| Heidnik
Stew’s history starts back 1991,
when Bone put an ad in the EC Rocker
looking for a singer to form a band.
Junior called up, started talking to this
drunk, and the two clicked right off the
bat. Both were heavily influenced by
early hardcore and punk, and both were
huge Misfits fans. They tried to form a
band, and Heidnick Stew (notice the
spelling) was born. After forming, the
band kept getting side tracked and would
continuously have to start from scratch
because of various line-up changes. Three
years, thirty line up changes, and
various shows go by and they finally
record a demo. Food for Thought was
recorded in a shitty studio in Elizabeth,
NJ with a drug dealing (they would
actually have to pause recording so he
could sell the drugs to customers)
pot-head as an engineer. The line up was
Bone on guitar, Junior on vocals, College
on guitar, Skinny on drums, and Pauly P.
on bass. The songs were more of a
cross-over style and were so out-dated.
Most had actually been written three
years earlier, and some even earlier than
that! Suffice to say only a few days
after the release of the demo and right
before a big Madball show, College,
Skinny, and Pauly quit. The band sucked
and it was time to put Heidnick Stew out
to pasture. A year or so goes
by, and the Bone-Junior connection lives
on. Both are still good friends and keep
in touch, only Bone moves two hours south
into the bowels of South Jersey.
Realizing they are thoroughly bored, they
decide to do the band again, only right
this time. This is where the real Heidnik
Stew starts. Long time friend and fan of
the old Stew, Mark Tully joins to create
a new band. They decide to keep the name,
only changing to the correct spelling of
Heidnik. They look for a bass player, and
Al Abortion from the now defunct
Immaculate Abortion, fills in for a
while. Fast forward to a local hardcore
show at the Down Under in New Brunswick,
NJ where while handing out a
"looking for a bass player"
flyer, Mike Henninger says, "Hey
Junior, I play bass!" so he joins.
Knowing that he'll be going to the
Marines in a few months he brings Bill
Golden in the mix as second guitar. While
in South Jersey, Bone's car breaks down
and with no way for him to get two hours
north, the Stew play shows at Studio 1 in
Newark, NJ without him for a while. Bone
gets a new car, Mike goes to the Marines,
and Bill switches to bass. This line up
then records the four song seven-inch
"The Seller of Horrors" on
their own Exit Nine Records. Because of
lack of funds, it takes a year to come
out. During that time they become
regulars at the Pipeline (R.I.P.) in
North Newark, NJ and play shows at the
Wetlands (R.I.P.) and Coney Island High
(R.I.P) in NYC. They also play regularly
in local New Brunswick bars the Melody
(R.I.P.) and the Court Tavern, as well as
plenty of parties and hall shows in
between. Because of constant fist
fighting between band members, drug and
alcohol abuse, arguing, and relationships
gone bad...the band does better than
ever. Radical Records invites them on the
Oi!/Skampilation Vol. 3 show in New
London, CT which gets recorded and
released. The Trailer Park records comp
"Better Scene Then Heard" is
released with Heidnik Stew getting the
opening track. They get a track on the
New Brunswick band compilation "The
Right to Assemble", and then the
ultimate, they get an offer to record a
seven-inch for Headache Records. The
seven-inch "Trials and
Tribulations" is released, they play
a number of shows, and even some out of
state shows. Radical Records releases a
Tribute to the Exploited, and the Stew's
put a track on that. Then BAM!, the end
of the Golden era, the Bill Golden era
that is. Long time bass player Bill
decides to leave the band because he just
got sick of it, and wanted to move on in
life.
Considering
he’s hanging out all the time and is
at all the shows any way old pal and
friend Kevin comes in on bass. This new
line up records for yet another Radical
Records compilation, The East Coast of
Oi!. Times are hard. Places to play are
disappearing, but the boys keep on. In an
effort to thicken the sound they also
decide to add a second guitarist. Silky
comes aboard with his rock n’ roll
styling to fill in that void. This new
line up writes a slew of new songs,
records a demo version of a full length
album to be entitled "Put Downs, Let
Downs, and Beat Downs".
Unfortunately once the demo of the record
was "in the can", so was the
band. By the end of summer of 2000 (the
year that was supposed to be the best
ever) the heart wasn't there anymore and
the band split up. The full length was
never released.
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