For Christmas in 1994, Casey got a guitar. Sam also had a guitar and we all loved to make noise, so we joined forces a couple days later to create the EP "Kids Will Eat Themselves" on our own record label named Foul Scrooge Productions. The fact that we barely even knew how to play didn't stop us. Then in the first months of 1995, we made our second album "Universal Moth" followed by the much more profound and lengthy third album
"Auly" (according to Mike, pronounced "uuuhhhh") in Casey's living room. For the most part, our music consisted of out-of-tune, distorted guitars,
pots and pans, and low quality vocals through distorted CB mikes, with each of us doing a little of everything. All of the recordings were one-shot, and the lyrics were generally atmospheric nonsense. These first three albums were are most raw and growing years.
Then bassist Brandon Carder joined the band for the angsty fourth album, "Trade Booger For Dung," which includes the lousy original version of our
breakthrough song "Macha!". Over the summer of '95, while Mike was at summer school in Davis, the other three members played at a birthday party for
the first ever HK performance. They performed under a different name though due to Mike's absence. Next we attempted an ill-fated album, "It's A Beautiful Day," and the only thing that survives from the
sessions is the song "Now Look What You've Done, You've Ruined Everything." That fall, we played at the variety show called
"Toast," and made a fine mess of things. Luckily, our friends were forgiving and still liked us. Soon after, Brandon was asked to leave the band and we returned to the "no bass" original set up.
The summer birthday party and highlights from "Toast" make up a painstakingly lame live album, "Chicken To Go."
After Sam got drums, we started our rebirth and made our fifth more studio done album, "Beach Blanket Bingo." The lineup now became
Sam on his new mini-HK drum set, Casey doing main guitar duties, and Mike doing lead vocals and guitar, which is the setup to this
day. We then got to play at the celebrated "Three Eggs and Toast," our most public performance so far, and redeemed ourselves to
our audience. A number of gigs followed including: the closing slot at the Ukiah High School Talent Show, a gig at a local club called Bagel Zen Blues opening for two local bands called the Eggmen and Moken and then later at the same club for two bigger bands called Blowhole and Miss Murgatroid, an acoustic show at another variety show at the Forks Theater called "Stone
Soup," a make shift show playing along side the track at the Annual 24 Hour Relay, an unrehearsed show after school for the Environmental Summit, and a huge downtown concert with practically all the local bands called Ukiahpalooza. Some where during all that a Hideous Kids solo show was arranged for the Fork's Theater, but was unfortunately cancelled due to Casey's illness at the time. We then concentrated on making a greatest
hits collection for sale at the fantastic record store Brahma Bull Music. We remade a few of our best songs with a four-track, wrote a
couple of new ones, and wrapped it up in a 25-song tape called "Hideosity." Casey embezzled most of the profits becasue he claimed he did most of the work on putting it together. It was easily the biggest and most important growing year for the Kids.
Over the summer of '96, we made the sixth album "Happy-Go-Lucky!," mostly happy pop songs with a live feel, and with Sam
asserting himself as a premier drummer (with a real set!). We began using four-track recording and singing as high as possible.
Not so many copies of the album were made and it didn't sell quite as well, but we had lots of fun. Just before Mike left for college at the University of Pudget Sound, we played a farewell concert out of
Casey's garage for a few friends. Over the next Christmas, we recorded album number seven which is our most studio-done album ever called "Kids Across America," and practiced up
big time for our first feature concert in '97, the return show at the Forks Theater. Quite a few people showed up and we managed to actaully make some profits along with having a great time. Over Mike's spring break, we played a graveyard gig short set at 12:30 a.m. at a varity show called the "Idle Youth" show.
At the end of the Casey and Sam's senior year, we played a scorching lunch time show at the High School. Afterwards Sam departed for Canada and Mike and Casey worked most of the summer. During Sam's departure they did manage to play an acoustic show without Sam for the second "Stone Soup," which was again held at the Fork's Theater. The eighth album, "Wheat," was pieced together and completed at the very end of the summer of 1997, right before Casey left for college at University of Nevada Reno. Over the following Christmas and New Years, we recorded the ninth album, "Slow Kids Xing." The album
marked a return to humor along with a new strand of more developed, less happy song writing. Then during the most broken apart time of Hideous Kids some of the biggest news happened. While Mike and Casey were away at college Sam was emailed by a record scout company interested in our music because of this very site. When we regrouped for spring break of '98 we accomplished the most done since Mike's senior year. Somehow during a single week we managed to pull ourselves together enough to make a Demo tape to send to the record scout, get a gig at our long time sponser Brahma Bull Music in the new and improved store, practice enough to be decent , have an actual tape to sell that contained our greatest hits from our latest four albums called "Poopoodoopoo," play a dang rockin' show with Mike on keyboards of all things and our record label mates Salvage Kills Salmon as our opener, and finally and most importantly our greatest accomplishment- our home made CD of all our greatest hits from all nine albums called "Immortality."
Oh my chicken.....The Hideous Kids re-united on 1/12/00 to play a show at their favorite music store Brahma Bull. The show was excellent, the crowd roared like a lion. But seriously folks.....they played a sold out show and had it recorded by James Lucas, Ukiah's premier music producer/engineer. The name of the CD is "Starting and Ending with Steak." We are surely on our way to stardom now!
The Official Hideous Kids Page 
Hideous Kids
Last Updated 12/12/98 by Casey Thompson