Velveeta Issue #3

(featuring Salamander)

Formed in 1991 in Irvine, CA, Salamander started life as a three-piece band. Bassist John Dumont and drummer Darrell Grey joined up with guitarist and songwriter Dave Robinson, and soon the three had garnered a good-sized following playing the local party & club circuit. Following a move to the San Francisco bay area in November of 1992, longtime friend and saxophone player Boyd Nielsen joined up, completing both the current lineup and the band's signature sound. Combining elements of jazz, rock, thrash and polka, Salamander's sound has been called "weirdly compelling, funny and catchy as typhus." (Neva Chonin, Bay Guardian, October 1994) The band played all over the bay area in 1993 and '94, capping off 1994 by winning the Bay Guardian's demo tape of the year contest and appearing on KOFY TV. 1995 turned out to be a bumper crop year for Salamander. The band played the Gavin SFO2 convention, the Bay to Breakers race (from the back of a flatbed!), the Fillmore and the Great American Music Hall (opening for Anaheim's "No Doubt.") A mention in BAM magazine's "Best and Worst of 1995" (thankfully in the best category) and a spot in the San Francisco New Year's Eve lineup that also featured the Gin Blossoms and Santana rounded out the year for Salamander. The band's self-titled debut cd (on Tin Earwig records) was released on December 31st, 1995 and includes 14 tracks that capture the live feel that the band is known for. Recorded live in less than 24 hours, the album is a testament to the raw energy and "lascivious power" (Neva Chonin) of Salamander. It is a stew of riff-oriented rock, funky jazz and Middle-Eastern folk grooves. Tasty. 1996 saw Salamander open for New Orleans' funky Meters (featuring Art Neville) at the Fillmore and playing "Making Waves" International Street Fair in San Francisco. The band was also featured on Bay TV Morning as a house band for the four hour show.

Me: introduce yourselves (name/instrument/fav. 70's tv show/etc)

Dave: Guitar, Sanford & Son.

John: Bass, Gilligan's Island

Darrell: Drums, Charlie's Angels

Boyd: Sax, Love Boat

(john)(darrell)(dave)(boyd)

Me: how hard was it to fill up those empty rooms when you first started out in Irvine?

John: Well, the parties we played at were usually already packed.

Dave: About as hard as a pistol whipping in Las Vegas.

Boyd: I remember a time when...

Darrell: You weren't there, you idiot!

John: Yeah, Boyd didn't join until we moved to Oakland.

Me: what bands/people influenced you guys as you were growing up?

Dave: Ozzy, Kiss, Pink Floyd

Darrell: Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Melvins

Boyd: Engelbert Humperdink, Sean Cassidy, John Coltrane

John: Rush, Jethro Tull, Iron Maiden

Me: do you like playing in san francisco? i noticed that you guys do most of your shows in Berekely.

John: Well, we used to do most our shows in San Francisco, but then shifted to Berkeley for some reason, but San Francisco shows are more interesting. There just aren't a lot of clubs in S.F. these days with "cool" bookers.

Boyd: I do most of the booking...

Darrell: Since when?

Me: How does the San Francisco scene compare to the Irvine scene? Is there a scene? (haha)

Dave: You sure answered that question!

Darrell: There are too many "stylers" in the city.

Me: What was recording the album on Tin Earwig like?

Dave: The CD is a collection of 3 years of recording. We mastered it to DAT between two portable Sonys.

Darrell: 4 songs were recorded at Razor's Edge Studio after we won a contest at the Paradise Lounge.

Boyd: The prize was 8 hours of recording time, and getting to play live on Late Night with James Gabert on KOFY TV.

John: So it was easy for Tin Earwig, everything was already done. They just had to press the CD's and do the artwork.

(album cover)

Me: Have you guys put out anything besides that?

Dave: Just a demo tape, that ended up on the CD.

Darrell: We're planning on doing a Xmas album with The Fabulous Hedgehogs.

Me: What kind of reactions did you get from people when you opened for No Doubt? Get much animosity? Or did those bright lights make it too hard to see the thousands of people? (laughs)

John: Well, we opened for them 4 years ago in Santa Barbara when we had this girl Lee singing for us. That went well, there were about 400 people there.

Dave: Then 3 years ago we played with them at the Bear's Lair in Berkeley, and had them on their feet.

Darrell: 2 years ago we played with them at Great American Music Hall, with a band called Edna Swap. We partied like rock stars downstairs and threw the catered food all over our dressing room.

Boyd: Last month they opened up for us under another name at Larry Blakes, and got booed off the stage.

Me: Isn't the Fillmore a great place to play? It's a good place to go and see a show.

John: Yeah, it was a highlite for us. The Meters are a great band and it was great playing with them.

Dave: It was also great playing with Santana, both times.

Me: Any bands around here got your attention?

John: I have to say the Fabulous Hedgehogs again. Polkacide, also. Ozone, Mighty Gun, Critter's Buggin', Clubfoot Orchestra

Dave: Budderball, Rick Starbuck, Tempest, That 1 Guy, Santana

Darrell: Crackburger, Puzzlefish, Missing Link, 3 Kinds of Cheese

Boyd: Nation's Pie, Fillmore Blues Foundation, Men's Casuals

___________________

thanks a lot to the band, extra thanks to john. thanks guys.

MY CRAZY AFTERNOONS

the get along gang (thanks to mike from chixdiggit for the picture... happy now? :)

A couple of bruises, a couple of drum sticks, a couple of ghouls, an apple, a bottle of water, buttons, rubber rats, spider rings, and a lot of yelling can only equal one thing, the muffs, groovie ghoulies, and chixdiggit in San Francisco at the Fillmore on August 15th. To my surprise, the ghoulies were the first to perform. It was a short performance. but was of course great, considering the fact that kepi didn't play his green bass, but only sang, and Wendy wasn't drumming, Dan Panic (ex-Screeching Weasel, new GG drummer)sat in for her (for that night and forever). The ghoulies played a wide variety of songs, like the "king kong stomp, there's no escape" where dan even had an ape suit on. (while drumming :), "lookout", "dolomite", "go crazy", "island of pogo pogo", and several more. When they were done, the goofy canadians came on, of course, not without their beer though. They mocked themselves, by winking and pointing like they were hot stuff to fit their name, it's their trademark. In between they made jokes. I wasn't too familiar with this band, though I own the '45 of "best hung carrot in the fridge", which is an excellent song. They played their biggest hit, "chupacabra". They had a new drummer with them, whom introduced himself to us. I think I would of enjoyed them a bit more if they didn't have their amps turned so high up. Then out stomped the Muffs. First off, Ronnie was nice enough to hand me an apple. They played just about everything they could. To top the evening off, Kim came out and showed us the two rips she had in the butt of her dress. Well to name a few, they played, "lucky guy", "big mouth", "another day", "stupid jerk", "that awful man", "i'm a dick", "pennywhore", "the best time around" (which she says is hard for her to sing, but in my opinion sounds great), "oh nina", "red eyed troll" and those were only a few.

UPCOMING SHOWS as per usual go to the list for all upcoming show listings in the san francisco bay area.

sorry for the short and this "month's" extremely late edition of Velveeta. My humblest apologies to the guys in Salamander, thanks again for everything. Play somewhere in San Jose so I can make it to more of your shows! Thanks! Have a nice dave!