“When you down they criticize ya,
when you up they wanna ride
I’m just tryna keep it moving,
been stuck so many times”
– “Love you Back,” Humble Beginnings
OMB Peezy moved from Mobile, Alabama, to Sacramento at the age of 12. At 20, he is already being dubbed by The FADER as “the future of rap.”
OMB Peezy (OMB stands for “only my brothers”) built a name for himself early in his young career as a masterful freestyler, attaining exposure to a large audience via YouTube. When Peezy posted his video for the track “Lay Down,” he drew the attention of Bay Area rapper Nef the Pharaoh.
Through Nef, he was able to grab the attention of veteran artist E-40, which led to Peezy signing to E-40’s label Sick Wid It in February. E-40 then connected Peezy with 300 Entertainment (home of Young Thug, Hopsin and Fetty Wap). On Oct. 11, 2017, OMB Peezy celebrated his first release, a six-track EP titled Humble Beginnings.
“Humble Beginnings, you know, basically starting my career,” said Peezy in an interview with Submerge. “I’m letting everybody know I was always hood in the beginning, because in the beginning you got to be humble.”
For the new album, Sick Wid It/300 enlisted producer extraordinaire Cardo Got Wings, who has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry, including Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Though the two never worked together in person, Peezy loved the chemistry between his words and Cardo’s beats, and was more than happy with the end result.
“It was easy working with Cardo,” said Peezy. “It’s not that easy working with a lot of producers. And him, we was getting a lot of work done. It’s crazy, because me and Cardo never met personally in real life, if I’m not mistaken. But we came up with some raw ass work that’s about to go down in the history books … shout out Cardo Got Wings, that’s my dog.”
Peezy feels strongly that the message he was trying to craft was executed exactly as he intended, and he should be. [Humble Beginnings] represents the rapper’s style well, and does a good job conveying his message. In “Talk My Shit,” Peezy beams with pride on his recent accomplishments while reflecting on where he’s come from; in “Doin’ Bad” Peezy talks about recognizing that fame and money aren’t going to solve all his problems. As for the sound, from the first track to the last, there is a cohesive plan, and it’s well executed. For Peezy, getting things right on his first impression to the greater public was of the utmost importance.
“I was completely satisfied with how the tapes came out,” said Peezy. “You know, all of the things I expect to tell in my story, you know what I’m sayin’? And he gave me the perfect beat to tell my story. The tracks, as far as “[Doin’] Bad,” “[Block] Up,” “[Love You] Back,” “Go Down,” shit like that … I feel like he came with the perfect sound.”
While Peezy has been perfecting the art of writing and freestyling, one of the aspects of his newly propelling career is the area of live performance. While Peezy had performed often for friends, and even worked in the studio, it has only been a short time since he first stepped foot on stage, and the experience was eye opening.
“I actually started performing like 11 months ago,” said Peezy. “I started writing when I was like 8. Then I recorded my first song when I was 12. [My first live performance] I was nervous as fuck. Nef the Pharaoh had brought me out on his birthday in Sacramento, that was my first performance. I was nervous as a motherfucker. I wasn’t even rappin’ fully in the mic. I ain’t even know how to perform.”
In the past 11 months, Peezy is still nervous before a show on occasion, though the experience is definitely making the process more familiar, and that familiarity is breeding a certain level of self-confidence. “I be nervous, be gettin’ butterflies before the shows,” said Peezy, “but soon as I walk on stage and I hear them screamin’ for me … I can have the baddest stomach ache on earth, as soon as I walk on stage and they scream my name, all that shit just be in my past.”
A key factor in the young rapper’s rise to recognition has been some of the veterans Peezy has helping spread the word. It’s these same assets that will help Peezy make his recent rise sustainable, by passing on the valuable knowledge they’ve built through years in the industry. E-40 is a prime example of the heavy hitters Peezy has in his corner, and while E-40 hasn’t changed anything about the music Peezy puts out there, his influence is undeniable.
“E-40 hasn’t influenced me on my music style or nothing,” said Peezy, “but he motivated me and gave me good words of encouragement and life advice. He’s influenced my career. My style is myself.”
From the first time he stepped into the studio to the recording sessions that resulted in Humble Beginnings, much of life has changed for OMB Peezy. Besides getting signed, touring and dropping his debut EP, the studio experience has changed for Peezy as well, resulting in his recording sessions to be a lot more … relaxed.
“Shit has changed,” said Peezy. “My first time getting in the studio, my mom didn’t know I smoke weed. So I couldn’t smoke weed. Boom. But now, shit I be smokin’ weed in the studio, pipe kicking ‘round, me gettin’ my vibe right. Shit be going good. My vibe has changed a whole lot.”
While Peezy still reps Alabama, he has spent a good chunk of his formative years in California. However, before Peezy headed out to the West Coast, he was a bit skeptical about his new place of residence.
“My impression of California was like—I ain’t gonna lie, I was young-minded—I didn’t think there was no black people or none of that type of shit out here,” said Peezy. “I thought it was all white people, all palm trees, everybody was friendly and shit. I didn’t think there was no hood, I didn’t think there was no projects. And it was different.”
Still, whether Peezy identifies as Alabamian or Californian, he has much love for the state and city he calls home.
“I love Sacramento,” said Peezy. “Sacramento showin’ me pride and love. I love California. I love all of it.”
See OMB Peezy live at The Boardwalk (9426 Greenback Lane, Orangevale) on Jan. 5, 2018 at 8 p.m. This is an all-ages show, and tickets are $20 in advance. For more info, go to Boardwalkrocks.com.
**This article first appeared in print on pages 18 – 19 of issue #256 (Jan. 1 – 15, 2018)**
The most common reason for starting over with a blank slate is for a second chance. People hit rock bottom, fail, regret choices, run away from their own crimes or the crimes of others. However, sometimes the answer is much simpler.
In the case of Irish rock outfit ONOFF, it was many things, but one thing it was not was rock bottom. The band came to the United States around 2013 after much success in Europe. ONOFF’s first two albums charted very well in Ireland, landing them on bills with bands such as Fall Out Boy and Dropkick Murphys. Their first European-wide release, Don’t Take Our Word for It, sold more than 130,000 copies, according to frontman Paulie Daly.
Yet, after a few years of touring in support of their first successful album, the trio—consisting of Daly, drummer Stevie Bogan (also known as Stevie 10 Bears) and bass player Dave Hurrell—sold everything and headed to the Golden State.
“When we were in the height of the tour in Europe, we released an album, in 2009, and it was very successful for us so we ended up on the road for almost three-and-a-half years,” said Daly in a phone interview with Submerge. “When we decided to go back to the studio to write the next record, I started traveling to California because I had some time off. It was either move here to California with the band, or move to Berlin, and everyone here speaks English, and our music is very American influenced. We talked, and if we come here, it is the biggest music industry in the world, so if you make it anywhere, here would be the place to do it.”
The trio didn’t come with some grand reputation, either. While they did find success in Europe, the fanfare had not made its way across the ocean. A change of scenery for the band also meant a completely clean slate, leaving behind all they had spent the previous decade building.
“It was like pressing the reset button,” said Daly. “We had a lot of success in Europe, and when we came here I think we only had a small group of friends that really knew about what we were doing, so we built our foundation from the ground up with nothing.”
When talking to the band, however, you don’t get the impression they spent much time complaining. On the contrary, it appears they spent little time at all in anonymity. From the moment they arrived, they were greeted by California with open arms, as evidenced by the story they tell of their first show. When the band first arrived, they were staying in the small town of Sutter. Soon after arriving, they began writing and rehearsing for a new album, and they started to draw attention to themselves.
“Everyone in this little town decided to follow the music, because it was just such a small little community, and all of a sudden there’s a fucking punk rock band screaming their heads off,” said Daly. “Eventually, there was an auto shop on top of one of the streets, we met the guy and he goes, ‘I normally do a jam session once a month, if you want to come down and play you can play.’ We had a really loud PA system. I think the community of Sutter is probably about 3,000 people, and I say about 800 people came out that night to see us. In the night time, there’s not even streetlights in this town. So, once we started playing, 800 people followed the sound. All of a sudden, everybody knew about us, and all the local bars started calling us.”
ONOFF quite emphatically hit the ground running, and they’ve been playing all over California ever since they arrived. The band has played a diverse array of venues, many of the locations having been plotted out prior to their arrival from the Emerald Isle.
“As we were making the decision to come here,” said Bogan, “we looked at venues we wanted to play and that were realistic, places that bands we admire and we look up to and we listened to that have played here. We got to play these places. Bottom of the Hill, Slim’s, Whiskey a Go Go … All of these places that we sort of went ‘you know, that’s where it all happens.’
“Even the Gilman in Berkeley,” continued Daly, “where some of our favorite bands—the Offspring, Bad Religion—they’ve all played these places. There was this great punk scene that was super influential to us as teenagers growing up, and that was partially the reason we decided to make the move. We felt like we needed to pay our dues in the scene that influenced us. Every time we play these places, we play some of our best shows.”
ONOFF released their fifth album, Reborn, earlier this year—a fitting title, given the circumstances. The band had no issues coming up with material, explaining that they have written plenty of mostly finished songs, and as they’ve been together since the age of 15, the songwriting process comes easy. On the other hand, after five full-length albums, the band has come across new, unexpected issues.
“The thing is, most of the time in the festival circuits and stuff, you’re given 45 minutes,” said Daly, “and this album we just released is our fifth studio, and so how do you carve up all these songs into a 45-minute set? So now when we write new stuff, it’s almost as if you’re writing for the set. It’s like our live show is compact with the greatest stuff we can possibly do as a band, so when we write stuff new, it’s almost like we’re trying to compete with the songs in existence. I used to get mad about bands that would just release EPs and weren’t willing to commit to a full album. I get it, it’s hard to write an album worthy enough, with no filler. I think we have a lot of different concepts of songs that we want to achieve that we still haven’t attempted to write yet.”
The new album is much like the band’s previous work: hard, grinding guitar parts, passionate, aggressive vocals and memorable, anthemic choruses and punk rock beats. Gun to the head, they have a lot in common with bands such as Rise Against. Their own influences, however, are far-ranging.
“We’re all from different musical backgrounds,” said Bogan. “If you were to sum us up as a full band it would maybe be The Police, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Rush. But then to broaden our horizons, generationally, because I was that age, I grew up listening to Green Day. And I remember the first Offspring CD I ever heard; the same with NOFX for me as a drummer. I had a lot of energy growing up and when I directed that at the drums, it was the punk that grabbed me. My karaoke classic is Bobby Darin’s ‘Mack the Knife,’ and that’s from the ‘50s. I love the swing stuff … we all listen to everything, you know?
“I think the common ground is that we wanted to recreate something that we can plug in and play,” Bogan continued. “We’re not hiding behind backing tracks. When we were recording the album, we were very aware of being able to do it live. Anybody that’s heard our record or seen us live knows that we’re a lot better live than we are on record. The reason being that it’s thought about … there’s one guitar track, there’s one bass track, there’s one tom track and there’s our vocals, there’s a little bit of frill here and there album-wise, but we can recreate it, and that’s how it’s written.”
When questioned as to whether they would return to Ireland—in either the near or far future—ONOFF’s members were clear about one thing: Right now, California is their home.
“We have family here now. I have a daughter, an American daughter,” said Daly. “It’s great to be able to operate in this scene we’re a part of … We will always come back here. Our house is here, our car is here, my wife is here. There’s talks about going to Asia next year, back to do tours in Europe, but it is just touring there and we will come back home.”
ONOFF will play live at The Boardwalk in Orangevale (9426 Greenback Lane) on Sept. 15, 2017. Also performing will be Tonic Zephyr, California Child and Nothin’ Special. Tickets for this all-ages show are $10 and can be purchased through Boardwalkrocks.com. Learn more about the band on their Facebook page or on their website.
**This article first appeared in print on pages 22 – 23 of issue #248 (Sept. 11 – 25, 2017)**
EDITOR’S NOTE 8/17/17: PLEASE READ THIS UPDATED ARTICLE! “HOLY DIVE BAR” IS NOW OPENING DOWNTOWN IN THE FORMER STARLITE LOUNGE BUILDING AS “HOLY DIVER!” CLICK HERE TO READ MORE!
Sacramento-area concert goers in the 21-and-under crowd will soon have one more option for a night out with the opening of a new all-ages music venue in Sacramento. The team that brought us Ace of Spades, a popular 1,000-plus capacity club in downtown Sacramento, plans on opening a new all-ages venue “sometime later this year,” according to partners Bret Bair and Eric Rushing. The new venture will be called Holy Dive Bar, and while details remain sparse at the moment, Bair and Rushing have confirmed with Submerge that they do have a location picked out. The new venue will be comparable in size to The Boardwalk, which they no longer are operating. Holy Dive Bar’s exact location will be announced in the coming months, but we can confirm that it is not downtown but somewhere “in the burbs.” By the looks of it from the venue’s Facebook page (Facebook.com/holydivebarsac) it looks to be somewhere in the area of Madison Avenue and Auburn Boulevard. According to Bair, Holy Dive Bar will “cater to the local scene as well as up-and-coming national acts,” going on to say, “We’re doing it for the kids!” This is huge news for the local music scene! We’ll try and keep our readers informed of updates on this new venue. In the meantime, check out their other shows at Ace and Goldfield.
Major changes are coming to The Boardwalk, an iconic all-ages music club that’s hosted national and local bands across many genres since the late 1980s. The venue is set to close in January and February for a remodel, and when it re-opens in March to celebrate its 30th anniversary, it will become a primarily 21-and-over room operated and booked by the original owner, Mark Earl. Those who follow the local music scene closely will already know that since late 2014, The Boardwalk has been operated and booked by Eric Rushing and Bret Bair, founders of popular downtown Sacramento music venues Ace of Spades and Goldfield. Rushing also booked shows at The Boardwalk from around 2000–2010. But now the two are stepping away from The Boardwalk in order to focus on their other ventures and to let Earl do his thing with the room. And while we here at Submerge are sad to see more all-ages shows in Sacramento going away, there are still a handful of rad gigs booked by Rushing at The Boardwalk through the end of the year, like badXchannels on Friday, Dec. 2 (a new project from Craig Owens of Chiodos and Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows); Mushroomhead on Wednesday, Dec. 7; Tribal Theory on Friday, Dec. 9; Animals As Leaders on Friday, Dec. 16; Hail the Sun on Saturday, Dec. 17; and Brotha Lynch Hung on Dec. 30, just to name a few. Visit Theboardwalkpresents.com to snag tickets to any of those shows. Keep an eye out here on Submerge for follow-up articles on the new Boardwalk incarnation, as well as any updates from Rushing and Bair, who are rumored to be looking for a new downtown spot to open another venue.
If existing as a band separated by state lines, conflicting tour schedules and regular old life hiccups were big hurdles to leap, no one told Sianvar. The post-hardcore supergroup—consisting of Will Swan (Dance Gavin Dance), Donovan Melero (Hail the Sun), Sergio Medina (Stolas), Joe Arrington and Michael Franzino (A Lot Like Birds)—are without a doubt one of the hardest-working musical entities currently making the rounds not just in the Sacramento area, but probably in much of North America.
When I catch up with Medina, he’s pulled over at a truck stop with about a two-day drive left to his home in Las Vegas from outside New York City, where his band Stolas has cut their sophomore record with producer Mike Watts. Medina is doing the long haul at a brisk pace in order to have enough time to relax and rehearse before Sianvar begins a month-long tour throughout the West Coast.
On top of the rush between his recording with Stolas across the country and the impending Sianvar record release and tour, vocalist Melero recently completed a run of dates with Hail the Sun after finishing up the band’s third full-length, Culture Scars. Swan and Dance Gavin Dance have plans for a new record, as does A Lot Like Birds, both of which will almost certainly call for touring. It’s a maddening-sounding schedule that necessitates a lot of long-distance decisions for Sianvar.
“I used to think ‘fuck, how would that work as a band?’” says Medina of Sianvar’s scattered members. “That didn’t seem like a way to function in my head. It’s been perfectly normal for us in Sianvar, though. For me it’s just something we gotta do to operate and continue, and to me it’s not very much a big deal.”
Stay Lost, Sianvar’s debut LP, assumes a frantic pace not unlike what you’d expect the sum of each member’s other bands might coalesce into. Heavy guitar effects add sonic flourishes to progressive technicality on songs like the album’s first single, “Omniphobia,” a paranormal meditation set to caterwauling emo aggression. Fans of Melero’s Hail the Sun will revel in his Anthony Green-like range, while fans of post-prog giants like The Mars Volta will hang on every chord change and phrase manipulated by the Swan-Medina tandem. It’s a relentless kind of racket best served repeatedly for its full effects to become absorbed, like any good progressive band.
The songwriting, according to Medina, and as you may well imagine, can be tedious.
“Sometimes something will stick and I’ll want to change it and put it under a microscope and say, ‘Why did we do this? Why don’t we do this?’ explains Medina. “Will will say, ‘Why do you want to change it? It already feels good.’ I think as a musician I want to think something cool shouldn’t have sprouted that quickly. There were a lot of times when we were writing the album with those kinds of moments where we’d do something cool and then Will would get out his phone and we’d record very quickly so we wouldn’t forget it.”
Adding to the disjointed nature of the record is the fact that by virtue of the band’s schedules, they went in weeks apart for the recording sessions that resulted in Stay Lost. Far be it for you to be able to tell, though. Songs as frantic and ruthless as “Anticoagulant” or “Psychosis Succumbing” are testaments to the band’s innate songwriting chemistry—a melodic maelstrom made explicitly for the sordid corners of your psyche.
Despite the extra effort obviously necessary for Sianvar to exist, Medina insists that the band member’s other groups are supportive.
“It was a little delicate at first for A Lot Like Birds because it was their whole rhythm section playing in Sianvar,” admits Medina. “That quickly blew over, though. Stolas is the newest band out of the four of us, so we’re at the bottom, but anything that’s come from Sianvar has only helped us. My bandmates have always been cool with that.”
It behooves Medina and the rest of Sianvar to strike out with their own identity, too. While the band can’t help but wear its incestuous influences on its sleeve, Sianvar is probably more concerned with being super good than being a supergroup.
“Nothing we’ve come up with has been deliberately trying to be this or that,” says Medina. “It’s bound to happen that some parts end up sounding like DGD or Hail the Sun. But we definitely strive to make sure this band, not only musically but with the way we present ourselves, goes with Sianvar’s vibe and makes it different and makes it standout as its own other band, not just a side project of a bunch of musicians.”
Produced by Dryw Owens at Roseville’s Little Russia Recordings, Sianvar embellished their lofty aural alchemy to huge heights, with Owens encouraging the copious use of pedals to propel the band’s strong rhythmic talents to wall-of-sound levels. Songs like “BedRoots” are practically void of dynamic shifts, approximating the kind of fantasy-prog decadence of Yes, Trans-Siberian Orchestra or the indulgent depths of black metal luminaries like Gorgoroth.
Interestingly, it’s probably safe to say that Sianvar’s muses were nowhere near any of the aforementioned artists, and it’s ironic that toward the end of “BedRoots,” some of the jazz fusion leanings of Swan’s DGD-compositions are finally unveiled a bit. The band’s fearless exploration of deafening squalls of sound is admirable, if only when it’s contrasted a bit by a spoonful of soulful sugar.
With so much on the horizon for each member of Sianvar’s other bands, it’s unsurprising that it will be difficult to maintain the momentum for the group beyond the upcoming tour and release, being facilitated by Swan’s label, Blue Swan.
“We don’t really think about it but kids at shows think it’s crazy that we’re all in a band together,” says Medina. “I don’t really think of it that much, but it is kind of a cool thing. It’s a very family-oriented work flow.”
Sianvar will be celebrating the release of their first full-length Stay Lost on Aug. 5, 2016 with a show at The Boardwalk, located at 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale. This all-ages show will get started at 6:30 p.m. with special guests My Iron Lung, Save Us from the Archon, Subtlety and A Foreign Affair. Tickets are $12 in advance, $14 the day of the show and are available online at Theboardwalkpresents.com.
Not one to ever sit still, Sacramento entrepreneur and music business guru Eric Rushing (of Artery Foundation Artist Management, Artery Recordings, Ace of Spades, The Boardwalk, Goldfield and other entities) recently announced he opened a full-fledged recording studio in Sacramento called Gold Standard Sounds. “After 20 years in the music industry I’m extremely excited to open a state-of-the-art recording studio in my hometown,” Rushing stated in a press release sent to Submerge. “Not only did I open this studio so that that bands could record music but I created a really cool environment for writing sessions, video sessions and listening parties.”
Between his management company and record label, Rushing and his team represent some of the best bands in rock and metal, including national acts like Alesana, Chelsea Grin, Attila, Vanna and Anvil, as well as top-notch signed local and regional bands like Will Haven, Hoods, Hail the Sun, Horseneck, Graveshadow and many others. Between all of the bands his companies represent as well as all of the touring artists coming through town and playing the venues he owns, it’s easy to imagine why Rushing would get into the recording studio game.
“This will be a great addition for the label and management company that we have built on a local and national level,” he stated. “GSS showcases the only SSL Console in town and with a big L.A. studio vibe.” Learn more about the studio at Goldstandardsounds.com
Since their formation in 2003, Sacramento-based metal band Conducting from the Grave has been making ears bleed and mosh pits rage all around the world, touring with such greats as All Shall Perish, Suicide Silence, Carnifex, Dying Fetus and many others. They’ve released two full-lengths on Sumerian Records, along with a number of self-released recordings. Sadly, the time has come for Conducting to hang up their battle-torn axes. Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016 will mark the final show ever for the group when they pulverize The Boardwalk alongside a stacked lineup of heavy bands, including The Kennedy Veil, Purification by Fire and Aethere. Come say goodbye to one of Sac’s greatest metal bands and send them out in style! Cover is just $12 in advance, $14 at the door. All ages are welcome and the doors open at 6:30 p.m.
The rise in popularity of symphonic metal and its many musical subgenres over the last two decades has been alarmingly substantial (to say the very least) both in the United States and abroad. Not only have many bands in the genre been catapulted into arena and stadium headliner status, the once-underground style has now become one of the strongest concert draws on the touring circuit.
Unfortunately, groups like Nightwish, Epica, Within Temptation, Delain, Xandria, Leaves’ Eyes, and many others get unceremoniously lumped together since they all have a lead female vocalist. Upon further inspection, however, it would seem the similarities of the aforementioned acts are also rooted in a melodic approach that takes cues from classical and progressive music.
Sacramento’s Graveshadow is one of the few female-fronted symphonic metal bands in the region to have successfully incorporated elements of gothic, black, thrash and even doom metal fare with great effect. Rather than sounding dated or derivative, the eight songs on their forthcoming record, Nocturnal Resurrection, show a band ready for the road and, more importantly, world domination.
Since their inception in 2012 by guitarist William Walker, the group has become one of the area’s strongest and most consistent headliners and have already signed a deal with Belgium-based boutique record label Mausoleum Records. The label was founded in 1982 and previously released albums by Voivod, Anvil, Nazareth, Omen, and has many other heritage rock acts and newer signings.
Whether you’re into brash screams or soaring vocals, standout songs like “Exhumed” and “Namesake” offer something for everyone. From mid-tempo rockers laden with keyboards to plodding guitar riffs that complement a wholly able rhythm section, this is one band that has benefited greatly from a twice-a-week practice regimen.
And while the group has no immediate plans to leave the area, it would seem they are poised for bigger and better things outside of our fair city.
Submerge caught up with vocalist Heather Michele, keyboardist Valerie Hudak and Walker to get the skinny on Graveshadow’s new album and more.
It seems your album is already out overseas. What is the exact street date of Nocturnal Resurrection and why did you choose your current label over doing things yourselves? William Walker: You are correct. It was already released back on Nov. 13, 2015, in Europe, but it will be available everywhere starting on Dec. 13. Oddly enough, a friend of mine named Norman Skinner was in a band called Imagika that toured and were on the label. When I knew they were signed, it made me feel really good about the label since it seems they had a good experience. We are signed for one album and the label has an option to release a second album if they want to. We are fully committed to this album since we spent much time, effort and money to make it. The album was mixed and mastered by Emil “Nightmare Industries” Nodtveidt from Sweden. He is also currently the guitarist of Deathstars who shares the same management as us—Jeff Keller Management. It worked out really well, and we couldn’t be happier with the results.
What about bonus tracks? Surely you’ve recorded some extra tracks to use later on. WW: Actually, we only recorded the ones you hear on the new record. We went into the process with the idea of recording just these songs and nothing more. Our drummer Roman Anderson and I tend to write all the rhythms together and thought it best for consistency. Consequently, all of the rhythm guitar tracks you hear were recorded by myself and the leads, of course, were done by our lead guitarist, Matt Mitchell. However, all of our songs are very collaborative since everyone adds something. Valerie Hudak: We have a couple of different remixes of “Blood and Fire” we were thinking about using for digital download cards. Unfortunately, we had no extra songs on the record. It is something we thought about doing later on. Currently, we’re focused on writing even more songs for the next record.
Which song or songs are your favorites? WW: I really like “Namesake” since I wrote and arranged all the guitar and the lyrics. I love playing that song. It was a very emotional song written after my grandfather died and deals with some of the issues I experienced afterward since I’m also named after him. VH: I really like “Namesake” as well. I like the construction of “Namesake,” which has some really good riffs in it and “Winter’s Come to Call” as well. The most difficult problem I encountered while recording was dealing with all of our many tempo changes, because we’re really a live band. When you do a studio recording, you have to set the rhythm, set the click and play to it. You really have to give a perfect performance, unlike a live show. Heather Michele: I would say “Lycan Lust,” which was a tricky one to finagle around. I was given a sheet of paper with what the song was supposed to be about. As it turned out, I liked some of the notes, but I wanted to phrase things differently and change things around. It was one of the most difficult to write but ended up being one of my favorites.
How did the band originally meet? Please don’t tell me Craigslist. HM: [Laughs] It was a Craigslist ad. I talked to Will initially. The founder was Will and another member who is no longer in the band, whom we haven’t spoken to in quite a while.
Where have you played outside of the area and what plans do you have for 2016? HM: We’ve played Reno and we played Hollywood a couple of times. We originally played with Edge of Paradise and have been getting shows in Southern California through promoter Metal Sanaz. WW: We don’t have an agent overseas yet, but we do have a national tour booked that’s not announced yet. Unfortunately, I can’t say who it is, but it is a short tour with a well-known national act and another one of our favorite bands. We’re opening first of three. Also, we now have a proper booking agent here in the States named Andrew Roesch, who also works for Artery Foundation. He will start working us and booking stuff the beginning of next year. From the conversations we’ve had with him and our manager, we all decided the band wants to simply play out-of-town markets opening for national acts. Later on, however, we’d to like start touring nationally after we’ve built up something.
Which bands are you fans of whether regional or local? VH: We really like Crepuscle. They are really good melodic death metal from Redwood City. They are also playing our CD release show. WW: Astral Cult are a great band from Folsom, and they’re also playing our Boardwalk show. I also like a band called Blessed Curse. We just recently played a show with them as well, and I was really impressed.
What do each of the members do for work during the day? WW: I work at Apple on the Elk Grove campus, our drummer Roman Anderson sells car parts, lead guitarist Matt Mitchell does political analysis and our bass player Ben Armstrong works at a plant nursery. HM: Valerie and I actually work at the same company at different locations. We’re tutors for kids with autism from 2 to 6 years of age.
What is the end goal for the band? WW: I have been playing in bands since I was 13 years old. All I ever wanted was to make a living off making and playing music. I would totally quit my job. VH: I totally feel the same. We are 100 percent into this. I would really like to make Graveshadow my only career. HM: I would just like to make a living working part-time and be in a band. I take it back. If I could work at Starbucks, be in a band and be self-sufficient, I would totally be be good. WW: Heather’s idea is my fallback plan.
Mausoleum Records recording artist Graveshadow will host a CD release show at The Boardwalk located at 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale on Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015. Tickets are just $10 in advance. Crepuscle, Zeroclient, Conceived in Chaos and Astral Cult open the all-ages show. Doors at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m.
Scene: It’s 1990 or 1991. You are a pop-culture sponge, spending long hours in front of the television set, beginning to notice the opposite sex, starting to cultivate your own sense of individuality. You are listening to bitchin’ music. You are amazed and annoyed, elated and embarrassed by everything you see, hear, smell, touch or taste. Then you see him—some curly-haired punk-Steven Tyler making strange carnal noises with his mouth, calling you “Buuu … ddy” and calling himself a weasel, courting throngs of tanned-skinned revelers for MTV’s Spring Break. A year later he stars in a film about guiding a thawed-out caveman through the Encino school system with a guy who later grows up to play Samwise Gamgee.
You have found your ultimate god-figure, and you’re not even a teenager yet. AND SCENE.
Pardon the indulgence of regurgitating what is mainly my personal experience with relation to the now-legendary comedian Pauly Shore. That my introduction to Shore was hardly unique, in a relative sense, is important when thinking about who Shore is now, who you are now, who Shore thinks he is now and how most people feel about him now. This is an exercise in the metaphysical world of Pauly Shore and Those He Has Influenced, and there are not nearly enough words assigned to tackle the whole boiling mass.
As unfortunate as it is, the ebb and flow of show business can be unforgiving to some people, and there are two camps you’ll find with regard to the phenomenon of Pauly Shore: those who aren’t assholes and appreciate entertainers in all their shapes and seasons, stars burning brightly or dully; and who that aren’t assholes, but just think Shore was never very funny to begin with.
There are probably other camps, too. Most notably those for whom the ephemera of Shore’s salad days ought to have just been bottled up in a time capsule and appreciated for what they were: the product of a comedian raised by comedians who was destined to be something big, no matter what it was.
This is all to comment on the fact that Pauly Shore is coming to town to do stand-up. Lots of nostalgia acts—regardless of the stigma such a tag may connote—have to deal with questions like Shore doubtlessly does all the time. They’re tough questions to ask. Remember when you did Son-In-Law? Remember when you did In the Army Now? Hey, by the way, working on anything new?
Luckily Shore is a bit of a workaholic, and has enjoyed much more exposure in recent years thanks to the explosion of comedy podcasts who line up to have him as a guest. After all, Shore’s mother owned and operated Los Angeles’ famous Comedy Store for decades, including during stand-up comedy’s heyday in the early to mid-‘80s. Shore’s father used to open up for Elvis Presley. Pauly himself was mentored by the late, great Sam Kinison. There’s a rich history here that is widely known and is great foddler for audio trips down memory lane.
In 2005, Shore produced and starred in the mockumentary Pauly Shore Is Dead, riffing on the idea of what mainstream America must have surely thought was the case stemming from Shore’s absence from the spotlight in the new millennium. An entirely more riveting, non-mocking documentary emerged in 2014 titled Pauly Shore Stands Alone followed Shore on a Midwest tour of comedy clubs. This acclaimed doc vacillated between Shore’s raucous stage shows, run-ins with Weasel worshippers and Shore struggling with the long-distance care of his ailing mother (Mitzi Shore has suffered from Parkinson’s for years) while her longtime home was being sold.
Most recently, Shore started a podcast, and has an impressive list of guests for shows available via his website.
“When you interview people, it’s never about you and that’s kind of what I like,” explains Shore by phone from L.A. “My whole career it’s always been about me. It’s nice to take it off of me and put it on someone else. For me, challenging that muscle in my brain to stop talking about myself … I like that. It was something different.”
It’s an iffy kind of conversation Shore and I have, hence all the windbaggery above. There are talks of new projects in the works, but they are stunted.
“I don’t wanna tell you what projects I’m working on because I don’t like to talk about them until they’re finished and coming out, ya know?” explains Shore straight away.
When pressed, Shore opens up about his love for comedy, its place in his life and the reason he doesn’t have kids.
“My first love is my comedy and my work. That’s where my heart is and that’s probably the reason I don’t have a family,” says Shore. “I’m super selfish and super into my thing. You only have so much time in the day to create projects and to do stuff. So that’s where my heart is, but of course, I lose out on a lot of love, and children and all that stuff. But I have other things I get to do. I just don’t know if that’s ever in the cards for me. It’s never too late, obviously, to have a family. But my family is my stuff.”
Of that “stuff” currently in the works is the editing of the videos that Shore shot in conjunction with the podcasts he recorded featuring guests like Garry Shandling, Nick Kroll, Gallagher, Chris Kattan and many more.
“A lot of the people I interview, I’m really interested in them, and I think it comes across that way,” explains Shore. “I’d have to say the videos will be kind of groundbreaking. No one has ever done them like this before. I spent a lot of time and money on making them look good to tell the stories of these different people. I’m pretty stoked about that.”
On the stand-up side of things, Shore keeps within tight orbit of the smaller market cities and venues, of the suburbanites who may be more forgiving of his relatively limited range for joke-telling. Which is not to say that Shore is unfunny, or that his ability to entertain people has somehow faded away; in fact, his stand-up tours regularly sell out in smaller venues.
Still, you’d be hard-pressed to find any of Shore’s jokes to be all that funny. Sure, they’re abrasive, or offensive, or perhaps provocative enough to elicit nervous laughter from the sober and riotous I’ll-laugh-at-anything snorts from the four-drink minimum set. The truth is that Shore’s shows mainly consist of exhuming his ’90s shtick, while throwing in hackneyed bits that don’t go a long way to convince detractors that Shore’s strengths are in telling actual jokes.
Or maybe the joke’s on us. Maybe we’re the assholes.
“I love self-deprecating humor, I love playing the victim,” explains Shore. “I wouldn’t say that’s my whole act. I’d have to say [my early success] is the elephant that’s in the room that I address and then I move on from it.
“Comedy is one of those things that you don’t choose it; it chooses you. So I grew up around it, but it’s in my system, ya know? So coming to Sacramento, it’s not like I’m so excited to hop on a plane and do all that stuff, but I know at the end of the line there’s an audience there. I’m able to feel that love and give back.”
Shore explains that it’s the positive energy he gets from people in public every day, in the audience at his shows, or anywhere he goes that he counts as the most rewarding aspects of his career to now. After all, he is Stoney Brown. He is Crawl. He is Totally Pauly. He is the Wea … sel. And to Shore, myself, and a huge cult fan base, that’s just fine.
“You can’t bite the hand that feeds you,” admits Shore. “All of that stuff is kind of what made me. It was so big and it was so massive that you can’t get away from it. There’s no getting away from it; it’s just there and you just kind of deal with it and flow with it. I’d rather be known than unknown. There are a lot of people who work really hard to come up with something and they never do and they go away. I was able to, at the time in my 20s, make a mark for better or for worse. It was what it was. The timing hit with MTV and all the films and it had a really good run. To this day, 20 years later, I still have that same audience that has grown with me. I’m pretty lucky, I’d have to say.”
Catch Pauly Shore’s stand-up comedy show Dec. 11, 2015, at The Boardwalk in Orangevale with special guests Billy Galloway, Danny Luna and Stephen Tierney. The show starts at 8 p.m and tickets are $20 in advance ($25 the day of the show). Buy tickets and find more info at Theboardwalkpresents.com.
Still looking for something to do on Halloween? Just focus on getting your costume ready ‘cause we’ve got you covered with these 14 killer parties throughout the Sacramento region featuring live bands and DJs!
Don’t worry, The Nibblers won’t bite too hard, but they will bring the funky and soulful goodness that the local seven-piece powerhouse is known for to The Torch Club! 9 p.m., $10 with costume, $12 without. 21-and-over.
You’d think they’d be in some sort of post-fest hibernation right now but nope, the folks behind TBD Fest are throwing a Halloween rager. “Bleepy Hollow” will feature Com Truise {pictured}, Slow Magic, and local DJs Shaun Slaughter and Adam Jay. 18-and-over, tickets are $35 in advance. Facebook.com/tbdfest for details.
Blue Lamp and Abstract Entertainment are teaming up for a rockin’ Halloween with the legendary Tav Falco’s Panther Burns featuring Mike Watt and Toby Dammit. Tickets start at just $12.50, 21-and-over, doors open at 8 p.m.
Former Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland will bring his new band The Wildabouts to The Boardwalk on Halloween night! $30 in advance, $130 for a meet-and-greet with the man himself! All-ages, 7 p.m. doors.
Requiem’s “Things That Go Bump In the Night” at Midtown BarFly will satisfy your needs in the following departments: deep bass, much dancing, crazy costumes, epic light show. San Francisco’s Ardalan and Portland’s Dallas Cotton {pictured} headline with support from Young Aundee, DJ Whores and many others. $20 (21-and-over) or $30 (18-and-over) at the door.
The Hideaway will host a rock ‘n’ roll extravaganza featuring an Andrew WK cover set by members of Bastards of Young and City of Vain! Trash Rock DJs, costume contests, horror movies on the tiki patio and more! Just $5, 8 p.m., 21-and-over.
Two shows, one night! That’s how Harlow’s rolls! Seattle’s Noah Gundersen {pictured} plays the early all-ages show at 7 p.m., with tickets being just $10 in advance, $12 at the door. New York’s Matt Pond PA headlines the 21-and-over late show at 10 p.m., tickets are $13 ahead of time, $15 at the door.
Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive is currently on a North American rampage and will tear down Ace of Spades on Halloween night! All-ages, 6:30 p.m. doors, $25 in advance.
Well over a dozen local bands will descend upon Old Ironsides for their annual Dead Rockstars Show! Hear cover tunes from, well, you guessed it, dead rockstars! $5, 21-and-over, 8 p.m.
The Park Ultra Lounge will host SKAM Artist DJ Crooked {pictured} with an early set from Sacramento’s own DJ Peeti V. A whopping $1,000 is up for grabs in a costume contest! 9:30 p.m., tickets start at $15, 21-plus.
Two great local punk/rock bands, Garble and The Rollin’ Blackouts, will play a costume party at Fox and Goose. 9 p.m., $5 at the door, 21-and-over.
Starlite Lounge wants you to celebrate darkness and horror with them as they host two awesome bands, Children of the Grave (a “zombie tribute” to Black Sabbath) {pictured} and Archangel (a badass Misfits tribute group). 9 p.m., 21-plus.
Country Club Lanes will house Lite Brite Productions’ 9th Annual Beetlejuice Party with 35 DJs, five dance areas, free bowling, zombie laser tag, video games, two bars, an outdoor movie theater and more! 8 p.m.–4 a.m., $40, all-ages welcome, costume required.
The night before Halloween (Friday, Oct. 30) the Sacramento Convention Center gets invaded by KSFM 102.5’s Gravedigger’s Ball featuring a DJ set by Lil Jon, live performances from Natalie La Rose and Charlie Puth, a $5,000 costume contest and more. 21-plus, $35 in advance.
