Vanessa Briscoe Front Woman For Pylon Reenactment Society Tells Us The Latest

Interview by GINGER COYOTE

I simply adore my triplet along with Actor Zac Efron.. We met through my former bandmate Leslie Michel in the ’80s. Pylon was playing at the I Beam she invited me to come with her so I saw the legend on stage for the first time. We have been close ever since.. I decided to ask Vanessa to find out the latest with the band .. Please enjoy

Punk Globe: It has been a while since I got to chat with my Libra triplet on October 18th.. — the fabulous Vanessa Briscoe Hay— who provides the pipes for Pylon Reenactment Society. Tell us what has been happening in Athens Georgia.

Vanessa: Since the pandemic, Pylon Reenactment Society (PRS) has witnessed some great album releases by Georgia bands like The Bad Ends and Chickasaw Mudd Puppies. We have seen some great new young bands spring up— like Nuclear Tourism, A.D.Blanco, and Immaterial Possession. The B-52’s played their final official show of their touring days here in January. The University of Georgia football team won the national championship. Our local clubs, record stores and restaurants struggled during the pandemic, but are coming back. Fortunately most made it through —the 40 Watt Club, Flicker, and the Georgia Theater are some examples of clubs that persevered. Some other cities lost excellent clubs we liked to perform at —like Strange Matter in Richmond VA, the Mothlight in Asheville NC, and The Vista Room in Decatur, GA. I hope that your favorite clubs made it through okay. One bright spot for me in the last several years was working on the Pylon ‘Box’ project that came out in 2020. Pylon also got a spot on the Athens Music Walk of Fame.

Punk Globe : How is your lovely family and all in the band? Great I hope!

Vanessa: We are all doing well. Thank you for asking. My husband Bob Hay, front person and primary songwriter for Squalls has reissued and released two albums in the last year. My daughters both live and work in Athens, GA. I see them fairly frequently.

PRS lost two members from the 2015-2019 line-up —Damon Denton and Joe Rowe—Damon and Joe moved on to working on other projects, but we are still all friends. We have now returned to our original four-piece configuration of guitarist Jason NeSmith, drummer Gregory Sanders, bassist Kay Stanton and myself on vocals. PRS is putting the finishing touches on a full-length album.

Punk Globe I notice that you have played in North Carolina— tell the readers about that?

We recently performed two shows at intimate bars in North Carolina with Durham, NC based Secret Monkey Weekend and It’s Snakes from Charlotte, NC. These were our first shows outside of Georgia, except for one trip to South Carolina, since the pandemic. People came to see us from as far away as Philadelphia and Virginia —with many traveling from around two hours away. I was blown away by their enthusiasm and grateful that they wanted to see us.

Punk Globe: Tell us about the band It’s Snakes

Vanessa: It’s Snakes is fronted by Hope Nicholls, the original front person for Fetchin’ Bones. They were a well-known 80’s college rock band who were on the same label as Pylon —DB Recs, She also fronted 90’s band Sugarsmack and 2000’s band Snagglepuss. It’s Snakes marks the return to the guitar by former Fetchin’ Bones member Aaron Pitkin. Bassist Darrin Gray (and former member of Snagglepuss) and guitarist Greg Walsh round out the band’s lineup.

Nicholls took the name for their band from a Lynda Barry comic strip that featured a nonchalant retail encounter with the legendary goddess and first female super-villain Medusa. Both of Its Snakes albums show a wide range of influences and styles that can be traced through their decades-long adoration of all genres—trash and treasure alike. Hope’s voice is one for the ages- equal parts James Brown and Southern punk. She owns a cool clothing and accessory store in Charlotte, NC called Boris & Natasha. You would love it there! All three bands paid close attention and lent encouragement to each other at our two shows. Hope along with Ella and Lila from Secret Monkey Weekend came up to add some “woo-woos” to “M-Train” during our encore.

Punk Globe: Are they local North Carolina bands? How did you all meet?

Vanessa: They are both local North Carolina bands. We met Secret Monkey Weekend last year. They happened to be coming to Atlanta and contacted us to see if we would like to put a show together in Athens. I had heard their album and wanted to play with them, so Jason NeSmith booked us into a local club called Flicker. I first met Hope Nicholls of It’s Snakes years ago when the band Fetchin’ Bones played with Pylon. I also remember meeting them when they played a few shows with my husband’s band Squalls. It was actually Hope’s idea to put this particular bill together. She got my contact information from Danny Beard (DB Recs) and got the ball rolling. Ella and Hope booked the dates.

Punk Globe: And how about Secret Monkey Weekend, another thought-provoking name? At least they, unlike The White Trash Debutantes, can post their name on Facebook and Instagram; they were also on the bill at the Gas Light Drinking Room at The Ramkat in Winston-Salem, NC.

Vanessa: It’s crazy that The White Trash Debutantes can’t post their name. That’s silly. Secret Monkey Weekend is a family trio from Durham, NC whose album ‘All The Time In The World’ was produced by Don Dixon (The Smithereens, REM). The band includes two young sisters Ella (bass) and Lila (drums) Brown and their Step-Dad Jefferson Hart on guitar. Their music is a crystalline, clear rock in the vein of NC rock bands like the DBs and Let’s Active with a fun and special energy that only high school and college-age girls who are sisters can bring to the table.

Punk Globe: Any other killer shows that you have played with bands with great names?

Vanessa: Since the pandemic? PRS hasn’t been out of the state of Georgia much until recently, but we’ve been lucky to play alongside some great bands and musicians at a couple of festivals/events! You can see the full list of our past shows at http://www.pylonreenactmentsociety.com

The Bad Ends
Chickasaw Mudd-Puppies
Columbia SC Museum of Art
Finsterfestr
Flippants
Gang of Four
Go Public
Magnapop
R.E.M.’s 40th Anniversary of Chronic Town Celebration Concert
Savannah Stopover Music Festival
Smithereens
Squalls-22
Tears For The Dying
Vision Video
W8ing4UFOs
We Are Magic
The Wild Jordan Tonk-Cats

Punk Globe: Tell the readers about your single ‘Messenger’

Vanessa: “Messenger” was originally released in 2018 by Chunklet Industries as one side of a 7-inch vinyl single. Tony Brazier shot a video for us using the director Fellini as an inspiration. We also performed this song in the documentary Red Turns into Blue: Athens Inside-Out 2 which came out in 2021. The movie, which was filmed prior to the pandemic, features members of Vanessa: R.E.M., the B-52’s and Pylon, alongside a newer generation of artists and activists including Linqua Franqa, Kishi Bashi, Patterson Hood, and the Drive-By Truckers. It journeys through some of the many social changes we have experienced in recent times both here in the South and nationally. You can watch the documentary on Tubi or the usual streaming services.

We have since re-recorded the song at Chase Park Transduction Studio as a four-piece and it will be on our upcoming album.

The lyrics are a meditation on love, war, loss, and communication. The music definitely has a Pylon influence.

Punk Globe: When and where did you record it? Is it a self release?

Vanessa: Jason NeSmith recorded this single in his home studio/practice space at Bel*Air Studios. It was released by the indie label Chunklet Industries right before our tour to the west coast December 2018. As these things happen, the package got lost in the mail and didn’t make it to the distributor to be placed in the record stores in time for our tour, but we sold it at our shows, It is now basically sold out, but there might be a few copies out there here and there, Our EP ‘Part Time Punks Session’ is back in print on blue vinyl at Chunklet Industries. It was recorded by Josiah Mazzaschi at The Cave in LA before our performance at Part Time Punks in 2016. It was originally released in 2017. You were at that show.

Punk Globe: Tell us about the Athfest Club Crawl at the 40 Watt Club?

Vanessa: Athfest Club Crawl takes place in the evening during Athfest. Athfest is a three-day festival that takes place in downtown Athens, GA. During the daytime, two stages provide free music by local and National artists. A wristband will get you into participating clubs for Club Crawl on both Friday and Saturday night for one price. The 40 Watt Club is conveniently right across from the outdoor mainstage on Washington St. As Gregory Sanders, our drummer puts it—we are going to be the post-punk band in the middle of a goth sandwich, As your readers probably know, “goth” is a branch on the post-punk tree so it’s not a far-fetched lineup, I think it will be a very good show. Opener Tears For the Dying, are a post-punk goth-laced band from Athens, GA who are led by the talented and beautiful trans woman Adria Stembridge. Adria played secondary guitar and keys for us one busy weekend last March when we opened for Gang of Four in Atlanta and then performed ‘Chomp’ in it’s entirety at the Savannah Stopover Music Festival the next day. PRS will be followed by wonderful headliner Vision Video— an Athens goth-pop band currently out on their first European tour. They are developing a national following, so check them out if they come to your area. The night will close with a Post-Punk / Goth Dance Party hosted by two different pairs of DJs —Gregory & Adria and Goth Dad & DJ Twin Towers.

Punk Globe It looks like you and Pylon Reenactment Society have other dates to promote. Do give us the scoop?

Vanessa: We are performing in Knoxville, TN at The Pilot Light with Bark (Tim and Susan Bauer Lee’s project) and Dirty Knees (a Knoxville female-led punk band) on June 9th. On June 10th, we are in Nashville, TN at The Basement with Thayer Sarrano and The Altered Statesman.

Punk Globe: Your thoughts on The B 52’s doing a residency in Vegas? Warhol Boy used to live there so he should be able to show them more than The Strip.

Vanessa: It should be a gas! Wish I could be there, I’ve seen photos of their makeup and outfits, and they look spectacular! I was at their last formal touring show in Athens, GA at the Classic Center and it was off the chain! Everyone in the audience was dressed to thrill and danced the entire time.

Punk Globe: Do you have any Internet addresses you would like to share with the readers?

Vanessa: PRS Web: http://www.pylonreenactmentsociety.com

PRS Bandcamp: https://pylonreenactmentsociety.bandcamp.com/merch

Pylon Bandcamp: https://pylon.band

Artsy: https://www.artsy.net/artist/vanessa-briscoe-hay

Chris Sikich Photography: https://www.sikichphotography.com

Part Time Punks Session: https://chunklet.bandcamp.com/album/part-time-punks-session

Athfest: https://athfest.com

Athens Music Walk of Fame: https://www.visitathensga.com/music/athens-music-walk-of-fame/

Punk Globe: Now the tough one Describe yourself and the fabulous Kay Stanton in 3 words separately of course.

Vanessa: Kay Stanton- badass, bassist, beautiful

Vanessa Briscoe Hay – Mom, singer, artist