Crust was a musical group from

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

that was active during the late-1980s and 1990s and was featured on

Trance Syndicate Records Trance Syndicate was an independent record label founded in 1990 by King Coffey, drummer of Austin, Texas band the Butthole Surfers.Larkin, Colin (1999) "Trance Syndicate Records" in ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Heavy Rock'', Virgin Books, , p. 4 ...

, a record label run by King Coffey from the

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has ...

. The group's members were John Hawkins (vocals and misc.), Jerry Page (bass and misc.), and Richard Smith (percussion and misc.).

History

John Hawkins, Jerry Page, and Richard Smith formed the group in 1987. Shortly after its formation, the trio (as "Mud Honey") organized and released a compilation cassette, ''The Polyp Explodes''. Along with Crust, the cassette featured the Austin bands Miracle Room, Ed Hall,

ST37 ST 37 is an Austin, Texas-based psych/ space rock band formed in 1987. History ST 37 was founded in 1987 by bassist S.L. Telles, vocalist Carlton Crutcher, guitarist Joel Crutcher and drummer John Foxworth. Telles (previously part of the punk ba ...

, Seemen, and Thanatopsis Throne. The band's early instrumentation included

tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among con ...

s, feedback devices, spring reverberators, and drum machines, but later incorporated traditional rock instruments such as

drum kit A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

and keyboard. The band embarked on a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

of the West Coast in December 1989. Crust achieved some notoriety for their stage antics, which frequently included live earthworms, fresh beef tongues, nudity, and fire. On

Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Ho ...

, 1990, Trance Syndicate released Crust's first EP, ''Sacred Heart of Crust''; it was the first release from the

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

. The trio toured the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

; songs such as "Head Lice" emerged from the group's travel experiences. Trance Syndicate released the band's first full-length album, ''Crust'' in 1991, followed by a second album, ''Crusty Love'' in 1994. The band continued to tour, but scaled back its live performances following a series of mishaps (including one in which John Hawkins was stabbed), finally disbanding after an appearance at the 1997

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

festival. The band performed a reunion show to a sold-out crowd at Room 710 on May 22, 2004 in Austin.

Discography

* 1990: ''Crust'' * 1991: ''Sacred Heart of Crust''(EP) * 1994: ''Crusty Love'' * 1999: ''Food Eater'' (Self-Released)

References

External links

*
Crust
at ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Crust Musical groups from Austin, Texas American experimental musical groups Trance Syndicate artists Musical groups established in 1987 1987 establishments in Texas