Best Punk Performer

27.87% Tri-State Killing Spree* 25.53% Blame It On Rio* 21.49% Take Sides* 12.13% Plain Crashers* 2.77% CookiePuss 1.91% Friday the 13th 1.06% Leeko 1.06% ButtonHead, Migraines Others with Votes: Belfast Carbombs, The Lurking Corpses, Plow, Saints Never Surrender 2003 Winner: The Migraines 2002 Winner: The Migraines 2001 Winner: n/a 2000 Winner: n/a 1999 Winner: n/a 1998 Winner: n/a 1997 Winner: n/a * On the ballot

According to Tri-State Killing Spree front man Kevin Roulette, winning the Whammy for Best Punk Band was a long time coming. He may have a point. The obnoxious foursome tallied scores of write-in votes in both 2002 and 2003 due to a conspicuous absence on the official Whammy ballot. Even previous Whammy winners thought Tri-State Killing Spree should have won their awards. “It was good to finally win it, I guess,” Roulette said. “We could have won for best write-in band.” Part of the problem could be that punk rock in general doesn’t get as much respect as it deserves, Roulette said. And he should know. As a band, Tri-State Killing Spree, which includes Roulette as lead singer/guitar, Pete Dio on drums, Riverhaven Rod on guitars and Bob Bolinsky on bass, have been around for 17 years. Roulette started playing punk as a 16-year-old high school student because of its inherent rebelliousness and initial simplicity. “I only knew three chords,” Roulette said. He claims to know more than three chords now, which is probably how the first CD the band released was a greatest hits compilation. “We put songs we’ve played from the late 80s through the early 2000s on it. People who’ve been following us from the beginning know the songs. So it made sense.” A second CD, called You Hate Us, We Hate You, is currently in the works. Roulette is not exactly a shy character, so he didn’t waste time waiting for clubs to hire the band when it first started. He sort of hired clubs by putting on punk nights. Most of the clubs where they played are now closed, despite the success of the regular events. Tri-State Killing Spree have developed a base outside of Fort Wayne, traveling to St. Louis and Indy regularly. “We still have lots of fans and friends in Fort Wayne, but you can’t expect your friends to come out every time you play.” The band proudly boasts on its website that it is Fort Wayne’s Most Hated Band, and Roulette says bad press is better than good press. Well, both statements may be true. If they are, whatzup readers like what they hate, and this blurb may not find a place in Roulette’s scrapbook. (Mark Hunter)

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