Throwdown

I remember first hearing of Throwdown thanks to my friend Nicky (Left With Nothing) having their demo tape. If I recall correctly, they may have played a show together while LWN was on tour. As silly as it is, "Box Your Face In" was definitely my favorite track on that demo, but I never got my hands on a copy for myself. Fast forward just a month or so, and I got a very random instant message from Chase Corum, who had found me simply through AOL member searches, because I had Adamantium listed in my profile. I had previously ordered the Adamantium 7" from him, and he proceeded to tell me that he was releasing a 7" for Throwdown, so I didn't hesitate to order two copies (oh how I miss the days of AOL hardcore chat and actually sending money orders/checks to receive records in the mail).

Throwdown's first show @ Van Beek Rockatorium. Keith wore a robe and boxing gloves.

Chase was kind enough to recall some memories from those early Throwdown days, and share them with us:

"Throwdown recorded the demo and s/t 7" in the same session during the Summer of '98. Javier VanHuss (who had replaced original guitarist Jake Sahagen) was supposed to record but quit the band in order to attend the Sunny Day Real Estate reunion in Seattle with a bunch of us. They replaced Jav with Brandon Schieppati who took part in the recording.

The session produced 8 songs. 4 would go on a demo and 4 on a 7". I told them I would release the 7" with one stipulation -- that "Decay" be included. I think they chose the other songs based on the seriousness of the lyrical content -- songs like "Box Your Face" and "Get Sick" were both pretty ridiculous so they ended up on the demo. (On a side note, the lyrics to "Get Sick Motherfuckers" were thought up one day at the beach in Balboa by our friend Austin "Sven" Ahlgren while brainstorming ridiculous things for Keith to say onstage in order to incite 'the mosh').

Paul Miner recorded it and did the layout. The front cover photo is actually 2 pictures combined into one. If you look behind Schieppati you can see Rosey (Adamantium bassist) looking towards the drum riser and standing next to himself filming.

Other notable photos include the picture of Keith from PCH Club where Jav is playing guitar wearing a SOIA wifebeater and an eye-patch (!). This was one of the rare live Jav appearances, along with a show at Koo's where he wore a rasta-dread hat. I actually just watched video of this show.

The pic of Schieppati is from the infamous "Crime Scene" show at Aaron Stone's house where one Gorman brother went through a sliding glass door and another physically threw Dom's girlfriend off the roof, resulting in the presence of authorities. I just watched this video, too. Hopefully I can get both on YouTube soon.

The 7" was released at "The Newport Takeover 2" at Showcase Theater in October '98. I believe this show was the debut of the Throwdown Dance Team shirts, a ridiculous concept that, like any great idea, was both loved and hated.

Pressing info:

Test Pressing -- 15 on black (all with different covers)

"Too Crushed" cover -- 134

Clear Vinyl -- 100

Red Vinyl -- 300

Black Vinyl -- 600

White Vinyl -- 1000

Orange Vinyl -- Approx. 40. I was going to do a MarcIE tribute pressing (because he loves the color orange), but he was out of the band before I got around to it. They now sit in a box somewhere.

Thanks for letting me take this trip down memory lane.

-- Chase / Prime Directive Records"

Chip recently acquired a copy of the demo, and sent it to me for conversion.

Throwdown - Demo [1998]

http://www.mediafire.com/?mjoqcftljky

Throwdown - self titled 7"

[Prime Directive Records - 1998]

http://www.mediafire.com/?tnwiojin2an