This post (by Josh Rhodes) on the history of the first official tribal band convinced me to dig out some old highschool tapes that have yet to make it to the digital age. The first one I found is a video that was laying around Jenny Bradley’s house – she had taken it from the a/v lab at our highschool, and from what I can make of it, someone in the video production class decided to do a little filming of a day in the life of Jake Fiolek. This tape chronicles fairly typical behavior for the two forming members of the Perpetual Elvis Machine (one of my favorite bands of all time, composed of Jake and Josh).
Yes, that’s me playing the tupperware and giving pretty lame excuses to the principal when he tells us to stop annoying the popular kids on the quad. Yes, that’s guy underneath the hair is really Jake skronking on a clarinet.
I’m trying to figure out why the hell we were being so obnoxious back then – what was our motivation other than to annoy? I’m wondering if it’s sorta like that book The Polar Express, where it says that as people get older they no longer have the ability to hear the silver bells of Santa’s Sleigh. Is there magical music and feeling beneath these spontaneous jazz compositions on the Liberty High School campus that I can no longer “hear” ? You be the judge.
Even though you are upstairs, and I’m downstairs, I’m too lazy to make the walk. That is the most amazing video. Jake looks like an elf. I liked your, “can’t i sing if i’m in the holiday spirit?”
Was your only purpose to annoy? Of course it was. It was anti-establishment. Duh.
You were much more active back then, Garrett.
What was that guy’s name? Ybarra? What a jackass. Also, for posterity’s sake, let me point out that once we were Perpetual Elvis Machine-ing it up in the cafeteria, I believe under our original “name” of “Change, Please” and I for some reason did like a chorus girl kick and it sent my shoe to this weird little platform above the door. The principal, Mr. Clare, an even more colossal jackass I might add, helped me get it down. But he seemed a little amused; I think he was helping me sarcastically.