My Visit To Subterranean Records

Behind a black iron gate at the dead end of a street, in a nondescript building next to a highway, lies Subterranean Records. Steve Tupper, the owner/operator, meets me at the gate and lets me in. The warehouse itself is a controlled chaos of boxes, papers, records, dvds, cds, and old files. There is a layer of dust on almost every un-used surface, and even the cobwebs have baby cobwebs. There are flyers on the walls, and an old computer sits on Steve's desk. Next to the desk is a scanner/copier, a printer, all well-used. When Steve makes me a copy of something, he remarks at how well it turns out, surprised that the old gal works so well.

I admit that I am flustered, but Steve's demeaner is calm, retiring almost. I want him to feel at ease so don't take many notes or actually interview him. I ask some questions,but not a whole lot, as I'm more interested in what he has to show me. Everything he unearths from his filing cabinet and from under the large shelves (he had to use a flashlight to find the right stuff) is like diamonds to me. I don't think he realizes this.

He shows me the "Will" file. It includes clippings from when Will died, letters people wrote about that, checks from Will and his partner Janette that were never cashed, "I knew they didn't have the money in their account", and a business card from the woman who wrote a profile of Will after his death for the San Francisco Examiner.

Steve also shows me a file of A3I stuff. It is fairly thin, just a few flyers, photos of the band, and copies of lyrics for the unreleased ("there are test-pressings floating around") A3I album, "Ruins Of America".

Steve and I head over to the "archives" where a lot of photos are stored, and he needs the flashlight to find the right ones. He finds the one for Flipper and it turns out to be a treasure trove of pictures of the band. I want to take them with me and copy them, but don't want to ask to do that -- it's not like Steve knows me. Instead I write down the respective photographers' info.

I wonder if Steve even realizes what he has in his dusty warehouse. He holds some real history there. I wonder if the stuff will just molder forever in the warehouse, or will anything more be done with it? And I wonder where else Flipper's legacy hides -- what other basements or attics in this city and others?