30 Amp Fuse jolted back on the circuit

Photo by Ethan Luck

30 Amp Fuse, from left, is John Davis, Joey Sanchez and Mike Smithers.

Photo by Ethan Luck

30 Amp Fuse, from left, is John Davis, Joey Sanchez and Mike Smithers.

KNOXVILLE — Knoxville-born band 30 Amp Fuse seemed to be on the edge of taking off in the 1990s, but then the Fuse blew.

"I was kind of hard on people," says Mike Smithers. "I made it suck, because I didn't have fun at it. If I was having fun I probably wouldn't have pushed people so hard."

After three albums, "Wind Up" (1995), "Saturday Night at the Atomic Speedway" (1997) and "Rewind" (1998), the band (whose only constant member is Smithers) went on a long hiatus, resurfacing briefly for a live show in 2004.

"All that time in music, I got behind the curve a little and had to financially get myself together," says Smithers.

Smithers, a longtime U.S. Navy Reservist, also spent much of that time on active duty in the Navy.

30 Amp Fuse first came to life in the early 1990s when the Knoxville music scene was filled with a pool of ambitious young musicians.

Smithers, a graduate of Farragut High School and the University of Tennessee, first enlisted Don Coffey Jr., who had played with local group the Barnyard Martyrs. Coffey knew that his friend John Davis, who was playing drums with The Used (not to be confused with the nationally known emo band of the same name), was looking to play something with strings.

The trio formed the band Punchwagon with Davis on bass, Coffey on drums and Smithers on lead guitar and vocals.

Coffey took the job planning to play gigs with both acts, but Smithers insisted Punchwagon had to come first. Coffey disagreed and the two, who had become best friends, didn't speak for two months. During that time Smithers went on two weeks active duty with the U.S. Navy. When he returned Coffey and Davis had formed the basis of what would become Superdrag, with The Used's vocalist, Tom Pappas, joining the band on bass.

"I should get credit for starting Superdrag," says Smithers, with a chuckle. "If Don and I hadn't gotten into that argument Superdrag might not have ever happened!"

In the end, there were no hard feelings. In fact, it was Coffey and Davis who brought Smithers' music to the attention of Darla Records (the independent label that Superdrag recorded for before signing with Elektra Records) and who filled out the trio on the 30 Amp Fuse debut, "Wind Up."

"That one actually got good reviews," says Smithers.

The second disc didn't receive quite the same universally positive critical response.

"We used to keep the really bad ones. There were a couple where you would've thought we'd killed (the reviewer's) parents or something! My favorite one was from some guy in Philadelphia who just said 'Stop it. Now!' " Smithers laughs.

The band's line-up seemed to be in constant flux. "Atomic Speedway" featured Mike Knott on bass and Rodney Cash on drums, but Smithers' still worked with Davis and Coffey when working up new material.

Despite the band's ever-increasing profile, 30 Amp Fuse never made quite enough money to support itself.

" 'Starving artist' is a true statement," he says. "I remember we played South by Southwest and it was great. There was maybe 500 people there. The next night we played, Don was the only person in the audience. If he'd gone to the bathroom nobody would've been there."

Smithers says he spent years without playing or writing music and only really got the bug again when he was stationed in Germany in 2006 and began playing with a cover band. He has since moved to Virginia where he works for the military as a civilian contractor for the Navy.

He says Davis' encouragement is one of the primary reasons that 30 Amp Fuse has come back to life. Davis (who now lives in Nashville) and drummer Joey Sanchez (who plays with Davis in various projects) will join Smithers for the Knoxville show.

"I'm just thrilled to get the ball rolling again. I've missed it a lot."

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