“We’re going to beon the same label as some of the bands that influenced usBattalion of Saints…All these early-’80s California bands,” Burning Sons drummer Dan DuChaine saysof the label that recorded and put out records by more than 400 bands.
“[Bands like] RKLand NOFX, Dr. Know, Social Distortion,” offers vocalist Dillon Hallen onBurning Sons’ die-hard influences.
Recorded inMilwaukee with Shane Hochstetler, Burning Sons’ debut release pays tribute totheir label heroes, yet maintains a solid sense of Milwaukee hardcore punk.
“There were bandsfrom the Midwest [on Mystic],” DuChaine explains. “An old band from Milwaukee,Sacred Order, had released a record on there and there was a band from GreenBay, Withdraw, with Jim Baker, I believe; they were on Mystic at one time. Theyhad bands as far away as England and Germany on there too, but predominantly itwas Southern California.”
So how did BurningSons grab a foothold in the very label that inspired them? DuChaine made theconnection through Rush-Mor Records, the store he runs.
“We dealt withMystic Records, which essentially ended in 1990, but a manufacturer anddistributor still keeps the vital material in print,” DuChaine explains. “We’vebeen buying from them for years and I befriended the owner [of thedistributor]. We were just talking and he mentioned how funny to him it was howmuch of the Mystic stuff we stocked and sold. I was like, ‘Well, doesn’t everyone?’He couldn’t believe how much we did, with the Midwest kind of being landlocked;it was more of a West Coast kind of thing. By coincidence, the owner of Mystic,Doug Moody, who’s 83 or so, was there just hanging out and the guy gave him thephone and said, ‘There’s someone you need to talk to.’”
Moody said he wasimpressed by DuChaine’s knowledge of the label’s 7-inch singles, so DuChainejoked, “You should do one for my new band.” Moody took the idea seriously,requesting that DuChaine send him a recording.
“We were rehearsingthat week, so we recorded a rehearsal, sent it to him and didn’t hear anythingback for nearly two months,” DuChaine says. “We get a phone call from him andturns out he was ill and was in the hospital not doing well; he’s resilient, sohe got back and was doing great. He was going through all this mail and hefound this package from us. He listened to it and liked it a lot. He said, ‘Whydon’t we do the 7-inch? It’ll be a one-off. I haven’t done anything in 20years; it’ll be fun.’”
For Burning Sons,the 7-inch is only a taste of the music to come. The bandwhich includes CarlSteinhagen on guitar and Matt Budda on basshas already played a generous 19shows in just six months, and the songs are coming quickly.
“Our strategy was todo a series of 7-inches, but with our current lineup, the way the band iscoming together, it’s prolific,” DuChaine says. “We already have a lot ofmaterial.”
A 7-inch, Hallenadds, is “like a teaseronce you hear it, you like it and you just want more andmore.”
Burning Sons release their 7-inch Masquerade atthe Monkey Bar (1619 S. First St.) on Friday, Aug. 6, at 9 p.m. Also playing:Drugs Dragons, Reckless Reasons and Wing Attack.
