” I thought I’d landed in a pothead cowtown”, says, of his first month as an art student in Athens, Georgia. ” I was an urban rock chair, and Athens seemed grey and granola, it took me a and to get my’ people ‘”. But, in 1979, at the only caffeine joint however opened after Stipe’s nightshift at the local restaurant, he saw” this amazing, almost-cartoonish pair who looked like they’d stepped out of the Weimar Republic”, he says. ” I waved at them. They waved back”.
That group – Jeremy Ayers, Davey Stevenson and Dominique Amet – afterwards became Limbo District, the most radical party of an Athens underwater image that gave the world the B-52s, Pylon and, of course,. But while those singers went on to relish worldwide reputation, Limbo District are forgotten. Before releasing any audio, they imploded badly after just two years of existence. For years, the only proof they previously existed was some minutes ‘ footage in 1987 film Athens, GA: Inside/Out.
” They were one of the greatest bands on Earth”, says Stipe. A group whose fusion of art, furious patterns, and punk sensibility served as an unquestionable enthusiasm for Athens ‘ future stars is now illuminated by a new song of unearthed live tapes.
Athens-native Ayers, the son of a teacher of religion and philosophy at the University of Georgia, was in charge of the Limbo District. According to B-52s guitarist Keith Strickland,” Jeremy Ayers about inspired every musician in Athens.” ” His early-70s events were like artwork happenings – walls covered with black cheap, flooring thick with snacks, Beefheart and Velvets data playing. He opened doorways to creative opportunities. Plus, Jeremy and his boyfriend Chris]Coker ] were gay – so were Ricky]Wilson, future B-52s guitarist ] and I, but we were n’t out yet. It was inspiring to watch Jeremy stroll around Athens wearing a tiny fur coat and strong velvet pants.
While Chris improvised on a record, Ayers enjoyed recording himself repeating writing and playing drumming. It was a clatter, according to Ricky and me’s drummer, and it marked our first steps into writing and recording. We continued that process of songwriting”.
Ayers eluded New York in 1972, moving to Andy Warhol’s Stock theater, writing for Interview publication as Sylva Thinn, and making friends with famous people like Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis. ” Andy loved Jeremy”, says Stipe,” and Andy was difficult to please”. But within two centuries, Ayers returned.
” There was a skepticism to that picture, a painful edge”, says Strickland. ” Jeremy wanted a distinct life”.
Athens was undoubtedly different: it had no venues, no “real” audio field. Rings in Athens played home parties to satisfy their buddies, careerism was n’t a promise – although REM had, of course, go on to international stardom. Yet here, Ayers ‘ effect was critical.
” Jeremy was a great companion and mentor”, Stipe says. ” The people that I became, the public image of Michael Stipe, I owe to him. He taught me how to party, how to laugh at myself, how to dress. Although it turns out that I was infatuated with him at the time, I still believe he was my life’s second like,” Stipe says.
Ayers formed Limbo District in 1981, playing drums. His partner, Stevenson –” a large, brown, wonderful redhead who loved to explore Schopenhauer”, says guitarist Kelly Crow, who went on to become a band member – played bass. Amet, who played organ, was from an upper-class French family and knew nothing of rock ‘n’roll.
” She sang like it was opera at their first rehearsals,” Crow says,” and Jeremy asked her to sing Johnny B Goode.” ” Jeremy loved that: he’d been hoping for someone who did n’t come from a]typical ] western music background”.
Amet was” Amy Winehouse levels of exotic”, adds Stipe. ” She’d strike matches and use the ash as eyeliner, applied with a nine-penny nail”.
Singer Craig Woodall was” a small, quiet guy from a place where you could n’t be outwardly queer and not expect something to happen,” Crow recalls.
Margarita Bilbo, a guitarist from Basque Spain, claims that Craig had a “very hard life.” They learned about her rant against Athens on student radio after hearing her rant on the radio. She’d never played guitar before, but the band loved her attitude, and that was more important. ” I had n’t had any friends in Athens”, Bilbão remembers. ” Those guys became my saviours”.
Even among the post-punk mavericks of early-80s Athens, Limbo District’s wild, perverse cabaret was “radical”, says Stipe. ” They were intentionally abrasive, like Einstürzende Neubauten or Psychic TV, but they had melody, humour. They drew on Edith Sitwell and Vaudeville to write where punk could go next. They unsettled people, in a playful way”. Strickland remembers the band as” a mesmerising tapestry of pure imagination, with a sexy, surreal, Fellini-esque quality”.
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Athens loved Limbo District, but touring revealed them to be an acquired taste. ” We’d clear the room”, says Crow. They made a recording with upcoming REM artist Mitch Easter, but nobody would release it. Bilbão grew anxious over her limited skills and fled to New Orleans, heartbroken. She was replaced by Tim Lacy, who was replaced, in 1983, by Crow. Around this time, Jim Herbert, a professor at the university, made Carnival, in collaboration with photographer Marlys Lens Cox. The remarkably surreal, dreamlike short film depicts Limbo District as” a 1920s existential traveling circus” stopping for a lakeside break and engaging in naked wrestling. Stipe made an effort to get Carnival on MTV. ” But there’s butts and dicks and breasts in that thing”, Crow says. ” They were never gonna play that”.
The band was on borrowed time anyway. Woodall developed a heroin addiction and spent the following years living alone, dealing with alcoholism, and dealing with mental health issues. Stevenson’s brother Gordon, of New York” no wave” band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, was an early Aids casualty, his death in 1982 broke Davey’s heart. He and Ayers broke up in 1983, ending the band, and Stevenson moved to France, to study philosophy at the Sorbonne. Amet, who had been arrested for shoplifting groceries and was facing deportation, went with him.
” Dominique had been in love with Davey since day one”, says Bilbão.
” Davey was everything to her”, nods Crow. They shared a balcony apartment where you could watch the Eiffel Tower from. In the early 1990s, Stevenson passed away from Aids. Amet subsequently married, had a son, and died 20 or so years ago. ” None of us know any more than that”, sighs Crow. ” She’d always told me she wanted a kid. She did n’t make it out of her 40s”.
Ayers, meanwhile, moved into painting and photography. ” His paintings were quite beautiful – figurative and symbolic”, says Strickland. ” He did a beautiful painting of Ricky, from memory, after Ricky’s death. Jeremy was unapologetically honest. You perceived that you were being listened to and heard when you spoke to him.
Before she fled Athens, Bilbão would visit Ayers:” If I felt mad and everything seemed wrong. We would be content if we had a cup of tea in his garden and talked. It was like an oasis of peace, his big garden of bamboo”. It was here that Ayers died of a seizure, on 24 October 2016. He was 68.
” It was so tragic, but poetic”, says Herbert. He passed away in that garden that he adored so much.
In the years following Limbo District’s split, the B-52s and REM enjoyed multi-platinum success and critical acclaim. However, Stipe claims that the avant-garde experimentalists who had been such a big help to both groups had been “lost in time as an entity.” Henry Owings, an unofficial historian of the Athens music scene, decided to rediscover their legacy. He released three studio albums, live albums, and three EPs on his Chunklet Industries label ( with more to come ), and he is now organizing screenings of Carnival all over the world.
For years, Crow had been Limbo District’s archivist. ” I carried all the studio recordings, live tapes, flyers and posters from home to home, for decades”, he says. ” We’d always wanted to release our music, but could never afford to. I was about to give up on it. Then Henry made a call. Henry cared. Our music’s on streaming now. On the stereo, Limbo District is playing in my car.
Stipe is” just happy there’s renewed interest in Limbo District, that a shred of their influence still exists”. The people who created the Limbo District are the ones whose memories are most important to Bilbo. ” The music was just an accessory – the important thing was the people”, she says. ” I think about Dominique, Davey and Jeremy all the time. They were incredible. I’ve always kept them in my heart”.
Live Limbo is available now via Chunklet Industries. Later this month, Carnival will be shown in the UK.