V-3

V-3 were an experimental rock group from Columbus, Ohio, built around guitarist, singer and songwriter Jim Shepard and active from the late 1980s through the 1990s. Shepard had already been a central figure in the Columbus underground for years through Vertical Slit, Phantom Limb and Skullbank, developing a rough, home-recorded approach that mixed punk, garage rock, noise and free-form experimentation. V-3 became another outlet for that restless side of his work, but with a more recognisable band format.

 
The group was formed in September 1986 when Shepard joined forces with Nudge Squidfish, Rudy Smith and Roxanne Newman. Newman had been involved with Phantom Limb and Skullbank, while Squidfish was already an important figure in Columbus's do-it-yourself scene and had previously played with Kevyn and the Kasualties. The band's early period was closely connected to the loose network of musicians surrounding Columbus's independent punk and experimental scene, with people such as Mike "Rep" Hummel, Ron House, Don Howland and Tommy Jay moving between groups and projects.

 
V-3's music was deliberately difficult to pin down. Shepard's guitar could move from primitive punk riffs and feedback-heavy noise to repetitive, almost hypnotic figures, while the recordings frequently incorporated tape manipulation, found sounds and rough home-studio textures. The band could sound like a damaged garage-rock group one minute and an experimental noise project the next. Trouser Press described the early V-3 material as a mixture of punk, art-rock, sound collage and abrasive experimentation, with Shepard's bleak humour and detached vocals giving the songs their particular character. 

Their early catalogue was largely issued through small independent labels and cassette releases. 'Unbroken Silence' appeared on Iron Press in 1989, followed by the 'Earth Muffin' EP and 'Monsters of Hollywood' EP in 1991. 'Psychic Dancehall', issued by Ropeburn in 1991, is among the key releases from the early lineup and includes tracks such as "Prime Minister Keyes", "Tick Tock", "Gotta Get Free", "Dead Man" and "Another Exterminator (Eaten By Bugs)". Roxanne Newman's vocals are prominent on several of the tracks, while Nudge Squidfish contributes the bleak "Dead Man". 

'Negotiate Nothing' followed in 1992, again on Ropeburn, and pushed the rougher side of the group further. Alongside more straightforward punk material were pieces such as "Scrap Metal Radio" and "Your Uncle", where tape loops, noise and unconventional arrangements became part of the music. "Party at 15th and Summit", in particular, turned a local Columbus setting into a dark, almost documentary-style piece.

 
V-3 later moved into a more visible phase with 'Photograph Burns', released in 1996 through Onion Records, an American Recordings subsidiary. The album had been recorded for less than $500 and retained much of Shepard's abrasive approach despite the larger label connection. The title track was a particularly important V-3 song, while "American Face", "Bristol Girl" and a new version of "Superhuman" showed the group working within a somewhat more conventional rock framework without abandoning the strange edges of the earlier material. The Washington Post included 'Photograph Burns' among its notable releases of 1996, highlighting Shepard's guitar work and the mixture of caustic songwriting and melodic passages.

 
The group's catalogue also includes 'Russian Roulette Chinese Style' and 'The Superhuman' 7-inch releases from 1995, the 'Launch Pad Explosion' 7-inch from 1997 and the 'Pimping in the 90's' album from 1998. The latter was a self-released collection issued through Iron Press, with twenty short pieces ranging from "The Amateur Welder" and "Queen of the Underground" to fragments, demos and noisy miniatures such as "Car Horn in a Stinger Trap", "Squid Ink" and "Bullet through the Floorboards". 

 
By the mid-1990s, V-3 was increasingly intertwined with Jim Shepard's solo recording activity. He continued producing large amounts of material on cassette and small-run vinyl, often under his own name or through related projects. A 1995 CMJ review noted that Shepard had been making home recordings since the late 1970s and that his solo records 'Evil Love Deeper' and 'Picking Through the Wreckage With a Stick' were finally appearing on vinyl after years of cassette releases. The same underground recording culture that shaped Vertical Slit was still very much present in V-3.

 
Shepard died in Columbus in October 1998, aged 44. His death brought the active period of V-3 to an abrupt close, although recordings continued to circulate and appear in later archival releases. V-3's recordings have continued to surface in reissues and archival projects. The group's later digital catalogue includes 'Psychic Dancehall', reissued in 2020 with the original material supplemented by tracks such as a live version of "Photograph Burns", "Inside Outpost", "Fast Blue U.F.O.", "Twisted Words" and "The Enemy Within". The release credits V-3 and Iron Press as producers and identifies the project simply as V-3 from Columbus, Ohio.