Audio By Carbonatix
Folks, meet my former co-worker Shaun Colon. Shaun and I worked together briefly in 2009 at The Absolute Space, a recording and video studio, as well as 100-room rehearsal facility in Dallas. Absolute is gone now, but the memories remain of aligning with some profound musical talent and pretty cool local industry folk. For instance: on Wednesday nights, Shaun and I would run a party that our pretty laid-back entrepreneur of a boss, Michael Roth, would throw: “Free Beer Open Mic Night.”
The recording studio’s main room (home to Shaun’s Dang! studios and record label) would be set up with full backline of drums and amps (the drums were a kit formerly belonging to Mike Luce of Drowning Pool), and Roth would spring for a keg of suds from Parkit Market, Dallas’ beer keg mecca. It was a great way to discover all the talent that was in the building, and break the ice between musicians that would otherwise be hidden behind closed doors.
“Free Beer Open Mic Night” was one of what seemed to be dozens of projects Colon’ had his hands in. He recorded bands, worked up his own act, Samuell Caldwell’s Revenge, where due to no other choice he was briefly the vocalist as well as their speedpunk machine gun of a drummer as well, and helped run and maintain the large facility.
Since then, Shaun has gotten so busy producing live and studio projects, he’s backburnered being a musician himself. Along with working for Septien Entertainment (covered here in LMM), he’s been moving into video production with some great local talent in that area, and has even been working on a documentary for Fat Wreck Chords that looks pretty cool.
We’re thankful for you. Are you thankful for us?
We feel thankful for our staff and for the privilege of fulfilling our mission to be an unparalleled source of information and insight in Dallas. We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to this community.
Help us continue giving back to Dallas.
It’s been a number of years since I’ve caught up with him, so there was quite a bundle of interesting goings-on in his whirlwind of a world.
First, catch me up on you as a musician. I sense that you’ve been so busy that you’re on hiatus from being a musician…and a very good one at that.
I liken myself to a young Phil Collins, the Genesis era…
Ha!
….but that’s neither here nor there. I’m never really on hiatus from being a musician, but the more projects that come along between DANG!, Septien, Distraction, Open Ended, etc., the less time there is for personal projects, so it takes a little longer between releases and live shows. Also I’ve been working on some tasty drum and bass under the name BadRad, so sometimes that stuff goes under the punk rock radar.
Speaking of punk rock radar, catch me up on Dang!Records! I know about Perdition, but elsewhere I’m behind on Dang!
I dig Perdition as well. Most folks agree, they’re pretty diggable. They just finished up a European tour and got European distribution of their DANG! release, “Hispaniola”, through Gunner Records, as well as having that album nominated for rock album of the year by Ft. Worth Weekly in 2012 and this year for best punk act, so the whole DANG! family is pretty proud of those guys. My extreme modesty prevents me from even mentioning that I recorded, produced, mixed and mastered that album. I’m hoping people will see it in the credits.
What else is up at Dang! Records?
Dang!Records is my attempt to give some sweet music back to a scene that gave me so much rad music growing up. Is that sappy enough? I guess technically we’re a DFW based independent punk rock record label with about 10 bands nationwide, and a few international collaborators. So as of the moment, I’d say we’re going stronger than ever. The releases are getting better and the fan base is growing. That being said, most of us are still holding onto our day jobs. It continues to be a “labor of love” for the time being.
Check out “Flowers and the Earth” by Chicago’s Gunner’s Daughter coming out this fall, and catch them with Perdition @ FEST’12 in Gainesville. Also, Allout Helter’s “Sinking, We Regress” is a record of epic riffness that I would like to point special attention toward. Glue your ears to this for sure! Earlier this year, I ran into you at The Loft, and was surprised to see you working production for an event for vocal instructor Linda Septien’s school.
Sometime around January I shifted my focus into film…and punnery. It started with a few music videos for budding pop icons through the Septien Entertainment Group where I work as the marketing director. I sort of expanded my role into social media management and video production which led to us doing a full production music video, shot on a RED, with a crew of 30 on location in Mineola, Texas for Kaylee Rutland’s “Daddy’s Got a .45”. I pulled in my old business comrade, Johnny Cane from White Cane Films, along with Agora Entertainment to shoot and direct that bad boy, and it was the cat’s pajamas. My assistant producer, Joel Herrera and I ended up doing a “making of” documentary for the video which subsequently was the inspiration for my current project that has me pumped up like a pair of old Reeboks.
So, you’ve moved into video production now. That much I didn’t know. That’s new for you.
Now, I’m working with Distraction Entertainment on a documentary about early Fat Wreck Chords and the first 5 bands: Lagwagon, Propagandhi, No Use for A Name, Good Riddance, and Strung Out. The documentary is to be called “A Fat Wreck” and it is to be epic. Right now we’re in post production of the documentary short which is aimed at pitching the full length documentary to the label,bands, and fans, in hopes for the approval of the idea as well as a crowd funding option. So far we’ve gotten interviews with the likes of Joe Sib (Wax/Side One Dummy Records/comedian), Mike Weibe (Kid Chaos/Riverboat Gamblers/ comedian), Ryan Greene (Producer and Engineer for all of the early Fat Wreck Chords music that you all love), Dave (dyingscene.com), Denise Borders (punkworldviews.com), Lisa Root (New Noise Magazine) and a whole slew of other swell chaps and lassies and even some assless chaps.
I’m also working on 2 other short films. “12 Days In” written and directed by Joel Herrera with Distraction Entertainment and “Ice Cream Social” written and directed by my wife, Jenni Woodson Colón who works as an elementary school art teacher, art therapist, and is a worthy adversary.
How did you end up interested specifically in local music?
In high school I joined a punk rock band called the Jeffersons, which can still be heard in the halls of LHS on a quiet full moon night. After high school I moved with the folks to Florida where I took up techno and worked on my drum chops. After being scouted for a dance show i knew it was high time to mosey back on down that dusty trail. I called my esteemed colleague, Antone C. Enger, and moved back to Texas to start what would be more than a mildly rad band called Samuel Caldwell’s Revenge, and a studio known by the locals as DANG! studios, as a way to get around spendy studio rates. The studio grew itself into a business and the band into a legend in the pages of the history of the future.
How far back does your history go in Dallas music? Fond memories? Alternately, memories of rather dark or crazy moments?
It hasn’t fully developed yet. Most of our history takes place in the future. As far as the history of the present goes, it all began at the Argo in Denton, during the very late 1900’s. That is where I started going to my first punk shows, shaved my head into a mohawk for one of our first documentaries, “FTW”, (which has been lost to the sands of time), and really got my first taste of the sweet nectar of punk rock. Then a few things happened, and that pretty much brings us up to speed on present day. Did I mention I’m working on a documentary about Fat Wreck Chords?
Local music all-time faves?
“The Dish”, known by some as Perdition, Tripping Daisy was sweet, Hagfish, Kid Chaos, Too Hectic, The Grownups, The Jeffersons, Kid Tested, the Pajammas.. I don’t know. I’m kinda thinking music is just a fad.
By the way, did you catch that Nirvana show at Trees where Kurt got in a fight with that guy from Pumpin’ Ethyl? My bass player was in jail with their drummer.
Wow. Speaking of drama…toughest local artist challenge to work with in the studio?
I don’t know if this counts, but here’s one you may remember personally. The guy from Color Me Badd came into Dang!Studios when we were at the Absolute location with Michael Roth to do a session. As it turned out he had fallen off the wagon and went on a two day bender in which, at one point, he was breaking wine bottles to get to the alcohol since there was no corkscrew. That was pretty brutal.
Keep up with DC9 at Night on Twitter or Facebook.
