spaceshits

Mark Sultan (aka BBQ) began his musical career playing drums in a band called Powersquat, a suburban group which combined a number of diverse influences into their notably violent live shows. After Powersquat, Sultan went on to join the Spaceshits, another Montreal-based band whose members approached Sultan in order to procure a lead singer. Sultan volunteered himself for the position and the band began writing songs together. At the time of Sultan's arrival the Spaceshits were composed of Oily Chi on rhythm guitar, Stinky B. on bass, and Skid Marks on drums, though within a few months Stinky B. was replaced on bass by Blacksnake, a Canadian of Indian descent.

The Spaceshits, just like the Powersquats before them, were well-known for their violent stage shows. Sets typically lasted no longer than 10 to 15 minutes, in which time the band would set off fireworks, start food fights, and create disturbances. Eventually the band's raucous live shows would lead them to be effectively blacklisted from most venues in Montreal, a trend which was compounded during an April 8 1996 set in support of the New Bomb Turks. During the Spaceshits' set, Sultan allegedly threw a full beer bottle into the Cabaret crowd; the beer was consumed by someone in the audience. Later, fellow bandmate Skid Marks threw his drumstick into the crowd, injuring the president of a music distributing company which employed Sultan. The final straw in the Spaceshits blacklisting occurred in April 1999, just before the beginning of aEuropean tour, while the band was promoting a new Sultan Records release. Before the show, the band had an altercation with the venue's co-owner which resulted in Blacksnake's hand being injured. A member of the Daylight Lovers stormed the stage encouraging the audience to demand their money back for a show the band did not intend to deliver. This event marked the end of the band's booking in Montreal.

The Spaceshits went on to complete a European tour; one which would prove to be the last for the band. After the European tour had ended, Blacksnake opted to stay behind. Rather than continue on without him, the bandmembers broke up, believing both that the band had run its course,....

and we were left with some of the best garage punk ever put to records, so what's there to complain about.........get the spaceshits lp MISBEHAVIN (via one of those nifty file sharing sites)