Tag Archives: Zuhg

A Different Direction

One Member’s Move to Oregon has ZuhG looking northward for future “Field Trips”

With the closing of the ZuhG Life Store in the Downtown Plaza last summer, Sacramento’s esteemed Hall of Fame ska-reggae-funk mashup band ZuhG has experienced a bit of a proximity shift since its lead singer and guitarist Bryan Nichols moved up to Lincoln City, Oregon. Rather than folding under the separation anxiety, however, ZuhG seems to be thriving following Nichols’ move. Their touring capacity has now easily stretched up the Oregon coast and even seeps a little bit into Washington, where they say they’d like to frequent more often.

They haven’t stopped making music, either. ZuhG is set to release their sixth studio album, Field Trip, through a CD release party at Harlow’s on March 14, 2015. They’ll also be touring starting in Sacramento and heading all the way through to Seattle.

Before they could do all that, though, ZuhG had one final mission for February: Saving Private Bryan from his Oregon beachside bliss, and bringing him back to Sacramento to put the final touches on their album via 10 hours of studio mixing and mastering—which Nichols says is about 96 percent done by now.

So the band set out on their mission. But instead of simply going to Oregon and coming right back (like most of us non-musicians would do) ZuhG took a few detours along the way and decided to embark on an unannounced, unnamed spur-of-the-moment mini tour.

“We didn’t name it because it’s so short,” Nichols says of their brief musical excursion. “Usually we’ll make a poster and give it a little name, you know?”

“The Pick-Up-Bryan Tour,” bandmate and fellow guitarist JR Halliday interjects. “We pretty much went to pick him up, we come back and then we go to the studio.”

Fresh off of stops in Eugene, Oregon and Arcata, California, ZuhG played their last show at the Powerhouse Pub in Folsom on Feb. 21, 2015, testing some of their newer songs on the dance-prone audience and even jamming out with a local violinist during their set, before having to wake up early the next morning and hit the Pus Cavern Studios for some final tweaks.

Submerge was able to catch up with Nichols and Halliday before their studio session that Sunday morning to ask them everything we possibly could about Field Trip, their upcoming tour, their newest songs and where ZuhG plans to go from here.

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Why did you decide to name your new album Field Trip?
JR Halliday: Just going out on tour, you know? It’s like a field trip where you go to school and you get on the bus and you go off on a little adventure. It’s like little field trips. You know, it’s kind of what we do.
Bryan Nichols: I forget who said let’s make it that. But we were all like, yeah. Because like you said, we go on all our little trips and sometimes our tours are like two weeks long, so we almost don’t call them tours—we just call them trips. It’s like a field trip. Yeah, it’s very much so what we’re doing. You know what I mean? We’re like a group of friends, getting in our bus and going on a field trip. Like, “Let’s go to Eugene, let’s go to Arcata, let’s go to Seattle.”

I know you guys have a song called “The Hits” on your new album, which is about people requesting for you to play hit songs and famous covers. How did that song come about?
BN: So, I live in Oregon on the coast, you know, when we’re not touring. And I play this little restaurant gig a lot on the weekends, just in the corner of a restaurant. Like, people don’t really care I’m playing—I’m just kind of background noise, you know? But so often people will come up and to me and be like, “Hey, do you know any…” and I get the most ridiculous requests. Like Jimmy Buffett. “You know any Jimmy Buffett?” Or, “You know any AC/DC?” And some girl’s like, “You know some Bruno Mars? Or Adele?” Just ridiculous stuff that I wouldn’t sing. It’s like, “Yes, of course I’ve heard of that person before. But no, I’m not going to play an AC/DC song in this restaurant right now.” Nor do I know it… So it’s just a goofy song about that.

Bryan, how has your move to Oregon affected the band’s dynamic, if at all?
BN: I actually think this is working out better. I used to own a store in Sacramento called the ZuhG Life Store. And so after that store closed and just where I was in my life. I felt like I could finally move away and still make the band happen. You know? I would never leave until I felt like that—I mean, the members that we had and the way that we’d get down. So I saw my opportunity to move to the Oregon coast. I got a beach hut… I got lucky in a small little Oregon coastal town and I’m literally on the beach. It’s cool because now it’s opened up this whole realm of us playing in Eugene constantly and Portland and Seattle—just Oregon in general. We’ve just been tearing up Oregon lately as opposed to in the past, we were always going to San Diego and Hermosa Beach. We’re making our way up the coast a lot more, like every tour. So it’s cool because a lot of people when I was first moving there were like, ‘Aw, is the band breaking up?’ And I’m like, “No. Our band is just going to be playing more.”

So if anything, maybe the move up to Oregon has helped the band in some ways.
BN: I would say it’s broadened our reach. You know what I mean? We’re playing in other towns, and it’s nice.

I noticed from last night’s show that the band will just keep jamming sometimes, even if the original song is shorter. How much of a live set is pre-planned and how much is improvised like that?
BN: I mean, there’s definitely structure to some of the songs. Like, “Here comes Bryan singing a verse, or here comes a chorus.” But the bridges or the solos, who knows how long they’re going to be? You know? If Andre’s still shredding and he’s got his face on, we know not to go to the next part yet ‘cause he’s still in the middle of it. So yeah, there’s a lot of improv going on. But there’s also structure.

How’s it been after the ZuhG Life Store closed down? Do you miss it?
BN: I like to call it first and foremost a local music store. Like, we had a whole wall of just bands from Sacramento. So we were like a big merchant booth for that. And then it grew into music lessons and local art and shows in front of the store and local clothing companies. So local anything, you know? It was fun. I don’t regret it at all. I never thought I would own a store, and then an opportunity just kind of fell on my lap [and] I didn’t want to pass it up. It was great for the band, too. I like to think so many people in Sacramento just kind of know what ZuhG is or have heard of it because of that store… I had a lot of band members working there and helping out. It was demanding. You know, we were open damn near every day, during the mall hours we had to be open. So we only had a couple days and holidays [off]. It was super fun, and to see it go is sad, but I don’t miss owning a store. Although, I’ll drive by my Oregon coast town and see some building for rent or something. I’m always kind of like, “Hmm, I wonder how much that is.” I’m always kind of intrigued.

Is it possible that another ZuhG store could open up again, either here or in Oregon?
BN: It’s possible one day. I don’t have any plans right now, but I always think about it. And I got some friends who’d wanna do it too—like work there and sell their art and whatnot.
JH: It was very time-consuming, you know? We couldn’t just leave on tour. We had to make sure the store was covered. He was constantly on the phone talking to someone about some random thing for the store.

So, are you saying you’re happy that it closed down?
JH: I personally am. But I didn’t work there.
BN: Yeah, you didn’t do shit.
JH: I was like moral support. I’d show up, make an appearance.

Sounds like you’re more freed up to focus on your music.
BN: Yeah, it was definitely hard. Imagine going on a month-long tour and finding somebody to watch the store the whole time. It definitely frees up some time.

So what’s next for you guys? What’s your next move after this album, and where do you want to take ZuhG in the long run?
BN: Well, we’re always really excited about the festival scene. And we’ve playing a lot of festivals every time the time comes around. So we always focus on playing bigger and more festivals. That’s always it.

Do you see ZuhG going on a nationwide tour at some point?
JH: Absolutely.
BN: We have, and we’re going to again in October.
JH: Yeah, we’re going to Hawaii in August. So we just got five tickets.

Do you aim to be a touring band for the rest of your musical careers?
BN: Yeah. Bigger and better tours, always and constantly. The way I see it, for us to get bigger and go up to the next level, I want to go on tour with a band bigger than us and open for them every night. So I try to position ourselves to where we get to open for those bands, and one of these days one of those bands will be like, “Hey, I like you guys. You should come on tour with us.” I feel like that happens a lot. So that’s what I always try to do as far as getting to the next level. I try to find those opportunities for us, and hopefully it’ll work out.

Would you like ZuhG to achieve mainstream success and be radio-friendly one day?
JH: I think active would be a better word. Even if we’re making a little bit of money or no money, we’re still going to be doing it. We’ll stay play in our band and [ride] in our bus—whatever we have to get us from point A to point B.

Are you guys able to make a decent living doing music full-time?
BN: I got a beach house, man. We’re not rich, but you know.
JH: We all do our own thing, you know, our own little hustle to make ends meet as well…We don’t just rely on ZuhG to make our money and all that. At least us two.

So does ZuhG already have another project on its mind?
JH: Oh yeah. I’m already brewing up ideas upstairs. [Bryan’s] already got a bunch of songs that have been put on the table. But we gotta finish this one first. We started Field Trip before we came out with Calm and Clear.

Seriously?
BN: We had a drummer bail out. When we were recording Field Trip, one of our drummers quit. So then it just kind of turned into, “Let’s record an acoustic album with me and JR and our homegirl singer Jesi Naomi.” That’s basically all that’s on that album Calm and Clear. So we came out with that album because a drummer quit and we had all these acoustic songs.

I guess it’ll feel good to get this one out of the way then, huh?
BN: It’s been an idea for a long time, yeah.

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Don’t miss the release party of Field Trip at Harlow’s on Saturday, March 14, 2015. Groovincible and Dank Ocean will be joining ZuhG for the 10 p.m. show. $10 cover, 21-and-over.

We Want the Funk

Sacramento’s Ideateam puts their spin on influences new and old

Anyone ever asked to step up to a classroom-style white board to write down some answer they didn’t know probably had an abridged Hail Mary prayer running through their head, hoping that a light bulb would go off and save them from the painfully drawn-out scene soon to follow. Even without the pressure of a time limit and a group of judging eyes upon him, 26-year-old guitar player Justin Butler still found himself at the mercy of an empty white board late one night after returning to the studio from an explosive two live sets he had just finished playing with his newly formed Sacramento funk band, Ideateam.

Luckily for him, though, the light bulb he needed went off at just the right time.

“I remember wiping it all the way clean, and it was just a blank board,” he says of the band’s rehearsal set list at the time. “And for whatever reason that concept came to me at that point. And it was fitting.”

Butler is referring to three symbols he thought of in that moment of reflection, which, coupled with the then-million-dollar question facing Ideateam, ultimately became the name of their debut album: And What Now (&!?).

Nearly two years later and after some key new additions to the group (mainly in the horn and percussion sections), the nine-man ensemble has finally picked a release date for their long-awaited project, to be held on Oct. 31, 2014, at Harlow’s, an album premiere party and live performance alongside local acts ZuhG and James Cavern and the Council.

While this would be their official inaugural show for the album, the upcoming Harlow’s gig is far from Ideateam’s first rodeo.

Even before completing And What Now (&!?), Butler and fellow guitar player/bandmate Tim Snoke say they’ve been playing live fairly consistently for the past year. Whereas they used to think two gigs a month was busy enough, now they say they’re having to turn down offers because of how booked they are already.

“It’s one of those things where you don’t want to sound full of yourself or anything, but people continually say things that blow me away more and more,” Butler says. “When you have a good friend of yours who also happens to be a musician, and they tell you you’re their favorite band in town, that does something to me. That’s a really humbling thing to be told.”

The reason behind their bubbling reputation could lie in the unique sound Ideateam brings to the table, says Tim Snoke.

“There’s like a groove-based music [here], but there’s kind of a flavor that we retain that I don’t see a lot of other groups doing around town,” he says. Snoke also believes groove and dance-based music is making a “turnaround in this area” and that people are starting to embrace funk as a comeback genre again.

Drawing inspiration from artists new and old from Mandrill and the Meters to more contemporary bands like Orgone and Lettuce, Ideateam’s music resonates like a nice mashup of classic funk and soul with sprinkles of Latin jazz and even nuances of reggae thrown into the mix.

“I’ve heard it described before as a pretty powerful sound,” Butler says. “I mean, it’s heavy.”

While both guitarists agree that much of their success thus far is of their own doing, they also say their friends in the Sacramento music scene—which is pretty tight-knit, according to Butler—have been a huge help by letting them open for different bands in the area and build a name for themselves.

“I would just like to say for the record, we have really awesome friends who have been super generous that we’ve just known in the music community here,” Snoke says.

“We definitely had some people champion for us,” Butler adds.

As polished as Ideateam sounds on their studio record—where each instrument was tracked individually and layered as opposed to recording one group take at a time—Butler and Snoke say seeing the band live is truly an experience to behold in its own right.

“It’s different,” they both say simultaneously.

“[Us] live, there’s a different energy happening for sure that’s a little more… I wouldn’t say more, but there’s a different sauce on there,” Snoke says.

“There’s some more hot sauce,” Butler adds with a smirk, finishing his bandmate’s thought.

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On stage, Ideateam’s lineup consists of a three-man rhythm section, two on percussion and three on horns with one extra member, Garrett Wildgust, contributing vocals every now and then.

Butler and Snoke are on the guitars, Kyle Pulskamp plays bass, Joe Carusi handles the drums, Mark Miller and Chris Ryan manage the saxophones while Josh Cambridge toots the trombone, and Mike Ruiz—the madman of auxiliary percussion—taps on and shakes up an array of instruments to fill in the pockets of any given song.

The band has performed as far north as Chico and as far south as San Francisco at the Boom Boom Room blues club on Fillmore Street.

A typical Ideateam set will feature a couple songs from their album (which are practically ancient to the team nowadays), a few new songs they’re prepping for their upcoming project and then some even newer material that they’re just starting to refine now. They’ll also play some B-side covers for all the crate diggers who are wise to the hidden gems of those funk and soul classics.

“I kind of like that there’s going to be those few people out there that when we do play those more deep cuts that they’re like, ‘Oh yeah!’ ‘Cause I’m that guy at a concert,” Snoke says.

Although Ideateam has only played regionally as of late, Snoke and Butler say they’d love to take the band on a West Coast tour starting up in Washington and going down to Southern California. Realistically, however, Butler says an effort like that will take some thorough planning for a band of this size.

“Truth be told, our real restrictions are our day jobs,” he says. “Otherwise we probably would have gotten out of town already and just done it.”

Their jobs range from Farm to Fork restaurant chef to delicatessen worker to professional musicians. Butler and Snoke work together at an E-commerce company mediating online transactions for vendors in the hardware and lighting fixture industry. It figures that at least a couple of Ideateam members would be dealing a lot with light bulbs on a day-to-day basis.

Still, even with their daily life limitations, Butler and Snoke are trying to stay optimistic about their musical futures.

Being grounded in the now and looking further down the road is a balance Ideateam constantly has to wrestle with. Making that leap into full-time musicianship is something they’re open to but also cautious about at the same time.

Snoke says he would love to see that happen one day but that mainly he’s focused on the dynamic of the band right now and evolving their music.

Butler says he agrees with Snoke in that regard. Yet, he also says a decision on Ideateam’s future will have to be made eventually.

“I foresee us approaching a fork in the road at some point next year where we’re going to kind of have to look around us and be like, ‘OK, we’re investing an incredible amount of energy times eight, times nine. What are we doing?” he asks.

Alas, the crucial question still stands for Ideateam: And what now?

As a young and up-and-coming band with so much momentum behind them, it’ll be interesting to see where they take it from here. So long as they stick to their funky jams and keep the feel-good music coming, I have a feeling they’ll always have a place here in Sacramento. Or wherever they end up going, for that matter.

It’s not just a CD release party, it’s Halloween at Harlow’s Oct. 31, 2014! To quote ZuhG’s facebook invite, “It’s time for Sacramento to get a freaky dose of spookygroove, so pop those eyeballs out and get your skull prepared to be electrified.” Doors for this 21-and-over show are at 8 p.m., with a $12 cover. Celebrate Ideateam’s CD release along with ZuhG and James Cavern and the Council, and stick around for the costume contest. For more info, visit Facebook.com/ideateamband.

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LOCAL BAND ZUHG IS THROWING A MUSIC FEST IN DOWNIEVILLE OCT. 18 – 20, 2013

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Local jam band extraordinaire ZuhG is taking their annual music festival on the road this year. ZuhGFest 2013 will go down from Oct. 18 – 20, 2013 along the scenic North Yuba River, right next to a little town called Downieville, Calif. off Highway 49 at the Sierra Shangri-La Resort. “My family has been going to Shangri-La for decades every year for a week’s vacation,” ZuhG frontman Bryan Nichols explained to Submerge. “They’ve been going probably 40-plus years, and I’ve never missed a year since I’ve been born.” New caretakers took over the resort a couple years ago and really liked Nichols’ band, so naturally he talked them into letting him throw a music festival there. Nichols and his buddy, Franco, went to work booking a shit-ton of awesome Sacramento bands that were down for the trip—mixed with a healthy dose of touring bands—for what is going to be an incredible three days of music in a beautiful, remote location. Local faves like Massive Delicious, James Cavern, Justin Farren, Island of Black and White, EGG and many others will join musical forces with Jelly Bread, Mark Sexton Band, and Crush from Reno; Red Rose from Wisconsin, The Sunrise Review from West Virginia, Glimpse Trio from the Bay Area, Pine Street Ramblers from Nevada City and Stable Hands from the Central Valley. Day passes are $20, but if you’re up for making an adventure out of it, weekend passes are only $40 for all three days. Zuhgfest.com has plenty of options listed for places to crash within a few miles of the fest, as well as links to buy tickets, learn more about the performing artists, shuttle services and more. To learn more about the resort hosting the fest, visit Sierrashangrila.com.

Sing Me a Song

Soulful, Danceable and Real, Groovincible Plans to Get You Moving with Their New Album

If you are ever in search of a vocalist and partner in crime, you might try spotting the flyest girl in the bar and asking her to sing for you. The odds that she will deliver are slim. But it must have been Matt Klee’s lucky night, because Bianca Wright sang him a song she wrote that left an impression, and the two have been side by side musically and romantically ever since.

Three years later, Wright and Klee joined Jacob Gleason to form Groovincible in 2011 in Klee’s garage in Fair Oaks. The idea was to put Wright’s voice at the forefront of the band, with Klee on drums, Gleason on guitar and tenor sax and Wright on the mic, shared with Gleason. Prior, Gleason and Klee bonded over tacos and hours spent in the backseat of a crusty old tour van during the 2009 Hippy Feet tour with Sacramento’s well-known fusion band ZuhG. Each have been involved in other musical projects, including ZuhG, but after Wright performed as a guest singer on Free Love, ZuhG’s self-released album, the three broke away to form Groovinicible, allowing them an opportunity to write their own material.

Now, after wrapping up their self-titled debut album recorded at Pus Cavern Studios (currently available for purchase and streaming online) they are prepping for their CD release show, which is on Saturday, July 27 at Blue Lamp. They have also added on three members: Tony Marks on bass, Sam Phelps on keys and Edward Hurff on baritone sax.

If you’re limited on words, you could say Groovincible is somewhere in the funk/soul/jazz realm, with moments of rock. Their aim is to keep things grooving, interesting and danceable, hence “Groovincible.” Those are the words that Gleason offered up during a phone interview with him and Wright. But that’s just brushing the surface.

For those who like to turn on a dynamic album and listen the whole way through, Groovincible is for you. Just when you think you’ve heard it all, the band pulls something else out of their sleeve, whether its ethereal harmonies or tempo changes and distortion.

In the span of 43 minutes laid over 12 tracks, Groovincible throws one drop (the reggae groove), Klezmer, tablas (Indian drums) and distorted sax into the mix. Of the 12, only four are under five minutes in length, and two of the songs are broken up over two tracks. That’s just how Gleason writes, with at least three “parts” per song.

As he explains it, a song amounts to “whatever amount of time it takes to express the idea,” whether it’s five minutes or 30.

This album evolved out of several months of Klee and Gleason jamming in Klee’s garage. Everything was recorded. At the end of the recording sessions they cut out whatever didn’t sound good from each track, leaving behind the cream of the crop to make up the songs. Gleason actually ended up cutting out a lot of guitar, leaving “implied” guitar parts in a number of songs while layering saxophone, keys, bass and flute.

The exception was a “magical take” of “Bari Krishna,” recorded in one go. “Bari Krishna,” with the overlap of fluttering guitar and horn segments, brings to mind a chase scene in a spy film, blazing through alleys in a getaway car in Cairo or Kabul.

Other songs, such as opening track “Downtown Shindig” or “Punk Step,” could easily sound off during one of Quentin Taratino’s killing sprees.

As far as Gleason is concerned, if their songs have cinematic flavor, then they are succeeding.

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Aside from “Bari Krishna,” which is instrumental, Gleason and Wright wrote the vocals over the songs, with Wright penning a lot of the hooks and choruses, and adding a soulful touch.

“A lot of people homogenize soul, R&B and hip-hop,” Wright says. “But when people are singing they’re really pushing for what they’re inspired by… My lyrical style is more soulful.”

She takes her cues from the likes of Jill Scott and Erykah Badu.

Beyond recording, Wright’s feminine energy is critical to the band, Gleason says.

As Wright sees it, she contributes both nurturing and vulnerable elements to the band, particularly during live performances.

“If I’m going to be up there on stage, then I like everything I do to be ‘real,’” Wright explains. “I like to set the vibe and be comfortable with people, looking at people, looking at who I’m singing to.”

While Wright brings the soul, it is apparent that Gleason brings the glue. Or is the glue, when it comes to the band. That includes music theory and recording.

“I live, eat and dream music,” he says.

While it’s definitely not an unusual thing to hear coming from a musician, it doesn’t feel like false advertising. He’s one of those who got an early start in music theory, coming from an upbringing where instruments and encouragement were consistently available, starting with mom breaking out the pans, to a keyboard, saxophone and eventually a guitar. By age 15 he was in his first rock band, and music has been an everyday part of life ever since.

“I sit on my ass and watch Game of Thrones once in a while,” he confesses.

Beyond that, however, time boils down to songwriting and performing.

However they manage to do it, between Gleason, Wright and Klee and those who have hopped on board since, Groovincible has developed an unmistakable sound.

“We’re just a bunch of people who make noise together,” Gleason says. “We get to play music we love with people we love.”

Whether or not Klee realized it at the time, he was doing everyone a favor when he asked Wright to sing.

Groovincible’s CD Release show is Saturday, July 27, 2013 at Blue Lamp (1400 Alhambra Blvd). Also performing will be Tao Jiriki and Brian Rogers. $10 cover includes the new Groovincible CD. Doors open at 8 p.m., show starts at 9 p.m., 21-and-over only. For more information visit Groovincible.com

DR. DRE TRIBUTE SHOW WITH ZUHG AND FRIENDS – Dec. 29, 2012

After tossing the idea around for years, the guys in local jam-based reggae/rock band ZuhG have finally decided to act upon their urge to throw a Dr. Dre Tribute Show on Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012 at Harlow’s! “We’re excited it’s finally happening,” Bryan Nichols, frontman of ZuhG, told Submerge. “The Chronic 2001 is probably the most listened to album in the ZuhG van when we tour. Everyone loves The Chronic.”

Nichols and crew have assembled a sweet backing band for the show including himself and fellow ZuhG-er JR Halliday along with drummer Katayo Moore (aka Lady Rhythm) and keyboardist Chez Gonzales. Will Robinson from The Old Screen Door will be singing some of Nate Dogg’s parts, and plenty of guest MCs will take the stage throughout the night, including Task1ne, RIZ, Century Got Bars, Kevin (from The Hooliganz), Charleee (from ZuhG) and Ernie (from Who Cares).

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“Hip-hop is a lot of fun to play with a band. It’s different in a lot of ways compared to rock,” said Nichols, who has had plenty of experience backing up hip-hop artists (Random Abiladeze and RIZ just to name a couple). “You have to stay in the pocket and not be too flashy. You can’t be afraid to play the same riff over and over again. The Chronic has some of the most catchy bass lines and guitar riffs, I love it.”

Look forward to hearing classic songs like “The Next Episode,” “Forgot About Dre,” “Fuck You,” “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,” and plenty of others. The show starts at 9 p.m., is 21-and-over and the cover will be $10–a small price to pay for what will surely be a super fun and memorable night. And of course, this blurb wouldn’t be complete without the obligatory Nate Dogg line, “Smoke weed everyday!”

Century Got Bars

2012 Friday Night Concerts In the Park Lineup Revealed

Submerge has got your first look at the lineup for this year’s Friday Night Concerts in the Park series. The 13-week shindig kicks off on May 4, 2012 at 5 p.m. at Cesar Chavez Park in downtown Sacramento. You can see the entire lineup right here. Major brownie points to anyone who can name all of the artists that have been on the cover of and/or featured in the pages of Submerge (hint: there’s a lot of them).

May 4
Arden Park Roots (reggae/rock)
Island of Black and White (acoustic/blues/reggae/rock)
The Storytellers (roots/reggae/ska)
Shaun Slaughter (indie/electro/pop)

May 11
Middle Class Rut (rock)
Lite Brite (rock)
Horseneck (rock)
DJ Whores (electro/indie/dub step/alt)

May 18
Nickel Slots (alt-country/Americana)
Infamous Swanks (rockabilly)
Blackeyed Dempseys (Irish rock)
DJ Adam J (indie/dance/alt)

May 25
ZuhG (funk/reggae/jam)
Element of Soul (acoustic/jam rock)
Playboy School (electronic indie/pop)
DJ X’GVNR (pop/top 40/electro/dance/dub step/house)

June 1
Oleander (rock)
Allinaday (rock)
Trackfighter (rock)
Verdugo Brothers (house/top 40)

June 8
Mumbo Gumbo (zydeco/roots/dance)
Todd Morgan and the Emblems (blues/rock/jazz)
DJ Mikey Likes It (top 40/‘80s/‘90s/party groove)

June 15
Relic 45 (blues/rock)
Out of Place (acoustic/alternative/rock)
Sexrat (alternative/rock)
Reggie Ginn (pop)
Shaun Slaughter (indie/electro/pop)

June 22
7 Seconds (punk)
Bastards of Young (punk)
City of Vain (punk)
DJ Whores (electro/indie/dub step/alt)

June 29
The Nibblers (funk)
The Coalition (world beat)
Diva Kings (folk/pop rock)
DJ Fedi

July 6
Full Blown Stone (reggae rock)
Dogfood (alternative rock)
Street Urchinz (reggae/rock)
DJ Nate D

July 13
Another Damn Disappointment (ADD) (punk)
Walking Dead (punk)
A Single Second (punk)
The Left Hand (punk)
DJ Blackheart (house/electro/punk/indie)

July 20
Walking Spanish (blues/indie rock)
Jack and White (alternative/pop rock)
Autumn Sky (folk/pop)
CrookOne (soul/pop/hip-hop/Motown/indie)

July 27
The Brodys (pop/rock)
Early States (pop/rock)
Hero’s Last Mission (pop)
Chaotic Fusion (DJ Oasis & !nkDup) (rock/top 40/dance/mash-ups)

As you probably know by now, this year’s lineup was not booked by longtime promoter Jerry Perry, but instead by a committee of local promoters, musicians and music enthusiasts that go by the name Play Big Sacramento. One committee member, Andy Hawk, who works at Entercom radio stations and promotes Wednesday night shows at Powerhouse Pub in Folsom, recently told Submerge of this year’s lineup, “As a committee we worked with venues, clubs, bookers and musicians in an effort to create a lineup of the best Sacramento has to offer. We have 13 weeks of shows filled with the biggest headliners in town, and have added the most talented DJs in Sacramento to play in the beer garden. Friday Night Concerts in the Park this year will truly be the centerpiece of entertainment in Sacramento this summer.”

Rim Shot!

Mall walkers had reason to pause during their power walks last Sunday at the Westfield Mall. And no, it wasn’t to watch Santa Claus taking photos with crying babies or ice skaters taking falls at the rink. They paused to see the first Non-Drummer Drum-Off. The event is exactly what its name implies, people attempting to drum like Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters but they end up sounding like Animal from The Muppets. In fact, the only qualification of the drum-off was that you were supposed to suck. Even the Facebook event page said if someone was caught practicing before the show, then they would have been automatically disqualified.

Just like American Idol, the non-drummers had to face judges, listen to a sarcastic host and battle to win a prize. The eager non-drummers were going head-to-head for a chance to win a new drum set. At around 3 p.m., a small crowd gathered around a mini stage and bleachers on the second floor of K Street mall in Downtown Plaza that stood in-between the retail stores Express and ZuhG Life (organizers and sponsors of the event). When the show got rolling, most of the audience members ended up being random holiday shoppers, curious workers, or mall walkers who wanted to see what all of the ruckus was about.

The judges, including Matt Mingus from Dance Gavin Dance and Kevin Martinez from Tha Dirt Feeling, had to rate the non-drummers on a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) and on “charisma and performance.”

The bad drumming started off with Charleeé Wheeler from the local band ZuhG and his attempt to hit the drums like a rock star. Most of the contestants were familiar faces because they were from local bands or people who are active in the Sacramento community, such as Steph Rodriguez from Sacramento News & Review, Alexander Ayers from Prieta, a local photographer named Dennis, Michael Sean Flanagan, Dean Haakenson from Be Brave Bold Robot (who accidentally broke a drum stick while playing) and even our own Jonathan Carabba gave his shot behind the drums. After almost every performance, the host of the event (Blake Abbey from Musical Charis) would make funny, sarcastic remarks about their performance such as, “It’s so bad I want it to keep going,” or, “It wasn’t even entertaining to watch.” After Bryan Nichols, owner of the ZuhG Life store, gave his all playing the foreign instrument, Blake said, “I would rather listen to a whole Nickelback album than listen to that again.” Although the show was not exclusively awkward drumming, the audience members got to enjoy riffs from the professionals like Matt Mingus.

But the show stopper went to a small audience member who was eager to get a whack at the drums. When Blake asked if anyone from the audience would like to drum off, a young boy named Liam not only raised his hand to volunteer but stood up on the bleachers to be seen and heard. After he pulled a rampage behind the drums, he received a perfect score from the judges and huge cheers from the audience. And every time the host would mention his name he would stand on top of the bleachers and give an arm wave of victory. When he found out that he won the contest, he told his proud mom that they are going to need a “bigger truck” to carry his new gift home. Although little Liam arrived as a casual mall visitor, he left as a drumming champion.

Dean Haakenson

Wes Davis

The Non-Drummer Drum Off
Westfield Downtown Plaza Mall, Sacramento – Sunday, December 4, 2011

Jesi Naomi

Steph Rodriguez

Dennis “the photographer”

Jonathan Carabba

Doug Riggs

Michael Sean Flanagan

Alexander Ayers

Liam

Blake Abbey

JR Halliday

Matt Mingus

In the Blood

Jesi Naomi finishes up her first album with The Trippers

For Jesi Naomi, energy is everything. If you focus your energy on the things you desire, and release that energy out into the world, you will attract the things you want in life.

So once she had her mind set on playing music back in 2009, she took some advice from her aunt. She began telling everyone she knew that she was going to become a musician.

Next thing you know, the singer/songwriter was singing ballads at Capitol Garage. Then she met local indie band Bell Boys at Fox and Goose downtown during an open mic night, and they helped her learn the tricks of self-promotion. Later she met local jam band ZuhG, of which she is now a member.

When Naomi is playing solo, ZuhG members JR Halliday, Bryan Nichols and Kevin Martinez comprise her backup band, altogether as Jesi Naomi and the Trippers. In March she will go on a two-month “For the Love of Music” tour, performing both in ZuhG and as a solo artist.

Two years into the music scene, the 24-year-old is now preparing for Jesi Naomi and the Trippers’ debut album, Earplay, to be released in January.

Earplay is seven tracks of blues and soul combined with psychedelic nuances and djembe, saxophone and ukulele thrown into the mix. It was recorded in the span of around three months by Joe Johnston at Pus Cavern.

The album opens with “Kosen Rufu,” which is the title of both the intro and outro tracks. It is also a guiding theme of the album. Broadly defined, it is world peace through individual happiness, a concept stemming from Buddhism. As a practicing Nichiren Buddhist, this concept is paramount for Naomi.

“[Kosen Rufu] is world peace by making each person have their individual peace,” she explains.

Certainly this applies to the song “Change Train,” which Naomi wrote for her mother, who was an alcoholic.

Her mother’s attention was constantly split between her children and the bottle, and Naomi remembers thinking, “If I write this song, I want her to find her change train. If I sing this song as many times as I can, she’ll get better.”

A year later, after performing the song show after show, her mom told her she had gone sober.

Though school had never been Naomi’s thing, it is what brought the Chico, Calif., native here to Sacramento. Naomi thought she was going to make music videos for a living. She was enrolled at Sacramento State as a media/marketing major.

Yet reading, comprehension, spelling, memorizing was the sort of thing she felt detached from. Whenever she hit a burn out point, she would think to herself, “Forget this. I’m gonna go paint.” Up to this point, painting had been her artistic release.

But somewhere along the way she discovered the pianos in the music rooms at school. Then a guy by the name of Richard Martin started listening in on her practicing piano and pushed her to learn scales.

“That’s where it all started,” she remembers. “I just needed a little direction.”

That Christmas her younger brother taught her how to play the guitar, something she thought she would never be able to do, mostly because the thought of memorization intimidated her. But memory is just a muscle, she can now say with confidence, and what’s more important than memorization is feeling the music. And she has come to realize that she’s got music coursing through her veins.

“Music is in my blood,” she says earnestly.

You could say Naomi is following in her father’s footsteps. He played drums in a band called Pole Cats back in the day and went on tour when she was still in her mother’s belly. Though he’s no longer in a band, he played drums on the track “Hold Me Nice” on Earplay. It is the first song Naomi ever wrote, back when she was learning how to play piano.

She often catches people by surprise when she reminds them that it’s only been two years since she started playing music.

“There’s no better way to learn than to just get thrown into the deep end and hope to swim,” she laughs.

Yet when she is performing it is as though she’s been a musician on a stage all her life, as though that is where she is meant to be. She wields a sense of confidence and power that is hard to come by in a performer.

Offstage Naomi is warm and easygoing. Sitting in the practice space behind the ZuhG Life store, she sips on Earl Grey tea and speaks effortlessly about her music in a conversation that lasts a good 45 minutes. She wears an enchanting smile on her face and responds coolly in a bluesy tone.

Make no mistake that this is a woman with self-respect.

In a way, Naomi says, women have it easier in the music world because they are more marketable. The notion is that they just have to look good.

“That in turn makes it harder for a woman to really put out her true soul,” she says.

“I’m not going to go up there and wear some skanky outfit and not know what I’m singing,” she continues. “I want the music to shine, that’s pure beauty to me.”

Still, she’s been approached by the occasional creep for the wrong reasons.

There was one, she recalls, who made himself out to be the big-time producer who would get her work noticed.

“I thought I was going in to make a demo tape, [but] it wasn’t like that,” she says. “Thank God my mom raised me to know about those kinds of things.”

She went her separate way, with her mind in one place. It’s all for the love of music.

And despite the few exceptions, Naomi says she’s received a wealth of support from her male colleagues.

“I feel like I get a lot of respect being a [female musician], especially if I respect myself,” she says.

If that is the energy Naomi puts out into the universe, certainly that’s what she’ll receive.

Jesi Naomi and the Trippers will be putting forth positive energy at Marilyn’s on K Jan. 7, 2012 when they celebrate the release of Earplay, a seven-song EP. There will be a $10 cover, which will include a copy of the CD. Also playing will be Brad Relf, The Bell Boys, James Cavern and Monkey Flower. Show starts at 8 p.m.

Get to know the artists performing at our 100th Issue Party

If you’re not familiar with the artists we chose to perform at our 100th Issue Party on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 at Ace of Spades, first off, where the hell have you been? Living under a rock? Anywho, if you don’t know who they are, see the vitals below and be sure to type the URLs into your fancy little computer devices. Prepare to be inundated with awesome-ness, because, well, we know how to pick ‘em! See you at the show.


SISTER CRAYON

    Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
    For Fans Of: Down tempo (yet intense) indie rock/trip-hop. Operatic and dramatic female vocals, mixture of live drums and programmed percussion with keys, synths, guitar, the whole nine.
    You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Portishead, The XX, MGMT
    Bragging Rights: Signed to Manimal Vinyl Records, recently toured with The Album Leaf. Has been featured everywhere from Showtime to Nylon magazine.
    Listen/Learn More: Sistercrayon.com, Facebook.com/sistercrayon


TERA MELOS

    Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
    For Fans Of: Spastic, experimental-rock featuring insane guitar work (two-handed finger tapping, tons of effects pedals, etc.) and non-traditional song structures.
    You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Hella, The Flaming Lips, Don Caballero
    Bragging Rights: Signed to Sargent House, countless U.S. tours, played Forbidden Fruit Fest in Ireland this year with The Flaming Lips and Aphex Twin.
    Listen/Learn More: Teramelosmusic.com, Facebook.com/teramelosmusic


GANGLIANS

    Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
    For Fans Of: Fun, catch-y, space-y/psychedelic garage-rock.
    You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Thee Oh Sees, Wavves, Beach Boys
    Bragging Rights: Affiliated record labels include Lefse, Woodsist, Captured Tracks and Souterrain Transmissions. Ganglians will be an official showcasing artist at 2012’s SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas.
    Listen/Learn More: Facebook.com/ganglians


ZUHG

    Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
    For Fans Of: Jam-y funk-rock with reggae roots. Extended jam sessions and dance-offs are common occurrences during ZuhG sets.
    You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Phish, O.A.R., Grateful Dead
    Bragging Rights: They run their own local music/art/clothing store. Countless tours, tons of positive press, multiple SAMMIES awards.
    Listen/Learn More: Zuhgmusic.com


RANDOM ABILADEZE and DJ RATED R

    Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
    For Fans Of: Intelligent hip-hop rich with satire and dry wit meets real turntablism.
    You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Nas, Talib Kweli, Gang Starr
    Bragging Rights: Winner of numerous spoken-word and rap awards/competitions. Has shared the stage with Nas, Immortal Technique, Tech N9Ne, Zion-I, Living Legends and more.
    Listen/Learn More: Randomab.com, Randomabiladeze.bandcamp.com


EARLY STATES

    Home Base: Sacramento, Calif.
    For Fans Of: Extremely catch-y and well-written pop-rock fit for an arena setting.
    You Dig? You’ll Dig!: Muse, Coldplay, The Killers
    Bragging Rights: Music has been featured in multiple MTV shows/commercials including, The Real World, True Life, Made and Real World Road Rules Challenge to name a few.
    Listen/Learn More: Earlystates.com

Tickets Available @ ZuhG Life Store, Dimple Records, The Beat, Armadillo (Davis)
Online: AceOfSpadesSac.com
By Phone: 1.877.GND.CTRL or 916.443.9202

Live in the City of Trees

Our good friend and talented photographer Wes Davis (of Beatnik Studios) has recently started up a really cool local music video project with his good friend Devon Carsen called Live in the City of Trees. They’re partnering up with local and regional musicians, taking them to really cool spots with unique aesthetics and acoustics in and around Sacramento, and filming them perform “stripped down” versions of their songs. “Live in the City of Trees was started to be a window into the music scene in Sacramento and the surrounding area,” Davis told Submerge. “We want to film live intimate performances in unique settings and really bring an artistic and human feel to the videos. Nothing overproduced or commercial looking.” At the time we spoke, they had three videos completed and uploaded to their Vimeo page (Vimeo.com/user6451802), one with Be Brave Bold Robot shot at a “secret spot in Old Sac,” (the same secret spot Davis shot local band ZuhG for their recent Submerge cover) one with Exquisite Corps shot in the century-old Maydestone Building on the corner of 15th and J streets (said to be haunted), and one with Justin Farren shot in an old graffiti-scattered building on Q Street. A video with Blvd Park was freshly uploaded as we went to print, and Davis informed us that he also has videos with Musical Charis and James Cavern “in the can” and that those should be up shortly. He also mentioned he is shooting ZuhG soon as well as San Francisco’s Fierce Creatures after their upcoming May 27, 2011 performance at Beatnik Studios. The cinematography is stellar, the audio quality is great and the performances are fantastic–goosebump-inducing even! Whether you are a fan of the aforementioned artists or you’ve never heard of them, you’ll enjoy Live in the City of Trees. Keep an eye out for their website, Liveinthecityoftrees.com, which should be launched in the near future; but for now, just hit up their Vimeo page or find them on Facebook.

-J. Carabba