2022: The Punk Rock Museum

Since Da Slyme last played in 1999 (the release of the CD The 20-Year Scam, hardly a month has gone by without one of us being contacted about our involvement or finding some reference to the band in an article or a book or on the internet or in the media. It was like we had stumbled into some sort of zombie world where suddenly and unexpectedly Da Slyme's fetid hand would regularly poke up out of our its dirt-encased past.

From 1977-1999 we had chosen to play only sparingly, each show themed to some new idea that we cooked up. We played a total of just over 30 gigs and wrote and performed over 50 songs. We were never a band in the touring or fame-seeking racket. It wasn't even a side hustle. There was no money in it, none made, and none sought - and, no egos, no drama (except that purposely built into our ridiculous on-stage performances). Just a bunch of similarly minded buds having a shitload of fun playing these tunes and acting them out on stage. That's what gave it breath. And that may be why it's still remembered today in Newfoundland. There is little doubt that our self-titled and uniquely packaged double vinyl lp (1980) is why we're known and remembered elsewhere.

For close to half a century now, we have been bemused by the ongoing interest in something that was intended to have the lifespan of ephemera (a Google search of "Da Slyme" rousts up a ridiculous number of hits from around the music world). We still meet occasionally over a few pints, in gatherings full of stories, memories of the rubble, the latest Da Slyme news and lots and lots of laughs.

The Punk Rock Museum

And then in the year of our Covid, 2022, the Da Slyme zombie reared up once again when we were contacted by the folks who were in the early stages of putting together The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas. They wanted Da Slyme in there. We had been recommended by Jello Biafra, the lead singer of San Francisco punk band Dead Kennedys (Jello had connected with Kirt Sic-o-Via and No Moniker years earlier and was a big fan of our 1980 double vinyl).

After some back and forth, we curated a donation to the museum that included some stage costuming, copies of the double lp and The 20-Year Scam CD, and the piece de resistance, the phallic unit - a former electric guitar that Kirt had dissected, replacing the pickups with bulbs from camera flash cubes and the head stock with a dildo. Snotty Slyme would wield this axe during our more animated performances, setting off camera flashes in the audience's eyes. So, Da Slyme is in The Punk Rock Museum, and the next time you are in Las Vegas, look for us. And the phallic unit!