No Doctors
Live Preview - Mojo's, 9/30/04

Find someone special for Thursday because No Doctors promises a good show for a first date. Don't worry about spilling spaghetti or saying the wrong thing. Cansafis Foote, who covers vocals and sax for the band, said it's all about letting go.

"We like people to come to our shows and dance and do weird things," Foote said. "Just whatever they feel comfortable with. We try to make a sound to embellish it."

The sound is weird but also strangely amazing. No Doctors takes typical rock god riffs from the days of yore, then pummels them with such abandon nothing matters but the swirling noise. All this mixed with the energy of a young Chihuahua that stumbled into some spilled Mountain Dew.

No Doctors comes from Chicago and is eking out its niche in the growing noise scene. Foote said the scene attracted him and his friends, so they just started recording. Backed by such veterans as Nautical Almanac, No Doctors is closing out its third tour.

Foote said he loves to play, and he'd play as long as possible. Sleep might happen, but the band has a lot of energy. The band's drummer, who only goes by Mr. Brian, said he loves the haze of a good tour.

"It's a stream of consciousness," Mr. Brian said. "You starve a little, and if you're kind of cracked out, it's an exhilarating feeling. It makes life more interesting when you're on the edge. You can always go back normally, but what's the point if you just go crazy?"

A do-it-yourself band such as No Doctors has to balance this normal life with the rock life. Everybody in the band holds down a job. Mr. Brian said they have to strike a balance between what they want to do and what society makes them do, like pay rent.

Mr. Brian said he can't handle full-time jobs, but the band's guitarist, Elvis S. Demorrow keeps a full-time job in addition to practicing, recording and touring.

"He's so fucking powerful," Mr. Brian said about Demorrow.

Mr. Brian said Demorrow will go straight from work to practice and then go home and be in bed by midnight. Tours are a good way to get away from all that. Foote said he likes to explore cities and make friends. The band spent three hours walking around Miami with fellow noisemaker Rat Bastard.

Traveling with tours can afford new experiences, too - like seeing lots of ass.

"Miami is one of the best places in the entire world," Foote said. "I've never seen asses like this and so many topless girls."

So much excitement might prevent some from living normal hours. Mr. Brian said he doesn't always go to sleep. After arriving home from a show at 6 a.m., he said he didn't trust himself to make it to the beach by 9 a.m. (when all the girls come out), so he just started drinking.

Girls are good, but it's not everything. Foote said the music can be about sex but also about love. Either way, it's definitely about insanity. No Doctors' crowds tend to take over the stage, jump on one another, play the band's instruments and engage in all orders of chaos.

Mr. Brian said the music can get anyone going. After a show in Chapel Hill, N.C., the band just started playing in a drum circle with another group called Boner Machine. As people started leaving parties, even "complete squares" couldn't pass by. Everyone succumbed to the noise.

Even sans the medical profession, No Doctors will help people.

"We better what needs bettering," Foote said.

Jay Kirby - The Maneater