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Before Dark Arts, she played in The Girl Boys, a Janus-faced band that was either light, silly and acoustic but could also deliver a hard, dark, electric live set. Due to the lack of venues and accompanying new music, she became a promotor, brought several bands into town and founded her own club night under the guise of 'School For Barbarians'.Īsides from art school, promoting concerts, DJ'ing and record hunting Payne kept making music. Whenever Payne discovered new music, she'd be dying to present it. Dancing was so important back then, we called it 'going to church'.' I'd also practice dancing at home, had to make sure I knew where all the breaks were, so I could look cool on the dancefloor. I would get into trouble because of this slamdancing. 'I played hard bands, because I liked pissing people off and then we could use our fists on the dancefloor. Since what she liked was often not accessible, Payne took up DJ'ing at Crazy Mama's. There, Payne would beleaguer the city shop clerks, asking for their personal recommendations. Columbus youngsters would drive to Chicago or other cities to see the big bands and hunt for new music. Payne would scour music magazines and buy the weekly imports at the local record shops. Everyone would go there for dancing and live concerts. High Street lay next the Ohio State University campus, the home of the only real music club in the city, maybe even the state: Crazy Mama's. This also meant getting into altercations and even get spit on by jocks. She and her friends would hang out there, check out the record stores, do graffiti at night (Payne on high heels). To ‘go out’ at the time was simply walk this street up and down. The place to be back then was the (now unaffordable) High Street area.

Driven by her love for music, she would eventually become a forerunner in the local scene of Columbus. Payne decided to move on and continued the band by herself, ever finding new musicians.Īfter the fall of '80, when she was at art school, Payne became more outspoken, headstrong and flamboyant.

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By the time they made their first full album, on Phil Druckers (Savage Republic and 17 Pygmies) label Nate Starkman and Son, they had split up. When she decided to move to Los Angeles, California, Sue-Ann and new member Larry Altvater decided to tag along. Young and eager, she would turn out to be the motor and musical mastermind of the group. Keyboard player Stephanie Payne, just like Katt, was also present at every musical happening. Katt is the one who brought everyone together and came up with the name: they were the 'art' band and they were 'dark'. Initially there were five members: in '83 there was Bob on bass and percussion, singer Sue Ann Mason, drummer Dave Green, Bill Bruner on guitar and Stephanie Payne on keyboard. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by a man named Bob Katt, the 'cool, older guy' who went to all the concerts in town and had been in a bunch of other bands. It's past and future.'ĭark Arts is one of those bands that for some reason got lost in the shuffle. It's a collection of the past but moving forward.

'This is an anthology, a selection of old and new.