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Apr 21, 2021 By Caleb Campbell

​Oakland record label Slang Church is releasing an upcoming compilation album, Long Armed Bill’s Summer Comp (Vol. 1) benefiting Big Minds. Described as “an attachment-based, community-focused, non-traditional 1-8th grade special ed program in the San Francisco Bay Area,” director Billy Bouzos also acts as head of Slang Church.

The label has already shared new tracks from DIY emo and punk stalwarts like Kevin Nichols, Mom Jeans, and Long Neck and now have shared Walter Etc.’s contribution to the comp, “Full Body Yawn (Brunch Tunes),” premiering with Under the Radar.

Fans of Walter Etc.’s previous incarnation, Walter Mitty and His Makeshift Orchestra, will likely already be familiar with “Full Body Yawn” from their 2014 record Well Soon. Fortunately, not too much has changed on this version, as Dustin Cole Hayes delivers on the same jangly folk pop melodies and sun-lit acoustic instrumentation, while turning up the disarming DIY element. The “Brunch Tunes” moniker is a perfect fit, turning the track into a breezy mid-afternoon reverie.

Dylan Cole Hayes says of the track, “‘Full Body Yawn’ is about a brief and rare moment of self reflection. Like an out of body experience, it’s about seeing yourself objectively and being like “hello world, this is me. Take it or leave it.” For me, the ultimate freedom would be to be myself, without any self-deceit or hesitations, and occasionally I get a glimpse into what that’d be like. The best way I could describe those occasions is that they’re like a full body yawn.”

If you’re looking to support a good cause and relax into some effortless melodies check out “Full Body Yawn” below and pre-order Long Armed Bill’s Summer Comp (Vol. 1), due out May 1st.

Billy Bouzos gives more background on the comp below:

“Big Minds is a 501c3 non profit and private school in the San Francisco Bay Area that serves the twice-exceptional community, grades 1-8. Twice-exceptional, or 2e, refers to a gifted student who also has some form of disability. Our model is a radical one that turns traditional American elementary and middle school education on its head. We value social emotional support and learning above all else, and any academic pursuits are driven by the student and their strengths and interests.

Where many institutions employ a deficit-based model centered around “fixing” academic deficiencies or disabilities, we choose to focus instead on students’ strengths, interests, and passions. We use technology to help mitigate the challenges our students face due to various disabilities, helping them realize their giftedness and potential in a more tangible way.

This comp will be an annual fundraising effort for the school’s scholarship fund - which is a sore need considering we are a bootstrap organization that, in an effort to keep tuition as low as possible, is on a shoestring budget. What goes in comes out, and this is one of the first major efforts to fundraise outside of that.

I’ve been involved with the school in a multitude of capacities for the past 4 years. Starting in 2017, I was a driver for several of the school’s students between tours with my band at the time (Lawn Chairs). I became close with many of the students and staff at the school through this process, even being invited as an honorary staff member to the school’s holiday party that same year. Fast forward to the Fall of 2018, when fresh off a DIY full US tour I accepted a job as a literacy tutor at Big Minds. Within 6 months of that I was promoted to assistant director, and within 6 months of that I was promoted to operations director. I now manage our day-to-day operations, marketing, fundraising, finances, dev, and growth - in addition to still working with a small gaggle of students directly. This year, that meant developing our own distance learning app complete with a multitude of accessibility features specifically suited to our students and their needs in this unprecedented crisis. It’s been a wild ride!

The general theme [for the comp] is bands that have been involved with our label (Slang Church) in one way or another through the years. A lot of west coast DIY veterans, with a few east coast friends, peppered in. A few of them also have LPs coming out this year with us, too. Tl;dr good bands who care about raising funds for Big Minds! We’re grateful to everyone who donated a track :).