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.
Friday, October 14, 2005
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
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
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 FairBy 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.
Monday, August 01, 2005
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.
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.
Monday, July 25, 2005
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Classic cruisin through the county
Taking it to the streetsThousands 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
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
Friday, June 10, 2005
Reggaetón mirrors early hip-hop
Reggaetón at crossover crossroads
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
June 10, 2005
During the past three decades, hip-hop has shifted focus from the party (using fun-loving, almost nonsensical rhyming words) to the paycheck (the accumulation of status symbols like expensive jewelry, fast cars and beautiful women).
Now, to some extent, hip-hop seems the soundtrack of capitalism, spreading hope of a better life to underprivileged people across the world. If you could dial-flip through the world's radio stations, the word "bling-bling" would be heard in French, Italian, Russian and Swahili.
In Puerto Rico's reggaetón, the language of preference is Spanish, and bling-bling gets translated as blin-blin. Reggaetón – a music form combining elements of hip-hop, reggae, salsa and merengue – is equal parts Puerto Rican party music and street-savvy hustler talk.
The record label Machete Music – a leader in signing and distributing reggaetón artists in the United States – pushes the genre in Latino markets but may soon realize crossover mainstream popularity. (Saturday, for example, the San Diego County Fair will host a Reggaetón Fest, featuring artists including Puerto Rican Zion y Lennox and the Dominican-born LunyTunes.) For artists from these nations and other Caribbean countries, reggaetón represents access to a world of entitlement, a world away from gritty street life.
"The songs talk about street struggles, but you could also have a romantic song," says Jehova Chavez of L.A.-based Machete Music. "They're talking about street knowledge. It's about what they experience growing up and what it takes for them to become recording artists. Living in the 'hood, it's very tough. Music is your way out. Every day is a struggle. You're limited in your resources, and you have to survive with what you got."
The imported Latino rap music provides infectious reggae dance beats and infuses it with hip-hop attitude, making reggaetón popular in Latino markets throughout the U.S.
"I see reggaetón as a new form of hip-hop," says Chavez, whose employer label was created five months ago by Universal Music to produce and promote Latino hip-hop and reggaetón. "Basically, it's reggae sounds over hip-hop drum beats with a little bit of influence from salsa and merengue. It brings all those sounds together into one sound, which is the reggaetón sound. On top of that, you have the artists rapping over the beats, which gives it that hip-hop feel that people enjoy."
The trend started in Puerto Rico just over a decade ago, then migrated to East Coast cities including New York City and Miami. Now cities such as Houston and Chicago have adopted reggaetón. The West Coast is next in the music's groundswell of popularity, according to Chavez.
"A lot of people on the West Coast are just discovering reggaetón," says Chavez, whose label represents reggaetón stars Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Ivy Queen and producers LunyTunes. "It's been a word-of-mouth thing, growing from Puerto Rico to New York to Chicago. In Texas, it's just amazing what's going on over there, in Houston and in Dallas. We're trying to bring this music to the youth. We're trying to take this new genre and take it where hip-hop was when it was first starting."
According to Walter Meneses, publisher of a San Diego-based monthly guide to Latino dance clubs and events called La Sonrisa Latina, reggaetón is taking over salsa and merengue clubs and gaining ground with the younger Latino audience in San Diego.
"About a year ago, I started hearing reggaetón in the clubs in San Diego," says Meneses, who cites the Blue Agave (on Mission Gorge Road, just east of Mission Valley) and Club Caribe (in Bonita) as venues to hear reggaetón music. "People are enjoying this type of music more and more; it's growing tremendously. When people go out, they are demanding reggaetón songs to dance to. The clubs that are playing salsa, meringue and cha-cha are seeing the popularity of reggaetón and adding it (to their playlists)."
Latino hip-hop station Blazin' 98.9 (98.9 FM) is reggaetón's purveyor on local radio waves. The station's playlist features reggaetón artist Daddy Yankee alongside 50 Cent, the Ying-Yang Twins and The Game. Blazin' 98.9 (formerly More FM) also is sponsoring the Latino Summer Fest 2005 at Southwestern College June 25, featuring reggaetón artist Don Omar.
How big can reggaetón get? Very big, believes Machete Music's Chavez.
"I see reggaetón being what hip-hop was 20 years ago," he said. "When hip-hop started coming out, there was no radio for hip-hop. The only outlet that it had was the streets and word of mouth from the kids everywhere you went."
Word of mouth seems to be working. Daddy Yankee's 2004 album, "Barrios Fino," currently sits atop Billboard's Top Latin Album chart, with the hit "Gasolina" fueling the success. Albums by Don Omar and LunyTunes & Baby Ranks (along with a few reggaetón compilations) also have dominated the Latino charts.
At tomorrow's Reggaetón Fest, Zion y Lennox are the headliners, but Chavez suggests checking out LunyTunes, too: "They are the No. 1 producers of the whole movement. They produce practically every hit that you hear in reggaetón."
"It's amazing to see how hip-hop has grown," says Chavez. "If you're 35 or under, hip-hop is around you and it's in you. Reggaetón is a part of the same culture; it's just a new form of hip-hop that the kids can grab on to."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
June 10, 2005
During the past three decades, hip-hop has shifted focus from the party (using fun-loving, almost nonsensical rhyming words) to the paycheck (the accumulation of status symbols like expensive jewelry, fast cars and beautiful women).
Now, to some extent, hip-hop seems the soundtrack of capitalism, spreading hope of a better life to underprivileged people across the world. If you could dial-flip through the world's radio stations, the word "bling-bling" would be heard in French, Italian, Russian and Swahili.
In Puerto Rico's reggaetón, the language of preference is Spanish, and bling-bling gets translated as blin-blin. Reggaetón – a music form combining elements of hip-hop, reggae, salsa and merengue – is equal parts Puerto Rican party music and street-savvy hustler talk.
The record label Machete Music – a leader in signing and distributing reggaetón artists in the United States – pushes the genre in Latino markets but may soon realize crossover mainstream popularity. (Saturday, for example, the San Diego County Fair will host a Reggaetón Fest, featuring artists including Puerto Rican Zion y Lennox and the Dominican-born LunyTunes.) For artists from these nations and other Caribbean countries, reggaetón represents access to a world of entitlement, a world away from gritty street life.
"The songs talk about street struggles, but you could also have a romantic song," says Jehova Chavez of L.A.-based Machete Music. "They're talking about street knowledge. It's about what they experience growing up and what it takes for them to become recording artists. Living in the 'hood, it's very tough. Music is your way out. Every day is a struggle. You're limited in your resources, and you have to survive with what you got."
The imported Latino rap music provides infectious reggae dance beats and infuses it with hip-hop attitude, making reggaetón popular in Latino markets throughout the U.S.
"I see reggaetón as a new form of hip-hop," says Chavez, whose employer label was created five months ago by Universal Music to produce and promote Latino hip-hop and reggaetón. "Basically, it's reggae sounds over hip-hop drum beats with a little bit of influence from salsa and merengue. It brings all those sounds together into one sound, which is the reggaetón sound. On top of that, you have the artists rapping over the beats, which gives it that hip-hop feel that people enjoy."
The trend started in Puerto Rico just over a decade ago, then migrated to East Coast cities including New York City and Miami. Now cities such as Houston and Chicago have adopted reggaetón. The West Coast is next in the music's groundswell of popularity, according to Chavez.
"A lot of people on the West Coast are just discovering reggaetón," says Chavez, whose label represents reggaetón stars Daddy Yankee, Don Omar, Ivy Queen and producers LunyTunes. "It's been a word-of-mouth thing, growing from Puerto Rico to New York to Chicago. In Texas, it's just amazing what's going on over there, in Houston and in Dallas. We're trying to bring this music to the youth. We're trying to take this new genre and take it where hip-hop was when it was first starting."
According to Walter Meneses, publisher of a San Diego-based monthly guide to Latino dance clubs and events called La Sonrisa Latina, reggaetón is taking over salsa and merengue clubs and gaining ground with the younger Latino audience in San Diego.
"About a year ago, I started hearing reggaetón in the clubs in San Diego," says Meneses, who cites the Blue Agave (on Mission Gorge Road, just east of Mission Valley) and Club Caribe (in Bonita) as venues to hear reggaetón music. "People are enjoying this type of music more and more; it's growing tremendously. When people go out, they are demanding reggaetón songs to dance to. The clubs that are playing salsa, meringue and cha-cha are seeing the popularity of reggaetón and adding it (to their playlists)."
Latino hip-hop station Blazin' 98.9 (98.9 FM) is reggaetón's purveyor on local radio waves. The station's playlist features reggaetón artist Daddy Yankee alongside 50 Cent, the Ying-Yang Twins and The Game. Blazin' 98.9 (formerly More FM) also is sponsoring the Latino Summer Fest 2005 at Southwestern College June 25, featuring reggaetón artist Don Omar.
How big can reggaetón get? Very big, believes Machete Music's Chavez.
"I see reggaetón being what hip-hop was 20 years ago," he said. "When hip-hop started coming out, there was no radio for hip-hop. The only outlet that it had was the streets and word of mouth from the kids everywhere you went."
Word of mouth seems to be working. Daddy Yankee's 2004 album, "Barrios Fino," currently sits atop Billboard's Top Latin Album chart, with the hit "Gasolina" fueling the success. Albums by Don Omar and LunyTunes & Baby Ranks (along with a few reggaetón compilations) also have dominated the Latino charts.
At tomorrow's Reggaetón Fest, Zion y Lennox are the headliners, but Chavez suggests checking out LunyTunes, too: "They are the No. 1 producers of the whole movement. They produce practically every hit that you hear in reggaetón."
"It's amazing to see how hip-hop has grown," says Chavez. "If you're 35 or under, hip-hop is around you and it's in you. Reggaetón is a part of the same culture; it's just a new form of hip-hop that the kids can grab on to."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Fischerspooner in the U-T
POP MUSIC
Fischerspooner's lab test: A live show
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
June 2, 2005
The cracks and pops of vinyl vs. the crystal-clear reproduction of compact disc; live drummer vs. drum machine; live musicians vs. Digital Audio Tapes. From hip-hop to electronic dance music, many artists these days seem to be looking for a more human sound between the ones and zeros of digital music.
Enter the multimedia, performance-art rock of New York City's Fischerspooner. After finding success with their digitally produced debut disc "#1," the New York-based duo decided to incorporate live musicians and songwriting collaborations with such varied artists as pop songwriter Linda Perry and activist Susan Sontag.
It's 1999 and a couple of art-school grads – Casey Spooner and Warren Fischer – start writing digital, synthesizer-based dance music. Fischer writes the music, Spooner sings. Over the next three years, the duo creates complicated stage productions to go along with each song. They write the music, map out choreography and wardrobe changes and then perform the song live, one song at a time.
"When we started it, we didn't even know we were making a record," says Spooner from New York. "It was a very nontraditional approach. There was no label involved. There was no management. And we knew nothing about the music business when we started working. So the first record was self-financed and completed before we met anybody from a record label."
Hype swirls through the ultra-hip New York music scene faster than a Kansas tornado. Spooner and Fischer play the roles of Dorothy and Toto, swept up in a maelstrom of fawning press releases and intense media attention (intense for indie rock anyway). The band signs with Capitol Records, which releases "#1."
The timing is perfect.
Electroclash – a form of 1980s New Wave revivalism spliced with punk rock attitude – is gaining popularity. Fischerspooner joins the ranks of the Faint, the Postal Service and Ladytron as leaders in the new/old genre. But their live stage productions set them apart: a dance troupe, multiple wardrobe changes for Spooner, fog machines and theatrical lighting.
Spooner and Fischer faced a new challenge with 2005's "Odyssey": How to make a cohesive album?
"I wanted to put the focus on the music, because I feel like in a lot of ways that was really lost on the first record," says Spooner. "I love the first show and I love everything about the way we approached it, but it was a little irritating that people didn't want to pay attention to the music."
In an effort to get fans past the theatrics and focus on the music, Fischerspooner will be bringing a full band on tour when it plays the House of Blues downtown tonight: Adrian Hartley (back-up vocals), Ian Pai (drums), Sam Kearney (guitar), Ben Bromley (bass) and Adam Crystal (keyboards). Fischer does not tour with the band: "He does the writing of the music and helps in the recording of it," according to the band's publicist.
"We're in New York and we've been doing a monthlong residency at a small club here to start developing a live show," says Spooner. "So, it's been all about performing in a small room, getting the band up to speed and performing the new songs. We've been experimenting with different wardrobe and lighting. We've been treating it like a little laboratory to test different ideas."
While expecting long improvised jams from an electroclash band might be a little much to ask, Fischerspooner fans can expect a more organic experience than tours in the past.
"Before, the live shows were so rigid; now, everything is so much more flexible," says Spooner. "Before, the live shows were about illustrating the ideas of the music and staging a visual interpretation. And now, it's exciting to really be playing the music.
"Initially, the focus is to perform the music and for people to appreciate the music before I start distracting them with visual spectacular freakeries."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
Fischerspooner's lab test: A live show
By Chris Nixon
For the San Diego Union-Tribune
June 2, 2005
The cracks and pops of vinyl vs. the crystal-clear reproduction of compact disc; live drummer vs. drum machine; live musicians vs. Digital Audio Tapes. From hip-hop to electronic dance music, many artists these days seem to be looking for a more human sound between the ones and zeros of digital music.
Enter the multimedia, performance-art rock of New York City's Fischerspooner. After finding success with their digitally produced debut disc "#1," the New York-based duo decided to incorporate live musicians and songwriting collaborations with such varied artists as pop songwriter Linda Perry and activist Susan Sontag.
It's 1999 and a couple of art-school grads – Casey Spooner and Warren Fischer – start writing digital, synthesizer-based dance music. Fischer writes the music, Spooner sings. Over the next three years, the duo creates complicated stage productions to go along with each song. They write the music, map out choreography and wardrobe changes and then perform the song live, one song at a time.
"When we started it, we didn't even know we were making a record," says Spooner from New York. "It was a very nontraditional approach. There was no label involved. There was no management. And we knew nothing about the music business when we started working. So the first record was self-financed and completed before we met anybody from a record label."
Hype swirls through the ultra-hip New York music scene faster than a Kansas tornado. Spooner and Fischer play the roles of Dorothy and Toto, swept up in a maelstrom of fawning press releases and intense media attention (intense for indie rock anyway). The band signs with Capitol Records, which releases "#1."
The timing is perfect.
Electroclash – a form of 1980s New Wave revivalism spliced with punk rock attitude – is gaining popularity. Fischerspooner joins the ranks of the Faint, the Postal Service and Ladytron as leaders in the new/old genre. But their live stage productions set them apart: a dance troupe, multiple wardrobe changes for Spooner, fog machines and theatrical lighting.
Spooner and Fischer faced a new challenge with 2005's "Odyssey": How to make a cohesive album?
"I wanted to put the focus on the music, because I feel like in a lot of ways that was really lost on the first record," says Spooner. "I love the first show and I love everything about the way we approached it, but it was a little irritating that people didn't want to pay attention to the music."
In an effort to get fans past the theatrics and focus on the music, Fischerspooner will be bringing a full band on tour when it plays the House of Blues downtown tonight: Adrian Hartley (back-up vocals), Ian Pai (drums), Sam Kearney (guitar), Ben Bromley (bass) and Adam Crystal (keyboards). Fischer does not tour with the band: "He does the writing of the music and helps in the recording of it," according to the band's publicist.
"We're in New York and we've been doing a monthlong residency at a small club here to start developing a live show," says Spooner. "So, it's been all about performing in a small room, getting the band up to speed and performing the new songs. We've been experimenting with different wardrobe and lighting. We've been treating it like a little laboratory to test different ideas."
While expecting long improvised jams from an electroclash band might be a little much to ask, Fischerspooner fans can expect a more organic experience than tours in the past.
"Before, the live shows were so rigid; now, everything is so much more flexible," says Spooner. "Before, the live shows were about illustrating the ideas of the music and staging a visual interpretation. And now, it's exciting to really be playing the music.
"Initially, the focus is to perform the music and for people to appreciate the music before I start distracting them with visual spectacular freakeries."
Chris Nixon is a San Diego music writer.
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