In 1977 I was 19 years-old, living in Reno and heard the Sex Pistols record. My cousin would come over at 8 in the morning and play it over and over. We started listening to the Ramones and other Brit punk and jamming the songs in my basement. Later on our crew hitched up with the 7 Seconds crew and started playing at parties and gigs.

I played drums since I was a kid, and my cousin, Sean Greaves, was a guitar player. We played in a garage band in Utah in the mid 70s playing covers by Santana, The Birds, and stuff considered classic rock these days. We both ended up in Reno a few years later and started jamming punk covers. We formed a band called The Thrusting Squirters with the late Louie Chavez on bass. We were doing gigs and parties with 7 Seconds and the other early Reno punk bands almost every week. We also all played in a bunch of other fuck bands of various names. During this time 7 Seconds was offered a deal for a 7 inch record with Alternative Tentacles. They were without a drummer and asked me if i wanted to play on the record which i did. That ep was "Skins, Brains and Guts" and we also had a song on the MRR compilation LP :Not So Quiet On The Western Front". I played several gigs with them and decided to concentrate on my own label. In 1982 I recorded the infamous Bix Bigler Band cassette ep which I wrote and sang on. In 1983 I moved to San Diego and haven't played a skin since.

After watching other bands doing it themselves I decided to start my own label, Squirtdown Records. I knew 7 Seconds was well known on the west coast at that time and they agreed to a record. I talked with Ian McKay and Shawn Stern from BYO. They gave me advice and told me about some pressing plants they were using. At the time I was working as an airline refueler making pretty decent dough, and that's how I financed the first 7 inch. The first pressing for "Committed For Life" was 1000 copies. I had the jackets printed on expensive red cover stock and for several nights we all got together and actually cut and glued the jackets. After about two or three hundred we canned that idea and made them into sleaves. After I moved to San Diego, I wanted to do another release, and since I didn't know anyone yet I chose Jackshit from Reno which included Steve Youth from 7 Seconds. That was the "Hicktown" 7 inch ep. The next record was a 3 song ep by the Floorlords from Huntington Beach. That band included my cousin Sean Greaves, Chuck Biscuits, ESO, and the late Joe Hughes. The next release was an LP by a band called the Sins from San Bernadino. They sent me a demo cassette which I really liked, and I agreed to do an LP, which turned into "Beginning from The End". The record suffered from poor production and the band broke up and never toured. That turned into an expensive loser for Squirtdown. 4) How did you finance the first release(s).

I sold the records though ads in Maximum Rock & Roll and Flipside. I also worked with all the main indie distributors at that time. All of them were slow to pay and some were complete assholes. When Systematic went belly-up they owed me over $400 and I never heard one word from them - they just disappeared. Most of the distributors at that time were shakey. The 7 Seconds record did well and made a little money. The other EP's pretty much broke even and the Sins LP broke the bank.

I had my records mastered and pressed in LA. I gave total control of the art to the bands. In San Diego I was working at a print shop and printed some of the later 7 Seconds sleeves myself on paper stock they gave me for a cheap price. That is why there are so many different colors. I also printed the Floorlords ep there. The Sins LP was sent out for printing and fabrication.

I stopped producing records because I ran out of money. After getting screwed by distributors and going into debt doing the Sins LP there was no more money to invest. And I got tired of taping up 7 inch records and waiting around at the post office.

Currently, I am still into independent music, whether you call it punk or not. I like all kinds of music, but now I have a lot of other interests. My wife and I live on a 20 acre farm in Colorado and raise a few animals. My real job is a digital design director for a publisher and I do a lot of freelance graphics. I still go to a few shows, but now I have a kid so I don't get out a whole lot.