| Chris Clavin | |
| Birth Name: | Christopher Johnston |
| Birth Date: | August 23, 1973 |
| Origin: | Indiana, United States |
| Years Active: | 1994-2017 |
| Label: | Plan-It-X |
Chris Clavin (formerly Christopher Johnston; August 23, 1973) is an American musician and record label owner from Indiana, United States, with a strict DIY (do-it-yourself) punk ethic. He has been involved in numerous punk bands and ran Plan-It-X Records, a label founded in 1994.
Clavin has been a part of many (primarily pop punk and folk punk) bands, including bands that have toured the world and been influential in the DIY punk scene.
| Ghost Mice | |
| Origin: | Bloomington, Indiana, United States |
| Genre: | Folk punk |
| Years Active: | 2002–2017 |
| Label: | Plan-It-X Records, No Idea Records, Hill Billy Stew Records, Anti-Creative Records, Friends and Relatives Records, Valiant Death Records, Discount Horse Records |
| Associated Acts: | AJJ,, Disarm, The Devil Is Electric |
| Current Members: | Chris Clavin Hannah Jones |
In 2002, Clavin formed the two-piece folk punk band Ghost Mice with Hannah Jones. It was an American band based in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. Both members had been in a handful of pop-punk bands together: namely Disarm, The Devil is Electric and . They decided to "turn to the folk side"[1] in the hopes that they could tour more easily and play almost anywhere, and to this end Hannah changed from playing bass to violin.[2] [3] The following is a quote from Ghost Mice:
We play 100% acoustic. We never use amps or mics (except at Plan-It-X Fest and on and once in Austin, Texas). We have been playing in bands together for about 7 years. We started Ghost Mice in 2002 because we were tired of being restricted. We were tired of having to travel in big vans and depend on amps, PA systems and electricity. With Ghost Mice we can travel very light and we need nothing to play. We often play in back yards or on the street corner in front of the venue. We have toured the United States many times and we toured Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, France, Spain, Belgium, England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland) by foot. We hitch-hiked and took trains to all of our shows. It was fun and very liberating. We sing a mix of personal and political lyrics, we are anarchist, we are dedicated to the DIY ethic and the struggle to make the world a better place. We play music and travel for fun and to meet new people. Music is our lives. We love travel. We are nice and a little shy.[4]
Dark Times was released initially in 2017 and re-released on the internet in June 2018.[5]
Below is a partial list of the bands Clavin has played in:[6]
Clavin started working on solo recordings in the fall of 2004 when he wrote a song and recorded it in the same day to give to someone as a gift. He tried to write and record one song a day. He only made it 8 days. Those 8 songs along with 7 others are on the first album, "May All Liars Burn in Hell". The idea behind his solo projects is to write songs without thinking about them, to be pure in writing and hold nothing back. Occasionally Clavin utilized his friends "Colorblind" Joe, McKayla or others for help. Primarily playing with acoustic guitar or ukulele, he has toured the US West Coast, Midwest, and Europe multiple times.
| Captain Chaos | |
| Origin: | Bloomington, IN, United States |
| Genre: | Folk punk |
| Years Active: | 2004 - 2008 |
| Current Members: | Chris Johnston ("Chris Clavin") - acoustic guitar, vocals and sometimes Colorblind Joe - ukulele, backing vocals McKayla - backing vocals Matty pop chart - piano |
When Clavin first started releasing solo songs, he did not want his typical moniker attached to them. Spoonboy (of The Max Levine Ensemble) gave him the name Captain Chaos. Though Clavin did not like the name, it stuck. He released six full-length albums, one split, and appeared on a handful of compilations and other small projects as Captain Chaos before using his real name on his solo work (see further below).
| Year | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Captain Chaos | Spoonboy's Tape Label | Cassette |
| 2004 | Tour CD-R | Self-Released/Chaos Records | CD-R |
| Year | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | May All Liars Burn In Hell (a.k.a. Self-Titled) | The Scientist and the Duke Records | CD, Digital |
| 2006 | This is Cake | Crafty Records | CD |
| 2006 | Bloomington, Vol. 1 | Big Magic Records | CD |
| 2006 | Ireland | Valiant Death Records | CD-R |
| 2007 | The Fool | Anti-Creative Records | CD |
| 2007 | For The Devil | Fall of the West Records | CD |
| 2007 | Your Bright Eyes Are Gonna Kill Me For Sure | Crafty Records | CD-R |
| 2008 | Nice and Friendly/Captain Chaos Split - Have Fun/Die Hard | Sweet No Records | CD |
All six of the full-length albums (and a bonus CDR of cover songs) were available in a hand-crafted wooden box set with hand-made art. These boxes were made by Dan Treiber of Crafty Records. Fifty-one of them were made. The first 25 were made out of recycled 99-year-old barn wood. The second 26 were made out of recycled 1960 Canadian crate wood. The box set became officially available as of April 5, 2007. It is now out of print.
| Year | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Bella's Birthday CD (free!) | Plan-It-X Records | CD, Digital |
| 2006 | Live At Bandit H.Q. | DIY Bandits | CD-R |
| 2006 | Night of the Living Devilock: A DIY Tribute to the Misfits | Playground's Greatest Records/Pop Monster! Records | CD-R |
| 2006 | The Three Dollar Gallon | Crafty Records | CD |
| 2007 | Ponies in a Stable | Don't Stop Believin' Records | CD |
| 2008 | Thanks For The Floor | Crafty Records | CD |
In 2008, Clavin decided to stop releasing songs as Captain Chaos, and instead use his traditional moniker. He began to tour solo again on a small scale, and has released one album so far.
| Year | Title | Label | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | The Roads Don't Lead Home. The Roads Lead Everywhere | Crafty Records | 12" vinyl LP |
| 2009 | Secrets (Chris Clavin / Sara Cilantro Split) | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette |
| 2009 | Chris Clavin / Madeline Ava Split | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette |
| 2010 | Chris Clavin / Andrew Lips Split | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette |
| 2011 | Waxahachee / Chris Clavin Split | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette, Digital |
| 2011 | Chris Clavin / Kyle Hall Split | Plan-It-X Records | Cassette, Digital |
Clavin's solo projects have appeared on the following record labels (this list excludes compilations and smaller projects)
In 2017, a series of Facebook posts were published, followed by the creation of a public Google Doc, which aggregated accounts from unnamed individuals alleging inappropriate conduct by Clavin.[8] The accounts were collected through an email address that did not require or request any personal identification from the writers to vet or confirm the accounts. Clavin did not admit or respond specifically to any of these claims, but instead simply announced his departure from the punk scene, stating, among other things: "I no longer play in any bands. I no longer run a record label or publishing company. I will settle all affairs and orders of course, and pay all outstanding debts and invoices."[9]
Several of the dozens of small artists Clavin collaborated with or published music for over the years - Kimya Dawson, AJJ, Waxahatchee, Spoonboy and Ramshackle Glory - publicly condemned his actions, requested that Plan-It-X Records cease distributing their products, and stated they would remove Clavin's work from future printings of these split records, although it does not appear any further physical printings of these records were produced. Rather, most of these split records remains readily available through a variety of online sources.[10]
Clavin's bandmate in Ghost Mice, Hannah O'Connor, posted the following on Facebook, quoted by PunkNews in response to the anonymous accounts: "Since I have been Chris' friend for a long time, I know that he is being accused of things he has not done. I know there are a lot of false allegations, rumors, and lies spreading very fast about him."[11]
Clavin continues as a songwriter and has released several albums under the moniker of Captain Chaos recently, including "Shawties," in 2019 and "Black Swan" in 2020.[12]