Fritch Clark is a 48 year old 3rd generation New Bruswicker, who claims he's a shy guy.  But when I broke out the recorder he talked and talked and talked and didn't seem shy at all.  When he talks about music and the New Brunswick "scene" he gets all gitty and smiley. Fritch made a rad movie call “The Last Bastions of Rock” that you should definitely check out.  If the interview doesn't read like a normal interview it’s because Fritch talked for 64 minutes and I talked for 2.  Thanks Fritch. I appreciate the time you gave me.

LP: How did you get into music?

F:  I would listen to RSU to hear about football and stuff and heard music that the big radio stations weren't playing.  In the 70's it was all Led Zeppelin and I could never be that cuz they were just so good.  It wasn't till I heard The Ramones and I was like, these dudes are kinda geeky, I'm geeky, I could do this.  The music’s not great and I can strum along to it.  They were a real people's band.  College radio has gotten me into a lot of bands.  The first big concert I went to was Kiss and I knew I was never gonna be that.  That's why I loved The Ramones so much.  It was cheap to go and you could see yourself doing that.  In 1978 I saw a band named The Dead Kennedy's in Trenton and I just got it. The best music I've ever heard in the worst place possible.  Calhoun Street in Trenton, NJ.  I remember going back to school and seeing kids in their Bob Seager shirts and just being like you don't get it.  You don't know what you're missing.  I had DK and Black Flag shirts.  I got it right away.  This was before the internet so you would show up and put your name on a mailing list and get flyers in the mail.  The 1st I heard of The Court Tavern, it was across the street and Joe's (The bartender) grandfather owned it.  It was called Joe's bar.  Well I would go out, because in those days 18 was the drinking age.  High schoolers went to the bar and drank.  Can you imagine drinking at 18?

LP: Legally you mean?  I knew plenty of high schoolers who drank.

F: But I would come here because my mom said she knew the owner.  But Bobby's father owned it by then, not Joe Zimmerman (the guy my mom knew).  I would come here because people were accepting.  You know when you walk into a bar and everyone turns and stares at you?

LP: You mean you get the record scratch reaction when you walk into the room?

F: Yeah, well that didn't happen here or the Melody.  Nobody really gave a shit.  They were busy doing there own thing.  So New Brunswick became my home base but there was another place, The Dirt Club in Bloomfield that I also liked.  It was owned by Johnny Dirt, who just recently passed away, and it was an old house (Johnny lived upstairs), just a blue collar bar that had original bands.  This guy would tend bar in a leather jacket and boxer shorts.  Back then The Court, The Dirt and City Gardens were the only places to see original music.  Everywhere else had cover bands.  These places had REAL music.

LP: There's a reason why people come here (The Court) the beer is cold, the music is loud and people want to fucking hang out.  Do you consider yourself a filmmaker or was this the best way to tell your story?

F: Oh yeah, I a filmmaker.  I started as a kid making Super 8 films by myself, and then in 1990 I made 16 mm film projection in the Rutgers film co-op.  I learned a lot from Alan Igrin at Rutgers.  He was my mentor.

LP: Was the footage in the documentary all yours?

F: I was lucky to get a lot of photos of from different people and Darrell, from Channel X in Piscataway, gave me a lot of footage.  PCTV (Piscataway TV) was big for me because that's where I learned about video(ED's note- Filming and making a film involves film.  The actual thing known as film.  Video is a tape.  Completely different medium here, especially in those days).  But yeah, that's a lot of my footage.  Around 2001 the Melody closed and I saw a flyer that said Come Save The Court Tavern, because the city wanted to redevelop this area.  I went, along with about 500 hundred other people, to the city hall meeting and I taped it.  It was the most important thing I've ever filmed.  I just wanted to document stuff that was happening to the places I loved.  I walked by the Melody for years (when it was closed) on my way to work and the day they razed it I filmed it.  I just wanted to show how the city changed from when I knew it in 1980.

F: The Court started by Bobby Sr. having Bobby Jr.’s friend’s play.  See the mural on the wall downstairs with the fingers in his ears?  That's Bobby's father.  He didn't understand any of that, but he still gave opportunity to the kids. Jim from The Smithereens gave Bobby that gold record and that meant a lot to Bobby Sr.  The main thing about the movie is, it’s a family run bar.  It's like a town center.  It's pretty amazing that in the worse parts of New Jersey, the best music came out.  I really wanted to make this documentary, but it had to be good because people from Brunswick would see it, and show about the Bobby’s, Jr.  & Sr., and the music that came out of it.  New Brunswick was a special place at the time.  The Court, the Melody, the Roxy, Patrix.

LP: The Bowl-O-Drome.  The Underground.  That was under the hotel right?

F: Yeah it was.  I just wanted to show that you need to show love to places that support live, original music.  Even though this place is a dive bar, it's still got a lot of love.  It's run like a dysfunctional family.  Everyone can agree on one thing and that's We need a place to play.

LP: Awhile back while prowling on MySpace I found the map of the New Brunswick bars on your page.  I showed my parents and they were all smiles being like I remember The Underground, I remember Bowl-O-Drome.  Is that who this film was made for or was it more the younger kids to try to educate them?

F: I wanted to make the movie for everybody.  New Brunswick has a great musical history.  We can go way back, the guy who wrote the music for The Charleston came from New Brunswick.  New Brunswick music didn't start in the 80's and stop in the 90's.  It's always been here and will always be here.  It might be different now the in the 80's with all the clubs but I'm not gonna compare this decade to that decade.  The movie gave me a chance to give back.  I feel very blessed to have been a part of this great scene.  I was never in a band, but I lived in these clubs.  They gave me, and a bunch of other people, a place to go and a place to feel comfortable.  It also gave me a chance to interview some people I would have been to shy to talk to otherwise.  I'm kinda of a dork.

LP: Most musicians are dorks to.  That’s the great thing about music, these guys aren't some athlete who's all big and crazy fast, these are regular guys.

F: I could have just made the movie about The Court but I really wanted to show all of Jersey's great music.  These were the clubs I went to and that's what I wanted to show.  I also went to a lot of basement shows.  Basement shows will live for ever here in New Brunswick.  So many huge bands have played basements here in NB.

LP: I think that's why I like playing the Court so much is because it's like playing someone's basement.

F: I also wanted to make this movie as a thank you to the owners of these clubs that allowed me to see shows.  I would have gladly paid more money then I had to, to see these bands.  That's happening now.  You're seeing bands that maybe 20 years down the road you can say I seen them at The Court.  I bought a shirt from Marc Echo when he was a student here.  You never know who these people might become.

LP: Do you think it was better being in a band back when?  Ya know when people had to come to your shows to see you or better now with how easy it is to get your music to the public?

F: AHHH, it's just different now man.  It was a special time.  Handmade flyers and records.  Buying merch directly from the band.

LP: Did me and my generation miss something special?  It's never gonna be like that again.  I feel like I missed something.

F: You're just realizing that the bands you love now are big time bands.  The Descendents, Sick of It All, The Bouncing Souls, and bands like that, they all played places like The Court and City Gardens before they got big.  Ten years from now you might be saying "I saw those guys at The Court" when the next band from here get famous.  Did you miss something?  Well you missed that time and place but you're here for the next time and place.  You're a part of it now.  What's going on now you're a part of.

LP: Just being in a band I feel like I missed out on something.  To be able to play at maybe The Court and The Roxy on the same night or just get on more shows in general.  I don't know.  I just feel like it will never be like that.

F: It won't be like that.  A lot of people at that time lived in New Brunswick.  The Bouncing Souls had a house, Inspecter 7 lived here.  You could drink a lot at any bar and just walk home.  That's one thing I do miss is being able to pop in and pop out of a lot of shows on any given night.  Asbury Park is like that now.  I really like The Asbury Lanes.  I feel like they get it. 

LP: Why did you make this movie?

F: I felt it was my civic duty to do this movie.  I wanted to give back to the bar owners and bands that gave me so much.  I wanted to make a positive piece explaining why all these places were so special.  Not everybody got to know Jonny Dirt, Randy Now and Bob Sr. I wanted to get on record what these owners had to say about that time.  I wanted to show people these owners because not everybody knew these people.  New Jersey in general just has a great history of music, movies and art.  I just wanted to show that.  We're not The Sopranos and Jersey Shore strerotype.

LP: What do you think was the decline of the "Rock Club" as we know it?

F: There were a lot of factors.  Drinking age had a lot to do with it.  People started suing also.  Some kid got hurt at City Gardens and sued.  I came from the Old School.  If I got hurt doing something stupid my father would say "You deserved it”, these kids weren't like that.  There were some owner disputes, like at the Melody.  Plus people grow up.  They get jobs and start families.  It was the right time for it and people took advantage of it.

LP: There's a small window for things like this.  For a band, a movie, a comedian, a "scene" even.  You never know, the window could re-open.

F: New Jersey has a great history of music and that's what it's about.  Music is in the last place you look.  Like love, you don't go looking for love it just finds you.

LP: That's a great place to end it.  Do you have any thank yous?

F: Court Tavern, Rest in Piece Jonny Dirt, Che Fontaine from Born Reckless.