Click here to download the Faceplant Discography
Welcome to Vegas Archive, a feature where we re-release music from local bands that are gone, but certainly not forgotten.
Today we’re bringing you tunes from Faceplant, a hardcore/punk band that was active in the late ‘90s and early 2000s. We chatted with drummer Robert “Bob” Dawson about the band’s beginnings, tours and end.
Faceplant has an all-ages reunion show tonight at 11th Street Records, and then a 21+ affair tomorrow, Nov. 12 at the Dive Bar.
How did Faceplant form?
We all grew up from the west side. There were two bands from my high school: DNA and Red Handed. Both of those bands broke up and, together, we got into the mishmash known as Faceplant. This happened in the end of ‘97, early ‘98.
How was the scene back then?
It was cool! There were a lot of good things going on. KUNV, the independent radio station, was playing Rock Ave., where they’d play some really cool music after 8 p.m.
Then there’s the fabled Huntridge Theater. It was really cool. The bands were different in the mid-’90s. It started getting weird with metal and hip-hop elements fused together. There were a lot of those rap/rock bands, but Faceplant played with more of the hardcore crowd. We played many shows with bands such as Disgruntled, Curl Up and Die, Civic Minded 5 and a band called Faded Grey, which started later. Funny side note: Ryan Butler of Faded Grey actually recorded the first Faceplant record.
It was such a cool time. Everybody was doing things themselves. We mostly played in two kinds of venues: Deserts or house shows. [For most of us], it was during the weird time between being underage and of age—18 to 21.
Faceplant went on a few tours. How were they?
We did a West Coast tour with Civic Minded Five over three weeks. We were dialed-in with those people for the life of the band.
A year later, Larry Bough of Life’s Torment—who is an integral part of Faceplant, got us to tour through Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Montana and down the seaboard.
One of our last trips was in 2003 with a band called Capitor from Denver. It was mostly regional; we did the West Coast. We got to do three days with a young Municipal Waste. They were just little guys at the time.
What’s your favorite show you’ve played?
There are a couple that stand out. One of them is New Year’s Eve of 1999. We played a big ass show in the desert, and the bill was mostly Vegas bands. The venue was somewhere at the end of Jones—you can’t even get out there anymore—and the venue was called New Tunes. It was a really cool show. I have a picture somewhere that shows us having three bonfires going at once. It was basically a huge party.
The other one that comes to mind is when we played with Straight Faced and Ignite at The Sanctuary. We did really well that show, and those are bands we enjoyed and looked up to.
Other than that, we played lots of skatepark shows with Phobia. They’d come through Vegas every two or three months, and they’d always play a skatepark! I guess they had the crowd to do it.
Why did you break up initially?
Well, it wasn’t really a break-up; we kind of just petered-out. Me and Larry Bough rented a house at UNLV, which eventually became a jam spot for Faceplant and some other bands. Everything went well for some years. Then we went to record what would be our last record in San Pedro with Mike Lab. He was interning at a studio, so he hooked it up with good rates and a nice studio. At the end of the day, it was like pulling teeth recording. I guess it all just came down when Eric [Robinson] got mad, then he moved to Seattle. We all moved on. Artie [Dobney] already had a baby at that point, and he was busy being a dad.
We all met and jammed when we were 18-20 and when we got to our mid-20s, we had different things in mind. It just happened naturally, but we played our first reunion in 2005 and it was the same people playing the same show. It was nice.
Faceplant went under several names such as Evil Twin. Why is that?
We found out there was another Faceplant from L.A. We actually booked a show with them, and it became the “Battle of the Faceplants.” [Laughs.] Those guys were more into the Red Hot Chili Peppers kind of sound, but they were really good. They ended up beating us, so we got pissed, turned over and decided to change the band name. First it was Evil Twin, then we went back to Faceplant, then we went by Hunting Accident.
Now, we just call the band Faceplant to minimize confusion. We suffered an identity crisis for a long time. [Laughs.]
Faceplant reunited in 2014 at Backstage Bar & Billiards.
That show had a really good turnout, and it was a lot of fun! We played with Self Destruct—another one of the bands we played shows with early on. It’s just so much fun. I’d come down on weekends just to jam out, and we decided we felt like we could do it again. I think we’ll do it every couple of years. I know it seems kinda stupid to be all throwback-y and nostalgic, but we wrote a lot of good music, and when we play together, it’s a real treat. We’re not cashing in; we’ve never been about that.
You’re playing with Back Stabbath, Lost Lands and Life’s Torment at 11th Street Records Nov. 11, then again at Backstage Bar and Billiards the following day. Why two shows?
Beau [Dobney] brought up the idea to do an all-ages show, and an adults-only show. Part of the reason is because everybody has kids who wants to see us, then we’ll party with friends. It’ll be a real treat.
No Comments