About Me
But what of the rumours of Hagfish recording in the nude? "Ah, no. We had talked about it though, actually," says Zach. "There's no telling with us. Can't talk about not doing it!" The other rumours are true, however -- parts of Hagfish's albums were recorded sans clothing, at least by some members of the band: "George did, yeah. To break sort of the monotony he got naked and did cartwheels and stuff. To loosen his voice up, he drank cognac and scotch, and he got real fucked up and got naked." Zach laughs, "It took him like forever to do his overtracks."
From deep in the heart of Texas, HAGFISH are dressed to kill and ready to rock you into retardation with their Self-titled, third full-length on Honest Dons Lame Ass Recordings!
Recorded and produced by Bill Stevenson and Stephen Egerton at the Blasting Room in Colorado ensures that the 15 songs are sonically fit. But its the distinct crooning of George Reagan mixed with the manic guitar-pick slides of Zach Blair and the thunderous rhythm section of Tony Barsotti and Donnie Blair that slides HAGFISH into home base! These guys are single-handedly puttin the ROCK back into punk rock! Thats a capital R-O-C-K to you buddy!
Most of the songs on this record are about women, women and women. Love songs about love and that kind of stuff, the kind of songs people love to hear. The light heartedness is broken by the song "Fruity", which chimes in on a serious note, focusing on the discrimination of people in same sex relationships. Ballsy song writing, especially for four straight guys from Texas! In the end its just like all the other tracks, another great sing along tune which will hopefully trick some jackass into opening up his/her mind to some new area of thought.
If for some strange reason their recorded rock isnt enough to win you over, just wait until you see them live! Drum stick twirling, one foot on the monitor, crowd-taunting rock that will have even the tamest of show goers pumping a fist and singing along!
Dont think for a minute that these guys are new to touring. Theyve toured across the U.S. and Europe with the likes of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bad Brains, Supersuckers, Reverend Horton Heat and the Offspring just to name a few.
Everythings not just bigger in Texas! Its better too! Hagfish has consistently been at the top of their field in the Lone Star State. Its time for the rest of the world to join the ranks of those "in the know." All things said, HAGFISH are nice guys!
Taken from the Honest Don's Records Website.
Hagfish is one of the missing links between punk rock's first invasion of the mainstream at the hands of Green Day and the Offspring, and the genre's mass acceptance via sugary-sweet punk rockers like Blink-182 and Lit a few years later.
Formed in Dallas, TX, by vocalist George Reagan III, guitarist Zach Blair, his bassist brother Doni, and drummer Tony Barsotti, the band quickly became press darlings, rising through the ranks of the local club scene and being voted Best Local Live Band. After introducing their powerful Ramones-derived minimalist punk rock sound with 1993's Buick Men (issued through independent Dragon Street Records), Hagfish was handpicked as the "next big thing" by author George Gimarc in his best-selling book -Punk Diary 1970-1979.
Signing with London Records, the band retooled much of their debut into 1995's wonderfully obnoxious Hagfish...Rocks Your Lame Ass!, which had many enthusiastic critics jumping on board and touting them as next in line for Green Day's punk rock crown. But their promise never translated into album sales, and after being rejected by London (which subsequently dropped the group), 1997's simply titled Hagfish was eventually released independently.
The band never recovered their original impetus, but has continued to tour sporadically between breakups and makeups, releasing 1999's Caught Live and 2001's That Was Then, This Is Then.
~ Ed Rivadavia, All Music Guide.. width="425" height="350" ..HAGFISH - "STAMP" Video.. width="425" height="350" ..HAGFISH - "HAPPINESS" Video
