A little over a year ago, Pylon Reenactment Society shared a music video for the song “3 x 3” in anticipation of the band’s debut album, Magnet Factory, which was released in February via Strolling Bones Records. Today, the band shares a karaoke-ified version of the bouncy post-punk song that was almost lost to time.
“‘3 x 3’ was written in 1979,” says vocalist Vanessa Briscoe Hay. “Pylon performed it live, but it didn’t make the cut for our first album Gyrate, nor did it fit in sonically with our second album Chomp. Over the years, ‘3 x 3’ sometimes crept back into our set, but we never formally recorded in the studio. While working on Pylon Box in 2020, Jason NeSmith rediscovered it on one of Randy Bewley’s mixtapes and Pylon Reenactment Society started playing it live. It has since become an audience favorite—and we’ve definitely made it our own.”
Directed by Tony Brazier and Bill Cody, who also directed the 1986 music documentary Athens, GA: Inside/Out, the original music music video contains footage of people partying, dancing and singing along to “3 x 3” during a lively night of karaoke. This video-within-a-video was produced, filmed and edited by UGA students Gabrielle Held, Robert Fletcher Johnson and Luka Andrew Briglevich.
After Pylon Reenactment Society drummer Gregory Sanders had the bright idea to turn it into a real karaoke video, Leigh Rixey of Strolling Bones Records created it using original footage and an instrumental version of the song.
A live debut of the “3 x 3 (Karaoke Version)” video will be screened tonight, Dec. 4, during Karaoke with DJ Gregory at Athentic Brewing Co. Sanders, aka DJ Gregory, has been hosting weekly karaoke at the brewery every Wednesday evening from 7–10 p.m. Drawn to the great community of regulars, he says his favorite part of hosting karaoke is being part of someone’s journey.
“Some can’t wait to be in front of people and their confidence is overflowing,” says Sanders. “Others, however, dream of performing but are paralyzed by stage fright. ‘I’ve never sang in front of people before’—I hear it all the time. And then it happens. They get up and do it and the crowd goes wild. People are empowered here. That feels meaningful to me.”
Pylon Reenactment Society will play an all-ages show with Is/Ought Gap at The Garden Room at Wild Heaven West End in Atlanta on Dec. 21. PRS will then close out 2024 with a New Year’s Eve party on Dec. 31 at the 40 Watt Club with Violent Violet, Delta 8 and Nuclear Tourism, with proceeds donated to Violent Violet member Kyle DeMartino’s medical expenses.
Looking forward to the spring, the band has been invited to perform at Keepin’ the Song: A Rock Concert for Pasaquan at the visionary art environment of Eddie Owens Martin (aka St. EOM), located just outside of Buena Vista, GA. PRS will join Atlanta acts W8ing4UFOs, Subsonics and Token Hearts. The event is supported by a $5,000 Vibrant Communities Grant recently awarded to the Pasaquan Preservation Society by the Georgia Council for the Arts.
To explore more of Pylon Reenactment Society’s history, videos and recordings, visit pylonreenactmentsociety.com.
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