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Free Pizza for Life, or The Early Days of Plan-It-X Records
From the back "This is the story of a kid named Chris and his best friend Samantha. It's about their adventures in pizza. It's about them discovering the DIY punk community and starting a record label. It's about a lot of other stuff too."
- GenresMusicNonfictionPunk
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2012
6 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 14, 2023
Going to Plan-It-X Fest one year was one of the highlights of my youth, and I have so many memories of listening to the bands on the label, so it was very cool to read about the labels early formation. Chris and Samantha lived a pretty crazy lifestyle, taking punk to the extreme. I feel like there wasn't too much about the record label itself in this book, besides from it being started and the first few releases, it was more of Clavin's behind the scenes stories of him and his friends hanging out. From stealing and scamming for pizza to working in a pizza shop and making his own pizza. I worked in a pizza shop and had so many experiences similar to those described at Rockits, brought back a lot of memories good and bad. There were plenty of tour stories in here as well, which were cool; I Especially loved the refrences and stories about some of my favorite bands like This Bike is a Pipe Bomb and Heathers.
October 29, 2017
If you’ve ever thought your life was interesting enough to write a book about it, or if you’ve got a bunch of friends constantly telling you that you have such great stories to tell and you should write a book about them, do yourself a favor and read Chris Clavin’s “Free Pizza for Life, or The Early Days of Plan-It-X Records” before you do.
That’s not why I came to the book, which was loaned to be my cousin, Sid. “Free Pizza for Life” came with no specific recommendation other than that it was written by someone who orbited the same punk music scene in Bloomington, Indiana that we did. Though Chris Johnston (aka Chris Clavin) and I weren’t friends, we knew each other (or knew of each other), and the book is filled with enough familiar bands, people and places from my college town and surrounding areas (Louisville, Vincennes) to make it, initially anyway, a fun read.
While the subject matter is completely different, I am reminded of Denis Johnson’s excellent collection of interconnected tales “Jesus’ Son,” which could have served as a guidepost here. Unfortunately, I suspect Chris Clavin isn’t much of a reader, and it’s hard to be a good writer without being a good reader. Spellcheck, a proofreader and some grammar assistance would have helped, but it wouldn’t have saved Clavin’s rambling, unfocused narrative. What the book needed was a good editor (though one is listed in the credits), but where would the poor bastard have begun?
Back in the day, “Free Pizza for Life” would have been a zine that could dole out these sometimes connected, sometimes not-so-connected stories over subsequent issues. These days it would have been much better served up as a blog, giving readers another slice of pie (no pun intended) over time. Even repositioned (and so reworked) as a collection of short stories a la David Sedaris would have been a huge improvement. If you’re going to turn the events of your life into a book, if you want to make some portion of your history into a coherent whole, you have to have a plan and work to that plan, and you have to know what point you’re ultimately trying to make. Rereading the back cover of the book, maybe Clavin accomplished exactly what he was after: “This is the story of a kid named Chris and his best friend Samantha. It’s about their adventures in pizza. It’s about them discovering the DIY punk community and starting a record label. It’s about a lot of other stuff too.” Maybe so. He just could have done a better job doing it.
Unless you lived in Bloomington in the 90s, know or knew Chris, or are or were a fan of any of his bands or his record label, I can’t really recommend this book. Even if you do satisfy any of those criteria, I still wouldn’t recommend it. But that’s not to say I found “Free Pizza for Life” a complete waste of time. For personal and professional reasons that aren’t really worth getting into here, there was one crucial line that made reading the book worthwhile. It came at the end of a chapter about Clavin’s decision to open a record store with some friends. They had come into some money, needed jobs, didn’t want to work for anyone else, loved music, and so decided that having their own shop would be great. For all kinds of reasons they hated it, and they closed after just three months. He concluded, “I learned a valuable lesson that helped me form a theory that I always share with my friends when they tell me that they want to start a record store or a restaurant or whatever. I say, No, you don’t want to start a vegan diner, you want to go to a vegan diner, don’t get those ideas mixed up.” Unfortunately, Clavin’s theory found me five years too late.
That’s not why I came to the book, which was loaned to be my cousin, Sid. “Free Pizza for Life” came with no specific recommendation other than that it was written by someone who orbited the same punk music scene in Bloomington, Indiana that we did. Though Chris Johnston (aka Chris Clavin) and I weren’t friends, we knew each other (or knew of each other), and the book is filled with enough familiar bands, people and places from my college town and surrounding areas (Louisville, Vincennes) to make it, initially anyway, a fun read.
While the subject matter is completely different, I am reminded of Denis Johnson’s excellent collection of interconnected tales “Jesus’ Son,” which could have served as a guidepost here. Unfortunately, I suspect Chris Clavin isn’t much of a reader, and it’s hard to be a good writer without being a good reader. Spellcheck, a proofreader and some grammar assistance would have helped, but it wouldn’t have saved Clavin’s rambling, unfocused narrative. What the book needed was a good editor (though one is listed in the credits), but where would the poor bastard have begun?
Back in the day, “Free Pizza for Life” would have been a zine that could dole out these sometimes connected, sometimes not-so-connected stories over subsequent issues. These days it would have been much better served up as a blog, giving readers another slice of pie (no pun intended) over time. Even repositioned (and so reworked) as a collection of short stories a la David Sedaris would have been a huge improvement. If you’re going to turn the events of your life into a book, if you want to make some portion of your history into a coherent whole, you have to have a plan and work to that plan, and you have to know what point you’re ultimately trying to make. Rereading the back cover of the book, maybe Clavin accomplished exactly what he was after: “This is the story of a kid named Chris and his best friend Samantha. It’s about their adventures in pizza. It’s about them discovering the DIY punk community and starting a record label. It’s about a lot of other stuff too.” Maybe so. He just could have done a better job doing it.
Unless you lived in Bloomington in the 90s, know or knew Chris, or are or were a fan of any of his bands or his record label, I can’t really recommend this book. Even if you do satisfy any of those criteria, I still wouldn’t recommend it. But that’s not to say I found “Free Pizza for Life” a complete waste of time. For personal and professional reasons that aren’t really worth getting into here, there was one crucial line that made reading the book worthwhile. It came at the end of a chapter about Clavin’s decision to open a record store with some friends. They had come into some money, needed jobs, didn’t want to work for anyone else, loved music, and so decided that having their own shop would be great. For all kinds of reasons they hated it, and they closed after just three months. He concluded, “I learned a valuable lesson that helped me form a theory that I always share with my friends when they tell me that they want to start a record store or a restaurant or whatever. I say, No, you don’t want to start a vegan diner, you want to go to a vegan diner, don’t get those ideas mixed up.” Unfortunately, Clavin’s theory found me five years too late.
April 2, 2016
Fantastic memoir-ish book about Chris Clavin’s mostly disastrous times playing in punk bands from his home base in Bloomington, Indiana, scamming free pizzas and sticking by his troubled best friend Sam (later Samantha). There are a few stints in jail, many run-ins with the police, lots of laughs and a deep goodness in everyone despite serious anti-social behavior. It’s impossible not to get choked up at the end. Chris reads the entire book in a series of podcasts that are simply great and include a couple of bonus chapters not in the book that are excellent, too. I got the e-book PDF version, too, to support Chris (directly from plan-it-x.org) and was pleasantly surprised that it was filled with photos and show fliers. There's also a paperback version available through his website, many punk distros, and Amazon. Grade: A
March 11, 2021
Plan it X was part of my ideological development, reading about its origins and somewhat mundane life was helpful. I felt that Chris was a better person, the governor of punk rock, super cool, aspirational.
This was when we were younger. Later he became human, fallible, regular. This book reinforces that - as with all of us - he was always human and fallible and regular.
But this book was less about him and more about Sam. I did not know how things turned out, so this was an education and bittersweet. Sam seems like she could've been Daniel Johnston or Brian Wilson or some other tortured artistic genius. Probably just needed a bit more time or safety or something.
Now some personal stories. I think it was the year 2000, I was in NW Indiana and a friend of mine helped set up a show bringing The Sissies, and The Devil is Electric to some armory or something. This might have been my first real exposure to DIY ethics in action, community punk rock, fun. That show changed my life. I crushed hard on Hannah from the Sissies. I tried Seitan for the first time. My life choices became reinforced and I went off on some other tangent of life.
In Olympia these punk rock ethics were all around and it was great. hard to find a way to fit in though. I listened to the Sissies non-stop and got into other music and eventually started ordering Plan-It-X cd's. I got into Ghost Mice real hard. I didnt even know that it was Hannah from the Sissies until a decade later.
I only met Chris a couple of times. He seemed nice enough but always a bit heavier (emotionally) than I would imagine. We I heard about Ace of Cups I seriously considered getting there and helping to make it work. But I heard about it a little late and it was probably already on the slide before I could have made it.
Anyway, my youth was great, and this music was a large part of it.
This was when we were younger. Later he became human, fallible, regular. This book reinforces that - as with all of us - he was always human and fallible and regular.
But this book was less about him and more about Sam. I did not know how things turned out, so this was an education and bittersweet. Sam seems like she could've been Daniel Johnston or Brian Wilson or some other tortured artistic genius. Probably just needed a bit more time or safety or something.
Now some personal stories. I think it was the year 2000, I was in NW Indiana and a friend of mine helped set up a show bringing The Sissies, and The Devil is Electric to some armory or something. This might have been my first real exposure to DIY ethics in action, community punk rock, fun. That show changed my life. I crushed hard on Hannah from the Sissies. I tried Seitan for the first time. My life choices became reinforced and I went off on some other tangent of life.
In Olympia these punk rock ethics were all around and it was great. hard to find a way to fit in though. I listened to the Sissies non-stop and got into other music and eventually started ordering Plan-It-X cd's. I got into Ghost Mice real hard. I didnt even know that it was Hannah from the Sissies until a decade later.
I only met Chris a couple of times. He seemed nice enough but always a bit heavier (emotionally) than I would imagine. We I heard about Ace of Cups I seriously considered getting there and helping to make it work. But I heard about it a little late and it was probably already on the slide before I could have made it.
Anyway, my youth was great, and this music was a large part of it.
March 29, 2020
Obligatory: fuck Chris Clavin.
March 15, 2016
There's a part in this book where Chris writes about telling his friends that "you don't want to start a vegan diner, you want to go to a vegan diner, don't get those ideas mixed up." I wish someone had told him this and suggested writing a zine or a bunch of blog posts instead. As a fan of PIX and their ethos, I thought this would be a fun read. I've heard enough Ghost Mice songs to figure it wouldn't be particularly well written, but I was still interested. Unfortunately it turned out to be so monotonous that I almost gave up on it more than once. (Who knew that a book about scams, pizza, and touring could be so boring?) If you're already familiar with Plan-It-X and find this in a used bookstore for $3, I'd say give it a shot. Otherwise, at over 300 pages, it's not worth it.
September 25, 2015
An amazing book by Chris Clavin, his best friend Sam, and the record label they started. For me, this book had everything, punk rock, random exhilirating madness, and the intimately familiar location of my hometown of the last 15 years. The only thing that kept me from giving it five stars was that it was riddled with grammatical errors. In a way, it makes the whole thing more punk. In yet another way, it makes it difficult to read without constantly being pulled out of the story. That being said, there were some really beautiful sentences and sentiments and overall it was well written. After reading the book, I realize that I'm a Samist at heart but without the conviction to act. Kind of like the same way I'm a Buddhist.
May 7, 2017
An honest and raw memoir from Chris Clavin, "the governor of punk rock." Stories of pizza scamming and shows abound in this tale of 90's DIY greatness.
November 26, 2013
I spent a year in Vincennes Indiana, where the story began, as a broke AmeriCorps Vista. Lonely and far from home, this book inspired me to meet every weirdo nearby and to listen to every Plan-It-X album I could get my hands on. My year wrapped up perfectly with a Ghost Mice show in Bloomington.
December 14, 2012
A must read for fans of Ghost Mice, Plan-it-X Records and DIY music.
May 15, 2013
I enjoyed it! Though I believe knowing stories from Captain Chaos + Ghost Mice + more makes this book a lot better. You'll learn new things about stories that you only know partially!
August 7, 2013
really loved this book. Inspiring in ways I never expected to be inspired. Entertaining and powerful.
November 5, 2013
One of my new favorites. I laughed. I cried. Don't know what higher praise to give than pure outbursts of emotion while reading.
April 1, 2014
Made me cry
March 6, 2015
A funny, touching, and inspiring book with a very important message: care for the people that you care about.
February 17, 2016
Easily the most punk-rock book I've ever read. Essential reading for any and all punx whether you're a Chris Clavin/Ghost Mice/Plan-It-X fan or not.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews