Nautical Almanac Home Destroyed by Fire

Baltimore noise duo Nautical Almanac (aka Carly Ptak and James "Twig" Harper) lost much of their home to a fire last weekend. Luckily, Ptak and Harper were in New York for No Fun Fest at the time of the fire and are safe. However, the loss of instruments, recordings, and valuables was immeasurable. And perhaps saddest of all, their cats died of smoke inhalation.
Ptak and Harper moved to Baltimore from Chicago in 2000 and purchased a three-story building, once a doctor's office, on the west side of Baltimore. They renovated and repaired the space, creating a recording studio, an office for their Heresee label, and a performance space called Tarantula Hill. Their home was filled to the brim with handmade instruments and recording equipment, the result of years of scavenging, tinkering, and rewiring.
Much of those years of effort disappeared in minutes on Friday night, when a bag of packing peanuts on the first floor caught on fire, "most likely from a faulty fluorescent light and curious cat," the duo wrote in an email message. Luckily, Harper's brother was nearby, and firefighters arrived soon after. "They knocked a hole in the front formstone, smashed out the windows above and were able to get the fire out before it spread to the second floor or back of the house." Ptak and Harper remained in New York with the support of fellow No Fun performers and returned home late on Sunday evening.
"We are still assessing the damages," they continued. "They are high. All Ebay items in the front room are gone as well as the office, electronics workshop, and Carly's studio. Water poured on top of the equipment storage room and leaked into the basement. The second and third floors are mainly windowless and covered in black soot as well as knocked out walls and strewn items. It is a bleak landscape filled with ruined tools and cherished items. The building is in an as bad or worse condition than when we moved in and the material elements of five and more years work is undone."
In addition to the physical damage to the building, the duo lost DAT tapes, video masters and films, artwork, computers and hard drives, and countless instruments.
Pondering the future, Ptak and Harper wrote, "It is a difficult decision that we are facing in every way. We know what we have inside of us and that we can take that anywhere but also that there is no place where we would rather go than to the inspiring space that we have shared with our friends and over the years called Tarantula Hill."
In the face of this devastating loss, friends and fans are rallying to support Ptak and Harper. Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore plans to release a benefit CD on his Ecstatic Peace label, with artwork by Kim Gordon and tracks by Burning Star Core, Mike Connelly, and No Fun Fest mastermind Carlos Giffoni. Cincinnati label Art Damage has already made available a CD-R recording of a live collaboration between Nautical Almanac and Leslie Keffer on local radio station WAIF in June of 2004, with proceeds going to the Tarantula Hill Restoration Fund.
In addition, local Baltimore record store True Vine will host a series of benefit shows. With more shows to be announced, the store has already lined up three nights:
03-23 Snacks (Tom Boram and Dan Breen), Louie Louie (Jason Willett and others), Bonnie Jones and Andy Hayleck, Mugwump, Nick Becker, Caleb Johnston, Peter B., John Berndt, Kate Porter, Mike Muniak
03-28 Jack Rose, Lexie Mountain, Blaster Al Ackerman, Paul Simpson
04-03 Success Through Hypnosis, Shawn Phase
Ptak and Harper are currently in need of money and essential items to help them through this trying time. Donations can be sent via PayPal to the group's email address, hello@heresee.com A long list of items they need, along with their address, can be found on the True Vine news page.
Friends and fellow noisemakers have been reminiscing about the hospitality of Harper and Ptak, as well as the amazing community space Tarantula Hill.
"Four years ago I was on tour with my project Burning Star Core," writes C. Spencer Yeh from Cincinnati. "We originally were to play a gig at this club in Baltimre, but due to some weird circumstance the gig was cut off right after Monotract. Without hesitation our crew was relocated by Twig to Tarantula Hill, along with the audience, to resume the show."
Chuck Bettis, who performs with Measles Mumps Rubella as well as numerous noise outfits, reminisced, "Tarantula Hill is a vital artery for creative people to flow through. Whether it was Twig stirring up some ruckus actions amongst his peers or Carly psychicly reaching out and entrancing you with her mind music, shows at Tarantula Hill are ALWAYS memorable, unrepeatable rituals."
On a personal note, I first met Twig and Carly two years ago when I did a photo shoot with them in their home for The Wire. I was blown away not only by the phenomenal home they had constructed but by their contagious enthusiasm and instant friendliness. Over the years, I have been lucky enough to get to know them and to spend more time at Tarantula Hill. I am currently working with True Vine on donating some of my Nautical Almanac photographs for sale to benefit the Tarantula Hill Restoration Fund.
Several other benefit shows for Nautical Almanac and Tarantula Hill are in the works in New York (sponsored by No Fun Productions and Ignivomous), Chicago, Cincinnati, and Madison. We will provide more information when it becomes available and report further about the Ecstatic Peace compilation when a tracklisting is confirmed.

Heresee: http://www.heresee.com/
Ecstatic Peace: http://www.ecstaticpeace.com
True Vine: http://www.thetruevinerecordshop.com
Art Damage: http://www.artdamage.org
No Fun Fest: http://www.nofunfest.com