Biography
Though histories of Pacific Northwest musicians are unlikely to mention Theo Hakola, the Spokane, WA native once fronted the Paris-based group Passion Fodder. He assembled that band in 1984 alongside Lionel Dollet on guitar, Pascal Humbert on drums, Benedicte Villain on violin, and, shortly afterward, Jean-Yves Tola also on drums. Beggars Banquet issued the group’s recordings in the U.K., while Island Records handled U.S. distribution of their first album, Fat Tuesday, which appeared in 1988. The music fused the Velvet Underground’s droning guitars and screeching violins with punk’s visceral drive and the boozy gloom of vintage country, resulting in a sound that resisted easy classification. A handful of enterprising American college stations offered modest airplay, yet Hakola’s singular vocal style—often delivered in the cadence of an irate preacher—kept the audience limited to a loyal niche; still, the clip for the Nick Cave-ish “Heart Hunters” received rotation on MTV’s 120 Minutes. The New Musical Express labeled Hakola “Baudelaire with an electric guitar” in 1987. The following year the Woke Up This Morning… album yielded the track “I’d Sell My Soul to God,” which registered a minor college-radio success. Hakola relocated to Los Angeles, CA, in 1989, at which point Passion Fodder disbanded and he launched his solo work.