The Fishnet Stalkers are louder than loud. They played the Ottobar, a Halloween benefit show for the all female roller derby league the Charm City Roller Girls, and as I was hanging out with the band in the van, talking and laughing, Chris Calabrese, the bass player, said, "I'm cool staying in Baltimore, it's cheap, it allows you to save the money in order to go on the road. Going out and playing out of state is the funnest. That's the reason I'm in a band besides playing music." Yes, he did just use the adjective funnest and at this point Steve the lead singer chimes in, "You know, it's an adventure."
The band has gone through many lineup changes over the years. They have been around for over three years, and, as Steve himself claimed, the band started off as "goofiness." Matt Gaps, the guitar player, explained, "We got serious by accident. A lot of people just started liking us and being more supportive than we expected. We just wanted to have fun, just kind of cause some trouble. We all played instruments, might as well do something, make a band. It got serious after a while I guess. People were like, 'When's your next show?' so then it's like, 'Let's set up some more shows.' Judging from the fanfare the Fishnet Stalkers received on Sunday night, a lot of Baltimoreans are pretty devoted.
The Fishnet Stalkers have a sound that can be described as fast rock 'n' roll with distorted guitars and loud, screaming vocals. Fans of Iggy Pop and the Stooges, Kings of Leon or the Misfits would feel right at home with them. Singer Steve Diamond was strutting around the stage last Sunday night doing his best Mick Jagger imitation. They seem very much like a bunch of kids who fell in love with rock music and never wished to seek their thrills elsewhere. They love going on the road, they love playing shows. As Chris explained, "I'm with people who see playing music more as a lifestyle instead of a recreational thing; we're not really making money off of it, but everything I make pretty much goes into the band. I pay for all my buttons out of my pocket and give them away for free. So it's a labor of ... lust."
Rock music has not had many altruists as of late, though as commercial radio declines it seems more and more that bands that are only playing music out of the goodness of their hearts will survive. The band can go on and on about commercial radio in the country and in Baltimore in particular. Asked about the state of radio in Baltimore Chris replied, "Baltimore, it sucks. WRNR has got a couple good shows. No DJ in Baltimore seems to have a background in music, knowledge or like history. They don't show it. They only play the top-40 hits. There's no B-sides being played, just chart-toppers." Steve added, "Even the independent radio stations, they don't really seem to go on an edge at all. They don't try to break into something new until it seems like it has almost broken into the mainstream. Then what the hell is the sense of being an alternative radio station playing things that have already gotten to the mainstream. It just doesn't make any sense. R&R, they'll play The Clash or they'll play The White Stripes, but they've already made it in the mainstream."
The Fishnet Stalkers are five people dedicated to the concept of being in a band. They are even willing to endure some uncomfortable day jobs in order to get enough money together to go on the road and pay for rehearsal space. Matt works for a cab company and Conor, the other guitar player, might possibly have the worst day job in rock history; "I clean up dog [expletive]." When asked if he works at the Vet clinic because of a love for animals Chris interjected and explained that he was chasing around Chris' cat earlier in the day trying to put a condom on its tail. It seems that there is a sort of love/hate relationship between Conor and animals.
The band took the stage dressed as the Village People. Conor was the sailor, with a drawn-on tattoo of an anchor and the words, "get wet." The club was packed; everyone was dancing in costume in front of the stage. Gumby was rocking out, and three crew members from Team Zissou walked by. The roller girls were enjoying themselves also, each with a sash that displayed their roller derby name. The band was charging through songs that were under three minutes long, the heavily costumed frames were nodding their heads. Baltimore, it seems, can be a pretty fun place to hang out if you know where to go. So there are other things to do around here than frat parties and studying.
