There have always been the kind of acts to me that leave you feeling odd, off balance and confused.  These bands and movies, books and pieces of art, disturb at first, but once you lock into what they are trying to do, you burst out in laughter, in how well they disguised their intentions.  After that, the overwhelming feeling of being blown away sets in.  You find beauty beneath what you see, and you’re lifted by it.  It picks you up and cradles you in its arms, and then swallows you into its belly.

The Yard Dogs did that to me.

I pulled into Asbury Park and I could feel the weird electricity that emanated down 4th Ave.  I pulled the door open, or maybe it was pushed, and walked into the Asbury Lanes, and began to hover above the floor, like a plastic puck floating above an air hockey table.  The walls were lined with bowling pins painted by my heros, and I bought a Bethany Marchman, Big Eyed girl with a cupcake, shadowed by a clown from hell’s circus.  Every piece there was great in its own way, and had I the resources, I would have bought the building, so I could have every one of them.  

The Yard Dogs were setup in the middle lanes of a bowling alley transported back in time with a space aged retro fashion feel.  Everywhere were ultra-cool, hardcore hotrod beatniks, painted black.  Before the show even began, you knew you’d be seeing something special, and you’d be transformed like the bowling alley had been. The Yard Dogs were like a cartoon carved out of real life, written and animated by Tom Waits, Dr. Seuss and David Lynch.  Asbury Park had been the carnivals of my childhood, and here it was again, after decades of decay, the carnival of my childhood, all over again.  

Glubdub :
Thanks for the conversation.
I saw you guys in Asbury Park NJ at the Asbury Lanes.  I dont recall if there were people bowling on either side of you during the show, but it must been a bit surreal to have been playing on bowling lanes.  Your show must lend itself to some odd venues.  Are there any places you've played or performances that stand out from the rest, because they were so odd?

Yard Dogs:
During that fine surreal show at Asbury lanes, there were no actual humans bowling.  Just the ghosts of jersey shore's past…the spirits of a time of happiness and struggle…the bowling tournement of decades past…

Asbury Lanes definitely stands out as one of the more unique settings for a show, the stage set up on top of the lanes, sort of in the middle…the audience sitting on the floor and in those wonderful-but-uncomfortable scoring table and chair set-ups that every true bowling ally has…you know the ones…the people that attended that show were the kind of people that have old cars and "old ladies" and are adorned with tattoes, with all their pride were forced to laugh, to let go a bit, and see things as we see them…

GD:
You guys really blew me away that night.  It completely caught me off guard.  I was there for the bowling pin art  really.  we dont get to see such interesting acts down on the Jersey shore, we normally need  to hit NYC or Philly.  I wonder if you still find your show as interesting as the rest of us do.  do you still have nights where the show blows you away?

YD:
The show always blows me away…I wouldn't dedicate my life to it if it didn't…what I find most interesting and intriguing is the audience - the people…they stare, they wonder, they sometimes mock us, they wonder what the fuck is going to happen tonight…that's all before the show actually starts…once we hit - we hit…the people faces change color, they turn into smiling freaks, that wait on the edge of their seat for the next act, they let the music of the band take them to a different time…a time undefined…

GD:
So The Yard Dogs started as a jugband trio in Oregon.  Is that where you are originally from?  there seems to be a lot of cool stuff happening up there in Oregon.  I was checking out some of your  myspace 'friends' and it looks like there's a lot of really interesting performance acts up there.  who are the original members of the that jug band?

YD:
We are all from the bay area - SF, Oakland, and points just north in a little shack called home…Portland has always been good to us, lots of freaks up there - they love being happy with us…the original 3 was Broadway Freddy, 5 Livered Larry, and Eddy Joe Cotton…