Garbage Band? I Disagree.

My intent was to post stories about the bands on The Way Back’s playlist in the order they appear on the playlist, but then I started going to shows and things became disorganized and so today I’m writing about Reel Big Fish because I feel like writing about Reel Big Fish. Originally, I was saving the best for last, but plans have changed!

I believe readers should be aware of Trivia Ben by this point. He’s a crucial member of The Educated Friends and I see him most Thursday evenings at Fourscore. However, what some of you may not know is that Ben once said something that I will never forget and that he will never live down. Much like my concert husband Phil and Brock didn’t staand for Caamp, you know?

This is what Ben said:

“Everyone has a favorite garbage band, Hannah. It’s just that your favorite garbage band is also your favorite band.”

He has since denied saying this, and apologized for saying this, and insisted that he meant it as a joke (which I know he did). Nevertheless, I’ve committed it to memory and remind him of it often.

The thing is, Ben’s point (not his wording, but his point) makes sense. Reel Big Fish isn’t lighting the world on fire with their lyrics. The numbers they perform are generally fast and danceable; the f-bomb is prevalent in many songs and they love to sing about not being popular. People form mosh and skank pits at their shows. Sometimes Aaron Barrett dresses as Superman when he’s onstage, though more often than not he wears a Hawaiian shirt. And everything about this? I love.

I discovered Reel Big Fish in 1996. “Sell Out,” their big radio single, was all over the airwaves. I was fifteen years old, working as a substitute lifeguard at the Lake Heritage Swimming Pool and writing a book in my free time. That book was Kick It One More Time. Since I didn’t need to be at work until noon, I’d get up each morning, situate myself at the family computer, and start typing away in a Microsoft Word document. I did this for years.

In fact, I was still attempting to get Kick It down on paper in 1999. At that point in time, Sebastian Porter (the main character) was a troubled teen who lived in California, dyed his hair blue, and spent his days waterskiing. He has changed so much over the decades. Pretty much the only similarity between my fifteen-year-old version of Bas and the real Bas is the fact that he was in a band… although as a teen living in Southern Cali, he was obviously in a ska band, and now Flannel Lobster is more of a folksy-jam band.

Anyway.

I got to page forty of my manuscript (single-spaced, mind you) before it dawned on me that I didn’t really know anything about being in a band. It seemed like a smart idea to send some fan mail to bands I liked at the time, so that’s what I did. A few of them wrote back, too! Everything of “Hooch” fame responded to a few of my queries, as did John Feldman from Goldfinger and Tavis Werts, who was playing trumpet for Reel Big Fish at the time. The thing is, when I say these fellows responded to “a few of my queries,” I mean that they disregarded the majority of my questions.

I asked FIFTY-THREE questions… and many of them contained two or three parts to them.

I kept waiting for Aaron Barrett to write back. He is and always will be my favorite rockstar. I love his voice. I seriously think that Aaron Barrett has the nicest singing voice of anyone on the planet. There’s just something pleasant about it. I love love love him.

Aaron Barrett did not write back. Not via snail mail, anyway. So I got online and did some digging, which resulted in the discovery of an email address: BigRockusa@aol.com. I sent him a short message and asked if he’d received my letter with its fifty-three questions. He responded relatively quickly to say that he hadn’t, but told me I should email them to him.

I did as he suggested.

Then I waited.

Months passed.

Like, a lot of months. Five or six, I believe. And then on December 23, 1996, I received a response from Aaron Barrett. “MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!” it begins. “i’m finaly done!!sorry it took so gosh darn long!!!! ok here goes!”

Although his grammar wasn’t the best, Aaron answered EVERY SINGLE ONE of my fifty-three questions, and when I printed the single-spaced email, it came out to be ten pages long.

I have referenced the information provided by Aaron so many times over the years. He has a wealth of knowledge and he didn’t have to answer any of my questions, let alone all of them. Needless to say, when I finally finished the first draft of Kick It, I saved it on a CD, took it with me to a Reel Big Fish concert that was conveniently being held at Gettysburg College, and stayed after so I could give him the disc. Who knows if he ever looked at it? I kind of hope he didn’t… That particular version was way too wordy; it’s much better now.

The current version of Kick It, which admittedly still needs some editing, actually features Aaron Barrett among its pages. He has a brief scene in the novel – I even give him a few speaking lines! But don’t worry, folks: Aaron approved the dialogue. I sent the pages to his manager Vince Pileggi, who forwarded them to Aaron, who approved them very quickly. I adore that guy.

Here’s another fun Reel Big Fish story:

While attending Kutztown University during my freshman year of college, I had the opportunity to attend a free concert at Penn State (main campus) with my roommates Aimee and Elena. Elena’s brother Harry was in a frat and we were staying with him, but the reason we went was because Reel Big Fish was playing at University Park on Pollack Field with Letters to Cleo and Goldfinger. This is one of the times Aaron dressed as Superman on stage… but before all that, Aimee, Elena, and I were standing on the outskirts of a sea a people (we’re talking thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of people) and this guy walked by and I said very casually, “That’s Aaron Barrett.” Because it was.

Aaron Barrett heard me and turned around.

I said, “You maybe don’t remember this, but I once sent you an email asking fifty-three questions about life in a band and you responded to all of them.”

He said, “Ohhhh, I remember that!”

Then he signed my shirt and we got our picture taken with him.

Another time, as a junior at Millersville University, I drove down to Baltimore with my friend Lindsay, met up with my friends Susan and Kerry Ann, and caught Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger at Bohager’s (RIP). This was the Crouching Fish, Hidden Finger Tour and while the show was of course excellent, the most memorable part of the evening is probably being invited onto the band’s tour bus. So that happened too.

I would also like to add that of all the bands I’ve ever communicated with – even the ones who aren’t especially well known and haven’t traveled the world or played in arenas – Reel Big Fish is the only band that has ever given me a shoutout on social media. I once posted a picture on Twitter of a cut- and torn-paper trumpet that my friend Greyson had commissioned. For some reason – I think because Reel Big Fish has such a phenomenal horn section – I tagged my favorite band in the post and they saw it. Not only did they “heart” the post… they retweeted it and gave me mad compliments!

I have more stories I could share about this band. I’ve seen them so many times and met Aaron on so many occasions and I still have so very many positive things to say about them… but this is meant to be a blog post and not a book about the kindest, bestest, funnest musicians around. Garbage band, schmarbage band. I absolutely love Reel Big Fish!