Quick Hit Artist Interview: Jenna Noelle

Jenna Noelle at Shaken Vanity Block Party

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

What is currently influencing you? I’m inspired by a few artists right now: Lianne La Havas, James Blake, Nai Palm/Hiatus Kaiyote, Crumb, etc. I like that they take elements from different genres and combine it into their own unique sound.

What comes first: the lyrics or the music? Music almost always comes first. I try to figure out the chord progression or vibe of a song before I turn to lyrics. It makes the whole process more intuitive for me.

Own fun fact: I started playing guitar because when I was a young teen, my favorite artist was Japanese guitarist Miyavi. His playing style seemed so cool, angsty, and effortless. I still dream of the day when I master the intro to “Selfish Love”.

The Viper Room: The Mulhollands/The Shakers with Paul Chesne Band and Pacific Radio

Sometimes a magical moment happens. That happened this past Friday night when The Mulhollands and The Shakers joined forces at The Viper Room. The Mulhollands broke up sometime in 2011/2012, but still ranks as one of my two favorite Los Angeles based bands of all time. I first saw them -- I believe -- in 2006 at El Cid during Sunset Junction. It was an early afternoon. Hot (August). Maybe just 5 people watching their set. Sarah Jeanette, the lead singer, ended the set by turning to face the drummer and leaping into his arms. I was like, "So awesome." That sold me and I followed the band consistently until the end.

As mentioned, the band broke up sometime in 2011/2012. I don't believe they ever put on a farewell show. They just sort of ended things. Part of the band moved on to a short-lived project called Birds of a Black Feather. Well, flash forward to 2020, and we finally had an reunion show that I'd say helped many of their fans celebrate a final hurrah. The Viper Room was packed with familiar faces. Two of the original members of the band Sarah Jeanette and Jeff Mizushima were on stage. Long time members Matt Fuller and Rich Berardi were there, as well. And an original member was there in spirit, Jeremy James, who passed away in 2018.

I was a little worried about how the long lay-off would impact the performance. I had nothing to fear. The set started off with laughter as Sarah Jeanette busting her tambourine on first use. And from there, my long history with the band just flooded back. As the set was heading towards an end, I started to get misty eyed as I listened to the crowd singing back the lyrics. Eight years or so and everyone still remembered the beautiful pop-rock sounds that this band brought to the music scene.

The Mulhollands

As for The Shakers, that band largely ended in 2015 when Jodie left lead singer duties as she and her new family moved out of the state. The band continued on briefly after she left, but I think everyone can involved can honestly say it wasn't the same. Jodie was actually in my other favorite band of all time, Automatic Music Explosion. The Mulhollands and Automatic Music Explosion were close friends and would often play sets together. When AME broke up, Jodie started up with The Shakers.

When the curtains of The Viper Room opened up, Jodie had the largest smile with hands pressed together. There was this sense of anticipated from the audience as The Shakers were one of those bands like Barb Wired Dolls that ruled the scene for a number of years. They didn't disappointed, putting together a twelve song set that rocked the asphalt of Sunset Blvd. When the band hit their final song, "Villains," out of the park, the crowd clapped along with the beats as if they just didn't want the walk down memory lane to end.

The Shakers

Paul Chesne Band and Pacific Radio opened and closed the night. Paul Chesne brought some folk-country tunes. Pacific Radio closed the night with some caustic rock that brought the ladies to the front.

Paul Chesne Band

Pacific Radio

The Satellite: Kalynn Barnum Photo Gallery Opening

The Satellite is doing a series of photo exhibits for local music photographers. Up on this particular night was the always enthusiastic photographer, Kalynn Barnum. The night was dedicated to women of punk as Kalynn mentioned that she was often told as a youngster that punk was a man's world. If I read a post correctly, north of 200 people made their way through the gallery of photos.

As the photo exhibit highlighted musicians, there had to be bands.

Opening up the night was Cosmic Kitten. They have a slow-tempo punk sound that is off-set with a wild side when it comes to their performance. It was an interesting dichotomy. For one song, Kalynn Barnum went on stage to play bass.

Cosmic Kitten

The Groans were next up with their political punk. They made no excuses for their anti-capitalism stance. Their fashion stance stated their punk style while mixing in some goth influence.

The Groans

Broken Baby came on stage with boundless energy that is a constant in all their live shows. Their lead singer Amber took a couple rides across The Satellite stage via the help of photographers. There were more than a few photographers lining the stage during the night. Many of them focused in on Broken Baby's set, because they put on a show that makes photographers rejoice.

Broken Baby

Gustaf closed out the night with a style that mixes in simple talk with punk undertows. It is definitely a unique sound. And there was an accident that occurred. A hand went out to reach the camera of a photographer and a lens extender fell off the camera. Maybe no harm as the photographer picks it up and put it back on her camera. I suppose time will tell if there was any long-term damage.

Gustaf

I'm Up On California Rocker: Zooluxx

I'm up on California Rocker with an interview with Zooluxx. That band puts on one sexy show.

Zooluxx

Opening up for the band was 7 Come 11. This is a band that came on down from Santa Cruz. They love putting on some organ driven rock jams.

7 Come 11

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Anna Ash

Anna Ash at Club Tee Gee

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

How would you describe your music? Country rock & roll, singer-songwriter

Other than Los Angeles, where could you see yourself living/playing music and why? Northern Michigan or Montana -- I've lived in both places and love them, love the woods, love the water.

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Morning Yells

The Morning Yells at The Hi Hat

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What's the story behind how your band started? My sister Lulu and I were writing songs in 2016 under the name Phil and Lu. We put out a record called Mood Rock, and The Morning Yells stemmed from us needing musicians to play those songs live. The new group took on a life of its own, so we made it official as The Morning Yells. We put out an EP, "Proper Wilted" in 2017, and more recently a full length "On The Lash" in May 2019.

From what I could gather, your band doesn't have one primary song writer. What's the process behind writing and creating the music behind your songs? That's definitely true. It's evolved a lot from when we started, but we're all songwriters. Generally, one of us has an unfinished demo idea, and we pick it apart together in the studio to make the final song.

Own unique info: Phil and Lulu were in their first gigging band, The Little Blue Band, at 9 years old!

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Puscie Jones Revue

The Puscie Jones Revue at Lucky Strike Live

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Sexy, sweaty funk. A new Sly & The Family Stone & Funkadelic with a slash of Outkast.

What inspires you to write/compose your songs? We are inspired by life. We're inspired by the people in and out of lives and the relationship we all have and desire with each other and ourselves.

Own final thoughts:

Puscie is an acronym.

P - Pursuit of the
U - Uninhibited &
S - Stimulated
C - Core
I - Inside of
E – Everyone

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Xoller

Xoller at Hot Shot Muffler

Interview with the artist. Enjoy:

Is there a story behind what encouraged you to start performing live? I've been performing music for as long as I can remember, mostly as an activity for my emotional gremlins to keep themselves occupied.

What are some of your favorite spots, locations, areas in Los Angeles? What make them your favorites? My favorite spots in LA serve beverages. I love coffee at Civil, detox lemonade at Erewhon, and tiki cocktails at Here's Looking At You. I also love my gym, Everybody in Glassell Park, not only for its inclusive environment but also because it's right next to a bakery so the whole place smells like ham croissants.

Own unique info: I am a thumb war champion. I welcome a worthy adversary!

Quick Hit Band Interview: Deaf Dance

Deaf Dance at The Satellite

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What is currently inspiring your music? Political climate: one can't help but need to vent at least a little bit about this disastrous dumpster-fire of a regime currently in charge.

Social climate: people being shitty to each other is particularly devastating to my psyche. This has likely always been a problem, but feels even more prominently embedded into each passing generation.

Other artists (old and new): 80's or 80's revivalists mainly. Some early 90's underground sounds thrown in.

What comes first: the lyrics or the music? I formulate both simultaneously, actually. I write both/record at the same time. I tweak and revise as I go. Lyrics often get revised for a longer period

the geometro party xiii

I got an invitation to doing photography at the geometro party xiii. It was an adventure. Many were dancing. Others were hanging out to the side or in the VIP section, just watching the crowd having fun. Selfies were being taken. Flirting was going on. Some were talking with friends. And then there was the line for folks dance atop a Geo Metro car. According to their Instagram account, 1,500 party people showed up at the event. I have to say it was a thrill.

Party Goer

And starting a little after 11 p.m., a number of musicians did quick 1 or 2 song sets that reminded me of a fashion show: Jon Jon, Sad Alex, Paige Garabito, Saro and Tillie. Bella Dose, from Miami, did a full set at the end. It was great seeing Tillie. I last got to catch her at 2018's Broke LA. I remember her Sunday at Broke LA being the best draw of the day. It was also great catching Saro. I had wanted to catch his recent WFNM set at The Satellite, but I wasn't able to make it over there.

Saro

When the musicians ended their sets, the party picked up again.

Tillie

Over-all, I found the night a thrill.

Bella Dose

Quick Hit Band Interview: Man Akin

Man Akin at El Cid

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

What is currently influencing your music? Currently, I’ve actually been revisiting a lot of old Hendrix stuff which is pretty much what influenced me to pick up a guitar for the first time. I love a lot of the newly discovered stuff like Valleys of Neptune. Also, been living inside this new Tyler, the Creator album. Sonics are unmatched.

What thrills you about performing live? In my opinion, the most thrilling aspect of performing my material is each songs complete reinterpretation. Everything I do live is entirely analog so it’s different every time and I never really know where things will go. Nothing sounds the way it does on record and I love that.

Quick Hit Band Interview: Beck Pete

Beck Pete at El Cid

Interview with Beck Pete. Enjoy:

How would you describe your music? I make indie-pop music, but putting aside genre restrictions, I always seek to utilize texture that you can almost feel with your fingertips and get to the core of an actual authentic feeling. Curating a full feeling is the most important thing to me.

What’s a dream venue/festival you’d love to play at and what about it intrigues you? I believe that a venue that already has an inviting and homey energy only will help to get people to a more vulnerable and transformative place during a set, so when I get to choose a venue to play, I always try to keep that in mind. I would love to play The Wiltern in the near future. It always feels that way for me.

Own Final thoughts: Everything that I do as an artist is to remind people that emotional vulnerability and strength can only exist in tandem. I think that’s a message that needs to be drilled into our brains, and I’m going to do my best to help with that.

Quick Hit Band Interview: GLAARE

GLAARE at The Satellite

Interview with the band. Enjoy:

How would you describe your music? Emotional abuse.

How do you believe the band/artist has progressed over time? Necessity is the mother of invention. We set out with clear guidelines years ago, and overtime the combination of unexpected life events and good old-fashioned spirit evolution forcibly birthed who we are now. We will keep changing till this is all over. We have no desire to stay in any bracket because we are all very skilled and want to use that to explore anything and everything that’s piqued our interest.

Own final thoughts: Something that’s unique about our band is how resilient we all are. The hardships we’ve faced together, especially since Brandon and I are married, and the bullshit this business and life has thrown at us are honestly unbelievable. But we are driven by something greater and know that quitting has never been an option. We’re bound to this.

The Hi Hat: Nicole Kiki Jaffe, Lauren Lakis and Fox Violets

Hey, Nicole Kiki Jaffe and Lauren Lakis sharing the stage at The Hi Hat. I had to head out to catch that show. I've been telling people that I've been dealing with a bad flu / cold during the month of January. Luckily, I was at around 90% and felt like I could head out and stay out past 11 p.m. Yes, I've been going out over the last couple weeks, but I've probably skipped 5 or more shows that I really wanted to go to, but felt like I should just stay home and get my body healthy.

Nicole Kiki Jaffe was celebrating the release of her single, "The Lion's Den." She was dressed for the occasion. A friend who is a fashion designer made a special outfit for Nicole (red and western). Her father was also front and center. Her music had those in the audience singing the lyrics with her in songs such as "Stay".

Nicole Kiki Jaffe

Lauren Lakis closed out the night with her rock tunes. She flipped her hair and gave a smile to the audience throughout the set. There is just this level of enthusiasm in her sets. It really gets the audience into the set.

Lauren Lakis

Opening the night for me was Fox Violet. I got to catch around half of this rocker's set.

Fox Violet

Quick Hit Band Interview: BADTOOTH

BADTOOTH at The Satellite

Interview with the band (with Arden). Enjoy:

What’s the story behind how the band started out? I’ve always gone as BADTOOTH for my art endeavors. After my last band ended, I decided to start a dark avant-garde project on my own, under the same moniker as my art. With the help of my music partner Alex Williams, BADTOOTH was born in 2018.

Is there a process that you go through to come up with your song titles? Song titles change frequently thru the course of writing and recording. I finally settle on what feels right for the mood of the song, and usually at the very last minute.