January 13, 2020
Stroom
"This is an anthology, a selection of old and new. It's a collection of the past but moving forward. It's past and future." Dark Arts is one of those bands that for some reason got lost in the shuffle. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by a man named Bob Katt, the "cool, older guy" who went to all the concerts in town and had been in a bunch of other bands. Initially there were five members: in '83 there was Bob on bass and percussion, singer Sue Ann Mason, drummer Dave Green, Bill Bruner on guitar and Stephanie Payne on keyboard. Katt is the one who brought everyone together and came up with the name: they were the 'art' band and they were 'dark'. Keyboard player Stephanie Payne, just like Katt, was also present at every musical happening. Young and eager, she would turn out to be the motor and musical mastermind of the group. When she decided to move to Los Angeles, California, Sue-Ann and new member Larry Altvater decided to tag along. By the time they made their first full album, on Phil Druckers (Savage Republic and 17 Pygmies) label Nate Starkman and Son, they had split up. Payne decided to move on and continued the band by herself, ever finding new musicians. High Street After the fall of '80, when she was at art school, Payne became more outspoken, headstrong and flamboyant. Driven by her love for music, she would eventually become a forerunner in the local scene of Columbus. The place to be back then was the (now unaffordable) High Street area. To 'go out' at the time was simply walk this street up and down. She and her friends would hang out there, check out the record stores, do graffiti at night (Payne on high heels). This also meant getting into altercations and even get spit on by jocks. High Street lay next the Ohio State University campus, the home of the only real music club in the city, maybe even the state: Crazy Mama's. Everyone would go there for dancing and live concerts. Payne would scour music magazines and buy the weekly imports at the local record shops. Columbus youngsters would drive to Chicago or other cities to see the big bands and hunt for new music. There, Payne would beleaguer the city shop clerks, asking for their personal recommendations. Since what she liked was often not accessible, Payne took up DJ'ing at Crazy Mama's. "I played hard bands, because I liked pissing people off and then we could use our fists on the dancefloor. I would get into trouble because of this slamdancing. I'd also practice dancing at home, had to make sure I knew where all the breaks were, so I could look cool on the dancefloor. Dancing was so important back then, we called it 'going to church'." Whenever Payne discovered new music, she'd be dying to present it. Due to the lack of venues and accompanying new music, she became a promotor, brought several bands into town and founded her own club night under the guise of "School For Barbarians". The Art Band Asides from art school, promoting concerts, DJ'ing and record hunting Payne kept