Latvian metal rules!

This is Skyforger from Latvia. They rule. My grandparents, mom, and a bunch of my aunts and uncles are from Latvia; therefore, I am Latvian. I am going to post about Latvia stuff sometimes so please enjoy the Baltic Pagan Rituals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, i drank a couple bottles of this Latvia beer over the weekend. Check it out if you see it in a store which will likely be rare but doable. It is pretty good though.  - pcm

Countdown to SXSW!!!

This year the SXSW music festival will begin on March 16, 2011 and will continue until March 20, 2011.  That's a mere 106 days from today!  We at Planet of the Ape Hangers are counting down the days before we board the plane for Austin, TX and experience one of the biggest music events in the country.  Since I'm guessing this will be a once in a lifetime event for us (because of the sheer cost), I'm going to venture to say that this will be the biggest music event of our lives.

This year SXSW is celebrating their 25^th Anniversary and although many of the details about the event are yet to been released, they have released two impressive lists of invited acts.  The sheer amount of bands that will be crammed into the five day festival is intimidating.  No doubt we will leave Austin with heads ringing and ears bleeding. 

In addition to the music, the festival also includes workshops, unofficial shows, parties, a trade show, and a BBQ/softball game.(i am going to eat so much texas bbq!! to hell with the music!! - pcm)

As the countdown continues, we will be reporting on the details of the festival, particularly the names of all the bands that will be performing.  Attached are the first two lists of bands that have been released.  For more information, feel free to visit the website at http://sxsw.com/home.

- kj

2011 Showcasing Acts

SXSW 2011 First Round of Invited Acts (all subject to change.)
A Place To Bury Strangers (Brooklyn, NY)
Alcoholic Faith Mission (Copenhagen, DENMARK)
Ancestors (Los Angeles, CA)
Apex Manor (Pasadena, CA)
The Appleseed Cast (Lawrence, KS)
Art vs Science (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
Asobi Seksu (Brooklyn, NY)
Babe Rainbow (Vancouver, CANADA)
The Bees (Ventnor, ENGLAND)
Beni (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
Black Math Horseman (Los Angeles, CA)
Black Spiders (Sheffield, ENGLAND)
Bombay Bicycle Club (London ENGLAND)
Braids (Montreal, CANADA)
Brandt Brauer Frick (Berlin, GERMANY)
Brother (Slough, UK)
The Cabriolets (Madrid, SPAIN)
Calder Quartet (Los Angeles, CA)
Candy Claws (Ft. Collins, CO)
Capsula (Bilbao, SPAIN)
Cast (Liverpool, ENGLAND)
Chapel Club (London ENGLAND)
Chico Trujillo (Quilpue, CHILE)
Chikita Violenta (Mexico City, MEXICO)
Clock Opera (London ENGLAND)
Cloud Nothings (Cleveland, OH)
Coliseum (Louisville, KY)
Coolrunnings (Knoxville, TN)
Dam Mantle (Glasgow, SCOTLAND)
Designer Drugs (New York, NY)
Doctor Krapula (Bogota, Colombia)
Dredg (San Francisco, CA)
Ebony Bones! (London ENGLAND)
Ed Harcourt (London ENGLAND)
El Hijo de La Cumbia (Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA)
Erland & The Carnival (London ENGLAND)
Erykah Badu (Dallas, TX)
FM Belfast (Reykjavik, ICELAND)
Frankie and the Heartstrings (Sunderland, ENGLAND)
Fujiya & Miyagi (Brighton, ENGLAND)
Get People (London ENGLAND)
Giana Factory (Copenhagen, DENMARK)
Givers (Lafayette, LA)
Go Back To The Zoo (Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS)
Gypsyblood (Chicago, IL)
The Head and the Heart (Seattle, WA)
High Rankin (Brighton, ENGLAND)
The Holidays (Zetland, AUSTRALIA)
In Fear And Faith (San Diego, CA)
Iron Age (Austin, TX)
The Jezabels (Sydney, AUSTRALIA)
John Vanderslice (San Francisco, CA)
Jon Fratelli (Glasgow, SCOTLAND)
Jonquil (Oxford, ENGLAND)
Kamp! (Lodz, POLAND)
Kids of 88 (Trenchtown NEW ZEALAND)
Klaxons (London ENGLAND)
L.Stadt
Le Butcherettes (Mexico City, MEXICO)
Lia Ices (New York, NY)
Liam Finn (Auckland, NEW ZEALAND)
Light Pollution (Chicago, IL)
The Luyas (Montreal, CANADA)
The Main Street Gospel (Columbus, OH)
Marcus Foster (London ENGLAND)
Mark Eitzel (San Francisco, CA)
Miami Horror (Melbourne, AUSTRALIA)
Micachu and The Shapes (London ENGLAND)
Miss May I (Troy, CA)
MSTRKRFT
Mujeres (Barcelona, SPAIN)
Mustard Pimp (Melun, FRANCE)
Naam (Brooklyn, NY)
The Naked and Famous (Auckland, NEW ZEALAND)
Nite Jewel (Los Angeles, CA)
Parts & Labor (Brooklyn, NY)
Plan B (London ENGLAND)
PS I Love You (Kingston, CANADA)
Pulled Apart By Horses (Leeds, ENGLAND)
Reset! (Milan, ITALY)
Rosie and Me (Curitiba, BRAZIL)
Scars On 45 (Leeds, ENGLAND)
Schlachthofbronx (Munich GERMANY)
Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers (Brooklyn, NY)
Small Black (Brooklyn, NY)
Sol Pereyra (Cordoba, ARGENTINA)
Spleen United (Copenhagen, DENMARK)
Starfucker (Portland, OR)
Steve Mason (Fife, SCOTLAND)
Sun Airway (Philadelphia, PA)
Superlitio (Cali, COLOMBIA)
Suuns (Montreal, CANADA)
The Swiss (Adelaide, AUSTRALIA)
Tego Calderon (Carolina, PUERTO RICO)
Telekinesis (Seattle, WA)
Thiago Pethit (Sao Paulo, BRAZIL)
Those Dancing Days (Stockholm SWEDEN)
Tiê (Sao Paulo, BRAZIL)
Toro y Moi (Columbia, SC)
Veronica Falls (London ENGLAND)
Vicente Gayo (Mexico City, MEXICO)
The War on Drugs (Philadelphia, PA)
WhoMadeWho (Copenhagen, DENMARK)
Wild Flag (Portland, OR)
Wye Oak (Baltimore, MD)
Young Legionnaire (London, ENGLAND)
Yuck (London ENGLAND)

Second round of 2011 Showcasing Acts!
*added 11/23/2010. all subject to change. more announcements still to come.
Alberta Cross (Brooklyn NY)
AM (New Orleans LA)
Asking Alexandria (York UK-ENGLAND)
Bajzel (Poznan POLAND)
Bare Wires (San Francisco CA)
The Bellrays (Los Angeles CA)
Benjamin Francis Leftwich (York UK-ENGLAND)
Beta Wolf (Los Angeles CA)
Bituaya (Caracas VENEZUELA)
Black Gandhi (Barcelona SPAIN)
Bleu Edmondson (New Braunfels TX)
Blue King Brown (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Bowling For Soup (Denton TX)
Carter Twins (Nashville TN)
Casiokids (Bergen NORWAY)
Chetes (Monterrey MEXICO)
City and Colour (Toronto ON)
Colleen Green (Los Angeles CA)
Curry & Coco (Lille FRANCE)
Dame 55 (Los Angeles CA)
Dawn of Ashes (Los Angeles CA)
Dax Riggs (Austin TX)
The Dears (Montreal QC)
Demon's Claws (Montreal CANADA)
DeVotchKa (Denver CO)
Eliza Doolittle (London UK-ENGLAND)
Elizabeth & the Catapult (Brooklyn NY)
Endless Hallway (Los Angeles CA)
Fergus & Geronimo (Brooklyn NY)
Francis and the Lights (New York NY)
Frazey Ford (Vancouver BC)
Gary Wilson (San Diego CA)
Gepe (Santiago CHILE)
Grass Widow (San Francisco CA)
Grieves with Budo (Seattle WA)
The Happy Hollows (Los Angeles CA)
Harrys Gym (Oslo NORWAY)
Heavy Cream (Nashville TN)
Hell & Lula (Los Angeles CA)
Hey Rosetta! (St John's NL)
HORSE the band (Los Angeles CA)
Ice Black Birds (Brighton UK-ENGLAND)
J Mascis (Amherst MA)
Janka Nabay (SIERRA LEONE)
JEFF The Brotherhood (Nashville TN)
Joan of Arc (Chicago IL)
Jukebox the Ghost (Washington DC)
Kina Grannis (Mission Viejo CA)
Kopecky Family Band (Nashville TN)
La Sera (Los Angeles CA)
Locos Por Juana (Bogota COLOMBIA)
Maps & Atlases (Chicago IL)
Mexican Institute of Sound (Mexico City MEXICO)
Middle Class Rut (Sacramento CA)
Morning Teleportation (Portland OR)
Murfila (Barcelona SPAIN)
MURS (Los Angeles CA)
Noah and The Whale (London UK-ENGLAND)
North Mississippi Allstars (Hernando CO)
O'Death (New York NY)
Onra (Paris FRANCE)
Parlor Mob (Red Bank NJ)
Paul Cary (Chicago IL)
Pedropiedra (Santiago CHILE)
Pernett (Cali COLOMBIA)
Prince Rama (Brooklyn NY)
Professor Green (London UK-ENGLAND)
Protistas (Santiago CHILE)
Pterodactyl (Brooklyn NY)
Pujol (Nashville TN)
Quintron and Miss Pussycat (New Orleans LA)
Rey Pila (Mexico City MEXICO)
Rosie and Me (Curitiba BRAZIL)
The Secret Handshake (Dallas TX)
Shuttle (Boston MA)
Skrillex (Los Angeles CA)
Slim Cessna's Auto Club (Denver CO)
Some Community (Sao Paulo BRAZIL)
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (Springfield MO)
Sounds Under Radio (Austin TX)
The Strange Boys (Austin TX)
Stephen Kellogg (Northampton MA)
Summer Camp (London UK-ENGLAND)
Suzanna Choffel (Austin TX)
Teen Daze (Vancouver CANADA)
Thee Oh Sees (San Francisco CA)
Tôg (Stavanger NORWAY)
Turbo Fruits (Nashville TN)
Ty Segall (San Francisco CA)
The Vaccines (London UK-ENGLAND)
Voxhaul Broadcast (Los Angeles CA)
Wagons (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
War From A Harlots Mouth (Berlin GERMANY)
Whitechapel (Knoxville TN)
The Woggles (Atlanta GA)

...the best Black Sabbath cover...

if you have a distortion pedal, or some kind of overdrive or want to play any kind of heavy music in general, at all, chances are pretty high that Black Sabbath is a major influence.

and why shouldn't they be?

there isn't an answer, they just should be.

chances are even higher that you've figured out a song or two.

if you (and/or your super awesome band) are playing music at all well, chances are also high

that when you first met you played through some Sabbath to feels things out.

many bands have actually taken this riff worship to the next level and played the song in front of people.

this, waaaay more often times than not, is a huge mistake.

don't cover Sabbath, just don't.  there is little hope that you can do it justice.

BUT, i'm not saying every band to cover Sabbath has made a mistake in doing so,

there are actually some covers that i really like.

from atop me head i can think of:

Sepultura doing 'Symptom of the Universe'

Apostle of Solitude doing 'Electric Funeral'

Faith No More doing 'War Pigs'

but for me, the best of the best, without a doubt in my mind,

is Goatsnake doing "Who Are You"

they make it slower, they make it heavier, they somehow make the strings part more interesting, and they are a rock solid band, so the musical performance and lyric delivery is flawless.

in the very rarest of occasions, i'd rather hear their version than Sabbath's.

and i don't think that is anything to take lightly.

 

say what you want about releasing a cover on your own album, i think (if it is done well) then it is awesome.

and, most tribute albums are bullshit, so having these gems on a band's own release is even better.

go get Goatsnake/1 + Dog Days (this is a two album on one CD release that is still in print) and hear it for yourself.

plus, everything else Goatsnake does is flawless fucking awesomeness, you'll dig it.

hear goatsnake's verison here

-worm

(worm is on point about the awesomeness that is goatsnake...more to come about them for sure. -pcm)

The Astronomical Kid - Stop Looking At My Mom!

-kj

another El Skitzo creation

and its another VN800... i've already posted about his triumph, but here is his first build. dig it!

-pcm

7.5 ?'s with Apostle of Solitude

Apostle of Solitude is a phenomenal metal band... I won't even just call them just a doom band. They just rule. Go listen to them or peep them live if you haven't already. Corey Webb was kind enough to answer some hard hitting questions for POTAH. Here ya go!

 

1. Last Sunrise is one of my fave albums of 2010. Its damn heavy, EXTREMELY catchy, original, and sincere.  Whats your favorite track on it and why?

 

Thanks, brother.  That is sincerely appreciated and really means a lot, especially coming from you.  My personal favorite from Last Sunrise is probably "December Drives Me To Tears".  I like the "wolf in sheep's clothing" thing between the lyrics and the music, especially during the first part of the song.  The heaviness of the lyrics are somewhat shrouded by the non-heaviness of the music with the piano, and the pretty little melody and all, which is kind of cool to me.  This is a fun one to play live too; especially the later part of the song where I really get to loose my shit.   

 

 2. some people hated the cover art. did you tell them to "suck it"? 

 

Haha, yeah.  You know how we roll.  That was actually my exact response to a similar question we did for the "upfront profile" thing for Decibel magazine.  Sadly, that part didn't make the final edit that was printed.  We knew full well going into it that a good percentage of people would be alienated by the artwork, or would just flat out  hate it.  Not that our intent was specifically to alienate anyone, but we intentionally wanted it to be atypical or even beyond what is typically acceptable for a doom metal album.  We stand behind it 100% though, and wouldn't change it if we could.  It's art, you know, and you can't win 'em all.  If you remember, we posted the album cover art on a couple of websites a good month or so before we released any of the tracks, and it was sort of funny to see the reaction it got from some people before anyone even heard a single note.  I mean, there's no fire, wizards, or battle scenes, so it can't be metal right?  It fits perfectly with the theme of the album, and I think it could not be any more metal.  

 3. Whats your favorite place for tacos in indianapolis?

 

I'm biased, but I've gotta say my in-laws' house.  My wife is Mexican, and my father in law can put it down with some marinated and grilled carne asada tacos with all the fixins, and fresh pico de gallo and nopales made by my mother in law.  It rules.  Aside from that though, La Bambas is usually a required stop on my way home from the Mel.  Damn I'm hungry now, haha.   

 4. Plans for AoS in 2011?

 

We've got two separate split releases coming out in early 2011.  There's a split 7-inch record coming out on Blood & Iron records with Dawnrider (from Portugal), and also a 3-way split with Rituals of the Oak (Australia) and The Flight of Sleipnir (US) being released by Eyes Like Snow as both a gatefold 12-inch record and digipak cd.  The Blood & Iron release will have one exclusive song, and the Eyes Like Snow split will have 2 exclusive songs.  We recorded the songs back in September with Rob Lemen of Heroes Laid To Rest fame at the helm.  Tom Roosa just finished up the mixing.  We just started writing for the next album, and there are some other things brewing that will be made public soon.  We're playing the "Days of the Doomed" fest in Kenosha, Wisconsin in June, and we're planning on doing about 2-3 weeks of shows in Europe in the fall, which we are immensely looking forward to.  

 5. In the show King of Queens, who is your favorite character and why?

 

 I don't really watch much tv, but I'd have to say Carrie for purely superficial reasons.  

 

 6. Would you please tell us about your drum set-up for the gear nerds?

 

1980's Ludwig Rocker Elite drums (with a non-matching 18-inch Premier floor tom).  These were previously Bob Fouts' drums, and I believe the same ones he used on the recording for About The Fire's Rights of Passage album.  I think those were the drums he used for that; you may remember.  I've got a Paiste china, and the rest of the cymbals are all Zildjian.  21-in Z custom "mega bell" ride, 18-in A Custom crash, 19-in Z custom rock crash, and 15-in A custom rock high hats.  Old English Malt Liquor next to the kick pedal.  

 

7. What are six things you'd buy at walgreens that are less than $10 each?

 

 "Classic rock" cassette tapes, recordable cds, jersey gloves, slim jims, nacho cheese combos, Hemmings Motor News, bubble tape, big can of arizona green tea, incense, and some WD-40.  Sounds like an awesome Friday night! 

.5   .......how'd it get to be so messy?

 

 Unchecked cowardice and ignorance, and generally just a gross failure by humanity to keep it real, ever.  The internet has propagated an alarming rise in studio gangsters in essentially all facets of society, and quite frankly I'm sick of it. 

hahaha!!! hell yea! much love to my brothers in AoS. thanks corey! - pcm

peep these dudes on their facebook page or via the labels, yo.

Apostle of Soliddudes FACEBOOK FREEEEKOUT!!!

http://www.profoundlorerecords.com/

eyes like snow

Kyuss my ass

I first heard Kyuss sometime in the early nineties on a free sampler cassette I picked up at the westside Karma (a local record store located at 38th and High School Road in Indianapolis...go see Worm there). I thought they sucked.  But at the time i was probably freaking out on rage against the machine or something. Not that there is anything wrong with that i guess...Well I haven't listened to RATM in years but have since come around and rock Kyuss on the regular. I also dig most of the bands that spawned from Kyuss. But recently I caught wind of a Kyuss reunion. Might be old news? i dunno... I don't like band reunions. I get tempted to check them out, but usually don't end up going because i don't want to be disappointed and have it spoil the band's music for me. I've probably missed out on a lot but whatever (I didn't go see Sleep... i'm a huge fan.. Sleep related tattoo and all, but i don't give a shit about seeing them live now really. I heard the shows were great, though, so i probably fucked up). I just don't get the whole reuniting of bands i guess. "It was what it was. Leave it alone." are usually my thoughts on the matter. I recently did a couple shows with an old band I was in because a couple of the guys really wanted to do it for whatever reason and had talked about it for years. I had not much interest in doing it but went along to be a good sport. Don't get me wrong, the shows were fun and awesomely received, but whats the point? Money? fuck that... reliving the glory days? no interest, fuck that. Nobody liked us then, but we got popular when we broke up? nah...  Anyway, i digress a bit. Kyuss is apparently reuniting as Kyuss Lives, but without Josh Homme. To me he's pretty much a key figure with him and John Garcia being the only constants if I'm not mistaken. Now, I realize that he has tons of money and is famous now, and his old band mates could probably use the dough that this will generate, but still... to me it just doesn't seem right. I think Homme's quote on the matter sums up how I feel about this stuff in general:
"The offers come in all the time. They're getting more and more expensive, and more and more elaborate. The money is crazy, but I've never been tempted – I don't really care about the money, I never have. That's not what Kyuss was about, so to punctuate the end of our sentence with that would be blasphemy...Kyuss has such a great history that it would be a total error. I like that nobody saw Kyuss, and that it was largely misunderstood. That sounds like a legend forming to me. I'm too proud of it to rub my dick on it." 
 With that being said, if Kyuss Lives ever comes to Indy, I'll most likely be there... - pcm

108 Deathbed.. hardcore y'all

7 .5 questions with PCM

This was worm's idea. i'm a celeb, so it works....

Q - "Wich do you prefer:  Watermelon Jolly Ranchers in Zima, or running a highly successful blog like planetoftheapehangers.blogspot.com?"
A -  The life of a highly successful blog executive is so lucritive that it doesn't compare to anything. I prefer salty drinks anyway. Beef jerky in vinegar with a shot of Absolut.

Q - "When you start getting stupid rich off advertising and porno reviews, are you going to buy your dream bike?  Describe it for me will ya?"
A - Since this will undoubtedly happen, I will use my earnings to build a 70's style chopper. No specifics but something like this:

Q - "Would you care to indulge us on your favorite concert moment from your Harakiri days."
A - Well some of my favorite moments were eating flaming hot cheetos for the first time in boston and totally killing it for 2 people in New Jersey somewhere. Actually our cd release shows were the best. New England HC/metalfest was fun too. Pissing of the Hellfest people with Kalibas was fun too... I could go on and on. Matt's curly and waxed moustache back in 2000 before it was trendy like it is now was some pretty groundbreaking shit. pic of kent from Harakiri's sweaty ass in studio:

Q - "You once ALMOST ate a tornado from a Speedway that, "Just isn't yet ready bro."  How do you think this affected your guitar playing?"
A - Man, that tornado probably would've made me way better. I should've fought that dude.

Q - "Johnny Cash once got his belly sliced open by an Ostrich, what would you tell him about the upcoming Bulletwolf album?"
A - That it the greatest rock record in all of history to be recorded by a band from Indianapolis with Don E. Curtis as the drummer. Also it heals belly wounds with its majestic riffs. Seriously. 

Q - "WOAH, what the hell was that?!?!"
A -  The Haley's Comet Memorial Matchbox car i once had. RIP.

Q - "Did you have any GOBOTS (those generic Transformers) as a kid."
A -  hell yeah. I'm from the westside. A lot of times we didn't have Transformers money. I've even had transformable toys that were more generic than GOBOTS. Probably got them from Big Lots.

q - "...well, isn't it?"
a -  it sure the hell is.

- WORM

knuckleheadz

I just wanted to look at some knuckleheads while eating my lunch banana and decided to share a few that i peeped. 

7.5 questions with Iron Bob Fouts

Our first in a series of regular features in which we ask super famous celebrities super serious questions and a half. The inaugural features has the world famous Bob Fouts answering 7 and 1/2 inquiries via the hard hitting investigative interviewer that is Worm.

 

7 & 1/2 questions with...Iron Bob Fouts: 

Q - How you doing brother?  "What would you listen to while drinking forties with E.T.?

A - I would say W.A.S.P "self titled," to get the party started, then some og Cube or Too Short to keep that shit straight G and then of course we would hit up some tacos.

 

Q - How are things going with Basement Rage Studio?

A - Good man.   Finished the Goliathon recording a wile back, actually just got some copy's of the cd from the dudes this week; looks and sounds pretty damn good.  I think.right now im finishing up Steel Aggressor, which is a old school melodic thrash metal project.  I played all the drums on it as well.  It should be out first of next year on a label called Stormspell out of Cali.  After that's wrapped up, I"ll be taking a break til Jan 2011.

Q - Got any Christ Beheaded, or your new project, Chrome Waves info/updates you wanna hip us to?

A - yea!  Chrome Wave is a new project I'm doing with my good friend Jeff Wilson (ex Nachtmystium).  We have a little over an EP's worth of stuff recorded/being recorded as we speak and it should see a release my February/March of 2011.  At this point its just a studio project but we might get the itch to do some gigs/touring at some point next year.Christ Beheaded has plans to write this winter and hopefully record a full length next year as well.  We write pretty quick when we get together but that's the big issue, we never get together, haha.  Everyone is doing a ton of stuff so its hard sometimes.  I'm pretty sure we are playing a local show in January.

Q - I think you once told me that, "living in the past is dangerous," Do you think that Marty McFly would listen to this advice or be all like, "Fuck you man, i gotta get to the Fish Under the Sea Dance"?

A - Marty would not listen to that shit from me or anyone else.  His "future" was at stake, son!

Q - Phil Lynott vs. Brice Dickinson in a game of Yahtzee. Who wins and why?

A - Bruce would take that.  As much as I love'em both, I think Phil would be nodding off around his second roll.  He liked to party like that, ya know, haha.

Q - What do you think is a "typical fat-chick" name?

A - Tabatha or Jennifer.  Lots of swollen hoes rock those two but im a fat dude, so i can't really clown.

Q - Same here, I've been packing on the winter weight.  Any new music hitting your ears lately? I know you got the used vinyl buzz lately, any sweet finds?

A - My last vinyl haul was all old 80's metal records, but new stuff, the new Terror record is like the perfect hardcore record.  I love it and that band.  Prolly the only band that sill makes me wanna jump on peoples heads at a live show.  Just heard some of the new Deathspell Omega that comes out this month.  Those french fucks are so twisted.  The most insane black/death you are prolly ever hear in your life.  Also this band from sweden called Ghost.  Great retro occult hard rock/metal, very early 70"s inspired.great stuff.

q - hottie cooleys?

a - "I might have invented them but either KJ or Chis gave them their moniker.  An american classic snack, for sure!"

thank you Mr. Fouts for your time. you are a stand up dude, a totally awesome drummer and you rule at life.

check out his studio at - http://www.myspace.com/basementrage

Christ Beheaded - http://www.myspace.com/christbeheaded666

Chrome Waves - http://www.myspace.com/chromewavesofficial

-worm

El Skitzo's Triumph Chopper

I lurk on plenty of motorcycle related websites readin' and creepin'. I love reading about people who build their own bikes. Especially people who don't really know what they are doing when they get started, but are brave enough to dive in anyway. I guess I am a bit jealous because I don't often have the courage to rip into my stuff whether it be my bike, truck, or one of my guitars. Sheridan (El Skitzo as he is known on the interwebs) is not like me. He decided he wanted a custom bike and did it. He built a sweet bobber out on a Kawasaki vn800 (more on that bike in an upcoming post) and then built the sweet ride you see below. Skitzo told me: "The Kawasaki Bobber (VN800) was my first bike ever. I'd never ridden bikes before this one, and never worked on bikes before this one, but I knew I wanted to customise something into a cool old school looking bike so I had to start some where."  

That was then, but this is where he is now...I'll let him describe this awesome Triumph!
 
This bike was originally built about 20 years ago, and was very well built and has been well maintained over the years, but was a real ugly duckling when I found it. Thankfully for me there wasn't much in the way of repair work to be done, and I could focus on what I do best which was the cosmetic upgrades.The experience I'd gained off the Kawasaki build was invaluable and with this bike I expanded my skill set even further and gained some great new highly skilled contacts too, as there is a lot more custom one off parts and fabrication involved in this bike.

 The bike is running a T140V 750cc engine backed by a right side shift 5 speed. It's kick start only and the battery has been eliminated altogether. The rigid frame is a one off custom that was made here in Australia and the quality is top notch!
 

 There's still a couple of little changes I wouldn't mind making to it, but for now I'm just enjoying riding and showing it, both of which it does well at. I don't know if there's another bike in my future but I certainly hope there is. I feel the last step up for me now is to do another rigid chopper but running a Shovelhead or a Panhead. I think I've learned enough now from what I've done in the past to make that final step up, so we'll see what happens...

Thanks for the pics, words, and inspiration!!!  - pcm