thOught industry – patiently waiting for…the next album

How long does it take for a rather obscure Metal Blade-signed Kalamazoo, Michigan band to release their third album? When does an adoring Michigan-based metal fan get to hear the follow-up to perhaps the most genre-defying, innovative, and perplexingly avant-garde early-90s metal disc yet recorded? In 1993/94, the Internet (at least in my corner of the earth) was still a phenom largely relegated to libraries and universities – in fact, it was probably 1998 before I encountered the necessity of email/web-access in the workplace, and even then it was an ‘expensable’ cost of business, which involved employees setting up their own individual ISP accounts. In short, apart from snail-mail newsletters from Metal Blade Records, or rare updates in Metal Maniacs Magazine (at the time, the most reliable metal resource on the domestic newstands)..you would essentially just keep your eyes on the racks at your local independent record store. It was a very different era for the enthusiast – with some benefits, but a good number of short-comings.

At long last, Metal Blade Records offered a Thought Industry update in said newsletter: drummer Dustin Donaldson was “out” (yes, they used quotes) and in Pansy Division. Also announced was a new bassist ‘Fleb Ledbetter’ – which must’ve been a typo or oversight – as he was later revealed to be the amiable Herb Ledbetter.

Around that time, the Genius Hired Guns CD also surfaced, and offered a solid glimpse into the light-hearted side of he Kalamazoo scene, with Brent & co. photographed sharing a jug of wine whilst riding in a sedan. Jared Bryant (new Thought Industry drummer) was behind the wheel, with the Bradford brothers in tow (see Doxie, Screwtape, Black Spring etc) and Brent was quite bleached-blonde in manner that some suggested (in hushed voices) was an irreverent nod to the expired Kurt Cobain. The album was a fantastic exercise in distinctive, melodic K-zoo grooves, new-wave re-thinkings, and punky coarseness. And if you don’t already own it, you can download the entire masterpiece at http://www.leonstemple.com/genius.htmlm.

(The Thought Industry, from left: Brent, Paul, Jared, Herb – photo from Metal Maniacs Magazine)

I had the good fortune at this time in history of encountering a few Kalamazoo natives, who I could not help but ask about my favorite bands. One chance meeting was with a young woman named ‘Ann-dray-a’ who confessed that the guys in Thought Industry did indeed attend a number of K-zoo parties, and “acted like they were above everyone else since they were in a band” and claimed that Brent Oberlin “was usually asking to sleep on someone’s couch or asking for cigarettes”. She seemed to frown upon my fandom of these K-zoo art rockers…but I was enthralled to gain even a little insight into this “scene” on the west side of my home-state. I also met a record store proprietor in Chesterfield, Michigan who fondly recalled Dustin Donaldson from his own college days at Western Michigan University.

I also had the crazy idea of going to see a 1995 Pansy Division show at Alvin’s in Detroit, MI with the plan of talking to Dustin to answer some the burning questions about his split with Thought Industry. I knew nothing of Pansy Division, except that they were easily one of the most prominent ‘queer-core’ acts at the time, and I didn’t expect Dustin’s presence behind the kit to somehow transform their pop-punk to my tastes. I showed up in a handmade ‘Dustin – talk to me about Thought Industry!’ t-shirt as conversational bait.

The first question was: where’s the Mods Carve the Pig artwork and text booklet I’d sent $3.00 for? :) He explained that the booklet project did not come to be, and the funds, fanmail, and remaining merchandise was sealed away in boxes in Kalamazoo. Second question was: Why…uh… Pansy Division? As we sat outside of Alvin’s, with summer heat cooking up fumes from a nearby dumpster, Dustin described his master plan of relocating to San Francisco with renewed creative opportunities stemming from the financial security of Pansy Division’s successful career – more profitable than Thought Industry, for sure. He had multi-media ideas of his own to concentrate on – a highly visual musical project (I am Spoonbender), books, film, and other artistry that outgrew the Thought Industry mold. He also spoke quite clearly on the “partying” side of Thought Industry, and alluded that some of the guys tended to indulge in drink or chemicals all day to the point of not being fully present or functional when it came time to rehearse or write material, and that these factors contributed to his moving on (and not “out”).

Which was all perfectly fine, because although material from Mods Carve the Pig (and occasionally Songs for Insects) would be revisited in some later shows by the new incarnation of Thought Industry, they were at this point a reborn band. The post-Dustin lineup transformed their “metal” tendencies into a wildly inventive ensemble that made some of the most memorable “not-metal” albums of the era.