Quick Hit Band Interview: Repenter

Repenter at Harvard & Stone

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? Repenter started from the meeting of like-minds, bleeding hearts, astronauts, that want and wanted desperately to make music that was honest and vulnerable to the core, and serious as a heart attack. And so we are. Clawing, relentless and always hungry to create no-bullshit rock n roll.

What are some of your favorite spots, locations, areas in Los Angeles? What make them your favorites? Anywhere that’s dark and makes a mean old fashioned. And at the beach walking alone along the water’s edge, seeing a real line where people end and nature is unconquerable. It’s a relief.

Quick Hit Band Interview: My Baby

My Baby at The Satellite

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? It’s a sound informed by gospel and blues singing and playing fused with ancient folk melodies. Added to that is the rawness of seventies funk, African desert blues, Moroccan gnawa, Indian raga and a touch of EDM all played on guitars and drums without using computers or samples

I saw that you're from The Netherlands. What are some cool music venues that someone from Los Angeles might want to check out if they visited The Netherlands? If you are in Amsterdam you should definitely go to Paradiso, Skate café Noord and Tolhuistuin. The first is a legendary club the last two are more up to speed with the contemporary Indie and Urban sound. There are a lot of clubs in Amsterdam so it may take a while for someone to see them all.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Capyac

Capyac at The Echo

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Simply sloshy.

For the band and its future, how would you define success? Baby, make money!

Own Q&A: Why is avocado toast so expensive? We wish we knew.

Hotel Cafe: Mars Rodriguez with Me an Di

I get invited to catch sets by various musicians and bands that are new to me. I do my best to go when invited or ask that I get kept in the loop for any future sets. This is how I came across Mars Rodriguez. I’m not going to lie, what initially got me intrigued was the name: Mars. Then the fact that the set was at Hotel Cafe, which is one of the venues I like to hit up on occasion. What sold me 100% was that I decided to look up her music on YouTube. The first song I came across was “No Estas.” I was hooked with the rock beats and screaming vocals. As a solo live performer, Mars Rodriguez will hit you like a stick of dynamite, in a good way. One can tell she’s having a great time on stage and so did the audience, which demanded an encore. She obliged with a cover of Kinky’s “A Donde Van Los Muertos.”

Mars Rodriguez

Since I got to Hotel Cafe early, I got to catch Me an Di. There were some compelling duets there.

Me an Di

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Party Nails

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

What is currently inspiring you in terms of your music? The music I am currently working on is really inspired by current events. There is a lot of sadness, anger, disconnection and masking of truth and feelings that I see going on, and I'm making music about all of that.

Editor note: the following question is a bit dated as this interview was first posted on Instagram a few months back, but still has some good thoughts.

At The Hi Hat, you mentioned that this was the final night of your tour. I also happened to notice that you're going out on tour again in June. What do you enjoy about going out on tour? And maybe even what you don't like about touring? I'm heading out on tour again at the end of June, this time with my friends PRXZM who are an electronic duo that I toured with last year. I really love touring. I love traveling, visiting people and making new friends along the way, getting closer to the people I'm traveling with, and of course playing music and spending time with fans is magical and deeply important to me. The hardest parts about touring for me are being away from my home life with my kitchen, my person, my bed, my space. But leaving makes coming home even sweeter.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Dario Bronco

Dario Bronco at The Satellite

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

When did you know you wanted to be a musician? I suppose I sort of eased into it. I have been playing music for most of my life, but always had a desire to write/record/perform etc. I think the concise answer is that I finally “knew” I really wanted this life the day I filled my gas tank and drove 1700 miles to the west coast.

Do you find greater enjoyment writing a great song or performing a great song? Why the choice? This is rad, because I’ve asked this question to so many musicians I admire and am surrounded by. I reach the highest high in life when I am writing. I don’t know what it is. Just, in a room, I love throwing demos together.

Old Towne Pub: Peg Leg Love

The last time I was at Old Towne Pub was way back in 2016 for the final year of Make Music Pasadena. The venue was never a favorite, but I used to go a handful of times a year. For some reason, it dropped off my radar for 3 plus years. Well, I got invited to catch Peg Leg Love and decided to accept the opportunity. When I got to Pasadena, I actually realized that I knew the general area where the venue was, but wasn't exactly sure which side street to head down. That's what happens after 3 plus years. Luckily, I could hear a band ending their set and so let the music lead me.

Peg Leg Love is one of those DIY bands that you can tell plays for the love of the craft. The focus throughout the set was on the music, which is what one would expect from a band that has been at it in different forms since 2005. Lead guitarist and vocalist Ilir provided that raw energy while bassist Christina gave out a nonchalant cool vibe. Rocio on drums made sure they kept the pace of their furious sounds. 

The set was to celebrate the release of their record The Funeral Empyre. The Pub crowd seemed to be packed with friends and family that were out to support the release.

After their set, I decided to head to - where else - King Taco.

The Hi Hat: Kat Leon with Naika, Badtooth and Roman the Cartoon

It was a rather diverse music line-up at The Hi Hat on a recent Monday night. Roman the Cartoon opened things up with a sound that was very similar to that of Magic Bronson. What made his set very amusing was that he had two individuals on stage who did some music box spins. Initially, there was an individual dressed in a suit, spinning in circles. Then a second individual came up on stage, in a mask that had one thinking of Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.

Roman the Cartoon

Next up was Naika. Interestingly, Marley from The Colour Coast was in the audience. Why was this interesting? Well, the sounds of The Colour Coast and Naika are very similar with some tropical vibes. Naika mentioned that she is Haitian. She was also very personable, telling us how she came out to California after finishing college and had a mental meltdown due to the stress of being an adult. An experience that many feel throughout adulthood.

Naika

Kat Leon was the main attraction for the night. This was advertised as a one time event. A solid crowd showed up for this event. She mentioned that the 7 song set was inspired by a love of movies (well, one song was also a Radiohead cover, Exit Music). She was backed by six musicians, which included Holy War's Nick on keys and Dolly from Doctrin on vocals.

Closing out the night was Badtooth. So we went to heavy r'nb/rock beats of Roman the Cartoon to the Haitian sounds of Naika to the movie inspired rock tunes of Kat Leon. Badtooth ended the night with goth sounds played under the bath of red lights. At times, the band disappeared into the glow of the red lights while their music pierced it.

Badtooth

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Mobley

Mobley at The Echo

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

When did you know you wanted to be a singer/musician? I think I probably knew when I was 4 or 5. I didn’t really admit it to myself or anyone else until much later when my hobby became an obsession I could no longer hide.

So you spent your set jumping from one instrument to another. How did you go about working all those instruments into your music/sets as a solo artist? It happened pretty organically. I’ve always played lots of instruments on recordings, but I used to perform with a band. As the band shrunk down from a trio to a duo to just me, I kept picking up more of the playing.

Own Q&A: I’d turn it around . . . what inspired *you* to take up this project? Not too many people ask why I started the #quickhitbandinterviews project. There are always plenty of reasons for starting any project, but let me just narrow this to one reason: uniqueness (and if someone ever asks me this question again, I’ll probably focus on another reason). When I started up my Instagram account, I looked around at what other Los Angeles local photographers (and bloggers) were doing in their comment/caption section. Some photographers were making unique observations. Some bloggers were doing detailed reviews or directing followers to their websites to read write-ups. No one was posting interviews on Instagram (of course, someone reading this might tell me I’m totally wrong on this point). I decided that’s how I would differentiate myself. I haven’t been keeping count on how many of these I’ve done, but it looks like I’m heading towards 500 interviews over a 3 year time frame.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Harry Katz & the Pistachios

Harry Katz & The Pistachios at The Satellite

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Harry Katz & The Pistachios are a Rock and Roll band at its core. Focusing on original uptempo garage rock and soul songs, my uniquely raspy voice feels like the smooth veritas of an un-pulled cigarette, laying over a tight and pounding 10 piece band that turns brass into gold.

What band/artist (past or present) would you most like to open for and why the choice? Working with cats like J.D. McPherson would be so much fun. And any show The Growlers put on. I look up to them for the way they put together entire festivals. That's something I'd like to be do one day.

Zebulon: Shannon Lay and Mikal Cronin

Shannon Lay gets better and better every time I see her. She had a backing band at Zebulon on a recent night. They did a group meeting on Zebulon's floor before heading up onto the stage to provide the audience with some beautifully structured music. I do believe this must be one of the first sets that had this specific backing band. One of the musicians was playing drums and keys throughout the night. There were a couple moments where it seemed like she was uncertain if she should be on drums or keys. It didn't matter. It was just some amusing moments that just blended into some beautiful music. The night ended up with the song "Everybody." The band switched to backing vocals. That created wonderful chills.

Shannon Lay

Mikal Cronin opened up the night with a one man multi-instrumental set. There was an art flare to his set. He switched up between keys, guitar and electronic flute.

What I learned after the set was that Shannon Lay and Mikal Cronin are hitting the road together.

And interestingly, this is the first time in awhile where I've gone to Zebulon and gotten some really good lights. Usually, the venue loves to keep the lights barely on.

Mikal Cronin

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Alicia Blue

Alicia Blue at El Cid

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I’d say my sound is reminiscent of the golden era of folk stylings mixed with modern melodies and lyrics.

Is there a process that you go through to come up with your song titles? Sometimes a song title starts the entire writing process, like “Bob Dylan Architect No. 01,” like a prompt, and other times it comes after it’s been written once I hear the chorus

Own final thought: something other than music is that I’m pretty obsessed with astrology and now just getting into gardening