Cheech & Chong

Brothers from different mothers...

Get his Drift

Remember indie/electro/glitch musician Jason Chung (a.k.a. Nosaj Thing) from GR59? His new album is available online today with the physical release coming on June 9. Check it out on Jason's site... Or buy it from him next time he plays The Crosby! [photo: Ben Clark]

Chain & The Gang + The Hive Dwellers

I'm a big fan of Ian Svenonious and his bands, and whenever they come to town their performances are always great. I was lucky enough to see The Nation of Ulysses and Cupid Car Club at Jabberjaw, and kind of got to know him after catching The Make-Up a number of times. He gave me a big wet stubbly kiss on the cheek on the second night of a two-night stand at Jabberjaw, and I got to introduce the band onstage at The Troubadour on their last tour with Dub Narcotic Sound System. That time, Ian and Michelle actually stayed at my house. It was a real honor to help them out, because the band's live show was a real force of nature at the time and they were really interesting people.


Two bands later (three if you count Scene Creamers, Weird War, and Scene Creamers a second time), Chain & The Gang played The Smell on Friday night. A lot has happened since The Make-Up so I doubt he remembers me, but his new band's album is incredible and his live show is still phenomenal. It's still got some of the gospel yeh-yeh sound, but is a little more folky in steam-of-consciousness folk manner. Go buy the album from K Records.


Opening the show was Calvin Johnson's new band. I've seen many of Calvin's previous bands including memorable shows by Beat Happening (the infamous show opening for Fugazi at the Country Club in Reseda as well as shows at UCLA and the Che Cafe at UCSD), The Halo Benders (at the Atomic Cafe in Little Tokyo), and a bunch of Dub Narcotic Sound System shows (including a couple times in L.A. when they stayed at my house). Calvin is a pillar in the International Pop Underground for both his bands and his K Records label, and he actually gave me a tour of its offices and studio once when I visited Tae Won Yu in Olympia way back when.


I'd seen Calvin solo a few times over the last few years, but this is the first time a while with a band. (It's hard to tell if he remembers me because he's really hard to read.) If you've never seen him perform live, he has a Johnny Cash baritone, Lux Interior stare, and dance moves like no other. You can't buy anything by The Hive Dwellers yet, but check out Calvin's earlier groups on YouTube and get them all from K as well.

Check out the Ben Clark Photo blog for better pics over the next few days. They'll be worth it.

Attention anarcho metal crusties in Oakland

Proudflesh is playing a rare show tomorrow (Friday) night at Yer Haulz by Jack London Square. Don't be an alcoholic mama's boy sitting by the typewriter when you could be seeing Sothira (ex-Crucifix) and friends rip it up onstage.

May 19, 1951

Happy Joey Ramone Day!

Pencil Pusher

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Santa's Helper. That didn't work out, so I decided to be a comic book artist. Although I was quite prolific, I never took it seriously enough to go far. Somehow, I eventually became a journalist of the arts as well as patron of the arts--which are like the next best things. Luckily, drawing is something anyone can do at any time. It's not like I peaked out as a teenage dork and will never get to do it again. In fact, every now and then a spot opens up in the back page of GR, and Eric and I get to fill it with our doodles.


Last week, Luke from GRSF called the office and asked me to contribute to the upcoming group show, Pencil Pushers. I respect "real" artists far too much to ever ask to be involved in a GR art show, but if I was invited by the curator how could I say no? Especially since the theme would be pencil work, as implied by the show's title, which is very lo-tech and accessible.


Long before sitting at a table to draw (about 10 p.m. last night), I thought about what would make my efforts worthy of being on the same wall as works by serious, trained, accomplished artists. I figured that the theme should have something to do with GR magazine, since that's how I got in the show. I also figured that the topic should be personally meaningful to me if I was going to go on a limb and put it out there for the public to see. It didn't take long before I realized that the original three Shogun Warriors fit the bill. I acquired the toys when I was in second and third grade with birthday and Christmas money. They were, and still are, my favorite toys, and are among my first explorations into Asian popular culture. Making three would also generate an instant body of work and establish that I'm not just screwing around


With ideas already in my head, it didn't take long for me to draw the actual pieces. No sketching, no tracing, and very few erasures--just five or six or seven aborted efforts--and I was done a little after midnight. Now the pieces on the way to San Francisco for Saturday's opening. I won't be there, but I'm excited about taking part and grateful for Luke's invitation. I just hope my drawings don't bring down the quality of the show and that their bargain-basement pricing will hopefully pay a bit of GRSF's rent and recoup my very cheap framing costs.

The plan for a young man (or lady)

So what you want to do is ask your companion if he or she wants to drive down to San Diego for a weekend getaway. While driving down on Friday, suggest a stop in Encinitas to watch the sunset and then proceed to make stops at (1) Lou's Records and then (2) Univ to check out the Heel Bruise art show with pieces by Lance Mountain, Thomas Yu, and GR's own ace photographer Ben Clark. You're on your own after that, but you better take the plus-one somewhere nicer than a 'Bertos for dinner because the person will be starving by then.

Spock's Brain

Like a lot of people this weekend, I saw the new Star Trek movie by J.J. Abrams. I thought it was amazing and there's a lot to gush about, but perhaps the best tweak that was made to the original series is the shifting of the spotlight from Kirk to Spock. While a lot of newer Trekkies dismiss Kirk in favor of Picard, Janeway, etc., I've always favored James Tiberius. He's a true pop culture icon. But let's face it, he's also a relic--a frat boy, a cowboy, and a womanizer. Spock is a hero for today--a multicultural alien struggling to fit his ethnicity and culture with people who fear him. I won't go as far as saying that the sensible Spock is to Obama as the substance-abusing Kirk is to George W., but there are undoubtedly a few college students out there writing a paper about just that topic...

Wing stop

Had lunch at gr/eats with Wing Ko today. I met him in 1995 through fellow Chicagoan Paul, who was doing sound for Seam and staying at my house with the band while on tour. Wing had just moved from the Windy City to L.A., and since then he's had a hand in what are some of your favorite music clips (Pavement, Soundgarden, Weezer...) or skate videos (Goldfish, New World Order, Rodney vs. Daewon, ON Video).


In a couple months, Wing is going back to Indonesia to continue his current gig doing documentary work on people with mental illnesses. He's a real interesting and generous guy who I don't see often enough... (Most of my skate shirts and a few pairs of shoes are from him.) If you ever see Wing, definitely say hi and ask him if he's ever going to write another article for GR.

Mika Miko at Amoeba

Kinda saw Mika Miko's record release show at Amoeba tonight. After 3 or 4 songs, Eloise boycotted the noise-canceling headphones and we had to bail. Too bad but I totally understand. Sometimes I don't like to wear earplugs, either. My ear follicles aren't young and tender, though, so tough luck baby!



At least when Eloise and her friends fork out $75 to see Mika Miko play a reunion show at the House of Blues in 15 years, she'll be able to say she was there back in the day.

May the Fourth be with you

Happy Star Wars Day!

Free Comic Book Day and other unbogus holidays

Everyone likes to make fun of the fabricated holidays that dot the calendar--the ones made up by greeting card companies, marketing firms, or competing religions. But there are actually some new ones I can get behind. Just a few weeks after Record Store Day (April 18--the third Saturday of April) came Free Comic Book Day (today--the first Saturday of May). Our neighborhood shop Secret Headquarters had a Love & Rockets comic on its giveaway table. Cool! Next up, I can't wait for Go Skateboarding Day, which is coming up (June 21, also my sister's birthday and usually the summer solstice). After that, it's gonna a long wait until World Vegetarian Day (October 1). Maybe we should do something on Joe Strummer's Birthday (August 21)?

Bruisers

Ran into and caught up with GR's old ad man/contributor Kiyoshi Nakazawa at GR2 today. He was on Sawtelle to buy some groceries and drop off art for the Free To A Good Home show (below). Nice! I was relieved that he didn't beat me up.


I also saw Thomas Yu, of Heel Bruise fame. We didn't get to talk much last time I saw him, but this time I got to dig a little deeper about his illustration, an upcoming art show project, and the new company that he started with Roby Jeffers and Richard Mulder. Yes, Thomas drew the elephant--a proud continuation of the tradition started by Lucero, Vallely, and quintessential skate wrench.


With graphics like that, the brand is sure to rise above.