Quick Hit Band Interview: Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara at Harvard & Stone

Q&A time with the band (via Cassie). Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Grunge surf doo wop.

What’s your favorite Santa Barbara song and what makes it the favorite? I really like our song "She Needs a Little Light". It's melodic and catchy but with a dark undertone to it.

Own Q&A: Dream band to open for? Best Coast.

Sloppy Jane at Zebulon

I headed off to Zebulon for the first time. It's a nice location in Atwater Village, just by the LA river on Fletcher. I'd gotten an e-mail from Bloody Death Skull saying they were playing a free show. I was like, "Why not? They're always fun to photograph, I've never been to Zebulon, and it is free." Also, on the bill was a band called Sloppy Jane. I'd never seen them before and only tangentially knew about them via a photo that I'd come across one day and the fact that video blogger Scene and Heard TV mentioned them to me once in a conversation we had.

There is this similarity between Sloppy Jane and Bloody Death Skull. Both had large bands on stage. Sloppy Jane was comprised of 8 musicians and Bloody Death Skull had 10 on this night. There was this feel of a music commune going on.

During set up, two members of Sloppy Jane were sitting next to a mini-television/VCR combo set. One kept playing around with the machine. She'd hold the VHS tape, play with it and then put it into the VCR. I think she did this two or three times. When she put the tape in for the final time, she pushed a button repeatedly on the set. I wasn't sure if the set was malfunctioning and she was trying to fix it or if she was just playing around. Or maybe she was just trying to get static lines to show up on the television, because as soon as Sloppy Jane started to play, the picture quality had all these static lines across it.

Sloppy Jane

Just before the set began, all 8 members of the band sat together as a group. Some were talking with each other. Some were just watching the others. Others just staring off into space. Anyways, another reason why I got this sense I was watching a music commune gather together.

Then the band started. Lead singer, Haley Dahl, turned her back to the audience for a brief second. She turned back around and blue blood vomited out of her mouth. She then stripped down to her birthday suit. I was temporarily taken aback. I knew she played nude via the photo and conversation, but it was still a shock when there was a crowd around the stage and the rest of the band just kept playing as if nothing had happened.

The rest of the set had you sometimes wondering if you were watching a band or an artsy play. Why do I say this? Well, beyond Haley being nude for 75% of the set, there were other moments like when two members of the band were hugging it out. Also, there were moments when I wasn't sure the members of the band were actually in coordination. One could almost say they were going off on their own, in tune with their own musical feelings. Or maybe I should call it independent improvisation.

Sloppy Jane

Putting the whole set experience together, I can only say it was marvelous.

Anyways, I'm sort of limiting my thoughts here on Bloody Death Skull as I recently wrote up a review on them, which you can read here if you wish.

Bloody Death Skull

Quick Hit Band Interview: Love and a .38

Love and a .38 at The Satellite

Q&A time with the band (via Justin). Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? I would say our sound is all encompassing of rock n roll and its various sub genres. Some songs hit like Aerosmith and sometimes we will hit you with a track more like Muse.

How did the band gel together as a group? The band as a whole gels together great. We all have a mutual respect for each other and what everyone brings to the table creatively which makes for a great chemistry in studio as well as on stage.

Pipe Dreams and Santa Barbara at Harvard & Stone

I first saw Pipe Dreams at Echo Park Rising. I'd first heard of them way earlier via Jana Jordan. Jana was one of my first Instagram followers. They put on a fun set at Echo Park Rising. Ever since that time, I've wanted to catch them again. Well, I noticed that they were playing with the residency band, Santa Barbara, at Harvard and Stone. I decided to head out even though I learned that Pipe Dreams was playing the midnight slot, which is past my normal bedtime.

Pipe Dreams

Anyways, first up for me was Santa Barbara. This band started things out a bit mellow. I was like, "Okay, this is going to be a kick back set." And then their last song hit and the band tossed all the mellow to the side and went on the wild side. Awesome. Pipe Dreams closed it up, playing some Lo-Fi sounds. I couldn't help but love how bassist Jayme played with a smile on her face along with an almost I-don't-care attitude style on bass.

Santa Barbara

Quick Hit Band Interview: The Unending Thread

The Unending Thread

Q&A time with the band (via Cesar). Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? We call ourselves an experimental indie band. Sometimes we go by jazz punk. Regardless, our music is the eclectic accumulation of influences spanning the math rock, rn'b, jazz, and prog rock genres.

Do you all (or individually) have a favorite music-themed movie, tv show, book, etc? And then of course, why the choice? I've been vibing to a lot of video game sound tracks, especially from The Legend of Zelda and Undertale. The newest Legend of Zelda game takes a lot of cues from previous games, but some of the cues sound like they could be in Miyazaki movies which have some of the best scores of all time. The harmonies are so lush and I love the stacked 4ths voicings on a lot of the piano. It's very contemplative and sometimes mysterious. Undertale's sound track gives me a sense of nostalgia from older RPG games as well especially since the tracks use a lot of 8-bit sounds.

Quick Hit Artist Interview: Rufrano

Rufrano at Music Tastes Good

Q&A time with the artist. Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Describing my sound has always been a difficult task because I think of myself as somewhat of a schizophrenic songwriter. I feel like I can be in multiple genres at once. Some songs I think are more R&B, sometimes folk, sometimes psych-rock, sometimes electronic, sometimes jazzy, sometimes country, but I'm always focused on the songwriting and lyrical aspect. I admire artists with great lyrical ability like Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Randy Newman, Joni Mitchell -- people like that. I'm genre-fluid. I like too many styles of music to settle on one aesthetic and be content.

Is there a specific decision that you have made (good or bad) that you feel other bands/artists can learn from? I think it's taken me a long time to be assertive about my music and that ultimately requires confidence. Confidence is not something that comes naturally to me and I sort of have to fake it till I make it. As long as I'm putting hard work into what I'm doing I know I can feel confident. It's the people who feel confident for doing nothing that are narcissists. So that would be my advice to aspiring artists and musicians -- work hard and be kind to others so you can find a healthy ego about your work instead of cultivating some empty persona.

Quick Hit Band Interview: TV Heads

TV Heads at Music Tastes Good

Q&A time with the band. Hope you enjoy:

How would you describe your sound? Our influences range really widely, from ambient and drone music like Christina Vantzou and Stars of the Lid; experimental electronic textures from Suzanne Ciani and Deathprod; to heavy bands like Torche and Harvey Milk and songwriters like Elliott Smith, Aimee Mann, and David Bazan. So I guess our sound is all those sounds channeled through 2 guitars, some synths, bass, drums, and voices. And our weird brains.

What’s your favorite gig/set/tour story or memory? Playing Music Tastes Good last weekend is certainly a highlight that comes to mind. I really loved playing in Marfa, TX on a tour earlier this year as well. It's a lovely place. We never saw the Marfa Lights though. Next time. I'm also really into the idea of being abducted by aliens, and Marfa seems like a good spot for that sort of thing. I'll look into it for the next tour. Any time we get to go up and play in the Bay area is really special. We're heading up there to play at the Rickshaw Stop in SF on the 26th of October to play with our friend Emily Afton!