by hilary johnson
The local punk band Inspection 12 is deeply ingrained in Jacksonville’s music history, at least for those of us who grew up in the late 90s. They got their start in middle school where they learned to play by covering the songs of their favorite bands, they eventually began to write their own.
“Initially all we wanted to do was cover as many Nirvana and Weezer songs as we could,” said lead singer, Dan McLinktock. “Once we learned them all we attempted to write our own tunes, which sounded astonishingly like Nirvana or Weezer.”
Over time the band’s sound began to change and grow, inspired by new bands and new sounds that transformed their music into the illustrious punk rock sound that marbleized them amongst their peers as one of Jacksonville’s great bands.
“[We] repeated the same process with bands like Green Day, NOFX, Ben Folds and The Beatles and so on. Input then output,” said McLintock. “Eventually there was so much input that the output started sounding like some big morph of it all. Nothing intentional; I, personally, just drew from whatever I was being influenced by at the time. Still do, I suppose.”
In high school, the band’s popularity grew by leaps and bounds. In the era that is now symbolized nationwide by the success of punk band Yellowcard, Inspection 12 were actually the ones slated to become Jacksonville’s next big thing.
However, after McLinktock took a stint in California with Christian punk band Craig’s Brother, when it looked like Inspection 12’s boom was about to bust through Jacksonville’s borders, the band’s drummer Scott Shad was killed in a car crash. The devastation of the loss of their lifelong friend and bandmate threw the group into uncertainty.
But things wouldn’t stop there. Signing on to Honest Don’s Barely Legal Records, Inspection 12 put out their first widely distributed album In Recovery. Lifelong friend Tim Grisnik joined as the band’s new drummer.
“[We were] fourteen-year old posers, seventeen-year old high school hot shots, nineteen-year old quitters, twenty-year old re-uniters, [and] twenty-one-year old signed artists / mourners,” says McLintock, summarizing the path of bands long history. “Twenty-two-year old amateur tourers. One time we played an auto shop in North Carolina. The PA was the speakers from the head mechanic’s boom box. Best show ever. And finally, [we are] twenty-seven-year old posers. [We’ve come] full circle.”
When he says twenty-seven-year old posers he is referring to the status of the band as it is now. In his own words, he “can’t see it being what it used to be.” But, the band is still together, and still gets together a few times a year to play shows and celebrate what Inspection 12 really is: a great group of friends.
“I think the fact that we all grew up such good friends is what has made it work,” said drummer Tim Grisnik. “There has never been a member of the band who hasn’t been a life-long friend. I guess that’s kind of rare for a lot of bands.”
Having grown up in the same neighborhood and sharing an intense passion for music, (“I specifically remember the day we each decided we were going to learn how to play an instrument,” said Grisnik.) Inspection 12 is not just a group of guys who got together to become rock stars. It was a group of friends having a great time, growing up together and taking playtime from the sandbox to the stage.
So, every year for the past few years, the band has started a tradition of playing a Christmas show. On Christmas night, the band played an acoustic set at Jack Rabbits and on December 28th the band played to a sold out crowd at Fuel Coffee House for a full “plugged-in” set.
These shows are about the only time a fan can expect to see the band play, though. The band only performs together a couple times a year, and as they are spread all over the place these days, Christmas is one of the few times they know they will all be together.
“Over the past few years, we’ve all been doing different stuff in our lives, with work, and school, and other bands, and things like that,” said Grisnik. (For instance, McLintock’s other band, My Folks played Jack Rabbits on December 30th and will be at Freebird on January 19th.) “So we’ve really been pretty busy, and it kind of seems like Christmas time is one of the only times that we can all get together and play.”
McLintock adds that, “The show on the 25th also provides sanctuary for folks who’ve spent twelve hours with their extended family.”
But in all honesty, the Christmas shows were just for some old friends. A shits and giggles kind of set of events for them and for anyone else who was around for the glory days, old fans and old friends of the band. And to signify the close bond of these band members, both McLintock and Grisnik are basically just excited to get together with one another.
“Getting together with friends who I miss is a draw for me,” said McLintock.
“My favorite thing is having a group of lifelong friends, who have a pretty strong bond through music,” agrees Grisnik, adding why Inspection 12 is still so important to him.
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