“It’s gonna be a short album. It’s only 12 songs and they’re all kind of short. The longest one is 4 minutes, the shortest is about 2. It makes just about half an hour. But the new shit I’m doing is like the future. And it’s completely different. It’s crazy shit. It’s like trying to fit as many styles as you possibly can into a 2 minute punk song. It goes from West Coast Rap, to Jungle, to Trip Hop, back to Industrial, a little Punk thing, Trip Hop, back to the West Coast Rap, out, next song,” says a mid-late twenties James Euringer (Little Jimmy Urine), in 1996. Indeed, the songs following his previous effort, “Mindless Self-Indulgence” would ring like the future, combining a variety of musical elements of disparate origin. Certainly, it would be a far cry from the more traditional industrial sounds of his 1995 EP.
A pressing issue, however, remained in being able to play live shows and garner label attention. “A lot of [performing live] is a pain in the ass because I like to do unorthodox set ups and labels want drummers. They want a certain amount of people/instruments on stage … It’s okay to [be a studio musician] in certain venues. You can do it in rap, in dance music, but you can’t do it in rock. … I gotta get the drummer situation squared away … I’ve got an ad in the paper for a female drummer but haven’t found anyone yet … I’m looking for a girl drummer … [who] looks cool, doesn’t mind playing an unconventional set and not playing all the time but rather doing fills and accents, but add to the live performance as well.”
Intentional or not, he found his drummer in Jennifer Dunn (Kitty), who previously provided photography and graphic design for his previous EP. “I was never really good at string instruments,” she recalls, “but I was really good at hitting things … You’re always trying to keep up with a machine that keeps perfect time … It’s especially risky when you’re playing live, anything can go wrong. I don’t play to a click track, I play to the tape. I might play the jungle part but leave the bass beat on the tape … It’s sort of a give and take each measure as to what I play. James does all the programming and then we go back over it.”
When it came to finding a guitarist, Euringer found Steve Montano (Steve, Righ?), who contributed live guitar on “Mindless Self-Indulgence.” “We all knew each other from way back, but you know, we all hate musicians and just can’t stand any of them … I can’t stand the whole musician scene type of thing … I programmed a bunch of songs and I wanted to do them live so I figured I would just do it with my friends, and found the friends that I knew could play certain instruments good or okay.” To boot, Euringer recruited his brother Markus as a second guitarist for live shows. By early 1997, the four were playing small clubs in New York City.
After performing the club circuit into 1998, Markus would leave the live band. Playing as a trio, the band continued to play New York clubs while looking for a bassist to take Markus’s place. By May 1998, they’d found and recruited Vanessa Y.T., who would solidify the band’s co-ed group of four structure. “Guys used to tell me I had good taste in music, for a girl … I never really identified with male musicians … I didn’t really stand there saying, ‘Oh wow, I want to be like you!’ like a lot of guys did. And then when the girl bands came along, I was like, ‘No, but I kind of do want to be like Squid from Lunachicks,” Vanessa would later recall.
As the band came to the point of recording their first record, they gained traction after playing with acts such as Junkie XL, the X-ecutioners and kHz. Bidding wars between labels, vying for the band’s attention, began. “We wouldn’t even talk to anybody who left less than a 15 percent tip when they took us out to dinner,” says Euringer. “[It’s] really weird, when you think about … it’s not like it’s their own money they were saving.” By the end of the bidding war, Roadrunner Records came out on top, looking to host the band’s upcoming debut full-length record.
And yet, the band nonetheless ended up releasing the record independently through the help of several imprints. “[Roadrunner] didn’t want to sign us at the last minute. Not the staff–the staff was really cool–but the owner himself, at the last minute, pulled out because of the artwork. Everybody else was fuckin’ cool. We thought we were going to go with that–and that would have been a lot better [than releasing it independently],” Steve later bemoaned. In conjunction with Which? Records and Brain Surgery Music, rather, Mindless would gear up to release their debut record, “Tight,” on Uppity Cracker Recordings (UCR), Euringer’s own personal imprint. Why Uppity Cracker? “Well, it was either [Uppity Cracker] or Kill Whitey … It’s what we are all about. We know we are all just a bunch of uppity crackers.”
Having rented Beastie Boys’ (who earlier rejected their demo tape on account of offensive content, to boot) 12th Street studio space for the weekend, the band recorded “Tight” over the course of two days. Prior, Euringer “[would] just write everything [and] program it all out … [so that] all the kids [could] come in and lay down the live stuff.”
On account of a small budget, Steve recalls how “[the band] played it live as a band with the sample track … Everything else was done all together in the same room.” Not having the time for overdubs or extensive recording, the songs were largely recorded in one take, creating a mostly-mono, punchy sound better resembling the likes of classic Public Enemy records than traditional rock or industrial records. “I was working full-time … and I only had the weekend to do it … so for forty-eight hours, we slept and played at the studio.”
But despite any leanings toward East Coast hip-hop production, what became Mindless’s signature sound accumulated from a much wider variety of influences. “I don't like [any artist] in particular, I just like little bits of everything … I’m really like ADD and like….I like that, I like that guy too, I like that guy’s video, I like that one chord in that one song, I like the way that guy plays guitar, whatever … So it’s never anything specific and the fact that I don’t like a lot of stuff, probably makes it interesting and hectic,” claims Euringer. “The only thing that is consistent is that everything is [disposable]. If I come up with something and I come up with like a cool chord and a cool verse and I also write this amazing bridge I can scratch the whole rest of the song and start over with the bridge. Just keep doing that until you know I get something that I like. Keep it short and don't bore them.”
Perhaps this ideology is most present in the band’s cover of Method Man’s classic, “Bring the Pain.” Originally tracked as over five separate interpretations across various genres such as new wave and hip-hop, Euringer cherrypicked elements of each to culminate in what later became the band’s debut single. Later, he would comment, “[Bring the Pain] is the blueprint of an MSI song: many different styles all smashed together … we took the best bits from each and cut them all together … this sounds easy today but in 1996 on an Atari computer and an s950 it was insane to even try it.”
To promote the upcoming record and club shows, the band distributed “Bring the Pain” on cassingle in mid-1998, interspersed with voicemail recordings, outtakes provided by Steve, Righ? and a b-side, “Panty Shot.” Moreover, the band recorded live soundcheck footage to be used in a music video, but Euringer comments, “we made it and we sent it out, it wasn't very good, it wasn't finished. We just kinda sent it out and people started playing it here and there.”
By early 1999, the band had reissued “Bring the Pain” with a new b-side, “Tornado (Cassingle Version)” which would later see its studio version released on “Tight” proper. Continuing to play shows in NYC at clubs such as Brownies, MSI released “Bring the Pain” with “Tornado” as a 12 inch vinyl EP and CD single, distributing it exclusively for DJs and promotional play.
After various delays, on April 20, 1999, MSI released their debut studio album, “Tight.” “There was no thought process put into the date, it was just ‘when’s it going to come out? It’s going to come out that day’ … and it happens to be Hitler’s birthday … I remember playing our release party … right before we went onstage people were [talking about the Columbine shootings].” The band would continue to promote “Tight,” issuing out several radio editions of the album to DJs (Radio Pussy) and record stores (Mindless In-Store Edits).
“…It was like one of those weird things. It's like you say ‘hey, I need an agent’ and he goes ‘You know what, maybe I can get you a tour’ and you go ‘Okay, you get us a good tour and maybe you can be our agent. Something with fire.’ He was like ‘You could open for Satan or Rammstein’ and I was like ‘well, you know….whatever.’” Following the release of “Tight” saw the band extensively tour the United States in the summer of 1999. Unlike the various New York club shows which defined their live sets over the preceding years, these summer shows saw Mindless open in mid-large sized venues as they opened for Rammstein.
“We don't really fit into a scene so it's kinda hard … we just play the silly shows and some people don't like it,” Euringer remarks on these shows. Of course, the crowds’ reactions often went past a polite manner of dislike, with crowds at best displaying utter confusion and at worst throwing varying projectiles and hurling insults. Perhaps it was here the band best established an early rapport for antagonizing its audiences, especially as a supporting act. “We got the basic ‘you hate us or you love us’ … if you’re not [the headlining act], they’re throwing shit at you. Hell, we made tons of money each night just from people throwing stuff at us, like seriously $30 in change … People would throw perfectly good sneakers at us.”
Yet for any ire the band drew from Rammstein’s audiences, they drew greater still while opening for Insane Clown Posse later that summer. “On the ICP tour I got called out by 10-year olds on a nightly basis,” claims Steve. “[In Red Rocks, Colorado] it was non-stop nachos ‘n cheese. Vanessa got a concussion. Someone threw something at her.” And while previous touring had seen MSI blacklisted from venues, the ICP tour marked the first arrest. “I got arrested at Cobo Arena [Detroit] … of all the people on that tour, I get busted for whipping out my cock and lighting myself on fire. I spent the weekend in jail, actually. They didn’t even give me a phone call. And I still had my whole pink outfit and dress on in jail. It was fun,” recalls Euringer.
Despite arrests and injuries, Euringer states “[ICP are] really nice guys. They know what they’re doing and don’t take it seriously … [and] once we got off the … tour, [MSI] had lots of emails saying they had never seen anything like us before.” “A lot of the kids were really cool [after the band’s sets] … People either love it or hate it, which is good. For every type of music there is a faction that really love it and a faction that really hate it and there are tons of ICP fans who couldn't stand it but there were also a lot that really liked it."
Perhaps fittingly, “Tight” would accompany a short promotional era. Already signed by Elektra Records by the end of spring 1999, the band went on to record their next record, “Frankenstein Girls Seem Strangely Sexy,” for a slated late fall release. Alas, nothing was quite so simple…
Tight Original Credits
Vocals & Programming: Little Jimmy Urine
Drum Kit: Kitty
4-String Guitar: Steve, Righ?
Bass Guitar: Vanessa Y.T.
Production & Arrangement: James Euringer & James Galus (The James Sisters)
Mixing & Engineering: Fred Mahr (Chateau Chaumont), Lloyd Puckitt (Axis), Chris Flam (Mindswerve), John Partham (Axis)
Assistant Engineering: Neil Beck, Ben Grassini, Dan Huniston, Steve Revitte, Richard Zabala (Axis)
Editing: Fred Maher & Lloyd Puckitt
Additional Engineering: Josh Deutsch, Jason Jordan & Fred Maher
Mastering: Ted Jensen (Sterling Sound)
Management: James Galus for DAMN!
Business Management: Ron Nash & Todd Kamelhar for Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman
Legal: Kenneth Anderson for Loeb & Loeb LLP
Sample Clearance: Po Yi for Loeb & Loeb LLP
Label Consultant: Dave Stokamer for Brain Surgery Music
Marketing: Jake Szufnarowski for Which?
Photography: Jack Gulick, Stephanie Räuber, Slash, Ara Soyak & Michael Stavaridis
Emergency Photo: Stephanie Räuber
Design: James Galus
Art Direction: James Galus & James Euringer
Layout: Jennifer Dunn
Proofreading: Vanessa Y.T.
Telescopic Vision: Chris White
All songs written by James Euringer except:
Tornado (James Euringer, Lana Moorer & Parish Smith)
Bring the Pain (Clifford Smith & Robert Diggs, Additional Music by James Euringer)
Apple Country (Steve Montano)
JX-47 (Steve Montano)
Diabolical contains elements from the Beatnuts recording “Reign of the Tec”
Tornado features a sample from the MC Lyte recording “Slave to the Rhythm”Mindless Self Indulgence and Ecnegludni Fles Sseldnim contain vocal samples of Octavio 9
Special Thanks
Howie Abrahms, Andy Allen and all at ADA, Ken Anderson, Michael Arfin, Arresting Officers of the 9th Precinct, Camille Atkinson, Buddy B., Ron Baldwin, David Bason, the Beatnuts, David Bendeth, Rebecca Berlaut, Rebecca Bernstein, Chris Bren, Corey Brennan, Pat Briggs and the Squeezebox Crew, Amy Lynn Briseno, Theo Brown, Will Botwin, Ron Burman, Gloria Butler, Mario Caldato Jr., Forrest Carr, Lorin Carella, Gary Casson, Theresa Chambers, Dwayne Chambliss, Dave Chumbley, Saint James and all our homies in the Click & Drag Posse, Monte Conner, Craig at Accidental, Irma Csermak, Mark Cuneo at Musica, Josh Deutsch, D.J. A. Vee, David B. Eizenman, James Fitzsimmons, Flam, Franz Fleischli, Joe Fleischer, Summer Forest, Ken Friedman for the rejection letter, Gerry Gerrard & kHz, George Gilbert, Sherry Ring Ginsberg, Burt Goldstein, Richard Grable, Matt Greenberg, Michele Gross, Justin Guip, Jack Gulick, Virginia Haverick, Miss Hell, Alexia Henke, Naut Human, Jason Jordan, Just-ice, Dave Kendall, David Khan, Peter King and the Xecutioners, Sam Kirby, Carrie Klein, Howie Klein, Sam Kling and Madgroove, Konstantine and all at W.K., Hilly Kristal, Ken Krongard, Will Langolf, Peter Lewitt, Brian Long, Simon Long, Robin Longman, Graham Low, Ian Love, Lucinda “the Chile,” Leigh Lust, Fred Maher, Tim Mandebaum, Ray Martin, Kerry McCarthy, Dana McDonald, Kevin McMahon, MC Lyte, Peter Mengede, Method Man, MFPR, Zsuzsanna Murphy, My Parents’ Credit Card, Jonny Niesche, Nodar, Noodle, Octavio 9, Guy Oseary, Louise Parnassa, Rick Posada, Beth Patterson, Cybelle Pettus, Josef Pinlac, Brian Pollman, Greg Poole, Janice Prendergast, Stephanie Räuber, Real George, Stefan Renschi, Busta Rhymes, Alex Ricci, Rich at Etherea, Tim Riley, Sylvia Rhone, Rush Regar, Jamie Roberts, Rick Rubin, Richard Russell, Sara and all at A-Z, Shane Ruth, Ivan Schinderman, David M. Satnick, George Schwab, Kelly Shea, Side 3, Doug Smiley, Ethan Smith, Parish Smith, John Staub, Michael Stavaridis, Mike Stuto, Jake Szufnarowski, Joel T., Steven Tanenbaum, Rachel Tanzer, Mike Taylor, Mike Tedesco, Howard Thompson, Marcus Welby M.D., Chris White, Sarah Wiess, Shane Valentine, Marsha Vlasic, Gil Yeh, Lauren Zelisko, Chris Ziliotto
Tight Discography
Released: 20 April 1999
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: UCR 004
Region: North America
01. Grab the Mic (1:20)
02. Bring the Pain (3:39)
03. Mindless Self Indulgence (0:22)
04. Tight (2:47)
05. Diabolical (1:43)
06. Molly (1:44)
07. Tornado (1:51)
08. Daddy (1:20)
09. Pussy All Night (2:22)
10. Apple Country (1:07)
11. Dickface (2:08)
12. Bite Your Rhymes (2:38)
13. Tornado (Live at CBGB) (1:57)
14. Ecnegludni Fles Sseldnim / JX-47 (6:46)
Promos & Radio Singles
*All releases are CD format unless otherwise specified
Released: 1998
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: UCR 001a
Region: North America
Side A (Side Ass)
1. Bring the Pain
2. Mindless Self Indulgence / Agents / Ecnegludni Fles Sseldnim
Side B (Side Cheek)
3. Panty Shot (Cassingle Version)
4. JX-47 (Edit)
Released: 1998
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: UCR 001a
Region: North America
Side A (Side Ass)
1. Bring the Pain
2. Mindless Self Indulgence / Agents / Ecnegludni Fles Sseldnim
Side B (Side Cheek)
3. Panty Shot (Cassingle Version)
4. JX-47 (Edit)
Released: 1998
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: N/A
1. Grab the Mic
2. Bring the Pain
3. Tight
4. Diabolical
5. Molly
6. Tornado
7. Daddy
8. Pussy All Night
9. Dickface
10. Bite Your Rhymes
11. Tornado (Live at CBGB)
12. Molly (Xecutioners Remix)
Released: 1999
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: UCR 001b
Region: North America
Side A (Side Ass)
1. Bring the Pain
Side B (Side Cheek)
2. Tornado (Cassingle Version)
Released: 20 January 1999
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: UCR 002
Side A
1. Pussy All Night
2. Dickface
Side B
3. Bring the Pain
4. Mindless Self Indulgence / Agents / Ecnegludni Fles Sseldnim
5. Panty Shot
6. JX-47 (Edit)
7. Tornado (Cassingle Version)
Released: 1999
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: UCR 003
Side A (This Side)
1. Bring the Pain (Radio Edit)
2. Tornado (Radio Edit)
3. Bring the Pain
4. Bring the Pain (Acapella)
Side B (That Side)
5. Tornado (Cassingle Version)
Released: 1999
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: UCR 003
1. Bring the Pain (Radio Edit)
2. Tornado (Radio Edit)
3. Bring the Pain
4. Bring the Pain (Acapella)
5. Tornado (Cassingle Version)
Released: 1999
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: UCR 001b*
Side A (Side Ass)
1. Bring the Pain
Side B (Side Cheek)
2. Tight
Released: 1999
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: N/A
1. Bring the Pain (Non-Bleep Radio Edit)
2. Tight (Radio Edit)
3. Diabolical
4. Mindless Self Indulgence
5. Molly (Radio Edit)
6. Tornado (Non-Bleep Radio Edit)
7. Pussy All Night (Radio Edit)
8. Bite Your Rhymes (Radio Edit)
9. Grab the Mic (Radio Edit)
10. Ecnegludni Fles Sseldnim
Released: 1999
Label: Uppity Cracker
Catalog Number: N/A
1. Pussy All Night (Radio Edit)
2. Tight (Radio Edit)
3. Grab the Mic (Radio Edit)
4. Molly (Radio Edit)
5. Bite Your Rhymes (Radio Edit)
6. Tornado (Non-Bleep Radio Edit)
7. Bring the Pain (Non-Bleep Radio Edit)
Canceled Remixes:
8. Pussy All Night (King-Size Remix)
9. Tight (Carol Masters Remix)
10. Molly (kHz Remix)
11. Molly (Madgroove Remix)
12. Molly (Side 3 Remix)
Tight Era Tour Dates
*Complete tour listings prior to 1999 are unavailable and as such remain incomplete
March 21st, 1997 New York, NY – The Frying Pan
February 6th, 1998 New York, NY – Squeezebox
May 7th, 1998 New York, NY – CBGB
May, 1998 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour*
May 29th, 1998 New York, NY – Brownies
October 2nd, 1998 New York, NY – Coney Island High
November 5th, 1998 New York, NY – Downtime
January 20th, 1999 New York, NY - Brownies
April 20th, 1999 New York, NY - Virgin Megastore Union Square
Opening for Rammstein:
June 9th, 1999 Grand Rapids, MI - Subculture
June 10th, 1999 Chicago, IL - Roby’s
June 11th, 1999 Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
June 12th, 1999 St. Paul, MN - Roy Wilkens Auditorium
June 14th, 1999 Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
June 17th, 1999 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
June 18th, 1999 Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre
June 20th, 1999 San Francisco, CA - Maritime Hall
June 21st, 1999 Las Vegas, NV - House of Blues
June 22nd, 1999 Tempe, AZ - Club Rio
June 23rd, 1999 Los Angeles, CA - Shrine Auditorium
Opening for Insane Clown Posse:
July 10th, 1999 Toledo, OH - Sports Arena
July 11th, 1999 Columbus, OH - Brewery District Pavilion
July 13th, 1999 Cleveland, OH - Nautica Stage
July 15th, 1999 Louisville, KY - Louisville Gardens
July 17th, 1999 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
July 18th, 1999 Tampa, FL - Ice Palace
July 28th, 1999 Phoenix, AZ - Civic Plaza
July 30th, 1999 Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
July 31st, 1999 Amarillo, TX - Amarillo Civic Center
August 1st, 1999 Wichita, KS - Century II Convention Center
August 4th, 1999 Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Ballroom
August 5th, 1999 Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
August 6th, 1999 Maryland Heights, MO - Riverport Ampitheatre
August 7th, 1999 Bonner Springs, KS - Sandstone Ampitheatre
August 8th, 1999 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom
August 11th, 1999 Indianapolis, IN - Market Square Arena
August 12th, 1999 Kalamazoo, MI - Kalamazoo State Theatre
August 13th, 1999 Detroit, MI - Cobo Arena
August 19th, 1999 New York, NY - Hammerstein Ballroom
August 20th, 1999 Lowell, MA - Paul E. Tsongas Arena
Tight Era Select Setlists
May 9th, 1998 New York, NY – CBGB
Tornado | Daddy | Faggot | Tight | Molly | Bitches | Grab the Mic | Boomin’ | Panty Shot | Clarissa | Shifftee (Onyx Cover)
January 20th, 1999 New York, NY - Brownies
Tornado | Faggot | Dickface | Clarissa | Tight | Cocaine and Toupees | Royally Fucked | Diabolical | Molly | Step Up, Ghetto Blaster | Grab the Mic | Pussy All Night | Bring the Pain | Bitches
Opening for Rammstein / Insane Clown Posse (Summer 1999)
Tornado | Diabolical | Clarissa | Cocaine and Toupees | Tight | Boomin’ | Step Up, Ghetto Blaster | Bring the Pain | Molly | Pussy All Night
Tight Era Merchandise
Works Cited
“After 12 Years, Mindless Self Indulgence Re-Release And Reflect on 'Tight'.” Buzznet.com, May 2011.
Amos, Brad. “Mindless Self Indulgence Interview Live On-Air.” KBGA 89.9FM, 1999.
Mindless Self Indulgence. Tight, James Euringer, New York, New York, 1998.
Pratt, Tim. “Send in the Clowns.” Armchair DJ, 2000, www.armchair-dj.com/features/interviews/mindless_self_indulgence.asp. Accessed 25 Oct. 2000.
Semigloss Magazine, 1996.
Smith, Ethan. “The New Brat Pack.” Spin, May 1999, p. 78.
“'Tighter' Audio Commentary.” Performance by James Euringer, et al., The End Records, 2011.
Whiting-Mahoney, Bill. “A Mindless Interview with Little Jimmy Urine.” The Record at Buffalo State College, Mar. 2000.
Wilson, David Lee. “Interview with: Little Jimmy Urine of Mindless Self Indulgence.” KAOS2000 Magazine, 2000, www.kaos2000.net/interviews/mindlessdave00.html. Accessed 30 Apr. 2001.
Wolford, Jason. “Mindless Self Indulgence - Little Jimmy Urine.” Shoutweb, 2000, www.shoutweb.com/interviews/msi0500.phtml.
Acknowledgements & Fuck You’s
disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape or form own anything related to Mindless Self Indulgence nor adjacent. Please support the artists by purchasing merchandise or music directly. Additionally, please thank them for raising (lowering?) the bar ever so fucking much.
Arranged, Compiled & Edited by G. F. Schwartz
Additional Insights & Proofing by Uncle Max, Rachel/PinkPinkBlink & Steve/FitH
Special Thanks to KJ Sheppard for the feedback, brainstorming sessions & immoral support
Special Thanks to Em Juneau for Everything™
In memory of Jerod England