Conjure up an image of off-duty firefighters and you may have a mental picture of men and women pumping iron at the local gym or practicing CPR on privately owned Resuci-Annie dolls. While plenty of professional firefighters spend plenty of time exercising, and some may refresh their life-saving skills in their leisure hours, most pursue an even more diverse range of extra-curricular activities. Enter Shawn Linville.
Linville, 27, has been a firefighter/EMT with the Bellingham Fire Department since September 1998, when he was hired after completing international certification at Washington’s fire academy in North Bend and resident volunteer experience with the Kitsap County District 7 for two years. But it isn’t his youth that makes Linville unique; plenty of new recruits are in their early twenties, and most have spent years volunteering and training. Many, like Linville, test with numerous departments before they are hired. And many relocate to Bellingham from other areas in pursuit of firefighting careers. Few, however, balance the responsibility of saving lives with the freedom and violent energy that defines punk rock.
Shawn Linville is the exception. For the past year, he has been rocking garages, parties, and bars around the Pacific Northwest with his punk band, The Mullets, a group that came together when Linville answered an ad in a local paper. “I’d never been in a band,” Linville says, “but I always wanted to be in one.” Not only did he have no experience playing with a group of musicians, Linville admits that he only started drumming five years ago, teaching himself, mainly, and “taking a half dozen lessons to learn technique.” Evidently that was enough—guitarist Tyler Botts and bassist/background vocalist Ryan Martin included Linville in their new group, along with vocalist Damon Church, and the Mullets became a reality. “We had another name picked out, Linville says, but another group already took it; then somebody said ‘Mullets’ and we all laughed…I think we all had mullets at one time or another. It’s something everyone can relate to.”
The Mullets’ music is hard to compare to other groups, Linville says, but “people who listen to top forty won’t like it.” He laughs and adds—“ It ain’t no Loverboy,” referring to the mullet-sporting 80’s rockers of “The Kid is Hot Tonight” fame. “It’s somewhere in the realm of punk with hints of metal and pop,” Linville adds. “People have to have an ear for this kind of music…fans of Guttermouth will like it.”
More and more listeners will gain an opportunity to hear the band as makes its way around the state; recent performances have included gigs at the Ocean Beach Hotel in White Rock, B.C., Jimmy Z’s in Everett, the Hurricane Café in Seattle, and 2 Louie’s in Blaine. “We’ve been offered a lot of shows,” Linville says, “we have to turn down a lot because of schedule conflicts. We have a tentative two-week West Coast tour planned for later this year.” Music fans who can’t catch the band live can hear their music on www.mp3.com, or listen to clips on the band’s website at www.themullets.cjb.net--where they can also order one of the band’s CDs. The Mullets are also featured on the compilation CD Seattle’s Best Punk , which is “basically up and coming Washington punk bands who were networking to get music out there,” Linville says, noting that The Mullets songs featured on the collection, “My Demon,” and “Lookout,” were both written by him.
The band members share responsibility for writing the music and lyrics, and Linville admits there are some compromises when it comes to style. “We have some campier tunes like ‘Beer Thirsty’ and ‘Dick in Your Ear,’” he says, “But I tend to write songs that are deeper and more introspective…three songs I’ve written that have been released are about growing up and dealing with problems.” He adds that The Mullets are “not Judas Priest…we’re not telling kids to go kill themselves or go out and get drunk…it’s all just music; it shouldn’t taken literally. It’s just for fun.” On the intersection between punk music and firefighting, Linville is definite that they are related. “I think firefighting is definitely a blue collar career,” he says, “And I think punk is aggressive, blue collar music.”
Despite practicing with the band once or twice weekly and performing at gigs, Linville says the band’s schedule doesn’t interfere with his career as a firefighter, and that the two parts of his life rarely overlap. “If anything, being in the band helps me. Punk music is a great outlet for the stresses of the job. I know lots of firefighters who have tons of physical outlets—sports, working out—and I do, too, but it’s really great to have this creative outlet.” Instead of interfering with his job or affecting his concentration, Linville says having music to release tension while he’s off-duty “only makes things better.”
Although he says punk music is something he’s always been interested in, Linville says it’s more of a creative outlet than an alternative career. “If The Mullets did take off,” he says, “they’d have to find another drummer. I’d never quit firefighting.” He says he hopes to be with the Bellingham Fire Department his entire career. “I try to get involved in as many training opportunities as I can,” he says, pointing out a recent practice house burn as an example. He adds that he enjoys the added responsibilities he is assigned as he becomes a more skilled firefighter, and says that although he’s still in the process of deciding whether or not he wants to become a paramedic, “Ultimately, I’d like to be a captain someday.”
Co-workers and supervisors agree that Linville’s reputation as a hard-rocking punk drummer has little, if any, impact on his professionalism—meaning he won’t be screaming lyrics from the band’s Dick in Your Ear CD while Engine 52 is roaring down Boulevard Avenue. Firefighter Cory Morris describes Linville’s expertise as a firefighter as “top notch,” and Andrew Trimakas, who joined the department with Linville in 1998, agrees. “Shawn is a very conscientious firefighter with in-depth firefighting knowledge. He’s diligent, competent, and professional.” Paramedic Rob Wilson agrees. “He’s a really competent firefighter, a great EMT. I love to have him drive for me on the medic rig. He’s a real solid firefighter, no doubt about that.” Perhaps surprisingly, both Trimakas and Wilson say that Linville is known for his composure on the job. “Shawn’s got a really calm demeanor,” Wilson says, “but underneath it I think he’s a wild man.”
Despite Wilson’s suspicions, Linville keeps his two professions—and their attendant behaviors--separate, so people who encounter him can be assured that his head won’t spin around ala Linda Blair. Punk rock fans don’t have to worry he’s going to extinguish their cigarettes in between performances of “Godscab” and “Beer Thirsty.” And local residents can dial 911 with ease of mind—they won’t see Bellingham’s answer to Sid Vicious appearing on their doorstep to resuscitate Grandma. Shawn Linville has multiple talents, not multiple personalities, and Bellingham residents are likely to benefit—in dramatically different ways--from both.
The Mullets’ Discography
· The Mullets s/t (2000)
· Dick in Your Ear (2000)
· Beer Soaked Anthems (2001)
· Seattle’s Best Punk—compilation (2001)
Members of The Mullets
· Tyler Botts—guitar
· Ryan Martin—bass, backing vocals
· Shawn Linville—drums
· Damon Church--vocals