1994-1995
Members:
John Ewing: Vocals
Corby Richards: Guitar
Colin Thornburgh: Bass
Eric B.: Drums

Past Members:
Eric Grieves: Vocals

The CIA, Sly Records’ lone punk offering, was mainly the brainchild of Corby Richards. He wrote most of our tunes and was the band’s unofficial leader. The band began in 1995 with myself on drums, Corby on guitar, John on bass and Eric Grieves on vocals. We practiced this way for about 2 or 3 months before deciding that Eric was not going to work as the singer, which was awkward as we were all really good friends. I think at the time we thought he wasn’t angry enough or something like that, I mean we were a punk band for chrissakes. Who knows? So I had the unenviable task of informing Mr. Grieves that his services were no longer needed. Lucky me.

After that we played as a 3 piece for a while with John singing and playing bass. The only problem with this was that John couldn’t really do both at the same time. We decided that he was a better singer than bass player and recruited our friend and fellow skater Colin Thornburgh, who was a very apt bass player, to fill the role. John and I came up with the name in the park by my house, joking that it would stand for The Clueless Idiots Associaition. We knew it was a terrible name at the time but what can you do? We quickly came up with the songs that would make The CIA cassette (recorded two years before its posthumous Sly release) and got our first show, a gigantic house party/concert that this kid Tabor was throwing out in Keizer. If anyone reading this was ever at one of those parties then you know that they were pretty intense.
We opened and if memory serves I believe Mr. Bottle and National Guard played after us. I loved National Guard at the time and was thrilled to play with them.

Next we played a more subdued house party with the grungetastic Lusty 36. I have a clear memory from this show of Matt Fargo and I opening the show with an impomptu cover of “Moist Vagina” by Nirvana. I believe that this is the first time that he and I ever played together. Next The CIA played another show in Keizer with Petty Theft (a band featuring Dusty Wylam from Novel), Assertaining Norman and Feast Upon Cactus Thorns from Tucson, AZ. By this time we had written 6 or 7 new songs, which to my recollection were definite improvements from the songs from the cassette. “The System” is from this time. Our friend Cyrus hooked us up with what would become our biggest and ultimately last show. We played at Icky’s Teahouse in Eugene on the 1st of a 2-day “punkfest” weekend. We played with Apt. 3G (who had members of Poison Idea), a Canadian oi band called Inquisition, and The Stitches from New York. I can only describe it as a tense evening. There were skinheads everywhere and a late night altercation that involved beer bottles being thrown. Apparently day 2 brought a full on riot and Icky’s never had a show again.

John was a real deal punk singer, he was drunk quite a bit and was slightly unpredictable. At some point after the Eugene show he and I went to a show in Salem together and he left early and nobody spoke to him for nearly a year, when he called me to tell me he was train hopping and he was in Nebraska or someplace like that. Corby and I continued to get together and write songs after John had disappeared but the band just kind of fizzled out. I had planned on releasing all of our new and unreleased material on Sly but the tape we made of the newer songs had water damage from a party and it never came to be.

- Eric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sly Appearances:

I Think Cheyenne’s Friend Hates Me Compilation CS (1996)

Download free from Bandcamp.

- “The System”


The CIA CS (1996)

Download free from Bandcamp.

- “The CIA Intro”
- “Dictator Boy”
- “Popsie”
- “No Life Hoodlum”
- “Father Knows Best”
- “John’s Mom Is A Fat Whore”
- “Comeuppin’s Comin”
- “Buzz Clip”
- “A.S.E.”
- “Latchkey Kids” (Bad Religion)