Noise Pollution #82.5

Things I hate to write: being wrong & eulogies.

So, this will be short and to the point. It contains things I really hate, with the first being that I was wrong:

I posted Prayer Position’s part of the their split cassette with Final Dose and Orthas as their new material. Why? I was in a rush and that was the first thing on their Bandcamp. The ACTUAL way to hear a new track from the 7 inch, which is titled “Devotion” and will be released via Phage Tapes is to go to their Instagram and click on the post for “Gates of Heaven”, which is uploaded in it’s entirety.

My statement that they’re the best band in the States still stands. Also their Instagram shows off some of the merch that will be available for their European run with Final Dose. When the 7 inch is released I’ll post links on how to buy it.

It’s been a fucking rough few weeks and trying to type up things while you have a four year old with the energy of a thousand burning suns running around getting into shit is taxing. Maybe if I can get on Medicaid I’ll finally be able to see a doctor for some proper ADHD meds.

Now, saving the worst for last: a eulogy.

This morning I woke up to the news that Andrew Gerrity had suddenly gone home overnight.

I first met Gerrity in 2012. He was the tour manager for the run Krieg did with Wolvhammer and Doomsday. The experiences of that tour will fill a chapter in the memoir I’m writing but he and I became fast friends through a shared love of gallows humor and loud music. He ran the tour with an iron fist, which-at the time-could be grating especially when you ended up at a house party in Greenbay of all fucking places, enjoying the company of the hostess while members of the bands snuck out the entire contents of her beer fridge, and Gerrity decided it was time to drive to fucking Chicago before you made another person disappointed. It made up for it that while the van, about a dozen or so people, slept and he stopped so the two of you could share gas station cheese curds while listening to shitty music driving into the sunrise.

Our paths would cross frequently as he was also TM for Goatwhore, who I got to know through him. He would always make sure I got in and was taken care of, a story a lot of you share as well.

In 2013 he was again tasked with taking the lead on the Wolvhammer tour with Glorior Belli, which happened right around Maryland Deathfest. Krieg would take part in the Philadelphia and the MDF aftershow, unsanctioned by MDF. For Philadelphia, my bassist and drummer were absent so Heath from Wolvhammer did session drums and Gerrity would be our bassist. He came fully studied up on the material, knowing it better than anyone who was involved, myself included. It ended up being a good show, with the next day being after MDF that day had concluded and the addition of Tragedy to the lineup, news of which was broken to me by Gerrity who shared my love for the band. It was one of the best nights I can remember.

We talked about doing music together for a long time but like a lot of these things, it just remained talk. The idea was some kind of Insect Warfare meets Beherit thing, which would have probably been terrible but a good time.

The last time I saw him was in 2019 when Wolvhammer played Wonderland in Richmond. They crashed at our apartment and he and I spent most of the night engaging in drug use, bullshitting and playing with my cats. A few weeks later Nikki would be diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer that spread to her brain, with the pandemic lockdown not too far behind. That night, spent laughing and building one of the worst hangovers I’d ever had was the last time I touched hard drugs and, for all intents and purposes, was the last big night out that myself and Nikki had before everything changed. It’s a precious memory with some of my favorite people.

Gerrity was stubborn and difficult to work with but always put 100% of himself into everything he did. He had the rare quality of giving a shit. That 2012 tour is what brought Krieg back and helped turn it into something deeper, more professional. Gerrity had a lot to do with that, as did everyone involved. Gerrity was one of the funniest and kindest people I’ve had the chance to know through my trip through music, a friend who if you didn’t see them for years would pick back up like it was only a few days. If there’s anything positive to come from this it’s been seeing everyone who knew him posting pictures and memories. He was loved and he will be missed. There was truly no one else like him.