Cy*Burr // spring 2004

Around 1993, a gaggle of cynical intellectuals from all around northeast Ohio were convening at the Art Building, creating frenzied artwork and freaking out kids in the student center. Of the multitude of bands forming, The Kill City Babies, Armstrong’s Secret Nine and Harriet the Spy all played various pranks on themselves and others.

“We all tried to one up each other,” Joel McAdams says with a smirk.

A popular prank was spilling food all over themselves in the student center, McAdams says. “Ken [Myer, Armstrong’s Secret Nine] was really good at it because he would get up, look terrified and embarrassed and walk away really quickly.”

Of all the hi-jinx, Ken Myer of Armstrong’s Secret Nine seemed to be the most creative prankster. “Ken was doing wacky, super funny stuff, super creative—like awesome graffiti,” says Derek Erdman of his former band mate, “You know that James Gang record where they took that picture by the waterfall? He did these murals on the wall right by the railroad tracks of like, fried eggs and rabbits. It looked like graffiti but it was ridiculous graffiti. He was a super good artist.”

Aside from being a talented, if mischievous artist, Ken Myer was also the most daring of his friends. “Ken had a thing called the ‘Naked Club’ where he would take all of his clothes off, then go down to the female floors in the dorms and just walk into people’s rooms,” Erdman says. “He would sit on their bed and not say anything at all. They’d be like ‘Whoa! College!’”

Myer and Erdman’s band the Kill City babies, went on to perform in the oddest of places—including Wright Hall. “It was finals week and everyone’s buckled down in Kent,” Erdman says, “The dorm staff announced, ‘This Tuesday from 8 to 8:15, we’re going to make as much noise as possible! Everyone let off some steam!’ So we set up in a dorm room, closed the door and at eight we started playing.” The show lasted about a song and a half before security cleared everything out.

“He would get up, look terrified and embarrassed and walk away really quickly.”

After that, Erdman wasn’t exactly simpatico with his dorm mates. “The football team lived on my floor,” Erdman says, “They hated my guts. But they did get me into the Chronic by Dr. Dre.”

But Erdman and his cronies split off to become even more daring, sometimes even breaking the law. “We were way more deviant than Ken; we used to break into stuff. I’m surprised we lasted as long as we did,” Erdman says, “When we were up late at the radio station, we knew when they would deliver the donuts to the Teleproduction staff. We would just wait until they came and take the donuts.”