Since having formed a punk quartet (Chicago’s Verbӧten, featuring Dave Grohl’s cousin Tracey Bradford on vocals) as a precocious 10-year-old, multi-instrumentalist Jason Narducy has kept busy with other bands (most notably Verbow) and as an in-demand sideman with the likes of Bob Mould, Superchunk and Robert Pollard. He’s also releasing his first solo record under the Split Single moniker, Fragmented World (Inside Outside). Narducy will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.
Narducy: In 1998, Verbow got invited to tour with Frank Black and John Doe. It was an incredibly exciting for us because we were such big fans of these two. I saw punk-rock documentary Decline Of Western Civilization when I was 10 years old at the Varsity Theater in Evanston, Ill. X were the most commanding band in that film, mostly because they seemed smarter than the other groups featured. In addition to his music work, John Doe was politically outspoken and had a successful acting career. I couldn’t wait to meet him and watch how he worked.
The tour’s final stop was at the El Rey Theater in L.A. Verbow performed and then John Doe and band started to play. There were two audience members who let it be known that they only wanted to see Frank Black, leaning their backs against the stage near Doe’s microphone stand. He played the set and after the last song, picked up their two beers and poured them over their heads.
—photo by Jason Narducy
