Zach Barocas, drummer of Jawbox talks about Cal.

Interview with Zach Barocas

by: Brett Mathews

Zach Barocas was the drummer for JAWBOX, and now runs The Cultural Society with his wife Kimberly. They had compiled and released a great double CD to benefit Cal Robbins. That can be found here (http://catlickrecords.com/callum/).

What is “For Callum”?

‘For Callum’ is a 2CD compilation I coordinated in order to raise money for Callum Z. Robbins’ care fund.

Tell me how the Cultural Society, Catlick Records, and Letterbox came together to put “For Callum” together.

The Cultural Society is currently mostly me, though it also involves my wife, Kimberley Yurkiewicz, & our friend, the poet & scholar, Jon Curley. Letterbox is the stationery store Kimberley & I own. Catlick Records is a local label run by the West brothers, Dave & Dan, the latter of whom played in THE MILLION with me. In early 2007, some local bands were putting together a benefit show with 7th Street Entry for Callum, & we thought it would be a good idea to put out a record featuring the bands on the bill. That idea quickly became one of a compilation of Twin Cities bands. At Dan’s suggestion, we decided to simply get as many contributors as possible in the little time we had. I contacted bands & musicians I knew from when JAWBOX was active, as well as bands that had recorded with J. whom I had never known nor heard. The alacrity with which the artists responded was unreal. That was January & February of 2007. The CDs were available by March 17th.

Comps can be a pain in the butt to put together. How hard or easy was this one’s formation?

My only experience with compilations prior to this was as a listener or contributor. In both cases, they did seem to take a long time to become available. Our situation was different from some, however, in that we had no idea how soon Janet, J., & Callum would require this kind of help, or, sadly, for how long. It remains an unbelievably urgent situation. In any event, we had to get it out immediately, a circumstance which was implicitly understood by everyone involved. So it was never a question of it being hard or easy. It was something we all had to do.

How has the response been so far?

The response has been wonderful. It has achieved at least one of its main goals, to raise awareness not only of Janet, J., & Callum’s plight, but of SMA as a condition with which thousands of families live. I’m also pleased to see that the compilation is part of a fundraising continuum: there have been several benefit shows, Gordon Withers’ Jawbox-on-cello CD, Drew O’Doherty’s auction—all kinds of efforts & each one a success.

How do you know Cal and his family?

I’ve known J. since June, 1990, when I booked a JAWBOX show in my hometown of Rochester, NY. I moved to Maryland 1 year later, & 1 year after that, joined JAWBOX (I was the second drummer in the group). Since that initial meeting, J. has been a brother, mentor, & friend to me. We’ve together been through a range of experience that is, if I can speak for both of us here, unique in our lives, & as we’ve developed families of our own, the range has commensurately expanded. I think about Janet, J., & Callum every day. They are central.

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