Lost Origin LOGU Evan Keeling Grand Union
Evan Keeling - Grand Union BOOK Limited Stock: 5 Available
It occurred to me that if any of the bands started to really click, the people in that configuration may well want to continue playing together and that would be fine. If the popularity of a specific Grand Union band started to eclipse the collective, they could start doing shows under their own name with other Grand Union bands opening for them or they might end up playing on bills with other non-connected bands. In any event, whenever they played there would always be small "GU" next to the band name (something akin to "TM", the letters indicating trademark), that would point back at the collective that gave birth to this particular ensemble.
So, Grand Union would be the band and Grand Union would be the show and Grand Union would be the concept and I wanted everyone, all of my crew, to be involved. However, when I pitched it to them the response was, "No way, that's just too fucking weird. We just want to form our own bands."
They were probably right.
-Ian MacKaye
Hand-bound blank journal
Approximately 200 pgs.
Part of a series of paintings in a vintage paperback book cover style based on Evan Keeling’s research into the history of the DC punk scene. Imitating a variety of vintage illustration and cover styles the back cover has the quote from Evan’s interviews that informed the cover illustration.
Cover text:
Ian has a plan and it’s called Grand Union
Is it a band? Is it a collective?
By the end of 1983, Minor Threat, Faith, and Insurrection had all broke up, so I started thinking a lot about what the next move should be. In late ’83 or ‘84 I pitched the idea of creating a thing called Grand Union to the people that were in my clique.
The idea I had for Grand Union was to form a musical collective made up off all the people in the Dischord "scene". Instead of being in separate bands, we would all be members of a single entity called Grand Union. Within that structure there would be any number of band-like configurations. Most of these formations would be ephemeral, short-lived, and fleeting, but some might take a more solid and lasting form.
The idea would be that any member of the collective would have a full arsenal of musicians to choose from if he or she had a musical idea or desire. For instance, if a drummer wanted to form a 'metal band', he or she find other people to play guitar or bass, etc. Other people in the collective might be artists or photographers or carpenters or whatever, but they would all be able to have a role in the proceedings.
The idea would be that any member of the collective would have a full arsenal of musicians to choose from if he or she had a musical idea or desire. For instance, if a drummer wanted to form a 'metal band', he or she find other people to play guitar or bass, etc. Other people in the collective might be artists or photographers or carpenters or whatever, but they would all be able to have a role in the proceedings.
Going to a Grand Union show would be a surprise, because people would never know what bands were going to play or what to expect in terms of styles and sounds. The poster or flyer would only announce "GRAND UNION, which meant that people would have to go to figure out who was going to play and in what form.
It occurred to me that if any of the bands started to really click, the people in that configuration may well want to continue playing together and that would be fine. If the popularity of a specific Grand Union band started to eclipse the collective, they could start doing shows under their own name with other Grand Union bands opening for them or they might end up playing on bills with other non-connected bands. In any event, whenever they played there would always be small "GU" next to the band name (something akin to "TM", the letters indicating trademark), that would point back at the collective that gave birth to this particular ensemble.
So, Grand Union would be the band and Grand Union would be the show and Grand Union would be the concept and I wanted everyone, all of my crew, to be involved. However, when I pitched it to them the response was, "No way, that's just too fucking weird. We just want to form our own bands."
They were probably right.
-Ian MacKaye