The man, the myth, the friend

When's the last time you read something but had to stop because you were about to cry? I just received a copy of the zine that was handed out at the memorial gatherings for my friend Lance Hahn. Remember how I just wrote The Clash was one of my favorite bands? Lance's DIY punk band J Church is the other one. He played everywhere from basement shows in the south to huge festivals in Europe, and exhibited ridiculous amounts of intelligence, melody, and heart.


I couldn't attend either of the functions, which took place in San Francisco and Austin, because of mag deadlines, so I placated myself with the fact that I was editing down my own tribute to Lance comprised of memories for mutual friends. In fact, I've been thinking about Lance nonstop since he passed away in October--not only working on the article but also making a J Church mix CD to play in the GR stores and give to friends who worked on the latest issue. I've literally heard Lance's voice every day which, in a way, that made the loss more tolerable.


But reading stories and hearing the voices of other people who miss him is something else. So are Lance's own words and scribblings, and especially the Post-It notes that he wrote to Liberty, his longtime girlfriend. I was getting along fine beforehand, but now my heart feels like it has been crushed...

The zine is heartfelt and powerful, and reminds me that more than half of what was handed over to me for the article was cut. So many memories, so few pages. One day, hopefully soon, I'll post the unpublished recollections--maybe on this blog. The zine also prompts me to finish off the CD so the GR stores can play it when the issue with Lance's article arrives.

If you want to assemble your own mix CD, here's the playlist. It's got 25 songs, clocks in just under an hour, and leaves plenty of gems, covers, and more experimental stuff for a second volume:

Fascist Radio
Open Road
Racked
Tide of Fate
Sleep
Yellow, Blue and Green
Bomb
Sacrifice
Travelers
The World's Tiniest Violin
Flirting with The Bourgeois Dream
Crop Circles
She Says
If I'm Lonely
Lama Temple
Sound of Mariachi Bands
Alone When She Dies
Dramatic History of a Boring Town
My Favorite Place
November
Panama
Petrograd (Cringer)
Blasphemous (Cringer)
Confession (Cringer)