"YOU'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING"- A CONVERSATION WITH JOVONTAES' FOUNDER REID SMALL
Reid Small is founding member/drummer/vocalist of psych warrior three piece Jovontaes, visual artist, writer and one time owner of the now defunct Void Skateshop in Lexington, KY. The rumors are true that I was (briefly) owner of said shop after Reid stepped down but I'm not much good running businesses so that didn't last long. In all seriousness, those were amazing times and a lot of wonderful shows/sessions happened at that shop. I only wish circumstances would have been different at that point and the doors were still open but unfortunately that isn't the case and everyone rolled on to the next phase of life. Reid keeps the skate spirit alive by running his small run skate company Alley Products. Special thanks to Reid for sharing with us.
out of heaven since '77,
the janitor
Mikey- I’d like to start at the beginning. Where did you grow up? What was childhood like? Were you close with your family?
Reid- My name is Jay Reid Small I was born and raised in Bowling Green, KY in southern Kentucky. I had very involved and supportive parents and (for the most part) was surrounded by music and art and encouraged to grow in those directions. Also have two brothers.
Mikey- At what point did you start playing music and djing? I assume it was at a young age. What were you listening to growing up?
Reid- I started playing music with others around 1994/middle school early grunge/generic pop punk/then into classic rock. By the end of high school listening to jam bands and some versions of techno. By college back to classic rock with a cover band at the same time getting into djing 45s funk/soul, generic dance/mainstream stuff from all genres mentioned. Wasn't until a little later that I spaced out into different directions. Formative years were pretty tame.
Mikey- What year did you start skateboarding? Did you pick up on tricks and allowing your own style to come through early on?
Reid- Skateboarding and music started to be my main hobbies around the same time/middle school 94-95. I skated in the driveway until heading out to strip mall parking lots and downtown in the little town I'm from. We had no skateparks then but would go occasionally to contests in Nashville. Tricks came with time. I was never great but could skate pretty good I guess. Generic middle america kid.
Mikey- When did you end up in Lexington, met Tony and The Void Skateshop crew? Could you talk about those early times for us?
Reid- I went off to college around the year 2000/NKU first then back home to Western KY then here in Lexington by 2001. The Void was already established across the street from Woodland Skatepark in downtown Lex. I know Radley Norton from mutual friend Matt Macfarland who grew up together in Corbin, KY. Actually we'd come up on skate trips and met first round Void dudes in 1998-1999 through Radley/ended up meeting Nasty Nate/ Mark Borders at one of Macfarlands girlfriends houses and got the Infected/Redheaded Stepchildren 45rpm that you played on fresh from the plant. Those were my earliest Void memories/Lex skate memories. We skated picnic tables and wood ramps at Woodland before the skatepark was built. Eventually ending up in Lex full time I got to know Void dudes along with others.
Mikey- You ended up on the Void shop team, right? What was that like?
Reid- I was only ever briefly on the "team" as I worked at the shop for two years before buying the Void from Tony Connor and running it around 7 years before selling it to you. I was "sponsored" I guess but it was a different role as I was the boss most of the time/so for me there a responsibility that was different than just being a kid sponsored responsible for skating in contests and getting footage or a video or whatever. I guess I would have called myself team manager if anything. Looking back I don't really ever remember being sponsored really.
Mikey- What was it like working at the shop and skating in the Lexington scene in those years? I remember the shop served as a hub for skaters, punks, weirdos but I wasn’t around the shop too much during the Tony times. I saw Tony and Donnie at the bars at night in the early 2000’s. Perhaps the passing of time makes everything seem very exciting back then but how was it for you?
Reid- The shop was a cool spot for skaters I guess though probably not everyone felt as welcome there as I remember. Now when I meet people who said they came through the shop I asked them if they thought I was an asshole or not. Skaters/punks/weirdos probably leans more towards the Void ramp and venue space years. We hosted art shows and swap meets and participated more in the youth art culture than the previous owner Tony. All that came as a result of me dropping out of art school, not understanding business and trying to just make stuff and make stuff happen. Shows, contests, sidewalk sales, printing shirts, recycling old boards. I was just trying to make money but really no idea how to. As a business the Void was not very profitable but it did provide the chance to give back to the community and provide some version of cultural equity if that is the correct term.
In 2005 or 2006 lasting until 2012 the United States experienced 'the great recession' and we as a brick and morter business had to compete actively with online shopping for the first time. Unique challenges one might say.
All that aside I was just a young person/ married at the time with a young son and a small business trying to pay bills. It was a juggling act and I'm not much of a juggler.
Mikey- I do remember the aesthetic taking a turn towards more of a folk art vibe when you bought the shop. More and more people started hanging around also due to the skatepark right around the corner. The college radio and bar/house show scene seemed to bleed together more as well. After you bought the shop you built the ramp and started throwing shows in the evening. That was a wild time for sure. Any stories come to mind about that period you’d like share?
Reid- Oh yeah: Wolf Eyes ramp sessions, THEUSAISAMONSTER over at the skatepark on Halloween. Supposedly people in Louisville still talk about the late late night Sapat & Psychedelic Horseshit show where we locked the doors. Peaking Lights, Mac Demarco, Martial Cantrel, Off With Their Heads. The punk band that was anti pizza/ kids skating a ramp while bands raged behind hit/ selling beer/ no ids/ hippy house folk fest. AVOID Busters shows. Local homies like CANDY, the Butchers, Cadaver in Drag, Caboladies. Your bands Warmer Milks, Cross, etc. Our pre-jovo band Tight Leather played the shop one time with Hair Police and then once we changed into the Jovontaes, we played in the parking lot once- don't shit where you sleep. We did record a few of our Jovontaes albums there. It was a music hub for me and my friends around 2010ish. It was also a skateshop supposedly.
Mikey- Yes, yes, so back to your music. The first band of yours I remember was RC Pro Am then on to Tight Leather. How did the first one flow into the next?
Reid- Started with Other Brothers guys shortly after moving to Lexington/ during that time Colin Kellogg and James Swanberg started our 'punk' band RC PRO AM. Then from there Tight Leather formed with Jesse Saxon/Case Mahan/Mark Murray. Tight Leather lost Saxon and changed name to Jovontaes briefly adding Swanberg to remaining TL crew.
Swanberg and I started side doo wop band Randy Tuesday which James would morph into Todayshits and his solo career and from which I would start my solo thing more recently becoming a band called Shawnthony Calypso.
Initial TL cru left Jovontaes shuffling for a year or so with more rotating cast including Sam Genthner, Patrick Fromm, Coleman Guyon and Josh Blaine. Murray returned and we settled on Reid Small, Josh Blaine and Mark Murray as the Jovontaes for the last 15 years roughly.
I mapped it out/ to make it easier:
Mikey- Let’s dig into Jovontaes. You’ve had quite a run (so far) with the band. A number of US tours and a massive amount of recordings. I’m guessing you have the discography written down somewhere as well as a Jovo shelf at your crib full of tapes, cds and vinyl. What holds Jovontaes together? How would you describe Jovontaes sound? Do you all have any long term goals?
Reid- By our estimates there are around 15 cassette releases, 2 lps, 1 10" and some random cds. Labels include Eggy, DNT, Gnar, Sophomore Lounge, Tent City, Woodsist imprint Hello Sunshine and a bunch more I've forgotten. There were a bunch. Not too many labels still going these days but we don't send as many emails or play gigs so much. Jovo celebrated 15 years with a gig on Josh's birthday in November 2022. It was fun. We also jammed on my birthday a couple months prior. We aren't really held together as much these days. We group text more about various motorcycle repair questions or who's camping where on which weekend. Occasionally go snowboarding or meet at a bar for happy hour to shoot pool. So we're still friends and our sound always seem to reflect our interests outside of music: nature, skating, weirdo art, found sounds, concrete, forgotten Kentucky. We all still play music just not as often together/no real long term goals. We did just compile second phone dump album thing from Joshs 100+ iphone jams spanning the last 10 years or so.
Mikey- What does an average week/weekend look like for Reid these days?
Reid- I don't really skate or play music much anymore which is funny to think about after having talked so much about it just now. Once a week we have Shawnthony band rehearsals and soup night, which is mainly sitting around talking and then jamming for a half hour or so . I mostly just go to work and raise my two sons. I'm getting remarried in the fall so that's pretty exciting! I just recently got a little farm outside of they city where we spend our weekends fixing up an old farm house, building raised beds for gardening and generally trying to continue to heal and be a better person. Looking back at all that we've discussed there was never really an end goal/long term plan. It was all just something to do/try to do the best you can I guess. I've never really been very good at the things I do but you've got to do something.
Mikey- Congratulations on the marriage! Tell us about Alley Products.
Reid- Alley Products was started as a spin off of Barbarian Skate Supply which was a part of the Big Hair Music Venue which came a little while after the Void era. Alley Products these days are skateboards, shirts and accessories made by me and my oldest son Miles. We call it a fake company because we don't file taxes on it and it's not very serious. It is nice to have a skate thing together with Miles as the shop days are past us.
Mikey- Sounds like you’re doing things right. Great talking with you Reid. Thanks for giving our readers your time. Oh, by the way I got my skateboard out of the closet and scooted to the park today. Blasted some Black Flag on my headphones and did some kick turns in the mini half. Looking forward to my next session. Thanks for the inspiration!
Reid (left) with the janitor (right)
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