GR 15 years mixtape

In commemoration of last weekend's GR's Comic-Con party/rock show, I put together a special mix that included a bunch of bands that have been featured in our magazine over its 15 years of publication. It wasn't easy to take all the great music we've featured and narrow it down to an hour, and a lot of awesome bands wound up on the cutting-room floor. In the end, I made it lean toward the punk and rock end of the spectrum and picked shorter songs to keep things moving, since it was going to be played before the first band when on. For a variety of reasons, it never got played, but here's the playlist for your gathering and listening pleasure (in addition to some random notes and thoughts about the bands):

1. "Rainbow" - Boris w/ Michio Kurihara (GR35, GR48, GR51)
2. "Statement" - Boris (GR35, GR51)

Japan's sludge/stoner/art-rocking Boris has actually been in our album more than once. We interviewed them the first time when my friend Ben turned me onto them and wanted to take pics. Later on, our friends Damon & Naomi turned us on to Michio Kurihara, a guitarist who collaborated with D&N as well as Boris, and helped up coordinate an interview with him. Eventually, I went on tour selling T-shirts for D&N with Boris as well as Kurihara. It was amazing to see the lineup every night, and "Rainbow" was always a highlight with Wata's vocals and Kurihara trying ever-so hard to restrain his shredding... "Statement" is a newer song that's more of a straight up rocker.

3. "Linda Linda Linda" - Paranaum (GR47)

Okay, this is the biggest stretch of the mix. We didn't feature the Linda Linda Linda director or even the members of Paranaum in the pages of our mag. But I did interview James Iha, who composed the movie's soundtrack, which includes this cover of the Blue Hearts' classic garage rock song. The singer also played the younger sister from The Host--and I interviewed that film's director, Bong Joon-ho, in the same issue!

4. "Changes" - Hi-Standard (GR13)

The pop punk band was playing huge arenas and running its own hugely successful Pizza of Death label in Japan, but played an open trailer on the Warped Tour in 1998, where they were supporting their debut CD on Fat. After interviewing them by their beat-up Winnebago, I ran over to see NOFX, Rancid, and Bad Religion (as well as say hi to Steve Cab) before ducking out to take pics of my interview subjects, who held their own and then some. Over here, the guys are probably best known for their covers of "California Dreamin'" and "Green Acres"...

5. "Lick Me Baby" - Brain Failure (GR29)
6. "Asshole, I'm Not Your Baby" - Hang on the Box (GR29)

Not long after we got turned onto these bands by our friend Anna-Sophie Loewenberg, who wrote about the time she spend with Chinese punks in Beijing in GR26, I got to see them in person at the Silverlake Lounge, when they were on the Benten Records tour. I recall the Brain Failure guys being really excited about living the dream, riding in old Caddy convertibles and eating Taco Bell as much as possible. I believe Hang on the Box were having some drama about romance on the road...

7. "You're a Tease" - The Hard-Ons (GR32)

When we got a review copy of Most People Are a Waste of Time, I thought, "Holy crap, one of my favorite bands from when I was in college is still around!" Immediately, I set up an interview with all three original members, which was a awesome and full of trash-talk about each other. The sidebar I wrote with Henry Rollins, who sang on the Australian band's cover of "Let There Be Rock," was a highlight, too. Since the ex-Black Flag singer was very active in the "Free the Memphis 3" movement, I asked him if he was worried about becoming Bono. His answer was tenuous, to say the least.

8. "Wild World" - SNFU (GR6)

I always wondered if the Edmonton punk band's singer's name, Chi Pig, came from him being Chinese. This brief interview confirmed that his dad was indeed Chinese. He talked about growing up with soft-spoken relatives, getting into punk, and being openly gay in the hardcore scene. Looking back, I can't believe I interviewed the punk legend way back then.

9. "Permanently Damaged" - Crucifix (GR41)
10. "Across This Chaos" - Proudflesh (GR41)

Sothira Pheng has been a legend among crusty punks, peace punks, and underground metal for a long time now, and you still see his bands' patches worn alongside Discharge, GBH, and other spiky-haired bands on the backs of hardcore listeners. (He was in Crucifix during the '80s and Proudflesh now.) It was kind of weird but cool to interview him at a Baker's Square coffee shop on the outskirts of S.F. I'm hoping to have his band play a GR show one of these days...

11. "I Got a Gun" - Channel 3 (GR35)

CH3 released its first albums on the legendary Posh Boy Records label, alongside L.A. punk legends like the Adolescents, Social Distortion, and TSOL. Hapa singer Mike Magrann introduced a generation of punkers to WWII concentration camps in "Manzanar," but "I Got a Gun" is a catchier song... The band still plays out today, and is totally worth seeing. I wanted to book them for the GR gig, but they were about to embark on some shows in Europe.

12. "Marginal Man" - Marginal Man (GR15)

Kenny Inouye not only played guitar for one of Washington DC's second-generation punk bands (many members were in Artificial Peace, which appeared on the Flex Your Head comp), but his dad is the Hawaiian senator. Damn!

13. "Understand" - Cringer (GR51)
14. "If I Have to Dance Then I Don't Want Your Revolution" - J Church (GR18, GR20, GR51)

It's hard for me to describe what Lance Hahn means to GR. I've met various lineups of his band J Church, which stayed at my house whenever they played L.A., and they were always great--brainy, funny, and tight-as-hell punk rock with no filler and tons of tour disasters. J Church played three or four GR shows and were even supposed to play my wedding. Of course, the schedule was off by a week... The group (along with Cringer, the band Lance and Gardner started in ) are in a permanent two-way tie with The Clash for my favorite band of all time.

15. "Just How Much Rice?" - Rice (GR3)
16. "Quadruple Bypass" - The Peechees GR3)

Eric knew the bassist Rop through a mutual love of punk rock and toys, and I actually got to know the Peechees just by seeing them every single time they came through L.A. I got to drop the band's banner onstage twice--once at Jabberjaw and once in Signal Hill (with RFTC on the bill as well) and guitarist Carlos is one of two men that have ever planted a kiss on me from the stage (the other is Ian Svenonius).

17. "Mystery Girl" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (GR32)

I interviewed the band shortly after Touch & Go re-released their self-released CD. They were playing a warm-up show in Costa Mesa with Liars on the cusp of a big tour. The band was already over the songs I had heard and was blown away by, and saying that they had moved on to a totally different sound. Indeed. Allegedly, Karen O and Nick Z. live in L.A. now and tell mutual friends that they want to hang out with us. They're awesome, and now I have to pay to see them rip it up in much larger venues.

18. "Land of the Freak" - King Khan & The Shrines (GR55)

It's weird meeting bands that say they grew up reading GR... But I was honored to have garage rock 'n' roll royalty like King Khan say that to me. I interviewed the hard-working Indian-Canadian rocker in the tour bus right before tore the roof off The Echo with his band of Germans. It's too late to see James Brown or even Little Richard play divey clubs, but you can still see King Khan.

19. "Beg Waves" - Ponytail (GR57)

Well, I guess we can't keep pulling the "back in the day" shtick about how great Jabberjaw was back in the day, because The Smell currently has a ton of awesome new bands on its calendar. Ponytail is from Maryland, but fits right on the bill with Abe Vigoda, No Age, Mika Miko, etc. Super young, super energetic, and super fun, this song reminds me of Bow Wow Wow.

20. "Wild Heart" - Abe Vigoda (GR59)

This is another young band my photographer and friend wanted us to interview so he could shoot them. After we finally made it happen, he said, "Aw, man! I thought there was an Asian person in the band. I'm so sorry..." I told him not to worry. Ramen, chow fun, and pad see ew are cool, but sometimes you need a burrito. This Stevie Nicks cover is haunting and amazing.