Hammerbox has always been one of those pivotal bands for me. They were the first NW band that really resonated with me when I moved to Eastern Washington from Southern California in the early 90s. Their songs were dynamic and driven and emotional in a way that just spoke to my angst-ridden heart (I mean, they were a much better band than I’m describing… I was just moody as f**k at 17)

It wasn’t all that long into my high school radio days, that I saw a flyer for the band announcing an upcoming show in town. I got it in my head that I should interview them for my radio show (The Underground – every Friday from 3pm – 6pm)… despite never having done an interview before and not having any equipment to do so.

Undaunted by any of this, I borrowed a micro cassette recorder (you know, the kind REAL journalists used back then) from someone (to this day I cannot remember who… sorry! And thank you!) and enlisted the help of my friends, Chris Baugh and Megan Roberts to join me in making this happen.

And would you believe, sure enough we made it happen. Arms full of merch (and a random micro cassette recorder) as confidently as we could we made our way to the “backstage area” of the Hoedown (which was just about big enough for a couch and not much else) and introduced ourselves to the band and asked to do an interview. They were kind, and gracious and agreeable. And from what memory serves (never did manage to transfer that tape to anything usable), gave a thrilling and charming interview responding to ever-important questions like “so where did the band name come from?”…

…which turns out to be a much more fortuitous answer than could ever have been predicted… the response given was from Dave saying “Oh we had this song called Down In The Hammerbox and we liked it so we just used it” and that answer remained stuck in my head for years.
… now skip to 2017 and there I am rooting around in Carrie’s basement for promo stuff for the Goodness on vinyl campaign and there are a couple of reels sitting there… and one of them is marked “Hammerbox – Down In The Hammerbox, Tragic Static, and Under The Moon (which turns out to be a really cool jazzy version)”

And a conversation with Carrie ensues that’s pretty close to “Hey Carrie, are those songs working titles or you know… song songs?” “Oh those? Those are songs…” “Ooooookay, I’m gonna just take this reel off your hands for a moment or two”…

The reels have been transferred and Latent Print Records is getting ready to release these two great songs, marking the early days of the bands start. Recorded in 1990 but (obviously) haven’t seen the light of day… until now.

Please take a moment to check out our pre-order campaign and help us spread the word if you can.

This band means the world to me and I’m so stoked to be able to share these songs with you.