The Most Secret Method

Formed in the middle of the 1990s -- their first gig was at the semi-legendary Black Cat Club in Washington, D.C. in 1996 -- the Most Secret Method represented part of the vanguard that was to represent the new direction that the D.C. scene was moving in as the 21st century approached. First initiated by musical musings by former Fine Day member Marc Nelson and Lincoln bassist Johanna Claasen, they would eventually rope in Marc's brother Ryan (formerly of Jury Rig) to round out the three-piece, and in Ryan they would find the graphically oriented presentation that the band would become well known for. Their first two recordings, a self-released 7", and a split 10" with the Capitol City Dusters (featuring former Severin frontman Alec Bourgeois) on Superbad and Dischord, were enough -- coupled with amazing gigs and Ryan Nelson's unforgettable poster/flyer drawings that were both intriguing and (sometimes) disturbing -- to secure the band a few tours and a full-length release, Get Lovely, in 1998 on Slowdime. After a period of silence from the band in which Claasen focused on standup bass, Ryan Nelson spent time with his new musical mates in Beauty Pill, and Marc Nelson devoted time to acting, Our Success was released as a full-length split release on Bourgeois' SuperBad label and Dischord. The band played a farewell show in August of 2002 right where they started, at the Black Cat in D.C. ~ Christopher M. True