Summer Space Camp

I had no idea what the hell ‘Ghostplay’ means so I’ll admit—just like with a lot of text acronyms that I can’t interpret—I looked it up on Urban Dictionary so I wouldn’t have to ask when I interviewed the local band using said moniker. Apparently it’s when you put a white sheet over your head like a ghost and dry hump someone till … you can guess what comes next.

After giving it some thought, Ghostplay is a pretty fitting name for this band. When I finished listening to the band’s soon-to-set-sail debut EP, I felt like I had been surprise attacked by a shrouded spectre that made me climax and left me disoriented. It was kind of awesome and weird. These were the perfect, aptly timed jams for another restless summer, too. Add Ghostplay to your summer playlist, and your list of local bands on whom to keep a watchful eye and listening ear. You can thank me later for the wham-bam.

Ghostplay’s first release, 33, is a five-song EP that the band has been writing and revamping for a couple years now. The band is a tight-knit, funny and endearing three-piece, consisting of facetious frontman Jason Hess on synthesized bass, guitar, keys and vocals; super sweet babe Leticia Garcia on guitar and vocals; and newcomer drummer Armando Gonzales. Ghostplay’s music features complex layers of sound, created by an equally complex assortment of audio equipment.

“The only part that’s a little confusing—and some people have questions about—is that I use a baritone guitar which is split into two audio signals,” elaborates Hess. “One signal feeds to a guitar amplifier, and the other signal is processed by a computer to make it sound more like a bass guitar. Then that signal feeds to a bass amplifier. That same computer is also used to simultaneously create live effects, looping vocal tracks and keyboard sounds.”

Hess describes a collaborative songwriting process rather than a single member bringing the seeds of an already-formed song to the table. “A lot of times songs are born just from the three of us being in a room together” says Hess. The band’s camaraderie and egalitarian take on the band dynamic is palpable throughout our conversation.

Although they’ve been jamming songs into fruition and playing shows for a while, they only recently got to work on a more focused recording effort. “It’s really difficult when you don’t have anything recorded to promote yourself with,” says Garcia. “For this EP, we got to work with a really cool producer, Monte Vallier from San Francisco, so we’re really looking forward to having the EP to help promote ourselves.”

33 is being released by Noise Loves Audio, a Davis-based radio show and label specializing in analog for its sound character—particularly cassettes, although the EP will also be available in digital formats. The corresponding EP artwork by John Conley creatively correlates to the dark and dreamy feeling of the music.

Ghostplay has been twice nominated for the Sacramento News and Review’s local music awards, the Sammies, in the “post-punk” category, but to try to better pinpoint their sound or genre, it takes a mouthful. Gonzales tries summarizing with, “Post-punk shoegaze-y space rock, you know … dark pop,” to which, personally, I’d add beachy surf rock dance-y dream-pop with a pinch of goth.

The opening track on 33, “Too Much,” sets the tone with a spacy, sleepy beach soundscape over which Garcia sings lazily and soothingly. A muffled, echoing Hess melodically chimes in over the ringing, rolling guitar riff. The beat begins to escalate, and suddenly the pace is dance-y, then again takes a breather and slows to a Sunday stroll on Xanax. Just when you think the song is over, you stumble back into the same dream.

My favorite track, “My Halo,” is breathy and uplifting with rad timing changes; on “New Monday,” tremolo-altered voices oscillate, tonality climbs and the cadence pulses; “Science” is haunting, metallic, interstellar, pounding and echoing; “Patience” is full of angst, feedback, strange voices, layered atop traveling arpeggios and a steady pace that builds and erupts into a space cruise.

If all of that sounds great to you, then don’t miss the band’s upcoming EP release show at trusty Old Ironsides on July 10, 2015 (plus Mall Walk is playing!).

When it comes to where the members of Ghostplay want to take the band in the future, according to Hess, they’re happy with things just the way they are. “We have a lot more songs to record now,” ruminates Hess. “Music is something that we really enjoy. Shows are fun whether or not there’s a lot of people there, like this one at this art collective in Davis … it was a great experience, you know? It’s just interesting, getting to collaborate with other artists.”

“I want to do a lot more recording, because that’s what lasts,” Garcia adds.

Spinal Tap was afflicted with a curse of having to frequently replace their drummers due to untimely deaths, such as spontaneous combustion. But Ghostplay, although currently on drummer number three, feels blessed rather than cursed about their own game of musical chairs.

“I’m really grateful that we’ve been lucky enough to find three drummers,” explains Garcia. “Mark Rocha was our first drummer who really helped us get started playing shows and helped shape the songs. Then Michael Couloures, he came in on a whim and learned all the songs in a month to record them.”

Following guest drummer Couloures’ contribution to the EP effort, Gonzales fell right into place. “I feel super lucky. I mean, it was love at first Craigslist,” gushes Gonzales. “This band is so practical and sincere. If I had to use two words to describe Ghostplay it would be those two words.”

Help Ghostplay celebrate the release of their debut EP, 33, at Old Ironsides on July 10, 2015. Get there early, because the first 50 people will receive a free copy of the album. Also performing will be Mall Walk, Silver Spoons and Subculture. This 21-and-over show will cost a $6 cover. Doors open at 8 p.m.

After forming in late 2003, releasing an EP in 2004, and touring the West Coast on and off for a few years after that, regional indie/punk/queercore duo Butch Vs Femme went on what they thought was going to be a permanent hiatus. Then in August 2014, drummer Kimberli Aparicio and keyboardist/vocalist Chavez D’Augustine decided to get the ol’ band back together for some shows and even more exciting, to finally release a full-length album titled Eat Yr Heart Out.

“It feels great to be back together,” the band recently told Submerge. “When we first started Butch Vs Femme we were both pretty young and probably didn’t make the best decisions for the band. We made some awesome music and knew that there was a strong connection between us. We always had a lot of fun playing together but we just kind of grew apart.”

Now that they are back together, the duo says they have a clear goal of what they want.

“Even though the songs for Eat Yr Heart Out were written eight to 13 years ago we still play them with the same amount of energy and passion. We love these songs and it’s about time they got recorded!”

Eat Yr Heart Out is 10 tracks total, one of which (“Down for Me”) is streaming for free on the band’s website Butchvsfemme.com. The album will be available for purchase on CD or by download card at the band’s Sacramento release party on Saturday, March 28, 2015, at Starlite Lounge (1517 21st Street). The show will also feature opening sets from two other solid local acts, PETS and Ghostplay. Doors open at 8 p.m., cover is just $7, 21-and-over only. Welcome back, Butch Vs Femme, the local scene has missed you!

Instagon

Marilyn’s on K, Sacramento – Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013

No two shows are ever the same, and the band has been around the Sacramento and Southern California areas as long as Lob’s ponytail. Lob being the only consistent bass player and founding member of the amoeba that is the band Instagon.

Instagon is a free-form, experimental jam band that has performed more than 600 shows to date and has logged an equal amount of intentionally rotating band members. So, how does that work, exactly? Lob extends invitations to a wide variety of local talents, like guitarist Ross Hammond or Leticia Garcia of Ghostplay to join in; he’s even included Greg Ginn of Black Flag and Rikk Agnew from The Adolescents and D.I. during past performances. However, this past weekend at Marilyn’s on K, Instagon celebrated its 20th anniversary with a one-of-a-kind live show including more than a dozen musicians featuring eight guitarists, a drum circle at the foot of the stage, two drums sets, lots of brass and the list continues.

“When [Instagon] first started it was kind of like, let’s invite everybody out to make noise at once. Then, it kind of evolved into more of a band like it is now and it’s gone through many phases,” explains Lob. “In the early days, I would show up with a hand drill. We even did a show once where it was the Instagon Tool and Appliance Orchestra where there was even a blender section.”

Lob describes Instagon in many words, but two will do just fine—noise art. And it was certainly noisy at Marilyn’s this past weekend with audience members staring at the cluster of musicians before them.

Just before Instagon’s performance, Lob calls all participants outside for a few quick pointers, and there are only two guidelines to his improv orchestra, if he brings the tone low, go ahead and feel free to introduce a solo or take the music in a different direction. But, if the tone of his bass is louder or higher, then that’s the signal to just jam along with the rest of the band. After a bit of reefer is passed around and all was said and done, the 20-year rendition of Instagon shuffles one-by-one back inside the venue, some extinguishing their last cigarette before finding a spot on stage.

“It’s really an escape for me. I’m going to invoke this demon and ride it. It’s really like a voodoo ritual,” says Lob. “I’m going to feel the energy and the power from it. I really enjoy the energy of what Instagon brings to the stage and anybody that’s played will attest to that. To be a part of that is amazing and fun.”

Wails and screams emit from Instagon’s unique, 20-year anniversary performance courtesy of one short-haired woman. A masked man very reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter sits at the foot of the stage aggressively slapping his conga-looking drum, another woman fiddles with her Theremin radiating off-kilter, sci-fi notes while another man dressed in a black top hat and long fancy coat (like something Luciano Pavarotti might wear) gets weird on another Theremin. Then, there’s the saxophonist, who continually wails into a microphone. And then, there are the two drummers, jamming alongside one another toward the back. Plus, the single trumpet player from the band Egg of Winters is dancing about. Oh, and the eight guitarists. Not to mention countless extra musicians hidden behind one another on the crowded stage. In the end, the list of musical instruments goes on longer than “The Twelve Days of Christmas” song and all band members are contributing just about every note scaling the entire alphabet. It’s chaotic. It’s a bit Sun Ra. It’s a bit tribal. And at the center of it all is Lob, a conductor of noise art and his baton, a bass guitar.

Former guitarist of indie rock band Der Spazm and founding member of her newest project Ghostplay, Leticia Garcia, has performed in a couple versions of Instagon and says the music helped her the most at a time when she stepped away from music. She says the improvisational style kept her on her toes and often introduced her to new musicians.

“I really had no idea what to expect,” admits Garcia. “It was challenging and forced me to play a different style of guitar than I was used to. I was also surrounded by other very talented musicians including members of Musical Charis, ZuhG and the Trees. It ended up being a real rush because it was all improv. There was no way to tell what bass riff Lob was going to throw down and how the other musicians would react.”

And it was just that, which kept Garcia accepting Lob’s invites when Instagon scheduled another performance around town.

“You just never know what is going to happen. Sometimes, the music will be so-so, but then all of a sudden you have a moment of ‘Whoa! That was amazing!’” says Garcia. “That’s what [it’s] about, those little moments of amazing, those musical moments that will never ever happen again. It becomes something special for everyone there watching the show and the musicians playing.”

With more than 600 different combinations of musicians and more than 600 shows logged on Instagon’s website, which is like an intricately kept Internet database, one can read all the names Lob’s invited to play alongside him. He’s even attached dates to each name and whether or not the musician performed a second or third time. Yeah, it’s all there.

“I’ll see a player who’s really fluid and I’ll go, ‘Oh, I gotta invite him to [Instagon]’ because he’s gonna get it,” says Lob. “Sometimes, people are standoff-ish because they don’t want to join [another band]. I don’t want you to join my band. I just want you to come experience this on stage jam thing. Instagon’s the mistress band.”

Finally, a band you can cheat on your band with.