It
started in with three guys in Fargo who had an idea. They were
going to start distilling and selling a line of schnapps that
went beyond the usual fruity flavors that young men across the
midwest bought to inebriate their underage girlfriends. The first
batch was "hot dog" closely followed by various "condiment"
flavors. After perfecting "hamburger" and various "casserole"
flavors, they formed the ServUs Industry to market their product.
Except for a few regions of Norway and Laos, the shnapps endevour
was a miserable failure.
Embittered,
they spent their remaining cash on audio equipment determined
to start a noise band that would empty the bars that failed to
support their shnapps company. They named the band Unconditional
Loathing and set out to play the most obnoxious, devastating,
ear-destroying noise that the midwest had ever seen. Drunk on
their leftover shnapps, they instead became enchanted with step-
sequencers and became a masturbatory techno/industrial band playing
three hour shows that included fascinating elements like midi
cord re-arranging and endless tweaking of filter cutoff knobs.
While they succeded in boring sound guys to sleep and keeping
already empty bars from doing much business, they accomplished
little else.
Meanwhile
in rural Kansas, the other half of the UL that everyone knows
and loves today were sitting around reminiscing about a high school
talent show that they had performed at and trying to figure out
how to get their four track out of pawn. During the times when
their four track was not in pawn they split their time between
trying to sound like the various experimental CDs that had been
smuggled into Kansas and sold to them on the DL and watching Purple
Rain over and over again. "We should play a show" was
a nightly mantra made tragically comic by the fact that they had
all become extremely agoraphobic. Something had to be done. They
agreed to overcome the agoraphobia together, taking slow steps
that eventually led them all the way to bar across the street
from their studio apartment. The barkeep asked them what they
wanted. They glanced at the door nervously while fumbling though
their pockets for money.Collectively they came up with about 3
bucks. The barkeep shook his head and gave them a bottle of "tuna
melt" shnapps and told them that they could have it, no charge
and to get lost. Later that night, while watching Purple Rain
for the umpteenth time, they looked at each other and said "Minneapolis"
simultainiously and spent the rest of the night alternating between
laughing and crying.
How
these two groups (as well as a couple of anarchist-hippy-stamp-collectors
and a carny or two) of misfits came together in Minneapolis to
form the UL that exists today is a very boring story. The important
thing is that it happened. Now they are once again scattered all
over the US and most of the people in the band have no idea how
many members there are. Listen to some of the songs...you may
be in UL. |