Hagfish

Hagfish is one of the punk rock bands to come out of the Deep Ellum scene in Dallas, TX. The band was created when former drummer Banning Lyon's band "Conniption Fit" disbanded. Lyon, a Rockwall, TX resident met up with the brothers Blair. Their sound gelled immediately, and they began to look for a frontman, finding one in the unlikely guise of James Newhouse of Mansfield, TX. They began touring the Texas punk circuit in the early nineties, creating a fan base and becoming regulars of punk venues like Slipped Disc and The Jumpin' Java Joint. In this time they opened for such bands as Swervedriver, ALL, and The Poster Children. A demo tape was released and quickly became an underground hit. It followed the pattern of punk band The Descendents, with tracks like "Tallman" (about the middle finger) and "Marry Me" (a Lyon- composed love song). This was punk to have fun to, and it appealed to the Dallas punk scene at the time, which was composed mainly of suburbanites who would drive downtown on the weekends and had no time for politics. Then grunge happened. Being fans of Seattle, WA's Mudhoney and the Northwestern punk sound, a decision was made to augment the band with a richer sound. Tensions between drummer Banning Lyon and the Blair brothers was mounting. Lyon was feeling used for his friendships with major punk bands. Zach and Donnie Blair felt used on account of their mother's wealth. Lyon left the band in 1992. John Fromme, formerly of the band "Pee Pee" joined in on drums. Another guitarist, "Camper" was added to fill out the sound. This lineup pushed the band into new territory, and the fans really liked it, but the band was winding down. The rampant drug abuse of lead singer James Newhouse, Camper, and Fromme ran counter to the "2 out of 3" straight edge of the brothers Blair. So they left, bringing with them the Hagfish name. The third incarnation of the band, vocalist George Reagan III, brothers Doni and Zach Blair, and drummer Tony Barsotti decided to record their first studio album, Buick Men, on Dragon Street Records in 1993. Hagfish then signed with London Records and released the 1995 album, ...Rocks your Lame Ass. This went on to become their most commercially successful album. In 1996 Hagfish was voted best Alternative Rock/Pop act by the Dallas Observer. After numerous arguments about the follow-up to ...Rocks your Lame Ass, London dropped Hagfish, and they returned to the independent scene. Their self-titled album Hagfish, was released on Honest Don's in 1997, but did not see any real commercial success. Several breakups soon followed, and the bands touring stopped. The last release made by the band was a live album, That was Then, This is Then, which was released in 2001. Since the official break up in 2001, the band members have gone on to other projects. George has moved on to a homegrown Hip-Hop band The Brothers. Doni has participated in several bands including the instrumental band The Mag Seven, Armstrong, and his current project Only Crime. Zach also currently plays in Rise Against, as well as having played with the Burden Brothers, GWAR, Only Crime, Adventures of Jet and Armstrong.