Beyond Research
My two favorite things outside of research
are family and music. In day to day life, I go by Charlie. In music,
I go by Clark Kemp.
I was the drummer for
the Electric
Laser People, which was led
by Dan
Paluska. With my move to Hotlanta, I gradually left the band. For a while, I participated
behind the scenes and occasionally performed. My last performances
with the band were in Boston and NYC back in June of 2007 to celebrate
the release of our first
album, Straight
Talk on Raising Kids. Soon after, the album hit 132 on the RIYL
unweighted chart for radio play, just below the Beastie Boys album,
The Mix Up Capitol, at
131. Straight
Talk on Raising Kids was in heavy rotation at college and indie
radio stations across the US throughout the summer of 2007, and we had
international exposure through Russian pirates. The album hit the top
10 CMJ play lists of stations in NY, CA, IL, ME, TX, and VA, and hit
#1 at KTOO in Juneau, AK, and #4 at WNSU in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.. We
were also listed at #9 on The Noise
Top 30 Radio Chart. We had excellent regional press, including text in
The Northeast Performer,
The Boston Globe,
The Noise,
Boston NOW, and
The Weekly Dig. We especially
enjoyed our live radio interview with KSLU in St. Louis. All of this
was a gratifying response to our self-released, DIY album.
Electric Laser People was latest in a series of
bands for me. Prior to it, I was the leader of
Bucky Spins, a band
that took a permanent vacation during my final push to finish my
thesis as a graduate student. Red Fender
was our most popular song.