My friend Bruno recently took on the task of scanning all sorts of photos he had taken back in the 90’s. (he runs a photography blog that can be found here). Among other types, these are photos of the bands with which he was involved, of bands of some of our friends and the shows we used to go to back then. Much to my surprise I was tagged on one of them on Facebook and it got me to reminiscing about those times. It shows me and some friends and we were watching one of our friend’s bands play, I don’t remember exactly which one but I remember the venue which it is now a Jazz Club.
I was probably 18 or 19 in that photo, surely no more than 20, wearing my home made Porno for Pyros t-shirt, the usual men’s hoodie jacket and probably some vintage trousers from the 70’s (see, I was doing vintage before it was hip- used to raid my grandma and my dad’s old clothes closets or the flea market and we just called it ‘old clothes’). Oh God, to think about the fugly clothes from the 90’s, the sporty style, the tight tees for men, eeek! I probably wouldn’t be caught dead today wearing some of the stuff I wore back then.
Apart from the inevitable stylistic considerations, I remembered how much fun it used to be, to go to our friend’s shows, to hang out with mostly art students (me and my friends were studying design or something else art related). It was good fun to be surrounded by creative people all the time, as we sort of fed off each other, planning events, zines and whatever else one can think of that silly art school students do. It made me realize how much I miss having a creative group of friends with which to engage in creative activities with. All in all a good time, a simpler time with less worries, with hopes of a bright future ahead.
If you enjoy indie music from the 90’s, keep reading!
Some of the bands we used to hang out with were pretty good and made it (in Portugal, but still made it, on our scale). The ones that became the most famous were
Pinhead Society and later
Gomo and
Rollana Beat. There were a few more bands that were also good but didn’t get as well known:
My Best Nose, Velveteen, Tom’s Goblin, to name a few from the top of my head. We divided our time between Lisbon and Caldas da Rainha and it was a very exciting time to be around, as it seems that the quality of the music being produced was actually good. If you don’t believe me, click on the links and hear it for yourself.
To complete the nostalgia experience, here is the song list of things I used to listen to at the time:
Touch Me I’m Sick – Mudhoney
Hurdy Gurdy Man – Butthole Surfers
Only in 3’s – The Breeders
Silver Rocket- Sonic Youth
Addicted To Love – Ciccone Youth
Bruise Violet – Babes in Toyland
Bone Machine – Pixies
Brassneck – The Wedding Present
Penny Royal Tea – Nirvana
Smashing pumpkins – Perfect
I Heard Ramona Sing – Frank Black
How Soon is Now – Morrissey
What are you most nostalgic about? xx
(Don’t forget to follow Bruno’s blog for updates on photography from his travels and cinema sets he’s worked at).
No Comments