With both members still being under the age of 21, Sacramento-based punk-rock sister duo Dog Party sure has a lot of major accomplishments checked off the ol’ bucket list. They have toured all across the United States and Europe, released albums on such notable labels as Asian Man Records and Burger Records, they’re even on freaking Netflix for crying out loud (in Punk’s Dead: SLC Punk 2), and now this latest huge announcement: Dog Party will be touring with East Bay punk legends Green Day! That’s right, the multi-Grammy winning band that’s sold more than 75 million albums worldwide is touring in support of their new album Revolution Radio, due out Oct. 7, 2016 and they’re taking a Sacramento band out for a portion of the tour! How rad is that? The run of 10 shows that Dog Party will open hits smaller clubs in cities like Boston, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C. and others, with the closest to home being Berkeley on Thursday, Oct. 20. “Lucy and I are both super stoked about this amazing opportunity,” guitarist/co-vocalist Gwendolyn Giles recently told Submerge.

“I was dying to see the American Idiot tour, I think I was in fifth grade, but my parents didn’t let me go,” she remembers, ironically pointing out that, “Just a few weeks ago I was actually thinking about how I’d probably never get to see them play.”

Most if not all of the shows Dog Party is on pretty much sold out instantly, which is really no surprise, seeing as how Green Day could easily fill arenas in all of those markets, and in fact, after their stint here in the States, they’re heading to Europe to do just that: play arenas. “Green Day is such a great band and it is so cool watching the progression throughout all of their records,” drummer/co-vocalist Lucy chimed in. “It’s just going to be so wild to be touring with them.” You might not be able to snag tickets to their Berkeley show with Green Day, but you can see Dog Party before that in Oakland at the Metro on Saturday, Oct. 8 playing with Danger, SWMRS, The Garden and others. No Sacramento dates booked as of now, but keep an eye out at Dogpartylive.tumblr.com or Facebook.com/dogpartylive for updates to their tour schedule. Congrats girls, keep kicking ass and making us hometown fans proud.

The Music Matters

Instead of kickin’ it poolside during the hot Sacramento summers, two sisters gladly choose to be on the road, sharing their music night after night with new audiences.

With 25 states logged over the course of four U.S. tours, Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles of the rock ‘n’ roll duo Dog Party, say a typical evening for them on tour consists of two, sometimes three, sets per night. Still, this pair of die-hard musicians says tour is what they look forward to every year.

The music started as mini-jam sessions in their living room at ages 9 and 11 years old with both chords and lyrics scribbled on paper. As the sisters grew from girls to young women, so did their music. From the debut, self-released album Dog Party in 2009 with its more innocent, yet catchy punk rock attitude, to their Asian Man Records-backed third album Lost Control, Gwen and Lucy continue to evolve their garage and punk rock styles. Now, the sisters look forward to their latest release, Vol. 4, due June 16, 2015, on cassette through Burger Records, and LP and CD through Asian Man.

On the cusp of her 17th birthday, Lucy says she can’t wait for Vol. 4’s album release show at Harlow’s with fellow Burger Records pals Pookie and The Poodlez on June 15, 2015. Gwen, now 19 years old, and away at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she majors in graphic communications with a minor in music echoes her sister’s excitement.

“We just took all the good stuff from Lost Control and we made it better,” says Gwen about Vol. 4 during an interview at a recent Dog Party show at 924 Gilman in Berkeley.

Lucy, with her signature bright pink locks and leather jacket adds, “It’s just like real big sounding. The drums are loud, the guitar is super powerful, and we have the third [band] member, Jimmy, our Fuzz War pedal by Death By Audio.”

The two sit in the back of their week-old, Mercedes-Benz Sprinter passenger van. A vehicle the two say will soon gain mileage this summer as Dog Party and Pets plan another U.S. tour. Despite their time spent in more familiar territories, Gwen and Lucy have also traveled overseas to Italy and Berlin alongside Kepi Ghoulie to perform their music and reach new fans.

Still, with dozens of cities and a fair few countries checked off their musical bucket lists, the two have outgrown one thing: the age stigma. They both loathe to be called “cute” or even worse, to be told they’re so talented “for their age.”

“It’s both things, it’s the age gap and [gender],” says Lucy.

Gwen adds, “Teen show is also annoying or, oh you’re so cute. Or, that’s so great that you guys are doing this at such a young age, or you’re so good for your age.”

Lucy continues, “Basically, the last record we put out was really angled that we were young… Our age was put into everything. This record, we’re trying to not include our age as much. It doesn’t matter about anything: age, gender, race anything like that. Where you come from, none of that matters. It’s all about the music.”

On that note, Dog Party hop out of their van and onto the stage to support Burger label mates, Swimmers, at Gilman on a Friday night. The venue is packed. Swarms of music hungry fans, varying in age from 10 to 30-plus, all huddle around the stage as the sisters check their mics and respective instruments.

A bold “NO STAGE DIVING” sign clearly outlaws such live music antics, but once Lucy counts off Dog Party’s first song using her drum sticks, the crowd can’t help but to push and jump to the music and even crowd surf during their performance.

The first song, “Cry,” off Lost Control, kicks open the door to Dog Party’s set and leaves it wide open. Gwen’s fast-paced, jaunty guitar pairs with her Go-Go’s-like vocal talent and quickly sparks the crowd’s energy.

After the song ends, Lucy, from behind her kit says, “All this dancing is fine, but I just want people to be respectful to one another. So, that’s the message I have to say.”

Instantaneously, the sisters dive back into what they came to Berkeley to do: perform.

This night is simply one live performance versus the multiple sets they’re accustomed to, but Dog Party is out to make the most of their weekend. The next day the two were off to San Luis Obispo, Gwen’s new home away from home, to perform alongside Shannon and the Clams.

Since Gwen entered her first year of college, practices are understandably scarce, yet the two still find time to get together and play a few shows throughout the school year despite distance.

“We get along and every now and then there are few times where we squabble,” says Gwen between laughs as Lucy pretends to grow devil horns. “But we’re closer than most.”

Lucy, sans horns, adds, “Yeah, we’re way closer than most siblings. Sometimes, I look at most siblings and I’m like, ‘Whoa, you guys are so far away from each other.’ We get along really easily and we know what we’re thinking. It’s kind of like a psychic thing and we just play really well together. Sometimes, obviously, we get mad at each other because that’s what we do, we’re sistas.”

With Vol. 4’s release weeks away, Gwen and Lucy both agree that they’re eager to perform with more Burger Records bands, which also includes their affinity for Ty Segall. Through their new record partnership, the sisters aim to reach a wider age demographic that also includes the younger crowds. It was eight years ago that the two first picked up a guitar and a pair of drum sticks, now they hope to check off all 50 states and even rock audiences in Japan.

The album’s single, “Peanut Butter Dream,” describes Lucy’s current relationship and how from an outsider’s perspective, the two appear to be a modern-day odd couple.

“You see me, I’m like this little kid with pink hair and leather jacket and he just cruises around in normal clothes,” says Lucy jokingly. “We don’t seem very compatible by just looking at us, but he made me see things differently. [The song’s] really catchy with the ‘Oh’ part and the harmonies, and Gwenny’s shredding guitar solo.”

Although Gwen and Lucy say the songwriting process has changed since the days they lived together, and practices are limited, the two remain professionals, and continue to adapt to growing up as women and as musicians.

Welcome the Giles girls home when they play Harlow’s in Sacramento on June 15, 2015 with Pookie and The Poodlez. Doors open for this album release party at 6:30 p.m., and tickets are just $8 in advance. They can be purchased through Harlows.com.

When the beloved and much too-short-lived Midtown venue Witch Room (ex-Bows and Arrows) shut down late last year, they sure did go out with a bang! “Sac Go Home Fest” was an epic, two-day, mostly local music free-for-all, and if you were there for any of it, you know how special the vibe in the room was. It was a little bit celebratory, a little bit mournful, with a shit ton of great music and craft beer to wash down the bitter feelings. If you weren’t there for some dumb reason, the next best thing would be to listen to sound guy Drew Walker’s live compilation album that he recorded during the fest. The comp, which is available for free right now online at Sacgohomefest.bandcamp.com, features 20 live recordings from locally tied bands like The Kelps, Lite Brite, Honyock, Pregnant, Appetite, Dog Party, Instagon, Musical Charis, PETS, DoofyDoo (Walker’s project) and a bunch of others. If you’re a local music nerd like us here at Submerge, looking down the list of tracks might give you a little ADD, as we really just wanted to listen to all the damn songs at the same damn time. “I really appreciate every band that took part,” Walker (who also plays in the rad local band Gentleman Surfer) recently wrote on Facebook. “This is definitely one of my favorite projects ever.” We’d like to thank Walker for putting this thing together, because years from now we’ll still be able to listen back to this live album recorded at Witch Room and remember the days the venue was alive and well. RIP, Witch, you’ll always be missed!

One of Sacramento’s most beloved bands Dog Party recently announced that they signed with Bay Area indie label Asian Man Records. The pop-punk duo, comprised of sisters Lucy (drums/vocals) and Gwendolyn Giles (guitar/vocals), who are just 14 and 17 years old, will release a full-length album this summer called Lost Control. Asian Man, with its hyper-DIY approach (the label is run out of a garage) and longtime track record of releasing great punk rock records, is a perfect fit for the gals in Dog Party at this point in their career. When I was just about their age, one of my high school teachers brought Asian Man Records founder Mike Park into class to speak one day and not to get too sappy, but it totally changed my life. I ended up studying music in college in no small part because of Park’s (and others in the music community like him) influence on me. I can only imagine that Asian Man will have an even larger impact on the lives of the Giles sisters, and we couldn’t be happier for them.

You can catch them live on Thursday, May 30, 2013 at Old Ironsides and on Thursday, June 6, 2013 at Luigi’s. For more information on the band, to hear some tunes and to see future tour dates, visit Facebook.com/dogpartylive. To learn more about Asian Man, visit Asianmanrecords.com

Sexrat teams up with renowned producer Sylvia Massy on forthcoming album, Masters of Obscurity

Rock ‘n’ roll is alive and well.

It’s heard in the echoes of music from past greats and pulses between the new musicians of today. With seven years to their credit, Zach Goodin, Marc Kallweit and Devin Hurley of Sexrat look forward to releasing their second album, Masters of Obscurity this fall. A three-year labor of love in the making, the album was recorded at a 1900s vaudevillian theatre in Weed, Calif. that is now converted into Radiostar Studios by avid instrument and gear collector Sylvia Massy.

Not only is Massy known for collecting pieces of rock ‘n’ roll history, she’s also known for producing tracks for multi-platinum musicians such as Tool, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, R.E.M and more. What’s more is her collection of vintage gear and equipment, which, according to Sexrat guitarist and vocalist Goodin, all have a story behind them.

“She turned a 6,000-square-foot art deco movie theater, like a small version of the Crest [Theatre], into a recording studio with tons of vintage gear,” explains a smiling Goodin, his eyes gleaming with excitement behind a pair of dark shades. “Every piece of equipment has some crazy story like, ‘Oh, I got that from the Stones,’ or, ‘I got that from Led Zeppelin.’”

Strumming guitars held by respected rock ‘n’ roll pioneers and turning up the amplifiers created custom by companies like Marshall or Mesa Boogie for some of the biggest names in music history kept inspiration flowing during their time in Weed. Goodin says having access to Massy’s never ending collection of rock ‘n’ roll trinkets set the tone during Sexrat’s recording sessions.

“This place, just the vibe and the acoustics, makes for a way bigger sound,” says Goodin of Radiostar Studios. “We took our time doing it and [the album] sounds great. They’ve got great gear up there and they’ve got a good ear, so they really push you to do your best.”

The 12-song album, recorded by Massy and her main engineer, Rich Veltrop, features Bud Gaugh, drummer of Sublime and longtime friend of the band’s, and also Gaugh’s wife Nicole Hutcheson. Goodin met Gaugh while living in Southern California playing music for various bands and says Gaugh even hooked Sexrat up on tours with musicians like Matisyahu, Pepper and Fishbone.

Although Goodin says the band felt like “the redheaded stepchild” of that particular tour last summer because Sexrat sounded the least like Sublime, he feels shows with a fixed audience are perfect environments for his band, because it exposes them to a variety of listeners. At the end of the day, Goodin and the rest of Sexrat just want the opportunity to connect audiences to their music, despite genres.

“We get tied into the reggae rock scene, but that’s not really what we’re doing,” explains Goodin. “Maybe a little bit, but I would say we’re probably more psychedelic rock. We’re not really a reggae band.”

And they’re not.

Sexrat jam, intermingling neo-psychedelic organs with guitar solos, effects pedals and catchy lyrics prominently in their song, “Made in China.” The song features Gaugh on drums alongside Sexrat’s drummer, Hurley, who often plays keyboards simultaneously and is now adding backing vocals to his list of duties. But, at the moment, Goodin says his favorite track off their new album is “Walk of Shame,” a song he says is always fun to play. Packing a variety of sounds, the song starts off with surf rock-style guitars, mellowed out with the introduction of Goodin’s vocals resonating in ‘90s alternative rock, and then finished with hard-hitting drums.

“We’re all in our mid-30s, and we are a product of the ‘90s. That’s true to our sound,” says Goodin trying to pinpoint Sexrat’s genre. “We’re kind of hard to categorize. We cover a lot of ground. It’s all just music to me I guess, but we all have our own way of playing and together that’s what makes our sound.”

When they’re not rocking stages up and down California, the guys of Sexrat spend time in town with friends and family and Goodin has even acted as musical teacher and coach to the girls of punk rock duo Dog Party. He says witnessing sisters Gwendolyn, or his preferred “Gwenny,” and Lucy Giles’ eagerness to just play music and learn is refreshing to see in the youth of today. Especially as he and his two band mates continue to perform after all these years.

“I’ve been playing since I was 10 years old,” remembers Goodin. “It’s the same old guys that play music [in Sacramento]. As we get older, we see who’s more dedicated–like all those guys from Kill the Precedent, we’ve all played the same backyard parties with the Filibuster guys; it’s cool to see everyone who’s still playing.”

Although their album isn’t set for release until later this fall for those outside of Sacramento, Sexrat will be performing at next week’s Concerts in the Park series alongside Relic 45, Reggie Ginn and more. The guys will also have fresh copies of Masters of Obscurity for sale at Cesar Chavez Park offering those in attendance first dibs for an early listen. After their performance at the park, the guys of Sexrat are off for a weekend of music in Goodin’s old stomping grounds, Long Beach. But, what they’re really looking forward to is performing at Massy’s annual 4and20 Blackbird Music Festival in Weed.

After spending a year getting to know Sexrat in her massive studio, Massy invited the guys to play the main stage at her event this August alongside bands like Forever Goldrush and Merle Jagger. The two-day festival boasts seven outdoor stages, five indoor stages and myriad genres, vendors and street performers.

“They have managed to capture something rare in today’s musical offerings–true honesty,” says Massy of Sexrat. “They are organic, gritty and melodic. They are fun, and yet they express deep emotion in their music with inspired performances coming directly from the heart.”

Sexrat will play Friday Night Concerts in the Park at Cesar Chavez Park in Sacramento on June 15, 2012. To get up-to-date info, like the band on Facebook at http://Facebook.com/sexrat.

Dog Party’s new album cause for extra exclamation points!

What do teens and preteens do these days? What are they into? One could guess: Twilight? The Kardashians? Justin Bieber?

Maybe. Or maybe that’s just brushing the surface.

Local sister duo Lucy and Gwendolyn Giles have been playing in their rock band Dog Party since they were only 9 and 11 years old, respectively. Now Gwendolyn is a sophomore in high school, and Lucy will have her first taste of high school starting next year. At 13 and 15 years old, they are preparing for release of their second album, P.A.R.T.Y!!!, which they spent a good half year recording.

The Giles’ mother drove the two to Shine café in downtown Sacramento for an interview with Submerge about their upcoming release. They look older than they do in the pictures. Bits of bright purple and pink flash from underneath Lucy’s brown bob. She is wearing a Ramones shirt beneath a black pleather jacket with skinny jeans and Chucks–a Joan Jett in the making. Gwendolyn appears a bit more subtle, dressed in a gray hoodie, jeans, Saucony tennies and a checker belt.

One thing you should know about these girls is their musical upbringing. Their father, bless his soul, chose to introduce the two to “good” music at an incredibly young age–their musical tastes include The White Stripes, The Black Keys, the Beatles, the Ramones, the Beach Boys, Green Day, LCD Soundsystem and CSS.

Take a listen to P.A.R.T.Y!!! and you get the idea. From the screeching of Gwendolyn’s phaser pedal on the album’s first track, “That’s What You Said,” the sisters brandish their rock roots. But in the midst of the album’s power chords and cowbell taps, other songs expose a folksier side, like “Mixed Up Lovers,” or a gypsy punk flare, like “Red Ribbon.” Lucy was listening to a lot of Gogol Bordello at the time, she discloses.

Then there is “Memories,” which is by far the hardest song on the album, plunging into a metal sound. It’s about not being able to ski in the summer, Lucy says to me. Note that most of their songs are not so melancholy. They sing about the likes of a furry friend on “Chih-Iro,” for example, or their photographer acquaintance on “Andy Wu.”

Regardless of whatever sound they’re going for on a given day, they have always loved music, they say. Gwendolyn had picked up the guitar and was playing talent shows at school by fifth grade. Lucy wasn’t far behind. Looking to Meg White of The White Stripes for inspiration, Lucy wanted to play the drums as early as first grade, she remembers.

“I thought it was normal to be a girl drummer,” Lucy says.

Her dad bought her a Reuther drum set that year, but she would have to wait until third grade before she could take drum lessons.

Unlike many of their peers, they managed to escape the magnetism of Miley Cyrus or Kelly Clarkson. With a little push from family friend Zach Goodin, they formed Dog Party in 2007 instead.

The White Stripes and The Ramones are high on their influence list, the latter of which Lucy admits an obsession with. While the girls were in Southern California for a photo shoot with Tom Tom Magazine over the summer, she insisted that her family stop at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to see Dee Dee and Johnny Ramones’ graves. An artist as well, she pulls out her phone to show pictures of stencils she made of each Ramone’s face.

Indeed, the girls are comfortably familiar with a lifestyle that their friends are strangers to. The last show Gwendolyn tried to drag her friends to was a Secretions show at Luigi’s. And apparently it freaked them out, in the same fashion that their friends are scared to come to Midtown in general, preferring the ‘burbs of Carmichael, Gwendolyn bluntly says.

“I don’t like being in the ‘burbs,” pipes Lucy.

This is not to say that the girls don’t have friends their age. Ski team and cross country help to keep the girls socially connected. In fact, ski racing in Squaw Valley was one reason why the album took so long to record, since often the girls only could record one to two days a week.

But when it comes to playing music with friends their age, the pickings are slim, they say. The kids at school are mostly “band people,” Lucy states dismissively. Rather, the two find musical support from Midtown musicians, namely adults. They’ve played a number of shows with Kepi Ghoulie, who just released an album himself. In fact, the Giles family had just spent their past Sunday at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco for Kepi’s show.

Goodin has been helpful schooling the girls on gear. They rattle off gear specifics with ease. Gwendolyn rotates between her sister’s Fender Squire Strat, a couple of Silvertones, and a Hofner paired with a Fender Pro Reverb amp and Marshall cabinet.

Goodin also released P.A.R.T.Y!!! on his label, Half of Nothing records.

The girls have grown accustomed to playing with musicians older than themselves. In addition to Dog Party, they are also half of Sacramento band Little Medusas with two older counterparts.

They also just completed a two-week tour through Arizona, New Mexico and Southern California over the summer with Ghoulie and Sacramento band Pets, playing half their shows in houses and the other half in bars. By far, their best show was at a house party in Flagstaff, Ariz., Lucy says, because people were actually moving instead of just standing around the way people tend to do at Sacramento shows.

Here in town, the girls are also accustomed to playing house shows. They have garnered enough local notoriety to play for the last three years at Concert in the Park at Cesar Chavez. Luigi’s is a favorite all-ages venue. Aside from that, there are only so many 21-and-up venues the girls can get into at ages 15 and 13. Old Ironsides is no longer one of them.

“We used to play Old Ironsides all the time. Now we can’t,” Lucy says.

As youngsters daydream about the 21-and-over venues where they one day hope to watch shows, the Giles sisters daydream about the venues they would want to play if they were of age. The Roxy Theatre or Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles, says Lucy unabashedly.

All in good time, we can hope. The girls make it clear that music is a crucial part of their life–not just a phase.

Gwendolyn acknowledges that she will likely go to college in the future. But her intentions remain the same.

“We will play forever,” she says.

Dog Party will celebrate the release of P.A.R.T.Y!!! at Luigi’s Fungarden on Dec. 30, 2011. Also playing will be Kepi Ghoulie and Nacho Business. P.A.R.T.Y!!! will be available on CD and pink vinyl! For more info, look up the band on Facebook, or go to Dogpartyrocks.tumblr.com.

Kepi Ghoulie gets ready to release his fifth solo album in just four years

Most sharks are renown not only for their prowess as predators, but because they never stop moving, even when they’re asleep. They do so in order to keep breathing. Such is the case for local pop-punk impresario Kepi Ghoulie, who lives in a state of perpetual motion as far as his music career is concerned. In fact, his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle even inspired the song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Shark” on his upcoming album, to be released Nov. 29, 2011 on Asian Man Records, aptly titled I Bleed Rock ‘n’ Roll. Funny enough, Kepi says he wrote that song while hiking Mount Shasta, singing into his iPhone.

When Submerge spoke with Kepi, he was at home, but true-to-form, certainly not at rest.

“I came home last Monday, and I played Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and then I’m painting for this art show, and as soon as that’s done, I’m recording for my kids record,” Kepi says. “So even though I’m at home, the pace is still as if I’m on tour.”

Recently, Kepi hit the road with Canadian pop-punk icons Chixdiggit. He played bass for the group and also opened for them, its members serving as his backing band during his set. As for the children’s record he mentioned, he says he will start tracking that in December for release in March or April 2012. Mike Park, head of Asian Man Records, convinced Kepi to write children’s songs.

“Mike at Asian Man said, ‘You’ve got to make a kids record. Your songs are already kids’ songs,’” Kepi explains. “I have stuff about taking a bath; and I was in Canada for a month, and I ended up writing this song about the provincial flower of each province. It would be cool to have something like School House Rock, where you learn something with each song.”

The children’s songs will be short and catchy–as you should probably expect from the ex-Groovie Ghoulies frontman. He says School House Rock had some of an influence on the songs he’s writing for the forthcoming children’s record; however, he says that some of those songs were too long. His inspiration mainly came from the acts that have inspired him all along.

“I wanted to make [my songs] two minutes,” he says. “A Ramones song, or a Little Richard song, two minutes is perfect–sort of get in and get out. I wanted to do a song about the U.S. presidents or something, but I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll do two songs, so there are only 20 presidents at a time,’ so there are no four- or five-minute songs. I remember when I was a kid, slow songs were weird, and long songs were weird.”

Until then, though, Kepi is focused on his latest release, his fifth since The Groovie Ghoulies went their separate ways in 2007. He has a record release show planned for Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on Dec. 2, 2011, which is where the paintings he’s been working on will come into play.

“I’m hand-painting 30 album covers for the release show, and I’m going to be selling a test pressing with a hand-painted piece of art for $150. I’m going to do 15 on the show and 15 online,” Kepi says. “I’m going crazy doing that.”

Much like Kepi’s songs, his paintings are fun and perhaps simplistic, but instantly indelible. It’s a straightforward, honest approach that has served his music well over the years.

“A lot of my songs are so minimal, I don’t want to make them do anything else,” he says. “Like, ‘This song doesn’t need a bridge.’ Like, T. Rex, Marc Bolan would just play this riff, and that would be enough for him. I don’t want to mess it up by adding too much.”

Kepi carries his love for minimalism over into I Bleed Rock ‘n’ Roll; however, as he told Submerge, he was eager to inject a healthy dose of huge rock energy into his songs. The veteran songwriter answered questions about the process of making his new album in the following interview.

How’s it going? You’ve got the album coming out in a couple weeks?
Yep! New record coming out. Everything’s great. I’m super excited. I think it’s the best-sounding thing I’ve ever done…

I spent about a month making it in Oakland, because usually I make a record in three days or a week or something. We don’t usually have a lot of time, but my buddy down there had a studio, and we spent a lot of time tracking everything. It was really fun, six layers of guitars sometimes, just stuff I’ve never been able to do because of budget concerns and that sort of thing.

How come you had a little more time this time around?
It was the flexibility with the studio and no rush… I think the songs on this record were a lot more fleshed out. I don’t know what it is, but it was just really fun, and a difference–bigger than what I had been working on.

It definitely sounded like more of a rock record. Was that something you were going for when you wrote these songs?
Yeah, totally. I was in Austria a couple times early this year, and there’s a club called the PNK, and in Europe, after the rock show, there’s DJs playing The Bouncing Souls and The Ramones, and all that stuff, and people are dancing and hanging out. I wanted to make a record that people can dance to at the after party–just big, loud, fun. Songs like “Nikki Lee,” “Part Time Romeo,” “Break My Heart,” those were made for rock ‘n’ roll after parties… It was a goal to make a big rock record that you could dance to. That was part of my mission here.

Usually, you said you make a record in three days, but this one took you a month, on and off. Did that affect your creative process at all? Did you have to tell yourself to slow down in the studio because you’re used to doing things so fast?
No, actually, music and lyric-wise, it came really fast. It’s this big, loud, three-chord rock ‘n’ roll. When I got in, it was like, boom, boom, boom. Like, you know, don’t think about it too much. This isn’t some super profound record lyrically, this is just a big rock ‘n’ roll record. When I went in, I tried to be super up. The other thing was, if I wanted to go somewhere and just sing to the backing tracks, I can. I’m getting these weirder and weirder gigs. I was just flown to Oslo, Norway, for a show, and I was also flown to Nebraska to play a zombie walk… You can’t fly a band to Norway to do one show, usually, so you have to have alternate options. This record was also made for that. Last year, I was in Rome, and I was supposed to play acoustic at this really loud club, and there was no possible way I was going to be able to play acoustic. The DJ happened to be playing a Groovie Ghoulies record, and I just started singing along with it as a joke. He just kept playing more records, and my show ended up being this live karaoke set. I was singing The Monkees and Kiss and Johnny Thunders, and he was trying to stump me, but I knew the words to every song. And people were blown away, like, “Whoa, what was that?” I like the kind of anything-goes factor that’s in my life right now.

You mentioned that the lyrics weren’t meant to be very deep, but toward the end of the album with songs like “I Just Wanted You to Know,” “Love to Give,” “Break My Heart” and “Cupid Is Real,” there seemed to be a heavy love theme. Was that something you noticed when you were writing lyrics for this record?
It’s funny. In the Ghoulies, I never really wrote love songs, but this time a bunch of them came out. “I Just Wanted You to Know,” that one I heard a little T. Rex riff in my head. I demoed it. I tried to send it to Kevin Seconds, but I failed. It was on my GarageBand or something and I ended up recording that. Rusty Miller [of the band Jackpot] played on some of those songs. He did that one and played exactly what I heard in my head. “Break My Heart,” I woke up one day and thought that was a cool little title, like, I know you’re going to break my heart one day, so let’s just get this over with… I don’t know. They all just came. Songs come to me, and if they’re catchy, I keep them. As far as them all being at the end of the record, I always try to pace my records like a movie or a roller coaster ride. I put a lot of thought into how it was going to end, like, “Hard to Forget” is a good song that will hopefully keep ringing in your head after it’s done.

This is your fifth solo album since the Ghoulies split up. That’s not even that long ago. It’s only like four years ago.
I’m averaging about one a year. The first thing I did was put out an acoustic and electric record at the same time, so people couldn’t be, “Oh, he’s doing this or he’s doing that.” I’m doing a bit of everything. It’s really cool. I’m in a place like Neil Young or Johnny Thunders, where I can do whatever I want, and I really like that.

Kepi Ghoulie will play his CD release show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on Dec. 2, 2011; however, Sacramento fans will only have to wait a week after to see him live in town. On Dec. 9, 2011 he will play an acoustic set at Naked Coffee with Pets. Later in the month on Dec. 30, 2011, Kepi will plug in and play with Dog Party as his backing band at Luigi’s Fungarden. Look for I Bleed Rock ‘n’ Roll on Asian Man Records on Nov. 29, 2011.

Concerts in the Park
Friday, May 7, 2010 – Cesar Chavez Park – Sacramento
Words & Photos by Vincent Girimonte

Two things to take away from last Friday’s edition of Concerts in the Park: one, Sacramento has some exceedingly hip youth; so hip, in fact, that I felt like a tool toting just one lens with my Nikon. Seriously though, I saw way too many kids with thousands of dollars-worth of camera gear dangling from their thin little necks. And second, make sure to buy a beer ticket before you get into the beer line–just a friendly reminder I wish someone would have given me.

Full disclosure: this was my first CIP, and for all my faux curmudgoenliness (I still get carded, for everything) it was a genuinely unique and jovial Sacramento on display in Cesar Chavez Park. Young professionals rejoiced in public consumption as kids pranced around and people were wearing balloons as hats, which would be ridiculous if it weren’t a Friday signaling the beginning of our glorious summer.

Dotting the park were food carts of all shapes and specialties, reminding Sacramentans of a culture largely prohibited to them and satiating drunks and kids alike with fatty eats such as lumpia, rice bowls, Cajun crawfish and the night’s hot seller, tamales for $1.75. About the crawfish: “They’re back” announced promoter Jerry Perry from the stage, gleefully, but at $10 a basket, I was left to lick shells off the lawn. There was plenty of affordable grub to be had, though, and $4 domestics shouldn’t elicit too much whining from anyone, though it inevitably will.

2010’s first Concerts in the Park, now in its 18th year, was mostly about Perry and his talented lineup of youngsters, including Simpl3Jack and Dog Party of Sacramento News & Review Jammies fame and The Kelps. The show was headlined by the sugar-spiked Kepi Ghoulie, the biggest kids of them all, who played a lengthy set of punk nostalgia piped over zany PG lyrics.

If you don’t know Dog Party, you’re likely so thoroughly out of it, you probably didn’t even know they’re just a couple of adolescent girls with a penchant for neon. Gwen “Don’t call me Meg” Giles beat drums behind her sister Lucy, who strummed her Fender, playing original tracks off their debut album and then rocking a cover of Tegan and Sara’s “Walking With a Ghost.” Two men wrestled for a T-shirt after Dog Party threw out one of their sweet XL tees–such is the zeal of their following, or perhaps the state of things these days.

Part Pauly Shore, part Flea in the vein of Yo Gabba Gabba, Kepi shut things down with tunes about supermodels (gross!), chupacabras (ew, yuck!) and rabid monkeys (whaaa?!). He called on the beer garden for a sing-a-long, and they reciprocated like good sports without a worry on Friday night. “Man,” he said, clearly appreciative. “We got a pretty good town.”

Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Agent Ribbons, Dog Party

Luigi’s Fun Garden “¢ Friday, April 24, 2009

By Blake Gillespie | Photos by Samantha Saturday

From the deck of Luigi’s Slices & Fun Garden, you could see over the security fence into the Wyclef concert on K St., but inside of the Fun Garden housed the most entertaining performances of the night. Besides, who wants to hear “Ready or Not” without Lauryn Hill? Yes, Pras can stay home.

The wall-to-wall capacity audience in the Fun Garden made it difficult to see the opening band, Dog Party. Granted, Dog Party is comprised of two Sacramento native 12- and 10-year-old sisters, so even working through the bodies to a closer position might not grant visibility.

It is about hearing Dog Party that matters most. Gwendolyn and Lucy Giles are too adorable and punk to be true. I am tempted to assume either they have a rad music teacher or even radder parents pushing good music on a future generation. Dog Party opened with covers of TV on the Radio’s “Young Liars” and followed it with Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen Rain?” Surprisingly, it flowed well. Even better, the girls presented a few original songs; mostly simple three cord post-punk about how it blows going back to school. Dog Party gets the nod of approval for sticking around the remainder of the night. There’s nothing more punk than staying out after the streetlights come on.

Agent Ribbons continues to prove they’re meant for attention larger than the Sacramento art galleries. In fact, it’s time Sacramento embrace the Ribbons girls as indie darlings poised for national notoriety before we lose them to some hip coastal city that will value their potential. Agent Ribbons is a delightful balance of blues and baroque—like hearing a set of songs inspired by The Velvet Underground’s “After Hours.” For every gentle nursery rhyme about the birds and the bees, there’s a naughty pun about the “sticky and sweet” side of love. Agent Ribbons tested out a new song, timid in presenting a song not yet mastered, but it played out without a kink. The ladies have the look, a treasure trove of songs, and a seasoned patience to draw the audience in for a shredding coda.

After a brilliant showing by local talent, it was time for the touring acts to seize the evening. Los Angeles’s Abe Vigoda got the gallery buzzing with its massive math dance sound. It’s always impressive to hear a band turn blistering finger chords into body moving rhythms. But, it’s bothersome to feel like it’s time to sway a little, only to be interrupted by a-rhythmic progressions. I gave up my inclinations to nod or move to Abe Vigoda simply because it required too much attention. In giving up, I heard chatter of appreciation in the Garden, so perhaps it was just me. It should also be noted that Abe Vigoda felt unwelcome amongst a bill of girl bands—as though the boys just had to break up babysitters club.

Vivian Girls can try their darnedest to not be dreamy, but even in their ambivalence, the ladies maintain an alternative sexiness. It’s in the reverb and harmonized vocals, but it’s mostly the bangs. Our mothers screamed uncontrollably for Beatles bowl cuts. Now their sons quietly long for the Brooklynite girls with tattoos and bangs.

Vivian Girls betrayed my reception of their self-titled debut. Live the Vivian Girls traded in the spiritless performance of songs like “I Believe in Nothing” for an untapped energy that was easily trapped within the Garden’s tight walls. The set felt like it was over before it even started, but it was tough to demand more from a band, barely 2 years old, with a 22-minute debut and limited B-sides.