No Consensus
From The Secret History of the Cedar Valley
Contents |
History
Band Formation
No Consensus began in 1996 from Joe Riehle/Chuck Hoffman collaboration Bludy Noz. After recording a few tapes together, Hoffman suggested that they put together a full band lineup that could play live shows. Riehle enlisted 14-year-old Steve Wilson, who had already wandered into Bludy Noz's first recording/jam session, which took place in the Wilsons' living room. That session had resulted in the song "Modem," a lengthy three-chord jam built around Riehle's explaining to Ben Wilson the process of logging in to a dialup BBS.
Riehle and Hoffman had originally become aware of each other via such BBSes (of which Riehle himself actually operated one) as well as through Hoffman's self-released cassettes via the TapeSNotRecords label, and ended up becoming friends and musical collaborators after a chance in-person meeting. "Modem" was fleshed out with intricate vocal interplay by Riehle and became the new band's first song; depending on the lengths of the guitar solo/jam sections, the song would vary between seven and sixteen minutes in total length.
After a couple rehearsals using a Casio keyboard's preprogrammed drum beats, Riehle enlisted Mike Hays to be the band's drummer, using the same improvised drum equipment as was being utilized by Angry Cops, who were forming at about the same time. Hays's qualifications as a drummer consisted largely of having played tympani in the school orchestra and having a green mohawk, but he took to the kick-drum-less kit quickly.
Origin of the Band Name
Initially named "Bludy Noz Duhlux," No Consensus took their catalog from Bludy Noz's TapeSNotRecords cassette releases, including the songs "Anarchy Evermore," "Eric," and "You Gave Me Your Dog" (a remake of a song by Hoffman and Tim Bennett in Master Cylinder). Before long though, the four were writing new material collaboratively, and it was clear that what they had on their hands was not just an extension of Bludy Noz but a new band in its own right. This realization led to an all-afternoon argument over what the band should be called. The matter was declared settled by Riehle with the statement, "obviously we have no consensus here." The moniker "No Consensus" stuck, and became symbolic of the band's argumentative style of democratic songwriting, which eventually extended to all aspects of the band's presentation and image.
No Consensus soon begun playing shows, but would often borrow Seth Nieman's (of Slughive and later the C.F. Sound Station) drums so as not to look too amateurish in front of a live audience. Soon they relocated their practices to the home of the parents of The Wagner Quartet's Cory Wagner because Wagner's sister had an actual drum kit, and Hays eventually figured out how to use the kick drum. In the Wagners' basement, No Consensus forged new material and recorded their second cassette album, What Stupid Does. Later, the band purchased the red Thor drum kit from the Wagners and moved their base of operations back to Riehle's house.
Addition of Jon Grim to the Band
During the years 1996 through 1998 the Ragman Records stable was expanding, thanks to Ruth Riehle's openness to having bands practicing in her house all the time. Angry Cops and Symphon-E were still active, and new bands such as Page 5 Girl, The Wagner Quartet, and What If The Man? were playing shows and releasing tapes, or in many cases just releasing tapes, while sharing members, equipment, and space with No Consensus and each other. Steve Wilson was in the early stages of becoming a studio whiz and was overseeing much of the recording. No Consensus performed frequently around Cedar Falls and self-released a number of cassette albums, both as No Consensus and through a tangled web of home-recording experimental side projects.
In 1997, upon hearing at a party at the home of Page 5 Girl's lead singer Steve Potter of Heroic Nonsense's breakup, Chuck suggested, half-jokingly, asking guitarist Jon Grim to join No Consensus, and this came to pass. The resulting three-guitarist lineup ushered in yet another advance in the group's musical style, with dense guitar interplay and raw volume becoming major elements in increasingly complex, new songs.
Soon, No Consensus were making inroads outside the confines of Cedar Falls, performing in Des Moines, Iowa City, and Ottumwa, and having an ongoing amicable relationships with eastern Iowa bands The Eggnogs, The Pogos, and later Frodoe, which helped them to line up gigs in those towns. They had also begin adding elaborate dramatic routines, props, and costumes to their show.
Final Years
Troublesome changes were afoot as the 21st century began. Ruth Riehle would soon move from her Olive Street residence, leaving the band without a stable practice space, and the closing of Stebs plunged the Cedar Falls music scene into a difficult period without a stable venue. Band members were graduating high school and facing the prospect of leaving the Cedar Falls area for other pursuits.
A somewhat incoherent period followed for No Consensus. Hays left for Oakland, and while the band still performed with him (usually on auxilary percussion) when he visited Cedar Falls, they could not or did not want to find a suitable replacement for him for the rest of the time, and began trying to compensate by trading off instruments in different songs and incorporating different instruments such as trumpet and accordion, as hinted at with the song "Space Is Not Enough" from the CD The Moving Version 1.0b. Sometimes the results were quite excellent however, as on their three-date mini-tour with Circle Of Willis, which began at The Boat House, hit the obscure punk festival NickFest (on a homemade outdoor stage outside Mankato, MN) and would up at Minneapolis's 7th Street Entry. During this stint the band introduced some intriguing new material and initially sold copies of Version for "$5 or best offer," (offers such as 3 cigarettes, 2 dimes and a pack of gum were often taken). With Hays exiled to Oakland, the band also made attempts to make up for the loss in sex appeal by wearing no shirts durring performances... or at least a few band photos.
This experience would end up being nearly the band's last hurrah, however, but for one more show much later at The Reverb, and another at that venue that was booked as No Consensus and was actually arranged and performed by Joe Riehle (who had the rights to the name, according to a strange gentleman's agreement hatched among the band members) and a cast of other musicians (including Mike Hays, Rock's Chosen Warrior, and Jeff Moravec) performing various songs, poems, and percussion improvisations. With band members balancing other obligations (or in some cases, other bands, as Hoffman's band E.D.I.T.H./Exit Drills was on the ascendancy) it became difficult to schedule practice/recording times that worked for everyone. The band was in the midst of demoing new songs for what would have been their most creative and complex album to date, however the aforementioned strains started taking their toll. Practices or recording sessions would often be short at least one member. The album was never finished and the band never had a full practice again. In the early 2000s, Grim moved to Minneapolis and Riehle to Tennessee, then Seattle. Eventually Wilson joined The Beat Strings, then later moved to San Fransisco and then Olympia, where he has rejoined forces with Riehle in a new group featuring other CF natives Stacy Peck, Matthew McGuire, and Mark Wilson. The new group is called "Thunder Ridge". Ironically, both Peck and Guire were original members of the band Hoffman left No Consensus for.
Impact
The after-effects of No Consensus's freewheeling creative nature continue to be felt in the Cedar Falls, with current bands such as The Power Plant and Green Party Jedis citing them as an influence.
Band Members
- Joe Riehle – Vocals
- Chuck Hoffman – Guitar
- Steve Wilson – Bass
- Mike Hays – Drums
- Jon Grim - Guitar
Interpretive Dancers
- Andy Orlowski- Andy, the interpretive dancer
- Zeke - Interpretive dancer for a performance in Ottumwa
- Brad Brandhorst - Minimalist block
- Rock's Chosen Warrior- Rock's Chosen Warrior
- Cory Wagner- The Pumpkin
Discography
 Self Released Cassette 1996? |
 Self Released Cassette Ragman Records 1997 |
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Self Released Cassette Ragman Records 1997 |
 Self Released CD Ragman Records 1998 |
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Self Released Cassette Ragman Records 1998 |
 Self Released CD Ragman Records 2000 |
 Poopsicle Records PR011 2001 |
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Self Released CD Ragman Records 2002 |
Reviews
- Patrick Wittle of MUSE wrote:
"Stirred and re-stirred with obscure and standard instrumentation, seasoned with layering effects and dual, even triple vocal harmonies, the flavor of the album has hints of 80s new wave in the vein of Eddie & The Blanks and SimonSpeaks!, post-rock a la Seth Thompson and Desert Fish, even a dash of Tom Jones, all the while maintaining a distinct sound for the aural palate that is unique unto itself."
- Andy Fuchtman of the Waterloo Courier wrote:
"This is a band composed of nearly-grown-up annoying little brothers who may be geniuses, but who also may be in need of institutional assistance... Listening to the music one gets the impression their entire oeuvre represents a massive, long-term inside joke."
Lore
- The unfinished No Consensus album has numerous times been rumored to be again in production by some fraction of No Consensus.
- At a performance in Ottumwa, the band drank from bottles of Hy-Vee Red Pop labeled "Alcohol" and munched Tic-Tacs from bottles marked "Pills," and after badly pretending to play to a recorded track, acted out dying of overdoses, with the exception of Mike Hays, who then resurrected them from the dead with bad singing; throughout the remainder of the set, band members had turns taking over control of the band by threatening the others with toy guns.
- No Consensus entered the Cattle Congress Battle of the bands in 1999. only five bands entered that year. The judges wrote reviews for the performances. No Consensus' received poor reviews with comments such as "Lion needs to stop jumping and singing at the same time" Bear should stop jumping off stage" in the end the band did not place in the top three, but they did get a "free" pizza... or if you count the cost of entrance into the battle of the bands, they recieved a $40 pizza. The band spent the rest of the night in costume and hunting vampires in the the cattle congress grounds, at one point disgusing themselves as vinyl siding salesmen (and actually commandeering a vinyl siding booth in Estel Hall).
- On the way to a show in Ottumwa, Jon and Steve drove in a Jon's minivan separate from the others. driving on the highway past the town of Hudson Iowa, they suddenly heard a loud SMASH against the side of the vehicle. for a split second they caught each others confused expression but consfusion quickly turned to dread when the looked in their rear view mirrors and saw a small boy rolling across the highway. Jon screamed "HOLY SHIT! WE KILLED A KID!" as he slammed on the brakes and the two ran out of the car as they ran towards the boy, he got up and started getting back on his bike. Confussion returned as Jon and Steve asked if the boy was ok... he kept shouting "I'm fine! LEAVE ME ALONE!" as he rode off. somewhat unsure what to do, Jon and Steve returned to the car. the big question on both their minds was "How is it, that a car driving 65 MPH down the highway, could strike a child on a bike, and he could simply get up seemingly unhurt?" upon quick inspection it became clear, that infact, THEY had not struck the young biker at all... HE had struck them. In the middle the Mini-van's sliding door, was a huge dent, and paint from the colorful helmet that the boy was thankfully wearing. This only took seconds to figure out, and the boys quickly decided that it was important that they make sure the boy was ok... and at the very least let his parents know what happened. They did a Quite illegal U-turn on the highway and started following the boy home. The boy continued to shout at them "I"m fine! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" they decided to fall back and watch which house he would enter. the boy entered a home, and jon went to the door to explain what had just happened. The Parents of course thankful their boy was not crushed, explained that it was his first time going to town by himself. the boy had quickly gone to tend to his scrapes as to be sure his parents didnt find out. So in the end, Boy was alright, the parents even took care of the damage done to Jon's Van. Jon and Steve got back into the Van, and continued on the way to Ottumwa, I'm not much for math, so I can't say how many miliseconds were at play, or what effect even the slightest change in the speed radio of the car to the bike would have had..... but, whatever decided the fate of that day, everyone involved narrowly escaped a potentially awful situation.
Photos
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Memories/Anecdotes
- Blake Badker:
When Blake Badker and Jim Averill were the sweet ages of 19 and 18 respectively they sat up at like 5am after a high school keggar at Jim's gone parents house and listened to his moving version CD start to finish. And this is a testament to No Consensus' interesting factor because Averill is known for never listening to an entire CD without putting in another. They ate a frozen pizza and had their super-final, final beers of the night. It was summer and they were young and impressionable and No Consensus was loud, weird, local, and rocking. Good times.
