Hello, Yeah.....

So I'm upset about Mickey Rourke not getting an award. Whatever, I loved him and Marrissa Tome In The Wrestler. Hope some of you went to go see Charles play with The French Semester at T's. What else..... not much. Here comes Monday I guess.

SO LONG INDIE 103.1

Today I got word that Indie has pulled the plug on terrestrial broadcast. It's pretty sad to me because my morning listening was Joe Escalante. His brand of "morning zoo" was nothing of that. Wino Wednesday, the sports report with Timothy Olyphant. Cryptic weather reports from David Lynch. Lazy but funny traffic with Jose Galvan and cool voice news from Liz Warner. Another blow from this loss was local music show Check 1-2. A lot of bands from LA got a ton of support from Mr. Shovel. Rollins show was so great too. I'm going to miss it in the car. But as I type this, I'm streaming the station. It was weird hearing on my way home this almost doomsday like message loop telling listeners about the news. I'll miss it.

But thank God for KXLU. I was listening to whats growing to be my favorite show "Part time punks". Today the dj Michael Stock was paying tribute to uber-influential label Factory Records. Right before my run walk/run at Evergreen Cemetery, he read one of the last ever written letters by Ian Curtis. While he was reading it, it kinda seemed like he was choked up by the content. The fact that it was the last ever communication from this very talented young man, to who I think was his lady on the side. Whatever he was feeling, you don't hear radio like this just anywhere. After he read the letter he played a demo of Joy Division doing one of my all time favorite songs "Ceremony". I turned off the radio and went for a walk around a very apt place of scenery. Well when I got back in the car I heard him say that this Sunday night Part Time Punks will have a Factory Records night at the Echo. It's my B-day weekend and I have Monday off so I think I will get all moody and reflective and go listen to some great music and have my share of drinks. Hope to see you there!

BEST AND WORST PARTS OF 08!

2008 was a crazy year for me.HOME. I had another wonderful year living in(my opinion)one of the coolest neighborhoods around. It got even better, when we got rid of the most horrible fucking renters in history (Back House)! I don't have to wake up to a giant fucking SUV blaring horrible KLOVE Radio Amore in my drive way, or seeing babies wearing diapers running around chasing my outside cats, or Corona bottle caps all over the front of their porch. They are gone, and I'm over it!: WORST.


MOSPEADA.I was going over the gigs we did on Myspace the other day. We played A LOT! Some months had like 3 shows booked. We recorded an e.p. that pretty much fell on deaf ears. The people who did get though had kind words to say and I'm glad you enjoyed it. We went to San Diego, Modesto(OH GOD)and Oxnard. We had a song on a very cool comp with some others friends of ours on Itunes. But what's more important, is the friends we made while playing in the LA area. All the gigs were fun but I'd have to say the MOSPEADA practices were my favorite. The freedom of just trying any musical idea. The drink/smoke breaks which involved so many laughs and the occasional lighting a fart on fire from someones butt just holds a special place in my heart. We're broken up as people know but memories, you know how they work:BEST/WORST.



MUSIC. I don't have too many favorite bands for '08. I found myself listening to friends bands more than major/indie bands out there. I loved The Miles Approach ep. Their live shows were just as great! The trio work so well together and the vocals have that great boy/girl counter action going on. Awesome! The Hectors ep was great too. Their guitar tones are like neon icicles moving around at 100 miles an hour. Lead singer Corrine's vocals wrap around the sound and kicks it right in the ass. Wonderful band!
Noise/Gaze favorite's Guppies blew me away EVERY TIME live! The gentle yet ferocious sides of the band get me right here(points to heart). I was lucky enough this year to watch them lull the late night airwaves of KXLU. Also play host to a practice here at my own home. A great and drunk marathon of a day! The Health Club continued to burn every stage they played on and started to expand on their minimalist/maximilist take on punk. As far as the big bands go Black Mountain and Animal Collectives albums were top for me. I had more drunk nights with Strawberry Jam on my Ipod, but Black Mountain's In the future turned me on to some beautiful heavy riffs and angel/sultry vocals from Amber Webber. I know I'm missing stuff but anyone who has partied with me during this year knows what I love to put on when I get wasted :P BEST.








ME. When MOSPEADA ended I was in a funk and didn't really know what was next. But as things turn out in life, I was then asked to join Black Kites. It was a welcome invitation because I've been a fan of their's for quite some time. I was able to take a break from thinking about and trying to push my own vehicle. The first month and a half was not easy. A gig in Modesto led to my prized Jaguar and Twin Reverb being stolen out of our car. It was a brutal feeling to take on. But my new band mates helped me get back to where I was before. We played some more shows and just recently recorded two songs that will be on our debut album. Hope is all I can have:BEST.

PETS. Well as I posted before on here, I had a hard time with a rescue in the summer and I still think about her often. But just last month I was blessed with another character. I found him at my work in Whittier. If I wasn't going to take him they were going to call the pound. I had to take him. It's been a month now with him and he is one of the coolest dogs I've had the pleasure of knowing. He's so loving. He kinda reminds me, well, of me. LOL!:BEST.



RECORDING. For the past two and a half months I've been recording with my good friend Alex. The sessions have been really liberating in a sense that there is no pressure, rush or expectations. He's written music that is a weird cross between surf,psychedelic and noise rock. We've been collaborating on sounds and ideas and the results fucking rule. We asked our friend Max to lay down some Acetone organ on the tracks. His attack at the music was fresh which added even more to the fun:BEST.





So next year in a matter of hours, who knows what's gonna happen. I'm hoping for the best.

BLACK AND WHITE KITES. SPACELAND!!!!

I have been really lazy with the new post's but that's how It goes. I'm posting pics of the night we played Spaceland.As we are setting up the sound guy looked very fammiliar.I asked him if he was in a band called Friends in the mountains. He says yes so that's our good omen for the show. He used to work at a record store in Whittier and we had mutual good friends. Very nice guy. He did a great job with the bands stage mix and for once Evy was not screaming and keys were not buried under mounds of fuzz,bass and perccusion. The turn out was great too. We had a lot of people show up. For being the opener we had a lot of bodies in there. The set went fast but a good feeling was shared on stage and smiles were finally cracked! It was fun and you should have been there.

Tuesday is practice night....

And I'm feeling pretty crappy. I've got a sore throat that I'm trying to get rid of before the show at Spaceland. Black Kites will be playing with Shiloe, The Human Value and War Tapes. It should be a great time. I also brought home a dog. It was wandering around the continuation school section of the school where I work. Let's see if this one doesn't get picked up by it's cholo owners from Hacienda Heights.

THE SCENE THIS THURSDAY!

Nicki and I worked together on this one making for a very cool line up of music. Squaregirls will also be DJing the night as well. I'll tell you about after the show!

TWENTY YEAR LIST!!! PART TWO....

I haven't done a list since I think my first post in this blog. So let me recap. The 20 YEAR list is a list where you put songs you could go for 20 years not hearing. Maybe because you hate it, or it just gets picked way to much in your local dive bar. I think you get it so lets start this mofo.

The Cure- Boys don't cry.
Whether its played at a cheesy 80's/Brit Pop club. Or on the noon time retro mix on Power or on other like minded stations this song always gets the rotation. I don't have anything negative to say about it. It's just you know, Boys don't cry is being played again!


Eric Clapton- Layla
Let me just say first that I think EC is lame therefore I'm putting this song that kicked off so many classic rock station commercials. That opening lick just really gets under my skin. I just picture him doing those "I cant believe I'm still getting a blow job at my age" spewge face string bends. Annoying.


Rolling Stones- Satisfaction
Yes it was one of the first songs that used the Maestro fuzz box. Yes it's the Stones but this song could really disappear and I wouldn't even notice. Again another song with an opening riff that's just played out and old. Devo fucking did it right.



Joy Division- Love will tear us apart
Yeah, I said it. But really this song is up there with Boys don't cry. But you know it was their hit in a way. It reminds me of the time in my junior year we had a band practice and we did this song and I wish there was a tape recorder or video going because it would document the only time Fernando(Mospeada,Le Pepe's)took the role as lead singer and crooned those sad, sad lyrics.


That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure most will disagree but you know whatever...