Mikey Ramone: The Autobiography
CHAPTER IV: “FRIENDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD / BIRTH OF THE JACKALS, PART TWO”
So when Kyle was about to join the band, I
think I had known him for years before that though, maybe around February 2017
when I first saw him and met him; hell, I even jammed with him at The Old Days
Restaurant in Bui Vien’s busiest and crowdest walking streets. I think we were
jamming “I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” by Grand Funk Railroad (1970).
Great tune. Remember what Johnny Ramone said about this band, then? If you read
“Commando: The Autobiography of Johnny Ramone,” you might have noticed this
part from Chapter One: “I had long hair, like long enough to my shoulders, same
as Mark Farner’s when he first joined Grand Funk. But I wasn’t a hippie. I
hated hippies and never liked that peace and love shit.” Then again, he would
talk about them as “I loved those rock and roll shows where you got soaked in
sweat and when it was over, nobody could hear a thing, the noise was so
intense. Grand Funk at the Stony Brook University gym was one of those. July
24, 1970. That was probably the loudest show I ever saw. I also caught them at
Shea Stadium with Humble Pie opening.” Oh yeah. I think I knew this Shea
Stadium one. It was featured in their “Greatest Hits” compilation album, which
was released in 2006 as a CD/DVD combo-pak format. Man. “I’m Your Captain”
always brings me to... somewhere else. And I think that was the fate between me
and Kyle for the very first met. Back then I just didn’t see Slowhandicap much
because we were still (and still are) living far away to each other... but
maybe we did, anyway, see each other like twice or three times per two or three
weeks. I remember when I saw him in March 2017, that was when Weezer’s newest
single was just released, called “Feels Like Summer,” from their upcoming album
“Pacific Daydream” which was out not long after (October that year). Slow was
having a broken knee as a consequence from a bike accident. He fell off the
bike. I was so frustrated when hearing the news. So I took my time and came to
the hospital visiting him and even wanted / tried to spend my time sleeping
there over, but his mom was bugging on my ass telling me I couldn’t. But I was
happily seeing him at least. He’s one pivotal part of the band. Kyle would come
later, just right after both Benjamin, our first drummer, and Trung, our second
bass guitarist, were both expelled. We also had shared a stage at Chất Coffee
Roasters and Bistro gig, on December 31, 2018 into January 2019. One of the
loudest and greatest gig I ever played, though we were still lame back then.
Mostly we played covers even when we were playing with Kyle from September 2019
until January 2021. I think he was one of the longest serving bass-guitarists
ever in our lineup, as he would show up at every gig. He was one of the hardest
working musician and his attitude was always up to the max, that I ever knew.
I’m still friends with him. Slow really has had a huge respect on Kyle. He
would say at one gig, “Nobody can replace him. Kyle is a beast.” I won’t argue
with that. Until this day, I don’t think no other bass guitarist can get
closer. Ian, Abhijeet, or Luis and numerous guys I have met and jammed with.
Let’s just put this here simply: I wanted Ian and Abhijeet to be in our lineup,
and we did have the latter, but it never worked out. Guess I should be employing
Ian next time when he returns to Vietnam again. He is now kinda happily settled
down in Chicago and usually doing gigs there, same as Kyle based in TX.
I also remember Kyle’s first gig with us was on
September 15, 2019 at Pasteur St. Brewing Company place, down on Lê Thánh Tôn
street in D1. One of Slow’s best friend, Remind aka Linh, came down to see us
with her boyfriend. I think she was shocked to see Kyle never said a word to
them both. He was always like that. I loved that. We had just moved on (me and
Slow) from losing two guys as said above, from the Baroness Club gig and then
at one rooftop café place in Bình Thạnh Dist. called Escape Bar or something. I
fired Trung after that latter gig and after the jam at Yoko – those were on
September 2 and 3, 2019, respectively. Hard times for us all. I understand what
would be a better choice for us so I had to make a move. Tough love has never
been overwhelmingly appreciated. I think it goes the other way around. As a
band leader I have to know what’s best for the band I formed, because I love to
play guitar and I love to sing, with the music all around and good times. Now
we experienced, not just the fascist Trung guy whom bugged my ass about
choosing the right songs to play, and I thought I did make it clear with him,
one thing, before: I was like, “What? Is this his band now? Is he a leader?” And
also think about this: Me and Trung had previously had an argument of what we
should be playing at the Brian Jones 50th Commemorative Show at
Baroness Club, on July 4, 2019, that was also marking such that long, long time
the music scene was without his presence. He’s always my legend. A true hero
whom started the Stones. And this Trung guy told me I should have picked “You
Can’t Always Get What You Want” as a theme song for the show. I disagreed. It
was one song Brian would hate since it was used for the notable, controversial
moment of their 50th anniversary-celebrating documentary, “Crossfire
Hurricane,” which was out in November 2012. That was during the event when he
was about to leave the band. And these imposters called Mick Jagger and Keith
Richards trying to tell him what to do, taking over the leading job of the
group. I think Charlie Watts could have cared less. But Bill Wyman did care. He
stood up for Jones several times. So, those emotional moments would get me
bursting in tears, and this commemorating show was that important. Nobody can
tell me what to do. I lead this band. I book them gigs. I make them money and
create jobs. I should have deserved better. At one interview part of the show’s
talk-host, Patrick from England, he would say I’d look like Brian. Well, damn.
It was also, however, America’s birthday. I was wearing a U.S.A. T-shirt. Gifts
from my Godfather, Las Vegas resident since 1980s!!!
And Ben was so obsessed with the beaches in CocoBeach – oh... don’t get me started about that crappy place. They treated me and Trung like shit. At that point I was wondering and I was afraid if this band would be kept going on or not. We were having some feuds within the band. It was falling apart, slowly, one piece, one by one, I think. That was on July 20 and 21, 2019. July 19 was another gig (an audition one) at Tamarind Cocktail Bar in District 1. Oh my fucking God.
That was my Dad’s would-have-been 64th birthday, and they would ruin the vibes like that, first by the manager, denying any involvement with us paying us 1.5 million dongs after we did the casting for them like for a couple of songs. They told me to stop singing and told the cashier to get the money paying us. Next morning before we headed to CocoBeach camp, the other boss texted me asking why I took their money. I told them the manager did that and when being asked again he avoided the question and denied to giving us a proper answer. What a lame-ass bar. We never came back there anymore. CocoBeach wasn’t any different, though. We were not even informed of where to sleep and what to eat for dinner and for breakfast. Then the payment was lower than expected. Guess who was in charge of everything about this shitty situation. Benjamin’s. Slow also was the last one to join the lineup of four guys like this, since he was still, back then, busy with his school and stuff.
So me and Trung and Benjamin would start off as a trio... I
mean, playing punk songs by Ramones huh? No big deal at all. We were all fine.
At one point we also tried different drummers. Andy from Nevada. One great
talent and a respectable man. But I didn’t talk to him anymore. I think he
still keeps my Led Zeppelin T shirt. He went back to the United States after
several shows at Yoko’s jam sessions in early November 2018 or something,
packing up, and left. Never came back. Bobby from California, too. We just
didn’t talk anymore. I didn’t want to. Different political views. Like I said,
I am a Conservative. And these guys kept on blaming and slamming then-President
Trump for everything. It made my head explode. I couldn’t go on like that. It
was too much for me to handle the pressure, even after that Yoko’s jam night
when I fired Trung. Peter Haren, one of my good friends since October 2017,
trying to tell me what to do with the situation. I didn’t like him since I
think he was here all the time with an excuse of “vacations” and taking
advantages of the easy-money-making music scene of Saigon and stolen shows from
us. He went back to Australia after a show of us at Chất Coffee on November 15,
2019. Again, one more gone. I would say, to lose some friends isn’t cool at
all, but it’s also acceptable losses. That’s life. You made friends, you’d tell
them goodbyes. Nothing’s wrong with it.
So Kyle was with us until January 22, 2021. His last show was at the BoatHouse Restaurant in District 2 (now name-changed to the Jetty). Even some certain shows at Joe’s Cafe Muine, he was with us, too. What a dude. Sometimes he told us he wasn’t happy with the rooms there at the resort, I was like, “Oh for fuck sake dude. Enjoy the good times.” But then he’d bring his girlfriend, (now his ex), Krystal to the shows. She was at least helpful somehow, taking pictures for us let alone Slow’s girlfriend also doing the similar jobs. We got some great shots from those shows.... I think this was on July 25, 2020. The pandemic had started also, since December 2019. And it affected us a lot with getting booked. I think it was one of the reason why Kyle headed home on February 8, 2021. He couldn’t take it anymore. Some people can’t. I survived anyway through the harsh lockdowns. Hey, it’s life, again. You gotta accept it. You’ve been thrown into a fire and tested. You lived. So when Trung and Ben were kicked out of the band, Slow’s first reaction was...nothing. I was upset, but he was “fine” with it. And he even would be happier later with Kyle joining us. That was it. We never practiced together in any studios around. We just came up onstage and playing, that’s what we loved to do.
But one of our most memorable gigs was at this place called Johnny Be Good in D2, #148 Nguyen Van Huong street, Thao Dien ward, on December 31, 2020. I was upset over a Norwegian single mom treating me badly but then I’d have this gig with the bandmates. It was great. We were offered some free grilled stuff by the boss. He would later become my boss. Yes – that will be told later. Soon. And he also requested us playing “Johnny B Goode” song by Chuck Berry and he would do the duck-walk moves. Kyle was taking up the lead vocal parts. I think that was terrific. There’s still a livestream video on that place’s Facebook page there, where you could totally see how great we were back then. He had also, however, had a gig at New World Hotel so he was late a little bit. One time, he even missed a show. But that’s fine. Only me and Slow playing – at the BoatHouse. See, I liked people whom being gently told to us that, “Oh, I can’t make it.” Be respectful. That’s all I needed. After he left us going back to America, I thought, “We can move on with another guy.” Slow was so reluctant and indifferent about this... I knew he’d have a vision. I mean, it was not that great. It was my idea. A disaster. Again.
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