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From The Desk Of The Ladybug Transistor: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ “Southern Accents” MTV Documentary

The Ladybug Transistor formed in Brooklyn in 1995, and frontman Gary Olson has been the band’s sole constant member. Clutching Stems (Merge) is the group’s seventh album and the first to be made following the 2007 asthma-related death of drummer San Fadyl. Since, the band’s lineup has solidified behind Olson, featuring Kyle Forester, Julia Rydholm, Mark Dzula, Eric Farber and Michael O’Neill. The Ladybug Transistor will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with Olson.

Kyle Forester: I’m really fascinated by people who punch walls in anger. A friend of mine who’s a drummer and a schoolteacher couldn’t play for months because he did that over frustration in school. Well, Tom Petty did that during the making of Southern Accents. He talks about it in this MTV special from 1986, now available on Vimeo. Also, the Heartbreakers do a Beatles-style impromtu roof-jam thing, but in St. Petersburg, Fla. Most of it takes place in Gainseville, where the Ladybug Transistor had a memorable stop on the Florida leg (five shows; it was great!) of our tour with Starlight Mints. I think Southern Accents is Petty’s Further Adventures Of Charles Westover, but I probably just think that because of “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”