NW Noise Band Briefs
Band Briefs are short, and quick descriptions of artists, bands, concerts or albums.
My Ode to San Diego
To those of you mentioned in this article: I want everybody to know that I write what I write because it is a writer’s job to keep readers interested. And as a fan/friend/fellow musician, I have nothing but respect for each of you.
As some of you know, I’m not really from Portland.
So now I am finally going.
BEFORE I go up to your town, before I genuinely sell my soul to rock and roll, I have to pay homage to my hometown, a place that is warmer, a place that has cool things like Shamu, a place that has some fantastic music in its own right:
San Diego, California.
In my opinion, San Diego is on the verge of something really good – which I’m going to outline for you with an up-to-date “family tree”:
We’ve got this cool band called Lady Dottie & the Diamonds.
I know they’re a cover band. But they are special. To play out consistently (3 times a week) and to draw youthful audiences time and again, proves that they are all able musicians, that age is but a number, and if it gives us kids something to inspire us to keep on playing, then being a cover band doesn’t mean you are “selling out.”
Dottie & the Diamonds have paved the way for many bands to come. I don’t even think they know it yet.
Why? Because she made blues cool again.
Which brings me to the (now dearly departed) Scarlet Symphony
In an interview ages ago, Scarlet mentioned Dottie, which resulted in her getting some attention, and eventually led to a Dottie explosion. You can walk into The fabled Tower Bar on a Monday night and feel like you were in a bar on a Friday in 1965. Pre-internet. Wow.
The Scarlet Symphony still hails as the first and only band to make me dance, and I was sad to see them break up, but they’ve all got my respect as perhaps some of the first gentlemen of rock and roll. One day I would like to shake the hands of all your moms, because they raised you well. That sounds sooo not cool for me to say about a rock band. But really! These dudes are so nice for playing such dark & scary rock music! That impresses me! And I’m really looking forward to the new bands being born from The Scarlet Symphony, like the UV Tigers, and the Wheeler Twins’ thing, ¡Society! (The punctuation is critical!) I was lucky enough to hear a bit of this the other day and those twins are on the mark with something danceable, for sure. Joining them is Dottie & The Diamonds pianoman, Joey Guevara.
The UV Tigers.
Lead singer Gary has a subtlety and expression to him that makes me want to call him The Method Actor of rock & roll. Gary has these cool little style quirks. It’s something that the rocker in him tries to hold back, but the artist in him can’t deny. That thing with the eyeliner? YOU are awesome. I might copy that sometime.
The drummer of the UltraViolet Tigers is obviously sober. Not just sober when he plays, I mean SOBER sober, because he plays sharp, man!
Aaron, UV Tigers’ guitarist, is a prolific songwriter, able musician, and also a (gasp!) pro-tools free engineer. (and smart! Aaron should teach a Learning Annex class about the music publishing industry.)
Is Chris [Aarons brother] in your band? No? Well do something about it! Give him five gold stars, and a hug, RIGHT NOW, for your bestest fan & friend ever. Brothers make for the best fans. Just talk to Matt Lynott, of the Jade Shader. (He’s on the left.)
These guys are touring with Pinback right about now (another San Diego-based band) and they are playing in Portland, I think today! Good luck, guys!
The Singer/bassist in The Jade Shader used to be in this band called Boilermaker which I know nothing about, but I hear they were really cool.
Jade Shader Guitarist (Chris Prescott) used to be in a band called NO KNIFE. People still get a case of the warm & fuzzies for No Knife. We love No Knife. And Mitch.
The other guitarist in The Jade Shader, Gabe F., has this solo project going called Old Man Hands. That song that you wrote about breaking your legs? That was a damn good song.
The Jade Shader’s album was recorded/engineered/produced by Christopher Hoffee.
Chris also ponders the many musical wonders of Portland. Hoffee is like his own compartmentalized Portland, right here in San Diego. Don’t forget Alan Sanderson (who can give you something radio-ready in a jiffy, and is one of the few true professionals in San Diego, and thankfully NOT in L.A.) But back to Chris, if studios make you nervous, and you want to stay indie…if you want to record with somebody who will take some time to experiment and give you something that represents you (the artist), go record with Christopher Hoffee, in the comfort of a lovely home. And have his lady do your landscaping because that garden of theirs is really amazing.
On to the next band!
Grand Ole Party
In a recent radio interview with Tim Pyles of fm 94.9
(one of their biggest fans and a local hero in his own right), Grand Ole Party mentioned that Scarlet Symphony (again!) is partially responsible for getting them out of San Fran and into San Diego. Thank you for that. Welcome home.
Three cheers for Grand Ole Party!
90 percent of the singers in this town I would like to strangle by their acoustic guitar straps, but not Kristin, cuz she plays the drums! Ta-da!
Kristin, don’t listen to what ANYONE says about your drumming. You only have to be as good as Meg White. But don’t get better than her, because that will narrow your chances of touring with them. You can download their song (which is “the one” if I do say so) for FREE on their myspace page. You HAVE TO DOWNLOAD this song, ok?
I hope you enjoyed my haphazard outlining of San Diego music that surrounds us. Or me.
P.S. Reeve Oliver is signed to Capitol records. Their drummer’s ninja turtle drumkit is amazing. But the songs are extremely well written. Youthful but still smart.
Their bassplayer, O (yes like the letter) is like the Jedi Master of music here. For now.
P.P.S. If I didn’t mention you, it’s because you should leave your house/coffeeshop/lift the emo hair out of your eyes to say hello to people and play some shows, or I want to strangle you by your acoustic guitar strap (except for Anya Marina, cuz she is Russian so she’s ok.) I am tired of San Diego (to San Diegans!) being a “singer-songwriter’s town.” We’ve got some good bands, and if you don’t like what I wrote, you can strangle me by my acoustic guitar strap. But not for long.
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grant chinda, May 1, 04:38 PM:
a toast to san diego and its music! these are only a few of the great bands that make up the music scene down here… but you could not of picked a better network of bands to display here!