Photograph by Chad Kelco

Jason Blackmore: pulling from ZZ Top, Zeppelin, and...Barkmarket?

Matelotage (French for “seamanship”) was, according to Wikipedia, “an agreement amongst pairs of European sailors, in particular buccaneers, in the 17th and early 18th century. As part of this economic partnership, matelots would agree to share their incomes, and inherit their partner’s property in the case of their death...a few historians believe that matelotage would be more accurately comparable to same-sex marriage or domestic partnership.” Matelotage is also the name of the newest band from Jason Blackmore (Rats Eyes, Death Eyes, Molly McGuire), though it may be more accurate to say that Matelotage is the reason Jason Blackmore has a new band.

During Covid, Blackmore and his wife stumbled upon an online “ten things you probably didn’t know about pirates” video that mentioned matelotage, at which point he looked it up on Bandcamp and Discogs. He then informed his wife, “I’m gonna have to start a new band. Nobody is using this name.” He explains further, “Matelotage is really borrowing from a lot of stuff I grew up on as a kid, such as classic rock. If you really listen to it, you might hear some ZZ Top [and] Led Zeppelin influence. To me, it’s a perfect mixture of ‘70s rock and ‘90s post-punk stuff. Jesus Lizard, Barkmarket. Barkmarket isn’t really a household name, but it’s a huge influence on Matelotage.”

An additional project currently on Blackmore’s plate is Sisters, a duo made up of himself and former Black Box Studio owner (and Spotlights member) Mario Quintero. The pair recorded a collection of instrumental tracks over a decade ago, which ended up getting shelved. During the pandemic, Quintero found the files on his computer and contacted Blackmore to see if he was interested in adding vocals and finishing up the songs. They split singing duties and released the Make It Hurt EP in August 2020. “Once we did that, we decided we should do an album,” Blackmore says. “I actually wrote 14 songs for what would be an album, and then a few months after I did that, I listened to them and was like, ‘Screw this shit, it sucks.’” He laughs. “Then I wrote a bunch of new songs. Then, long story short, I flew out to Munhall [Pennsylvania] where Mario lives, and we recorded a handful of stuff that would become the Leecheater album.”

Leecheater was released on Seattle’s Spartan Records, while the second Matelotage album (Seasick) was released via Blackmore’s own Records Collecting Dust label last month. Blackmore also used the Records Collecting Dust moniker for two documentary films released over the past ten years, both centered on the albums that changed the lives of a variety of notable underground musicians. He came up with the name around 1983 with the intention of using it for his own record label; now, around 40 years later, he’s getting his chance.

“I am looking into maybe doing a vinyl pressing of the Sisters Make It Hurt EP. It was just a digital release. That is just my project, but I do want to expand, hopefully to do other things. I think the best thing as far as that goes, reaching out beyond just my stuff, would be doing a compilation of San Diego or southern California bands. I think that would be a good way to gain some traction and get some attention to the label. Doing a comp just gets people aware of the name. I’ve also got a couple of other ideas. Maybe a split seven-inch, a couple things that, if I had the money, I would be doing it right now. But I’m just gonna have to play it one release at a time and see how it goes.”

Blackmore says he would love to make at least one more Records Collecting Dust film. The first installment focused on west coast musicians, the second on the east coast. His vision for the third is to target the Midwest. “I’ve got a list of people already. I made up that list back when I was doing those films. We will go from Milwaukee to Chicago to Texas and Oklahoma and all these punk rock and hardcore folks. It’s weird, because as time goes by, we’re unfortunately losing people. People are passing away, and that’s another thing that makes me very grateful that I was able to make those two films. None of us live forever. I’m glad I got to interview those people when I did. Tomorrow, so-and-so might be gone, and I’m glad I got to document that. I told my friends and family that I look at it like, 50 years from now, maybe some kids will watch this and learn something. I feel it’s kind of important. Showing people what happened in music, and why these people are important.”