Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Joe Hahn might be the turntable man behind Linkin Park, but you'll find out a lot more about him a bit later. That said, it was fun to shoot photos of him myself. I used to take a lot of photos back in the film camera days, and glad to say, I can still do it. Ever use a 85 1.2? A 35 1.4? It was funny to see that the 85 1.2 made my Canon T2i look tiny. It was an odd look and feel. This is just one shot, and there's plenty more. One cool thing about working on Giant Robot is that my own hobby type work, works for print.
Continue reading
Yes, driving to Sawtelle does take some time, but I love living in Silver Lake. Besides enjoying the fixed-up reservoir and brand-new library and walking to the bank and Trader Joe's (as well as being almost right between my parents' place and the in-laws), sitting 5 minutes from Spaceland or the Echo isn't bad, either. I can call either venue, find out when a band I want to see goes on, leave 15 minutes before that, and be back home and in bed in less than 90 minutes. That's faster than most people's trips to the gym or a movie. Often, cheaper, too. Last night, I bust out from deadline mode to see Thelonious Monster. It's been a while since I've mentioned the band in the blog, so I'll do my best to describe them once more. The often-changing lineup used to play around L.A. a lot in the late '80s when I was a student at UCLA, and kind of served as a missing link between early L.A. punk and “college rock.” The band included Dix Denney from The Weirdos and Zander Schloss from The Circle Jerks and was produced by John Doe from X, but really its focus has always been on singer Bob Forrest and his highly confessional, shockingly melodic lyrics. He is noted for writing literate songs detailing his problems with drugs, love, and family, but I've always liked the songs about Los Angeles, from race to economics to architecture. He actually shared an anecdote about frequenting the bar when it was still called Dreams, describing it as “heterosexually challenged” and recalling how he used to sell meth to customers. Forrest always gives great banter, especially shit-talking with Schloss, but last night's show was a lot tighter than usual. It came on the heels of the band playing a fairly big benefit with Rancid and the Adolescents, and it seemed as if they actually rehearsed. They blazed through a lot of older, more blues-based stuff, and sounded really heavy. Even the fucking around seemed solid. After Forrest cited his self-destructive tendencies and how he has the names of his favorite bands, “The Clash” and “The Beatles,” tattooed onto either wrist so he won't slit them, the group started a blistering version of “White Riot” before cutting it off just as quickly. After a super hard version of their traditional closer, “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean,” they orchestrated two more covers to try to derail the set and almost succeeded… but not quite. The show was completely different from the last time I saw them at The Echo–a gig with a lot of Stones covers, misfires, and trash talk. That evening was awesome, too, but for totally unrelated reasons. Instead of bringing up The Replacements or Van Halen, I'll say that for me seeing a totally tight set or one in total shambles by Thelonious Monster is like seeing the Dodgers win by a walk-off or through an opposing player's error. Either way, I walk...
Continue reading
I just realized that I've talked about a few highlights of the new issue, but have neglected to provide a proper rundown of its contents. The mag is already at many cooler stores and shops, and here's what's in it: * Matt Furie cover story and FREE VIDEOGAME featuring his artwork * Tricked-out big rigs in Japan * HK filmmaker Daniel Wu vs. airsoft kingpins RedWolf * Award-winning illustrator and comic book artist Jillian Tamaki at Comic-Con * Old-school Chinese martial-arts actor Bruce Leung * New-school Chinese comedic actor Huang Bo * Indie rockers turned free jazz freaks Kite Operations * Bollywood actor, producer, and stud Aamir Khan * Len Higa of Oni Motorworks * Chevy Ray Johnson is FlashPunk * In isolation, at war with cancer * Holiday in Mongolia, save Mongolia * Plus totally opinionated reviews and previews of movies, music, comics, manga, anime, videogames, toys, books, and fiction (!)
Continue reading
Keith Morris is a punk icon, but also a really friendly guy. Since I live in Silver Lake, I not only spot him at shows but have had my coffee re-filled by him at Millie's. Sometime after college and before Giant Robot, I saw him shopping for records at Rockaway, told him I was a fan, and got put on his guest list for a Bug Lamp show. More recently, when Eric and I were working on an article about Chinatowns for GR12, I went to You Got Bad Taste (where I had seen him working) and hit him up for stories about playing at the Hong Kong Gardens in the bad old days with Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. He comes across as not only a totally decent person but someone who makes time for others. Like a lot of fans of L.A. punk, I was excited to hear about his newest band, OFF!, which includes Steven McDonald from Redd Kross and Mario Rubalcaba from 411, Clickatat Ickitawi, and Earthless, as well as Dimitri Coats from Burning Brides. A couple of weeks ago, I got to see the group kick ass at the FYF Fest, gushed about the set on my GR blog, and then received a note from Keith via Facebook, thanking me for the support. With the door ajar, I couldn't resist hitting him back for a quick interview… GR: You've been in a lot of rad bands, so what's different or special about OFF!? KM: There's nothing special about OFF! I'm cracking myself up over this one. The difference is this group looks as if it's made up of studly male underwear models and boy band leftovers, but what's really unique about Steven McDonald, Mario Rubalcaba, and Dimitri Coats is their musical instincts. The first time we made noise together, I wanted to be bummed out because it didn't sound right to me. I wanted it to be more aggressive in a Black Flag way, but it just felt right! Mario, being who he is and where he's from, added a dash of a Latinesque/John Bonham flavor that gives what we're playing a real sexy feel. He isn't playing an oompa-oompa-oompa-oompa, punk rawk polka, hey-guys-why-don't-you-just annihilate-each-other beat! The world needs to hear more of that! Steven grew up on Kiss, The New York Dolls, and The Runaways and has played in Red Cross/Redd Kross (who early on were The Tourists to Beck and Sparks), so he brings an amped-up pop feel and an uncluttered straightforward vibe. He's not a showoff who has to be the Eddie Van Halen of bass guitarists, playing 20 notes in a space that only requires 6. He lays down a great line. Dimitri brought a metallic mentality, having played with the Burning Brides–a few of the bands they've toured with being Queens of the Stone Age, Audioslave, and Mastodon. But as we navigated our way through the songwriting process, I made him leave the “Butterfly” at home.
Continue reading
