Circa1984 Records

Artists: Baldwins

Biography
Coming soon to VH1's "Behind the Music"...*

Where to begin? Well, I guess the beginning's a good place. It all started sometime last Summer, I remember Chris was talking about how he wanted to start a band, even though he didn't really have any musical skills. I don't really know what ever became of that, you'd have to talk to him, but I guess he had a few members and then lost them.

A few weeks later we were talking and he asked me if I wanted to join, since I wasn't half bad at the guitar. I thought it sounded like a cool idea, and so Self Service was born, though that particular name wouldn't come until next year (but how many bands do stick with the first name they think up?) I let him borrow my piece of crap acoustic guitar and taught him how to do power chords and read tabs...we'd hang out and learn Misfits and Alkaline Trio songs. We tried writing a few songs, but only one escaped the grasp of the garbage bin.

I thought it was cool, just the two of us, but then Chris brought Sally in as a vocalist. At the time, I didn't think it was a good idea, but it turned out to be the best thing that happened to the band. Chris saved up money and bought a bass and an amp, and we'd hang out at Sally's, jamming and being miscreants. Enter Will and Izzy, who would join the band on bass and second guitar, respectively. Being fellow fans of the bands I had mentioned earlier, Self Service just clicked.

Though in actuality, we weren't all that organized... Chris wasn't too eager to be the leader, but the rest of us would await his orders. We never did find a drummer, Izzy never became an official member, and Sally never sang with us (not when I was there, anyway), but she did pick us up and let us party at her place, and for that we are eternally grateful.

Only a handful of people who weren't in the band have heard us perform. We never got a gig. The Christmas party we had planned fell through. Will was running into problems. Chris was moving to Ohio. Self Service was dying. The day before Chris would leave, he stopped by my house, and as usual, the first thing he did was pick up my bass. We talked for a while, and then he asked if I wanted to try recording an EP, to which I said "Heck yeah!"

Self Service ended where it had started... just Chris and I goofing around with my crappy acoustic guitar.

_{*I'm just kidding, please don't sue.}

Visit the Self Service website.