“The Factory Whore” – VICE

The greasy stroke of welding the midnight shift to mornings is my diesel engine plant; 40 miles east of the Mississippi river into Beelzebub country (Wisconsin), and though this place has a hard time keeping a man, I stay. I was made aware of the term “Factory Whore” by another welder a couple of weeks after I first began depreciating my body–physically, emotionally, and spiritually–hunched over shooting fire into the crevices of mufflers and emission systems for all your big and ugly trucks. Read More >>

“Flip the Arch Upside Down” – River Front Times

Skin Graft Records pushed math-rock and noise in the early ’90s, an era when those terms weren’t so faux pas and hardcore tended to leak into other genres without fear of scuffing up some favored tradition. The label’s roster grew through the next decade, hoisting up the Dazzling Killmen, Melt-Banana and U.S. Maple among many others. Read More >>

“Al Johnson is Decent: A Conversation with the Host of this Weekend’s Skin Graft Records Homecoming” – River Front Times

Skin Graft Records emerged in the early ’90s amidst the rise of music cross-genres noise-rock and math-rock. Being an early proponent of such salty sounds, label owner Mark Fischer saw fit to combine records and comics in an unholy union of visual and audio debauchery. Early art featured Rob Syers, known for Gumballhead the Cat and music from Dazzling Killmen, Shorty and Mount Shasta. Once based in St. Louis, the label’s head moved to Chicago, New York and, ultimately, Austria. Read More >>