|
 |
ROACH MOTEL
by Jonathan Williams
From the March 2004 issue of Prick Magazine.
|
 Roach Motel ... then ... |
|
|
|
Apparently, back when I was still learning my ABCs, this band called Roach Motel was causing some pretty big waves in Florida. Even though the band's career lasted only a few years, it basically created Florida's first punk rock scene with short blasts of hardcore fun like "I Hate The Sunshine State," "More Beer" and "Heart Attack" and albums like We Can't Help It If We're From Florida and What The Hell, It's Roach Motel on the band's own Destroy Records.
"The rockin' Roach Motel was one of the first punk rock bands in the state of Florida, started around 1980 in Gainesville," recalls drummer Frank Mullen, speaking of the band in third person. "They evolved quickly from an untalented drunken local band to an untalented drunken band that had a couple of records out and had played with the Dead Kennedys, Black Flag and Minor Threat."
 Roach Motel ... now. Still Rockin'
"George Tabb decided he needed an outlet for his huge talent and asked me if I would sing," says singer Bob Fetz of the band's beginnings. "We got a show at the local punk club and made a poster with a bunch of newspapers [and] magazines. We found a picture of a foetus that had a superimposed coat hanger through its head and we used that. We later saw this big bowl of Fruit Loops, so we put the baby floating in the Fruit Loops. It was the funniest thing you ever saw, but it got our first show cancelled and [got us] banned from the only punk club in Gainesville."
Aside from that minor setback, it seems that Roach Motel was really making a name for itself pretty early on. In fact, legend has it that punk rock luminaries like Ian MacKaye and Jello Biafra were both fans of Roach Motel.
So, why would a band off to such a strong DIY start call it quits so quickly? Well, that depends on which band member you ask.
"I graduated [from college] and had a severe case of Florida claustrophobia, so I was out of there," says bassist Eric Engan. "The rest muddled on without me with diminishing results."
"If only we'd all failed," remarks Mullen. "Think of the music that might have been created."
"We always assumed we would end when Jeff [Hodapp, guitarist] graduated," says Fetz. "Every penny we ever made as a band, we kept in a bank account that Jeff was in charge of. He had to go down south for a couple of weeks and gave control to Russ [Avery], our bass player [at the time]. That was the last time I saw Russ or our money, which sucked because we had, like, a grand in the bank and wanted to release an album. We had it recorded, mastered, and then zip, no money. We put it out as a 7-inch, but that's what killed the band."
As the band disintegrated and its members moved away from Florida to pursue other careers (Tabb now writes about punk bands while Mullen takes pictures of them), it seemed that Roach Motel had become a thing of the past. That is until last March when Fetz, Hodapp, Engan, and Mullen got back together for a three date reunion tour of Gainesville and Tampa, proving that people do still remember the beer-soaked good times that took place at Roach Motel shows 20 years earlier.
|
|
"The last tour was better than great," says an animated Fetz. "First time we had played together in 20 fucking years! Open bar, free drugs, woo hoo!"
"The reunion tour was brief, but shockingly well received," adds Mullen. "Who would have thunk it? It was a lot of fun, people seemed to dig it, and we didn't suck anymore than we did 20 years ago. [We even] set a new record for most beer sales at the bars we played!"
Because of the success of that tour, Roach Motel will be back on the road later this month. But due to old age and lingering turmoil amongst the band members, there are rumors that this will be Roach Motel's farewell tour.
"I thought the last tour was it, but we had too much of a good time," says Fetz.
"We're all getting along in years and senility is starting to creep up on us," counters Mullen. "Plus, I don't know if the warranty on my pacemaker covers 'punk rock drummer.'"
"Because we avoided the perils of plane crashes and overdoses, we are here today thanks to recent advances in geriatric medicine," adds Engan. "Rumors are the bass player might kill the singer before the end of this tour, but that is just a rumor. No truth to it whatsoever. By the way, do you know anyone who knows the lyrics to 'I Hate the Sunshine State,' 'Nothing to Lose,' 'Mad Dog,' and some of the other ones?"
While such hostility would have been good for the band 20 years ago, I just hope they can make it through the end of the tour at this point.
|
For more information on Roach Motel, go to www.matteblack.com/roachmotel
back to top
|
|
|
