SNAKE Q&A 022: Joint Custody
SNAKE Q&A 022: Joint Custody
Smorgasboard Records business card, Bobby Liebling, Saarinen, Stimulators
Snake covers design and explains it. For a representative sample, read the best selections from this week’s auctions, and the most recent designer profile and explainer.
Today on Snake: Every other Friday or so an interview with a person in good standing of the newsletter whose taste in vintage, furniture, and adjacent is worth recording. Sellers, buyers, artists, adjacents, etc…. but first,
Housekeeping:
New column on USM Haller for Dwell Magazine. My column is now titled “FIELD GUIDE.”
Undefeated gym in LA is great. It has a GHR, one of the big ones, and nice old kettlebells in every weight gradation.
Ferrari has one year to get it together.
James | IG | Washington, DC
Gene Melkisethian | IG | Washington, DC | I survived the Hatebreed riot in Crofton, Md. | Website
James and Gene run Joint Custody in DC, nominally a record store but in many ways a zoetrope or road into somewhere. Tees, trinkets, paper… I met them 22 or so years ago at either the Youth of Today reunion in semi-east Pennsylvania (Sammy was wearing 3M snakes) or at a run-of-the-mill show in New Jersey that summer. I began selling with them at the Brooklyn Flea in 2010. Most of the booth stock was theirs and they shortly realized that traveling to New York (and selling to mostly the other vendors) wasn’t worth their time and opened JC. When I got into furniture, around then, James (who was also at the Hatebreed riot in Crofton; only known photo of this show) was the only person my age (under 30) who I knew that knew about furniture… and more than just knew… had a point of view. Much has changed, but has it? Gene has been wearing Puma Disc Blazes since George Bush was president. Their band is reuniting and playing a show a week from Sunday in D.C.
Fav flea market?
JAMES: In D.C. the flea markets are constantly shutting down and popping up somewhere new. There have been lots of favorites—RFK, Branch Ave behind the roller rink, Gallaudet Parking Lot, etc. In my opinion the best flea market on East Coast, at one point sadly no more, was the Double Tollgate flea market across from Dinosaur Land off Rt 522 outside Winchester, Va.—still there; just went downhill. All good spots come to an end.
GENE: Funky Flea Market in Washington, D.C. (R.I.P.). This flea market was in the parking lot of what is now Union Market in D.C. D.J. Paul (not THAT D.J. Paul) would spin the best shit at 6 a.m. from inside the tiny security hut. I found a Super Fuzz there for $3 from Ritter’s (now, but kinda always) mortal enemy. We met our favorite picker there, and thought he was Australian due to his odd haircut and weather-baked skin. Found my first Fela records there; a random Thom Browne cardigan in a pile of junk and a zillion other things. I think we were copping sealed random rap tapes side by side with Andrew Noz (salute to the legend), but maybe it was someone else and I made that up.
Best flea market day ever—what did you get?
JAMES: I’ve had a lot of good days, I’m old, finding an og EB-3 bass that no one would buy and kept telling the seller it was fake, pulling the Kath LP out of one my least fav peoples’ stuff, pre ‘55 Big Es off the hood of a car that no one would even look at. The best has to be the time I bought an entire early 90s skate shop’s leftover boards. The guy had three boards laying under the back of his car—you could barely see them. I think it was a Hensley Vista, Gonz Elephant People square tail and then maybe an Agah, G.O.A.T., Real board where he’s dressed as the tooth fairy. I bought them and walked off without a second thought then realized my mistake. Returned to confirm it was just the tip of the iceberg—he had at least 100 more at his house. The guy never skated; him and his dad just bought them at an auction of some kind and had them for 15 years in the basement. The final cop was nuts: 17 Hensley Vistas, 3 Hensley Kingsize, 7 or so Jim Thiebaud Klansmen, Gonz, Lees, World, Blind, the list goes on. I completely crushed the price on Hensley H Street for a while—I tried dripping them out but totally ruined the price for a while….oops. I was broke at the time.
GENE: I’ve been doing this for too long to answer this easily. I grew up next to flea markets and thrift stores in a shitty D.C. suburb (Marty Friedman went to high school there, at least). I pulled a literal case of NOS Western Electric vacuum tubes including a handful of 300Bs at the parking lot of the Odenton Fire Hall when I was maybe ten. Monetarily that may be my best score. But given the readership I’ll share a really fun score me and Ritter made. For about 10 years there was a Flea Market near Crystal Skate Palace (Rappin’ Rodney was killed in this parking lot, R.I.P.) on Branch Avenue just outside of S.E. D.C. in Temple Hills, Md. One chilly day we walked up to the (mostly) barren parking lot and did our usual early morning pace around the vendors. Suddenly, like a mirage, a Judge poster appeared on the horizon, next, a Bold poster and a The Way It Is poster came into view. I walked, briskly, in the cold morning air and tried to contain my excitement. We collected our Rev posters (mounted to foam core, but still) and scoured the boxes that were unloaded from the trailer. We got lots of interesting ephemera and even a soundboard tape of a Fugazi gig, but there were no Wide Awake mini CDs. Those posters now hang in the store, and of course Ritter and I first connected over our shared love of straight edge hardcore and related ephemera, so those are extra special trophies for me.
Best eBay purchase?
JAMES: https://www.discogs.com/release/9097847-Death-Where-Do-We-Go-From-Here I bought this off eBay for close to going rate at the time. It was a buy it now and the seller claimed it was the standard red label Death single but with a white promo label. I got it in the mail and it wasn’t—it had a different B side. I emailed the seller to try and get more info and he offered to return it since it wasn’t the right record. As far as I know it’s still the only known copy and the band claims it’s fake, LOL. It’s got the same matrix info for one side as the normal release—it is def 100% legit.
GENE: Bl’ast! Wishingwell Records 4-sided T-shirt for $60 in 1998. I traded it for a Rancor shirt and some other stuff. I was 16, whoops.
Best Craigslist find?
JAMES: Bad Brains “Pay To Cum.” I googled “craigslist bad brains” and a listing for a Pay To Cum with pic sleeve came up on the San Francisco Craigslist. It was $200 or so. The commissioner of the Lockin Out Fantasy Football League picked it up for me and mailed it to me. [At right of myself in photo below—Snake]
GENE: One time we found a listing for records down in the Va. boonies and the list included “Pentagon.” Ritter was like, “It has to be Pentagram,” but I doubted because there are some pretty common local records from a group called Pentagon. We pulled up to a random parking lot and the first two Pentagram LPs were in the box. There have been some way better scores if money is your metric but we watched Bobby die on stage together (he was resurrected) so that takes it for me.
Best LiveAuctioneers find?
JAMES: Got a Finn Juhl FJ-57 a few years back for a nice price, bid on a real sick drum-set for Gene on there, Trixon? Just got this insane Stimulators/Bad Brains flyer from Max’s Kansas. That being said, LA is a chore—there are fake listings that keep getting recycled, it makes it a pain to search through. The same seller just flooding the platform with the same stuff they clearly don’t have. [This is true. But I never link to those sellers. They’re based in New York—Snake]
GENE: I got a Trixon drum-set from Wright Auctions on Live Auctioneers, it looks like something the Cramps would play. I found some pretty good free jazz lots but I’m way more into IRL shitkicker auctions. I found a huge Rya rug that exactly matched my smaller one at “The busiest auction in Maryland.” Another time I got an entire collection of metal LPs for $700 and wounded a notorious Baltimore junker’s ego so badly that he kinda gave up on records. He couldn’t process that I just wanted to own an OG Sacrilege 12” and the Gotham City LP.
IG seller account you hang out on/look at their stuff the most?
JAMES: Does Tutek still post?
GENE: I’m bad at that. Thank God for Ritter, he sits on the internet all day trying to find shit. Why not you? You’re a great aggregator, Snake USA.
Thing you most regret passing on?
JAMES: Everything I didn’t buy before the last five years.
GENE: Everything. If it’s good and the price is right you have to buy it when you can. Surely I would have bought every pile of shirts at every hardcore show starting in the mid ‘90s if I had known then what I know now. I fucking hate the Nirvana Heart Shaped Box AOP shirt. That design is dogshit and only poser ass losers wore it when it was new. I almost didn’t buy one for $5 at Double Tollgate in Front Royal, Va., but I said to myself “they’re the Beatles of my generation, it will be worth money.” I sold it for $600 after it sat under my bed for 10 years. I guess I didn’t time it right, did I? Still glad I didn’t follow the impulse to pass.
I tried to buy a Togo set back when they were cheap but dropped the ball on following up with the person. I am still Togo-less, but now everyone wants them, so maybe I don’t?
Best thing you got for insanely cheap?
JAMES: I’ve got a lot of stuff.
GENE: So many things, I got some Kartell shelves for $10 at a house in Anacostia, D.C. that had the most insane op-art metallic wallpaper. I’ve pulled Eames chairs out of the trash. I stole a Bold “Speak Out” shirt from the merch store at Merriweather Post Pavillion when I hopped the fence to the Lilith Fair.
Best thing you overpaid for?
JAMES: Bought a Buddy Lee in a hickory fit the other day. I dunno if I paid too much but I probably did. The guy I bought it from never has a deal or anything priced even retail, but I wanted it, so I bought it.
GENE: I paid $300 for a Turning Point Hi Impact tee in 2001 and got made fun of for paying that much. I regret nothing.
Favorite piece of furniture you own?
JAMES: I have a yellow Umbo I like a lot.
GENE: I like my OG Eero Saarinen Womb chair because it came from an incredible tear down in Indian Head, Md., that overlooked the Potomac River. Seeing it in situ I just knew I had to have it. Lots of MCM buyers were swarming the house and I left an offer and got it fairly cheap. The original foam had rotted and the covering was threadbare so I got it wrapped in the exact fabric I wanted, by some freak who did custom jobs for Roger Stone. I, of course, hate that fucking ghoul but his swag is kinda sick in a super villain way. I’ve seen him IRL and he’s even more bizarre looking than on TV.
What’s one thing you own that you won’t ever sell?
JAMES: A pudding cup Bobby Liebling ate out of in front of the Black Cat in 2006. Everything else is for sale.
GENE: My Smorgasbord Records business card.
Piece you have now that you despise and want to replace?
JAMES: Least favorite is a yellow shell chair I bought at the Civitan flea market for $20 that I’ve left outside for so long that the fibers are sticking out and stab you when you sit in it. If you’re in the DMV and are looking for a torture device hit me up-it’s yours. I don’t want to replace it, I just want it gone.
GENE: I fucking hate my bathroom and kitchen in my apartment, but I’m trying to wear it out before I go in the hole. The tiles make me think of the hotels I stay at while I’m out scavenging for junk. Unfortunately I’m too scared of bed bugs to stay in cool roadside motels, so I’m talking about Residence Inn-style hideous brown tiles.
Who do you think sold more records: Nelly Furtado or Three 6 Mafia?
JAMES: Def Three 6.
GENE: I’d guess Three 6 Mafia because they’ve really endured. People used to clown me and Ritter’s taste in rap and look at them now. I won’t name names but time has been very kind to me and my friends and our taste in things.
Secret spot that you love but won’t tell anyone about? (please describe as judiciously as possible while omitting any identifiable characteristics)
JAMES: I can’t really think of one, lol.
GENE: Black Sheep IRL. This dude is exactly like Chris Farley in that movie, and we got an insane mix of what we like off of him earlier this year: Sinead posters, Sun Ra cassette, Oldboy promo tee, $$$ northern soul 45s and some private press LPs. It was hours of digging into the night as I was coming down with Covid (I just thought I was tired). Then he dropped that he had another, bigger spot. I’m going to check it out on Monday, wish me luck. He’s like an eternal teen in his late ‘50s who has an entire section of his family’s swanky office building dedicated to his hoard of junk. He even has a receptionist. Who the fuck does she receive besides grimy ass record dealers meeting up with this freak? I say this with zero disrespect—he’s cool as hell and easy to deal with.
Rarest/most canon vintage thing you have but never wear?
JAMES: My dad gave me one of those USN Shawl Collar jackets with matching pants that are essentially NOS. It’s cool but I’m not much into cosplay.
GENE: I have a Jordan wings satin jacket that I don’t wear that much because it’s red.
Most jealousy-inducing thing you’ve seen? (e.g. I saw a guy in Foremost jeans once in 2012 and I’ve never gotten over it)
JAMES: I saw Brandon from Government Warning rocking a Violent Children shirt once.
GENE: It sucks to see someone who sucks get something good, but aside from that, I don’t really care. There is so much stuff out there in the world, nothing to get too emotional over. Even if someone does suck, if they’re into something, anything, hopefully there’s that kernel of enthusiasm or little spark of joy in them when they cop.
Favorite Russian novelist?
JAMES: Chekhov count? I like his short stories.
GENE: I guess Solzhenitsyn, despite being at odds with his politics.
Is there a field of collecting are you looking to get into in the near future? (Furniture era/paper/autographs/stamps/model trains/computer shirts/90s Harley shirts/digital watches/lighters/slot cars/faberge eggs/Amish quilts etc)
JAMES: Keychain tape measures, George Ohr pottery, Honda Monkeys, tether cars.
GENE: I want to have less stuff, generally, but it’s real nice to talk about the Albany Style comp and have it there to immediately throw on your turntable and mosh to “No Outlet” the way we once did with Wade Allison in some shitty apartment in Austin when we were kids.
What’s the item that’s been on your watchlist the longest without you having pulled the trigger?
JAMES: https://www.ebay.com/itm/390386921633 [Longest-watched item on my list as well—Snake]
GENE: Hahaha, I don’t watch. I either buy or don’t. I mostly stick to things I come across IRL. I travel a lot so sometimes it’s Saturday in Zurich and you just have to cop The Hated 2x7” and a Pentagram (Chile) 7” and go on your merry way to the Innumerable Forms gig with your 72 year-old mother in law.
Is the best vintage/furniture online or in the wild?
JAMES: Both.
GENE: Online is not fun. I am fully the old way. If I lived a normal life I’m sure I’d be looking online more, but I’m able to get out there and feel the real world pain of watching Beaker (hated DC area furniture lord that we’re cool with) cop the Nakashima table I thought I was gonna get for the low.
Has all the cool shit been discovered? (Yes or no answer only)
JAMES: Def not. Hopefully it doesn’t even exist yet.
GENE: No.
Any vintage accounts you want to rep or boost? Furniture? (feel free to include local spots)
JAMES: @Spare__room, @Ryfillman_antiques, @MindsEyeVintage, @Dr. K…
GENE: You, Roger Miret’s record IG (so sincere and enthusiastic, my favorite record collector), @Catsonquilt, spare__room (Rycal), @k1534, @spaceage_addict, @forbidden.zone (Hoodrack’s toys), @the_fun_corner (more toys), @urbanvintageheadz (gone, but not forgotten), @strutdogrecords (rap CDs and shit from the legend Stephen Sutton, who used to have Bobby Liebling’s used yogurt cup).
Follow Joint on IG | Read previous Snake Q&As | Upgrade your sub
Auctions ending this week:
Kartell magazine rack next to can of red Coke, $80, near NYC ends Sat… (this is the best auction photo I have seen in a year)
Hans Brattrud lounge chair, $850, Larchmont Sun… (perfect sleeper chair)
Colombo (attr.) drafting table (def not his) (still decent), Chi., $150 (really good legs)
10 Bertoia chairs (no cushion), Chi., $200 (great deal)
Reverse housekeeping:
Crazy week for Ferrari.
Which Kiarostami movies are better, Tehran or Kurdistan? I think Taste can be read as a Tehran flick.
Post Q&A god-tier aesthetic video of the week (look at how small Roger’s bag of chips is that he’s eating):
Thanks for reading.
Snake