Remembering Jeff Runnings: Singer, songwriter, musician, friend…
by Tim McMahan, Lazy-i.com
I only knew Jeff Runnings through his life in music and the music itself. Some of my favorite memories of Jeff were actually our conversations over Facebook instant messenger. Jeff would usually start it, writing about something he was working on musicwise or telling me about some new album he heard that he had to share. He was remarkably opinionated – able to make his thoughts known in words of love or damnation.
It was probably because of this relationship and our past interviews conducted for local papers that Jeff asked me to lead a discussion with him in front of an audience at the now defunct Hi-Fi House – a home-away-for home for people who loved music on vinyl – way back in the summer of 2016.
Because some readers may not know who Jeff was, below are the biographical notes put together to introduce Jeff at that event, that summarized his career up to that point.
- Let’s start with For Against. A Lincoln band, the trio of singer and chief songwriter Jeff Runnings, guitarist/keyboardist Harry Dingman III and drummer Gregory Hill, combined droning, chiming guitars, buzzing synths, and machine-precise percussion with Runnings’ hollow, ghostly voice.
- In their heyday back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, For Against didn’t exactly fit into a Lincoln scene that included bands like Mercy Rule and Sideshow. While SST-style punk was all the rage in Omaha and Lincoln, For Against was making 4AD/Factory Records-style Euro-pop that bordered on today’s version of electronic dance music. Their sound was directly influenced by ’80s and ’90s-era European post-punk from bands like Durutti Column, Joy Division, Gang of Four and Kitchens of Distinction, more modern acts like Interpol, Editors and The Faint.
- More recent comparisons would to be bands like DIIV, Echo Lake, Wild Nothing and Weekender.
- The trio began performing in Lincoln in 1985. After self-releasing a 7-inch, the band signed with Independent Projects Records (IPR) and released their debut full-length, Echelons, in 1987. The music criticism website All Music said of the release: “Balancing an at once crisp, brisk pace and just enough dreaminess in the guitar work, Echelons is a work of nervous tension throughout.”
- For Against went on a brief US tour — which was a bit of a novelty for Nebraska bands back then. They recorded their follow-up, December, in 1988, which critic Andy Kellman called “…their best, one of the most powerful dream pop releases of the late ’80s.” If you look up For Against in All Music, this is the album they select as the band’s finest, giving it 4.5 stars.
- That said, shortly after its release, For Against unceremoniously broke up, just as things were getting interesting. Capitol Records was interested in the band, but it wasn’t to be as Hill left the band. Dingman went on to join The Millions with Hill before he and his wife eventually moved to Ft. Collins, Colorado.
- Jeff continued For Against with new personnel, releasing four more records:
- 1993’s Aperture. Mason’s California Lunch Room in 1995, both on Rainbow Quartz, followed by Shelf Life in 1997 on World Domination Records. Coalesced would be released in 2002 on Minneapolis label Words on Music, who also reissued Echelons and December, and Marshes, a 10-inch originally released by Independent Projects in 1990
- Then in 2003, Dingman and his wife returned to Lincoln. Jeff said he and Dingman had barely spoke to each other in 16 years. Eventually, Dingman found himself in Runnings’ living room, and the two decided that For Against should live again.
- But a funny thing happened in their absence. For Against had quietly become big… in Europe. The song ‘Amen Yves’ that only came out on vinyl, had become a hit with DJs throughout Europe, who had been playing it for years.
- In 2008 Words on Music released Shade Side, Sunny Side, For Against’s 7th studio album, and the first one to feature Dingman since December. PopMatters gave the record a 7 out of 10 rating, saying “It’s good to know they’re out there, getting better with age, staying true to their sound despite geographical isolation and maybe even (we can hope!) tricking some kids into picking up some post-punk the next time they’re looking for Against Me! or Rise Against.“
- The band toured Greece in spring 2007 and played Spain’s Tanned Tin Festival in Castelló, thanks in part to Spanish label Acuarela Discos. A full European tour was slated for early ’08. “Europe is simply where our fan base is,” Jeff said. “We’ve had offers to play in Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam, Athens and all points in between.”
- In 2008 For Against released their ninth album, Never Been, again on Words on Music, which would be the last release with Harry Dingman.
It was here that I asked Jeff to fill in what happened over the next eight years, which he did. Somewhere there’s a videotape recording of our talk, likely sitting on a shelf in some videographer’s closet.
One reason for the Hi-Fi House event was the release of Primitives and Smalls on Saint Marie Records. Unlike a lot of dream pop, the record wasn’t intended to function as a polite soundtrack for idle daydreaming. It was vengeful and acerbic, and cut deep. It showcased Jeff’s mastery of the post-punk sounds he’d been creating since the ’80s.
Jeff never quit creating music. Most recently, he was excited about his new album, Piqued, slate for release on Independent Project Records (IPR). The first single, “Batman Forever,” (Batman is the nickname for Runnings’ husband, Sean Applegate), was released at the end of January, and casts the same haunting spell heard on the best For Against albums. Jeff recorded the track, as well as the rest of the album, from his home. It’s a collection I know he’s proud of.
Our last correspondence – via email – was Jeff telling me that the US/Europe press agent for IPR was going to conduct a call with him and Bruce Licher of IPR about the “promotion machine” for the new record. He told me to stay tuned.
All of this was happening while Jeff continued treatment for the cancer that ended his life yesterday. He was more than a friend in music; he was a good person with a razor-sharp sense of humor and a heart of gold. I’m going to miss him.
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Read Tim McMahan’s blog daily at Lazy-i.com — an online music magazine that includes feature interviews, reviews and news. The focus is on the national indie music scene with a special emphasis on the best original bands in the Omaha area. Copyright © 2025 Tim McMahan. All rights reserved.
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