"Erratta Stigmatta"
The story of the Tools of Ignorance and Fatal Beauty Studios 1985-1995
...from a band bio minibook, releasesed at the same time as "Erratta Stigmatta" CD.
 
          With all the rumblings we've been hearing lately about the rebirth of progressive metal, or "prog" rock, we thought that those interested might like to try  dose of the real deal. although they came along at just the time that the genre was being deridden, with some accuracy, as being pompous and self indulgent, and so succeded in their oft started goal of avoiding commercial success, the fact that they existed at a time when punk values tempered any self-indulgent tendencies they may have had, results in a raw, band oriented live until, in contrast to the studio drenched shredder type guitar soloist so prevalent at the time.
          The Tools of Ignorance thrived in the Chicago area from the late eighties to the early nineties, spending much of their time as regular acts at such diverse clubs as the Thirsty Whale, Queen of the Midwest metal clubs, or the kinky-chic of the Exit., (where they were the regular band on Bondage Nite, "women chained to the bar drink free!") to Dreamers, the arty-bohemian slum palace. That they were ale to cross over so easily from one genre to another is testimony to the fact that they rebelled against the traditional instrumental format of "guitar solo over band vamp" Their work emphasized arrangement, concept, and the rock band format in the tradition of the Ventures, although any other comparison stops there.
          A tools show left the audiance exhausted, both physically and mentally, a few could handle the intense battering they produced. After a while, no bands would follow them, because all energy had been drained from the audiance before the headliner would reach the stage, and the Tools were not shy about showing up a band that they and their audiance considered charletons. Many bands claim the title of the worlds fastest band. To the Tools, fast meant more then how fast you could feather an open E string. It meant how many notes, cleverly contrived, could you play, as an ensemble, per square inch. And no one could cram in more. And when they experimented with odd meter, it was very important that the audiance could still band their head and find the pulse, which resulted in the novel sight of uneducated headbangers slamming in 7/8 time.
          A question asked after hearing the material is could they pull this stuff off live, the answer being that the Tools were a live band.Most of this collection was recorded in the studio with the band just slamming it out, and several cuts are first takes, erratta and all. There is a live version of Jeff Beck's Scatterbrain, recorded at the Exit in 1991, and a totally spontanious sound check recorded before a Dreamers show. Although there is some overdub work on the Crystal sessions, these are minimal, and truthfully, some should have been left undone. All those empty tracks are hard to resist.
          T. O. I. grew out of a tight knit band community centered at Fatal Beauty Studios, and a small four room rehearsal space and eight track studio that Jack ran in Lombard. The bands in this managerie made up a true midwest underground, regularly going up against midwest entertainment giant JAM productions, who controlled all the clubs and other entertainment venues in the Chicago area. As their reputation for wierdness grew, FBS bands were soon able to claim small clubs such as Estoes, in Franklin Park, and X-ZOT-IKS in Melrose as homes, and to put on a series of memorable and highly risky shows. Bands such as Material Issue, The Faith Dealers, Trouble, Apocalypse Hoboken, The X-Men, Macabre, Alonzo Savage, Hedstone, Gibraltar, Knight Club, Violent Feedback, Fudgetunnel, Scarred For Life, and Fast Touch cut their teeth on these shows, and the crowds soon guaranteed shows at other mainstream clubs too.
          The peak for the scene was probably in 1990, when Jack hosted a four hour radio show on Saturday nights called RadiO-D, and was booking FBS bands into the thousand seat Gateway Theatre while Jinemy Ellison (Material Issue) was booking The Exit, Dreamers, and Batteries. For eight months, Jack had possesion of the Dupage Theatre building, which housed a beautiful eight hundred seat theater, ten apartments, a restaurant and was honeycombed with secret passages and false walls from prohibition era. The apartments were soon rented to FBS musicians, and the ornate auditorium was used for rehearsals. (kind of a Tree studios for bands.) Unfortunately, Lombard officials wouldn't allow it to open as a concert hall. The upstart scene was becoming successfull, with regular radio airplay, an advertising network of local rock businesses, and its bands playing somewhere in town every night. Too successful. The Gateway was Jams domain, and so apparently was the radio station RadiO-D was on. The giant felt threatened and swatted the mosquito. Those bands who could hold their own weight went on, while others sank into band oblivion. The Tools went into the studio.
          At an Exit show, opening for Gone, Gregg Ginns' instrumental side project from Black Flag , the band crossed paths with Joe Carducci, an owner of SST records, and author of the underground manifesto, "Rock and the Pop Narcotic". Carducci had been involved in the creation of the independant distribution and touring infrastructure which laid groundwork for the alternative tidal wave to come. Seminal bands such as the descendants, Husker Du, The Minuitmen and of course Black Flag toured the small clubs up and down the west coast, inspiring the young Kurt Cobain and Kim Thayalls who came to see them. Carducci also programmed RadiO-D, introducing Chicago to the first wave of grunge. Although in many ways the Tools are not much like those bands, the idea of a strict live band until, taking chances within a structured arrangement, and just being so over the top, is a more important similarity. This was interesting enough for Carducci to begin producing the Tools recorded work.
          At crystal studios, in Lombard, during the summer of 1991 they laid down the six tracks that make up the big studio portion of this collection. For the most part these represent the earlier, "metal" Tools, with Steve Albue on Keys. These were to be released in the winter of 1992, but an indie label folded, and the instrumental rock thing had just about gone belly up.
          The next summer, Fatal Beauty Studios moved to Glendale Heights, and set up a small eight track behind two redneck bars, a V.F.W., and a bowling alley. This was the site of the later, small studio Tools recordings. A new piece that Jack was very excited about. "Avatar" was recorded and a longtime concert opener. "Electric Eye", needed to be done. they also re-recorded a song from an older cassette only release called "headfirst" but in honor of Satriani's later, suspiciously similar hit, it was renamed "Whank". Although these recordings lack some of the bigness of the Crystal stuff, the mixes are very precise, and accurately capture the later Tools work.
          The Tools of Ignorance faded in late '92 due to continued clashes with the JAM entertainment monopoly, and from a series of deals with small undercapitalized record companies who folded just before release dates. Instrumental music, already a niche market, had been further devalued by the ecesses of Yngwle, Satchmo, et aL Larger record companies who were once interested now cast a leery eye on the whole genre, and to this day instrumental rock music is not signed, not played, not promoted...almost not existing...
          Except that we hear now that there are new bands toying with the idea that you don't have to use words to express a thought. If so, we certainly welcome it, for it has been a long time since the glory of Dick Dale, The Ventures, Jeff Beck...and it has been our loss. And to those new bands, we offer this music as a tribute to those who would spit in the eye of convention, and yes, even success itself to follow their muse.