After the demise of
SIN 34 the band's rhythm section (drummer
Dave Markey and bassist Phil Newman) formed a new band with guitarists Vic Makauskas (formerly of SVDB) and Nick Delaney from Vancouver, Canada's No Exit. Newman chose the name Painted Willie from a 1950s thesaurus he had found in a thrift store which defined it as an old English synonym for homosexual, or more approximately transvestite or drag queen. Makauskas quit the band just before their first show at
Cathay de Grande and Painted Willie became a trio and recorded a three-song (one song each from each member) eponymous 7-inch EP on Phil's own Spinhead Records. After a while, Delaney was expelled from the band because of tensions between him and the other two members. The band then records the
My Fellow Americans 12-inch EP as a two-piece, with Newman playing both bass and guitar. For the live shows played in 1984, the band recruited guitar player Mike Vallejo of Circle One, who had also been a member of SIN 34. The band's first two self-produced releases displayed a distinct musical progression from Newman's and Markey's previous hardcore band, employing quirky, experimental and psychedelic elements. Vic Makauskas was back in the band in 1985 as Painted Willie wrote a new set of material with somewhat of a more straight forward approach. They recorded two demos that got them signed to
SST Records in 1985. The band re-recorded the ten songs they had done as demos with Black Flag guitarist
Greg Ginn, producing and released it as the
Mind Bowling LP. Painted Willie embarked on another US tour in 1987 in support their follow up LP
Upsidedowntown, and broke apart soon thereafter while Newman joined the band I Love You. In 1988, SST released a posthumous compilation of Painted Willie's early work on the LP Relics. This would be the band's swan song, along with a cover of
Captain Beefheart's "
Clear Spot" for
The Melting Plot compilation. SST also re-distributed the 7" and 12" EPs Painted Willie released on Spinhead Records.
DC-Jam Records re-released Mind Bowling on CD in 2009. ==Members==