Every Song an Anthem.
Every Stage an Arena.
The Hot Lunch appeared mysteriously on the San Francisco rock scene sometime in the mid 1990s. The group was notorious for their secrecy, to the point where, even at its brief peak, the band refused to advertise, be photographed, or otherwise promote themselves publicly in any way. As a result, The Hot Lunch never attained more than a tiny (but fanatical) underground cult status, and their rare live performances were the stuff of confusing, often contradictary, legend.
The band's origins were equally vague. According to a 1997 issue of the San Francisco 'zine Futon Nation, the band's principal songwriters, Wade Camaro and Fred Fempto, grew up together in Detroit, Michigan--a contention apparently backed up by a rare practice outtake entitled "Motor City Mama"--but no one has been able to provide any further information. The ages of the band members--let alone their real names--remains a mystery. Some old-timers in the San Francisco scene insist that the band was actually a direct descendant of The Hot Lunch Program, an acid-tinged Bay Area boogie-rock collective that enjoyed some local popularity in the early to mid 1970s. However, certain female fans refute this, and claim to have intimate knowledge that the band was "still young and hot" during their heyday in the late '90s. The real identity (or even gender) of the drummer, listed on all demo recordings only as "Diamond", remains a topic of heated debate.
The bands influences, on the other hand, were brutally obvious. Adopting the song structures of turn-of-the-'70s rock, the weirdness of glam, the raw energy of Ramones-era punk, and the self-referential subject matter of '80s arena schlock, The Hot Lunch was the kind of band that every 12-year-old boy once dreamed of fronting--big, ballsy, and, truth be told, more than a little naive. The band, with few exceptions, made a point of including the words "rock 'n'roll" in every song, and seemed obsessed with their own imagined fame. The delicious irony, of course, is that a group so wary of the real-life spotlight spent nearly every musical moment celebrating the joys(and occasional heartbreak) of rock stardom on its grandest scale.
By the year 2000, The Hot Lunch had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived, leaving behind only a few home-recorded demo cassettes, a handful of lo-fi rehearsal tapes, and, depending on who you ask, some legendary unauthorized live recordings.
The purpose of this site is to create an official archive of the strange, heavy enigma that was, briefly, The Hot Lunch. If there is anyone out there who has recordings, photos, memorabilia, video footage, or stories having to do with The Hot Lunch, please contact me via this page, as I will be more than willing to financially compensate you for anything that can be confirmed as authentic.
GROUPIES, EX-WIVES, AND LAWYERS TAKE NOTE: This page is in no way directly associated with "Wade Camaro" or any of his aliases. Although no one can be sure, the general (and depressing) consensus is that, soon after the band's demise, Wade succumbed to the usual chemical excesses of the industry, and at this point may even be deceased. The status or whereabouts of the other members remain unknown. Needless to say, anyone with information to the contrary should contact me immediately.
The Hot Lunch may be gone. But, in the words of one of their greatest tunes, "We'll Still Have Rock 'n' Roll"
-- Sean Loche, Number One Fan
