Scratch the surface of your being long enough and you’ll fall through into the abyss, a non-world without end, without up or down. Stripped of all context, it is a place where one is left prey to all the wraith-ish antagonists of the psyche; to survive here, one must not only battle them, but create the very terrain on which to wage one’s battles.
It is a space Chelsea Wolfe, raised in Roseville and Sacramento, has returned to time after time in her work, from the charred sparseness of Apokalypsis (2011) to the poisoned synth melodies of Pain is Beauty (2013) and the stormy, distorted depths of Abyss (2015). Taken as a whole, her stylistic arc is a gradually seething sojourn beyond the veil, gathering momentum and intensity, leading to the elemental fury and charged intimacy of her latest album, Hiss Spun (released Sept. 22, 2017). Tagged over the past few years with everything from “goth” to “doom-metal,” Wolfe’s heavy aesthetic is grounded in delicate songwriting and haunting, siren vocals—half-lullaby, half-lament—which cut through the smoke and fire of her most abrasive songs. It’s no wonder she’s managed to simultaneously rivet the gaze of the criticosphere while cracking the Billboard 200 with her last two releases.
Hiss Spun, while emerging clearly from Wolfe’s previous meditations on themes dark and dreamlike, and the contrast between turmoil in the landscape and within the psyche, is the most scourgingly personal of her artistic statements thus far.
She herself has described it as having an element of exorcism, and the suggestion of traumas corporeal and noncorporeal surge furiously to the surface of the lyrics at times. Such things can be gleaned by the listener; they refuse to be borne out in commonplace description, perhaps, but it is clear enough that they are used here as raw material to be sublimated through artistic excision. Against the clinical white background of the album cover (inspired by Wolfe’s visits in her youth to sleep research facilities) she crouches, not so much against the coming purge but to the task of making pain express itself at her bidding. Song titles like “Vex,” “Strain,” “Welt” and “Scrape” underline the volatility of the subject matter, as if a reactor were needed to contain it all.
Outside of the psychological underpinnings of her work, Wolfe is an artist who rocks in the most brutal, primordial sense of the term. Further amping up her distorted grandeur by utilizing additional guitar and vocal work from Queens of the Stone Age’s Troy Van Leeuwen and Isis’ Aaron Turner on Hiss Spun, Wolfe’s succeeded in illuminating her ties to a grand tradition of soul-searing, head-banging music. If anyone can pull together the current demand for brutal emotional honesty and the newfound appreciation for the roar and hiss of black metal in 2017, it’s Chelsea Wolfe.
Fellow Sacramentans will have the chance to experience Wolfe at her latest creative height alongside pulse-shattering fright industrialists Youth Code at Ace of Spades on Nov. 3, 2017.
Photo by Mary Gebhardt
Just in the first couple listens, I get the feeling that Hiss Spun has a lot to do with destruction—not in the sense of an apocalyptic end, but a destructive creation, reordering, making and unmaking. Did this play a big part in the work?
While I was writing this album, there was a lot I needed to finally heal from: my own self-destruction and ill-health, my past and memories. There is a running theme in all my music of becoming stronger from getting through the difficult times—the forest needing the fire to regenerate—and it definitely continued on Hiss Spun.
You’ve said Hiss Spun is a host of small words and phrases with large meaning. What mindspace were you in to allow these terms to slowly gather together?
There are some keywords throughout that guide the album, and tie things together that may not otherwise seem connected. I was in a bad state while writing some of this album, but allowed myself to just be a mess and open up; allowed whatever needed to come out musically or lyrically to flow.
Listening to your discography in order, there is a clear building in anthemic intensity from one album to the next. Is this mostly the means you have at your disposal as you progress, a build in confidence, a rediscovery of influences?
A build in confidence as I get older yes, and a rediscovery of influence—especially on Hiss Spun. Each album I make has its own catalyst, and for this one it was the reunion of my friend and drummer Jess Gowrie and I. We had a band in Sacramento years ago called Red Host, and she really taught me a lot about being in a band, being a good front-person, and just turned me onto a lot of great, heavy music. After I left to pursue my own project, there was seven years of separation. We didn’t see each other all that time but were pulled back together about two-and-a-half years ago. As we became friends again it was clear that our musical chemistry wasn’t finished, so we started writing songs together. Those songs became the beginnings of Hiss Spun.
Do you have any favorite films that fuel your visual input and leak into your music? If you could re-score a favorite film of yours, what would it be? The Seventh Seal was an early influence for me. I saw it and then read Ingmar Bergman’s autobiography The Magic Lantern and was intrigued by his use of contrast and shadow. But also just the mood and concept of that film—the character of Death followed me for many years. The album cover for my first album, The Grime and the Glow, was in tribute to that, shot by my friend Jessalyn Wakefield. As for re-scoring a favorite film, I don’t know. My favorites already have such great soundtracks—Encounters at the End of the World, Cold Mountain, Cry-Baby. I’d like to score something totally new.
Faith and spirituality seems to be on the wane, but our willingness to discuss and tackle trauma and the burdens we have as humans seems to have grown. Do we still need a connection to the supernatural in our lives? How can it help us?
Finding a connection to the self is very important these days. Sometimes the deepest spirituality can be found inward. Once you know yourself, you can be of use to others.
While making this album, I heard you got back into popular alternative artists from the ‘90s like Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Around that time, it felt like there was a larger place for the willfully transgressive and “raw” nearer to the heart of popular music. Do you think we might be heading that way again in music as a whole?
Jess and Ben [Tulao, guitarist] and I would jam and write songs at my place, and then head to the dive bar down the street and play late ‘90s/early 2000s Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, Manson, Deftones and Queens of the Stone Age on the jukebox. I’d love to see that kind of music in a more present way again. Like on SNL, for example, you rarely see rock bands anymore. And there’s not a lot of room for it on the radio either.
I often find the verge between sleeping and waking, whether by day or night, is a really fertile wellspring for ideas—good and bad. Do you find this useful in your work? And is there a way to make bad dreams/bad imaginative content “work” to benefit you?
I’ve been inspired by that state of mind for almost my whole life, without even realizing it most of the time. When I was a kid I had insomnia and bad night terrors. My parents took me to a sleep research facility where I was hooked up to all sorts of monitors and meant to fall asleep in a hospital bed in a small white room, to find what was wrong with me. That actually became visual inspiration for Hiss Spun as well, in the album cover and in the video for “16 Psyche.” Anyway, as I got older, I started having sleep paralysis regularly, but my version was not to be paralyzed, just waking up and the characters/shapes from my dreams were still in the room with me, often moving toward me, so I’d lash out or scream. It takes a while to move on from that haziness, and it would follow me into my day as I wrote new music. I still deal with bouts of insomnia sometimes and sleep paralysis. I’m not sure it’s something that ever goes away.
You’ll be coming up through NorCal and specifically Sacramento toward the tail end of fall. Is this your favorite time of year? What is your ideal natural setting?
Fall and winter are definitely my favorite times of year, yes. Where I live now it snows in the winter and that quiet is unmatchable. I plan to spend this winter doing psychedelic experiments on myself and working on songs for my next album. Even though I’ve spent a lot more time in Sacramento lately since I moved back to Northern California, I haven’t played a show there since 2012 so I really look forward to coming back and seeing many friends and family!
It’s been a while, so be sure to give Chelsea Wolfe a warm welcome when she returns to melt our faces at Ace of Spades (1417 R St., Sacramento) on Nov. 3, 2017, at 7:30 p.m. with special guests Youth Code and Screature. Tickets are $22.50 and can be purchased through Aceofspadessac.com.
Editor’s note (March 8, 2018): Chelsea Wolfe will be back in town to play Ace of Spades again on March 26, 2018, with Ministry and The God Bombs. Tickets are $35 in advance at Aceofspadessac.com. Doors open at 7 p.m., and all ages welcome.
**This article first appeared in print on pages 22 – 23 of issue #251 (Oct. 23 – Nov. 6, 2017)**
Roles in the films Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club pretty much granted Molly Ringwald permanent icon status. But before she became a whole generation of teen boys’ first crush, she was a singer. From right here in Sacramento, in fact.
Daughter of local musician Bob Ringwald, Molly was weaned on jazz from an early age.
“I think singing was almost pre-verbal for me,” she told Submerge in a recent interview. “Apparently … before I could even talk, my brother noticed I would make up songs and I would be singing to the animals. It was something I was always doing. When I was 3, I started to sing with my dad. My first performance in front of an audience was at the California State Fair. I still remember it. I did a lot of performing around the Sacramento area … It was something I always remembered doing and enjoyed doing.”
Though she recorded an album with her father when she was a child, Ringwald released her adult debut, Except Sometimes, a warm and romantic collection of standards for stalwart jazz label Concord Records, in 2013. She also recently finished recording a live album at New York City’s landmark club, Birdland, and has a few shows lined up for this coming September, including a homecoming of sorts at Quarry Park in Rocklin, where she will be performing with her father.
“My dad is much more traditional than I am,” Ringwald said of her and her father’s differing takes on jazz. “I like old-timey jazz. Anybody who listens to jazz or sings jazz knows it’s not contemporary pop music, but I think my sound is more hard bop and my dad is more straight-up Dixieland.”
In anticipation of her upcoming concert, Submerge spoke with Ringwald about a range of topics from growing up in the Sacramento area to passing her love of music to her own children. And she didn’t even seem to mind when this writer totally geeked out and gushed about how The Breakfast Club changed his life. I mean, it really did. Thanks, Molly.
I saw that you grew up in the Roseville area. Do you get back there often?
My parents live above Sacramento in the Gold Country. I don’t get back there as often as I like, but I usually come around Thanksgiving. My kids were just there visiting their grandparents, and I have a lot of family in Sacramento.
Sacramento has really grown a lot in recent years. Have you noticed a lot of the changes over the years?
Oh yeah, definitely. When I was younger, the theater, the Music Circus, was just sort of this old tent. It wasn’t really very good. I loved going, but it’s become a real theater now. And of course the venues have grown, and there’s fashion, everything.
You usually perform songs out of the Great American Songbook, but you’ve written books in the past. Have you dabbled in your own songwriting or lyric writing before?
A little bit, but the writing that I tend to do right now, I’m still focused on fiction. I’m interested in writing music, but there are a lot of different things I do. I sing, I act, I write books and essays. There are so many things to do. There are so many things I want to do, it’s just a matter of finding the time. Also, my family just bought a house, so we’re fixing up the house and unpacking boxes. There never seems to be enough hours in the day.
I think moving must be the most stressful thing in the universe …
Yeah, that’s what everyone says. I think it’s right up there with divorce. I would say moving is much worse, though [laughs].
Yeah, I heard it was in the top three: Death, divorce and moving.
Having a teenage daughter should be up there too.
That’s probably in the top five. Your father is a well-known jazz musician, and you got into jazz through his influence, I would imagine. Have your own children shown interest in music?
They’re all very musical. My elder daughter—I had a ukulele that I’d always intended to learn and I didn’t get around to it. It was just in the closet. She found it and within two weeks she was walking around playing ukulele. She’s very musical. They all can sing really well, and they all have their particular tastes in music. They’ve listened to jazz because of me, but I think they’re all going to find their way into music, and they all have their distinct tastes.
Do you have your fingers crossed that they’ll get into jazz and sort of carry the torch?
[Laughs] Um, I really don’t care. I’ve introduced them to the music, so I think they’ll know about it. Like with me, jazz is my comfort music. Even though I listen to all kinds of music, I think that’s what jazz will be like for them—whenever they listen to it, it’ll make them think of me.
Did you ever want to pursue a different genre of music since your dad was so established as a jazz musician?
Oh yeah. During my teen years … I sang it a little bit with my dad, but I was really into more contemporary music. At that time, I never really thought that I would be performing jazz professionally at all. I think when you’re a teenager, you want to go and do your own thing, but I found my way back to it, of course.
When your movie career started picking up steam in the ‘80s, there were all these big pop stars like Cyndi Lauper and Madonna. Since you had a singing background, was there any outside pressure like, you’re becoming such a popular figure in all these movies that are striking a chord with teenagers, let’s try to capitalize on that?
It was sort of a unique time. Like, in the golden age of Hollywood, people were expected to sing, dance and act and be a triple threat, and it’s really sort of come back to that now. But when I was coming up, it was not done that much. The only person I can think of who was doing that was Barbra Streisand. I really thought at the time that I couldn’t do both. I had to choose one, and I chose acting. It’s kind of silly, but that was the time. I sang with my dad’s band and I also sang with a rock band called the Ray Bops, and I would do special things like that, but I was never encouraged to record my own album as a teenager. It wasn’t the direction I was going.
I remember around that time that Eddie Murphy made an album, and there was this attitude, like, Oh, now he’s got to make an album … Like, he’s already a big movie star.
It was looked at like a vanity project. Even if people could sing, it was like oh yeah, Bruce Willis is recording an album. It wasn’t taken seriously.
Was that something that influenced your decision to not pursue music?
Yeah, I guess. It wasn’t something I was into. I think my interests at the time were elsewhere. In the back of my head, I thought, “Oh, I’m going to put together a jazz group,” but I didn’t know I was going to record or anything. It was just something I was going to do under the radar, for fun … But it’s kind of hard, once you’re a celebrity, to do anything under the radar. It turns into something else. But it’s been great for me. It’s been really enjoyable. Even though I’ve been singing my whole life, even just from my first album to the one I just recorded, I think I’ve grown a lot. It’s been a real interesting musical journey for me.
I’m sure you’ve gotten this a lot, but The Breakfast Club was one of those movies that really shaped my life.
I really like it, too.
It’s become such an iconic film, but when you were making it did it feel like it was going to be something special?
I thought it was really special. Of course, I didn’t imagine that I’d still be talking about it 30 years later, but I loved the script. I thought all the actors who were in it were really good, and we were good in it together. It was a movie that I really wanted to see, but you never know if what you like is going to catch with a larger audience.
Do you mind the fact that people still bring it up or would you rather not talk about it?
It’s fine. I like to talk about other things, but … I realize it’s such an iconic movie. I know people have a deeper connection to it that goes way beyond me … I’m cognisant to the fact that there’s still a lot of interest in those movies, but it’s not all I want to talk about, which is pretty understandable since I’ve done a lot of things since then.
Just recently you came out with a film, King Cobra, which was at Tribeca Film Festival this year.
Yeah, and I think it’s having a general release in September.
Can you talk a little about that one? It’s about the murder of a gay porn producer, so that must have been a pretty striking script.
It was based on a true story. It was based on a Rolling Stone article about this murder that had happened. I just thought it was a really interesting treatment of this seedy world, but the director really managed to humanize these characters. I play someone who doesn’t have to do with the industry. I play the sister of the main pornographer, who’s played by Christian Slater. It was a good project to be involved with.
See Molly Ringwald perform live at Quarry Park in Rocklin on Sept. 17, 2016 with her father, Bob Ringwald, and The Peter Petty Revue. Tickets start at $39 and can be purchased through Rocklin.ca.us (just click “Special Events”), or go to Iammollyringwald.com.
“We all kind of sound alike …” one of the young women of the pop/country trio Auburn Road admitted during our interview, as this interviewer, sheepishly, had difficulty differentiating their voices over the phone. That’s one possible reason why their voices soar to such great heights when they sing together.
Paxton Martin, Alicia Paulson and Kristen Brown are more sisters than friends. The three practically grew up together in the surrounding Sacramento area (Elk Grove and Roseville), both literally and vocally.
“Me and Kristen didn’t know, but we actually grew up together when we were like 4 years old,” Paulson recollected in a recent interview with Submerge. “We had a friend in common, and we would always go to her house together and go to the parties together, and we didn’t even know. Our parents didn’t even figure it out until we were older and we were like, ‘Oh! Hey!’ All of our families are really close.”
By age 7 or 8, Paulson says, the trio was enrolled in music classes at the same singing studio. They cut their teeth performing as part of a larger group called Pop Academy.
“We got to do a lot of fun things through there and get comfortable with performing,” Paulson said. “We got to go to Disneyland to perform. It was a great opportunity.”
The trio’s bond carried on into their teen years. In fact, two of the girls (Paulson and Brown) just graduated high school this spring. Martin is scheduled to do the same later this year in December. (“I’m actually graduating early,” she said with a hint of pride.) However, it was about two years ago, according to Brown, that Auburn Road really started to come to fruition.
One catalyst for the group’s formation was meeting manager Michael Anderson, who Brown said the girls met in 2013 through a choreographer they were working with at the time.
“He’s done everything for us. He’s done everything on the album and made all the decisions on the album,” Brown said, referring to Fancy, Auburn Road’s debut EP, which was released on Jan. 16, 2016. “He went down to Nashville when they recorded the music for us.”
Though the girls recorded their vocals separately from the music, Brown, Martin and Paulson had serious country music clout behind them in the studio. From the crisp snap of the opening drum hits on Fancy’s opening track, the EP’s title song, it’s clear that this album isn’t just a hastily cobbled together demo, but a polished, professional product, aimed at catapulting three talented young people toward a bright and promising career.
Backing Auburn Road on Fancy are members of Jason Aldean’s band, bassist Tully Kennedy, guitarist Kurt Allison and drummer Rich Redmond, who give these catchy and memorable pop/country songs serious punch, and a bit of a rock ‘n’ roll edge.
“When we were writing music for the album, we knew that we needed a band,” Brown said about enlisting help from these seasoned pros. “After a lot of praying, we got really lucky. We had a couple contacts in common who hooked us up with them.”
But it’s the voices of Auburn Road that are really upfront, as showcased in the stirring power ballad “Love of My Own,” which seems perfectly suited to raising your cigarette lighter at an outdoor concert to.
Photo by Lavenda Memory
It’s the melding of the trio’s voices that are the real hook here (as well as some kick-ass guitar solos), but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Though Brown, Martin and Paulson are young, they’re no strangers to singing with one another. Since they started at such a young age, they could almost be considered veterans in their own right.
“I think it really helps that we grew up together, singing together,” Paulson said of Auburn Road’s striking vocal harmonies. “I think it’s harder when you’re at this age, and you’re put together as a group and you don’t know each other. We always seem to be on the same page, so it’s really nice, especially when it comes to our harmonies, because we can read each other’s minds.”
Though their vocal performance may border on intuitive at this point, the members of Auburn Road are eager to learn and grow as musicians. When Submerge contacted Paulson for our interview, she was on her way home from drum practice. Brown and Martin also reported that they were learning to play bass and piano, respectively.
“We’re all trying to learn instruments right now.” Paulson said. “We’re not onstage performing with them quite yet, but eventually we’ll throw a couple of things in there into the show. It’s not necessarily what we do, but we would like to be able to play a little bit.”
“Right now we’re in search of a band in Sacramento,” Martin added. “It’s really hard to find a younger band in Sacramento, and that’s what we’re looking for right now. Right now, we’re performing with backing tracks, which is fine. It works out OK … for now …”
Auburn Road just recently had another dose of music industry education when they spent time during the Independence Day holiday week in Nashville. Submerge spoke to the group prior to their trip to Music City, and they were looking forward to sinking their teeth into the vibrant scene there.
“We have a bunch of meetings set up, a photoshoot in the works, a couple of writing sessions,” Martin said. “We’re just going out there to network and meet people and get a sense of the music business out there.
“We’re still young in life and in music,” she later went on to say. “Just to be around people who know so much and can show you different things with writing and how to take a song from one perspective and do it in another, so I think we just want to learn. We want to be great artists, and in order to do that, we need to learn from great people.”
With high school almost behind all of them, the trio has its sight set on a career in music. Fancy is an emphatic first step forward toward that goal.
“Our main concern right now is music,” Martin said. “One of our main goals is to live in Nashville and be able to do our music there. Our goal as a group is to tour and hopefully win a Grammy one day and travel the world singing for a bunch of different people.”
While a Grammy may still be a little ways away, local fans can check out Auburn Road at the upcoming Country Fest at the beautiful Quarry Park amphitheatre in Rocklin, where they’ll be sharing the stage with American Idol finalist Kree Harrison and JT Hodges. When asked if it felt surreal to have had so much success and to be performing with people they admire at such a young age, Paulson answered with unflinching confidence.
“It’s a little taste of the future for us.”
Country Fest, featuring Auburn Road, JT Hodges and Kree Harrison will take place July 23, 2016 at Quarry Park in Rocklin. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased through Rocklin.ca.us (just click “Special Events”). Auburn Road’s Fancy is available online through iTunes, CD Baby and Amazon. You can also purchase the EP locally at Dimple Records. For more on the band, go to Auburnroadmusic.com.
Pictured from left to right Vicious Vanity FX team: Sara Logan, Nina Zepeda, Nicole Chilelli, Eva Lamorte, Britta Jones. Models left to right: Victoria Timoteo, Brendon, Cody LaCrue, Kelli Knudson, Casey Montgomery
The Halloween Professionals
In a small shop in Roseville, nestled between a gas station and a cluster of small businesses, Halloween has already started. Nicole Chilelli, a beauty and special effects makeup artist and the owner of Vicious Vanity FX, oversees two of the artists from her shop as they spend Saturday evening crafting a costume for a character called The Root of Evil.
“She is this character that came out of the Sleepy Hollow tree,” explains Chilelli. “She’s the reason why that tree is so evil. And this tree kind of just sucked her up and engulfed her with evilness. The Headless Horseman, that’s like her minion that she sends out to do her dirty work, and the more people it kills, the more the roots grow on her body, which gives her more strength … That’s why she’s the root of all evil.”
This costume is being prepared for an upcoming class being taught by Chilelli at the Sacramento horror convention Sinister Creature Con. During the class, participants will be able to see each step that goes into creating this costume. Chilelli describes the Root of Evil character as “fantasy and horror mixed together with beauty.” On day two of the convention, Chilelli will be demonstrating the creation of a Botanical Alien Hybrid, another original character.
“He’s inspired by this plant I saw when I was in Costa Rica,” she explains. “This crazy leaf that pods up and then it opens into this heart that has black spots all in the inside. It’s like an alien.”
{Cyborg Alien: model Cody LaCrue | Photo by Dan Herrera}
Throughout the shop, artists are working on bits and pieces from different costumes and half-finished projects. Chilelli and her team make every part of the costumes here, down to the molds. “We’ve got some Maleficent horns over there, we’ve got wounds and zombies and creatures and a fawn, fairy ears, pretty much anything you can think of,” she says. They sculpt and hand-paint all their prosthetics, resulting in prosthetics that blend right in with the skin. Chilelli explains that most mass-produced prosthetics have huge edges that prevent them from looking realistic.
“I think it kind of kills your confidence as a makeup artist when you go, ’I just got this really nice expensive prosthetic and I can’t make it blend in,’” she says. “So I’m trying to do stuff that is hand done and has more care put into it so that the everyday artist can apply this and feel like they accomplished something.”
{Work from Face Off Season 3 | Photo by Brett-Patrick Jenkins }
Starting this business was a natural fit for Chilelli, who considered herself an artist from the time she could hold a pencil and always loved drawing, painting and sculpting. She’s also loved Halloween since she was small. She and her dad spent every Halloween setting up their yard to scare all of the little kids who came by.
Chilelli first recognized that this could be part of a future career one particular Halloween, after she had spent four hours painting a dead foot that she had placed hanging out of the trunk of her car.
“I was out in the sun, and I hate the sun—everyone knows that I’m like a vampire. I was out there in the sun for four hours painting this hand,” she remembers.
Her dad came out and asked if she was OK, and then said to her, “Think about it though—this is movie makeup. This is what you should be doing.”
And special effects makeup indeed was a blend of all her different interests—art, Halloween, fantasy and beauty. Makeup became her outlet as an artist.
“The first time I think I really made a full character and it was done, I pulled my brush back and looked and he opened his eyes I was like, ‘You’re like a person! You’re alive! My character is alive!’” remembers Chilelli. “It’s like Frankenstein. It’s such a cool feeling.”
With a couple community college courses to learn the basics, a stack of books and a lot of trial and error, Nicole was on her way to becoming a self-taught special effects makeup artist. “It was before the age of lovely YouTube where you can just see how everything is done, so I kind of had to just trial and error,” she says.
{Nicole Chilelli (far right) after they announced her the winner of Face Off Season 3}
Chilelli’s pivotal career moment was winning the reality TV show competition on the Syfy channel called Face Off, which pits a group of prosthetic makeup artists against each other to create science fiction and horror characters. Chilelli remembers being surprised when she made the audition and got on the show—she hadn’t had any formal training and really didn’t think she was ready for it.
“The first few episodes I really was more into trying to impress and over-show my work,” she says. “I feel like when you do too much to show off you end up losing the overall idea and the overall character.”
At one point she even got voted off the show, but ended up making it back on, and from that point she changed her approach. Instead of working to impress others, she made the characters she herself would be excited to see on the stage, and she started winning. “It’s such an awe-inspiring moment to know that just staying true to your art and doing you can take you that far,” she says.
{Ice queen makeup done for E! Hollywood red carpet show for the Oscars | Photo and makeup by Nicole Chilelli}
Chilelli started her business about a year later, initially from her kitchen. She remembers having nowhere to hang her clothes because her closets were full of materials. The business expanded into the garage next, and then into the shop, and took off from there. “We’ve got all kinds of materials that I never thought I would have” she says. “We have all the resources that you can think of.”
The team at Vicious Vanity FX is busy year-round, not just during Halloween. They work on films and photoshoots, both with local groups and beyond. Weddings, proms and other special events are all within their repertoire. “A lot of people think that we’re just effects artists, but we have the skillsets to do all of it,” says Chilelli. “Effects is a lot harder than beauty. We can do beauty.”
{Malefacent makeup, model Aja U | Photo and makeup by Nicole Chilelli}
The team at Vicious Vanity FX will be bringing their art to the public this year by opening their studio for Halloween appointments. Chilelli says that in addition to their pre-created costumes, they can work with people to create “pretty much anything someone can think of.” To get started, the team needs a list of all the items that the person needs help with, and from there they will provide a quote for each piece. They can also help people who aren’t sure what costume they would like to choose. There will be about six artists working at once, allowing them to cover as many people as possible during crunch time.
{Rotting Zombie: model Cody LaCrue | Photo and makeup by Nicole Chilelli}
Opening up the shop for individual appointments is a big deal, not only because it’s their first Halloween doing this, but because until now the shop has been completely closed to the public, with all their business taking place online. Chilelli says that after spending the past few Halloweens working as makeup artists for a haunted house, she and her team are excited to be branching out and doing something new.
“I feel like we really could offer a lot to the community and just get out there and have fun with people, so we’re excited,” she says. “We’re really bringing movie-quality stuff to everyone this Halloween.”
Nicole Chilelli will be teaching two classes at Sinister Creature Con, Oct. 17 and Oct. 18, 2015, at the Scottish Rite Center located at 6151 H St., Sacramento. Sign up online at Viciousvanityfx.com/shop. To make a Halloween appointment, visit Viciousvanityfx.com or email ViciousVanityFx@yahoo.com.
Frank Fat’s Celebrates 75th Anniversary and Looks Toward the Future
The block of 8th and L, and downtown in general, has changed immensely over the decades. Businesses have come and gone, people have aged and moved and buildings have been torn down and rebuilt. Frank Fat’s restaurant, however, is a rare exception that has remained a piece of Sacramento history and mastered the changing tides of Downtown Sacramento for 75 years.
Frank Fat originally opened his 8th and L eatery as a Chinese/American restaurant in 1939. The family establishment, the only Sacramento restaurant to receive a James Beard award (the foundation’s prestigious lifetime-achievement “American Classic’s” award in 2013, similar to winning an Academy Award in the film industry), “has continuously evolved, but in a way that properly carries on the family legacy,” according to Frank’s son Jerry Fat. “My father treated everyone the same, no matter if you were governor or a normal citizen. We served and continue to serve good food with good values.”
The “Fat’s Family of Restaurants” has since grown to include the original Downtown location, Fat’s Asia Bistro and Dim Sum bars in Roseville and Folsom, and Fat City Bar and Café in Old Sacramento.
For years, the Frank Fat’s downtown location served as a dining epicenter for political leaders such as Bill Clinton, Jerry Brown and countless lobbyists. It was a go-to place for high-profile meetings and elite dining experiences. However, no matter what the occasion, or who the diner, Frank Fat’s was an eatery made by the people and for the people, and it continues to be that to this day.
Last year, the Frank Fat’s original location hired Sacramento-born chef Mike Lim, a young and talented kitchen master with a fresh and budding background in authentic Chinese delicacy. He even recently studied at the M.Y. China restaurant in San Francisco, which is owned by Martin Yan. Yan, widely known for his television program Yan Can Cook, is credited for bringing authentic Chinese cuisine knowledge to the televisions of mainstream America in the most beloved way.
“I just recently started honing my skills in the kitchen as a Chinese food chef,” says Lim. “It makes so much sense because, well, I am Chinese. It seems like I am getting back to my roots, with an opportunity to expand on recipes and tweak a few things.”
Lim plans to maintain the original Fat’s recipes while obtaining as many local ingredients as possible in line with Sacramento’s “Farm to Fork” revolution.
“I want to make things more seasonal, I want to really emphasize all the area has to offer agriculturally,” Lim says. “However, the idea of being completely ‘farm to fork’ is not realistic. It is important for me to maintain the family tradition and recipes and really bring it out to its full potential. They already do it right here; everything is phenomenal. Bringing some extra creative and seasonal dishes is what I am most looking forward to.”
Mike Lim remembers coming to Frank Fat’s as a kid, and always being aware of its impact and presence in the community.
“Frank Fat’s always had a reputation. It was always a really great treat to be able to go there and dine and just be in its historical presence. I kind of can’t believe that I am here now, and a part of it.”
An evening at Frank Fat’s is truly a unique and timeless experience. While our city is massively transforming right before our eyes, it’s nice to have a place to step back and experience what can simply be described as a classic gem. Cheers to Sacramento’s very own Frank Fat’s restaurant, serving Sacramento for many more decades to come.
A note on Frank Fat’s Famous Banana Cream Pie
It is extremely urgent for everyone in Sacramento to know the greatness of Frank Fat’s banana cream pie. You will never ever taste a banana cream pie as good as this, and if you do, it’s probably because they stole the recipe from Frank himself. The pie has to be at least 6 inches high, with a mound of light and refreshing house-whipped cream. The three layers of heaven consist of a thin and flaky, croissant-like crust that has just the right amount of presence; simple, tasty and functional. There are tons of fresh bananas in that perfect crust, layered into a pudding that serves as a sort of mortar for banana bricks. In short, Frank Fat’s could open up a banana cream pie shop alone, and would be wildly successful.
The Days of Fat’s
For the past seven-and-a-half decades, Frank Fat’s has had a strong presence in the Sacramento community, which they hope to continue for decades to come. Their motto is that one must “be proud of their heritage, be proud of their culture, and always give back to their community.”
In honor of Frank Fat’s 75th anniversary, the family of restaurants will have a “15 Days of Fat’s” contest on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, during which, $75 gift certificates will be hidden around the city from Oct. 1 to 15, 2014. Every day, the restaurant will release a clue to a different location that holds some historical meaning or great significance to the family and their relationship with the city. A $75 gift certificate to any Frank Fat’s location will await the first person to arrive at the location. Good luck!
Everything you need to know about the Sacramento culinary icon can be found at Fatsrestaurants.com. Submerge humbly recommends the honey walnut prawns, Frank’s Style New York Steak, the Shanghai noodles and of course, the famous banana cream pie.
How many berries can you name offhand? Strawberries, blackberries and blueberries are givens. How about red currants, tayberries, cloudberries or goji berries? If you are a berry buff, you are probably familiarized with the variety of berries found in California and the assortment of ways they can be used. However, if your berry knowledge is limited to the grocery produce section, brace yourself for a mind-blowing experience. On May 10 and 11, Roseville will be hosting the Sixth Annual BerryFest at the Placer County Fairgrounds (800 All America City Boulevard). Local farmers will be available to assist you in expanding your berry capacity and capabilities; if you weren’t already, you’ll walk out of there feeling like a berry connoisseur, that goes without saying. BerryFest begins at 8 a.m. (both Saturday and Sunday) with a Boy Scout-hosted pancake breakfast. The actual festival begins at 10 a.m. and ends around 6 p.m. The festival’s activity list is almost as long as the featured berries list, which includes a classic car show, strawberry shortcake eating contest, kids zone (petting zoo, pony rides, strawberry-go-round and more), berry parades, Little Miss Strawberry pageant, beer garden and much more. Check out Feedmeberries.org for more information and ticket purchasing (kids 3 and younger are free, ages 4 to 12 are $5, 13 to 59 are $10 and seniors are $5).
At Saint Anna Greek Orthodox Church’s 18th Annual Greek Food Festival in Roseville from May 25 through 27, you can expect nothing but the best. Experience authentic and delicious Greek food and do it on the cheap! Souvlaki? Five bucks (well, five tickets, each one costing $1). Gyro? Six big ones. Lamb dinner? Ten smackaroos. Wine by the bottle? Just 15. Now we’re talking! There’s live music and dancing, and the event is free to get in and a portion of the proceeds to go to The Tommy Apostolos Fund. You can even get your food to go if live music and dancing aren’t your thing. Learn more at http://www.rosevillegreekfestival.com/ where you will find hours, directions, menus, a list of performers and more. Opa!
The last time we left the Elia brothers, Jake and Lucas, they had moved on from their first venture, the chic and elegant Bloom Coffee and Tea out in Roseville, and were onto their next entrepreneurial endeavor, Pause Kitchen and Lounge, which was literally a stone’s throw away from Bloom. Unfortunately, this past August saw the closing of their swanky establishment that had a focus on small plates and thoughtful spirit pairings and found the two brothers back at their drawing boards once more. Luckily for the Elias, their drawing boards are accompanied by very sharp pencils and the Crayola 64 set, if you catch my drift, and these boys wasted no time in setting out to create their next work of art.
This time, along for the ride are two of their long time employees from Bloom, Justin Kerr and Andrew Lopez, who share the Elias’ passion for finely crafted coffee and the vision of bringing it to the masses. The idea for a coffee shop was in place and the four started looking for a space in the midtown/downtown area. With a stir of perfect timing, the firmly established Temple Coffee on 10th between J and K streets was gearing up to relocate from their original location, a charming Hobbit-like structure that was once a bookstore, to a new location just around the corner. This brewed the right opportunity and the perfect space for the four partners to capitalize on their new venture–Broadacre Ltd. Coffee.
With the addition of two more opinions weighing in, decision-making could get hairy. Especially since the brothers had been calling the shots at Bloom and Pause for the past couple years. But Lucas says the addition of Kerr and Lopez is all for the better.
“We definitely saw [Justin and Andrew] as assets and as minds we thought could bring something to the table,” says Lucas. “There are definitely conversations that have been hashed out, and we argue sometimes but at the same time we end up at a better result than we would have if it was just the two of us.”
Those minds all thinking in unison have created a new and knowledgeable destination for quality brewed coffees and beans in the heart of Downtown Sacramento. The location is perfect for foot traffic and their reputations from Bloom precede them. That means those seeking a good cup of Joe know exactly where to go, and Lucas says business has been good so far.
It all starts with good coffee and Broadacre has got that covered.
“We just had Verve at Bloom, and so we were an exclusive account,” says Lucas. “Here it’s very dynamic, and it’s changing all the time. We have four coffee roasters and it changes once a month–one drops off and another comes on. So there are always different coffees around.”
Aside from Santa Cruz, Calif.’s Verve Coffee, which the Elias still carry, their other roasters include San Francisco’s Ritual Roasters, Chicago’s Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea and Portland’s Stumptown Roasters. With the coffees rotating so frequently, it’s important that Lucas and the rest of the team dial in the espresso and make sure the transition to the new coffee is smooth.
“It’s not an easy thing to do if you don’t have the right skill set to manage changing out coffees every day, dialing in espressos and making sure everything tastes good all the time. You need to taste it, you need to have a good palate to be able to know that the espresso you’re pulling is tasting good,” explains Lucas.
Good coffee deserves careful preparation to make sure the final product, what’s in your cup, stays consistent. Broadacre currently offers four different methods of brewing for you to choose from: Hario V60, Aeropress, French press and Chemex. All have their different qualities and can bring out different notes in the coffee or reduce oils. Each method can be explained to you if you don’t know which one best suits your tastes. It’s also prepared right before; meticulously weighed out and treated with care.
When I arrived to chat with the brothers, Jake and Lucas were behind the counter helping customers and preparing their own coffee to drink. Both dressed in clean and pressed collared shirts that were tucked into their slacks; belts and dress shoes to match. Their thick, black tufts of hair neatly combed and groomed, a mirror of their surroundings. On the left counter, the shiny and new La Marzocco Strada espresso machine that Lucas spoke fondly of. White mugs sat orderly on the top, and behind the counter two-dozen rocks glasses, each filled with weighed-out portions of fresh coffee beans, awaited the grinder. Three scales rested neatly across the counter; another necessary component for ensuring consistency with how much water is required for the perfect cup. There’s this air of fun about all the young baristas there, seen in their honest smiles and their passion for coffee and how it’s served. Their blog posts that speak to the search for great coffee are always signed off, “the broad acre boys” like they’re some kind of Wild West Robin Hoods; taking the pretentiousness out of carefully brewed coffee and giving it to the common Joe drinker to enjoy. When you walk inside Broadacre, you feel compelled to stay a while and that’s exactly how the boys like it.
With over 120 beers to choose from and delicious food to boot, it’s well worth the drive out to the brand new Yard House at The Fountains in Roseville. Our favorite thing about this spot is their half-yard glasses, because, well, we like beer. A lot of it. All at one time. You can also order in a goblet, pint or six-pack sampler (our second favorite thing about this spot). Say everyone at your table likes Belgian beers; they’ve got a six-pack with six different Belgians. Boom, you’re set. Yard House is located at 1166 Roseville Parkway and they open daily at 11 a.m. Half-yards are only available Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and they’ll run you anywhere from $7 to $9.50. Check out Yardhouse.com/CA/Roseville for more information and to download a beer list.
Ten After Two sets sights on debut EP, then the world
Words by Bobby S. Gulshan | Photo by Phill Mamula
My editor said, “I want you to interview this up-and-coming band from Roseville. Here is their demo.” I gave it a listen and thought, “Yeah, these guys can really bang it out. Let’s do it.” I asked if maybe we could arrange to meet at a bar, so I could have an excuse to do my job and drink at the same time. Turns out, not a one of them is old enough to get past the door. Coffee then?
The dilemma faced me cold and hard like the hangover I was hoping to have after the interview at the pub: How the hell am I going to interview some youngsters about the serious issues surrounding contemporary metal music, and do it sober? What are we going to talk about? Am I just getting old? What would Lester Bangs do?
Vincent Adorno (drums) and Sean Wall (vocals), of Ten After Two met me at Starbucks downtown, and they blew me away. Sure, their music kicks ass. They deftly combine elements of technical metal precision with catchy, clean and melodic hooks that are as timeless as any angst-ridden power pop chorus. Their soon-to-be-released EP, If You Don’t First, is incredibly well produced and exhibits a remarkable level of musicianship. It is at times brutally heavy, and at other times unrepentantly accessible.
Moreover, these guys are serious. Don’t let the “just out of high school” thing fool you. Ten After Two have a precocious feel for both the music and the music business. The forthcoming EP is the product of collaboration between Rise Records, Artery Management and Hot Topic. The tunes are precise and structured, and it became clear through the course of our conversation that these guys have a clear and precise vision of themselves and their creative endeavors.
Tell me how you guys got started.
Vincent Adorno: Back in the day I used to jam with my buddy Pat [Hennion, guitar], after that we had this school thing between two schools, Oakmont and Woodcreek. And we found Josh [Doty, guitar/vocals] through that. He was the singer in this guitar class. Josh and Sean were in a band together at the time called Eleanor Manor. Josh and Sean joined us and we found Danny [Clark, bass].
You are pretty young guys.
VA: Yeah, I’m 17.
Sean Wall: I’m 20.
And this is why we are having coffee and not conducting this interview at the pub. So what made you guys interested in playing metal?
VA: We were into that genre at the time, and it’s a growing genre. And I see it as something that is only getting bigger.
SW: The genre lets us do a lot of things musically and allows us to put our own thing into it. We don’t have to feel so contained into something simple.
So what are some examples of that?
SW: We can do more chord progressions. We can try something new. On the future full-length you will hear it, going out of the box and doing different sorts of harmonies and stuff.
On the EP I noticed that you guys combine the melodic, clean vocal elements with the growling heavy vocals. Is that an example?
SW: Yeah, exactly.
Other than rock and metal, what else are you listening to?
SW: When I think about it, we listen to a lot of stuff. Oldies, classics, electronica, anything that is good musically we listen to.
Let me ask a similar question. What’s the exact opposite of the kind of band that you would want to be in?
VA: I don’t want to be in a band with people who aren’t serious about it. I am trying to do this as a career, so definitely nothing that is only about fun or just a personal thing.
SW: I hate really limited bands. I wouldn’t want to be in a band where all the songs sound the same.
So you are more interested in the idea of exploration and the endless possibilities of what you could do?
SW: Exactly. The endless possibilities of music.
In terms of making it a career, what does that mean for you?
VA: There is going to be a lot of work that goes into it. We are going to be totally broke for a while, but eventually we want to be able to make a decent living and have some fans really love it. I just want to do what I love and hopefully do it for the rest of my life. And this is what we all love doing.
So the EP is coming out on Nov. 9, 2010. What is the deal with Hot Topic and the exclusive release?
SW: Our management hooked us up. They had connections with Hot Topic and wanted us to do it. It will be available through Hot Topic and iTunes.
In terms of style, I know bands don’t like to be categorized, but we writers live and die on categories. Some might call what you do metalcore or emo-core. So what do you think of these labels?
SW: We are a rock band. We have straight 4/4 time, minor key type stuff. You could call it alternative rock or whatever, but we are basically a rock band.
You guys love the breakdowns, don’t you?
VA: It’s what kids can relate to. I don’t know why, but these days the kids love it, and we love it too, so yeah. It’s heavy, and it’s what everyone feels. They can feel the heaviness.
You guys show a certain level of musical sophistication. The songs are well structured and well put together. You mentioned theory earlier, but what about technique? There seems to be an emphasis on technical ability in the songs.
SW: We like to be guitar-driven and very musical. I think our songs tell the story through the guitars.
There was one track, “Behind Locked Doors,” where that acoustic guitar comes in near the end, and I was blown away by how clean the production was on that.
SW: Yeah, Colby [Wedgeworth, producer] does some amazing stuff out of his house and at Hollywood North off of Douglas. It was a great time and the end result was killer.
What are some of the themes you guys are exploring with the music?
VA: So far it’s stuff about girls, I guess. Some of it is about this reoccurring theme about home. It makes sense if you listen to it.
SW: It’s like taking the time to be introspective and knowing within you what home is. When do you know that you are completely comfortable? How well do you know yourself to know that you are at home?
Is it that where you are from isn’t necessarily where you are at home?
VA: It’s like a personal feeling, feeling whole and home in the universe.
SW: Like you are your own universe.
Does this relate at all to being from Roseville, which is nice but it’s still the suburbs, and it’s not that open-minded a place?
VA: Well we all want to get out of there.
SW: Suburban scum.
VA: We don’t like the way the kids act out here. People are really egotistical, even though they don’t have much to show for it.
SW: These themes get brought up. People have stuff, but don’t know happiness. They have material things but not much else. They don’t know themselves.
VA: And the world has gone to shit.
I feel you on that. So what do you guys have coming up?
SW: We are going to Florida in December, be there for a month.
VA: Yeah, we are going to go out there and record our full-length.
Touring?
VA: Yeah definitely, after the full length gets done.
SW: We are hoping to tour all next year, starting in the spring.
So what are the ingredients for future success?
SW: The fans, connecting with our fans.
VA: Fans and keeping up with the writing. We can’t overthink it. We can’t lose what we know. We lose the feeling if we think too much about it.
SW: Like Vinny is saying, we want our fans to be a big part of it. But if we try too hard to write for others, we are not going to be able to write it how we feel it, and in the end the people listening are going to be able to hear that.
Aside from the music, how else can you connect with fans?
VA: We want to try everything–contests and charity events. Basically anything to connect with people on a real human level is really important.
Ten After Two’s debut EP will be available at Hot Topic starting Nov. 9, 2010. The album will also be sold on iTunes.
