Screw 32

Screw 32 was a Berkeley/ East Bay area punk rock band. Their name is derived from an anti-skateboarding measure on the ballots in Concord, California. They were noted for self-publicity. For example, they ordered stickers by the thousands and stuck them in numerous places. They were also known to "tag" their name with sharpies on numerous objects and in numerous places; the results of which have been seen in places all over the country. Most of these incidents are apparently done without permission. One notable sighting was in the Grassy Knoll near where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly assassinated President John F. Kennedy. These stickers have also been seen on bumpers of police cars all over the Bay Area.

The band's vocalist is Andrew "Andrew Champion" Ataie, who went on to a variety of bands like Hopelifter, End of the World, Shadowboxer, and Highwire Days.Guitarist Doug Sangalang went on to the bands Limp, One Time Angels, and Jackson United.Bass player Jimi Cheetah went on to the bands Tilt and Nothing Cool, as well as running Cheetah's Records.Guitarist Grant McIntire and drummer Mark Mortenson went on to a brief stint in Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Mark Mortenson also played in the bands Grinch and Samiam. Grant McIntire and Andrew Champion also played in the band Dance Hall Crashers.

Screw 32's music has been likened to Bouncing Souls, AFI, and Loose Change.

History

One of the first East Coast influenced hardcore style bands to come out of the East Bay in the early 90's, SCREW32 went on an endless string of United States and Canadian tours with many popular punk rock bands of their era, and they headlined their last few tours.

The band started when Grant McIntire and Andrew Champion were at a coffee shop complaining about the state of the local music scene and their friend Shea Walters walked up and told them to, "Stop whining and start their own band".Fact|date=February 2008 Grant and Andrew had been in two bands previously and had been friends since grade school when Grant moved to the Bay Area from New York. Doug Sangalang was playing at the time with Jesse Michaels (of Operation Ivy) current project, Big Rig, and joined SCREW32 a few weeks into the bands rehearsal endeavors and resulted as a key role in sculpting Screw 32's melodic blend of dc style hardcore and La punk. Jimi Mcluskey and Josh Kilbourn were the original rhythm section.

When SCREW32 first formed they were inseparable from AFI, and the two bands would help each other get shows, throwing each other on as the support for whatever shows they would get. Both bands got too big after a while to play together, to the point where they would have to jump on stage to play at 924 Gilman Street. They were not permitted to play at the Gilman due to the size of the crowd, and the inherent security problems.

Their first tour was with Los Angeles legends Youth Brigade, who were a huge influence on the band and helped them out getting started. SCREW32 did at least five full tours with the Bouncing Souls and was also heavily influenced by them, due to their "", all-out touring ethic. The band was always incredibly tight due to their die-hard work ethic and practice schedule, and their team oriented attitude that really showed in their live shows.Fact|date=February 2008 The members have all continued to play music since the band split in 1997.

The last show for SCREW 32 was at a warehouse in Twaine Harte California in April 1997 run by a friend of theirs named Mark (Who ran the now famous Bull Pen skateboard shop in Danville California where the San Ramon and Danville straightedge scene was born and in extension the Northern California straightedge hardcore scene was also born) with Citizen Fish (ex-Subhumans u.k.), the Criminals, and Fury66 from Santa Cruz, CA. The tension in the band had grown to such a level that many of them were not speaking when they took the stage that night, Andrew actually stood still and did not make a noise through an entire song at one point and then raced through the set and played 'One Time Angels' as their last song ever, he turned to the guys afterwards and said, 'Thanks, I quit' (Fat Wreck Chords released a compilation LP with the SCREW32 song 'Painless' on it with a cartoon of four characters looking sadly at one cartoon with a bubble above him that says, 'I quit'. All sorts of rumors abound (From heavy drinking to lack of communication), most of them are non-sense, the truth is that SCREW 32 fell victim to the same influences that a million other groups did, pressure, money, fame, and so forth, everything was there but what had made them love the music in the first place, and when that was gone there just didn't seem to be a point in going further. Too much touring, too many outside influences, and the spark was gone, the fun had been out of the formula for quite a while. There have been many rumblings about reunionsFact|date=February 2008 but as yet nothing has come of them.

Discography

This is just a partial list of the many SCREW32 recordings, which includes compilations, 7" singles, and tribute records (one notably for a tribute album to The Smiths, covering the song "You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby").

*"Old Idea, New Head" b/w Tightrope – released 1994 on Scooter's Records
*"Why Are We So Fucked Up All the Time?" 7" – released 1994 on Harvcore Records [ [http://www.harvcore.com/releases.html Harvcore ] ]
*Split 7" w/ Youth Brigade – released 1995 on BYO Records
*"Unresolved Childhood Issues" – released 1995 on Wingnut Records
*Split 7" w/ Fury 66 – released 1996 on Half Pint Records
*"Under the Influence of Bad People" – released 1997 on Fat Wreck Chords

References

External links

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:o7dovwrya9tk~T0 All Music Guide]