SUB SOCIETY : BIOGRAPHY
Before the skateboard shop and before the EDM promoter there was Sub Society, a four-piece Punk / Skate Rock band from San Diego, California made non-famous world-wide in the late '80s and early 1990s thanks to songs in popular skateboard and snowboard videos.
The band held a strong local following due to constantly playing live and selling thousands of independetly released 7" records, Iceman ('90) and Relaxin' ('91).
Sub Society was Stimy on vocals (Inch, Congress of the Cow, Lakeside Orchestra, Harvey Knuckles), Chris Valle on guitar (Gangbusters), Didier on drums (9,000 Lbs, Furious IV) and Hesh One on bass. Prior members include Mitch Wilson (No Knife) and Tommy Barnes on guitar and Petey X (Rocket From The Crypt) on bass.
Listen to the songs and you can hear high school student Stimy's introspective lyrics and note the change in the band's sound as Chris and Hesh One morphed it from pure punk to something more metal and melodic over the years. Didier's atypical approach to drums further defined the band's sound.
The bands raw demo, No
Legs To Stand On, landed five songs in H-Street's influential Hokus
Pokus ('90) video including "Rockstar" during
the Tony Magnussen segment and "A Lot Less" during
the Matt
Hensley segment. Inclusion in Hokus Pokus was a really
good accomplisihment for four teenagers who practiced in
the drummer's parent's garage.
"A Lot Less" was later covered by Millencolin on "The Melancholy Collection" and "Skauch", both on Epitaph Records. (Hey, guys, where are the royalties!?)
Other video credits include H-Street's Not The New H-Street Video ('91) and Next Generation ('92) as well as Life's A Beach's Skaters From Uranus II ('91) and Mack Dawg's New Kids On The Twock ('90), Pocahontas ('91) and Decade ('98).
Sub Society tracks on CD compilations include "1,000 Yard Stare" on Thrasher Magazine's Explicit Sk8 Rok Volume 10 ('91), Palomar College's Immolation ('92) as well as "greatest hits" compilations by H-Street and Mack Dawg released in the late '90s.
Sub Society performed with a lot of great bands including 7 Seconds, All, Amenity, Big Drill Car, Chemical People, Daddy Longleggs, The Descendents, The Doughboys, Forced Down, G.B.H., House Of Suffering, Inside Out, Jawbreaker, Mr. Bungle, Olivelawn, Pitchfork, Rocket From The Crypt, Rollins Band, Samiam, Seaweed, Sprung Monkey, Unwritten Law and Victim's Family.
Michael "Stimy" Steinman: 1972-2010
Chris, Didier, H1, and the extentended Sub Society family lost Stimy too soon on December 30, 2010.
SUB SOCIETY : MP3s
NO
LEGS TO STAND ON
1989 : Demo Tape
Side A
Drive
Drunk
United
Appeal
A
Lot Less
Hard
Corey
Merk
Side End
Side B
Arabian
Death
Groove
To
The
Point
Of
Relative
Inaccessibility
Society's
Dropout
Rockstar
Non-Merk
Side
End
Bonus
Strength
Way
I Am
Guilty
'til Proven Rich
It's
A Steal (feat. Hard Corey)
Happy
Meal
None
Of The Above
Brian's Song
Band
Guys / Endtroduction
Recorded live "on air" at KSDT, UCSD
ICEMAN
1990 : 7" Vinyl : JFS Productions
Side A
Daily
Seconds
At
Last
Side B
Everyday
A
Lot Less
RELAXIN'
1991 : 7" Vinyl : Vinyl Communications
Side A
1,000 Yard Stare
The Isolator
Side B
Relaxin'
Cheese Food
Bonus
Sleep Walking
Squeaky Wheel
EXPLICIT SK8ROK VOL. 10
1991 : CD : Thrasher Magazine
IMMOLATION
1992 : CD: Palomar College
9)
My Brother's Friend
10)
Boat Ride
ANTHOLOGY: 1989-1992
2010 : Digital Download
UCSD TRITON PUB
1990 : From VHS
United Appeal (Live)
DOUBLETIME SESSIONS
1992 : Previously Unreleased
Way
Down
Snuggle
Toolbox
Cat/Bear
Keep
Movin'
Harshin'
F
SUB SOCIETY : MORE!
Live @ House Party
1988 - "Stimy For President"
Live @ UCSD Triton Pub
Stimy, Chris Didier & H1
05.10.1990 - "Everyday"
Live @ SOMA
Stimy, Chris Didier & H1
01.31.1992 - Entire 35 minute Set
Live @ Live Wire
Stimy Solo Acoustic
10.09.2010 -"A Lot Less"
Live @ The Casbah
Stimy Memorial w/ Rob Crow
02.16.2011 -"A Lot Less"
Live @ Kensington Club
Stimy Memorial w/ Rob Crow
02.19.2011 -"A Lot Less"