Tragedy Strikes Local Home; Sets It On Fire

— Grand Rapids, MI

In the February 2 edition of the Grand Rapids Press, Tim Daveny proclaimed:

“As Trevor Jackson raced toward his blazing home Monday evening, all he could think about were the neighborhood kids running outside and peering through the windows to get a better look at the fire.”

This statement is halfway true; There were kids running around outside, but Jackson is not Trevor Gate’s last name, and the only thought in his head was “Fuck, my house is on fire.” This could either be because he wanted to impress the general public, or maybe local journalism just isn’t what it used to be. If you paid attention hard enough, you may have heard about this in the news. Fox 17 might have told you that a family escaped. A commenter on Woodtv.com may have claimed it to be caused by a crackpipe, or maybe, just maybe, you haven’t heard this story at all.

The former residents of the house were none other than Gurgel Geuw, a group that has been heard of around the BfD universe. Trevor Gates, Micah Van Voorst & Ryan Knight shared many creative memories inside the household. The quaint place on Innes St. housed the birth of many different musical projects, such as Gurgel Geuw, NBA Jam Session, Assorted Anonymous, Slappy Slim, L Chivo, The David Stebbens Experience, and hell, even JuxTApose has held a couple of sessions there. It was also the site of which a bulk of my last video was shot. The house was always known for the constant creativity that occurred inside, whether it be the mind-melting paintings of Norm Biz, DJ M-Select’s nutritional beats on the tables, or Trev-Dor’s acoustic bass stylings. Needless to say, it was extremely hard to be bored in the house, and if you ever were, there was a billiards table waiting to be played on.

That was, until February 1st, at 5:30PM. I’m sitting at home, enjoying a bowl of Skyline Chili [of course], when Trevor rushes through my door. Immediately, he tells us to turn on the news. We do so. And we wait. And wait. And watch a shitty feature on the Auto Show. Some douchebags need to stay off TV. Eventually, Trevor gives up and tells us that he house is on fire. He was on his way back home, and he saw the house was smoking. There was nobody in the house, and there was no stopping the flames from consuming the organ on the back patio. Or the bike by the stairway. Or the billiards table. Or the priceless art. Or the Nike collection. Or the drum set. Or the amp kit. Or the flat screen. Or the thousands upon thousands of vinyls. All of these things were up for grabs when the flames started looting the house.

However, that isn’t all. Trevor also escaped his own demise. If there is anything I know about the burly Turkish man, it is that it is impossible to wake him up. He has two modes: awake and hibernate. Naturally, he would have gotten out of work just when the fire started. However on this day, he got out early.

“I was really beat from the night before, so going straight home to nap out was definitely an option, but I decided to jam out with David instead.”

As he says this, a beer bottle falls out of his chair, and breaks on my hardwood floor. The beer flows across, flooding some Dreamcast cords. Death is out to get Trevor, and he realizes this. However, if Trevor would have come home first, the fire may not have started.

This is all purely speculative, and we may never know what actually caused the fire. It is under the greatest assumption by professionals and/or people who pretend to be professionals that the fire started on the back patio. On the back patio, there is a grill with supplies, including butane. The kids that the GR Press ran into the ground hang out behind the house often. Kids also cause mischief. Do we see a connection. So, assuming that the kids did start the fire [which they will be guilty about for the rest of their lives], they wouldn’t have done so if they knew someone was home. Or Trevor could have made a sandwich first, and immediately put out the fire. The possibilities are endless, but the point is that it happened, and everyone is making steps toward moving on.

A couple of days later, we were finally allowed the enter the house in order to salvage as much as we can. Micah’s record collection is still intact to an extent, albeit some water & smoke damage. Ryan’s shoe collection turned up fine, and he also donated some burnt art to me, which is lovingly hung up in my apartment, giving the place a warm campfire smell. Trevor is still is possession of a pristine drum set, and bass. There was also a porn collection retrieved from the rubble. As far as everyone is concerned, the house cat did escape somehow, and is still at large.

While rummaging, I was able to capture a small bit of janky footage of the house. I threw the clips together and made an unofficial music video for “Into Your Heart”, the somberest track on Gurgel Geuw’s sophmore sonic fiesta, “Kickin’ & Sleepin'” (review here).

To me, this all feels bizarre, because I have never known anybody that has had such a thing happen, let alone to be personally attached to said home. Ryan and Micah have already landed a new place, which apparently has a hot tub, and Trevor will be couch surfing to a neighborhood near you until the end of the month, still trying to outrun death. All of the members of BfD send out their love and support through these trying times. Because lets face it, houses burn down every day, but damnit, those people didn’t write “Really Repetitive“.

-TeeCoZ.