01: Bear Vs. Shark: Marc Paffi and John Gaviglio on 20th Anniversary of Terrorhawk

Explicit

In the early 2000s, I lived in Ypsilanti, Michigan, a few blocks away from Mark Paffi. Through friends of friends, I ended up going to these Wednesday night parties Paffi threw, hosting friends in the community. I remember meeting John Gaviglio there, and we were sitting on a couch. We talked about music, and he told me he was in a band named Bear vs. Shark. I was excited when he mentioned that one of their many influences was At the Drive-In, as I was enamoured with that band at the time. I started going to Bear vs. Shark shows right after that moment, which were a string of basements, punk houses, and small venues.

The spacing in their songs was unique to me. Not everything was in 4/4 timing; the sound each guitar player made was unique, different, and unfamiliar. Paffi would periodically shove the microphone in his mouth, gyrate his body ...