title of their comeback release more than a decade later). Cobain's use of this guitar in the "Year Punk Broke" video later that year indirectly lent even more exposure to the Feederz (until Cobain smashed it into pieces at a Paris show the following Spring).

The Feederz reformed in 2002 and released "". This lineup included Ben Wah on drums and Denmark Vesey playing bass, both from Seattle. They toured throughout 2003.

Rumors persist that Frank Discussion now spends much of his time in Southern Mexico, moving among the EZLN (Zapatistas) and the Oaxacan based APPO who are in open revolt against the Mexican government. He has been expanding on the discipline of antistasiology (the study of resistance), an area of study he helped develop in the early 2000's. Mr. Discussion is also thought to be working on a movie entitled "Amor y Saqueo" (Love and Looting) which he describes as a "charming tale of a young girl who finds happiness through wholesale destruction, theft, sabotage and, of course, looting." It is unknown whether the film will be shot in the United States, Mexico or both [ [http://www.feederz.com/feederzforum/viewtopic.php?t=3 Feederz :: View topic - Amor y Saqueo ] ] .

Discography

* Jesus EP 7" (1980)
* Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss? (1983)
* Teachers In Space (1986)
* (2002)

References

External links

* [http://www.feederz.com/ The Feederz' official webpage]
* [http://home.no.net/nihil/press/sodomize.html "Sodomized Again!" comic] by Frank Discussion
* [http://www.cosmik.com/aa-january03/feederz2.html An interview with Frank Discussion]
* [http://portable-infinite.blogspot.com/2006/07/feederz.html Interview by Alexander Laurence]