The Fall On Deaf Ears

The Fall on Deaf Ears was a short-lived US post-hardcore/emo band active in 1996 in El Paso, Texas. It was established by drummer and vocalist Cedric Bixler-Zavala of At The Drive-In with bassist Laura Beard and guitarist Sarah Reiser, co-founders of Rope, the first "all-women" band that reached acclaim on the predominantly male West Texas punk scene. The FODE lasted less than a year, touring locally and playing live shows with other bands, such as Propagandhi and Egon (12). In March 1997, Sarah and Laura died in a car accident; they both were only 17. Cedric and Clint Newsom released the band's material posthumously. Clint Newsom first met Laura Beard when he was 16 through a high school friend, who invited him to a band practice of The Glitter Girls, an all-girl punk group formed by her with Laura and Sarah Reisner. Clint and Laura clicked immediately, sharing a love for classical guitar and the same music instructor. They talked about forming a band several times, which finally came together in mid-1996 after Clint Newsom learned that Laura and Sarah began playing with a local musician Cedric Bixler (a respected and well-known young drummer who co-founded such bands as Foss, the Dregtones, and, most notably, At The Drive-In). Four members all became friends, sharing similar tastes in music, from "classic" rock & roll, The Who, and The Cure to Bikini Kill, The Nation Of Ulysses, Circus Lupus, and The VSS. In May 1996, the group recorded a five-song demo tape with Mike Major at Rosewood Studios. Following a brief summer hiatus, when Newsom was away in Washington, DC, and Bixler-Zavala grew busier with At The Drive-In, they met again in El Paso in the fall of 1996, deciding to discontinue FODE amicably as the earlier "chemistry" was gone and four members all matured in different ways. Fall on Deaf Ears performed their last show at The Rugburn, an iconic punk venue on Alameda St. They remained close friends, with Sarah Reisner briefly joining Clint Newsom's new band, Ex Impetus, on vocals. In early 1997, Sarah and Laura again started to make music together, singing and playing acoustic guitars. The newly-formed duo gave one concert, opening for Long Hind Legs and Thrones. In March 1997, Sarah and Laura died in a car accident returning home from Austin to El Paso; they rolled over and crashed in the ditch near Fabens, Texas — merely 20 miles away from their destination. (The third passenger in the car reportedly survived.) The sudden loss of talented friends deeply impacted Newsom and Bixler (who already has several deaths among his close friends and collaborators: Jimmy Hernandez, bassist with Dregtones, died of cancer in 1994, followed by the suicides of the At The Drive-In's first drummer, Bernie Rincon, in early 1995, and influential local artist and musician, Julio Venegas, in February 1996). The same year, Newsom and Bixler-Zavala released a commemorative In Memory 1979- 1997 7" split on Western Breed Records. The ATDI's third single, El Gran Orgo, and the 7" split by Ex Impetus and Egon were both dedicated to their memory. (Cedric Bixler later wrote the song about this tragedy, "Napoleon Solo," which appeared on ATDI's second album, In/Casino/Out.) In 2002, Newsom arranged the release of the band's May 1996 demo as a self-titled CD EP on Post-Parlo Records based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Fall on Deaf Ears Sarah Reiser — guitar, vocals Clint Newsom — guitar, vocals Laura Beard — bass, vocals Cedric Bixler-Zavala — drums, vocals