Below are some archived entries, from 2000, taken from a Jank 1000 Journal that the band (or mainly Danny, and occassionally friend Sam) used to post online. While there are only a few entries, they offer an insight into some of the shows from the band's perspective and are well worth checking out! Entries are in chronological order:
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 14:26:56 -0800 (PST)
From: Danny Isgro
Subject: Jank 1000 journal...finally!
Dear friends,
I do apologize for our lack of current journals. Unfortunately we can't just play in a band...and we have to mess around with jobs, bills, and school too. But hey...what am I doing making excuses? Right.. shut up and get to working on band stuff otherwise my whole life will be nothing but my dumb job. (Can you tell I'm at work right now and not happy about it? Bitter)
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Date: Sat, 4/1/2000 12:55PM
From: Danny Isgro
Subject: The Jank 1000 diary of secrets...
Dear Jank 1000 Diary,
This last couple of weeks has been crazy! I wish I could quit my job so I could just focus on band stuff all day! Darn bills.
So where should I start? Let's see....an overview of "the big project". Recording for the new c.d. "My Love Notes and Her Death Threats" starts tomorrow! I'm very excited! 15 songs! They're all about girls. Why is that? I suppose it's better than writing songs about guys. Gosh...we start at 10 am on Sunday morning! It's a good thing that me and Jake are staying at Matty's tonight...otherwise we might get in as much trouble as we did last night! We got to see the Urge/Clever show and then party at Joel's (from Mandown) house with a bunch of really cool people (and pretty girls too!) but that's a whole other story to be seen on "Behind the Music".
I can't wait to hit the road this summer! Planning a tour is a lot of work! I wonder if anybody will like us in California? I hope so...I really want to try to catch the Warped Tour somewhere too! Last year I saw Blink, and this year Green Day is on it! I've never seen Green Day play before...and I think that after I do I'll be able to fine tune the Jank stuff to be a perfect rip-off!
Dave and Todd said they want a video for Secondary Emission. I really like that show! What to do...what to do? It would be really neat to see us on TV.! Once we have some recording done...we'll get right on it.
You know what...89.7 The River is really just the coolest radio station around! I really like all of the people that work there...and they've really helped us out! All these rad kids keep calling and requesting us too! I wish I could personally thank each and every one of them! I never dreamed my band would get played on the radio!
I can't wait to see Catch 22 at the Cog Factory...we actually get to play with them too! We haven't played the Cog in so long! I really like that place! The Grasshopper Takeover show is gonna be really fun too!
When I think about it...we really have been through a lot lately. We rode in an ambulance, one of us became single, and Matty planted a tree in his front yard. One day we were at Blimpie's eating sandwiches, and this girl walked in the door. She was very beautiful! All of the sudden there was no noise in the place, except for the singing of angels. Then Matty made eye contact with her and said, "Hey." She looked right back and said, "Hey Matty." Then she got a soda, and left, me and Jake were at a loss for words. I looked at Matty and said, "What just happened there?!" To which Matty replied, "She was in one of the classes I subbed for."
Well diary...I gotta go...but to sum this entry up I just want to say that the last month has been full of ideas and surprises! Now we're actually starting to make those ideas real! I'm stoked to see what happens in the upcoming months! I love being a part of this band, and I love that we're from Omaha, Nebraska...a place FULL of great people!
Until next time,
Danny
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From: Fire MonkeyStick
Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2000 12:32 AM
Subject: Jank 1000 journal
JANK 1000 5/6 - 5/8 8th Wave Show & the Denver Road Trip
Saturday
Saturday night we all met up at Matty's around 6:30ish to load up the van and head into Lincoln to play a show with 8th Wave at knickerboxers, 8th wave is a really cool ska band from Lincoln. We hit the road around 7, getting into Lincoln at around 8:30 or 9ish, the Faint played right before we got there so there were still a bunch of black clothed people hanging around. The Janksters then set up for the show and ran through a sound check.
At about 10:30 with about 5 minutes til show time the place was almost empty except for a handful of people, however after maybe a song or 2 into the set the place filled itself up with kids. They played for about an hour or so. The show went well, most everyone there had fun.
After Jank, 8th Wave took the stage for about an hour or so, they also played great, they were a really cool band.
After 8th Wave we packed everything up and headed back into Omaha and split up, Matty stayed at his house, Jake went home, and Danny and I went to his place, we got there at about 2:30 or 3, we went to bed right away.
Sunday
We woke up on Sunday morning at about 6:30 or so to head back over to Matty's so we could hit the road early. Me and Danny managed to make it there by a little after 7, however, Jake, still asleep at the time was late making it there at almost 8.
We left as soon as we found Jake. We drove for a couple hours, making a couple stops along the way. Our third stop however was the coolest. It was mid-afternoon when we found ourselves out in hicksville at a small gift shop & diner, while in the gift shop Danny bought a sticker that read "SHOW ME YOUR HOOTERS". We left the shop to find some kind of 3 wheeled bike, the bike was the coolest thing we had seen all day. We all decided we wanted pictures of us on the bike, so Danny and Matty went back into the diner to find the owner. Within about a minute a very large man, typical biker, big with a beard came out. He was really cool and let us take pictures of the Janksters on the bike, as well as a picture with him. After that we left the diner. (On a later note, although Jake and I missed it, Matty and Danny happened upon Cletus, a true hick with the kind wearing overalls with a hole in the butt where his whitey titeys showed through, and of course the true hick teeth, you know the ones that are so bad you could chew corn through a fence with.
Anyways we hit the road again, after about 10 minutes we stopped laughing about the hick and the bike and started to get bored, so we made use of Danny's "show me your hooters sign" by taking a piece of card board, some duct tape and a pencil and made it into a sign we could easily hold up to passing by vehicles, however the idea may have been good, nothing good came of it. Although it was one of the most entertaining things of the trip, we entertained ourselves mostly with the constant Jerk 1000 jokes, and intros to bloodhound gang songs, as well as our sign.
We drove into Denver at about 5:30 or so, we managed to safely get to our hotel where we met up with Boda & Kristin. We got checked in and everything and then Danny made a few phone calls. After his calls we sat around and made some plans for the evening before the show. Danny managed to find out that the damn Lions Lair was a 21 and over bar, meaning I had to sit my ass outside for the show. However I wasn't alone as the only one under 21, Danny had made another phone call to his friend Rheannon, a SUPER-hot 18yr old and her friend, Christina (also hot). We all made plans to go to the Hard rock cafe and eat before the show and hang out. So we headed there, traffic was really bad due to El Cinco de Mayo, almost every off ramp was blocked by police, it was terrible.
We got to the Hard Rock Cafe and went up stairs and ate, it was cool to see some of the stuff, the only thing i really remember looking at was Marilyn Mansons shoes & shirt and the sexy Gwen Stefani's pants. I don't really remember what everyone ate; I had a cheeseburger, and apparently so did Matty. After we ate we took a little walk around the area. This is where things started to go wrong.
After the walk we headed back to the van, Matty being lactose intolerant started to feel sick. So we started to head back to the hotel, Matty quickly developed a bad case of diarrhea (chocolate thunder), Jake, Danny & I however didn't realize how bad things really were, we kept making jokes and having a good time, Matty just groaned a little and tried not to laugh. We were really close to the hotel when everything went complete to hell. Matty's case of diarrhea soon turned into an agonizing and tearful tragedy as we came up the onramp only to find traffic at a standstill. Matty then told us that he had to get out of the van and that he could take it no longer. We managed to keep him in the car and we kept the van moving. As we slowly advanced down the highway we came upon a car driven by an old man, probably in his 60's. We thought it was funny that he wasn't wearing a shirt, the closer we came the funny it got, he wasn't missing just his shirt, he was bare ass naked, either that or he had skin colored shorts on with a dark stain on the crotch. Danny, Jake and I burst into laughter, Matty however was unable to laugh, was slouched in his seat with the seatbelt wrapped around his wrist and hand in a deathgrip, his eyes squinted shut and his teeth clenched, it was almost scary to see him like that. We kept down the road until the first off ramp, where we got off the highway and hurried back to the hotel using back roads. As soon as we were there we let Matty to dash for the room, the rest of us headed back to Boda and Kristin's room for a few minutes to talk. About 10 minutes later Matty joined us, much relieved.
We left from Bodas to go to the Lions Lair, we made it their around 10:30 to find the band CLEVER packing up their van, apparently the bar hadn't planned on paying anybody anything. We hung out front of the bar for about 20 minutes and talked and decided it better to just throw a party, so we headed back to the rooms.
Once back at the rooms Danny and Matty entertained the rest of us by playing a short acoustic set. It was a blast, we had a lot of fun, after a while they stopped the small show Danny went up to bed, and all who was left started into a game of Star Wars Episode 1 monopoly, provided by Boda and Kristin. We played for maybe 20 minutes and Matty quit because he was tired, and then shortly after, I (who was kicking everyones ass) also quit to shower and to go to bed.
Monday
Matty was the first person up on Monday, Ill add that he was the only one to wake up to the alarm, the rest of us stayed in bed for about an hour longer. I was the next to get up, I woke up to the sound of running water (somebody peeing) why that woke me up i don't know. Anyways we loaded some stuff up into the van and woke up the others, within about 15 minutes we were ready to get some bagels and take off.
We hit the road around 9am; I just went to sleep almost right away. I woke up about an hour or 2 down the road to Matty and Danny having a conversation about something stinky, turns out it was Jake's feet, although he won't admit too it.
Nothing really exciting happened on the way back home, we stopped at a McDonalds and took some pictures with Ronald, but that was about it. We managed to entertain ourselves by making jokes about the "show me your hooters" sign for a while until none of us could laugh anymore due to pain in our stomachs.
We made it back into Omaha at around 6ish, unloaded the van and headed our own ways. Although the show wasn't played i don't think that anybody really feels bad about making the trip, it was pretty cool the whole way. A lot of fun, hopefully a preview of this summers tour.
Sam B.
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From: Danny Isgro
Sent: Thursday, June 08, 2000 4:24 PM
Subject: the journal of jank-one-thousand
Today's topic = Rockfest VS. Sweetstock
Instantly you think...what the heck are you talking about? Here are the stories...
SWEETSTOCK came first. Jank 1000, Rusty the webmaster, and Sam the cool guy/roadie all met over at Matty's house at 8. A quick stop at Burger King for breakfast and we were on our way. Cruising down the interstate until BAAM! Stopped traffic for miles! Woah! Finally we get to westfair! We have to drive in a different way to park. There was a LONG line at the gate. Yes, mostly girls. I think it was like 2 or 3 of them that knew Matty and they yelled at us to say hi. All the other girls must have thought, "Why is someone screaming? Who cares...must be someone important! (or something like that) Scream!" SO all these girls were yelling and stuff. It was too funny! If they only knew it was just us.
So we get in and find out what's going on. Second stage was good size! The lineup was Poppleton, Jank 1000, Clever, Five Story Fall, Grasshopper Takeover, and then Pomeroy. Bands got 45 minute sets and 1/2 hour to set up. That was SO nice! It was really fun bumming around with all the other bands, and everyone else who came! It was a beautiful day out too!
After we played, we got to go backstage and check out the behind the scenes action! I was on the hunt for Christina. I had to get there first because I knew Pomeroy was looking too! Ha. We got to meet most of the bands and got our picture with Greg Brady! Smashmouth put on a cool show and Sugarhill Gang was rad! Ton Loc was too funny as well! We didn't stay for Christina. It was late and she wouldnt sign any autographs or take pictures. Everyone else was all cool with it...but not her. Maybe she watched "The Bodyguard" too many times or something.
At the end of the day...we were happy with how it went! It was fun! The place was packed, we got to play on a big stage, meet all the teen stars, and I met a lot of other cool kids as well!
ROCKFEST. We all meet at Matty's again, but this time Jake is late. He slept in and then beat us to Burger King with his little brother. I almost missed breakfast. I love BK breakfast. But...we made it and I ate 2 value meals. (I'm the chubby one in the group) That came to haunt me later...but that's a sloppy story that Dave Wilson already shared.
As most of you know...tons of bands. 3 stages. Bands only got 20 minute sets. It seemed like so much was going on at the same time that I couldn't keep track of it! I got to see Mandown and ya...I loved the last song too! A little while after that me and Matty went to check out Papa Roach. (Jake was off flirting with girls or something?) We stood on the side of their stage and were talking to some dudes standing next to us. 4 of us total. Then the lead singer said, "This next song goes out to my friends in Incubus!" and he pointed over at us! uuummmm....what? Those 2 guys we'd been talking to were in the band I guess. Anyway, Papa Roach was my favorite of the day! They were so sick! We met the lead singer and told him what time we played. He said, "I'll come check you guys out" and I walked away thinking...yeah...right...but that's cool.
We played on the 3rd stage after Uggly. I was impressed with Uggly! Those guys were cool. Now I actually know who Dave Wilson is! Funny! We played a little earlier than we thought...so people kept showing up during the set. I was surprised by how many people came to check us out! It was fun playing and that little stage fit us nicely! I looked down in the crowd and the lead singer of Papa Roach actually DID come check us out! That was really cool! I felt good about the way we played...just wish it could have been longer!
After that we hung out for the other bands. Clever packed the house! Pomeroy funked it up! Druing STP our "show me you hooters" sign actually worked too! That was awesome! My friends Meg and Nicole (really cool girls!) battled their way through the crowd and surfed it! STP was kind of like Christina....too cool for autographs and pictures. 311 was dope as well! I'd never seen them before but I have 2 of their CDs. I was impressed. Ya...it was cold out, we only played for 20 minutes, and everything was expensive....but I still had a total blast! I saw some cool bands that don't come here very often, watched a ton of people get smashed in the crowd, and I would do it all over again in a second!
COMPARE. Both shows are put on by Brian Productions. Both shows are at Westfair. Both shows are sponsored by corporate radio. Both shows were really fun! Local wise...the second stage at sweetstock was better because of longer sets and a little more organization. Rockfest had the better main acts and the crowd was so aggressive that I was thrilled just to watch them beat each other up! Both of the shows had something different to offer and I was glad I got to see it! Thanks to Matt and Eric Markel / Brian productions for putting it together and letting us play! The way I see it...you can't go wrong with either of these shows. I hope that everyone had as much fun as I did!.
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From: Danny Isgro
Sent: Sun 9/10/2000 8:15 PM
Subject: jankonethousand journal
Yup...it sure has been a while since we've sent in a journal entry. Here's what we've been up to...
We released a new CD called "My Love Notes and Her Death Threats". We played at the first "Music on the Mo" and that was cool! uuuummmm....we've played at the Ranch Bowl with Clever, Mandown, Pomeroy, 8th Wave and tons of other great bands on different occasions. It's been kind of the 'same old news' for Jank lately. J.1.K.'s been practicing a lot and writing new songs though too. A couple of recent shows that we've played really stuck out to me...so if you missed them... here's what it was like from our perspective.
The first show that sticks in my mind was at Marian High School. When we arrived...the other bands on the bill, Mr. Plow and Clever, we're already unloading gear and such. They had a good stage set up, a great sound guy, and everything was really organized. We all sat down and ate dinner together looking forward to an awesome night. Mr. Plow started to play and people started to show up. During their set....people just kept coming and coming! After a powerful performance by Mr. Plow it was our turn. People we're STILL pouring into the little parking lot. We had a great time playing and felt that we had a really good crowd response. Then Clever played and at that time there had to be at least 500 people there. It was a good mix of guys and girls. Clever played incredible and the crowd was pleased! I never expected that show to be so much fun! Thanks to those cool girls at Marian for having us all out!
The next show that I won't forget was last Friday...the 8th. It was the 8th Wave c.d. release....with opening bands Jank1000 and the Fonzarellies! Most of you guys know that we've battled back and forth for some time now with the Fonzies and the 'punk scene' around here. 8th Wave wanted us both on the show...so we both agreed to play. Thursday evening Jank practiced in my little basement and we weren't sure what to expect of the night to come. We'll play, have fun, and hang out....how hard can that be? Here goes nothing. We drive down to Lincoln and when we get there the early show is finishing up. Kids we're almost running outside to cool down after what I'm sure was a killer set by 8th Wave. After that was all done we set up to play, sound checked, and waited till show time. People started showing up. Scattered band members here and there sharing 'small talk'. We started playing about 10. The crowd kept coming in the door throughout our show. I looked out in the crowd of familiar faces and noticed some of the Fonzie's nodding heads and such. Cool. I felt that we had a pretty good crowd response. We got our stuff off the stage and loaded our equipment....then I headed in to see the Fonzies. They had more energy than ever and they played with like 4 different drummers. They didn't just 'play songs' but instead put on a real show. 8th Wave had a killer entrance that you shouldn't have missed! A penguin, a rap song, balloons, and who knows what else was going on! Everybody was amazed at how much fun the 8th Wave set was and we didn't want them to stop! At the end of the night we all went to a friends house to hang out. Me and Jake drank too much beer, and Matty drank too much Pepsi. We shook hands (or high fived) the other bands and headed home with smiles.
The show was better than I had expected. The crowd was big, the music was loud, and I don't think anybody left disappointed. Thanks to 8th Wave, The Fonzarellies, and everyone who came out for a good night. I hope to see that lineup again sometime in the future.....I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for reading....we're going to play a show at Truman State in Missouri with Ill Dojo and Mandown this Saturday the 16th. It should be a crazy fun road trip and we'll tell ya all about it when we get back! Other than that we play at the Ranch Bowl on the 27th with Poppleton, Lyptus, and one other band...hope to see you there!