Timothy McCready

We started Green Suade Filth in 1986 as freshmen in high school in Virginia Beach. Tim was the musical genius while I voiced lyrics and played the graphics. I misspelled “suede” on our first cassette cover, and we kept it that way through our final recording in 1995. Tim went on to create other bands, and I continued to create the artwork for those bands (Schwa and Fashion Central) from the sidelines. Green Suade Filth was really more of a bedroom band and vehicle for two precocious creative teenagers to find themselves. We approached it as more of an artistic gesture than a musical concern. It was the most significant creative partnership I’ve ever had. I discovered who I was (or wanted to be) during this chapter in my life, and I have Tim to thank for that. One day in high school we had driven to Richmond to go to the VMFA. He turned to me and said quite matter-of-factly, “Your paintings will be here one day.” It was very strange. He had a kind of faith in me beyond simple encouragement from other friends and even family. In the early 2000s, Tim and I interviewed each other with the thought of making a book about our high school band and that precious time in a young person’s life when ideas and self expression just seem to effortlessly pour out. Here are three passages he wrote during that exchange: “For me, it was the sense of freedom in absurdity that was most inspiring. In retrospect, what’s nice about our appreciation of absurdity was that it was oriented towards discovery/exploration rather than dark teenage nihilism.” “Musical influences for me were pretty straightforward: My guitar teacher, Woody Beckner.…R.E.M. This was about 80% of it for me.…U2.…The Smiths. Johnny Marr was one of my guitar heroes as a teenager.” “At Old Donation, we learned a lot about how to investigate ideas, to manipulate concepts as though they were 3-dimensional objects – we got the sense that exploring ideas was fun, we were encouraged to think divergently.” Last November Tim reached out to me to arrange a shipment we wanted to send me. He sent me everything that we had ever created between us—paintings, silkscreens, notes, flyers, posters, cassettes, master recordings, a chair we painted together, and every single letter I had ever written him. Everything was neatly catalogued and organized. I was spooked, and I pressed Tim for answers. He didn’t respond. I reached out to friends and understood that he was downsizing. I am embarrassed I accepted this. I honestly do not know what to make of the stories and situations surrounding his death. I am ashamed to say that I am too angry to attend the memorial. I’m too sad. I’m too confused. I’m too weak. But, I am also thankful for you, Tim. I love you. (The images here are some of our Green Suade Filth cassette covers and flyers. Also included are some snapshots of an Atari Tournament we put together for friends in Richmond in 1996.)