Destructor by Anastasia Pantsios

Oh, my God, Destructor. They were, they were something. They were the youngest and most dynamic band on the Cleveland-based Auburn Records label. It was really obvious that when you saw them even early on, they had something special. They just lit up a club. They were ferocious, they were amazing.

When they came in my studio, you didn't have to direct them. They just kind of directed themselves, and the one big session we did, I had just bought a whole new set of strobe lights. I had been using these floodlights until then, which had limited light output, and this was the last session I was going to use them. Thank God for that, because they found some squirt guns that I had in my studio, and they started spraying each other. They accidentally sprayed the floodlights and put them out of command.

They loved what they did. They were so dynamic and so much fun. I love this photo. It was really sad, unfortunately, is that, you know, they were assigned to a national label and were ready to go record, and then their bass player was murdered. I still remember where I was when I heard it. And we still remember the guy who did it. I think he's still in jail. Every time he’s up for parole, everybody kind of, you know, rallies. It was a real shock to the band, 'cause these were guys who were growing up together, they were really good friends.

Printed on acid-free, archival quality photo paper.