In an effort to raise money for the Record Exchange, three local bands will take the Cafe Nola stage on Nov. 11, and those three bands will be Cosmic Halitosis, Dumb Valley and the subjects of the following interview, Weed Coughin. Here, three of the four members of Weed Coughin — James Wilbar, Mike Orris and Robert Vendemmia — discuss how much the show means to them, their affinity for Guido’s and the hole it left in the music scene when it shut its doors, and how they came up with their band name. For more on the band, visit weedcoughin.bandcamp.com.
Let’s start with this show. What’s up with it? Whose idea was it?
James Wilbar: Matt Henry from Cosmic Halitosis was the one who hit me up about it. He wanted to do it because they did [a benefit show] not too long ago, but it wasn’t the best turnout. We really wanted to do it, but it was on a day we couldn’t do, so we wanted to do something for the Record Exchange anyway. It seemed like a good idea. Matt put it together, and he was hitting me up about other bands to play, but then he got Dumb Valley to play on it. We’ve been wanting to play with Dumb Valley since we first heard Dumb Valley.
Mike Orris: Yeah, we’ve been wanting to do that for a while.
There was a while when I thought I saw you guys play all the time. You were always out there, but I haven’t seen your name as much anymore. Did you deliberately pull back?
Orris: A little bit. It’s hard to write things and have new material that fast. So, we had to slow things down.
Wilbar: The pandemic helped us out a lot with writing a bunch of new stuff, because honestly, if that didn’t happen, I hate to say it, but we’d still be playing the same seven songs we always did. We recorded an EP with Stefan Edward back in 2020.
Orris: We’re slow writers.
Wilbar: Honestly, we’re pretty quick. We were putting the buckle down during that.
It reminded me of DoubleMotorcycle. We’d say yes to everything for a long time. If there was a birthday party and two people were going to be there, we’d be happy to do it.
Orris: Yeah, we were like that, too. We were like, “We gotta get out there, we gotta get out there, we gotta get out there,” but then we were out there all the time. So, then it was like, “We gotta not get out there as much, and if we’re going to get out there, we need to go out of state.” What we’ve been doing is doing a Frederick show and then go to, maybe, Baltimore or Pennsylvania.
Doing that, have you been writing a lot?
Wilbar: We’ve got a good amount.
Orris: We’ve got a couple things ready to be elaborated on.
Wilbar: We just need our little hiatus, which we usually do in the wintertime.
How did you guys first get together? Take me all the way back.
Wilbar: Me and him hung out a lot, and he has a guitar and I have a guitar, so we started to jam. I didn’t have any equipment, but then I had a bunch of equipment fall into my lap. I had a half-stack and a drum kit given to me very cheap. I was like, “I got the equipment; let’s start a band!” Then, I talked to Robbie [bassist Robbie Jones] about it, and he was like, “If you need a bass player, you got a bass player.” I started renting out a storage unit by the fairgrounds, and we used it for two days before we got kicked out because we were too loud. But we had it long enough to write the first song we ever did, “Too Fast For Doom.”
We showed that to Robbie, and Robbie dug it, but we didn’t have a drummer. I was at work with Robert [Vendemmia] one day, and he was kind of beating on the desk, so I was like, “Hey, do you play drums?” He said he used to, but he didn’t have a kit anymore. So, I said, “Well, lucky for you … .” He didn’t have to be in the band; I just wanted someone to come over and keep time for us.
At that point, we had moved to Guido’s. I worked there and I had a key, so I hit up the owner and said, “Hey, we don’t open until a certain time — can we go in there in the morning and practice in the back?” She was like, “Go for it.” So, every Sunday at 9 in the morning, we’d get up and go in there and practice for four or five hours. That’s when Robert came to play, and I was like, “You don’t have to be in the band …”
Robert Vendemmia: But I wanted to be in the band!
Orris: I didn’t. I was done playing music, and he talked me back into it.
Are you happy you started playing, then?
Orris: I am now. I wasn’t at first [laughs].
You brought up Guido’s — how much do you miss Guido’s?
Wilbar: A lot. I worked there and played there. And now, there’s nothing there. It’s just a hole in the ground. What pisses me off is there’s nothing else in town that can compete with what Guido’s was. There’s not a dark dive bar where you’re like, “I can’t see any faces in here — it’s pretty sweet.”
And those chicken wings …
Wilbar: Yeah, I haven’t had a chicken wing that good since it closed.
Let’s go around to each of you. Do you have a favorite show you saw at Guido’s?
Wilbar: Oh, man. I’ve seen so many shows there. Honestly, I think it was the first time I saw Asthma Castle play and it was for my birthday party. Oh, wait. Karma to Burn. That was probably the best show I saw in the back of Guido’s because they were supposed to play Cafe 611, but it was when the police kept getting called and they had to shut their shows down because it was too loud. Once I found out, I ran to Guido’s and said, “Who’s playing in the back?” They said, “Whoever it is, they’re taking a break now,” so I said, “They’re done — Karma to Burn is coming over,” and all the 611 people came over. It was badass.
Orris: My favorite was probably when I saw A.P.F. for the first time. That was probably 2011. Maybe 2010. The good thing is that the show is on YouTube, so I can go back and relive that moment, which I do quite a bit. I got lucky.
Vendemmia: For me, a lot of the shows blur together, and I don’t remember who played with whom. I’d probably say Earthride. I saw a lot of small bands there and a lot of cool things, but the best and biggest show would be one of several Earthride shows I saw there.
Orris: Yeah, they sounded big in that room.
One thing I always like to ask everybody about is the music scene here in Frederick. What’s your interpretation of it? Where do you think the scene is at?
Wilbar: I feel like Olde Mother did a good job of picking up where Guido’s left off — even though it’s a brewery and it’s not exactly quite the same. Guido’s, for instance, wasn’t quite kid-friendly. I feel like a few places are picking things up. A lot of what pisses me off is that Frederick claims to be a music and arts town and you get yelled at for being too loud.
Orris: Well, it depends on what type of music you play in this town, too.
Wilbar: Yeah, but it shouldn’t. If you call yourself a music and arts town, you shouldn’t dictate what type of music should be played and what type shouldn’t.
Speaking of some of that, the show that you guys are playing is at Cafe Nola. They used to host music all the time, and these days, it doesn’t feel like they do it as much as they once did. Is there a place now that you think is leading the way for music in Frederick?
Orris: I’d say it’s between Nola and Olde Mother.
Wilbar: Yeah. I’d say with our genre of music …
But what about 611? 611 does hard stuff.
Wilbar: Yeah, but I don’t ever book anything at 611 because I don’t know how to do stuff there. So, if we’re there, it’s because we got asked to play there. I like that because when we started, I was booking all of our stuff and reaching out and doing everything I could and I got burned out from it.
Did you guys as a band get burned out playing?
Wilbar: No, I love playing.
Orris: I got burned out on our songs for a while.
Wilbar: Yeah, but once we started writing new songs, it got better.
Vendemmia: I wouldn’t say I got burned out. There have been periods, between work and other things, where there are moments you’re doing a lot, and then there are moments you aren’t doing that much, but I wouldn’t say I’ve ever been burned out. That’s why we play a lot in the summer and the fall, and then in the winter we slow it down and anticipate writing, practicing.
After this show this weekend, do you have anything else on the books?
Wilbar: We have two more things this year. Dec. 10 in Baltimore, we’re playing at Charm City Skate Park. Then, I think we’re doing New Year’s Eve.
I only have one more question, and I’m asking it because I’ve had a bunch of people ask me if I know the answer to it. Who came up with the name Weed Coughin?
Orris: I was driving up from McDonald’s one day and we were trying to come up with band names and I get this random text from him saying, “Hey, we should call our band Weed Coughin and spell it like this.” So, I just said, “That’d be cool. Let’s do it.” And here we are. Now I have it tattooed on my arm.
Stefan Edward of 2wo Scoops records special performance by Weed Coughin for the Casey Nies Benefit Show at Olde Town Tavern in downtown Frederick.
#fullperformance #caseynies #weedcoughin
Colin McGuire has been in and out of bands for more than 20 years and also helps produce concerts in and around Frederick. His work has appeared in Alternative Press magazine, PopMatters and 72 Hours, among other outlets. He is convinced that the difference between being in a band and being in a romantic relationship is less than minimal. Contact him at mcguire.colin@gmail.com.
