Downtown Sacramento does not lack fun things to do on New Year’s Eve, that’s for sure. Allow this breakdown of NYE options to be a bit of a road map to your having an epic night. This surely isn’t everything happening in town, but here are a some great options nonetheless: District 30 (1022 K Street) has DJ Serafin (who is huge in the Los Angeles and Las Vegas club scenes) spinning his seamless integration of house, hip-hop, pop, Bmore and rock. Ace of Spades (1417 R Street) has Hollywood-based rapper Mickey Avalon with openers Big Chocolate and Richard the Rockstar. The Hyatt Regency Sacramento (1209 L Street) has an “Acoustic Lounge” with Quinn Hedges and Ryan Hernandez as well as a bigger/louder party inside their new L on 12 Nightclub with DJ Rated R and the super-fun cover band Cheeseballs. Speaking of cover bands, Shenanigans (705 J Street) has a huge party lined up featuring live music from Departure, a Journey tribute band, as well as 8 Track Massacre, an ‘80s cover band. Old Ironsides (1901 10th Street) has DJs Shaun Slaughter and Roger Carpio for a special NYE Lipstick party. The Blue Lamp (1400 Alhambra Boulevard.) has The Pine Box Boys, an Americana/bluegrass/experimental band from San Francisco along with three opening bands and Marilyn’s on K (908 K Street) has The Mother Hips. This list could easily go on and on, but we’ll spare you. For more NYE party options, click here for our calendar

Sacramento’s Lonely Kings are underground rock heroes

Although they may never have sold a million records, traveled to gigs via private airplane or experienced much else commonly associated with rock stardom, Sacramento-based Lonely Kings have long since established themselves as underground rock legends. They are a “band’s band,” if you will, and chances are, some of your favorite artists from back in the day have these guys’ cell phone numbers on lock. Formed in the early ‘90s by vocalist/guitarist/primary songwriter Jake Desrochers and drummer Jason Wilkinson (the two remaining original members; the group is now rounded out by bassist Emile Janicot and lead guitarist Johnny Deluca, both of whom have been in the band nearly a decade), Lonely Kings have had a long history of flirting with major success, coming ever-so-close time and time again to “making it big” and reveling in fame like so many of their close friends have. But they’ve never bitched or complained too much, never called it quits or took an elongated hiatus. Lonely Kings have always been there, a constant force in underground rock music and a fine example to bands young and old.

Submerge recently sat down with Desrochers and Janicot to talk about their upcoming full-length record, American Heartache, their Rock for Tots charity gig at Ace of Spades on Dec. 23, 2011 and to bullshit about the band’s past.

I’m curious, having toured overseas so much in the past, what was the language barrier like?
Emile Janicot: I mean, I speak French and Spanish and a little bit of German. But really you just kind of speak rock ‘n’ roll, that’s what people know all over, you know?

Seeing so many groups around you “make it big” commercially, bands like AFI, Papa Roach, etc. What’s that like? Are you ever envious or jealous?
Jake Desrochers: It hurts every time for sure. Nowadays not so much, but when you see bands like you take off in the same year, the year that you’re the hottest your band has ever been… It was harder back then, because we were right there at the cusp.

And working hard, too.
JD: Yeah, exactly. Like we got bumped on a tour with Face to Face for Alkaline Trio. We got bumped on a second AFI tour one time because they took out Jimmy Eat World when they started to pop. So we’ve lost out to some amazing bands on some of those tours that could have broke us. Looking back, it’s just amazing to have been in the ring, but I was fucking pissed because I needed it. I don’t know though, it’s like we still get good gigs, so you could take it two ways. Some of these bands aren’t even around anymore.
EJ: A lot of these bands too like Papa Roach, Hot Water Music, AFI–we’re all friends with them. We get into all their shows free, they respect us, they’re always like, “We love your music!” But it’s hard to be like, “Give us a show. Give us this, give us that.”
JD: And knowing their lives, I don’t envy it sometimes. It’s super hard. I just try to feel like God or whoever is in charge had a different plan for us or for me personally, and just try not to fight it too much and to be grateful for what I do have, which is an amazing group of dudes that play quality American rock. We’re still doing it. Like, what the fuck? It’s crazy, after every practice I’m just like blown away.

I’ve always thought that Lonely Kings were one of those bands that has just as much “street cred,” if not more, than bands that started in the same place you did but made it huge. Would you agree?
EJ: We do have that!
JD: I don’t think we’d still be here if we would have gotten famous when we wanted to.

Yeah, how things would have changed if a major label came knocking? A lot of times it ends up being not the right move for the band.
EJ: We knew bands that did that; they got good really quick, they got signed and sponsored and this and that. We’d have already toured with them, and then they’d be done in two years. We’re still here.
JD: We’ve seen bands come and go. [Laughs] Hell, we’ve seen genres come and go.

Your band has always had a sort of rough-around-the-edges vibe. Has that been natural? Were there ever periods where you were trying to polish it up more?
JD: It wasn’t purposeful. Every record I’ve tried to make some pop masterpiece and to write that golden hit in the sky. I’ve tried every single time. But we are so rough around the edges, and I can’t write anything that doesn’t mean something to me. I can’t be too tongue in cheek, I can’t write all open chords, I have to keep it weird. As pop-y as it is, I want it to be just as weird, just to reflect what we’re going through. I just always liked bands’ bands in the way that there’s something raw to it. Maybe it’s my influences. But trust me, you think Fearless didn’t want to hear a hit? The second record, they wanted that to go, that was the whole plan. And they were sitting there in the studio screaming at me to come up with something. And then here I am writing it in Latin or some shit, shooting myself in the foot creatively, but I thought it’d be cool because it would be different. But sometimes what is different isn’t what’s cool.
EJ: Also, on our records we like to put out stuff that we can recreate live. A lot of bands have backing vocal tracks, backing guitar tracks and all kinds of triggers and stuff like that. We don’t use any of that, we are straightforward.

How does the material on American Heartache compare to past Lonely Kings releases?
EJ: It’s more mature. Jake and I have really found how to complete our songwriting craft, to strip away all the layers and all the bullshit. Only the best songs are going to make it. Some of the songs are different, but it’s going to be a Lonely Kings record for sure. We haven’t even heard the whole thing ourselves. All we hear are bits and pieces that Michael [Rosen, producer/engineer] sends to us.
JD: I don’t even care if it takes off or does well for us. I know I will have done my best work. And the fact we had to do it sporadically has made the songs so much better, because we’ve shed a couple every step of the way and really peeled the layers back to just quality shit. It was a two-year recording process, basically. It was as if someone gave you a studio for two years and told you to write a record.
EJ: We probably did 25 to 28 songs for this record, and there’s only going to be 10 or 11, maybe 12, on it. We might let Jake do an acoustic one by himself. It’s been a long haul, but it’s going to be worth it.

This record is yours in that you own the masters, not a record label. When it’s totally done are you going to pull in favors from old friends and/or shop it around? Or, do you think you’ll put it out yourself true DIY style?
JD: If it has to be, but it’s pretty freaking good so I’m hoping that someone will be like, “Damn!” and the songs will talk for us.

Look for American Heartache to be released sometime early next year. In the meantime, see Lonely Kings headline Ace of Spades on Dec. 23, 2011 at the bands’ sixth annual Rock for Tots, a toy drive for Sacramento Salvation Army. Bring a toy and receive a raffle ticket for prizes from local vendors. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the event is all ages.

Ground Zero Clothing and Boardshop has a couple events coming up worth noting for all you board sport junkies out there. On Friday, Oct. 14, they’ll host a snowboard movie premiere at Ace of Spades (1417 R Street), where you can peep the new flick from Finger on Da Trigger and Marc Frank Montoya Productions, Familia 2, the trailer for which has some of the heaviest street riding I’ve ever seen. Also screening will be Shoot the Moon from Videograss. Riders from the films will be in attendance for meet and greets and signings, and there will be thousands of dollars’ worth of free swag given out to the crowd, not to mention a free lift ticket to Sierra-at-Tahoe with paid admission, which is only $14 in advance (at all Ground Zero locations) or $16 the day of or at the door. Tickets are also available through Aceofspadessac.com. Doors open at 6 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m., all ages are welcome and there are three bars within the venue for the 21-and-over crowd. Then just two days later on Sunday, Oct. 16, Ground Zero will present their 14th annual Fallout Fest skateboard contest in the streets of downtown Davis. The Ground Zero-provided street course, which will be set up on 3rd Street between F and G streets (near their shop), will be the setting for this epic competition. There are two divisions (under 16 and 16-and-over), each with two categories (beginner and intermediate). Only 15 skaters per category, so if you’re thinking about entering, do so fast. The event is free to watch and there will be free gear given out to the crowd, so head on out to Davis from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and watch some local rippers compete for gear and a $900 cash purse! For more information about the contest or to learn how to enter, visit Groundzeroboardshop.net or call their Davis location at (530) 753-7775.

FAMILIA 2 TEASER by FODT X MFM from FODT/COLE TAYLOR on Vimeo

Sacramento party-pop-rock trio Dogfood is headlining Ace of Spades on Thursday, Sept. 1 alongside other local favorites Element of Soul, Beyond the Grove and Goodness Gracious Me. If you buy a ticket directly from Dogfood for just $10 you will also get a copy of their album Alabama Voodoo. Contact them at Facebook.com/dogfoodmusic or via e-mail at probablydogfood@hotmail.com. Submerge has been lucky to catch Dogfood live around town a couple times over the last few months and it’s always a really good time. Their music is fun (but not overly cheesy) and very well crafted. If you dig bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and Sublime, chances are you’ll be jumping around in no time once Dogfood takes the stage. Ace of Spades is located at 1417 R Street, the show is all ages and kicks off at 6 p.m. Learn more about the venue at Aceofspadessac.com

Modern day pitfalls can’t stop the release of A Single Second’s new album

Dead bodies, delivering babies, opening for punk rock legends G.B.H.–the guys of A Single Second have not only racked up the street cred, they seem to have seen and done it all during their nine-year career as one of Sacramento’s longtime post-punk bands. Call them music junkies or workaholics, they’ll accept either label, but these four musicians have surely logged the man-hours to earn either pseudo-title. Their musical resume boasts over 1,000 shows to date, including the Maloof Money Cup in Orange County two years running, our own California State Fair just recently, and not to mention a few dozen local shows sprinkled throughout their already busy schedule.

Despite witnessing their fair share of lineup changes, the guys of A Single Second–Shawn Peter (vocals, guitar, trumpet), Aaron Holt (lead guitar, vocals), Jason “Mogley” Tilsey (bass) and Dave Girard (drums, vocals)–are as eager as ever to tour California and travel the Northwest to promote their newest album since the release of 2005’ a Smiling Politely. After many bouts with computer and hard drive issues, ultimately delaying their second self-titled full-length album’s release, they’re itching to take the show on the road.

Why has it taken A Single Second so long to release another album?
Jason Tilsey: It was supposed to be out two years ago, but we’ve lost it a bunch of times. Computer problems, hard drive problems, but we’ve finally got it together. I think it was more of a blessing that those computer problems happened because the songs sound a whole lot better now than they did two years ago. They’ve been ironed out and just keep evolving to the point where we’re comfortable where they’re at now.

Tell me about collaborating with Lydia Gavin from Aroarah on this album.
Shawn Peter: We’ve been friends with Aroarah for a long time. I’ve watched them since high school evolve into not only beautiful people, but excellent musicians. I like to collaborate with as many people as possible. Lydia was just ecstatic just to do it; she was really stoked. The song “Wednesday” is a new song we have. We haven’t even played it live yet, and she just made the difference in bringing that song together vocally.

What song(s) do you feel most connected to?
SP: “The Guide.” I’m a Downtown Guide and I see everything. I’m a bumblebee on K Street. I’ve been doing this job for 11 years. I’ve been beat up, I’ve helped people, I’ve almost delivered a baby once. Dead bodies. I write about love, like in the song “You” is about finding the perfect mate and being afraid of losing it. “Dark Room,” that song’s about getting caught doing stupid shit and people calling you out on it, and you’re either going to lie or tell the truth.

How’s the band’s chemistry now?
SP: Playing with Dave, Mogley and Aaron over the last three years, it’s been the best the band has ever been. Not to say I didn’t like the moments before, but, we’re not afraid to try anything. We write for ourselves and we write music for ourselves. And, hopefully, our audience is going to like our material. It’s really nice to write something new and try it out and see how the audience is going to react to it.

Do you feel you challenge each other?
SP: Most definitely. Aaron writes the most intricate guitar stuff where I’m like, “Whoa.” My classic phrase is, when I write a song, Aaron smartens up my songs, and when Aaron writes a song, I kind of dumb him down a bit [laughs]. I’m not going to toot his own horn, but he’s probably the best guitarist I’ve ever played with.
Aaron Holt: We’re not scared to shit on everyone else’s ideas, too. Let it be known. It might be me, a lot. I got the big mouth.

What inspires you as a songwriter?
SP: Life. I write about my personal experiences. Personally, I went through some real tiring times in the last two years and if it wasn’t for my band mates, I don’t know where I would be, honestly. I had a lot of dark moments going on in my life and music helped me pull through and the lyrics revolve around those experiences. I’m just trying to take a positive step toward everything.

Tell me about opening for G.B.H.
SP: I’m an old school punk rock fan, and it was an old school punk rock show. You had your classic, mohawk-leather-jacket-with-the-patches kids in there. Classic punk rockers. We actually had two guys literally sitting on the stage while we were playing facing the audience and they were expecting hardcore punk that night, but we got a really good reception where they clapped after our songs, kind of like, “You guys are rad, not really what we wanted to hear tonight, but you guys don’t suck. Right on.”

What does the Sacramento music scene need?
AH: More people need to go out to shows. I think in the last year or two it seems better. There are more venues opening up. We’re sitting across the street from Luigi’s right now, and there are people out on a Tuesday night. I don’t think [the scene is] as good as the days of the Cattle Club, but it’s better than it has been. There’s a lot more people that are going out, but more people could always come out for sure.

When will the band call it quits?
AH: We’ll call A Single Second quits when it’s not fun anymore. Who knows a year from now, two years from now, if someone’s not having fun? A Single Second or not, I guarantee in 20 years, I will still be playing my guitar whether I’m out playing at a club or something. I’ll have my acoustic out, trying to pick up on younger women at the coffee shop [laughs]. I don’t know. I just love to play music. It’s like therapy–well, not therapy, it’s an outlet.

Does a community of musicians exist within Sacramento?
SP: You go to any show and you really know who’s in what band. We all play with each other and collaborate with each other. Half the audience is always going to be other bands and the friends of those bands. I could rattle off for a half hour all the bands I like playing with: Kill the Precedent, First Class Citizen, Bastards of Young, the Secretions…bands who’ve been around since the ‘90s, like Will Haven’s still doing it. There’s a lot of bands and we’re all listening to and supporting each other.

Why do you continue to play music?
SP: We just want to keep doing things that challenge us. We’re not doing it for anyone but ourselves, and if people happen to like it, then that’s awesome. I play music on stage and it allows me not to be an animal in every aspect of my life. That’s my outlet to let it go. My frustration, my excitement, my everything. I give it all when I give a performance. I’m a music junkie. If there’s any drug in my life, it’s music. And I’ll never give it up.

On Friday, Aug. 12, 2011 A Single Second will play the first of two official CD release shows at Concerts in the Park in Cesar Chavez Park. Get a beer garden wristband and get into the guys’ show at the Distillery later that night for free. You’ll have another chance to catch the band Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at Ace of Spades. Tickets to this all-ages show are $15. D.R.I., Kill the Precedent and Hoods will also perform.

On Tuesday, July 19, Ace of Spades will host the 2011 Sacramento stop of the Scream It Like You Mean It tour, featuring headliners Breathe Carolina, a Denver-based genre-crashing electronic/rock/pop/screamo duo. Chiodos, I See Stars, Modsun, The Air I Breathe, The Color Morale and Sierra Skyline are also on the bill. This all-ages show starts at 5 p.m. and tickets are available for $19.95 online at Aceofspadessac.com. Tickets are also available at all Dimple locations, The Beat and Armadillo Records. Ace of Spades is located at 1417 R Street in downtown Sacramento.

Face to Face put their differences behind them and release new album

Words by Anthony Giannotti

Yes Face to Face did break up, but who cares? They’re back together and on a worldwide tour for their new album, Laugh Now, Laugh Later, released May 17, 2011. Lead singer and guitarist Trever Keith has one simple thing to say about the split: “We had some creative differences and now we don’t.” After 20 years, seven albums and countless live shows, there are bound to be some raw nerves and differences of opinions–anyone in a band can attest to that.

We got to talk some more with the sole founder of Face to Face about the new album and tour, then we got deep into a few of the problems in our society.

So this is your first album support tour since 2002. How’s it going?
It’s going very well. We are having a great time out here. This is the first full headlining the United States and Canada tour we’ve done in the last nine years. We started playing shows again about three years ago.

The new album has some classic Face to Face-sounding songs and some that take a little different direction. Was that on purpose or did it just come out that way?
If you listen to our catalog, it’s not the first time we’ve had songs that were various tempos–mid-tempo to fast. This is just a record that is a collection of new ideas from Scott and I, we just wrote the songs we had ideas for in our heads. We didn’t overthink it, and we didn’t really spend too much time trying to do something for any specific purpose. There wasn’t anything planned or calculated about the record or the songs. It’s really just an honest, accurate snapshot of the way that we feel at this point in time.

On “It’s Not All About You” you say, “Everybody wants to have it made/Don’t want to do nothing but still get paid.” Do you see this as a major problem in our society?
That’s an interesting question. Basically the song is about being selfish. It’s about the mentality of wanting something for nothing. That’s ultimately what the line is about, and yeah, I would say that is definitely a huge problem, especially in the United States of America.

Do you see that selfish attitude as a recent thing? Is it more common in the younger generation?
I’ve seen it become more of an issue in my lifetime. I’m 42 years old; maybe I just notice it more now, but it doesn’t seem that it was to the degree that it is now.

Do you think there is any way to right this path we are on? Do you think it’s just going to continue to get worse?
You know I’m better at pointing out problems. I don’t claim to have the solution. A lot of my lyrics really just deal with personal trouble. They really just deal with the individual and that kind of thing. The only way something like that will be solved is through the individual. It’s about personal responsibility. It’s about trying to fix yourself first. If everyone worked on fixing themselves, I think we’d have a better society across the board.

Would you say that it is the punk rock mantra to point out the problems in society so as a group we can work on them, to try and bring underlying problems to the surface?
I have no idea man. I don’t really know what punk rock is anymore, and I hardly care. We do what we do, and I try not to worry about what punk rock means.

I read that you had Corey Miller of L.A. Ink do the album art. How’d that come about?
We’ve been buddies with Corey for the last couple years, and obviously we’ve been talking with him about working on the new record and just through hanging out and talking about it he was like, “Hey man I’d like to try and do some artwork for that.” I was kind of telling him about how some of the songs went and that gave him some really cool ideas for the art. It was really a cool spontaneous thing where he was kind of getting a little inspiration from our creativity, and we just started feeding off each other. He started making these drawings, and I was giving him song titles. It just turned into this cool cooperative thing creatively.

You guys are also stopping at some tattoo shops to help promote the album and tour?
Yeah we did a couple of those. We stopped in New York and Philadelphia as well as a few others. We actually had Corey on tour with us for a week or so and got to stop in some cool tattoo shops. We sold some of Corey’s art and some records. It was a lot of fun.

Do you have any plans now that you have a new record out?
Just touring. We are about midway through this tour–I think four or five weeks left. We still have the rest of the South, all the way up to the Pacific Northwest, Sacramento, all the way down SoCal and the rest of the Southwest. Then we are hitting the rest of the world: Europe, Australia and hopefully back down to South America all before the end of the year.

Wow, that’s quite the busy year. Still touring that much after 20 years?
Yeah we are workhorses [laughs]. It’s what we like to do.

Do you have any advice for anyone starting a band nowadays?
Yeah: Quit. Get a real job. That would be my best advice. Stay in school, go to college, get a skill. Seriously. I guess if anyone is in a band and really wants to make a go at it, you need to forget about what your band looks like or any of that bullshit. Just get out there and play shows; play a lot because it’s all about how good you are live. Now that the record industry has taken a shit you really just got to look at how well you play live and really cultivate that.

Face to Face will stop in Sacramento on June 19, 2011 to play Ace of Spades with Strung Out, Blitzkid and The Darlings. Tickets are $20 and the show starts at 6 p.m. For more info, go to Aceofspadessac.com.

Davey Havok ponders the endless possibilities of Blaqk Audio’s forthcoming album, Bright Black Heaven

Submerge caught up with Blaqk Audio frontman Davey Havok (you may also know him as the singer for dark punk band AFI) at a strange time. At the moment, though he and his partner in Blaqk Audio Jade Puget (AFI’s guitarist) are very hard at work writing new songs for their forthcoming album, Bright Black Heaven, Havok doesn’t really have anything immediate to plug; which, as you’ve probably noticed, is the main reason why artists do interviews in the first place.

“It’s been a while since I’ve spoken to anybody,” Havok jokes as he tries to remember the name of a recent song (“Down Here” (song above)) the band had posted to the Internet. “It kind of catches you off guard, because you’re not used to talking about this stuff.”

Havok and Puget began working on Blaqk Audio’s Bright Black Heaven shortly after the dance-pop/electronica project’s first album, 2007’s CexCells, was put to bed. In fact, Bright Black Heaven was even completed, but disagreements with their former label Interscope left the album in a sort of limbo. Undeterred, Havok and Puget stuck to what they do best–making music–and an album’s worth of songs ballooned into what could be an entire catalog for some bands. The result is a murky future for Blaqk Audio, still searching for a label, but as we discuss in the following interview, an undefined path ahead doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.

According to Havok, there are now 33 songs tracked and ready to go for Bright Black Heaven. On top of that, 10 to 15 more are written but remain, as of our interview, unrecorded. With the amount of material they’ve been working on, it’s easy to forgive Havok’s fumbling for a song title. Some of the songs that have been created for Bright Black Heaven are three years old, including the aforementioned “Down Here.”

“‘Down Here’” was the first song that we completed after CexCells,” Havok explains. “We were actually sound checking that song during the CexCells tour.”

Given the span of time over which these songs were created, there are certainly differences in the material. Havok says that Puget steers the direction of Blaqk Audio as far as the music is concerned; however, Havok has noticed that what he’s received from Puget over the past three years has run the gamut of the electronic music spectrum.

“We have a lot of very dramatic, dark, down-tempo songs; we have lots of very high-energy pop-y songs,” Havok says. “There’s some stuff that’s glitchy, big room stuff. There’s more traditional synth pop-sounding stuff. It’s really all over the place, which is going to make it difficult when it comes time to choose what’s going to be on Bright Black Heaven, because as I’ve said, there are so many options.”

While the variety may make it tough to choose which of the songs make the cut, Havok also acknowledges that it’s sort of exciting knowing Bright Black Heaven can go in a variety of directions.

“It is fun, because it really leaves the door open for us,” he says.

Though their future is unclear, it’s still possible to check out some of the music Blaqk Audio has been working on online. “Down Here” and “Bon Voyeurs” are available on the band’s Soundcloud page (Soundcloud.com/blaqkaudio). Also, Havok says he hopes the group will release “some 12-inch singles before summer is over.” He also hints that these singles may be available for download. In the meantime, Blaqk Audio fans will have to wait and see, but good things do come to those who wait.

Blaqk Audio, obviously, is so much different-sounding than AFI. Was that something that you thought about? Like when Dave Grohl went from Nirvana to the Foo Fighters, he was still doing a similar type of rock music, so his fans with Nirvana could make the jump to the Foo Fighters more easily.

What we were doing with Blaqk Audio, we really didn’t take AFI into consideration at all. It doesn’t really have–other than two of AFI’s members are in Blaqk Audio–they really don’t have anything to do with each other. It wasn’t a matter of what we do with Blaqk Audio wasn’t meant for AFI fans. Of course, we’d be happy to have AFI fans, and we’re always happy if AFI fans appreciate what we do, but it’s such a completely different kind of music, that wasn’t really taken into consideration.

When you originally conceived Bright Black Heaven, there must have been a certain vibe to it. Now that you have so many different songs, is there any inclination to change the title and make it something completely different?
Not so much. When I think about it, and I think about the songs we have, I think we can put a group of songs to create an album that fits well with the title Bright Black Heaven. I’ve also fantasized about releasing three albums–creating Bright Black Heaven and creating sister albums that are more polarized, less balanced than the Bright Black Heaven album. I can envision doing a Bright Black Heaven album that has elements of our darker side and our pop-y side, and actually do another two where one would be all up-tempo pop, and the other would be all down-tempo, dark dramatic stuff. I don’t know if that’s going to happen. Probably not…we don’t even have Bright Black Heaven coming out [laughs]. It’s a little ambitious to be looking for three when we don’t even have one.

You might as well aim high.
Right? Maybe one of the three will come out.

You said that Jade holds down the feel of the album musically. What have you been focusing on lyrically since the last album?
You know, it’s kind of an extension of the themes that were on CexCells–that hedonistic, sexual scenario/ethos that is running through that record, and it kind of goes further beyond that. For me, electronic music is so otherworldly, which is odd, because it’s so manmade. It’s a machine, but it’s very fantastic. It evokes these images of these endless possibilities of otherworldliness [laughs]. I’ve always loved electronic music for that reason. It has always inspired me in very different ways than acoustic instruments have. Bright Black Heaven is very similar thematically to CexCells. A lot of it is kind of biting–I wouldn’t say tongue-in-cheek, but there’s a lot of humor to it, dry humor, sometimes. It’s hard for me to talk about, again, because there are so many songs. I don’t even know what’s going to be on it.

Changing gears a bit, you played St. Jimmy in the Broadway cast of American Idiot this past March. I saw in an interview you had with Mark Hoppus before your run started that you’d always wanted to do something on Broadway. Now that the experience is passed, did it live up to your expectations?
It’s funny, because it really did. It’s funny you should ask that, because it sounds outrageous and trite to say, but it was very much a dream come true in every respect. As I said in that interview you saw, I grew up dreaming about doing something like that and thinking it would never possibly happen to me, and now that I’ve done it, it was exactly how I dreamt it would be–living right in the center of Manhattan, near Times Square, getting up every day and performing with a hugely talented cast who, as it was in my dream, were really welcoming. There was a huge solidarity between them and us. And of course, the actual performance and being in the show was so gratifying. It’s so fun and has such a purity to it and a precariousness to it and an energy to it that’s unlike anything I’ve ever really experienced, except for when I was doing it growing up, but that was at a completely different level than Broadway. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

Is that something that you’re hoping to pursue further?
I would love to do more acting and more theater. It’s something I’ve always enjoyed, and having just done it, it just reaffirmed how much I love doing it and how much it means to me. I seemed to get a pretty good reaction when I was out in New York, and I met some people, and I do hope they’ll call again. I’m sitting here and waiting for Broadway to call [laughs]… I wasn’t waiting before and it did, so maybe I should stop waiting and it will again.

I heard that you used to live in Sacramento.
I did. I lived in Sacramento from about 1980 to 1986.

So you were a kid at the time.
Yeah, I was a kid, but I wasn’t a baby. I have vivid memories of the city. I used to go to Go Skate, which was a skate shop, I think, on Fair Oaks… There were malls. I remember that I used to go to Sunrise and Birdcage, and they had midnight movies at both. They had Rocky Horror and The Wall. Frozen yogurt–the beginning of the frozen yogurt craze. Everyone thinks Pinkberry is a new thing, but in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s there was Honey Bear Yogurt, and there was a Vans store in Sunrise as well. I always coveted the Spicoli checkered slip-on Vans, but I was so young that I could never get them, because they didn’t make them in kids’ sizes back then, which is really sad. I’ve never had a pair to this day. I can get them now… I’ve often thought I should get those just to have them, because I’ve always wanted them.

Why do you think you haven’t gotten them yet?
I don’t know. I just can’t picture what I’m going to wear them with… But you can pretty much wear them with anything. It’s not like I don’t have a bunch of Vans, because I do. I suppose I eventually should.

See Blaqk Audio play Ace of Spades in Sacramento on June 4, 2011. Boggan and Hamm FM will open. The show gets underway at 7 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, go to Aceofspadessac.com. To keep abreast on Blaqk Audio’s new album and to check out some of the band’s new tracks, point your browsers to Blaqkaudio.com or peep Brightblackheaven.com.

Beloved Sacramento rock band Shortie will play on Aug. 20, 2011 at Ace of Spades, their first show since breaking up five years ago. Guitarist Anthony Paganelli (who currently plays in Will Haven and also has a new project called Horseneck) recently told Submerge, “The idea of the Shortie reunion came up because we all were chatting about music and projects we were currently and recently in. Ryan [aka Pogus, vocals] mentioned that we should all get together at some point and hang out and watch our old tour footage. He put up a couple songs from a show we played at CBGB on Youtube. Then, of course, the idea of us playing again came up.” The guys hit up Eric Rushing to see if he’d be interested in hosting the show at his new venue, Ace of Spades, and he didn’t hesitate to say yes. “Eric was our manager,” Paganelli said. “So it’s full circle.” Shortie saw a fair amount of success back in their heyday: record deals, sponsorships, legit tours and songs in movies (2005’s Hostel), television shows (Viva La Bam, CSI, North Shore) and in video games. What I’ll always remember Shortie for, and what I’m looking forward to seeing most on Aug. 20, was their balls-to-the-wall live energy. They put on a damn good show back when they were young bucks. Let’s hope they can still bring it. “We are just so happy to play this show and have our friends there so we can have a super good time and party all night long,” Paganelli said of the reunion. “So many people we haven’t seen since the last Shortie show will hopefully make it out.” A slew of killer bands will be opening, including F1rst Class Citizen, Eightfourseven, Self Centered, Above the City, The Seeking and Mark Wears Clogs. Hit up Aceofspadessac.com for more information.

Arden Park Roots are wrapping up production on a yet-to-be-titled five-track EP recorded recently in downtown Sacramento at Papa Roach’s Studio. The EP will see a digital-only release and will be a precursor to a full-length album ready later this year or early next year, according to Justin Nordan, who along with Eric Rushing co-manages APR under Artery Foundation Management. Catch Arden Park Roots along with Lonely Kings as they co-headline Ace of Spades’ first annual Second Saturday Rock N’ Style show on June 11, 2011. Opening will be locals Not Your Style (it’s their farewell show), Dogfood, Element of Soul, Early States and DJ Whores. There will be a red carpet with tons of photo ops (you could use a new Facebook profile picture anyway), Rockstar Energy Drink models and more!