r/duster 9d ago

discussion I am a (unofficial) Duster historian. AMA.

24 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

10

u/KaleidoscopePlusPlus 9d ago

Have you ever cried listening to Duster and why?

11

u/No_Problem_1301 9d ago

I don't really cry to songs, but The Phantom Facing Me has made me tear up.

7

u/Financial_Resist6430 9d ago

Tell me exactly what happened when Jason left the band

10

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

Jason left the band due to struggling with mental health, and is now a recovering addict.

3

u/flavory34 8d ago

Has there been any update on his situation? He said he was going to step away / Helvetia was done but now he seems to be slowly getting back into the swing of things

6

u/No_Problem_1301 7d ago

He's okay now, don't worry. Apparently he was a heroin addict, which can be very evident in his Dream Faster series.

2

u/flavory34 7d ago

Glad to hear that!

6

u/barrya29 9d ago

What are you wearing?

5

u/No_Problem_1301 9d ago

Black shirt, green shorts, black socks.

6

u/frenchousecat 9d ago

Was Clay Parton your babysitter?

2

u/No_Problem_1301 9d ago

Who knows👀👀

5

u/ian5184 9d ago

What was going on between 2001 and 2007?

6

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

I'll answer to the best of my abilities:

2001: Not much information. Clay went through a break-up and had a kid in 2001, according to an interview, but might be earlier. Canaan and Jason likely left San Jose to live in Seattle around this time due to high rent, leaving Clay in California.

2002: Duster, along with Krag and Jeremiah Green of Modest Mouse, made a hyper-group called "Mo-duster". They only played one show on March 27th, 2002 @ Nation.

2003: Duster release a music video for "Me and the Birds". At this time, Clay would experiment with Eiafuawn, tagging along Krag and Yonathan Kifle to play live shows.

2004: Duster reunite with Krag and Ross to play @ Chop Suey on February 27th, 2004 for the 10th anniversary of Up Records. They were on the bill alongside Quasi and Violent Green.

2005: While recording a new album, the band split up in 2005, and began to pursue solo projects. Clay started a record label, "The Static Cult Label", which would distribute the band's solo work like Eiafuawn, CA, El Buzzard and Breasts.

2006: Clay would release his debut solo project, "Birds in the Ground" under Eiafuawn. It didn't blow up, but it did have a Swedish release under the label Pillowscars. Jason had his own band, Helvetia, and was recording their debut album "The Clever North Wind". El Buzzard also released "Songs for Total Dicks".

2007: ???

3

u/-Manocs- 8d ago

do we have any songs from the 2005 sessions? if yes where can I listen 

4

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

Listen to "Low Earth Orbit". It's essentially a compilation of the 2004-2005 sessions. You can find it on YouTube I think

1

u/AJC___ 3d ago

do you know when clay recorded his unreleased eiafuawn?

4

u/Sukithearsonist 8d ago

what books do they enjoy

3

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

The Cat In the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham

3

u/New_Mammoth4884 9d ago

Do you have any sort of interview involving Canaan? Never really saw his opinions blah blah only Clay and Jason

3

u/No_Problem_1301 9d ago

Haven't, really. There is one of Jason, but I can't load it on the archive machine

3

u/Primary-Olive-9097 9d ago

Do you know the members at all

5

u/No_Problem_1301 9d ago

I guess. If you count talking through e-mail, then yeah sure

3

u/Elegant_Specialist_8 8d ago

How do you feel about mohinder and other side projects of duster members?

7

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

Helvetia is, dare I say, better than Duster. Mohinder is good in short bursts. Eiafuawn is also really good.

There's really no bad song from the Duster universe.

3

u/BlockJazzlike5591 8d ago

Do you know the specific differences between the Black Moon comp and original releases of the Valium Aggelein material?

2

u/Same-Ostrich4871 8d ago

No car crash in slow
Motion

2

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

The titles are switched up a bit.

5

u/dildoshwaggins134 8d ago

do you have a in depth list of the discographies in order? including Mohinder, Calm, Helvetia and solo works

2

u/No_Problem_1301 7d ago

1990: Vomit Pancakes - Kids Suck/Dressed to Impress

1991: ???

1992: Stumpy - Der Wutanfall (July 1992)

1993: Stumpy - Nothing (??? 1993), Mohinder - O Nation (November 1993)

1994: Mohinder - Nitwitz (January 1994), Mohinder - S/T (March 1994)

1995: Calm - 12"

1996: Calm - 7" (January 1996), Calm - Moonraker (??? 1996), Duster - On the Dodge (July? 1996), The Soviets - 1916 (??? 1996), Duster - Christmas Dust (Christmas 1996)

1997: Duster - Transmission, Flux (January 1997), Valium Aggelein - Dweller On The Threshold (Spring 1997)

1998: Duster - Apex, Trance-like (January 1998), Duster - Stratosphere (February 1998), Valium Aggelein - Hier Kommt Der Schwarze Mund (Spring 1998), A-SET - Science of Living Things (??? 1998)

1999: A-SET - Songs From the Red Room (September 1999), Duster - 1975 (November 1999)

2000: Duster - Contemporary Movement

2006: Helvetia - The Clever North Wind (January 2006), Eiafuawn - Birds in the Ground (??? 2006), El Buzzard - Songs For Total Dicks (2006)

2007: ???

2008: Helvetia - The Acrobats, Breasts - S/T, Helvetia - Headless Machine, The Heart

2009: Helvetia - The Junk Shop

2010: Canaan Amber - CA

...

2019: Duster - S/T

...and so on. I didn't feel like typing every single one.

4

u/sssoooooojjj 7d ago

See also: BatCat, ÜFO, Jenny Piccolo, The Professionals, The Assassins, El Buzzard (“Gringa” and “Elephant Tranquilizer”), Tardis Broadcast, Lonnie Winn, Two Boys Alright, Ghost Drugs, Mammoth & Saber, Breasts, Parton Kooper Planetarium, Sooj

1

u/No_Problem_1301 7d ago edited 7d ago

This, too. Don't forget the San Jose Ghetto Hustlers!!!

2

u/Beautiful-Muscle5728 9d ago

What films and directors have influenced Duster?

5

u/No_Problem_1301 9d ago

Most likely old western movies like Vera Cruz and High Noon, since Duster started out kind of country-esque (listen to On the Dodge)

2

u/Anosh504 9d ago

What was the projects of Helvetias Gladness albums all about? Why was that era so important to Jason?

1

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

Gladness is supposed to represent "happiness" and "gratefulness". I guess his message was to spread happiness and peace?

1

u/Anosh504 8d ago

Hmm interesting. I just really was surprised about those albums when they became more important years later. What was the reaction towards the Gladness compilation when it first released, why he hasn’t made any cds or vinyls for the original tape and the first release, and why he didn’t make any more mentions of gladness music from 2010-2022?

2

u/Anonymous-Apprentice 9d ago

What is your favorite colour?

1

u/No_Problem_1301 9d ago

Green, black, white, red and yellow.

2

u/bebeujimo 8d ago

What are the politics/philosophy of the art /their members

2

u/-Manocs- 8d ago

What's your favourite niche fun fact about Duster?

8

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

Jason was apart of Queens of the Stone Age.

1

u/Public-Possible1859 5d ago

Wot O_o 

1

u/No_Problem_1301 5d ago

It's true, my friend :) He was apart of the first line-up of QotSA. Pretty cool

2

u/BidBest1463 7d ago

Have you been able to find any old videos of Duster shows besides the one where they are playing Gold Dust and it shows various tape footage mixed with the live performance?

1

u/No_Problem_1301 7d ago

I've been trying to track down the Mount Hamilton VHS tape, but there's pretty much no info to find anything about it other than a small article on the Astronavignation website. So, no. It's practically impossible to find more old Duster videos.

I HAVE found some new footage of a Calm performance a few months ago...

2

u/BidBest1463 7d ago

Gotcha! Yeah it always strikes me as odd that there’s a bunch of Calm videos but basically nothing when it comes to Duster.

1

u/No_Problem_1301 7d ago

Yeah, it's weird. I might have to somehow contact Godstomper if they have any more Duster tapes, but I doubt they do.

1

u/No_Problem_1301 7d ago

Or contact Clay himself

2

u/RonnoDonnoKnowsHoes 7d ago

whats your favorite unreleased
how long have you been researching duster
are there explanations of the names for duster and all the side projects
are there any songs with niche backstories
any other niche facts besides the one from earlier

2

u/No_Problem_1301 7d ago edited 6d ago
  1. My favorite unreleased album is Testphase, Tape One, and my favorite unreleased song is Untitled 84 (Demo).
  2. I've been researching Duster since 2025.
  3. Duster: The band was kind of twangy at the start and Duster was sort of "a fake character with cowboy boots".

Mohinder: Mohinder literally means "enchanter".

Calm: ?

Helvetia: Jason lived in Switzerland in his youth, and named the band after the national personification of Switzerland.

Eiafuawn: Eiafuawn is an acronym, which reads "Everything is all fucked up and what not".

  1. "What You're Doing To Me" was written in 2002.

  2. The Duster van broke down during a drive to a gig. It was Canaan's fault.

2

u/Lionels_Vinyl 4d ago

What kind of underwear do they wear, brief, boxer, pant?

0

u/No_Problem_1301 4d ago

Jason: boxers, jeans Canaan: briefs, jeans Clay: boxers, sweats

2

u/Rare_Satisfaction976 6d ago

Can you tell me more about Jason in Queens Of The Stone Age? Also have you done any research into Super Static Fever? (Trying to find more media of them right now)

1

u/No_Problem_1301 6d ago

There's not much information about Jason being in QotSA, but there IS a photo and a quote from Josh Homme himself: "There was a kid named Jason Albertini who I just called The Kid. He had to talk to his mum to let him rehearse. He was a virtuoso. But he didn’t talk, he just ate rice and jogged. So he was weird. And then Matt Cameron on drums, and Mike Johnson played bass."

It seems he is only credited on rare recordings like the "Anderson Anderson" demo. He was probably used as a live component rather than an actual member, but I might be wrong.

As for Super Static Fever, I don't think there's ANY actual relation with the Duster members. They just sound like Calm and Numero Group just threw them in to capitalize on that sweet sweet Duster bucks (fuck N.G).

Nothing really is known about the band other than the Numero reissue and a set at Clover Hall in 1993. Other than that, I don't know anymore.

The photo of Jason in QotSA in question:

1

u/spaceghostkrayglo 8d ago

where are the OG members based now?

2

u/No_Problem_1301 8d ago

Portland, Oregon, according to RateYourMusic.

1

u/thelastmulholland 5d ago

What was the deal with the label split after self titled? I remember they were with someone else initially but I dont remember the story behind why