The thespian, the lesbian, and the Joy of Meat, reheated

Actor John Hawkes' '80s Austin band with Gretchen Phillips is reuniting in October

Meat Joy played the final night of the Voltaire’s death trap in 1984, opening for Scratch Acid.

Everybody’s creative, queers are cool, and the way you want to end a show is to strip naked and say the first thing that comes to mind. That was Meat Joy, a fourth-wall-shattering Austin group (‘83- ‘85) whose only album came with a white, blank cover you decorated yourself at afterparties that resembled drunken quilting bees (thus inventing “craft beer.”)

The Joy started as a combination of two groups- one of whose “name” was a whistle. Eventually, they self-whittled to a five-piece, featuring Gretchen Phillips, Mellissa Cobb, Jamie Spidle, John Perkins and Tim Mateer to become a band like none other (though they were sometimes described as a lesbian folk Butthole Surfers.) The two male members started the Big State theater group (“In the West”), where much of the fanbase came from.

Spidle, Phillips, Cobb, with Mateer and Perkins unseen..

Louis Black on Meat Joy, in the wake of Reagan’s 1984 re-election: “During a time of despair, the group displayed only energy, during a period of isolation, they demonstrated hope, courage and ideas… I will always be grateful to this group of musical anarchists, of perverse and persevering theatrical adventurers.”

Louis will be happy to know that Meat Joy, with all original members, is returning for a pair of Austin shows- Oct. 19 at Cheer Up Charlies and Oct. 21 at Museum of Human Achievement.

Until a week of rehearsals here in May, the last time all five members were in a room together was on April 8, 1985 at the Continental Club. Phillips went on to tour the world in Two Nice Girls and Perkins has done pretty well as actor “John Hawkes,” earning an Oscar nomination for Winter’s Bone in 2010, playing Kenny Powers’ brother in Eastbound & Down, and numerous other roles. He was also great in Three Billboards Outside Hibbing, Minnesota, or whatever that Franny McD Oscar-winner was called.

Meat Joy guitarist-singer John Perkins changed his name to John Hawkes when there was another John Perkins in the Screen Actors Guild. Photo Bill Leissner.

The October reunions will include all the original members except drummer Teresa Taylor, who’s in hospice care. (UPDATE: Hearing she passed away today.)

“Our goals are very modest,” says Phillips. “Hang out, play these great old songs that we still really love, decorate some album covers, see our friends in the audience, turn some new folks onto Meat Joy and reconnect with our pals from the first go round.” The band has pressed 1,000 copies of their self-named LP, with covers awaiting your creative input.

Hawkes, Spidle, Mateer, Cobb, Phillips. Photo by Bill Leissner.

The audience at the above Meat Joy show. Photo Bill Leissner.