Econochrist was an influential and highly revered
early 90s hardcore band. The lineup originally featured:
Ben Sizemore - vocals
Markley - drums
Andy Christ - bass
Jon ??? - guitar
Ben, Markley and Jon formed a band in
Little Rock, Arkansas while the members were still in junior high, calling themselves
Father Asshole. The band was short-lived and played a few shows, including the
Arkansas College anti-apartheid rally. Then, in
1986 the three started a new band called
Criminal Mischief. Around this time things started to happen in Little Rock and a
scene began to really develop. A guy named
Robo started putting on hardcore shows at a venue called
The Annex. Many of the classic hardcore bands of the era came through and Criminal Mischief, being one of the town's few hardcore bands, got to open most of the shows. Eventually the band's bass player, a wealthy kid named
Jason, started to grate on the others so they kicked him out. He was replaced with Andy Christ (real name
Andy Branton) and Econochrist was born.
The four clicked immediately, forging a strong and unique sound that would later be copied and built on by countless bands. It was essentially the sound of aggressive and powerful hardcore punk, backed with
nimble, punchy bass lines. Andy's
western cow punk bass playing merged perfectly with the rest of the band's straight-up hardcore attack. The scene in
Little Rock really started to kick off at this point, and it centered around Econochrist and it's members, who lived in a squat in western Little Rock that was constantly filled with punkers (and complete with a
homemade skate ramp).
They played many shows around the Arkansas area as well as in
Memphis. They released a
demo tape and a
7" EP titled "
It Runs Deep" on Memphis-based
Truant Records. In about 1988 the band and many of it's friends decided to pack up and move to the
East Bay. This pretty much destroyed the scene in Arkansas - the Annex closed down and Little Rock's other premier hardcore band,
Trusty, moved as well, to hardcore historical landmark
Washington, D.C.
However, in the
East Bay scene Econochrist flourished. They decided to replace Andy Christ - in a controversial move with the band's longtime fans, when Econochrist moved to
Oakland they re-recorded their first album with new bass player Jon and changed the cover to feature Jon instead of Andy. This didn't bring Andy down, who went on to play with bands like
Hell's Kitchen and
Samiam. Econochrist joined the ranks of the
Gilman Street punk scene and became much adored by the area's punk rockers. They continued to release records, play shows, and tour the country until
1993, when they decided to split up.
The members of the band have all moved on to other things now: Ben Sizemore is now an elementary school teacher, after spending time councilling street kids at the
Haight Ashbury Free Clinic. Jon is now apparently "
married to his dog" and working on a new musical project. Andy Christ has been keeping a low profile but is surely still kicking ass somewhere out there. Markley now drums for
Strychnine, which also features members of fellow East Bay hardcore band
Filth.
My favorite description of Econochrist goes something like this: "The thing about these guys was that
they lived and breathed hard core punk rock. They
lived in shitholes,
toured on a shoestring, but most importantly they played kick-ass music." They will be remembered forever by the fans and the many bands they influenced - their signature
sweaty, hard-driving punk backed with
clear and punchy melodic bass lines developed into the sound of East Bay punk, as played by such luminaries as
Jawbreaker,
Green Day, and
Rancid (who Econochrist played
$2.00 house parties with when they were still a
trio with no record).
ECONOCHRIST DISCOGRAPHY
Demo tape (198?, self-released)
"It Runs Deep" 7 inch EP (1988, Truant Records)
Appeared on "
What Are You Pointing At?" compilation, two songs (1989,
Very Small Records)
"
Ruination" LP (1990, Very Small)
Split 7 inch EP with
The Detonators (1990?
Insurrection)
Appeared on "
Give Me Back" compilation (1991,
Ebullition)
Appeared on "
Very Small World" compilation (1991, Very Small)
"
Another Victim" 7 inch EP (1991,
Vermiform - repressed on Ebullition)
"
Trained to Serve" LP (1992, Vermiform - repressed on Ebullition)
"
Skewed" 7 inch EP (1993, Ebullition)
(A lot of this information provided by my good friend
Paddy Bollocks, who grew up in Arkansas with Econochrist and joined them in
San Francisco in 1989. Thanks Paddy.)