Dead For Tax Purposes

Here

This is the final album we made, recorded over the course of a year at different studios and different geological locations. Mostly from Spring 2005 to Spring 2006. Mostly. -Bruce

1. The New One
2. Ignoramia
3. Plan In Crayon
4. Afuckingwreck
5. Rolling Joints of Vengeance
6. Ice Spiders
7. At the Firing Squad
8. Lovechild Miscarriage
9. Flight of the Nazgul / Gypsy Whiskey Mountain

Dead For Tax Purposes isn't so much of an album as it is a mock-up of what the album would have been if we'd remained a band. The songs here are cobbled together from different sessions and studios and present, in kind of a collage format, a vision of where we could have gone with a second album.

1. The New One: Recorded Spring 2005 at Earhammer Studios in Oakland, CA. You might recognize this version from "The Black Tape."

2. Ignoramia: Recorded Spring 2005 at Earhammer for the Black Tape session. When we went into the studio to do what we became The Black Tape, our intention had been to record a whole second album, but everything took so long, in typical HD fashion, that we only finished four songs before we ran out of time and money, and we decided to release them as a tape EP. Further problems arose when the wrong length of tapes was ordered, and there was no room to fit Ignoramia on side B, so it was replace by a live version of Plan In Crayon. Ignoramia was a staple of our set list at this time, and signified a change in our sound to a (slightly) less stoner style, with the addition of more technical and NWOBHM aspects.

3. Plan in Crayon: Clint, Leo and Bryce's parts recorded at the Dutch Oven, Alameda, CA, 2006. Bruce's parts recorded at Snake Mountain, Rhode Island. After the band was basically done for, Leo, Bryce and I went into the Dutch Oven to record at least "demo-worthy" versions of all the new Hotblack Desiato songs that had not yet been recorded. We then sent the files to Bruce in Providence, Rhode Island, where he took them to another recording studio and overdubbed his guitar and vocal parts. An awkard coast to coast collaboration, indeed, but at least we got it done. Plan In Crayon was our fastest song ever, a pretty blatant Slayer rip off. Again, one of the new directions we were exploring late in our career. The song is about a friend of ours who went insane from doing too many drugs and wrote a master business plan for an evil goth Starbucks... in crayon.

4. Afuckingwreck: Recorded bi-coastal at Dutch Oven and Snake Mountain. Afuckingwreck was a rippin' instrumental that we had been playing for a long time, and originally appeared on our third demo. We were trying to capture a better version here, but I'm not sure if we did...

5. Rolling Joints Of Vengeance: Earhammer. Version from The Black Tape.

6. Ice Spiders: Recorded at Dutch Oven and Snake Mountain. This song was Bryce's baby, and came about when I brought home a copy of the first Iron Maiden, and left it lying about our living room. Bryce soaked it all in and penned this epic tale.

7. At The Firing Squad: Recorded at Dutch Oven and Snake Mountain. Another epic warhorse of the late Hotblack setlist, this heavily High On Fire influenced song was a bitch to play, but sounded really awesome when done right. I don't feel this recording does any justice to how we played it live on a good night.

8. Lovechild Miscarriage: Earhammer. Black Tape. Probably our scummiest, sludgiest song. We were also going to use this recording for a split seven inch with the Concord grind band Brutal Death, where they would have a ten song 45rpm side, and we would have a one song 33rpm side. It even got to the point where RSR records in Germany was almost going to put it out, but it never happened, and both bands broke up.

9. Flight Of The Nazgul/Gyspy Whiskey Mountain: Recorded at Dutch Oven and Snake Mountain. We read some magazine article where a journalist was pondering why no one ever writes epic two part songs anymore like Layla or Rocket Queen or Wheels Of Confusion. We responded with this little ditty. Probably my second favorite Hotblack song, and one that never seemed to fail at bringing down the house in a live setting. This studio version is a little tame, but you get the idea. -Clint

Hotblack Desiato In Print

Years ago, I used to do a very moody, very punk rock styled zine called Stop Go Destroy. In issue number 6, there are a couple of stories about Hotblack Desiato. This one is the ridiculous tale of our first road trip out of town, to a weird party in Eugene, Oregon that we didn't even get paid for. Bryce drew the picture of our van, Molestro. The night in Red Bluff was the subject of the Hotblack Desiato song "Wrath of Shamash."
And what comes now is a little vignette of life at the Hotblack Desiato house (The Secret Volcano Fortress) where we all lived together from the Spring of 2003 to the Fall of 2004. Ahh, let's have everyone live together! And have band practice in the basement! That will be so cool!

Lucy was the pit bull who slept on the couch most of the time and gaurded our weed plants.

One time this guy called us up on the house phone (back when people had house phones!) and I answered
"Secret Volcano Fortress!" Without a pause he asked
"Is Pele there?" Taken by surprise and dumbfounded, wrecked on hash and vicodin and steel reserve, I stuttered
"Uh, who?"
"Pele, at the Secret Volcano Fortress!"
And then I thought of course, why wouldn't Pele (the Hawaiian godess of fire, lightning, dance and VOLCANOS) be at the Secret Volcano Fortress? Very funny dude. I don't remember who that was on the phone. Some friend of a friend. Smartass.

Above: 5757 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland, CA

So that's a trip down memory lane, memories of what it was like to be trapped in a van and a house with the Hotblacks. More coming soon once we dig it up. -Clint