Another One Bites The Dust: KEXP DJs and Staff Remember Chop Suey

Local Music

01/16/2015

KEXP

Another Seattle institution is shutting its doors this month: after fourteen years, Capitol Hill venue Chop Suey will close on January 20th. The club will celebrate itself this Sunday, January 18th with an amazing line-up including Tacocat, Pony Time, Wimps, Kithkin, Chastity Belt, Deep Creep, Universe People, Childbirth, Sashay, Blood Drugs, DJ Dave Hernandez, and more.

We asked KEXP's own staff and DJs to share their memories of this Capitol Hill cornerstone. What were some of your favorite shows? Share your own stories in the comments section below.

Brian Foss, co-host of Sonic Reducer:

i saw some good shows there, but (and sorry to make this about me) but my best memory was djing during a redd kross show there in 2012 - wow, that was an honor!other than that - the spits.every show by them there.

John Richards, Morning Show Host/Producer:

I have a LOT of Chop Suey memories over the years. I’ve filmed no less than two different shows there, hosted a game show, and had a number of John in the Morning at Night shows there (Silversun Pickups and the Black Angels on the bill). I also loved the Jesus and Mary Chain acoustic session, but was pretty drunk so it might have been terrible. But the number ONE was the New Years Eve Show we did there to ring in 2007. It was a two night show on Dec 30th and Dec 31st and was live on KEXP with one of my all time favorite artists here in town: Jeremy Enigk. What I love though is looking back on a show like this and there are bands on the bill that aren’t together anymore but at the time were being championed on my show and just killed it that night. They included Wild Sweet Orange, Pablo, Catfish Haven, The Village Green, Walter Meego, and The Ettes. The fact we could ring in a new year there live on the air and fill both nights with bands we were loving that year just filled the room with love and energy. That could have only happened at Chop Suey.

Andy Klatt, Information Specialist:

Just this year I saw Mac DeMarco crowd surf his way all the way from the stage to the bar. While still supported by the people in the bar, the bartender poured Jack Daniels directly into his mouth and he crowd surfed his way back to the stage. He was climbing the rafters intermittently during the whole show. Later in the week I saw he was arrested at a Santa Barbara venue for doing something similar. Chop Suey not only allowed that kind of rowdiness, but encouraged it!

BarbaraPvlv6ACcov — **Dr. Leon Berman, host of Shake the Shack:**
'50s Early Rock/Rockabilly and R&B singer Barbara Pittman – one of the original Sun Records stars - had a show here in Seattle – one of the few Rockabilly Shows at Chop Suey. She happened to be here as a guest speaker at EMP and a few local folks put up money to get a show together. I can’t remember when or who played on the same bill. I remember a few Seattle Rockabilly Guys live spinning 45’s and the crowd up swing dancing. We used to have a poster for it up in the men’s room at KEXP. She came over to KEXP and talked to us in the studio before the show. Told us about dating Elvis, and about how her mom kicked Johnny Cash out of her house for staying too late, and how she ended up babysitting Johnny and June’s kids. Stories about hanging out with Charlie Rich and Jerry Lee Lewis, and getting into all kinds of trouble with them. Jay Kardong [ed note: KEXP's Software Engineer] might have played in one of the bands… it’s all fuzzy memory, but I do remember Barbara Pittman kicking ass and rockin’ the place. According to the promoters, Chop Suey was the only place that was interested in the show. She passed away not long after she was here 2005.
**Mike Ramos, fill-in host for Street Sounds:**
Being one of the only venues that threw all-ages hiphop shows in Seattle while I was in high school, I have plenty of great memories of "The Chop." But one that sticks out in my mind was in fall 2009 when I was enjoying the privilege of being finally 21 in the city, and showed up early to see the band Islands on some random weeknight. I was initially going to pay for a ticket, get my hand stamped, and head somewhere cheaper to grab a couple beers — but was taken in by the music coming from the solitary performer onstage at the moment. The guy was just playing some incredibly funky, smooth-yet-warped retro-sounding beats on his laptop and singing in a falsetto that made me and the friends I came with decide to stick around and watch the rest. One of those friends bought a couple CD-Rs (the only thing he had released at the time) from him at the merch table after. "That guy was awesome, what was his name?" I asked my friend. "Toro Y Moi," he said reading the hand-written note on it. "That name kinda sucks, though. He should change it."
**Tom Smith, Senior Account Executive, Underwriting and Business Support:**
So, I’m sayin’ my favorite memory is when the same space was called The Breakroom. Does that count? The Elliot Smith show specifically – during winter sometime of 1999. It seemed mighty special because he had played the much larger show at The Showbox the preceding night. Also, it was acoustic. And, the band No. 2 opened the show, fronted by Neil Gust, Elliot’s former partner in Heatmiser.
**Darek Mazzone, host of Wo'Pop:**
I had my 40th birthday party there. Yerba Buena, Kultur Shock. it was a benefit. packed house. also it was the first time I DJ'd with Cheb i Sabbah.
**Kari Stark, Gift Processor:**
I always liked the layout of Chop Suey. Because of the blocked-in bar, they had a good amount of all ages shows (which was awesome since the first three years I lived in Seattle I was underage).
My highlight shows for me:
Street Dogs/Devil's Brigade/Flatfoot 56I got there early since I love Flatfoot and Matt Freedman (of Rancid fame, Devil's Brigade is his side project) was just walking around Chop Suey. I was too intimidated to go talk to him, so I just stared at him. I think he got creeped out by the staring, but I figured "he's Matt Freedman, he should be used to it."
Comeback KidI got there late since I only really cared about Comeback Kid. I guess not a lot of girls like Comeback Kid or hardcore music, because I got hit on multiple times. One guy even tried to talk to me while they were playing. 1) It was too loud, and 2) I was trying to watch the show.
**Cyrus Despres, Manager of Information Technology:**
Hm. Was it the surreal thrill of seeing Mac in the flesh on stage... playing music? Or the fun of singing along to pizza puns running amok all over our beloved Velvet Underground catalogue? The generous delivery of Hot Mamma’s Pizza that the band shared with the crowd? Or maybe the cool factor of having a couple choice cuts recorded at the show later released by the band digitally? Whatever it was, my most crystallized and shining memory of Chop Suey is the first Pizza Underground show in April 2014.
**Brian Hill, Music Underwriting & Business Support:**
Mac Demarco on November 23rd, 2014. Towards the end of his set, Mac launched into the crowd, surfing around and grabbing onto the ceiling pipes and rafters. While the band played on, he climbed on the largest pipe and chilled there looking down at his crowd for half a minute before surfing to the edge of the all ages section, up and over the bar wall, and into the bar area. As he hung from a rafter with one hand (the crowd was still supporting him as well) the bartender handed Mac a handle whiskey which he took a generous pull from to the massive enjoyment of the crowd before surfing back to the stage. I’d never seen that before. Also, after the show I saw a couple come up to him and the guy asked Mac to make out with his girlfriend. He did and strangely all were very happy afterwards. I’d never seen that before either.
**Sara Green Williams, Manager of Finance & Human Resources:**
There was a lot of drinking. I remember Firewater, at least twice. And drinking. ;)
**Masa, co-host of Expansions:**
This is about a show I had chance to spin some records for at Chop Suey.
I'm guessing they are all around early 2000.
It was a season premiere party of snowboard video release and I DJed before and after the movie. I did set with playing only my 7inch singles from late 70s - 80s of mostly punk new wave collections with few newer garage punk and funk dropped in. Ramones, The Cramps, The Gun Club, Blonde, Television, The Clash, The Jam, The Damned, X, Magazine, Buzzcooks, Ultravox, Sonic Youth, The Fall, Cult Hero, Suzi Quatro, DK, Patti Smith, JD, The Under Tones, Mudhoney, Monochrome Set, Beastie Boys, APB, The Slits, The Pop Group, Roxy Music, Rezillos, Gang Of Four, Wire, Dr. Feelgood, Eno, TMGE, TJQ, Funkadelic and more with lots of B-side jam, if you know what I mean.
Needless to say I had blast and had few pints of beers left in front of turntable for the music.
I also appreciated this venue for the nice staff and helpful sound guys.
**Reeves Richards, fill-in DJ:**
I stage dived for the first time in my life at Chop Suey. It was during the Deafheaven show earlier this year. In hindsight, I think I looked like a total goober doing it, because I remember landing on my feet almost immediately after jumping off the stage. It was still really fun.
**Jim Beckmann, Online Content Manager & Senior Video Producer:**
I really haven't been going to Chop Suey much over the past few years. When it comes to booking, clubs tend to wax and wane, and Chop Suey took a hit a while ago with new clubs opening up on the Hill, changes in booking, and the Crocodile returning after a hiatus. Chop Suey has always been a weird space, and weirdly decorated (in fact, I'm surprised that dragon lasted as long as it did). It was much darker than its predecessor, The Breakroom, and the stage was fairly low, so I would have to find the right spot to be able to see at all. But, man, did it host some amazing shows! I saw the Decemberists there before they were huge, Saul Williams, Firewater, Foals, Caribou, M83, Earlimart, The Hidden Projectors, Jeremy Enigk, dEUS, The Radio Dept., Kinski, Fujiya & Miyagi, Junior Boys, The Veils, Her Space Holiday, Mellowdrone, The Ruby Suns, Glasvegas, The Black Heart Procession, King Khan & BBQ Show, and most recently, The Pizza Underground. Each time, I felt like I was watching a band in a smaller space than they should be playing, which actually made each show feel really special. Of all, Crystal Castles had to be one of the craziest shows I saw there. I don't even like them that much, but I knew when watching them, from a primo spot on the railing by the bar, that the band was too big for the space and so the show felt epic. Plus, the crowd was crazy. Editors, in 2007, was maybe the most memorable show there for me. Same thing - a band too big for that space and it felt like the club would burst with raw emotion. I'll miss Chop Suey for sure, but to tell you the truth, I've already been missing it for years.
**Nate Prudhon, Traffic Manager and DJ:**
Friday, September 11, 2009 – I’d just found out my favorite local live band Kinski was playing that night, made even better by the fact it was going down at Chop Suey, the closest live venue to my house. But on the way home I noticed the marquee said “LESBIAN”...? A minute later I was online, learning Lesbian is a Seattle psychedelic metal band coincidentally fronted by Dorondo Hodus, who I had worked with at college radio station KZUU several years earlier. Excited by this revelation – and the fact Seattle band Arbitron rounded-out the bill – I made my way back to Chop Suey in time to see Lesbian take the stage. Hodus quietly thanked those in attendance, saying they had time for “a couple songs”; someone yelled-out “More than a couple!” to which the bassist/singer replied with a smirking “No, just a couple.”
What followed is, to this day, the most literally jaw-dropping set of musical discovery to which I’ve ever been exposed; Lesbian was almost everything I love about music: rhythmic with unusual time signatures, catchy melodies and harmonies, technical, precise, loud/quiet, brutal/sensitive, complicated/simple, and mostly instrumental. (Check “Black Forest Hamm”, which is still my favorite thing in metal since that night.) Kinski also sounded good.
Afterward I made my way to the merch table to say hello to my old college acquaintance and buy all the Lesbian music they had to sell. While waiting, I was able to pay respects to Kinski guitarist/flutist Matthew Reid-Schwartz, telling him “I love Kinski, but...Lesbian killed it tonight...” With similar disbelief and appreciation in his voice, “Yeah, they were great!”
I’m going to miss Chop Suey; they did great things for Seattle music, and my neighborhood won’t be as good without it.
**DJ Sean, variety mix host:**
Assorted fond memories of Chop Suey:
John Maus show - my very first time going to Chop Suey. Newly arrived in Seattle and nervous / excited to be here, I felt at home right away in Chop Suey's friendly confines + John Maus was just as crazy and weird and fun as I'd hoped, alone on stage save for a microphone and a little box that his music came out of.
Grass Widow show - I was on a date and we were both psyched to see the show. During the set break we went to one of the back tables in the corner where it's dark to canoodle and, in my excited state, I kicked over the table with all our drinks on it. It didn't last.
Psychic TV show - a friend from Vancouver made the trek south and we were giddy with anticipation to see Genesis P-Orridge. Dangerous Boys Club and Vice Device opened, smoke was everywhere and super intense red lasers cut through the room like the Borg were invading. King Dude further ratcheted up the weirdness and then Psychic TV played an absolutely bananas set, cut short only by the puritanical laws of WA state. That weekend was a doozy, wow.
Maria Minerva show - played on a Sunday to very few people (their loss). I had / have a huge crush on her but was too nervous to say anything after the show so immediately bolted outside. Two friends (well, one turned out later to be a scumbag, but that's neither here nor there) dragged me back in and informed me Maria said it was cool if we wanted to hang with her in the green room. So we did. And ate from the fruit plate and cold cuts tray and talked about Estonia and dance music and pineapple.
Unnamed show - a friend booked several electronic musicians from abroad to play one weekend, a complicated logistical challenge in its own right, and upon show day found themselves driving all over Seattle last minute to meet one artist's rider demands (mainly: weed. LOTS of it). The show was really fun, luckily, and they were happy to jump through hoops in exchange for these talented weirdos play that evening. The headliner, after much chiefing in the back, took to the stage precisely as the acid was kicking in (later confirmed), the effects of which they tried to temper with a bottle of tequila. Another artist who'd played earlier saved the day and jumped on stage, essentially doing all the work for the headliner, hitting transitions, fading in and out, checking levels, preventing them from wandering off stage and pawing at the curtains, etc. Soon the bottle of tequila was passed around the audience. It was a magical night.
In short, thank you Chop Suey! Thanks to the great staff, the great patrons and the great bands that made that place special. I'll miss it.
photos by Leon Bermanphotos by Brian Hill

flatbush_chow_mein_chop_suey — **Dr. Leon Berman, host of Shake the Shack:**
'50s Early Rock/Rockabilly and R&B singer Barbara Pittman – one of the original Sun Records stars - had a show here in Seattle – one of the few Rockabilly Shows at Chop Suey. She happened to be here as a guest speaker at EMP and a few local folks put up money to get a show together. I can’t remember when or who played on the same bill. I remember a few Seattle Rockabilly Guys live spinning 45’s and the crowd up swing dancing. We used to have a poster for it up in the men’s room at KEXP. She came over to KEXP and talked to us in the studio before the show. Told us about dating Elvis, and about how her mom kicked Johnny Cash out of her house for staying too late, and how she ended up babysitting Johnny and June’s kids. Stories about hanging out with Charlie Rich and Jerry Lee Lewis, and getting into all kinds of trouble with them. Jay Kardong [ed note: KEXP's Software Engineer] might have played in one of the bands… it’s all fuzzy memory, but I do remember Barbara Pittman kicking ass and rockin’ the place. According to the promoters, Chop Suey was the only place that was interested in the show. She passed away not long after she was here 2005.
**Mike Ramos, fill-in host for Street Sounds:**
Being one of the only venues that threw all-ages hiphop shows in Seattle while I was in high school, I have plenty of great memories of "The Chop." But one that sticks out in my mind was in fall 2009 when I was enjoying the privilege of being finally 21 in the city, and showed up early to see the band Islands on some random weeknight. I was initially going to pay for a ticket, get my hand stamped, and head somewhere cheaper to grab a couple beers — but was taken in by the music coming from the solitary performer onstage at the moment. The guy was just playing some incredibly funky, smooth-yet-warped retro-sounding beats on his laptop and singing in a falsetto that made me and the friends I came with decide to stick around and watch the rest. One of those friends bought a couple CD-Rs (the only thing he had released at the time) from him at the merch table after. "That guy was awesome, what was his name?" I asked my friend. "Toro Y Moi," he said reading the hand-written note on it. "That name kinda sucks, though. He should change it."
**Tom Smith, Senior Account Executive, Underwriting and Business Support:**
So, I’m sayin’ my favorite memory is when the same space was called The Breakroom. Does that count? The Elliot Smith show specifically – during winter sometime of 1999. It seemed mighty special because he had played the much larger show at The Showbox the preceding night. Also, it was acoustic. And, the band No. 2 opened the show, fronted by Neil Gust, Elliot’s former partner in Heatmiser.
**Darek Mazzone, host of Wo'Pop:**
I had my 40th birthday party there. Yerba Buena, Kultur Shock. it was a benefit. packed house. also it was the first time I DJ'd with Cheb i Sabbah.
**Kari Stark, Gift Processor:**
I always liked the layout of Chop Suey. Because of the blocked-in bar, they had a good amount of all ages shows (which was awesome since the first three years I lived in Seattle I was underage).
My highlight shows for me:
Street Dogs/Devil's Brigade/Flatfoot 56I got there early since I love Flatfoot and Matt Freedman (of Rancid fame, Devil's Brigade is his side project) was just walking around Chop Suey. I was too intimidated to go talk to him, so I just stared at him. I think he got creeped out by the staring, but I figured "he's Matt Freedman, he should be used to it."
Comeback KidI got there late since I only really cared about Comeback Kid. I guess not a lot of girls like Comeback Kid or hardcore music, because I got hit on multiple times. One guy even tried to talk to me while they were playing. 1) It was too loud, and 2) I was trying to watch the show.
**Cyrus Despres, Manager of Information Technology:**
Hm. Was it the surreal thrill of seeing Mac in the flesh on stage... playing music? Or the fun of singing along to pizza puns running amok all over our beloved Velvet Underground catalogue? The generous delivery of Hot Mamma’s Pizza that the band shared with the crowd? Or maybe the cool factor of having a couple choice cuts recorded at the show later released by the band digitally? Whatever it was, my most crystallized and shining memory of Chop Suey is the first Pizza Underground show in April 2014.
**Brian Hill, Music Underwriting & Business Support:**
Mac Demarco on November 23rd, 2014. Towards the end of his set, Mac launched into the crowd, surfing around and grabbing onto the ceiling pipes and rafters. While the band played on, he climbed on the largest pipe and chilled there looking down at his crowd for half a minute before surfing to the edge of the all ages section, up and over the bar wall, and into the bar area. As he hung from a rafter with one hand (the crowd was still supporting him as well) the bartender handed Mac a handle whiskey which he took a generous pull from to the massive enjoyment of the crowd before surfing back to the stage. I’d never seen that before. Also, after the show I saw a couple come up to him and the guy asked Mac to make out with his girlfriend. He did and strangely all were very happy afterwards. I’d never seen that before either.
**Sara Green Williams, Manager of Finance & Human Resources:**
There was a lot of drinking. I remember Firewater, at least twice. And drinking. ;)
**Masa, co-host of Expansions:**
This is about a show I had chance to spin some records for at Chop Suey.
I'm guessing they are all around early 2000.
It was a season premiere party of snowboard video release and I DJed before and after the movie. I did set with playing only my 7inch singles from late 70s - 80s of mostly punk new wave collections with few newer garage punk and funk dropped in. Ramones, The Cramps, The Gun Club, Blonde, Television, The Clash, The Jam, The Damned, X, Magazine, Buzzcooks, Ultravox, Sonic Youth, The Fall, Cult Hero, Suzi Quatro, DK, Patti Smith, JD, The Under Tones, Mudhoney, Monochrome Set, Beastie Boys, APB, The Slits, The Pop Group, Roxy Music, Rezillos, Gang Of Four, Wire, Dr. Feelgood, Eno, TMGE, TJQ, Funkadelic and more with lots of B-side jam, if you know what I mean.
Needless to say I had blast and had few pints of beers left in front of turntable for the music.
I also appreciated this venue for the nice staff and helpful sound guys.
**Reeves Richards, fill-in DJ:**
I stage dived for the first time in my life at Chop Suey. It was during the Deafheaven show earlier this year. In hindsight, I think I looked like a total goober doing it, because I remember landing on my feet almost immediately after jumping off the stage. It was still really fun.
**Jim Beckmann, Online Content Manager & Senior Video Producer:**
I really haven't been going to Chop Suey much over the past few years. When it comes to booking, clubs tend to wax and wane, and Chop Suey took a hit a while ago with new clubs opening up on the Hill, changes in booking, and the Crocodile returning after a hiatus. Chop Suey has always been a weird space, and weirdly decorated (in fact, I'm surprised that dragon lasted as long as it did). It was much darker than its predecessor, The Breakroom, and the stage was fairly low, so I would have to find the right spot to be able to see at all. But, man, did it host some amazing shows! I saw the Decemberists there before they were huge, Saul Williams, Firewater, Foals, Caribou, M83, Earlimart, The Hidden Projectors, Jeremy Enigk, dEUS, The Radio Dept., Kinski, Fujiya & Miyagi, Junior Boys, The Veils, Her Space Holiday, Mellowdrone, The Ruby Suns, Glasvegas, The Black Heart Procession, King Khan & BBQ Show, and most recently, The Pizza Underground. Each time, I felt like I was watching a band in a smaller space than they should be playing, which actually made each show feel really special. Of all, Crystal Castles had to be one of the craziest shows I saw there. I don't even like them that much, but I knew when watching them, from a primo spot on the railing by the bar, that the band was too big for the space and so the show felt epic. Plus, the crowd was crazy. Editors, in 2007, was maybe the most memorable show there for me. Same thing - a band too big for that space and it felt like the club would burst with raw emotion. I'll miss Chop Suey for sure, but to tell you the truth, I've already been missing it for years.
**Nate Prudhon, Traffic Manager and DJ:**
Friday, September 11, 2009 – I’d just found out my favorite local live band Kinski was playing that night, made even better by the fact it was going down at Chop Suey, the closest live venue to my house. But on the way home I noticed the marquee said “LESBIAN”...? A minute later I was online, learning Lesbian is a Seattle psychedelic metal band coincidentally fronted by Dorondo Hodus, who I had worked with at college radio station KZUU several years earlier. Excited by this revelation – and the fact Seattle band Arbitron rounded-out the bill – I made my way back to Chop Suey in time to see Lesbian take the stage. Hodus quietly thanked those in attendance, saying they had time for “a couple songs”; someone yelled-out “More than a couple!” to which the bassist/singer replied with a smirking “No, just a couple.”
What followed is, to this day, the most literally jaw-dropping set of musical discovery to which I’ve ever been exposed; Lesbian was almost everything I love about music: rhythmic with unusual time signatures, catchy melodies and harmonies, technical, precise, loud/quiet, brutal/sensitive, complicated/simple, and mostly instrumental. (Check “Black Forest Hamm”, which is still my favorite thing in metal since that night.) Kinski also sounded good.
Afterward I made my way to the merch table to say hello to my old college acquaintance and buy all the Lesbian music they had to sell. While waiting, I was able to pay respects to Kinski guitarist/flutist Matthew Reid-Schwartz, telling him “I love Kinski, but...Lesbian killed it tonight...” With similar disbelief and appreciation in his voice, “Yeah, they were great!”
I’m going to miss Chop Suey; they did great things for Seattle music, and my neighborhood won’t be as good without it.
**DJ Sean, variety mix host:**
Assorted fond memories of Chop Suey:
John Maus show - my very first time going to Chop Suey. Newly arrived in Seattle and nervous / excited to be here, I felt at home right away in Chop Suey's friendly confines + John Maus was just as crazy and weird and fun as I'd hoped, alone on stage save for a microphone and a little box that his music came out of.
Grass Widow show - I was on a date and we were both psyched to see the show. During the set break we went to one of the back tables in the corner where it's dark to canoodle and, in my excited state, I kicked over the table with all our drinks on it. It didn't last.
Psychic TV show - a friend from Vancouver made the trek south and we were giddy with anticipation to see Genesis P-Orridge. Dangerous Boys Club and Vice Device opened, smoke was everywhere and super intense red lasers cut through the room like the Borg were invading. King Dude further ratcheted up the weirdness and then Psychic TV played an absolutely bananas set, cut short only by the puritanical laws of WA state. That weekend was a doozy, wow.
Maria Minerva show - played on a Sunday to very few people (their loss). I had / have a huge crush on her but was too nervous to say anything after the show so immediately bolted outside. Two friends (well, one turned out later to be a scumbag, but that's neither here nor there) dragged me back in and informed me Maria said it was cool if we wanted to hang with her in the green room. So we did. And ate from the fruit plate and cold cuts tray and talked about Estonia and dance music and pineapple.
Unnamed show - a friend booked several electronic musicians from abroad to play one weekend, a complicated logistical challenge in its own right, and upon show day found themselves driving all over Seattle last minute to meet one artist's rider demands (mainly: weed. LOTS of it). The show was really fun, luckily, and they were happy to jump through hoops in exchange for these talented weirdos play that evening. The headliner, after much chiefing in the back, took to the stage precisely as the acid was kicking in (later confirmed), the effects of which they tried to temper with a bottle of tequila. Another artist who'd played earlier saved the day and jumped on stage, essentially doing all the work for the headliner, hitting transitions, fading in and out, checking levels, preventing them from wandering off stage and pawing at the curtains, etc. Soon the bottle of tequila was passed around the audience. It was a magical night.
In short, thank you Chop Suey! Thanks to the great staff, the great patrons and the great bands that made that place special. I'll miss it.
photos by Leon Bermanphotos by Brian Hill

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