the Effigies from The Process #2, 2000
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| PHOTO: MURRAY BOWLES |
"The band had a motto," says former Effigies frontman and founding member John Kezdy, "if someone told us to turn down, we'd turn up louder. We lost a few fans that way, but no one was going to tell us how to play our music."
Formed in late 1979, The Effigies grew out of a Chicago punk scene that was almost non-existent in those days. Kezdy eventually met up with friends and locals to form the skeleton of what would become The Effigies.
"Proto-Effigies was Steve Economou, the drummer, Paul Zamost, the bass player, this guy named Norman Forn who was the singer and me playing guitar," Kezdy states. "It all kind of fell apart and went our separate ways and we never actually agreed on a name. Then Steve, Paul and I reformed and I was gonna play guitar and sing. I had to teach myself to play guitar and I was just really bad at it. I became the singer by default because I didn't play an instrument. I have no musical talent to speak of and I was the guy who did what nobody else wanted to do.
"We ended up running into Earl [Letiecq] at an 'after hours club,' the kind of place that didn't have a license or anything like that. Earl was new to town and he had all the right badges on his jacket. I remember he had a Ruts badge on, and even then it was still odd enough to warrant further investigation. He had just come in from upstate New York and said he played guitar. We tried him out and everything clicked right away, and that became The Effigies."
While punk had flourished and was again sent back underground as fast as it had risen in New York and London, the Midwest was beginning to find its foothold in punk, and [The Effigies] were poised to take control.
"The Midwest was dominated by this bar rock scene," Kezdy says. "It really looked down on any band that hadn't 'payed their dues,' and they really didn't understand the music. It took them a long time to finally, grudgingly accept the fact that we weren't going to go away."
After playing together for nearly a full year, the band played their first show in November 1980. With Naked Raygun founder and front man Jeff Pezzati doing their sound, The Effigies of lore were born.
"Yeah, it was amazing," Kezdy relives with a smirk. "We were all really nervous the first few times we played."
Leaving the stage fright behind, the band began to play shows outside of the Chicago area, making their presence felt first in the Midwest, then from coast to coast. "We started touring right away," says Kezdy. "The first gig we ever did [outside of Chicago] was with The Zero Boys in Indianapolis. A lot of people showed up that night."
As the band toured, they began to catch on with other punk legends that were also taking their baby steps. Playing shows with bands such as Hüsker Dü, Minor Threat, The Necros, Black Flag and The Big Boys, The Effigies proved they could hold their own with the best that American punk had to offer. Henry Rollins even wrote aobut them in his classic book about life in a touring punk band in the early '80s, Get In the Van. "The Chicago show was intense. The Effigies opened and they were great..."
Shortly after the band began to tour they found themselves in the studio recording for their first record, the much sought after 1981 release Haunted Town EP from Autumn Records. The record was among the first records to come from a Chicago "punk" outfit, and in turn set the standard for the "Chicago sound" with its aggression, energy and cool-headed manner. From the opening track, "Below the Drop," and on to songs such as the title track "Haunted Town," "Strong Box" and the punk classic "We'll be Here Tomorrow," The Effigies were quickly becoming a houshold name in the growing punk underground of the day.
Later that year, alongside many of Chicago's best such as Naked Raygun and Strike Under, The Effigies appeared on the compliation Busted at Oz. Each song on the comp was taken from live shows at Chicago's legendary punk bar, Oz, and provided anyone outside of the city a glimpse at the extremely bright future that was in store for the Chicago scene.
Touring on their new EP and compilation tracks, The Effigies decided once again to head back to the studio in 1982. This time around came a 7". The "Bodybag"/"Security" 7" on Chicago punk label Ruthless Records, became one of the best selling records in its day, rivaling the sales of some of the biggest punk bands in the country.
With the name "Bodybag" and the vague cover drawing, many punks cried foul when reading the lyric sheet, finding that the song was not about war, but about flight 191 that crashed at Chicago's O'Hare Airport just a few years prior.
"Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys was surprised to find out that the record didn't have to do with war," says former Ruthless Records owner and Effigies manager Jon Babbin.
As fans looked for the band to be more politically involved, they continued to write songs that were almost anti-political in that they seldomly tackled any sort of political issues in their music. "I'm very right wing," says Kezdy, "I've always said that and I've never been any different.
"Any sort of political message that comes out of your music should be the truth. People ought to be able to listen to it and decide for themselves what it is, and that's your form of persuasion. I was the guy who wrote the lyrics, but I don't think that the guys [in the band] shared the same views as I did. I think we were very unique in that respect."
Between 1983 and 1986, the band released their famous We're Da Machine EP in 1983, as well as three LPs, 1984's For Ever Grounded, Fly on a Wire in 1985 and Ink in 1986. In 1985, the band parted ways with original guitarist Earl Letiecq, later connecting with Chicago local Bob O'Connor to fill the vacancy and record on the band's final two albums.
Despite the band's seemingly endless supply of material they were producing, all was not well in The Effigies camp. According to Kezdy, immediately before the release of the Ink full-length the band set out on a nation-wide tour. Yet, as the tour was set to begin, they were notified from the label, Fever Records, that the LP would be delayed for the entire duration of their tour due to art problems. The band decided to continue on despite not having the newest record available to fans.
"At that point, college radio was the only venue we could get on the radio and all the colleges were closed" Kezdy remembers. "All the places we had set up for interviews, it was pointless. At that point the band started to crack."
During touring, the band again found themselves with yet another setback. Kezdy was informed that he was being kicked out of the band by the other three members.
"We had a really bad tour and I was getting blamed for the lack of success of The Effigies," Kezdy claims. "The other three guys had started another band at that point. We just didn't sound like The Effigies anymore."
Upon return from the ill-fated tour, the band went their separate ways with Zamost, Economou and O'Connor continuing on and Kezdy being left in the dust.
Two weeks later, The Effigies were written up as a feature in the Illinois Entertainer, Chicago's free monthly paper dedicated to music, and things seemingly began to take a turn for the better.
At the same time, Kezdy received a phone call from Metallica's tour manager who was offering them an opening spot on their upcoming European tour.
"I thought it was just some cock and bull story to get the band back together," Kezdy says, "But I called down to Texas to the guy who booked that portion of our tour and sure enough, [Metallica] liked the album and wanted us for thirty dates at $1200 a gig."
Not feeling that the band could go out and play for the right reasons, Kezdy vetoed the decision to take the tour despite the pleas of the other members. (Note: The tour that The Effigies were asked to support became the infamous tour that led to the bus crash that killed original Metallica bassist, Cliff Burton).
"That would have been our break," Kezdy thinks. "The problem was, we absolutely sucked as a band. I didn't get along with the other guys and there was no trust either. We were doing it for all the wrong reasons and it would have sounded really bad."
The band again went their separate ways, this time leaving The Effigies broken and bitter. While the band's other members headed off to continue with music or begin families, Kezdy made the decision to jump back into school. With the help of Big Black and Shellac frontman Steve Albini, Kezdy found himself back in college as a freshman at the prestigious Northwestern University at the age of 25.
After four years, Kezdy had received a bachelor's degree in English and reformed the band. With a revolving door ensemble that featured the likes of Earl Letiecq and future Pegboy drummer Joe Haggerty (brother of Naked Raygun, Pegboy guitarist John Haggerty), the band continued to play shows until 1990, but never recorded another studio album.
In 1989, The Effigies released the original version of the Remains Nonviewable collection on vinyl for the Roadkill record label. With no plans to head into the studio anythime soon, the band parted ways again, this time for good.
In 1992, The Effigies played a one-off reunion show with all original members coming together for the first time in seven years.
Then in 1995, former Necros member Corey Rusk and his label Touch & Go Records struck a deal with The Effigies to rerelease the Remains Nonviewable LP as a compact disc. In conjunction with the release of the disc, the band decided to play shows at Chicago's punk and indie havens, Lounge Ax and the Fireside Bowl, with all original members reappearing to reclaim their seat as Chicago's kings of hardcore punk.
Playing for many fans that had made their appearance at some of the first shows the band had played 15 years prior, and many of punk's new breed, The Effigies played their first show at the Lounge Ax. Written up in the Chicago Tribune by music journalist Greg Kot, and recorded by live recording label V.M.L. for their first release in nearly ten years, the first show went down as one of the brightest moments in Chicago punk history.
"We sounded good and I think everybody was into it," Kezdy says.
"When we played in '95, there were some old people there and there were some new kids. And I thought, 'OK, cool,' a whole new generation and I don't mind doing this at all."
From that point, The Effigies play four more shows, another at Lounge Ax and two at the Fireside. Kezdy then approached his bandmates with the desire to record new material.
After seeing that there was little to no interest in heading back to the studio, even after the tremendous response the band had received from old and new fans alike, Kezdy dropped from the band's ranks. This decision ended any hopes of the band becoming the force in punk rock that it once had been.
Kezdy returned on with his full-time position as an attorney, Letiecq went back to his new band, The BeerNuts, Zamost continued to play music and Economou all but dropped out of sight.
"Occasionally I'll run into them and we're real friendly, there's no hard feelings" Kezdy says. "Actually, part of the reason the reunion went so well is because I let bygones be bygones. They resurfaced again after a few gigs in '95, but I don't have any hard feelings."
What remains for The Effigies and the prospects of a new record?
"Not on my terms," Kezdy says firmly. "I wouldn't mind doing another album or two, I know I've got it in me to do that, there's just certain things I won't do. I either do it on my terms or I don't; no big deal if I don't. All I was asking for was new material and they didn't want to do it, and I refuse to keep playing the same old, tired set over and over again."
For more information on The Effigies, check out John Kezdy's official Effigies website at www.Effigies.com.
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