Table of Contents
Scaterd Few
Punk Rock
Burbank, California, USA
Scaterd Few was a Christian punk band originating from Burbank, California. CCM magazine described their music as “pure punk for dread people,” stating that it was a cross between Jane's Addiction and Charlie Mingus.
Allan Aguirre was sent to Guatemala by his parents right before his 16th birthday to get him out of the punk rock lifestyle of Los Angeles. He was there for about three years with his missionary Uncle and family. He came back to the United States to join a religious commune in California. On the way to Colorado, he stopped in Burbank to visit family and friends. He started writing songs with his brother Omar and visiting his brother's church. An elder at that church approached Allan to record the songs and lead an outreach to the alternative youth in Southern California. This elder funded the recording of this first demo in March 1983 in a studio in North Hollywood. Aguirre decided not to go to Colorado.
Aguirre, then known as Rämald Domkus, started calling around to find Terry Scott Taylor. He eventually got a hold of Ed McTaggert, drummer for Taylor's band Daniel Amos. After describing his band to McTaggert, McTaggert said he would pass the information on to Taylor. Taylor called back later and the two decided to meet. This led to Taylor agreeing to produce a new demo. Allan and Omar found two more people to complete the band and spent the next two months practicing and writing songs.
In June 1983, Scaterd Few went into White Fields studios to record an 11-song demo with Taylor as the producer and Thom Roy as the engineer. Some of the material from this time was later released on their album Out of the Attic. They attempted to shop the material around to Christian labels, but none were interested. The band continued on and off until 1985, performing live about a dozen times. In 1985, Aguirre made a tape of the material that would later become Out of the Attic and ended the band. The band's sound man Drew Fischer started playing the tape at shows around the nation, and people would sometimes recognize Aguirre from that tape.
Aguirre formed a general market band called Cygnet in 1986 with his brothers Omar and Drew. This band became the blueprint for Allan's later goth band Spy Glass Blue. Cygnet lasted until about 1989.
While watching the Tiananmen Square Protests on TV in 1989, Aguirre wrote a song about the incident called “Tiananmen Square.” He also had a vision of his band playing Cornerstone in 1990, so he called his brother Omar and made a plan to get Scaterd Few back together. They had their brother Drew join them, but couldn't get Cygnet guitarist Paul Figueroa to join. They found Sam West to play drums and started doing some shows, as well as writing new songs and re-writing old songs.
Aguirre reached out to Terry Scott Taylor again, and after seeing a few shows, Taylor was able to convince Frontline Records to sign the band as “the next Undercover. Working again with Taylor, as well as Gene Eugene, their first new material was released in 1990 on Alarma Records. Sin Disease was critically well received, though its lyrical content and rumors (of being Rastafarian and not traditional Christian) caused a national pull from Zondervan Bookstores. The band played Christian festivals such as Cornerstone, but they didn't limit themselves to Christian venues. They toured with secular artists such as Bad Brains, and would play at explicitly non-Christian events such as an Earth First event. The band ran into further trouble in 1991 when, in an interview, Aguirre admitted to smoking pot. These factors led to the band being dropped from Alarma's roster.
Their next effort at making an album, which eventually resulted in the 1994 release of Jawboneofanass, was a direct result of the aftermath of Sin Disease. The album was recorded three times. The first time, the band again worked with Gene Eugene and Terry Taylor. This recording was made for the general market under the auspices of Vox Vinyl. The second recording was done with Dave Hackbarth (of the band Undercover) and Terry Taylor for Micheal Knott's Blonde Vinyl Records. Neither of these versions were released. The third version was produced independently with assistance from Mark Rodrieguez of Mortal / Blood fame.
The release coincided with the re-release of Out of the Attic on Flying Tart Records. Out of the Attic is a compilation of material from Scaterd Few's early existence - the 1983 to 1984 time frame. The release shows the roots of Scaterd Few in early 1980s punk rock. The sound is raw and rough, but clearly shows the origin of many of the Few's later sounds.
In the winter of 1995, their manager, Tim Cook, secured a recording contract with Tooth & Nail Records. Artistic direction and personality differences between members caused the band to part ways in early 1996. Allan immediately started working on new material and Spy Glass Blue was officially born.
In 1998 Allan once again rebuilt Scaterd Few with an all new lineup, and Grandmother's Spaceship was released on Jackson Rubio.
Their most recent material, Omega No. 5, was released in 2002 on Allan's own label, Accidental Sirens.
Discography
1983 | First Demo | |
1983 | 11-Song Demo | |
1990 | Sin Disease | Alarma Records |
1991 | Out of the Attic | Sacrosanctus Records |
1994 | Jawboneofanass | Sopa Records |
1994 | Out of the Attic (reissue) | Flying Tart Records |
1998 | Grandmother's Spaceship | Jackson Rubio Recordings |
2002 | Omega No. 5 | Accidental Sirens |
2015 | Sin Disease (vinyl reissue) | Burnt Toast Vinyl |
First Demo
1983 Independent
Rämald Domkus (Allan Aguirre) – Vocals on track 1, guitars, drums
Omar Domkus – Vocals on track 2, bass, BGV
Lou Becaria – Lead guitar on track 2
- Gave Us Life (2:28)
- Untitled (1:29)
This was the demo that got Terry Taylor’s attention.
11 Song Demo
1983 Independent
Allen Pelerin – Vocals
Rämald Domkus (Allan Aguirre) – Guitars, BGV
Omar Domkus – Bass, BGV
Brian Anderson – Drums
Produced by Terry Scott Taylor
Songs include:
- P.T.T.C.P. (1:52)
- The End (2:48)
- Anti-I’m Right (1:37)
- Anti Ape (1:48)
- Tid Bit (0:16)
- Death (0:40)
This was originally an 11 song demo produced by Terry Scott Taylor. The songs listed above were the only ones released on Out of the Attic in 1991. The names of the other songs recorded at this time are unknown.
Sin Disease
1990 Alarma Records (CD09218)
2015 Burnt Toast Vinyl (BTV 100)
Rämald Domkus - Vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, percussion
Jamie Mitchell - Electric guitar, backing vocals
Omar Domkus - Bass guitar, backing vocals
Samuel West - Drums, percussion, backing vocals
Terry Scott Taylor – additional string arrangements on “Look Into My Side”, additional voices
Riki Michele – female vox on “A Freedom Cry”
Jav – additional BGV’s
Drew Domkus – additional keys on “Look Into My Side”
Ed Lover Tools – additional guitars
Greg Flesch – lounge piano & horns on “Kill the Sarx II”, additional guitars
Produced by Rämald Domkus, Terry Scott Taylor, and Omar Domkus
- Kill the Sarx (1:26)
- While Reprobate (1:41)
- Beggar (2:22)
- Lights Out (2:51)
- Later (LA 1989) (3:37)
- Groovey (2:56)
- Glass God (No Freedom in Basing) (2:08)
- As the Story Grows (1:28)
- U (1:53)
- A Freedom Cry (2:30)
- Scapegoat (1:17)
- Wonder Why (1:36)
- DITC (1:09)
- Self (1:13)
- Look Into My Side (4:09)
- Kill The Sarx II (Apocalypse) (7:05)
Out of the Attic – Circa 83-84
1991 Sacrosanctus Records
1994 Flying Tart Records (TART1001)
Rämald Domkus (Allan Aguirre) – vocals on track 1, guitars on tracks 1-11, drums on tracks 12 – 20, BGV
Omar Domkus – bass, BGV, vocals on track 2
Lou Becaria – lead guitar on track 2
Allen Pelerin – vocal on tracks 3 – 20
Brian Anderson – drums on tracks 3 – 11
Andy Zachari – guitars on tracks 12 – 16
Ben Eschbach – guitars on tracks 17 – 20
- Gave Us Life
- Untitled
- Death
- Echo
- Sin Face
- T.T.C.P
- The End
- Anti – I’m Right
- Anti Ape
- Tid Bit
- Death
- Tid Bit
- T.T.C.P.
- Gave Us Life
- Anti Ape
- Anti-I’m Right
- Tid Bit 2
- Ratzak at the Beach
- Wipeout
- Solo
Jawboneofanass
1994 Sopa Records (SRD002)
Allan Aguirre – Lead vocals, acoustic guitars, keyboards, percussion
Paul Figueroa – Electric guitars, samples
Omar Domkus – Electric fretless, acoustic/electric fretted bass
Drew Domkus – Keyboards
Samuel West – Drums, percussion
Jyro – Additional keyboards on “Once Upon”, other vocals
Edie Goodwin – Female voices
Eric Clayton – Other vocals?
- Witchcraft (3:04)
- Dreams (4:04)
- Sinking in Sorrow (4:21)
- Sheets (4:09)
- Stretch (4:10)
- Once Upon… (3:38)
- Oom Pah Pah (2:03)
- Reel Not Real (4:53)
- Holding Stare (4:33)
- Dame (3:56)
- Ransom (4:18)
- Pinnacle (4:26)
Grandmother's Spaceship
1998 Jackson Rubio Recordings (JRD106)
Allan Aguirre – Vocals, acoustic guitars, keyboards/treatments
Russell Archer – Electric guitar, special effect, keyboard, background vocals
Steven Meigs – Fretted, fretless bass guitars
Steve Martens – Drums, percussion
Cristina Aguirre – Background vocals in “Vanishing”
Lee Harbaugh – Trombone
Joshua Pyle – Keyboards, sampling
Corin Aguirre – Bobby in “Bobby’s Song”
Diane Morren – Grandmother in “Bobby’s Song”
- Space.Junk
- Lullaby
- Win.the.Fisher
- Arbitrator
- Future.Love
- Species
- Incorruptible
- Vanishing
- Suspension.My.Love
- Bobby's.Song
- Twinkling.of.an.Eye
- Wormhole
- Splendor
- As.The.Story.Grows V.2
Omega No. 5
2002 Accidental Sirens (ASCD05)
Allan Aguirre - Guitar, vocals, drums
Brad Bevill - Guitar, backing vocals
Chris Smythers - Bass, backing vocals
Letha Gaines – vocals on “Rise Up”
Raymond Abbey – vocals on “Rise Up”
- Run if You Can
- Resistance
- Fair is He
- This is…
- Rise Up!
- Parental Advisory
- Anybody - Everybody
- Shark Attack
- Camel Crawl
- Tomorrow
- Only
- Sleeper
- Life Bleeds Out
- Sheol
- Secret - Secret
- Untitled