GREETINGS DEAR READERS- This week here at MAKE TOTAL DESTROY we get a visit from the one and only WASTED DREAM, DC's very own home of music and mayhem. A guided tour through the Dream by James Haitchwai is as follows:
What up fools, and welcome to Wasted Dream, DC’s #1 punk haus. For two years, the Dream has been hosting several shows a month for more local, national and international bands and their heathen scum followers than any of us can remember. While we’re no match for the Corpse Fortress (R.I.P.), we’re a close second as far as the amount of shows and anti-social behavior we’ve facilitated. We’re currently the only house in town that regularly hosts shows.
The house is “cozy,” “intimate,” and other euphemisms for claustrophobically cluttered and cramped with gear, records, comic books, zines, Everlasting Life takeout containers, spent beer bottles, and other signs of a life well-lived.
This Wasted Dreamer knows that shirts are optional but suspenders are mandatory. Photo by Nooran Matties.
This NW DC rowhouse is a slum by any legal definition. Floods, electrical shortages, infestations, and structural decay are facts of life here at the Dream. Some of the WD inhabitants are part-feral and perfectly accustomed to squalor, some are too busy partying to notice it, and others have run crying back to their parents’ suburban safe havens because of it. Punk rock, motherfuckers – take it or leave it.
But don’t get the wrong idea; I mean all that in the best possible way. Hell, how else could we get away with so many great shows? Some of my favorites have included Heats of Formation/Dead Uncles/Priests, Spraynard/Timesshares, Franz Nicolay, Shat Shorts/The Deads/Male Bondage, Caust, Bobby Joe Ebola and the Children MacNuggets, and the almighty be-all-end-all of music himself, Globsters. The show space is barely any bigger than most tour vans, but the condensation oozing from the walls and the constant risk of heat stroke only add to the excitement.
There are 5 Wasted Dreamers:
- Tom The Ripper. Wails on the bass in pop-punkers The Harrison Four, worships at the altar of The Simpsons and Springsteen, and knows how to throw a crucial party.
- Worldly-wise Madison hopped off the rails and landed in DC after years of the travelin’ life. The only Dreamer without socially awkward tendencies, she livens up the mood everywhere she goes. Just don’t make her mad; she can throw down harder than every tough-guy bro-punk in America combined, I swear.
- James Berbs. Voxist/guitarist in Harrison Four, killer vegan cook, and resident anarchist moral compass. In addition to writing great songs, he is also a legit visual artist and film buff.
- Kamikaze Dan the Almighty Lotus Fucker is DC’s undisputed champion noise-monger and the only WD tenant who’s been here since Day 1. Anime, dogs, and “Noise Not Music” make his world go ‘round. Screamer in Lotus Fucker, drummer in The Aloners, and emperor of SPHC Records. Affectionately referred to as “Dad.”
- I, James Michael Muthaphukkin Haitchwai. If Dan is “Dad,” I’m Grandpa, scummin’ and slummin’ since 1985. My main claim to fame is that I pay the rent by doing dangerous medical studies.
- And let’s not forget my main man Don The Cat.
Wasted Dream has many other friends who work wicked magic on the haus, too many to name here, and they are no less essential than the people who live here. Promoting shows, taking pics, writing reviews, cooking pizza, squatting on our floor, giving free stick-n-pokes…And so much more. I can’t thank these people enough.
First you scream, and then you dream. Photo by Ron Akins.
Sounds like fun? Stop by our next show and get down.
Next Wasted Dream debacle is happening August 27 at 6pm: Margy Pepper (Oly) / Soil (Oly) / Akris (DC) / Shitstains (DC) /a special visit with Glenn Danzig Doom and destruction from coast to coast.
