Oral History Number: 473-009 Interviewee: John Fleming Interviewer
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Archives and Special Collections Mansfield Library, University of Montana Missoula MT 59812-9936 Email: [email protected] Telephone: (406) 243-2053 This transcript represents the nearly verbatim record of an unrehearsed interview. Please bear in mind that you are reading the spoken word rather than the written word. Oral History Number: 473-009 Interviewee: John Fleming Interviewer: Breanna McCabe Date of Interview: November 2, 2019 Project: Missoula Music History Oral History Project Breanna McCabe: John, I’m just gonna have you start by saying and spelling your first and last name. John Fleming: John Fleming, J-o-h-n F-l-e-m-i-n-g. BM: We are rolling. Hello, I’m Breanna McCabe. It's Saturday, November 2, 2019, and with me here at the Mansfield Library on the University of Montana campus is John Fleming. John is the proprietor of Ear Candy Music, which opened September 21, 1997, and is now located at 624 South Higgins Avenue here in Missoula. John, thanks so much for being here. JF: You're welcome. BM: Please introduce yourself and share a little bit about your background. JF: Well, my name is John Fleming. I moved to Missoula in 1991 to attend grad school, and I got my ABT degree, all but the thesis, so didn't quite get there. Then kicked around for a bit, got a job at Rockin’ Rudy’s, and then a friend approached me about opening our own store. Figured if I didn't take the chance, then it would never happen. So, I sold my 1958 Chrysler Windsor and used that money to purchase some product and liquidated my personal record collection—well, not entirely, but a lot of them—and that was my initial inventory. BM: Wow! Oh, that is fascinating. What were you studying when you came to school? JF: American literature with an emphasis on 20th century American playwrights, so yeah, practical degree there. BM: When was it clear to you that you loved music? JF: When I was probably 10—9 or 10—bought my first record, REO Speedwagon High Infidelity, and then Queen The Game cassette shortly after that, and then AC / DC Back in Black on LP. Then it got into like Rush and Led Zeppelin and things like that. BM: One thing leads to another. Cool, and when did you start playing music? JF: Oh, that came much later. I was probably 23. Well when I was in high school, my friend Chris Fisher who was in stage band or jazz band, I can't remember what it was, he had a base that he was selling. He let me take it home, and I…it just didn't happen at that point, so I was probably 1 John Fleming Interview, OH 473-009, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. 16 then. I gave it back to him after a week or two. Then after moving to Missoula, I just worked at the Old Town Cafe for like 45 days straight, and then took that money and bought a base and an amp. Figured if I spent the money on it, I was all in, and then I’d better figure it out. Yeah, I’m pretty much self-taught. My friend Kelly showed me a couple things, and he's like you can count to 12 and you've got a big record collection, so you'll be fine. [laughs] That's Gator for you. BM: Where was this upbringing before you moved? JF: I grew up in North Dakota, Jamestown, North Dakota, in the Midwest. BM: That's great. Then Old Town Cafe is no longer—Where was that? JF: Oh, no. That's where the James Bar is now. Yeah, the Old Town was great, but yeah, it's no longer there. I miss it. Don't miss working there, but it was good food. BM: What did you do there? JF: Oh, I was a dish pit warrior. That's a reference to an old Sputnik song—band in Missoula. I think it was the Sputniks that had that song “Dish Pit Warrior.” BM: Sounds like a good one. What was the dish that everyone went to the Old Town Café? JF: Oh, the buttermilk pancakes, the banana bread French toast, the banana nut bread French toast and the turkey bowl. The owner would make a turkey overnight like two or three times a week. It was cheap, man, like two bucks, two-fifty, but then again, that was 27 years ago. BM: Sounds delicious. So, you started playing, you figured some things out because you had invested money in it. What was the first band you played in? JF: The first band I played in was the Jolly Ranchers, and that was with John Knesek, “Tex”—that was the guy that I opened the store with. Yeah John, John Knesek, Troy Warling, and, oh, Tyler. Tyler Long was the drummer; I believe, he was the drummer to start with. Then we got Abe Barick (?) played with us eventually, and that didn't…that band didn't last very long. We have one song on one record—a comp record that Josh Vanek put out. Are you interviewing Josh, by the way? BM: I believe one of my classmates is. JM: Yeah, yeah, you definitely want to interview him. For sure. BM: Good. Just for the historical accuracy, can you spell John Knesek’s— 2 John Fleming Interview, OH 473-009, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. JF: K-n-e-s-e-k. Tex. We call him Tex because he is from Houston. BM: Okay, and then there was a Warling? JF: Troy Warling, W-a-r-l-i-n-g. His nickname was “The Squirrel”—just, it's a long story. BM: Happy to…we’ve got. JF: Yeah, these…it’s just Troy. He would get crazy sometimes so we just call him The Squirrel. BM: Can you move forward chronologically for us through your own band history from the Jolly Ranchers? JF: Okay, so after the Jolly Ranchers, I was in a band called the Helltones. That was myself, John Knesek, John Carlson (?) was the original drummer, and then John Forrest Williams was the other guitar player. So, everybody in the band was named John; although we called—Forrest was how we referred to John Williams. Then after a short time John Carlson moved, and Yale Kaul took over. That band played for a while, called it a day when Tex moved back to Houston, and then I was in a band that was called The Blackout. The Blackouts? That was like, man, maybe a month or six weeks. Then I was in a band called…let's see, it was one of the guys from the Blackouts, Josh May, and then he and I started another band called the Everyday Sinners, which was myself, Josh May, Marcus Herring, and Jason Phillips. That band lasted a few years. Jason and Marcus moved. Said they were coming back, but Josh and I were like they're never coming back. After that, Josh and I started a band called the Hellgate Stranglers, and that was with Justin Lawrence, who ran sound at Jay’s Upstairs occasionally, and Chad Dundas. He was the drummer. I think…I’m trying to think…We had this guy, Wes. [pauses] No, Wes…I think Wes may have been in the Everyday Sinners, and then we booted him because he just couldn't…his singing wasn't…Yeah, we kicked him out. Anyway, the Hellgate Stranglers was myself, Josh May, Jason Phillips, Chad…Sorry. Myself, Josh May, Chad Dundas, Justin Lawrence. That band lasted a few years. Josh moved back to Atlanta. Then I joined the Oblio Joe’s, and that band lasted until 2007. Then at that time I played with Shmed [Ryan Maynes] in a band called Secret Powers, and that was myself, Stu Simonson, and Dan Strachan from the Oblio Joe’s. Ryan Farley on guitar and then Ryan “Shmed” Maynes in the band. Then, oh god, it just gets so confusing. Oh, and Troy Warling, who I played with in the Jolly Ranchers way back in the early ‘90s, he moved back to Missoula and joined that band. After a bit, Stu moved to Olympia. Troy left the band; we replaced him with a member of the Oblio Joe’s, John Brownell. Secret Powers called it a day in, I think, 2014, and then four of us in Secret Powers started another band called Protest Kids. That was myself, John Brownell, Ryan Farley, Dan Strachan. About a year ago, Dan left the band, and we replaced him with Matt Bainton. Matt Bainton and I play in another band; we're the backing band for Sasha Bell. She moved here about four or five years ago, so we play with her as well. 3 John Fleming Interview, OH 473-009, Archives and Special Collections, Mansfield Library, University of Montana-Missoula. During that time, I also played in the Scott Kennedy Band. I played bass in his band when he lived here. I also played in another band called The Quiet Ones. That was early 2000s. Then the Totten brothers, who wrote all the songs for The Quiet Ones, they moved to Seattle, and that was the end of that. So, I guess there's been a few. I probably forgot about a couple in there as well. I’m sure I did. Sure I forgot about a couple, but it's been a number.