Stumpworld
Stumpworld was a house, a rehearsal studio, a recording studio, an ongoing party then a web development company and now a web hosting company which has nothing to do with the other five things.
It began at a house in Allston, MA. 42 Allston Street to be exact. In the 70s through the 80s, Allston, MA, just 2 miles West of Boston, was the “cool” place to live for 20 somethings. Boston has more colleges per square mile than most cities so much of it, including, Cambridge, Back Bay and the surrounding areas was very young. There were MANY places to see live, local music and the town churned out some gems. Aerosmith, J Giles, The Cars, etc… in league with LA and NY as a place to start/hear/see a band.
The house on Allston St. saw many a local band. The names of most made it to the basement door… until they did the Asbestos removal anyways. Karlo Takki and Dr. Satan were probably the first, and the Scottsman too. There were others but I don’t remember that much of the early years. Takki was in Skin, Dr. Satan was with Ms. Allen, I was in the early stages of Hell Toupee. We met at the house to meet with the Dr. and the Doctor was IN. 6’4″ skin head previously front man of The Arch Bishop’s Enema Fetish… he would wear a wedding dress. Mrs. Zinnman goes shopping at the mall, you know. Hell Toupee was looking for a singer but it didn’t pan out. Not sure why, in retrospect it probably would have worked quite well. I can’t even imagine what art might have flowed from a Wigg – Dr. Satan team up.
I moved in to Stumpworld (the house) in 1992. I had joined a band called Squid! whose front man, Squid Lips, and Boho the bass player, were living and rehearsing at the house. As soon as a room opened up I immediately moved in. The room was HUGE, the basement was the rehearsal space and Takki had a 16 track studio on the third floor wired to mikes in the basement. An awesome setup. Squid! made two albums there.
At some point I inquired about how the name Stumpworld came about. Turns out there was an incident with hallucinogenics and an x-rated movie involving midgets and paraplegics. The phrase “Lick My Love Stump” became a motif at the house and it soon became known as Stumpworld.
The bands, the parties, all those people eventually found other paths. Life focus takes a turn at some point and some people realize too late that some things in life are not meant to be. Long story short we were all broke and had crap jobs, the internet came along and BIZANG, we all had careers. The music lasted a while longer but eventually faded out to the sounds of BUSINESS (and paying rent on time).
Frantic typing until 4 in the morning, tons of coffee and constant incoming calls, the Stumpworld of yore was no longer. It had become a web development company and the “alternative” vibe was gone.
Eventually the company died and the house was sold. Stumpworld is officially done by 2002. No watches.
Tags: Allston MA, stumpworld
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