PUNCTURE began in 1992 when guitarist/songwriter
Rick Perry began putting together a series of songs on
his 4-track. At the time, Rick was a member of Gammacide,
an ecology-minded thrash metal band who released two
demos and one full length LP Victims of Science(1989) on
Wild Rags Records(WRRO16). At the time, Rick was listening
to a lot of Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Front Line Assembly,
Public Enemy, and other bands with an electronic rhythm
section. These home recordings reflected Rick's desire
to fuse heavy guitars with techno/industrial drum beats.
Eventually, six songs were completed and he decided to
release the demo under the moniker "Killing Systems." Then,
after having covers printed, he changed his mind and made up
some new covers with the name PUNCTURE.
The songs on the
first demo are "Miscalculation,""Youth Gone Mild,""Breeding
Contempt,""Scum of the Earth,""American Dream," and "Bonus
Beat(ing)s." Since Rick already had plenty of contacts
throughout the underground with Gammacide, he had no
problem getting the PUNCTURE name out of the underground
fanzine and radio shows.
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After receiving positive feedback, Rick began to put together
a live band so that PUNCTURE
could begin traumatizing live
audiences. The initial PUNCTURE
line-up was Rick on guitar
and vocals, John Perez on guitar, and Larry Moses on bass.
All the drum tracks and samples were pumped through the PA
from a conventional cassette deck. John Perez is best know
to underground music fans as guitarist / founder of the gothic
doom metal band Solitude Aetumus, who have two albums out
on Roadracer (Into the Depths of Sorrow and Beyond
the Crimson Horizon) and one on Pavement(In My Darkest Hour).
Moses is a long time contributor to the Dallas / FT. Worth
hardcore punk scene, having founded two bands, Why Am I?
and Days of Decision, who both released various demos and
7" singles. The initial PUNCTURE
gig took place on Saturday
Sept 26, 1992 at Fort Worth heavy metal club Joe's Garage.
The response from the local fans was very favorable, due in
large part to the atmosphere generated by tons of fog, strobe
lights and an array of video monitors displaying an assortment
of animal experiments, autopsies, and S&M bondage(which all
went over especially well with the large number of death
metallers in attendance). The second gig took place at the
same club a month later, and gained PUNCTURE
a bit of
notoriety in the local papers when the Texas Alcohol and
Beverage Commission confiscated PUNCTURE's
video in the
middle of the performance. Seems they were on a routine check,
making sure no minors were drinking, when they noticed the
video monitors on stage displaying a man getting his penis
nailed to a step ladder. The Club was subsequently closed for
the weekend, rather than pay a $2000 fine.
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At this time, Rick was writing new material and discovering
the limitations of the equipment he was working with. In
order for PUNCTURE
to progress he would have to work with
someone with better sampling and sequencing equipment than
he possessed. He met Per Nilsson through a mutual friend
and they quickly completed two unfinished songs, "Processor",
and "Graft". Per was previously a member of Dallas techno /
industrial band Post-Mortem Statement, who released six demos,
Post-Mortem Statement, Demo Tape, Assassin, Tracks,
Configuration, and Live in Arlington, as well as appearing on the
compilation album Cybertronik World Media I. Per made
his live debut with PUNCTURE in December of 1992, handling
sequencer and sampling duties, and eliminating the rather
archaic method of playing the drum tracks on cassette tape.
The band also began to expand its live following by playing
several opening slots, notably Obituary and Fear Factory, and
Blohole(featuring ex-members of Dallas speed metallers Rigor
Mortis).
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The PUNCTURE
demo tape had found its way into the hands of
several interested labels, and Rick began to receive inquiries.
Eventually a deal was struck up with a small independent label
called Vertebrae in September of 1993. That winter Rick and
Per entered Sound Logic Studios in Dallas to record Puncture
with house engineer Tim Grugle producing. The finished disc
included the following tracks: "Miscalculation,""Nailed to a
Cross,""Youth Gone Mild,""Gag Rule,""Processor,""Mission,"
"Graft,""American Dream,""Breeding Contempt,"and "Abort."
The CD cover artwork by local artist Breck Outland featured the
hand of Christ "punctured" to the cross with some mechanized
looking ruins in the background. Breck also contributed some
computer animation sequences which were incorporated into
PUNCTURE's live show video backdrops.
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In the spring of 1994, with the 'Puncture' disc
in the can
awaiting release, John Perez announced that he could no
longer help out on live performances due to his obligations
with Solitude Aetumus. He parted on good terms and was quickly
replaced by Mike T, who was armed with a monster guitar sound
and some depraved German pornography. Mike's previous bands
include Intense Regret, Apathy, Sideways and Our Tragic Hours,
who, ironically enough were somewhat influenced by
PUNCTURE
themselves. Mike's entry into the band also heralded a change
in the live show, making it somewhat more "aggressive and in
your face" as opposed to the old line-up's more "brooding and
monolithic" approach.
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Despite some qualms about the production, Rick & Per were
quite pleased with the Puncturedebut CD. However, just before
it was to be released Vertebrae Records lost their distribution
deal, which left them unable to give PUNCTURE
the push they
needed. The finished product was licensed to Century Media
Records who released the disc in July of 1994. In Europe the
disc surfaced on Bulletproof Records(distributed by Intercord).
The band was disappointed that the label did such a poor job of
reproducing the cover artwork. The inner sleeve lyrics were also
clumsily misspelled. Although, distribution for the CD was good,
Century Media was never fully committed to PUNCTURE.
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Following the release of the CD, PUNCTURE
played a small
Texas tour with Louisiana psycho-thrashers Acid Bath(CD When
the Kite String Popson Rotten Records), followed by more
scattered dates in Oklahoma and Louisiana. They also opened
for Skrew, Evil Mothers, Dead Horse, Auschwitz 46 and other
bands of the Texas underground.
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Disappointed with Century Media's commitment to the band,
PUNCTURE
set about to find a new record label, where the
staff would be more energized and into the band. They began
recording some of their new material at their home studio. These
new songs were more of a group effort than the songs on the CD,
which were primarily written by Rick.In the new tracks Per's ebm,
techno, and industrial influences were much more apparent,
and Mike contributed guitar riffs, additional programming and
background vocals, as well as engineering the recording. When
they had four songs, they decided that was enough to show any
prospective labels what they could do. The finished demo was
entitled Dutch Fist and contained these songs: "Dutch Fist,"
"Suck City,""Kill-o-gram," and "Constrict Command.""Constrict
Command" was co-written by Pat Bohn, a good friend of the
band who currently plays guitar for Fort Worth's I, THE JURY.
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At this stage, bassist Moses left the band because of musical
differences and pressing commitments to school. He was replaced
with Jim Melancon, who was so insistent that the gig be his that
no one else was even considered. Jim was fresh out of his project
Dysfunction, who were also somewhat PUNCTURE
-inspired. As it
turns out, he was an ideal candidate for the position, bringing a
very prolific and similar writing style to the band, and a fondness
for the same style of pornographic decadence as the rest of
PUNCTURE.
Jim's photo appears on the cover of Dutch Fist.
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Soon after Jim joined the band were approached by Houston
based independent label MIA Records. PUNCTURE
were impressed by the level of interest that MIA expressed, and
general gung-ho attitude of label bosses Martti Paine and Sean
Barusch. They signed a deal and soon were recording tracks for
their second CD. This disc, entitled Immune represents
a great
progression for the band, both in sound and song writing. The
songs on the Immune disc are: "Suck City,""Kill-o-gram,""669,"
"Immune,""Complete and Total,""Constrict Command,""Dutch
Fist,""A New Hole,""Pipe fitter,""Bottom Feeder,""LD\50," and
"Bonus Beat(ing)s." Immune was released in the summer of 96,
and followed by a short Texas tour with Cubanate and Acumen.
These shows were followed by more shows in Texas, including an
outdoor festival in Houston opening for Dio and Motorhead. This
show in particular indicated that a live drummer was needed for
PUNCTURE to really come across as a powerful live act. What
worked before in small smoky clubs didn't necessarily work in a
large rock concert, so once again PUNCTURE began revamping
their live presentation.
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In March of 97, after two months of auditions, PUNCTURE
added Waco drummer Brad Womack to their lineup, who could not only
duplicate the programmed drums from the CDs, but add his own
"extra flavor" as well. Around this same time bassist Jim
Melancon was replaced by Mark Powell. Mark's particular brand
of lunacy was a much better fit for PUNCTURE than Jim, whose
initial enthusiasm became more and more lethargic as time
went on.
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The revamped PUNCTURE
line-up played a series of warm up
shows in Dallas, before heading out on their most extensive
road trip yet: a seven week tour of the U.S. with GWAR and
Electric Hellfire Club. Playing before packed theaters and
larger clubs everywhere, this tour gave PUNCTURE invaluable
exposure, as well as cementing the new line-up into a tight,
lethal unit.
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Now back from their tour, PUNCTURE
is presently working on new
material for their third CD, to be released fall 1999. Tentative
title: "Extra-Super Crush Machine."
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