The Micronotz

History

The band formed in 1980 when all the members were still teenagers. The Embarrassment were looking for an opening band for a show they had booked on December 12, 1980 at the "Off The Wall Hall" (now known as "The Bottleneck"). The Embarrassment knew John Harper and knew that we was putting a band together, so they asked him if his band could open the show, but the band hadn't actually formed yet. At this point, the band just consisted of John Harper on guitar and David Dale on bass, so a drummer and singer needed to be recruited. Dean Lubensky and Graham Reece were recruited as vocalist and drummer. Dean was a good fit and became the permanent singer, and Steve Eddy replaced Reece as the drummer.

The band soon came to the attention of local music promoter, Bill Rich, who wrote about them for his "Talk Talk" magazine and then signed them to his Fresh Sounds record label. Their first release for Fresh Sounds was the 4-band split cassette Fresh Sounds From Middle America (vol 1) in December 1981, just one year after the band formed. The "Fresh Sounds" compilation series was organized by Bill Rich as a way to promote regional bands nationally.

When the band discovered that Bill Rich was an acquaintance of William S. Burroughs they asked for an introduction and Burroughs would end up giving them some lyrics for a song ("Old Lady Sloan" from the Mortal Micronotz album).

Lead singer, Dean Lubensky, left the band sometime after the 1984 Live Recording of the Video Soundtrack EP. He was replaced by Jay Hauptli, who would remain the band's vocalist throughout the rest of their career and subsequent reunions.

After releasing three albums and two EPs, the band broke up in 1986. Bassist David Dale committed suicide on Sunday, January 31, 1993. The surviving band members reunited for a memorial show which was held at the Outhouse on February 6, 1993.

Renewed interest in the band lead Fresh Sounds to release two Micronotz compilations, called Complete Recordings Volume I and II where the first volume covered the Dean Lubensky recordings and the second covered the Jay Hauptli recordings. A tribute album was also put together featuring William S. Burroughs and various other artists. The band still does the occasional reunion show, with Matt Kesler, formerly of the Pedaljets, playing bass.

The Outhouse

The Outhouse was a popular venue in Lawrence for punk shows and not only did the Micronotz perform there, but they also helped get the venue into shape ready to have concerts. In 1984, the band built the stage, painted the walls and cleared the brush outside.

Reception

1981-1984

1985-1986

2006-present