NYE 2005: Magic shows

If you're looking for a great New Year's party, one of these events should do the trick

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
December 22, 2005

Whenever New Year's Eve crosses my mind, I recall a quote from Billy Crystal as he ponders the meaning of "Auld Lang Syne" in "When Harry Met Sally": "I mean, 'Should old acquaintance be forgot'? Does that mean that we should forget old acquaintances, or does it mean if we happened to forget them, we should remember them, which is not possible because we already forgot?"

The ancient Scottish tune "Auld Lang Syne" translates to "Times Gone By." Whether we understand the lyrics to "Auld Lang Syne" or not, New Year's Eve is a time to reflect on the good memories we've experienced and to create a few new ones.

If you like live music to ring in the new year, San Diego has one of the best New Year's Eves in recent memory. Local legends (Karl Denson), national upstarts (Hasidic reggae band Matisyahu), international favorites (Mexico's Kinky) and the traditional family celebrations (First Night) are on the schedule.

Here's a rundown of the shows we'd go to if we could:

KARL DENSON'S TINY UNIVERSE
The San Diego jazz-funk band the Greyboy Allstars sent shock waves through the local music scene by providing an organic alternative to the electronic danceable acid jazz of the 1990s.

Led by saxophonist Karl Denson, the Allstars' live shows were packed with funk jams and extended solos – not the noodling jam band style. Denson and his cohorts drew inspiration from James Brown, Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley and the Horny Horns.

The Allstars continue to play a couple of times a year, but Denson devotes much of his time to his own band, Tiny Universe. In 2002, KDTU released "The Bridge," an excellent album featuring Denson on vocals along with the band's trademark funk sound. Tiny Universe currently is working on a studio album, so expect Denson to bust out a few new tunes at this 'Canes gig in Mission Beach.

Dinner packages are available. And, as a side note, our best wishes go out to Allstars co-founder Robert Walter and his family, displaced from New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

KINKY & B-SIDE PLAYERS
Self-described as "electro-Latin organic fusion," Kinky has molded a style equal parts hip-hop, pop, rock, disco, funk and electronica. Rising from the Mexican music Mecca Monterrey, the quintet formed in 2000 experimenting with electronic rock heavily influence by techno and DJ culture.

Gilberto Cerezo (vocals, guitar, turntables), Ulises Lozano (keyboards, vocals), Carlos Chairez (guitar, vocals), Omar Gongora (drums, vocals) and Cesar Pliego (bass, vocals) released their infectiously funky self-titled disc in 2001, followed by the more mainstream "Atlas" in 2003.

I saw them at Coachella a few years back and they reminded me of a guitar-slinging Nortec Collective – half live instrumentation, half DJ sampling. Joining Kinky at 4th & B downtown will be San Diego's B-Side Players, mixing splashes of reggae and salsa with steamy politically charged rock.

MATISYAHU
Did I hear that right? A Hasidic reggae singer? Yes, I did. Matisyahu is not a gimmick, this guy has serious chops.

Born Matthew Miller in West Chester, Pa., Matisyahu blends Jewish spirituality with Jamaica's all-ready-heady reggae music. Backed by a razor-sharp band that includes Aaron Dugan (guitar), Josh Werner (bass) and Jonah David (drums), Matisyahu scats, raps and beatboxes with amazing dexterity.

The band's 2005 release, "Live at Stubb's" (recorded at the Austin, Texas, club of the same name), exemplifies Matisyahu's skills with the mike. Those lucky enough to have tickets to this sold-out Belly Up show have a treat in store.

BIG NIGHT SAN DIEGO
This sprawling New Year's celebration is like a First Night celebration for the big kids. You have theme party rooms to choose from: Mardi Gras, Vegas (mock gambling), HiBall, 1970s and '80s retro, hip-hop, electronic dance, dining room, chill-out room and a fireworks viewing zone.

For the price, this is probably your best New Year's Eve bargain: There's a food buffet and all drinks are included, plus bands (Lady Dottie and the Diamonds, Rookie Card, Common Sense, Flock of '80s) and DJs (Jon Bishop, Miss Lisa, Happee, Kid Krazzy and Mike Czech) for just over $100.

If you want to shell out another $50, you get access to the V.I.P. section, with its own casino, its own lounge and upgraded drinks and food. Fireworks will help ring in the new year, and discounted rooms are conveniently available at the venue – the Sheraton on Harbor Island – so no excuse to drink and drive.

THE MOTHER HIPS
After forming in 1991 at Chico State in Northern California, these four guys spread the good word about the Mother Hips through constant touring and excellent sunny pop songs by Tim Bluhm and Greg Loiacono.

Ten years later, the band had found a devout following throughout California and beyond, but tired of the road. The Mother Hips split up to pursue solo projects (check out Bluhm's 2003 EP "The Soft Adventure").

After a hiatus of five years, the Mother Hips' heavenly harmonies and neo-psychedelic rock return in the form of the 2005 EP "Red Tandy." Bluhm (guitar, vocals, keys), Loiacono (guitar, vocals, keys), Paul Hoaglin (bass) and John Hofer (drums) know how to put on a great show, drawing on their many years on the road.

FIRST NIGHT ESCONDIDO
With First Night San Diego taking the year off in 2006, Escondido's New Year's Eve celebration marks the county's only family-oriented First Night. Buttons ($10 before Christmas and $15 after, free for kids under 6) will get you into 12 stages of music and theater, including everything from classical music to puppet shows.

Stretching from Grape Day Park to Escondido City Hall and the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, this alcohol-free event is absolutely crammed with more than 100 performers, including musicians, magicians, stilt walkers, jugglers and puppeteers. The evening finishes off with a midnight fireworks display.

Pet sounds: It's all about the Bunnymen

Echo & the Bunnymen's long march continues at House of Blues

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
December 8, 2005

In the 1980s and stretching into the early 1990s, England began cranking out a particular style of alternative rock that called for chiming guitars, emotive high-tenor vocals, compact jangly rock tunes.

Along with bands like U2 (up through 1983's "War"), the Church and the Cure, Liverpool's Echo & the Bunnymen led a pack of British bands forging a new sound that spawned a generation of kids wearing eyeliner with hair in their eyes (think Ally Sheedy's character in "The Breakfast Club," but with more makeup).

Known for its unusual name and the distinctive vibrato-filled vocal style of Ian McCulloch, the band's roots were in the meeting of singer McCulloch and guitarist Will Sergeant as teenagers in Liverpool. The group – sick of answering mundane questions about the Bunnymen name – made up a story about the band's drum machine, "Echo." The tall tale made a lot of music journalists a bit red in the face after the news came out.

"Yeah, that story is rubbish," Sergeant has said about the fictional story of the band's naming. "We used to tell the press we got the name from the drum machine, but that was just to shut people up, you know? We just wanted a name that was completely different, and Echo was just a word we liked. Now, Bunnymen, there was an idea behind that, of these weird, spirit, bunny things that, like, existed only in folklore. There's one on the cover of our first single, 'Pictures on My Wall.'"

Fueled by strong support in the UK and on American college radio, word began to spread quickly about Echo & the Bunnymen. Mixing neo-psychedelic dreamy eclecticism and solid songwriting from McCulloch and company, the band scored Top 10 albums in the United Kingdom (1981's "Heaven Up Here" and "Porcupine" and 1984's "Ocean Rain") while gaining a foothold in the American market.

Plucking crisp guitar lines – awash with delay and reverb much like the early work of U2's the Edge, Sergeant created sonic landscapes while McCulloch's lyrics and voice set Echo & the Bunnymen apart from the glut of 1980s New Wave British bands.

The band's 1987 eponymous album – featuring songs like "Lips Like Sugar" and "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" – gave the guys from Liverpool their biggest audience yet. The release afforded the opportunity to work with one of the band's heroes: Doors organist Ray Manzarek.

McCulloch left the band in 1988 to pursue a solo career and released a couple of solo discs ("Candleland" in 1989 and "Mysterio" in 1991). Original drummer Pete de Freitas died in a 1989 motorcycle accident. Sergeant and bassist Les Pattinson forged on with new lead singer Noel Burke and released "Reverberation" in 1990 to little popular response. "Candleland" produced a hit in "Proud to Fall" (it reached No. 1 in the United States on the Modern Rock charts), but in retrospect it feels empty without Sergeant's deft guitar licks.

Echo & the Bunnymen's cinematic songwriting style found it's way to the big screen along the way, most memorably in "Pretty in Pink" ("Bring on the Dancing Horses") and "The Lost Boys" (with the remake of the Doors' "People Are Strange"). Later, "The Killing Moon" found its way into 2001's "Donnie Darko," along with 2004's "The Girl Next Door."

In 1997, the surviving Bunnymen (McCulloch, Sergeant and Pattinson) reunited to record "Evergreen," which found the band stumbling through 12 over-orchestrated mundane tracks. Said McCulloch of joining his mates again: "It's not so much a reunion as the second half of a very long march."

Echo & the Bunnymen took a more stripped down approach in 1999's "What Are You Going to Do With Your Life?" The album exhibits a strummy carefree attitude to the band's brooding early work. On 2001's "Flowers," McCulloch and Sergeant revisit their 1960s psychedelic influences, evoking the Animals and the Doors.

From the sparkling, glistening high guitar notes of "Stormy Weather" – the first song on Echo & the Bunnymen's 2005 album "Siberia," the English band recaptures the ethereal alternative pop music of it's heyday in the 1980s and 1990s.

All the while, McCulloch's voice provides depth and contrast to the four-minute pop songs. Twenty-seven years after first creating Echo & the Bunnymen, McCulloch and Sergeant still know how to make songs that sound relevant and sincere. The two bring Echo & the Bunnymen to the House of Blues tomorrow night for a trip down memory lane.

"The only way for me to live forever is through great songs," McCulloch said a few years ago. "And that's what I intend to keep doing during my songwriting life – just to go for timeless greatness."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.

The essential Echo & the Bunnymen

"Crocodiles" (1980, Sire): First albums are always fascinating to revisit, like finding yourself at an archaeological dig excavating the roots of an ancient civilization. If the band sticks around long enough to develop its own sound, you can trace it all back to the debut disc. In "Crocodiles," we find Ian McCulloch searching for his trademark vocals. Sergeant's great guitar lines are almost absent, smothered by layers of pianos and keyboards. Songs likes "Do It Clean" are dead ringers for a U2 cut. This is not the greatest Echo album, but an interesting study nevertheless.

"Heaven Up Here" (1981, Sire): The band's second album finds the four guys from Liverpool sliding into their trademark sound, a real emotional performance from McCulloch. A truly varied record, songs sway from crystalline ballads to sharp-edged New Wave funk a la early Talking Heads. Seemingly all of a sudden, McCulloch's voice has gained a high, haunting timbre. "Heaven Up Here" remains an excellent snapshot of English New Wave.

"Ocean Rain" (1984, Sire): The heavy orchestration of the opening track, "Silver," marks a new era for Echo. But Sergeant's guitar work and McCulloch's gloomy lyrics help offset the floating harmonies, especially on tracks like "Crystal Days" and "The Yo-Yo Man." "The Killing Moon" stands the test of time due to the eerie mix of bittersweet harmonies and lyrics like Under blue moon I saw you / So soon you'll take me / Up in your arms / Too late to beg you or cancel it / Though I know it must be the killing time / Unwillingly mine. Also check out the 1985 greatest hits record "Song to Learn & Sing" for an excellent compilation of Echo's early material.

"Echo & the Bunnymen" (1987, Sire): Like a refrain that tumbles around in your head for years, whenever I think of Echo & the Bunnymen I hear the chorus of "Lips Like Sugar." The thumping beat of "Bedbugs and Ballyhoo" follows a close second. This album is so accessible it's almost too much, all wrapped up in 1980s pop sensibilities. But the self-titled disc still yields a few timeless songs through all the production.

"Siberia" (2005, Cooking Vinyl): Using a phrase like "return to form" turns my stomach, but I'm tempted in describing "Siberia." Gone is the angst of "Heaven Up Here." The fire died out a long time ago. Instead, we get crystal-clear production that doesn't get in the way of a quality collection of songs. McCulloch sounds sharp and Sergeant is riffing in top-notch fashion. This is easily the band's best disc in 20 years.

– CHRIS NIXON

Chitty chitty bang bang bang: !!! in ND

For !!!, funk music still 'charges us up'

By Chris Nixon
December 8, 2005

Three repetitive sounds: "Chk chk chk" or "pow pow pow" or "uh uh uh." You could add "jump, jump, jump" or "jam, jam, jam" to the list. Take three one-syllable words and fill in the blank. The pronunciations are endless and endlessly amusing, much like the improvisational music of !!! – an eight-piece punkish funk band based in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Sacramento.

With a catalog packed with 20-minute dance-inducing jams, the name !!! – taken from the subtitles of the film "The Gods Must Be Crazy" – reflects the octet's outsider mentality. The band combines pieces of punk, funk, DJ culture, retro disco, indie rock and jam band, yet its doesn't fit into any of those scenes.

Transcending genre, !!! creates an atmosphere ripe for audience participation in the form of movement, whether it's people simply jumping up and down or engaging in more traditional dance steps.

"Ultimately, I want the music to make people jump out of their skins when we're playing," said guitarist Mario Andreoni from his hometown of Sacramento. "Whether that means somebody is totally going bonkers or somebody's trying to reach for (stuff) up in the sky, it doesn't really matter to me."

While growing up in Sacramento, the eight band members – John Pugh (drums), Nic Offer (vocals), Allan Wilson (percussion, horns), Tyler Pope (guitar, keys), Justin VanDerVolgen (bass, sound), Dan Gorman (percussion, horns), Jason Racine (percussion) and Andreoni – earned their musical chops playing in punk or rock bands. But, eventually, the guys wanted to make music similar to what they heard filling the dance clubs they haunted.

"When everybody first started, it was all punk music," remembered Andreoni. "But everybody in the band is such a huge music lover. When we were teenagers we always went to the clubs or we always wanted to go to the clubs. We all danced. It wouldn't matter what kind of music we were dancing to, that's what was always on our minds."

Taking elements of early Talking Heads (when that band was a herky-jerky funk band), percussive world music, funk and soul with punk-rock energy, !!! forged its own sound.

Since its inception in 1997, the band has released two full-length discs (a self-titled debut in 2000 and "Louden Up Now" in 2004), along with numerous 12-inch extended play singles and remixes. !!! shares band members with the dance-rock bands Out Hud and LCD Soundsystem.

While the music ranges from indie-inspired disco to noisy experimental rock, funk is the common thread through all !!! music.

"Making funky music is just part of what we do when we get together," said Andreoni. "When we jam and just have fun playing off each other, that's generally what happens. There's still so much that can be done with funk and dance music. So it's still something that charges us up and it's always on our minds."

Citing world music and DJ culture as major influences (Andreoni name-drops Afrobeat originator Fela Kuti and DJs Rub and Tugs specifically), !!! draws upon percussion-driven music from all genres. That's probably why you'll see most of the band pick up a cowbell or various other items to beat on during extended drum breaks in its fiery live sets, including Monday's show at the Casbah in Middletown.

"I think that 75 percent of the band is frustrated drummers," Andreoni said. "After our first drummer left the band – who was just an amazing drummer – we all filled in the blanks while we were jamming. Also hearing as much world music as we do, a lot of the percussion-heavy Brazilian music was a touchstone. After we heard that stuff, we decided we needed to be a seriously percussive band."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.

Night&Day: Getting down with DM

Depeche Mode's formula for longevity: 'You really have to strive to find something new and the challenge has to be in the work'

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 17, 2005
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark. ABC. Adam and the Ants. Duran Duran. While these bands dominated charts in the 1980s on both sides of the Atlantic, British trio Depeche Mode (which translates as "fast fashion" or "fashion dispatch" from French) emerged as a darker alternative to the era's pretty boy dance music.

DM eschewed the fashionable New Romantic scene (despite often getting thrown in the same category), drawing upon Goth and industrial for lyrical and musical inspiration. The band's trademark sound resulted in thinking people's dance music. That's a theme the band has tried to maintain throughout its quarter century of making music.

After 25 years and 19 full-length albums (including "Best Of" compilations and remix albums), the trio of vocalist Dave Gahan, multi-instrumentalist Martin Gore and keyboardist Andrew Fletcher have weathered the pitfalls of fame, fortune and the music industry to release its 11th studio album in 2005, "Playing the Angel."

"The sheer fact that we've managed to achieve as much as we have in the 25 years that we've known each other (is amazing)," said Gahan via the band's Web site depechemode.com. "We have sort of survived that, you know. I would have thought, out of all the kind of bands (in the '80s), this would have been the one I'd have put money on not to still be around. We've probably got a lot more in common with bands like U2 and R.E.M. than we have of any of our peers that we came up (with), just with sheer longevity. I think you really have to strive to find something new and the challenge has to be in the work."

The early years
Depeche Mode's early days focused on the songwriting of Vince Clarke, which resulted in the happy-go-lucky sound of DM's first album, "Speak and Spell," released in 1981. When Clarke left the band (later to form Yaz and team with Andy Bell in Erasure), Gore took over the principal songwriter's chair (though he had written two songs on the debut "Big Muff" and "Any Second Now").

With Gore at the songwriting helm and Gahan developing a more powerful vocal style, Depeche concentrated on a more serious sound still suitable for clubs. Albums like 1982's "A Broken Frame" and 1983s' "Construction Time Again" exhibited the band's synth-driven sound, but 1984's "Some Great Reward" – with the hits "People Are People" and "Master and Servant" – found an audience in the United States.

Tackling issues of race ("People") and alternative lifestyles (S&M in "Master and Servant"), Gore's lyrics provided emotional depth to the band's early sound: full of metallic, chirping '80s keyboards and faux hand claps.

"Music for the Masses," released in 1997, marked a turning point in the band's artistic development and started to realize DM's full potential as an alternative tour de force.

Songs like "Never Let Me Down Again" and "Strangelove" showcased Gahan's fully evolved voice. As a band that relied heavily on technology in the 1980s, its early songs can sound dated 20 years later (while still providing kitschy guilty pleasures).

But "Music for the Masses" is genuine enough to stand the test of time.

Highs and lows
The 1990s found Depeche Mode exploring edgier musical territory. With the help of producer Flood (who updated the beats and stretched the band sonically), DM created in the early 1990s two of its best albums: 1990's "Violator" and 1993's "Songs of Faith and Devotion."

"Personal Jesus" and "Enjoy the Silence" (both from "Violator") remain among the group's finest songs, and both found a huge audience in the States and abroad.

After the commercial and artistic highs of the early 1990s, the later part of the decade found the band in disarray. Multi-instrumentalist Alan Wilder left in 1994. Struggling with drug addiction, Dave Gahan attempted suicide in 1995 and suffered a heroin-cocaine "speedball" overdose in 1996. After rehab, Gahan cleaned himself up and has stayed sober for the past nine years.

"All I really saw was blackness," Gahan told Rolling Stone recently. "I was kind of a goner. That was the start of me trying to do something different with my life."

Despite releasing 1997's "Ultra," Depeche Mode went separate ways in the subsequent years. Gahan and Gore explored solo careers, while Fletcher started his own label.

Dealing with the past
Most Depeche Mode zealots fall clearly into one of two categories (and aren't afraid to tell you): 1980s fan or 1990s fan. And for good reason: the band's sound changed dramatically in two decades. Since 2000, Depeche Mode has sought to find the common ground between the two eras while still exploring and finding new sounds.

Bjork producer Mark Bell pushed the trio in new electronic directions on 2001's "Exciter," full of pitter-patter beats and swirling keyboards. Despite the artistic accomplishments, the disc bitterly disappointed commercially. Longtime fans rejected the album (due to the new sounds) while others viewed DM as simply a nostalgic oddity.

On this year's "Playing the Angel," Depeche Mode enlisted producer Ben Hillier (Blur, Doves) to combine all the band's past incarnations into one album.

"Angel" sheds the atmospherics of "Exciter" and reunites the group with more danceable beats. "John the Revelator" finds Gahan crooning at his best, while Gore busts out his guitar again on "Suffer Well." Gahan also pens a few tracks for the first time on a DM album, a major point of contention in the past.

Said Gahan (via depechemode.com): "No matter what you put into the pot, it becomes Depeche Mode."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.

THE BEST OF DEPECHE

After releasing nearly 20 full-length albums and countless EPs, singles and remixes, digging through the Depeche Mode catalog can be an overwhelming experience. But when you boil it all down, DM produced five great albums representing different stages in its career.

So here's Depeche Mode 101, a handful of discs worth the spin:

"Some Great Reward" (1984): Depeche Mode's fifth album serves as a snapshot of the band's early years, giving U.S. listeners their first taste of DM's early synth-driven sound. Singles like "People Are People" and "Master and Servant" brought Depeche's alternative (socially, lyrically and musically) dance sound worldwide.

"Music for the Masses" (1987): Darker, slower, more Goth and less dance party music than "Some Great Reward," DM's ninth album lays on the minor synth chords while giving Gahan free emotional range to accentuate his dramatic vocal style. The album represents an important step in the band's development, moving away from dance floor beats and toward more artistic expression.

"Violator" (1990): Combining the darker themes of "Music for the Masses" and Depeche Mode's earliest experiences creating dance tracks, this album pieced it all together. Thought-provoking enough for the headphones and rhythmic enough for the clubs, this disc struck a chord with youth and turned into DM's most successful album, spawning such hits as "Enjoy the Silence" and "Personal Jesus." Though still primarily fueled by synthesizers, the album has a more organic feel. Case in point: Gore's exploration of bluesy guitars in "Personal Jesus."

"Songs of Faith and Devotion" (1993): Both touched by the expert production of Flood (Nine Inch Nails, U2), "Violator" and this album represent an artistic high-water mark for Depeche Mode. This release finds Gore reaching for his guitar more often than ever before. The result is a brooding and harder-edged sound, juxtaposing guitars and Gahan's pained, plaintive vocals (the singer would attempt suicide two years later).

"Playing the Angel" (2005): Just released, this marks the first DM release since the downtempo atmospherics of 2001's "Exciter" (an experimental outing well worth a listen). Depeche Mode's latest record returns to the well that sprung "Violator" and "Faith and Devotion": smart electronic dance music. Instead of desperately trying to escape DM's past triumphs, "Playing the Angel" embraces them.

– CHRIS NIXON

Britt Daniel ditches gaming for spooning

Spoon counts on its skillful sonic mix

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
November 17, 2005
Before strapping on a guitar full-time for his band Spoon, Britt Daniel worked for Austin, Texas-based computer game maker Origin Systems, composing sonic moods and background noise for games like "Wing Commander" and "Ultima."

"It was a great job," said Daniel during a recent phone call, sounding worn out on a tour stop in Asheville, N.C. "I was making sound effects for video games; that was my first experience with (computer recording software) ProTools."

After departing from a company whose motto was "We Create Worlds," Daniel spent the past decade creating his own world with Spoon. Filled with details like syncopated hand-claps, intricate strings and the occasional beat-boxing, Spoon recordings overflow with studio minutiae and aural niceties. Still, at its core the quartet's five full-length albums are well-crafted indie rock albums.

The band's first two albums – 1996's "Telephono" and 1998's "A Series of Sneaks" – featured less ear candy and more guitar-drums-bass rock. While both records contain aggressive tracks and a punkish guitar sound, they have their mellow moments ("Agony of Laffitte") and a sense of humor ("Laffitte Don't Fail Me Now").

"Sneaks" almost didn't see the light of day after Elektra killed the album's release for lack of a commercial hit in the disc's 16 tracks. Elektra's loss. Spoon self-released the album, then signed with indie label Merge Records for the three albums since.

"Girls Can Tell" – released in 2001 – found Daniel, drummer Jim Eno, bassist Joshua Zarbo and keyboardist Eric Harvey stretching out. The album added more atmospherics and keys while centering around Daniel's gritty vocals. "Kill the Moonlight" followed just a year later in 2002, recorded as "Girls Can Tell" was in Eno's studio in Austin. Mike McCarthy (... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead) helped to create both records, contributing production skills.

"Moonlight" marked Spoon's crowning achievement (to date), ditching rhythm guitars for more sparse composition. The space allowed for more sonic experimentation, giving more weight to Daniel's vocals and lyrics. After an intense touring schedule, the band would have to wait another three years before releasing its next studio album.

You been gone so long, Daniel sings on "The Beast and Dragon, Adored," the opening track from Spoon's 2005 release "Gimme Fiction." Where you been for so long? / I went to places unknown.

Actually, Spoon went on the road, a place where Daniel has difficulty writing songs.

"We've basically been touring a lot (for the past three years)," said Daniel. "I have two four-tracks I use: one at home and one on the road. But it's hard to write on the road. The one at home gets used more."

The new Spoon album displays a penchant for distorted, atonal guitars solos ("My Mathematical Mind" and "The Beast and Dragon, Adored"), but adds strummy acoustic guitars to even out the sound. While not as experimental or edgy as the previous two albums, "Gimme Fiction" stands as a solid collection of tunes performed by a band with passion.

As Daniel sings on "The Beast and Dragon, Adored": I got a feelin' it didn't come free / I got a feelin' and then it got to me / When you don't feel it, it shows they tear out your soul / And when you believe they call it rock and roll.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.

Localese: Tristeza and The KneeHighs

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 10, 2005

After co-founder Jimmy LaValle left Tristeza in 2003 to concentrate on his project the Album Leaf, the end seemed near for the local faves. But original members Christopher Sprague (guitar), Luis Hermosillo (bass) and Jimmy Lehner (drums) instead added Alison Ables (guitar) and Sean Ogilvie (keyboards) and forged ahead.

On "A Colores" (Better Looking Records, four stars), the band's third full-length studio album, the San Diego-based quintet expands upon its legacy. Intertwining guitar laces effortlessly with Lehner's percussive musings and atmospheric keyboards. Tristeza will celebrate the release of the album at the Casbah, 2541 Kettner Blvd. in Middletown, on Dec. 2 ($10; casbahmusic.com).

San Diego is woefully underrepresented in the hip-hop game. Straight outta Serra High School, hip-hop quartet the KneeHighs proudly represent the city on its new release "Global Warming" (self-release, three stars). Name-dropping B.A. Baracus and Blu Blocker sunglasses, three MCs and one DJ unite to spread the good about San Diego, sunshine and party vibes throughout their 10-track debut disc.

On tracks like "America's Finest" (Welcome to the streets of San Diego, welcome to the sunny side of life) and "All Around the World" ("Now we bring it back to Cali with the sun on my face, now we run it like a race because there's ladies in the place"), the MCs exhibit excellent flow, and GarGar lays down smooth, funky tracks while espousing the benefits of living in this town of ours. So if you dig on the hip-hop, check out the KneeHighs next time they grace a local stage.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer. Localese, a monthly column focusing on new local music releases, runs the second Thursday of every month in Night&Day.

In N&D: Staind's Aaron Lewis

Family shifts Staind frontman's outlook

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 10, 2005

'I'm still scared, afraid of failing, anticipating the ride to end before the wheels begin to move sings Staind songwriter and vocalist Aaron Lewis in "Run Away," the opening track from the band's 2005 release "Chapter V."

The 33-year-old singer doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve: He vents his innermost insecurities and angst in his lyrics and in his songs.

"It's the only way I'm able to express my feelings and emotions to that extent," said the even-keeled Lewis during a recent phone call from the unlikely tour stop of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. "I tend to internalize everything and overflow after a while. It's usually the overflow that is the lyrics to the next record."

For Lewis, the ride is really just beginning. With wife Vanessa, the couple gave birth to a daughter, Zoe, in 2002 and most recently added another girl, Nyla Rae, this summer. The family lives in the idyllic confines of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts, serving as a backdrop to Lewis' familial lifestyle away from Staind. The concept of family and fatherhood has completely shifted his perspective on his music and his life.

"Having kids changes your perspective on everything," said Lewis, currently on tour with Chula Vista's P.O.D. and Taproot on the Fall Brawl Tour, which lands at SOMA on Tuesday. "For me – and I hope it's not just me – having kids answered all the questions of 'What's the point?' Now I know what the point is. I know the whole reason I'm here in the first place. That is to make sure that my kids are prepared to go off into this world when the time comes. That's the only real responsibility that I have in life."

In a decade, Lewis' band Staind has elevated itself from regional heroes to internationally known rock stars. When Lewis bumped into guitarist Mike Mushok at a keg party in the band's hometown of Springfield, Mass., the duo had no idea their 1995 chance meeting would evolve into a powerhouse rock group. Along with bassist Johnny April and drummer Jon Wysocki, Staind recorded the self-produced 1996 release "Tormented" within a year of Lewis and Mushok's meeting.

Crunching guitars and Lewis' pained vocals drove the band's sound, catching the eye and ear of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. Durst championed Staind's cause, leading to the band's 1999 major-label debut "Dysfunction." But 2001's "Break the Cycle" propelled the four guys from western Massachusetts into the pop culture limelight.

Riding the crest of the nu-metal wave (along with Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park), singles like "Open Your Eyes," "For You," "Fade" and, especially, the semi-acoustic track "It's Been Awhile" shot up the charts.

"It's kind of funny, but in my life as a musician it kind of made it more difficult," Lewis said. "Now, everybody on the other end of things – record labels, radio stations and everything else – have that success (of 'Breaking the Cycle') to compare everything else to.

"Even though every single record we've put out has gone platinum or better, that one record ensured that every record after it – even though they all went platinum – were viewed as a failure."

"Breaking the Cycle," 2003's "14 Shades of Gray" and "Chapter V" have debuted at Billboard's No. 1 spot, but record sales isn't the reason Staind stays alive.

"Our fans are the only reason we're still here," Lewis said. "Casual listeners come and go; that was made very apparent on 'Break the Cycle.' Your true core fan base is really what decides whether it's time for you to come or whether it's time for you to go. We have some pretty amazing fans, and I think we appreciate them more than they know."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego writer.

Emily Haines measures Madonna vs. Kim Gordon

Metric system: Add chops to sharp lyrics

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2005

'It would certainly help if more girls bothered to be good at their instruments," says Emily Haines, the shapely singer of the Canadian quartet Metric, regarding the stereotypes attractive females face in the music industry. "And there's lots of guys who don't bother either. But it amazes me that it's still pretty revolutionary to have the desire to participate in the musical world and actually want to be judged on the same basis as your peers."

Wielding a Moog synthesizer in one hand and her sharp wit in the other, Haines manages to shred the stereotypes perpetuated by the Madonnas of the world – both in her lyrics and in her quotes from a recent interview during a tour stop in North Carolina.

"The phenomenon of Madonna, my whole life being told that she is someone to admire, is so discouraging," says Haines, whose model good looks take a back seat to her skills as a musician and songwriter. "For me, there is no meat to her music. And then you have someone like Kim Gordon. She's there to play the bass and that's what she does. She's a very attractive, very sexual, very happening woman. The trick is to do what you're standing there to do, and then you won't be a model who sings."

Far from just a singing model, Haines manages to cover a wide spectrum of topics in her lyrics: art, culture and inner battles. As the lead singer and keyboardist of Metric, the 30-year-old artist creates beautifully sad songs sped up and wrapped in layers of chiming pianos and Moog synthesizers.

With her partner, guitarist James Shaw, drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist Josh Winsted, Haines and Metric released 2003's "Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?" Produced by Michael Andrews (who teamed with Gary Jules for "Mad World" on the Donnie Darko soundtrack) and recorded in Los Angeles, "Old World Underground" twists and turns its way through 10 tight packages of infectious nu-wave-influenced indie rock. And Haines' lyrics are sharp and smart: "Old world underground I never knew you / But I've seen your face everywhere / There was a farm before we tore / The small town down / Multiply divide."

After gaining moderate attention for their excellent debut disk, Haines and Shaw relocated to Toronto to record the follow-up album. Instead of employing a producer and buying time at an established studio, the pair decided to rent a space in an older building by the tracks in Toronto and create their own studio space.

"We got this space above a bank," recalls Haines. "Streetcars go around the building constantly, so we were afraid the sound would leak. There were a lot of ways it could've gone wrong. We really wanted this to be a good record. We wanted to step it up, you know?"

The result, this year's "Live It Out," packs a punch, fueled more by Shaw's guitar than Haines' keyboard.

"That's what you get when the guitar player produces the record," laughs Haines. "But I like it; I felt it was a more natural recording. I really enjoyed working with Mike Andrews, but a lot of the extra nu-wavey stuff was a result of his vision for the band and how he makes music. But we were going for something a little different."

The sound may have shifted, but the lyrics remain rife with razor wit and intelligent introspection: "Promiscuous makes an entrance / Her mouth is full of questions / Are we all brides to be / Are we all designed to be confined / Buy ourselves chastity belts and lock them / Organize our lives and lose the key / Our faces all resemble dying roses / From trying to fix it."

"My songwriting has also adapted more to the group," says Haines, who will play the Casbah Saturday. "I was really writing with these guys in mind this time. The point of being a musician is to always be getting better. I think we feel like we've all grown as players and we just wanted to enjoy what we were playing."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

My Morning Jacket: Broemel fits nicely

MMJ carries torch for Southern rock

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2005

The young upstart who signs a major label deal (in the band Old Pike), the hired gun playing sessions in Los Angeles (after the major label dumps the band) and even an aspiring actor, they're all part of My Morning Jacket.

Guitarist Carl Broemel, who has played varied and various roles during his musical career, is playing a different role now: He's creating music in MMJ, one of today's most promising young bands.

"A part of me died when my first band got signed and broke up," said Broemel from Boston as My Morning Jacket prepared to play a show at the Beantown venue Avalon. "I had a band called Old Pike in Indiana; we made a record in '98. I thought we were going to go out and conquer the world, the five of us, and make the music we wanted to make. After Old Pike broke up, I approached music as more of a job.

"After a while, it was really wearing thin and I wasn't even sure if I wanted to play. I almost gave it up and got a day job until I got the call (to audition for My Morning Jacket). It's almost fulfilling the original promise of Old Pike with this band: the five of us going out and doing as much good work as we can."

My Morning Jacket – a five-piece band from Louisville, Ky. – gained initial exposure with 1999's "The Tennessee Fire" and 2001's "At Dawn," both on independent label Darla. The group's brand of strummy, harmonic Southern rock caught the eye of Dave Matthews' ATO label, which promptly signed the quintet.

Critical acclaim came after 2003's "It Still Moves," a moody collection of 12 tunes drawing on such classic influences as Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young. Fueled by the songwriting and semi-falsetto vocals of Jim James, MMJ asserted itself in the forefront of a Southern rock revival started by bands like Drive-By Truckers.

As incessant touring in support of "It Still Moves" wore on, original members Danny Cash (keyboards) and Johnny Quaid (guitar) decided to quit the band. After their departure in January 2004, the band questioned whether to continue. Frontman James – along with original members Patrick Hallahan (drums) and Two-Tone Tommy (bass) – held auditions in hopes of finding the right fit. The first two musicians to walk in the room were Broemel and keyboardist Bo Koster.

"They had never really played with musicians who weren't friends of theirs from Louisville," said Broemel. "I think it was an awkward situation for them and an awkward situation for us. (But), for whatever reason, it felt right."

Newly rejuvenated with Koster and Broemel on board, My Morning Jacket sought to record a new studio album. Quaid's grandparents farm on the outskirts of Louisville had served as the birthplace of MMJ's previous three studio albums. Now, the band searched for a new beginning.

With the help of producer John Lackie (Pink Floyd, Radiohead), the band ventured north to the hills of upstate New York (Allaire Studios) to lay down tracks for its next record.

This year's "Z" finds My Morning Jacket stretching out from its Southern rock roots while never allowing the past to completely disappear from the rearview mirror.

"I don't think there's any method or formula to what we did," said Broemel. "Jim wrote a bunch of killer songs and we went in and tried to make them real."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

RFTC: 'Ours was the party to be at'

Rocket From the Crypt bows out on its own terms, 'celebrating life and having fun'

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
October 27, 2005

John Reis, lead singer of Rocket From the Crypt and founder of Swami Records, sits in his Golden Hill home and speaks via telephone of the spirituality of a live show, musing on the connection between band and audience in a rock 'n' roll holy communion.

"Loud, amplified rock 'n' roll music has the ability to penetrate to your core," said Reis, who also goes by the moniker Speedo or simply the Swami. "It's almost like a communion. Many people go to large sporting events. Many people go to church. Some people watch NASCARs drive around in a circle. These are things that make you feel part of a bigger whole. For us, it's the band and the people who like this music."

After 16 years riding the major-label/indie-label roller coaster and leaving blood and sweat on stages all over the world, Reis and his longtime bandmates in RFTC have one more chance to break bread and drink a little wine with its fans. Calling Halloween their "favorite day of the year," the San Diego-based sextet will call it quits after its annual Oct. 31 show this coming Monday at the Westin Hotel downtown.

Rocket From the Crypt's long journey began back in 1989. Rising from the ashes of San Diego punk band Pitchfork, Reis teamed with bassist Petey X and guitarist ND to form RFTC. The band had one mission: to create an unparalleled live show and blow away audiences with its raucous blend of 1960s dirty rock and 1980s punk: "I wanted to go out and play shows. I wanted to cruise around in a van and I wanted to see the world."

With the addition of trumpet player JC2000, saxophonist Apollo Nine and drummer Atom Willard (later replaced by Ruby Mars), Rocket created a dense rock 'n' roll cacophony. Complete with layers of horns and thrashing drums, Reis' throaty vocals spurred the juggernaut to new heights of rock ecstasy. The volatile live shows – gaining new Rocket converts at each stop – assaulted unsuspecting audiences and caught the attention of Interscope Records.

"We wanted to make music," Reis reminisced. "Rocket From the Crypt has always been about celebrating life and having fun. We've always championed the resourcefulness that we have. I don't think any of us were born with tremendous skills. But as a group, we come together and make the best of the meager talents we have."

After releasing "Paint as a Fragrance" on indie label Headhunter in 1991 and "Circa: Now!" on Cargo in 1992, Interscope came calling during the major-label rush on San Diego during the post-Seattle grunge explosion. The label re-released "Circa: Now!" and gave Rocket the opportunity to tour.

"It was a turning point," remembered Reis. "It made everyone in the band think about it seriously. We weren't going to have other jobs. We weren't going to have much of a life outside of the band.

"This was our opportunity to completely immerse ourselves in this thing. We went from practicing five days a week to practicing seven days a week. And we went from practicing five hours to practicing 10 hours a day. We were very serious about being the best in the world in terms of wherever we were playing that night, that was the place to be. No matter what else was happening on the planet, ours was the party to be at."

After a few albums with Interscope, the band found modest success in America and the United Kingdom. But Reis said commercial success was never the goal: "If a Top 10 hit was the goal, I think we would've had studio musicians, studio singers, a stand-in model band and changed our name."

In 2001, RFTC switched to Vagrant Records, subsequently recording 2001's "Group Sounds" and 2002's "Live From Camp X-Ray." Despite the acceptance of both albums by critics and fans, the six musicians in Rocket From the Crypt found different forms of expression.

Reis concentrated on his label, Swami Records, also recording and touring with Hot Snakes and the Sultans. Other members spread throughout the San Diego music scene and beyond.

Over the past few years, Rocket shows have been few and far between, with the last recorded output coming on "Camp X-Ray." Reis is surprised at the public outcry upon hearing RFTC will be unplugging the amps for good.

"I don't know why people have such a hard time believing it's for real," said Reis. "Maybe because people know we don't hate each other and we're still really good friends. Maybe on a bad night we're still pretty good. This might not necessarily be everybody in the band's opinion, but since we're not working on anything new and we're resigned to playing the same songs we've been playing for the last 15 years, there really can't be much of a future in that. Rocket From the Crypt is not going to be playing at the Dream Catcher lounge. That's not our destiny."

Without dedicating their lives to Rocket, Reis feels it's better to hang it up: "We're at this point where I don't think we could ever get back to where we were without completely turning our lives over again. And no one is willing to do that. Been there, done that. Loved it. Had a great time. Saw the world. If we did have a mission, I'd say that we definitely accomplished it."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.


ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT LINEUP
John "Speedo" Reis – lead vocals, guitar

N.D. – guitar

Petey X – bass, vocals

Apollo Nine – sax, percussion, vocals

JC2000 – trumpet, percussion, vocals

Ruby Mars – drums


RFTC DISCOGRAPHY
"Live From Camp X-Ray" (2002, Vagrant)

"Group Sounds" (2001, Vagrant)

"RFTC" (1998, Interscope)

"Scream Dracula, Scream!" (1995, Interscope)

"Hot Charity" (1995, Interscope)

"The State of Art Is on Fire" (1995, Interscope)

"Circa: Now!" (1992, Interscope)

"Paint as a Fragrance" (1991, Headhunter)


GOING A FEW ROUNDS WITH SPEEDO
Rocket leader John "Speedo" Reis took a few minutes to face the speed round of questions during his recent interview. Under the hot glare of the spotlight, he kept his cool:

Favorite Rocket tune to play live: "I like the talking between the songs. The banter."

Best San Diego venue to play: "The Casbah is the best place."

Favorite guitar to strap on: "I have a (Gibson) Les Paul that weighs 75 pounds. It's injected with brass to give it more sustain. And then I have a (Gibson) SG that weighs like four pounds and is made of mostly balsa wood. I would go for the brass-injected Les Paul, but I think I need a tripod for it."

Which is more satisfying, running a label or being in a band: "Hard to say because they are so different, but there is nothing more satisfying than making music."

Where Speedo chills: "I'm kind of a 'pier' guy: sometimes the Shelter Island pier, sometimes the O.B. pier; if I can afford the gas, the I.B. pier, Crystal Pier sometimes."

Speedo's favorite mode of transportation: "Kayak. Sit-on-top kayak. The Swami-mobile is great (Reis' big van with his record-label logo painted on the side), but it cost me $87 to fill it up the last time. There's no way I can spend that much money just to drive to the Pannikin."

San Diego band most likely to carry on in the RFTC tradition: "I would hate to pin our fate on anyone else. But I really see The Locust as a band that's playing a lot of shows. They have the entertainment factor in the sense that they have a stage persona. They seem to be conscious of more than just the music, the imagery of the band. They're intense and they're a really hard-working band. Sonically, we're a bit different, but they have the same work ethic."

Why stay in San Diego: "It's the best place in the world to live. I've seen a lot of other cities and spent more than just a day in them, and there's so much to offer here. That said, I can understand why people come here and might not like it. If you're into leisurely living, if you like the beach, if you like the sun, if you like cruising around in a loincloth in your dune buggy, then it's a great city to be in."

– CHRIS NIXON

Combo pack: Calexico, Iron & Wine

Calexico collaborated with Iron & Wine and a 'lot of things came together' quickly

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
October 13, 2005

With a touch of desert noir and spaghetti Western beauty, the Tuscon-based band Calexico dwells in the wide-open spaces of the Southwest. Formed in 1996 by ex-Giant Sand members Joey Burns and John Convertino, Calexico lives in the musical territory of the border town: not quite Mexico, not quite the United States. Mingling the passion of dual mariachi trumpets, dreamy vibraphones and the twang of the pedal steel, the band takes an ambient, improvisational approach to traditional Mexican-American music.

Along with a bevy of Calexico albums, Burns and Convertino have explored the art of collaboration by producing and backing a handful of worthy artists: Neko Case (on 2002's "Blacklisted"), Panóptica of the Nortec Collective ("Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 3") and Los Super Seven (Tex-Mex supergroup, well worth checking out).

But its latest collaboration with indie folk artist Iron & Wine – aka Sam Beam – may be Calexico's most interesting pairing. During a four-day recording session in December 2004, Calexico and Iron & Wine laid down tracks for seven Beam-penned songs. Eventually released as the EP "He Lays in the Reins" in September, the disc combines Beam's quiet introspective folk and Calexico's Southwestern atmospherics.

"I think over the years Joey's become more of a songwriter," says Calexico drummer Convertino via cell phone from Brooklyn, where the duo is mixing a new Calexico album due in the spring. "But initially, our songs were based in the instrumental vein. We come from a more instrumental, ambient foundation. Sam definitely comes from a singer-songwriter foundation. I think that was a great combination."

The chemistry between the musicians is evident on first listen, from the title track (which also features Mexican singer Salvador Duran) to the hushed folk meets marimba musings of "Dead Man's Will." The whole affair felt natural for Convertino, despite having never met Beam before recording in Tucson.

"From hearing the demos, I was thinking 'This is going to be a very quiet situation. We're going to have to be playing really softly,'" Convertino recalls. "(Beam) actually wanted to go the other way more: still be inside the song and sensitive to what the song is doing, but not hold back. It wasn't like we had to think about it that much. The way he played and sang, it was a pretty natural process for Joey and me to do the basic tracks of the record. A lot of things came together in two or three takes."

The speedy process of recording, mixing and touring in support of "He Lays in the Reins" all within one year gives the music an immediacy not normally found in collaborative albums.

"There's something great about when you record a record (in four days), then you mix it and you release it," says Convertino. "There's a certain kind of momentum that goes along with it. Howard Greynolds – the owner of Overcoat Records – put the whole thing together. He's been in the business long enough to see when the music is recorded and mixed and released and toured (in a short period of time), it's all one breath."

Convertino says shows on the present tour – which stops at the House of Blues Monday – will consist of a set by Iron & Wine (Sam Beam and his band), a set by Calexico and then a final set with both Beam and Calexico onstage together. For Convertino, the sense of exploration and momentum that fueled the recording process is sure to spill over to the collaborators' tour: "We've only played one or two songs live, so we're really looking forward to getting onstage and seeing what happens."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

BRMC: A time to 'Howl'

'Good music' is still the root of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's new sound

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
October 6, 2005

Fire and brimstone. Shout and holler. Hand claps and foot stomps. These are the trademark sounds of American roots and gospel music.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – known for its fuzzy shoe-gazer guitar rock and 1960s psychedelia on its first two albums – draws on these inspirations for its latest album, "Howl," released in August.

As guitarist Peter Hayes speaks via cell phone from Los Angeles, he says he's having his faith tested by the trials of everyday life: "Right now, I'm standing outside a liquor store and waiting for a tow truck to tow my car. So be it."

From the opening harmonies of "Howl's" first track, "Shuffle Your Feet," in which Hayes and vocalist Peter Levon Been sing Time won't save our souls, it's easy to hear BMRC is traveling down a different road from its 2001's eponymous album and 2003's "Take Them On, On Your Own." It's a dusty dirt road traveled by troubadours from Leadbelly to Johnny Cash.

"It just comes down to trying to write a good song," said Hayes about the decision to focus on acoustic instruments on "Howl." "The spirit of rock 'n' roll lives beyond an electric guitar. I think Johnny Cash proved that and I think a bunch of other people proved it. It doesn't have a whole lot to do with how you play. It has to do with how you live."

Hayes has lived through his ups-and-down when it comes to his band.

After finishing the tour schedule in support of "Take Them On, On Your Own," the guitarist decided to go on hiatus from BRMC. In fact, the group's future seemed to be in jeopardy.

Part of Hayes' frustration came from constant comparisons to the 1990s alt-rock band Jesus and Mary Chain and misunderstandings about Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's image.

"I guess I was the first guy to say, 'I need to stop and take a break because I'm not enjoying it like I want to,'" said Hayes. "It didn't feel like people were really listening to what was being said by us in a way. There was a lot of talk about grumpy, moody musicians that didn't like to talk. "Either you like the music or you don't. I decided I would just go away for a while and keep the music to myself. But that's not the reason we started this band. We feel like we have a point: We want to get good music heard by people who are interested in hearing good music. That's the overriding thing; that's more important than any of our attitudes or politics.

"We'd always be asked what bands we were into, and we'd say 'Edith Piaf, Johnny Cash, Syd Barrett, the Beatles,'" continued Hayes. "And then they'd come out and say, 'This band sounds like Jesus and Mary Chain.' So why did I bother telling you what I liked then? So now, we get to talk about Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash instead of Jesus and Mary Chain."

The result is the joyous, transcendent sound of "Howl," 11 tracks timing out at just over 52 minutes, ranging from the foot-stomping rollicking good time of "Shuffle Your Feet" to the darker acoustic waters of the final track, "The Line."

Hayes said he feels that moving in a more acoustic direction is not a colossal stretch for the trio.

"This is the type of music we've been making since the beginning," Hayes said. "We'd start playing in the living room of a house and the neighbors would get (mad) if were still playing. So we'd have to turn (the amps) off and play acoustic guitars. We've had a lot of songs written on acoustic guitars. We were really subtle with the acoustic guitars on the other albums, but it's always been there."

The album has a flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants enthusiasm and is BRMC's best album to date. That enthusiasm has translated to the handful of shows since "Howl's" release.

"We were playing a club in London called Scala," said Hayes, who brings BMRC to Brick by Brick in Bay Park tomorrow night. "And I just remember looking up and seeing smiles in the crowd all the way to the back of the room. That's the way it's supposed to be."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

ARTISTS, ALBUMS AND SONGS THAT HELPED SHAPE "HOWL"
Johnny Cash "Blood, Sweat & Tears" (1963): "When we record, we really don't listen to any records," said Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Peter Hayes. "But on this one, when we were mixing, we were listening to 'Blood, Sweat & Tears' by Johnny Cash. We were trying to get the acoustic guitar sound from that album. We really wanted to steer away from the majority of acoustic music, even the new country acoustic guitar sound. That stuff sounds real jingly and shiny and high-tech. We wanted a warm real wood sound."

Little Walter, Sam Cooke and Sister Rosetta Tharpe: It's clear Hayes and the rest of BRMC listened to a lot of traditional gospel and roots music, leading up to the recording of "Howl," including the holy trinity of Little Walter, Sam Cooke and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. "Gospel music was in mind when we made the album, but it wasn't expected," said Hayes. "We really didn't want to go down that road, because so many people have done it and done it well. We thought about it, but it wasn't something we were going to go for. The point gets across, but we're just white guys living in Los Angeles. We're not trying to do anything but make good music."

Leadbelly, "Pick a Bale of Cotton": Huddie William Ledbetter, aka Leadbelly, lived from 1885 to 1949 and twice sang his way out of jail sentences. Folklorists Neil and Alan Lomax ran across Leadbelly in the Louisiana State Penitentiary while traveling the South and recording traditional songs for the Library of Congress. The blues singer provided a link from Pete Seeger, the Weavers and the rest of the mid-century folk revivalists back to the original breeding ground of traditional blues and folk music in the South. Hayes says: "As far as using vocals in rhythmic patterns, Leadbelly is amazing."

– CHRIS NIXON

Power duo

The Kills: 'With two people, everything is just much more intense'

By Chris Nixon
Special to the San Diego Union-Tribune
September 22, 2005

From the opening drum machine pitter-patter of "No Wow," the title track from the Kills' second album, it's clear this duo takes the indie rock boy-girl formula to gloriously extremes.

Boy-girl duos like Sweden's the Raveonettes heap on overdubbed harmonies and echo-laden guitars. Others, like the White Stripes' Jack and Meg White, pull off octopus-armed gymnastics during their lives shows to fill in the gaps left by a two-person band in the quartet-dominated ranks of rock.

The Kills – vocalist VV (Alison Mosshart) and guitarist Hotel (Jamie Hince) – celebrate the sparseness created by two musicians and a drum machine. VV's powerful voice and Hotel's penchant for bluesy distorted guitar riffs fit together naturally, while the lack of a bass player and live drummer only accentuates the Kills' skills.

When you live life as a duo, the spotlight shines a bit brighter. But "there are a lot less people to blame," admited Hotel during a recent phone conversation from Great Britain.

"There are just two of us, the whole thing becomes a lot more intense," said the Londoner , now resting between tours in support of "No Wow." "When it's a celebration, it's great because it's all focused on one of us. But when bad things happen or things aren't working out, it's a lot harder."

In a previous life as simply Jamie Hince, Hotel sang and played guitar in a UK outfit called Scarfo. The band released a self-titled album in 1996 on the indie label Broken ReKids (a worthwhile listen if you can find a copy), so Hotel has been around the business a while and knows a bit about group dynamics.

"I've been in bands with three or four different people," said Hotel. "Everybody has their own personality and they tend to dilute the situation. With two people, everything is just much more intense: the good thing and bad things. There are less people to delegate work to. We have total control over all our artwork, we produce our records, but it's a lot harder work."

Now living as an expat in London, VV met Hotel on a trip to London while she was still living in Florida. They made music together by sending tapes across the Atlantic, until the dark-haired Mosshart decided to pack everything she owned into a few suitcases and move to London.

Mosshart and Hince officially joined forces in the Kills in 2000, changing their stage name to VV and Hotel. Soon after, the band recorded the self-released "Black Rooster EP" followed by nonstop touring.

In 2003, the Kills released "Keep on Your Mean Side" on Rough Trade records. Recorded in two weeks after a tour of the United States, the record's 12 tracks feature the now-trademark stripped-down sound associated with the Kills. Equal parts fuzzy blues and garage rock, the album garnered the two musicians a major-label deal on RCA records.

The process of going from an indie label to RCA has been relatively easy for the fiercely independent Hotel, a fact he still finds surprising.

"It's funny, because I think a lot of people – me included – have certain ideas about the stereotypes of independent and major labels," said Hotel. "One thing I've found in working with the two is that it's often the independents that are the most corporate. It's been my experience that certain independent labels want more creative control than a major label. With RCA, it's more of a tape-delivery service. We just give them what we've recorded and they distribute it."

With the pressures of moving to a major label, the band wanted to keep the songwriting and recording process as immediate and visceral as possible.

"With the 'No Wow' record, we wanted to make a record in really different circumstances from how we've made records before and from how most bands make records," said Hotel. "We felt on top of the world after we made 'Keep on Your Mean Side.' Rather than go into the process with a lot of fear about expectations, stepping it up a gear and getting on the radio, we wanted to find what was at the heart of the Kills.

"We wanted to find out what our instinctive sound was," added the guitarist. "To do that, we didn't want to overthink things or make it too academic. We just wanted to see what we would come up with from pure gut instinct, so we wrote the record really quickly.

"Now, we need to sit down and figure another way of writing. I want each record to have its own picture and not just be a set of songs. I want the set of circumstances be just as important as the result."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

>FIVE THAT MATTER TO THE KILLS' HOTEL
During a recent conversation, Hotel (Jamie Hince), the Kills' guitarist Hotel, braved a bad cross-Atlantic telephone connection to give five albums that shaped his musical tastes and his artistic direction in life:

Velvet Underground & Nico, "Velvet Underground & Nico" (1967, Verve): "The first Velvet Underground record has always been a benchmark for me. I'm kind of romantic about that scene: New York in the late '60s. That's kind of what I aspire to: a band that incorporates literature – like Allan Ginsberg – and Andy Warhol with art and the politics of the time and the filmmakers were all part and parcel of the Velvet Underground. The periphery of the scene was just as important as the band itself. When you listen to what other bands are doing in 1967, I think that the Velvet Underground is quite incredible."

P.J. Harvey, "Rid of Me" (1993, Island): "She really changed things for me. The record was so in-your-face and brutal. It turned me onto blues really. I thought blues was boring until P.J. Harvey made 'Rid of Me.' It got me into Captain Beefheart, it got me listening to Howlin' Wolf and tracing it back to Charlie Patton."

LCD Soundsystem, "LCD Soundsystem" (2005, Capitol): "This is pretty much my favorite record form the last year and my favorite band of the moment. It's really powerful music. I think James Murphy is an incredible frontman and the words are really cool. It just sounds like it should have always been around. I can't imagine that record not being here now. It was a classic record the week it came out."

Royal Trux, "Accelerator" (1998, Drag City): "I've always associated with Neil Haggerty and Jennifer (Herrema), that kind of male-female duo at the core of this band. There was a kind of romanticism about it and at the same time a self-destructive quality about it. From start to finish, this is an amazing record. It's super-catchy and pushing boundaries as far as ideas. I love that record."

Wire, "Pink Flag" (1993, Restless Records): "I would definitely grab that record if my house caught on fire. (Wire) was always involved in the punk scene, but it was always doing something different. It was a little too arty for the punks, and a little bit too punky for the art kids. The band made amazing records not trying to sound like anyone else, not trying to fit in. All of the bands I've mentioned suffered for just making the kind of record they wanted to make without caring about commercial success. That's definitely the case with Wire."

– CHRIS NIXON

Roots music from a different root

Nortec Collective adds a new dimension to annual Adams Avenue Street Fair

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
September 22, 2005

'The writer Andre Breton basically said Mexico is the most surreal country in the world. If that's the case, then Tijuana is the entry point to most surreal country in the world," says Jorge Verdin, aka Clorofila, a member of the Tijuana-based electronic music cooperative known as the Nortec Collective.

Verdin and the rest of the Nortec Collective find inspiration in Tijuana's surreal back alleys and the bright lights of Avenida Revolución, their music representing the past and future of northern Mexican all in the same breath.

Saturday night, the Nortec Collective brings its distinct sound from Avenida Revolución to Adams Avenue, as the group headlines the Park Jazz & Latin Stage of the 2005 Adams Avenue Street Fair.

Based around the work of five electronic musicians – Bostich (Ramon Amezcua), Fussible (Pepe Mogt), Hiporboreal (Pedro Beas), Panoptica (Roberto Mendoza) and Clorofila (Verdin) – the collective melds the booming tuba of traditional northern Mexican musical styles with the cutting-edge beats of electronic dance music into its own surreal style of music.

Brought to northern Mexico by German immigrants, norteño and tambora resemble a Latino-influenced polka music. Substituting the tuba for traditional stand-up double bass, along with brassy arrangements and marching drum snare, tambora represents a slamming together of cultures: Germanic and Mexican. Add to the mix Tijuana's border culture, and you find Nortec's distinctly urban sound.

"If you grew up in Tijuana, you grew up listening to (norteño and tambora) whether you wanted to or not," says Verdin during a lunch break from his day job, where he works as an art director in an advertising department in the Los Angeles area. "That's what's on the radio, that's what the cab drivers listen to, that's what the neighbor listens to really loudly. You don't really give it much thought, because that's what the masses listen to. Later on, I started realizing the worth of it."

With the release of 2001's "The Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 1," Clorofila, along with the rest of the Nortec Collective, burst onto the international dance scene. The music's highly percussive nature resembles Latin-tinged drum 'n'bass, with ambient keyboards and horns added on top of churning beats.

After the album's release on the trendy World Music label Palm Pictures, the five musicians found themselves as unwilling poster children for the Tijuana art scene and unwitting representatives of border culture.

"We've been given this role of 'cultural ambassadors of the Tijuana arts scene,' but we're really not that involved in the arts scene," said Verdin, commenting on the sudden exposure granted the collective in 2001. "And we're not ambassadors, because if you're an ambassador you're putting a good face on the city.

"You're selling Tijuana as this great, wonderful place. We really don't do that. We show a lot of the gnarly side of Tijuana. There're a lot of cultural issues that you can't synthesize down into a soundbite. It's a really complex situation, and often it's a disagreeable, nasty situation."

After a legal tangle with Palm Pictures, the scrapping of "Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 2" and a five-year hiatus from releasing discs as a collective, Nortec returned this year with "Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 3." The album sounds as fresh as the original 2001 release, with the added bonus of more live musicians this time around.

"Everyone wanted to use live musicians more this time to round out the sound a little bit," said Verdin. "Using samples was a cool place to start, but after a while you get sick of manipulating samples and being restricted by what's already been recorded. It was just more natural to have a musician play something instead of twisting samples to sound the way you want."

With the addition of Nortec Collective to the historically acoustic and rootsy Adams Avenue Street Fair, some traditionalists might cringe at the inclusion of electronic music. But Verdin disagrees: "The source of where we get our sound is mainly a traditional regional music of Mexico. So to me, it's not that far of a stretch."

The free festival stretches across two days, with 70 bands on six stages drawing thousands of Americana, roots rock and traditional music fans to Normal Heights.

Just for the day, Normal Heights might prove more surreal than Tijuana itself.

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Graham Parker in Night&Day

Parker is still battling against the 'agenda'

By Chris Nixon
For The San Diego Union-Tribune
July 28, 2005

'You've got to own every channel, if you want to own every mind," rails Graham Parker in his trademark gravelly voice on "Vanity Press," the opening track on his 2005 album "Songs of No Consequence."

The latest barrage in a career full of sharp literate lyrics, "Vanity Press" takes a sardonic look at an overbearing media.

Parker's been cutting to the chase with his songs for 30 years. On his 1976 debut album ("Howlin' Wind"), he sang: War mongers laughing loud behind a painted face / Throwing tidbits to the crowd then blowing up the place. On 1988's "Don't Let It Break You Down," he sang, Some people are in charge of pens that shouldn't be in charge of brooms / They have the nerve to rip up a man's life in a paragraph or two.

"I think there was so much pent emotion and rage when I was young," said the 54-year-old songwriter from his home in upstate New York. "There are very intense songs like 'Don't Ask Me Questions'; people have described it as political in a way. It's railing against establishment and 'war mongers' and all that stuff. But I'm doing it in a way that isn't literal.

"'Vanity Press' is much more literal because it mentions current events and the current media (environment), but it still doesn't put it in a bland folk singer kind of way," continued Parker in his gritty British accent. "Right now, basically (the novel) '1984' is here. It's all fake news. Basically, Jon Stewart is more accurate than what you see on most of these networks. There's very little real reporting that gets through now. People are too scared. There is too much agenda going on."

After recording 16 full-length albums, songwriting has always been Parker's strength. As a lad growing up in London, he listened to underground ska and American soul music. After a brief interlude into '60s psychedelia, Parker rekindled his love for Motown and ska legends like Desmond Dekker. And that's when he found his voice as a songwriter,

"I think I wrote my first song when I was 13; it was a sort of Beatles rip-off," remembers Parker. "But I couldn't play guitar. I'm a very slow learner in everything, and I'm still learning. It's probably the reason my career has such longevity, because I'm still figuring it out."

By immersing himself in the soulful pop hooks of the Supremes and the Four Tops while staying true to the edgy British music of the '70s, Parker found widespread fame with his band Graham Parker and the Rumour. With his 1976 release "Howlin' Wind," British critics discovered Parker's ability to turn a phrase and stick a chorus in your head for weeks. But the band's fourth studio album -– 1978's "Squeezing Out Sparks" -- is a portrait of a songwriter and a band hitting their stride. The group went their separate ways after 1980's "The Up Escalator," but the experience of working with the Rumour helped Parker's abilities as an arranger.

"The songs that became my first album, they were skeletal. The Rumour werevery experienced musicians, so they basically taught me through osmosis what arrangement was and how to make a song full of detail," said Parker. "So that comes naturally to me now."

This year, Parker teamed with Saratoga Springs, N.Y.-based trio the Figgs for "Songs of No Consequence," 12 tracks that highlight the songwriter's words in tight rock packages like "Vanity Press," "Bad Chardonnay" and "Chloroform." He's currently touring the West Coast with Figgs guitarist Mike Gent as the Graham Parker Duo, playing acoustic sets.

"Everything I do is a rock 'n' roll record," says Parker, who performs with Gent Tuesday at the Casbah. "Even if it's very acoustic oriented, it still rock 'n' roll, 'cause rock 'n' roll is an attitude not a tempo."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

From Fela to Femi, Afrobeat lives on

Femi Kuti carries on, and expands, a family tradition

By Chris Nixon
FOR THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE
July 22, 2005

'Fe-la," "Fe-la."

Traffic is stopped on the crowded streets of Lagos, Nigeria. It's 1975, a time of political and social unrest. Musician and activist Fela Anikulapo-Kuti walks from his home to his nightclub, the Afrika Shrine. People stand on their cars to catch a glimpse of the man: small in stature but large in presence. Fela – rarely seen in more than just Speedo shorts – struts to his club, where his band, Afrika 70, will perform its high-octane African funk into the wee hours.

The crowd chants his name, over and over: "Fe-la," "Fe-la."

Much like the meaning of his name Anikulapo – "the one who holds death in his pouch" – Fela Kuti's musical and political vision lives beyond his time on Earth.

Today, 30 years later, Fela's son walks in his footsteps. Much like his dad, Femi Kuti rails against oppressive governments. He blows his sax sweet and hard, like an African Maceo Parker setting forth an inferno of pelvic thrusts and gyrating, sweaty bodies. And he plays a funkified form of African music created by his father: Afrobeat.

Melding the joyous prolonged sounds of African high-life music with the down-dirty grit of James Brown and the Horny Horns, Fela created politically charged music. Femi Kuti has taken the mantle laid down by his father when he passed away in 1998 (from AIDS complications), moving Afrobeat into the modern era.

But it's not easy to fill the shoes of a man who was practically worshipped as a god in his homeland of Nigeria.

Femi seems comfortable with the comparisons: "It is a thing that is natural and a great honor for me," says the prodigal son recently. "But my music I feel now stands by itself."

Emerging from his father's shadow, Femi's music and message deserve to stand on their own. His two studio releases – "Shoki Shoki" in 1999 and 2001's "Fight to Win" – paint a picture of a man struggling with abject poverty and a corrupt government.

Much to Femi's chagrin, the plight of Nigerians has not improved much since the days of Fela Kuti. Mixing traditional Afrobeat funk with electronic beats and a touch of hip-hop, Femi's music uses songs as a podium to inform the world. Femi tries to raise consciousness of everyday trials and tribulations in Nigeria with every note.

Since his father's death, Femi has rebuilt Fela's Afrika Shrine in the Nigerian capital of Lagos. Part music venue and part community center, the Shrine also serves as Femi's home when he's not on tour. He holds weekly jam sessions called "Sunday Jumps," where Nigerians gather and dance away their daily strife.

In a combo DVD and live CD release titled "Live at the Shrine" released this year, Femi allows cameras into his life, giving a tour of the Shrine along with combined footage from a series of electric live shows at the venue. Complete with a full horn section, a troop of African dancers and a legion of musicians, Femi's band plays an epic set of his Afrobeat tunes in the 87-minute documentary.

"In the Shrine in Lagos, everyone knows my music and comes week after week," Kuti says. "But audiences everywhere are getting to know the music now also."

Whether in Lagos or at San Diego's new House of Blues, where Femi and his band will perform Saturday, audiences come away from a Kuti show with an evening of dancing and plenty of food for thought.

"I want people to have a good time but to also think about the message," Kuti muses.

Like the opening words by Kuti on "Live at the Shrine," the House of Blues crowd can expect a dance-happy, politically infused performance from Femi and his large African orchestra: "We are here to make you happy and give you all the good music you deserve."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.

Classic cruisin through the county

Taking it to the streets

Thousands of S.D. classic-automobile owners participate in cruise nights across the county – 'We enjoy the cars together'

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
June 30, 2005

"I met my wife through owning this car," says Dave Keetch as he leans out the window of his baby-blue 1955 Thunderbird convertible during a recent Cajon Classic Cruise in downtown El Cajon.

Keetch purchased the car in 1966, but needed a little help to tow the car in 1974. The rest is history.

"The first date with my wife was to go pick up the tow bar and our second date was to actually tow the car to the garage," says Keetch about the passion for classic cars he shares with his wife, Cindy. "And she's been with me ever since. We'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary this June."

The Keetches aren't alone in their passion: They are part of a growing community of San Diego classic-car owners joining clubs and attending cruises. Keetch – a member of the Car Club Council of Greater San Diego – estimates there are 4,000 to 6,000 members in 97 clubs countywide.

El Cajon has a rich history of attracting gearheads and classic-car collectors. The city plays host to the Cajon Classic Cruise, the largest weekly car show in Southern California. Escondido, La Mesa and Chula Vista are among other county spots joining the fun.

The common theme? The cars, the camaraderie, the community.

"We're all trying to do the same thing: We're all reliving an era that's gone past," says Keetch of the different events around San Diego County. "We enjoy the cars together. You step out onto the street and it's almost like you're stepping back in time."

In El Cajon – as with many other S.D. cruises – organizations work with the city to close off Main Street. Cars are usually arranged by type and era. Owners park their cars and set up lawn chairs. They reminisce and reacquaint themselves with their fellow enthusiasts.

It all has a small-town feel to it: "The people are nice, and everybody has a common interest," says Keetch. "You talk about old times and what you used to do."

"Here's the way I look at it: It takes you back to an easier, more gentler time," says Keetch. "Things weren't quite as hectic as they are today. Traffic

wasn't as bad. I love the music. You could leave your house unlocked. It was nice era, people were more friendly then. So it's kind of a sentimental thing more than anything else."

Keetch has been involved in San Diego's classic car scene for decades, and he sees more people each year discovering the simple pleasures of car restoration.

"My wife and I founded the Pontiac club here in San Diego about 16 years ago," says Keetch. "I'm also a charter member of the Classic Thunderbird Club here in San Diego. In '81, I helped found the Convertible Club. So I've been in a few different clubs that I helped found and I've watched them grow. It's been very satisfying."

From lovers of lowriders to vintage Harleys, Southern California provides a perfect home for vehicle revivalists, combining a mild climate and a bevy of classic vehicles to choose from: "It could not be better because of the weather. Where else can you cruise with the top down year-round?"

Chris Nixon is a San Diego freelance writer.


'IT REALLY DRAWS A CROWD'
Marc Henry's 1953 Flexible Clipper bus stands out in a crowd. The 33-foot-long renovated classic has the sleek lines of 1950s vehicles and stands a good 5 feet above most cars on the highway. But the color – lime green, deep purple and coral mixed with chrome – draws more attention than a 10-foot-tall neon "Diner" sign on a dark, lonesome highway.

"It really draws a crowd, so I kind of hide it," says the El Cajon resident during the first Cajon Classic Cruise of 2005, who dubbed the bus "Creamsicle" after the orange ice cream pop. "I like to cruise with it. I get all the TVs going and's nice."

When Henry purchased the vintage bus 18 years ago, the interior consisted of basic bench seats with an aisle down the middle, the standard bus layout.

"It was just an old bus," says Henry. "It had 27 coats of paint on it. I traced everything back: It started out as purchased by the Marine Corps, then the San Diego State baseball team used it, then the basketball team. MGM used it for pictures after SDSU. Then it went to a private owner out in Wynona. When I saw it, I said 'I've got to fix it up.' "

Henry did more than just fix it up. He made it into a state-of-the-art motor home, complete with couches, three TVs, a bed and gadgets galore to make every road trip into a cruise. The bus runs on an International 466 BTE diesel turbo engine, and Henry uses the vehicle to take trips to Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nev.: "I'm totally self-contained."

Henry has other classic cars in his garage, but on trips it makes sense to ride in style. "I have a '63 Bonneville convertible with a white top, but I get better gas mileage with the bus."

– CHRIS NIXON


WHERE TO GO TO GET REVVED UP OVER CAR CLASSICS
TUESDAYS

East County Cruisers, 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Tyler's Taste of Texas Barbecue, 576 N. Second St., El Cajon. Information: www.eastcountycruisers.com.

WEDNESDAYS

Cajon Classic Cruise, 6 to 9 p.m., Wednesdays through September with a Halloween cruise on Oct. 26. Southern California's largest weekly classic car cruise. Information: (619) 401-8858 or www.downtownelcajon.com.Blast From the Past Car Show, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Wednesdays through Sept. 17, more than 125 classic cars and motorcycles on display as well as music, food and vendor booths. Third Avenue in downtown Chula Vista. Information: Downtown Business Association, (619) 422-1982 or www.cvdba.com.

THURSDAYS

Back to the '50s Car Show, 5 to 8 p.m., Thursdays through Aug. 25, La Mesa Boulevard between Date Avenue and Fourth Street, La Mesa. Information: www.lmvma.com.Fridays

Cruisin' Grand, 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays, Grand and Second avenues, Escondido; through Sept. 30. Pre-1974 American-made hot rods, vintage, classic, custom cars and trucks, with awards. Information: (760) 745-8877.

SATURDAYS

Saturday Nite Invite, hot rods and classics, 1976 and older, presented by Clairemont Neighborhood Cruisers and Woodies Chili Dogs, 5 to 8 p.m., second Saturday of the month through Oct. 11, 4250-D Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Clairemont Town Square Shopping Center. Information: (858) 270-6412 or www.clairemonttownsquare.com


CRUISE THE WEB FOR CAR CLUBS
Dave Keetch of the Car Club Council of Greater San Diego says there are 97 car clubs throughout the county. If you don't find the right club here or don't have access to the Internet, Keetch suggests you contact the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park, (619) 231-AUTO or

www.sdautomuseum.org.

Alfa-Romeo Owners Club San Diego – www.arocsd.org

Austin-Healey Club of San Diego – www.sdhealey.org.

BMW Car Club of San Diego – www.sdbmwcca.com.

BMW Z Club, for all BMW Z cars – SanDiegoZ.com

Camaro Club of San Diego – www.camaroclubofsandiego.com.

Classic Chevys of San Diego, for 1955-57 Chevys – clubs. hemmings.com/classicchevyssd/

Heartbeat Classic Chevys, for 1955-1957 Chevys – www.heartbeatclassicchevys.com

Corvette Owners Club of San Diego – www.cocsd.com

North County Corvette Club – www.ncocc.com

North Coast Vettes – www.northcoastvettes.org.

Cougar Club of San Diego – clubs.hemmings.com/cougarsd/

Electric Vehicle Association of San Diego – home.att.net/~NCSDCA/EVAoSD/

East County Cruisers – www.eastcountycruisers.com.

Ferrari Owners Club, San Diego region – www.ferrarisd.com

Impala Club of San Diego, 1991-1996 – www.impalaclubofsd.com.

Jensen Owners Club – www.jentlefolk.com.

Model A Restorers Club of San Diego – www.sdmodelaclub.com.

San Diego MG Club – www.SanDiegoMGClub.org.

San Diego Miata Club – www.sandiegomiataclub.org.

West Coast Mini, –

www.westcoastminiclub.org.

San Diego Mustang Club – www.sdmustangs.com.

Over the Hill Gang, San Diego, 1948 and earlier vehicles – www.overthehillgang.com.

Packard Club –

www.PackardSanDiego.org.

Pontiac Club – www.sdpoci.com.

Southern California Shelby Club – www.socalsaac.org.

Studebaker Drivers Club – www.studebakerclubs.com.

SVT Owners' Association – www.svtoasandiego.com

Triumph Sports Car Club – clubs.Hemmings.com/sandiegotriumph

Volvo Sports America, San Diego – www.sdvsa.org

Z Club – www.supportedhosting.net/~zcsd/

Warped view on Warped Tour

Power to (all) the people

Women are making inroads on the still-male-dominated Vans Warped Tour

By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
June 30, 2005

Siouxsie Sioux, Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth, Patti Smith and bassist Kira from Black Flag waved the punk banner back in the day. A few newcomers – Agent M from Tsunami Bomb, Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon and Melissa Auf Der Maur – carry on the tradition.

But with few exceptions, guys have historically dominated the punk scene since its birth in the '70s. Even though the stage has been tough to crack for the ladies, punk draws tons of female fans. From thrash to pop punk, women make up a good percentage of punk's fan base.

The savvy people from the Vans Warped Tour realize women want to buy tickets to punk shows, too. In the 2005 version of the tour, organizer and founder Kevin Lyman has included a single stage devoted to female artists (Shiragirl Stage) and a female-focused extreme sports exhibition (the All-Girl Skate Jam).

"All of a sudden, we have a bunch of ladies stepping up, everyone from Shiragirl to the girls in the Girlz Garage," says Lyman from a Vans Warped Tour stop in Kansas City. "Shiragirl with her crazy pink stage: I hope it makes it across the desert and doesn't burn up. The ladies are out there, and there's a good presence of them out there. I don't think people realize that our audience is equal parts boys and girls coming to the show."

Shira (www.shiragirl.com) is setting up her own stage; Girlz Garage (www.girlzgarage.com) is setting up a tent full of everything girl-centric; and the All Girl Skate Jam (www.allgirlskatejam.com) features the top female skaters along with a two-hour skating lesson for female fans. Skaters include Cara-Beth Burnside, Jessica Starkweather, Nicole Zuch, Heidi Fitzgerald, Kim Peterson, Mimi Knoop, Holly Lyons, Vanessa Torres, Apryl Woodcock and Sasha La Rochelle (visit the AGSJ Web site to sign up for a skate lesson).

Along with the shifting demographics, the Warped Tour makes an effort to include old school punkers, like former Minutemen bassist Mike Watt, along with the young lions. After 21 years of running the touring "punk summer camp," Lyman realizes the need to include bands for everyone.

"If it was just my tour, it would be just Rancid and Pennywise and NoFX," says Lyman. "Every year it would be just us hanging out in the parking lot playing poker and getting older.

"You're always going to see those roots involved in the tour. I think that's important. Our average audience is 13 to 18. Being 44 (years old) now, I need to pay attention to wht's current, to what everybody is listening to. It's good because you can mix in the big bands like the Transplants and The Offspring with more new sounds, like Atreyu and My Chemical Romance."

The tour has always fostered a "come let us gather and beat each other up in a mosh pit" mentality. So you'll have hip-hop guys from the Code of Tha Cutz stage hanging out with the Dropkick Murphys and punk rock pioneers like Watt passing along hard-earned advice to young guys like Tim Armstrong and Travis Barker from The Transplants.

"I think it's really important to get the young guys talking with some of these older bands who've been around," says Lyman. "Maybe they'll realize (success) doesn't just depend on radio. You gotta go out and work hard and tour."

This balancing act between musical genres, boys and girls, young and old keeps the Warped Tour true to its roots while looking to the future.

"I think nowadays, punk is a frame of mind, whether you're doing hip-hop or any other type of music," said Lyman. "I see the punk mentality in everyone that's out here: getting out here everyday, excited about their jobs and everyone feels like part of a big family out here.

"It's more like a punk tribe now. There's the hip-hoppers, there's the girls, there's the reggae guys. It's not just defined by the music anymore."

Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.


Who's on tap at the Warped Tour
Don't miss these bands at today's Vans Warped Tour at Coors Amphitheatre in Chula Vista:

The Transplants (North Stage): After the turn of the millennium, Rancid frontman Tim Armstrong enlisted MC/vocalist Rob Aston and drummer extraordinaire Travis Barker (blink-182, Box Car Racer) for a new project: The Transplants. Experimenting with hip-hop, retro rock and thrashy mid-tempo punk, the trio's wildly diverse 2002 eponymous release found fans and favor outside of the bastions of punk rock. With guest appearances by the Boo-Yaa Tribe, Rakaa from Dilated Peoples, B-Real and Sen Dog from Cypress Hill, the Transplants new album "Haunted Cities" (Atlantic, 2005) looks to turn up the hip-hop quotient.

Mike Watt & Peter DiStefano (Hot Topic Stage): Former Minutemen bassist Watt and Pornos For Pyros guitarist DiStefano team up for a series of Warped Tour shows (DiStefano's brother, Carl, joins on drums). San Diego is the first of five stops as the tour rolls up the California coast. These old schoolers should teach the young lions on the tour the meaning of punk. In keeping with his D.I.Y. punk ethics, Watt still travels from gig to gig in his own Chevrolet Econo van. Why is touring in the van important? " 'Cause I can keep more control, and I have fewer people to blame if things do go wrong," said Watt. "I can keep things Econo. It's easy to park. I got the wheel in my hand. I'm kinda incognito." Says Warped promoter Kevin Lyman: "It's cool to have a couple of legends."

The Art of Safecracking (Hot Topic Stage): The members in L.A.'s the Art of Safecracking – Lance Webber (vocals, guitar), Melanie Webber (bass, synth), Garey Snider (drums) and Farzad Sharif (guitar, percussion) – make tangled, complicated rock complete with loud vocals and growling guitars. The band's influences include San Diego bands like Drive Like Jehu, the Locust and Hot Snakes.

Bedouin Soundclash (Maurice Stage): The inclusion of bands like Bedouin Soundclash represents the Warped Tour's ever-evolving, inclusionary attitude toward different genres. This Canadian trio seamlessly blends punk, reggae, dancehall, world, dub, jungle and two-step. Said Lyman: "They have more reggae roots. They played the after party last night, and the next thing you know everybody is talking about getting together and jamming."

Shiragirl (Shiragirl Stage): Shiragirl is an all-girl electro punk crew from L.A. led by singer Shira and D.J. Lava. Said Kevin: "Shira's this nutty girl I met a few years ago. Last year, she just barged the tour in her pink and black motor home. They had a little P.A. out the back and they would get out and do their thing. They live in this motor home. They travel around the country. They play shows. They play parties. They play anywhere. I like that. I like a person that's taking control of their own destiny."

– Chris Nixon