Participants
| Name | Performed | Wrote |
|---|---|---|
| Travis Emmitt | Casio CT-310, Casio HT-6000, mellophone, cornet, piano, acoustic guitar, percussion, drums, sax, vocals, talking | music, lyrics |
| Jon Friesen | sax, Casio CT-310, Casio HT-6000, fake electric guitar, percussion, drums, vocals, talking | music, lyrics |
History
IPECAC was a sax/piano duo back in the late 1980s. Jon Friesen and I (Travis Emmitt) recorded several albums of jazz, rock, reggae, and rap, but never performed live, since most of our music was dependent upon overdubs.
1988
For our first two albums, we called ourselves Apostrophe. Later, I discovered that Frank Zappa had an album of the same name, so we changed our name to IPECAC.
We started off banging on tupperware and recording with a pair of dictaphones. The production was very crude, but we had a lot of fun. Or at least I did; Jon may have been hoping for more of a professional endeavor.
We ended up recording eight albums in 1988. Most were at my house, although Leaping Leper Limousine was recorded in Jon's parents' living room.
1989
Jon got a fancy new keyboard for Christmas, so the next year we recorded everything at his house. He also had a reverb box and a 4-track. We learned a lot of about the recording process, and honed our songwriting.
Unfortunately, I didn't really like the sound of Jon's keyboard, or at least the sounds we were getting out of it. It sounded muffled, electronic, and emotionally sterile. I missed the live sound we got out of our earlier albums (at my house).
Luckily, we found some friends who wanted to play with us. The Anchovies become our main focus until 1990. IPECAC got put on hold.
1990
After Jon started sensing that the Anchovies weren't progressing fast enough for him, he agreed to record one more album with me. By now it was January 1990, and we were playing in several bands in and out of school. Technically, we were at our peak (or at least I was).
Jon and I entitled our final session Live at Carnegie Hall. It had fake applause and muddy production, but was, in my opinion, our best material by far. Unfortunately, we never got around to finishing it. High school ended and we had to enter the real world.
1991-present
Jon and I took different musical paths. He quit the Anchovies and joined a jazz cover band. I kept the Anchovies alive a couple more years (always hoping for Jon's return), but eventually gave up because the other guys weren't that interested in making music.
During and after college, Jon became a sideman in jazz and funk bands. His focus was on performing rather than composing. Today, you can see what he's up to at PitchPhork.com. If you live in Philadelphia, check him out; he's an outstanding accompaniest.
As for me, well, I prefer doing everything myself: composing, performing, mixing, making cd covers, building the web site. I'm a chronic chronicler. IPECAC and the Anchovies taught me a lot and gave me good memories, but I'm most at home working by myself. You can check out my solo music on my Tripecac site.