The world of music lost one of the finest songwriters and human beings we had when Lorain, Ohio’s own Jason Molina passed away this March. As we mentioned back then, Jason had many close personal connections to Aquabear Legion, Aquabear co-founder Todd Jacops grew up with Jason and played in bands with him including the original version of Songs: Ohia and their high school band Spineriders and we were left with heavy hearts. Almost immediately a decision was made to find some way to honor Jason’s memory. Given Aquabear’s mission it made sense to do something with the over 20 year old Spineriders recordings, Jason’s band before he was in Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. Aquabear started talking to our good friends Leo DeLuca (of Misra Records, Southeast Engine), fellow Spineriders Carl Raponi and Mike McCartney, and Dave Straub (of Cleveland Continental, and countless Cleveland bands over the years) and Misra Records offered to put out Spineriders Hello Future Tinglies as a limited edition cassette only release (its original format) as a benefit for the Musicians Emergency Medical Association, they are a wonderful non-profit organization that offers help and assistance to musicians in getting healthcare. Something that Jason and many other musicians and artists often cannot afford on their own. Please pre-order this amazing album and piece of Ohio music history, your purchase supports a just cause and the memory of one of the finest musicians to come out of Ohio. It comes with a download, and there is a special package with a limited print from Spinerider Carl Raponi. Help spread the word and share this post and link, you can also take a look at the article on Pitchfork from July 25. Thanks to all who made this happen.
PRE-ORDER NOW:Â misrarecords.com/store/
Spineriders – Hello Future Tinglies
Members:
Todd Jacops
Mike McCartney
Jason Molina
Carl Raponi
Where From:
Lorain, OH
Year Formed:
1988
Hello Future TingliesÂ
Proceeds to the Musicians Emergency Medical Association
In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Jason Molina played bass and sang backup vocals in the Spineriders –– a Lorain, Ohio punk band attending nearby Admiral King High School. Our aim in unearthing Hello Future Tinglies is to provide an invaluable window into the life, circumstances and experiences of a young Northeast Ohio native whose extraordinary gift would grow, take form and awaken the world in innumerable ways.
Great artists rarely uncover their muse overnight. Inevitably, it is the summation of their life experience. Before Jason Molina was known as a beautiful, heart-wrenching songwriter, he was an angst-ridden teenage bass player. The Spineriders provide the context within which one of independent music’s most beloved artists was born.
The official release of this material is born out of a friendship between Todd Jacops (founding Spineriders and Songs: Ohia member) and Leo DeLuca (Misra Records manager) –– both Ohio natives. Todd played on the debut “Nor Cease Thou Never Now†7†(Palace Records), the “One Pronunciation of Glory†7†(Secretly Canadian’s second release), Songs: Ohia (debut LP), andHecla & Griper. After Jason passed away, and the original Spineriders were consulted, the two decided to excavate Hello Future Tinglies.
The 1991 recording is being issued on cassette –– an effort to stay true to the times. Spineriders drummer Carl Raponi produced a limited run of Jason Molina screen-prints for the occasion and Jacops created an online memorial at spineriders.com. With the approval of the Molina family, all proceeds will go to the Musicians Emergency Medical Association (memafund.org). We hope you enjoy this artifact.
Reilly Lambert, an old, dear friend of Jason Molina, looks back on The Spineriders
The first time I met Jason Molina was at a local metal show at the Lorain, Ohio community center. It was around 1988 and we were all wearing jean jackets and sporting mullets. My friend Jeff had been talking about how cool Jason was for days. When we were first introduced, I expected him to be six-feet tall.
Jason was a genuinely great guy from the second we met. He commanded the room (in this instance, he commanded the sterile hallways of a Lorain community center) and possessed a confidence I saw over the years in many different places. It was as if he knew the venue by heart, leading me around to show me how things worked. Jason was at home where music was played. Looking back, I see that it was his passion that came across in meeting people and sharing his love of music.
One could say Lorain created the Spineriders, but that would be too poetic. It would give the Rust Belt a glory that it doesn’t deserve. The Spineriders were a result of the culture. Lorain was a factory town, and there were unspoken rules of conformity that begged for resistance. They knew what they wanted before they could express it. Barely old enough to drive, they had this amazing ambition to create something new.
I could go on about their punk and metal influences and even how Jason introduced blues folk to everyone in the band. However, doing that takes away from the music that these four kids created on the rusty shores of Lake Erie.
The band was Jason Molina on bass, Todd Jacops on guitar, Carl Raponi on drums, and Mike McCartney on guitar and vocals. Everyone who heard the Spineriders started a band. In Lorain, that was about fifteen of us.
The Spineriders made a name for themselves by competing in high school talent shows and battle of the bands competitions around Cleveland. I always got the idea that they did the high school talent shows on a lark, and they all seemed to have smirks on their faces as they played. Â When they won a Battle of the Bands, they won studio time. Chris Keffer, a judge at one of the battles, produced their records. He introduced them to the studio, showing them how to work in it, and essentially becoming the fifth member of the band.
Their demo got them gigs at clubs around Cleveland. They even rented a community center in the area with other local bands. Somehow, they managed to get a decent enough crowd to cover the costs of both a P.A. and the room itself.
As they got older, their music got better, more intense. And with all high school bands, they eventually split up due to everyone in the band moving on after graduation. Todd went on to record more music with Jason on breaks from college. In 1994, they recorded songs that were completely different than what the Spineriders had produced. It was a new direction that would eventually evolve into Songs: Ohia. Todd and Mike played on early Songs: Ohia records: the debut “Nor Cease Thou Never Now†7†(Palace Records), the “One Pronunciation of Glory†7†(Secretly Canadian’s second release),Songs: Ohia (debut LP), and Hecla & Griper (Todd only). Carl went on to become a drum and bass DJ. Todd and Mike play in bands to this day.
I can go on for hours about how Lorain, Ohio is a shit town, but I won’t. Jason and I would talk about how much we hated it, about how we never wanted to go back. When I listen to the Spineriders now, I remember that period as such a creative time for the band and for everyone involved in the scene. Going to their shows and listening to their music gave me my best memories of Lorain. The background in music and the drive to be creative would shape them for years, especially Jason, who had ridiculous drive and creativity. He was prolific. I imagine Lorain is part of the darkness he always wrote about.
In 1993, I asked Jason what he wanted to be when he grew up. He’d just finished his first year at Oberlin College. He was disillusioned about school and dealing with financial aid. It was a sunny day. He was playing a beat-up acoustic guitar, fitted with nylon strings. There were only five strings on it and tuned in some odd way that he was fond of.
He stopped strumming, looked in my direction and said, “I want to be a rock star.â€
– Reilly Lambert
May, 2013
Track List:
Side A:
1. Intro
2. Hello Future Tinglies
3. Instrumental 2
4. Thunder Junkie
5. Instrumental 8
6. Acid Man
7. Instrumental 3
Side B:
8. Instrumental 7
9. Stupid
10. Instrumental 5
11. Moon Syrup
12. Instrumental 1
Recorded by Chris Keffer • Magnetic North Studio • Cleveland, OH • 1991
Released in conjunction with Aquabear Legion and Cleveland Continental.