Localized – Chainwhip, Handicapitalist and Stark Raving Mad

Handicapitalist
Jake Gatenby – Guitar/Vocals
Chris Nelson – Bass/Vocals
Box – Drums/Vocals

After Jake Gatenby, a Utah County native, met Connecticuter Box while traveling in the eastern U.S., the two continued their jaunts through the country and were stopping through Utah, where the rekindled Raunch Records and convivial music/punk scene led them to set up camp in Salt Lake. The two had only played folk music with each other until Box decided she wanted to get a drum kit, which Gatenby was stoked on because he didn’t know any drummers in Salt Lake and wanted to play punk rock again. Now that they’ve found bassist Chris Nelson, who fits in the three-piece punk puzzle perfectly, Handicapitalist is on the prowl again: “I think for us being a three-piece playing really simple music, shit gets outta line,” Gatenby says. “More so than most shows I go to.”

Handicapitalist began in summer of 2010 with their original bassist, Kyle Greene. He only stayed with the band for the first few months, however, because he “moved to Idaho to have a baby instead of playing punk rock,” Gatenby says. Then, in February 2011, came Bob Thompson. Thompson initially called Gatenby and “forcefully took over” the role of bassist, trying to get a rise out of Gatenby by just telling him that he was being in the band without consent. An unruffled Gatenby replied, “Cool,” and the stage was a set for a few months. Down the line, though, Thompson and Box proved incompatible as bandmates. Nelson recollects humorous instances of Box and Thompson squabbling onstage, and Thompson head-butting local crusty Critter for taking the mic and screaming words to a song which he didn’t know. “It was kind of performance art for a while,” Nelson says. Thompson eventually left Handicapitalist due to his relationship with Box, and various other reasons.

Box and Gatenby formally invited Nelson to join the band in November of 2011. Nelson gladly accepted the position, as he had always enjoyed Handicapitalist’s performances. “Seeing them play, there’s just a crazy energy. I’ve always had a soft spot for ’80s hardcore … It’s just really fun,” says Nelson. Upon practicing with them, he fit into their niche of playing simple, aggressive hardcore punk that feeds off of anger. “Chris has brought a lot to the table,” says Box. The band creates songs based on things that piss them off, which often come up in drunken conversations while they’re at band practice. Indeed, they play angry songs of a political nature—you’ll hear Box scream, “I’m not a slave for minimum wage!” on their latest album, Our Only Debts are Warrants—but they don’t necessarily have a defined political agenda. “I think that we just write songs about what we feel like,” Box says. “I think we have songs that we’re working on right now (hint, hint, wink) that aren’t political at all, but just whatever we’re angry about at the time just comes out.” The band isn’t necessarily all piss n’ vinegar, though. “We also look at it [with] a fairly satirical approach, which, sometimes, people don’t get, which makes it really fun,” Gatenby adds. Although Box has a knack for playing other instruments, such as in her other band, Folk Hogan, and each member retains a mastery over their instruments, Handicapitalist’s brand of punk rock has no room for artsy-fartsy dillydallying because of the intensity, speed and aggression of their style of play. Oftentimes they find themselves throwing out riffs that they find to be too technical.

Thompson, somewhat bewilderingly, has continued as a sort of third-party component of Handicapitalist that the band embraces in a love-hate sort of way. Even though he left the band after they recorded Our Only Debts are Warrants last July with Andy Patterson, he unofficially released their CD last September and sent it to various publications, including SLUG. “Bob’s really into guerilla marketing,” Box says. “Sometimes, I come home, and he’s smoking cigars and drinking tequila [alone] on our porch, but then, when I get home, he leaves … He’s like our unofficial manager.” Thompson even scored them a review in a national publication, Maximum Rocknroll, who misinterpreted their song, “Smart Girls,” whose chorus bellows, “I only fuck smart girls!” Box says, “Maximum Rocknroll did, however, call us misogynist and sexist … It was funny because it was just the kind of thing where you read the review and go, ‘Wow. You didn’t actually listen to the song at all, did you?’” Luckily, you’ll be able to make that judgment call yourself, as Handicapitalist will have more ‘official’ copies of Our Only Debts are Warrants, along with T-shirts, patches and stickers available at Localized. “It’s going to be a fast, furious, booze-fueled good time,” Nelson says. Aside from SLUG’s showcase of this rackety punk band, you can catch Handicapitalist playing house shows around town as they wait for another viable, all-ages venue to come around: “If we could, I’d exclusively play all-ages shows,” says Gatenby. Look for a new full-length from Handicapitalist to come out sometime this summer, and cheer them on as soon as their beloved All Systems Fail take them on their impending tour through Mexico.