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Music

Check Out this Playlist of A Place to Bury Strangers Bassist Dion Lunadon's Early Work

Plus, the noise-rock titans announce spring tour dates!

Noise-rock titans A Place To Bury Strangers will be taking their deafening riffs on the road this spring. To celebrate, their amazingly-named bass player Dion Lunadon has released a smattering of tracks from bands he's played with over the years. The mix runs the gamut of garage rock textures, from the Scavengers' scuzzy jangle to the furious yelps of Nothing At All!, Lunadon's first band in New Zealand.

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Dion himself gave us a song-by-song breakdown of the mix to dig a little deeper:

"Creature Of The Valley"

The first song I recorded when I moved to the States (LA) in '06. I was trying to do something that was a cross between Angelo Badalamenti and Link Wray.

The Rainy Days

Led by one Dave Graham. Absolute genius songwriter and an out-there guy. Once did a 30-day tour barefoot! Has an AMAZING back catalog. The Rainy Days formed around '92 and are still going. All the bands he has been in are fucking inspiring. One of my biggest influences. I played bass for about 5 years with them. Came out of a DIY scene in New Zealand called Frisbee (see below). Some legendary shows. Never played on the stage. Would play in public restrooms, though. Anywhere between three and 30 people in the band. All recordings self released.

The Scavengers

Formed in Auckland, New Zealand in 1977. Regarded as the best of the bunch at the time. Was a three-piece whose only recordings released at the time were part of a compilation called AK79. Worth checking out if you're big on punk. Re-released in 1994 on Flying Nun. My buddy John Baker, whose released some great stuff (mainly punk, 60s garage, R&B, psych, just facilitated a release by Doug Jerebine on Drag City that's def worth hearing, and you've got to get Wild Things!), has since released a bunch of stuff. Brendan Perry of Dead Can Dance was the singer/bass player and in 2004, they reformed with me filling in for Brendan. We also did two shows in 2009, marking the 30 year anniversary of AK79, with other bands on the comp. Des Truction, the drummer, played in the Birthday Party for a bit.

Nothing At All!

My first band. Formed late '91 and disbanded '97. When the early Frisbee was situated in an abandoned car park. Silver walls kind of like the Factory. Teenage rebels! Toured the country from top to bottom many times earning a large, loyal fan base. John Baker was our manager and mentor along with Bob. We were all naïve and didn't give a shit. Pure stuff. Unfortunately, our singer Tony passed away from cancer at the young age of 21.

The D4

My most "successful" band. Did two albums. Toured the world a bunch. Was a great way to spend my 20s! Managed by Alan McGee of Creation fame. Formed in '98, broke up in '06. Sold about 100,000 records worldwide (not as much as the labels hoped for!). Originally part of the whole Frisbee scene.

True Lovers

Formed this when I left LA and moved to NY. I've got 500 LPs sitting here doin' nothing! I'll bring you one. And a t-shirt. And a tote bag. When I heard about APTBS needing a bass player I took it as a sign. Record never came out and we were only together for about 18 months.

The Rock N Roll Machine

Formed just after the D4. Three-piece with a guy and girl (Hi, Matt and Karin!) fronting. I was the original drummer for the first few practices. I produced and engineered this on my trusty 424MK2 cassette four-track. Also part of the Frisbee gang.

Frisbee is a recording studio, venue, et cetera that started around 1990 and was run by/centered around an engineer/producer/generous guy, Bob Frisbee. Honest Andrew is (was?) a co-owner and one of the nicest guys ever. He'd make pedals and amps for the bands. Really, really cool valve amps. Frisbee is still going now, but has changed over the years with a revolving cast of bands, people, characters, and freaks! To me, it had kind of an outcast feel to it. We felt most of what the recognized music industry produced was utter crap and what we were doing was way cooler. I think most of the music industry thought we were bonkers and hated us! A lot of truly eccentric people at Frisbee with original ideas.

A DIY collective with bands such as S.M.A.K, Supercar (the only band I've seen cause a proper riot complete with police helicopters and fire engines), Gestalt (recorded one of my favorite EPs ever), Nothing At All! (we were about eight years younger than the rest of the bands but became the most popular), Psycho Daizes (John Baker's band, once invited the public to throw rotten eggs at them while they played in the town square, they all stunk for months! Probably the wildest band I've ever seen & had a strong influence on the way I perform), the Rainy Days (see above), the Snitches (I played guitar), Shaft (led by Bob Cardy, an amazing song writer in the Lennon vein with impeccable taste), and a whole bunch of others. Most this stuff recorded was NEVER RELEASED. Tons of it. Bob produced and engineered it all.

APTBS TOUR DATES:

03/02/13 - Etne, Norway - Fugl Fønix with Megaphonic Thrift
03/06/13 - Stavanger, Norway - Folken*
03/07/13 - Bergen, Norway - Ostre
03/08/13 - Oslo, Norway - Bla
03/09/13 - Trondheim, Norway - Samfundet
03/20/13 - Montreal, QC - Club Soda*
03/21/13 - Toronto, ON - Sound Academy*
04/25/13 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk w/METZ, Allah-Las, The UFO Club, PURE X
05/05/13 - Santa Ana CA - Yost Theater - Psycho de Mayo Fest w/Black Mountain, Dead Skeletons, Dead Meadow, Dahga Bloom, Highlands, Strangers Family Band

* = w/Coheed and Cambria