Hagfish (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = Hagfish


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Origin = Dallas, Texas
Genre = Punk rock
Years_active = 1992–2001
Label = London
Associated_acts = Only Crime
URL = http://www.hagfishonline.com
Current_members = George Reagan III Doni Blair Zach Blair Tony Barsotti
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Hagfish is a punk-rock band from the Deep Ellum scene in Dallas, TX. The band was created when former drummer Banning Lyon's band "Conniption Fit" disbanded. Lyon, a Rockwall, TX resident met up with brothers Doni and Zach Blair. Their successful output sans singer caused them to begin to look for a frontman, culminating in the hiring of James Newhouse of Mansfield, TX.

They began touring the Texas punk circuit in the early nineties, creating a fan base and becoming regulars of punk venues like Slipped Disc and The Jumpin' Java Joint. In this time they opened for such bands as Swervedriver, All, and Poster Children.

A demo tape was released and quickly became an underground hit. It followed the pattern of punk band The Descendents, with tracks like "Tallman" (about the middle finger) and "Marry Me" (a Lyon- composed love song). The band's guise was to create fun and appealing music without the use of overt political messages. Their sound appealed to the Dallas punk scene at the time, which was composed mainly of suburbanites who would drive downtown on the weekends.fix|link=Wikipedia:Contents|text=citation needed

During their formative years, the grunge musical movement became extremely popular. Being fans of Seattle, WA's Mudhoney and the Northwestern punk sound, a decision was made to augment the band by emulating parts of this richer sound. Tensions between drummer Banning Lyon and the Blair brothers was mounting. Lyon was feeling used for his friendships with major punk bands. Zach and Donnie Blair felt used on account of their mother's wealth. Lyon left the band in 1992. John Fromme, formerly of the band "Pee Pee" joined in on drums. Another guitarist, "Camper" was added to fill out the sound. This lineup pushed the band into new territory, and although popular with fans, the band was winding down due to internal conflict. The rampant drug abuse of lead singer James Newhouse, Camper, and Fromme ran counter to the straight edge beliefs of the Blair brothers. Zach and Doni Blair chose to leave, bringing with them the Hagfish name.

The third incarnation of the band included vocalist George Reagan III, brothers Doni and Zach Blair, and drummer Tony Barsotti. They decided to record their first studio album, "Buick Men", on Dragon Street Records in 1993.

Hagfish then signed with London Records and released the 1995 album, "...Rocks your Lame Ass". This went on to become their most commercially successful album, with videos for both Happiness and Stamp appearing on MTV's 120 Minutes. In 1996 Hagfish was voted best Alternative Rock/Pop act by the Dallas Observer.ref_label|observer|1|none After numerous arguments about the follow-up to "...Rocks your Lame Ass", London dropped Hagfish, and they returned to the independent scene. Their self-titled album "Hagfish", was released on Honest Don's in 1997, but did not see any real commercial success. Several breakups soon followed, and the bands touring stopped. The last releases by the band included a live album, "Caught Live", as well as "That was Then, This is Then" a compilation of b-sides and unreleased tracks, both released on Coldfront Records.

Since the official break up in 2001, the band members have gone on to other projects. George has moved on to a homegrown Hip-Hop band The Brothers. Doni has participated in several bands including the instrumental band The Mag Seven, Armstrong, Only Crime and most recently the Toadies. Zach currently plays in Rise Against, as well as having played with the Burden Brothers, GWAR, Only Crime, Adventures of Jet and Armstrong.

Members

*George Reagan III (vocalist)
*Zach Blair (Guitarist)
*Doni Blair (Bassist)
*Tony Barsotti (Drums)

Albums

*"Buick Men" (1993)
*"...Rocks Your Lame Ass" (1995)
*"Hagfish" (1997)
*"Caught Live" (1999)
*"That was Then, This is Then" (2001)

Record labels

*Dragon Street
*London Records
*Honest Don's

References

# [http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/1996-04-18/music/music2_full.html Dallas Observer Best of: 1996]

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/hagfishtx Hagfish MySpace]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:40bsa9rgy23g~T00 Hagfish: AllMusic Guide listing]
* [http://www.fatwreck.de/DONkatalog.html Honest Don's Catalog]
* [http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/1995-06-15/music/music3.html 1995 Dallas Observer Interview with Hagfish]
* [http://dropd.com/issue/2/Hagfish/ 1996 DropD Interview with Hagfish]