Velveeta Issue #5
(featuring Alien Spy, Visitor 42, and Blindspot)
Sorry for this two week late edition of Velveeta, thanks to the bands for the interviews. Thanks, and ENJOY...
Velveeta: greetings and salutations! introduce yourselves.. (name, instrument, age, fav. cartoon, hobbies, bad habits, etc)
Jeff (trumpet, doing all the typing, 23 yrs, the simpsons), Kim (sax), Killy (trombone), Jay (guitar), Nate (drums), Zack (bass), David (vocals)
V: so you just signed with tomato head records? how's that working out for you?
J: Its working out great, Chuck is awesome (chuck is the owner of TomatoHead, you might remember him from Skankin Pickle), and our album should be out in early March. Although as of right now we are the only band signed to TomatoHead. The other bands just made an appearance on the Bay Area Ska Comp.
V: do you like it that ska has come back into the mainstream? even though around the bay area it's always been around...
J: Yeah, we think its great, but it should come as no suprise to anyone in the Bay Area. We have had a long history of great ska bands from our area, from the Uptones to Op Ivy to Skankin Pickle. Im sure Im forgetting some bands, but my point is that these bands laid the groundwork for any sucess for bands like us, Monkey, Slow Gherkin and all the other bay area ska bands
V: me i tend to go for the more traditional sounding ska band, what about you guys?
J: yeah there are some of us in B.S. that really dig trad ska, and there are a few of us that are more into ska-punk or 3rd wave, but yeah we dig any ska. As long as its good music. A band that is sloppy or just plain bad, is bad regardless of what genra of music they play.
V: who were some of your influences growing up? well besides pee-wee herman of course! :)
J: wow, well our influences range from classical to jazz to soul to mowtown to ska to just about any kind of music. Although you could point to the Bosstones as a direct early influence in B.S.
V: which are some of your favorite bands about this san francisco bay area?
J:there are so many good bands in the bay area right now. A few off the top of our heads... Slow Gherkin, Monkey....too many to write them all down!
V: what's the most embarrassing thing that's happened at one of your shows?
J: playing to about 4-5 people when we first started giging
V: how did the recording of the cd go? was it your first time recording in a studio? when will the cd be out?
J:It went well, we were a bit rushed (not by chuck, we hadn't signed when we recorded, so we were tight on money and didn't have time to really do everything we wanted, esp. with the horns). No it wasn't our first time in the studio we have recorded 2 7"s and a demo tape on our own. The CD should be our in early March.
V: i've seen that you have a lot of shows coming up with siren six. have you played with them before?
J:Yeah, we played with them the very first time they came to the bay area right after they changed there name from Stinkfish.We did about a weeks worth of shows with them and Slow Gherkin it was a blast!
V: well now's the time for you to get in any last words... so >go ahead! thanks!
J:support your local scene. check out Bay Area Ska and look for our CD in early March!
well in case you didn't pick up on it, blindspot is a SKA band from the bay area, and are really good, so visit the tomato head records website if you want more info.
Velveeta: introduce yourselves... (name instrument, fav. cartoon)
Dan: Hi I'm Dan S. (DS) - Guitar (stage left), I like Dr. Katz, and the Simpsons
Tim: Howdy, I'm Tim W. (TW) and I play the other guitar. I like all the old Warner Bros. cartoons, but the singing frog is the best. He's got class.
DS - Our other two couldn't be here today, but Curt K. plays bass and does most of the vocals, and Dan J. is our drummer.
V: what's behind your name, visitor 42?
DS- Don't you always see the number 42 popping up where ever you look? There it is. There is so much significance to the number that it is easy to see why we chose it.
TW - In the end, we're all just visitors. Whether you're in a band that happens to occupy the attention of a few interested ears, a profit who inspires a religion, or a clerk who satisfies the munchy needs of 7-11 patrons, we're all just passing through. But, all that has nothing to do with our name. It's a parking space.
dan
V: who/what (bands) inspired and influenced you to be the punk rock legends that you've become today? :)
DS - Black Flag, Nirvana, Circle Jerks, X, The Zeros, Prong , deadhorse.
TW - Social Distortion, the soundtrack to Ben Hur, Neil Diamond.
DS - Our drummer (Dan J.) is a big fan of country western music, and Curt K. (Bass, Vocals) is a long time Beatles fan in addition to their love of punk and rock music.
V: so are the white trash debutants your show buddies?
TW - the WTDs are awesome. They're great so see and they're real. Neil, the guitarist, is a rock n' roll warrior.
DS - We've played several shows with the WTD. They have really helped us out by getting us several gigs. We are very appreciative of the band.
V: how often do you do shows out of the bay area?
DS - We've done several road trips up and down the coast. It depends on our schedules. The highlights were probably playing up in Seattle with MDC, and LA's garage where we got to meet Exene from Auntie Christ and X, and Lemmy Kilmeister from Motorhead.
TW - Don't forget the beautiful guitarist from L7, I wish I could remember her name?
tim
V: what bands around here do your ears get a sweet tooth for? :)
DS - WTD, Erik Core, My Sunny Disposition, Fetish, Biscuit, Solvents, Lonely Kings, United Blood, 1332 (El Dopa), Tongue?the list goes on - I'm sure I've forgotten many others that I really like.
TW - Ditto (for the above), Strychnine is good too. I like Track Star as well. I saw them about a year ago at Bottom of the Hill and really liked their thing. Despite BAM's recent vapid endorsement and characteristically unbalanced article (someone at BAM must be a friend of theirs), I would like to get a copy of their new CD.
V: what's the most embarrassing thing that's happened at your shows?
DS - I think it's when Curt was moshing to MDC at a Seattle show after our set, and he fell as dislocated his elbow. It was really quite nasty - and we had to get him to the hospital. Everything worked out ok - he was alright after a couple of weeks. Luckily we didn't have any shows lined up for a month after that happened - that gave him time to heal.
TW - For me, it had to be after the Garage show in LA. Vaginal Creme Davis (the promoter) kept pulling up my shirt and proclaiming to the assembled audience: "You're so beautiful!". DANGER WILL ROBINS! Vag is great, but that's not what our music is about, "beauty". I'm speaking for myself of course.
V: how do you feel the local punk scene is doing?
DS - It's doing all right. We need more clubs though, it seems like when one opens, two close. Also, local radio support is hard to achieve unless you have an in with one of the stations. We get more radio play out of state than we do in-state.
TW - Despite the number of clubs, it depends on what you consider punk. I don't want to dis other bands, but groups like the Groovy Goulies, Mr. T Experience, and other jacket & tie acts are in a position to erode what I would consider a more true punk scene. Any more, the "punk' genre as described by BAM or other mainstream media is totally disconnected from what I believe punk is all about. There's not much social commentary or political awareness represented in the music. Of course, any time you begin to describe things in sweeping terms you're in danger of missing the nuances and good crunchy bits. But I would have to say that mainstream punk has departed from the movement's original spirit and has instead embraced less controversial, eminently palatable, perhaps even sweet tasting sound bites (the Donnas should see a Texas Terri of LA show) for the purpose of commercial success. This is not an original thought or complaint, as you know, but it's worth saying again.
DS - Good point Tim! What he said!
V: do you play a lot of all ages shows?
DS - We play a few all ages shows, but mostly to the 21+ crowd.
TW - Yeah, it's true. I would like to play more all age shows because that's the group of people who are wrestling to define their world and the coming world. That's the kind of energy that is fun to tap and ride, versus the older crowd. Not that once you turn 21 everybody goes mushy in the head and ass. But, I think the younger crowd is less inclined to ask why the music is so loud and fast. They *know* why.
V: do you have any old demo tapes for sale still?
DS - We made three demo tapes. We might have a few copies left lying around somewhere, and we can make more since the masters for two of them were off of CD's. Check out our web page for the covers and song titles of the demo tapes. If anyone wants one we can get them a copy, but I'd suggest going straight for the CD?It's basically an improved version of our old demos.
V: any last words, advice, thoughts on Wayneology...?
DS - Wayneology (hehe) Those guys in BKG are pretty funny. I like their sound - they seem to be doing pretty well. As Vic Savage from Spinal Taps says, "Try to have a good time, all the time".
TW - What's Wayneology? Perhaps this is a sign I'm part of the mushy head and ass crowd.
V 42 is a great PUNK band out of the east bay, visit their site for more info.
Velveeta: introductions...
Brian:The name is Brian, but my friends call me B-Funk.
instrument: shitty used guitar and vocals
age:18(pretends he's 14)
resides in: Oakland California(home of Too Short)
weight: 145
special attack moves: glam rock kung-fu jump, double spork eye poke, break guitar string and slash enemies throat.
hobbies: star-trek club, magic the gathering cards, air-guitar, the macarena, collecting beanie babies, masturbating with pictures of Gwen Stefani.
favorite spork supplier: Taco Bell
favorite rock singer in Jesus's name: Wesley Willis
quote: "Momma said knock you out!"
V: quick explanation of how the band came into formation, and rocked the planet of the sporks... and all that goody gum drop stuff.
B: It all started way back in History with a bunch of kids playing a really whack mix of indies, grunge shit, skate punk and more. In the winter of 95' we started experimenting with some trumpet players at practices, but it wasn't until that spring that I started getting really into the ska-influence. I had been listenting to Op Ivy and Hoodlum Empire for a while before that, but it never really rubbed off until I saw this one Skankin Pickle show at the late not so great Berkeley Square. The show was so damn good it just blew me away. After that I started going to shows almost every weekend. The band lost our second bass player and hooked up with Andy(large mouth bass) and flip flopped horn players for about a year or so. We lost our second guitarist to college in da summer of 96' and eventually hooked up with one kick-ass permanent horn section. I knew Sierra(rockin tenor-saxphone)from school so we jammed a couple times and tossed her into the mix. I met Steve(alto-sexaphone) at a show in Freakmont and he offered to play for us. Steve always impresses cause the crazy dude drives from Freamont to Richmond just to practice. Ben the trumpet boy came up to me at a B-square show and asked if he could play with us, he ripped shit up so we said yes. The legacy of Tom(current drummer) began through a band that I play bass for(Skipper). Tom was recruited as a valve trombone player in the fall of 96' and eventually took over the drummers seat last summer. Ta-Da that is the long and boring story of how we came to be, now turn out the lights and go to bed.
b-funk
V: i said a QUICK explanation. :) i caught the show at the camden teen center not too long ago and you even got the crowd going... do you find at your shows that you get most/some of the crowd to dance?
B:It really depends, sometimes people get funky on the mic and other times they act like their fucking paralyzed. I think our music sometimes scares people off, folks see a horn section or go to a "ska" show and often expect too see some poppy Reel Big Fish clone. It used to be really hard for me to get wacky on stage unless the crowd was going off. Now I basically say fuck it. On stage I don't try to act like some proffesional rock star, I'm just a kid like everyone else. Some of my lyrics are totally serious and others are completeley off the wall, so I combine humor and passion when I play. If I go completeley nuts and put all of the energy and emotion I have into playing a show and the crowd doesn't move at all I still enjoy it. If the crowd goes off it just gets me extra amped up. Sometimes the shitiest little shows are the best. I'd rather see twenty kids busting out with crazy dance moves than see ten thousand people bobbing their heads. Last weekend we played this seemingly terrible show at the Mountain view teen center without a PA for about fifteen people, but it was so much fun! Almost everyone was dancing and the horn section was running around through the auidence playing, it was a classic. I just love to play music, when people dance it's great and when they don't it's just kinda funny.
V: how do you like our local bay area scene? personally i find it coming along well enough to satisfy my needs.
B: Oh I don't know, it's all pretty whacky right now. I have so much to say... I think there are a deftinteley some great bands coming up in all the scenes in the Bay Right now. The one thing that kinda bothers me is that it seems like a lot of folks go to shows as a social event, instead of for the music. People often get all clicked up and just put off bad vibes. Look at certain punk scenes around the bay...people preach about "unity" and this and that but when it comes down to it their a bunch of fucking elitist, clicked out, judgemental hipocrits climbing the social ladder. Our scenes should be open to anyone who takes interest in the music, but instead people our put down because they don't have the right look or know the right people. It's a fucking fashion show sometimes. However sometimes shows just rock, everyones dancing their asses off bonding to some killer tunes and all problems and pressure are forgotten. That's what I like to see. Although there are a ton great bands coming up there's deftinetley a lack of individual sound...innovate don't immitate. Sometimes people start up bands for status and trend instead of the love of music and thats just wrong. Play and listen from your heart, music and the scenes that follow it can do marvelous things when the pieces are in place. Ya know, just keep it real!
gettin' down w/ alien spy
V: how's the 4 song single coming along?
B: Yo Yo Yo, that shit is pretty much released. It's got a re-recording of one song off the "Double Agent" split and three new ones. We probablly won't be able to get it into many stores cause we decided to release it on tape. We're going to sell it at shows for three bucks. It's actually a much better recording than our CD release and we're juiced that it's ready for the public ear. We're probablly going to be recording all through the Spring in order to release another CD by the begining of summer. The tracks off it will probablly be slowly released as demos and then combined onto a CD. Keep posted.
V: what are some of your fav. places to play in the bay area? too bad about fatty mocha closing up tight as a turtles butt. (**note this question was asked BEFORE they decided to reopen fatty)
B: Anywhere can be fun if all is well....Gilman, Ashkenaz, The Phoenix, Teen Centers, whatever! Any place with decent prices, all ages shows and the rest of that jazz. It's terrible that Fatty Mochas is closing, Darrin(the guy who runs it is super nice)we played there once and it was a really nice place. It's a shame to see clubs shut down just as their getting off the ground, giving smaller bands a place to play and kids a place to see shows. That happened to the Boarderline in Sonora too. Mark the guy who owns Boarderline is one of the raddest guys I've ever met. People like him go out on a limb and work their ass off to provide music for everyone only to have bitchy neighbors, redneck bigots, or city governments shut them down. Then the same people who shut the places down act suprised and shocked when there is more problems on the streets during weekends. In a place like Sonora or Merced when there's no music scene or shows too see there's nothing else to do execpt get fucked up and wreck shop out on the streets. It's sad that so many people view places like Boarderline and Fatty Mochas as a problem instead of something positive which should be supported one hundred percent.
toot-toot
V:what's the worst or most embarrasing thing that's ever happened at one of your shows?
B:Our first show at Gilman was pretty large it was with Bouncing Souls, The Rudiments, Ten Foot Pole and Triple A. Anyways, I was all nervous to begin with, plus I was getting over strep throat and I had like a 102 fever or some shit. We played decentley, but I kept foaming at the mouth during our set. All my friends told me this afterwords. We used to cover Hawaii 5-o and the first time we were going to play it I was totally stressed cause I had this solo that was difficult for me to pull off. I must have practiced a million times before we played. I was confident that I was the next Van Halen and just before my solo I popped my guitar cord out of my amp and missed the whole thing. Another time at a practice at our old drummers garage in Richmond I was jumping around having a blast and the next thing I knew I tripped and flew onto the lawnmower. The whole band was laughing at me I was pretty blushed. I do stupid things all of the time.
Straight out of Oakland, Alien Spy is comin' to 'spork your ass'. For more info, visit their page.
SODA, BETTYS LOVE CHILD, TRIBAL DISCO NOISE, LINT(?), and TINFED @ Cactus Club 3/6/98
Well being as this show was at the Cactus Club, there is going to be some complaining, so let me get this out of the way. First off, the Cactus decided they were going to start checking IDS (does that mean for the beer too?), but guess who doesn't have one? Gee, how much under 16 do I look? After pleading a couple people (ie. Jim, the bastard bouncers, my friends mom) I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. When I saw the door open there was no turning back. :) Once I got inside and decided I was safe, I felt much better. BETTYS LOVE CHILD was up first, who should have been playing much later in the show, but what can I say, it was a KOME show. BETTYS is an extremely talented band, they played a GREAT set and even had the usually dumbstruck/drunk crowd moshing. Then was LINT(?) who was a sort of pop-punk band, they're weren't too bad, but then again many of the other bands weren't too much to compare it to. Following them were TINFED. They were not good at all! I found myself falling asleep at a table, and I usually ALWAYS stand up for the bands. TRIBAL DISCO NOISE played after that, and I suppose any band that followed them would of looked WONDERFUL. Although I can't say I am really impressed with TDN, it's not that they are bad, it's just I don't find them interesting. SODA played last (KOME did one decent thing). They played a wonderful set as usual, doing Poster Boy, Weakest Point, Her Song, My Friends Boy-Friends Friends' Gay, Trust, as well as many others. On the last song, February 30th, Meegan invited everyone up, so me and my friends went up and danced around. What a memorable last SODA show.
Alien Spy and others @ Los Gatos Teen Center 3/14/98
After finally finding the center and discovering that MAD DRAMA had cancelled, I was not in a very cheery mood. The first band to play was a very typical ska band, with nothing too interesting going on. Following that was ALIEN SPY. They did their thing, and if you ask me, I don't think they were too impressed with the crowd. I don't blame them. I wasn't impressed with this teen center, it could of just been THIS crowd, but I don't know. It will definately have to be a REALLY good show for me to go back. ALIEN SPY did the Spork Anthem, and when they tried to pass out sporks, the audience stared aimlessly at them. There was just something that creeped me out about the place... everyone thought they were so incredibly cool. I was disappointed at ALIEN SPY for not playing Pyscho I Scream Man though :) but they played a good set all the same. I can't tell you much about any of the other bands, because I left.
BOY KICKS GIRL, BETTYS LOVE CHILD, CURBSIDE, and DOGFATHER @ Camden Teen Center 4/11/98
AUH! After a VERY long four week withdrawal from any shows, I was happy to make it to this punk show! DOGFATHER played first, and were definately the lightest punk band of the evening. I did enjoy their I Wanna Be a Bounty Hunter Song, but the hardcore sound I was looking for that evening was not in this band. BKG played next, and I was surprised to see as many people moshing to them as a did. More people moshed to them, then they did to BETTYS or CURBSIDE. BKG did, We Are the Now, Cuntamination, Romper Stomper, Time To Forgive, Age, Anti-Social Girl as well as others. The fun and games almost had to be stopped when a bunch of guys wanted to fight, and this was even after Kevin had orange soda spilled onto his bare feet. BKG was dandy as usual. BETTYS LOVE CHILD did an awesome set, each time I see this band I love them more and more. The crowd should have given them more credit then they did, but something about this crowd said that they were too cool for everybody anyhow. But I'll be damned if I'd let anybody spoil this show for me, I enjoyed myself mucho grande! CURBSIDE 'headlined' the show, and were definately the most hardcore punk act there. I was mad that they didn't play Junky though. Once again, the crowd didn't give them as much credit as they deserved, more and more of the crowd deserted the place, why? I HAVE NO IDEA! It was their own loss, because this band totally KICKS ASS! ending note--this was a rockin' show!
Check The LIST for all upcoming shows in the BAY AREA.
Soda--Superhero
Having this album for approximately five months gave me plenty of time to listen to it. This is one of those albums that you can actually listen to the whole way through, not skipping any songs. Although some of my favorites are My Friends BoyFriends Friend's Gay, Poster Boy, Doodling, Honey Glances, Pie, and their cover of Seven Seconds' Trust. This Campbell based punk band makes out nicely with Meegan Goad on vocals.
Curbside--Velvet Touch
Curbside is a 'hardcore' punk band, and this album shows them for it. Some of my faves include, Cheated, the catchiness of Junky, Misery and Right or Wrong. When you listen to the album, you can only imagine what it would be like to see them live, and believe me... it's something you should definately experience.
If you couldn't tell from the shortness of these reviews, I wasn't much up to reviewing, plus I haven't gotten any new albums, these are both old ones.
****In case you didn't hear, don't make any plans to go to that SODA show you may have seen advertised, because they have dis-banded.
****Headboard has gone through many line-up changes recently, and this is how their lineup stands at the moment- Glenn-rapping, Jacky--singing/rapping, Rob--rapping, Ryan--guitar, Josh--guitar/bass, Alex--drums, and Nick--bass/trumpet. Unfortunately Dominic and Kristin have left the band.
****I'm setting up my VERY FIRST show on MAY 31st! So all you that are reading this better plan on going! The line up is as follows, SHAFT (my friends band, highly influenced by KORN), LITTLE TIN FROG (you may remember them from last issue), HEADBOARD (lets hope the new lineup is good), BETTYS LOVE CHILD (you know how much I love them), and BOY KICKS GIRL (my homeboys, how can I do a show w/o them?). Not to mention, a special surprise band. This is all set to take pleace at Camden Teen Center, so spread the word.
Luckie Strike. A geekrock band out of Sacto.
Jalopy Taco Stand A funky band from San Jose.
Slow Gherkin A huge ska band out of Santa Cruz.
Get your own Free Home Page