I'm Up On Buzzbands: Happy Sundays Long Beach

I'm up on Buzzbands with photos and a write-up on Happy Sundays Long Beach.

The Coathangers at Alex's Bar (shot for Buzzbands)

Bands/artists seen:

Cat Scan
The Coathangers
Janelane 
Jordan Jones
Prettiest Eyes
TJ Ridings
Tropa Magica
Velvet Starlings
White Woods

I'm Up On California Rocker: Polartropica Interview

I'm up on California Rocker with an interview with Polartropica.

Polartropica at the Bootleg Theater

Day 4: Echo Park Rising

Day 4 at Echo Park Rising was my fun day. I wasn't shooting for Buzzbands so I showed up later than I would have if I was shooting for the site and I just set up camp at The Echo/Echoplex.

The day started out catching a couple touring bands. Autumn was coming in from Minnesota while The Bellwether Syndicate hailed from Chicago. Both rocked it out under the lights of the Echoplex. What was the best moment of the two sets was actually what happened after The Bellwether Syndicate. The drummer brought up his little girl who started banging away on one of the drums.

Autumn

The Bellwether Syndicate

Collapsing Scenery didn't play the main stage at the Echoplex. No, they played in the far back corner of the venue. I didn't even realize it until just before they were about to play. I was just hanging out at the main stage, watching the young kid having the time of her life. I turned around and there were sheets hanging from the ceiling and floor lights shining. Yep, that was Collapsing Scenery. That band loves to rock against the backdrop of flashing lights.

Collapsing Scenery

Then it was a rush upstairs to The Echo to catch Ever So Android. They started their set a touch early, because as I headed up a little before their 6:45 p.m. start time I could hear them hitting up their first song. The venue was packed for their set. Some call their sound goth punk. Others call it industrial. It doesn't matter, I love their music and was thrilled they were playing in front of such a large crowd. Lead singer Hope jumped into the audience for one song to get the mosh pit going. A guy to my side decided it was a good time to protect his $10 drink.

Ever So Android

I then rushed back down to the Echoplex to catch a few songs by Poppy Jean Crawford. Love her quiet attitude on stage.

Poppy Jean Crawford

Then it was back to close things out at The Echo with Dancing Tongues, Draemings, R Clown (no known link) and The Bank of America (no known link).

Draemings is a favorite of mine. I heard someone to the side of me say of lead singer Kimi, "She's so pretty, I love her." In regards to Kimi, this was her 6th set of the festival. She did 4 sets with her band Kevin, one with Draemings and a solo set. And this was done over 3 days and not 4 days. Talk about being busy. Maybe driven by surviving those 6 sets, she jumped into the crowd and danced with great joy.

Draemings

As for The Bank of America, I couldn't catch The Paranoyds as I was doing photography on the east side during their Friday set. So what do I do, I catch The Bank of America. Lexi of The Paranoyds is in the band. This band is totally different from The Paranoyds. There are no vocals. The band just jams, sending out pulsating beats.

The Bank of America

Dancing Tongues and R Clown got the crowd hyped up for some mosh pit action. The crowds were still ready for the mosh pit even after four days of music.

Dancing Tongues

R Clown

I'm up on Buzzbands: Echo Park Rising

Iress at American Barbershop (shot for Buzzbands)

I shot Echo Park Rising for Buzzbands. If you're interested in seeing my photos along with write-ups that I helped with, please click on the links:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 (Buzzbands Stage)

Day 3

Here's a list of band that I saw:

Day 1 - American Barbershop

Beers for Fears
Bone Acre
Broken Baby
Doctrin
Mean Heat
New Evil
Turbulent Hearts

Day 2 - American Barbershop

Dirty Cakes
F*cked Forever
Iress
Spare Parts for Broken Hearts
Speed of Light
Ugly Sweaters

Day 2 - Hey Hey

Cody.Dear

Day 2 - Little Joy Cocktail

Ariel Beesley
Bizou
Livingmore
Night Talks
Tidal Babes
Yip Yops

Day 2 - The Semi-Tropic

Lily Waters

Day 2 - The Short Stop

The Burials

Day 2 - Stories, Books and Cafe

Justus Proffit

Day 2 - Trencher

Alice Wallace
Ben Greenberg
Ethan Sherman
Christina Apostolopolous
Kyle McNeill
Trousdale

Day 3 - Hey Hey

Mr Max

Day 3 - Little Joy Cocktail

Alaska Reid
Badtalkers
The Gooms
Joshua and the Holy Rollers
Kevin
Jess Joy
Tokyo Lucky Hole
TwoLips
Veneer

Day 3 - The Semi-Tropic

DANG!
The 131ers

Day 3 - Sick City Records

Duderella
The End
Space Fountain

Day 3 - Sticky Rice

Salt Lick

Day 3 - Sunday's Best Thrift Apparel

Quincy Dents

Day 3 - Taix

Trapdoor Social

Day 3 - Trencher

Christina Castle
Love, Alexa
McCall
Mini Trees
Miranda Glory
Noé
Sage Charmaine
Small Forward
Twang Clark

Quick Hit Band Interview: whenyoung

whenyoung at School Night

Interview with the band (with Drew). Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? We are three best friends from Limerick in Ireland. We met while at school and bonded over our SHARED love of music. We formed our band a few years ago when we moved to London.

Does the band have any interesting thoughts about SXSW or Los Angeles? We have loved playing here in New York, SXSW and Los Angeles. All our shows have been an amazing experience and we've loved the reaction and reception from the crowds here. We had never been to Texas or California before, so it's been even more fun and eye opening for us.

Final unique comments about the band: Aoife can wiggle her ears and touch her nose with her tongue, that's pretty unique!

Quick Hit Artist Interview: ZØYA

ZØYA at El Cid

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

What do you find is currently influencing your music? My music influences are Lorde, Sia, Adele, Florence & the Machine, Lana Del Rey, Amy Winehouse and HAIM. I’ve recently started working on my second EP and I have to admit that production wise it’s going to sound completely different from my debut EP “Veracious Heart”. It’s going to be a lot darker yet slightly minimal in terms of the sound. I’ll be incorporating some bass, putting more focus on synths and adding electronic elements to it. Yet, having some organic instrumentation, plucky and tasteful kind of guitars and earthy sounds, if it makes any sense haha.

You mentioned you're from Belarus. What's the story behind how you ended up living in Los Angeles? Yes, I was born in Belarus, Eastern Europe and moved out to Columbus, OH when I was 11. Two years ago I decided to move out to LA to pursue my music thing.

Final thoughts: Some advice to aspiring artists/dreamers - Always stay true yourself. Know why you’re doing what you’re doing and don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and do the thing that you truly love.

Quick Interview Questions: The Absurd

The Absurd at The Satellite

Interview with the band (with Ben). Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? The short story: I tripped acid with my bassist (Josh) and we became best friends. He heard a few songs of mine that were good and learned how to play bass to be in the band. We found Colin (drummer) playing jazz on the streets for money and the rest is history.

What’s a dream venue/festival you’d love to play at and what about it intrigues you? A. I’d say Coachella, but they just made marijuana illegal. Probably something like Glastonbury, because a crowd that huge would just be epic to entertain. We get small crowds going as it is—if we could translate that energy to bigger venues, I don’t know what would happen. God himself would probably pay attention.

Own final thoughts: you can tell people that we’re the “badassest” band in town—self-described as such—and anyone who thinks differently can talk to me.

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Premonitions

The Premonitions at The Hi Hat (shot for Buzzbands)

Interview with the band (with Mikhail). Enjoy:

What’s the story behind how your band started? We came together very naturally. We’re all good friends and introduced ourselves to each other. It started with two different projects; Blue Hearts, which became Nobodyz Children. Different line ups in both bands. The Premonitions came out of us finding each other through those projects and we had one thing in mind, to make primitive Rock n’ Roll that people could dance to. I think what makes us original is that we all have influences all across the board individually and we bring that into the general sound we have, which is heavily influenced by 60’s punk. For instance, I’m really into the 50’s and Vocal Group, whereas Eric (drummer) is really into soul and Daniel (bassist) is into 70’s and psychedelic. At the end of the day though, we’re brought together by 60’s garage which is definitely the main sound we love and strive to make.

Chinatown Summer Nights: August 2019

One of my favorite annual summer events, Chinatown Summer Nights, came to a conclusion for 2019 on a recent Saturday night in August. Interestingly, I interviewed 4 of the 5 artists that I saw on this particular night. It made for a special event.

Mara Connor opened up the day with her sweet Nashville sounds. She ranks right up there with anyone when it comes to sweet vocals. This was my first time catching her set this year. I mentioned earlier this year that I like to keep an annual tradition: catching Mara Connor, Pu$$y Cow and Jenny O at least once a year. With the year entering the 2nd half, I can now say I've seen Pu$$y Cow and Mara Connor. Let's hope Jenny O plays a show in Los Angeles by December 31st.

Mara Connor

Nicole Kiki Jaffe came up with her rock sounds that were enhanced by a cello. I was told randomly by someone that the cellist also plays with Meg Myers. As is her norm, she sang The Cranberries' Zombie. I love that song and love hearing her sing it.

Nicole Kiki Jaffe

Inspired and The Sleep was a new band for me. They have some chill pop sounds. Their sound causes one to float a couple inches above the ground. The band got the prime golden hour. Temperatures were drifting lower as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Inspired and The Sleep

Oddnesse is a band I just saw a couple weeks back in Highland Park. The band was the same, except for a different keyboardist. I did notice that. Her Bob Dylan style catches your attention and holds it.

Oddnesse

VIAA closed out the night. I hadn't seen her since 2016 at the Bootleg Theater. She got the crowd dancing to her catchy sounds. In fact, two kids couldn't have had more fun. They were putting the moves on that would challenge any of the adults in the audience.

VIAA

I'm Up On California Rocker: Interview with Glaare

I'm up on California Rocker with an interview with Glaare. Click on the link to read the interview.

Glaare at The Satellite

I'm Up On California Rocker: The Dead Coats

I'm up on California with an interview with The Dead Coats. Click on link to read the interview.

The Dead Coats at The Redwood Bar

Quick Hit Band Interview: Suzie True

Suzie True at The Smell

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? We would describe our sound as “thrash pop for sensitive crybabies”

If you weren’t pursuing music as a career or passion, what do you think you might be doing in its place?

Sarah: Professional surfer.
Gee: Absolutely nothing else, this is it.
Lexi: I’d open a sanctuary for elderly chihuahuas.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Bogan Villa

Bogan Villa at Permanent Records

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What’s the story behind how your band started? Our band got started by pure chance. Will (guitar and vox ) was hitchhiking around. He met Brandon (bass), and they met Matt (drums) at a party.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Jane Church

Jane Church at Permanent Records

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

What do you find is currently influencing your music? Most of the songs I played at Permanent Records on Saturday were written in 2017 and 2018. Television, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, and a lot of 60s pop groups were influencing the music I was writing at the time.

Do you have a favorite music-themed movie, TV show, book or other? And then of course, why the choice? My favorite music themed movie is probably "The Rutles" which is like a mockumentary style film two of the guys from Monty Python made that's based on The Beatles.

Quick Hit Band Interview: It's Butter

It's Butter at The Satellite

Interview with the band (with Britta). Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? We make happy music for anxious people.

What inspires you to write/compose your songs? Uncomfortable experiences, joyful experiences, and people who have been doing it longer than us are constant inspirations.

Own Q&A: Answer to most frequently asked question: no, the drummer and vocalist aren’t dating.