Wild, Wild West

Every Wednesday night, The Ghost Town Rebellion meets in a backyard oasis off of 21st and C streets for what they like to call, “Decompression Chamber Wednesday.” It is a weekly ritual reserved for the band to practice songs, tell stories and bond over grilled foods and alcoholic drinks.

Those Wednesdays usually go down like this: The five members of the band huddle around a triangle table filled with Sol beers and an obscure tequila bottle. They steal cigarettes from one another in a chain-smoking frenzy, only breaking the cycle to readjust their stringed instruments or dress a hot dog with condiments. Sometimes, you will see guitarist/banjo player Justin Forcione show off his undeniably impressive ability to play the guitar with his front teeth.

These Wednesday indulgences, however, hold a deeper purpose than the above-mentioned. To The Ghost Town Rebellion, Wednesdays represent band bonding, jamming and perhaps what sets this band apart: storytelling. Aside from being tons of fun, these rocker dudes can also be considered really unorthodox educators. I would like to quote Kevin Hart when I describe what it’s like to listen to this band’s lyrics: “You gonna learn today!”

Shawn Peter, lead singer of the band, is a Downtown Sacramento Community Service Guide head and Historical Supervisor. He has been dedicated to Sacramento’s history since 2000, when he was recruited to develop a historic walking tour program for the region. He continues to be the head supervisor for what turned out to be a very successful program. Peter’s knowledge for all things Sacramento, whether ugly or prideful, worked as the seeds that helped his sound garden grow. The Ghost Town Rebellion tells Sac’s history though its songs thanks to Peter immersing himself in this city’s history and being inspired by it enough to incorporate it into his art.

“The band name itself is supposed to have a dirty feel,” says Peter, “It represents the ghosts of the area telling their stories. There’s a heavy emphasis on the Wild West, and the rebellion of Sacramento and its people. With that, it is also a true urban city which honors its wild and pioneering past on all levels of development.” Peter would find himself writing songs about the elements of Sacramento’s past that intrigued him most, which he then would share with the band. “They would love the concept. It’s just plain fun. I would pick an idea, place or person and the event surrounding the subject and we would turn it into a song.”

The band’s current EP, Ghost Town Rebellion: Volume 1, is a five-song historical chronicle of the city. “Poverty Ridge,” refers to the area around 21st and T, where Sacramento’s only hill is. The song tells of an incoming storm and floodwaters threatening the more impoverished part of town in the earlier days. “Poverty Ridge” documents the struggle of the poor running uphill to escape floods caused by rising levee waters.

Another song, this one particularly scandalous in nature, is “Murder on Grand Island.” This tune is about a crooked businessman, the county assessor to be exact, and the messed up ways he maintained a fat wallet. This real-life character would set up murders around town and methodically capitalize on them. He would find male landowners who had no next of kin, have them killed, and swoop in on their properties, among other assets; Sacramento drama, old school edition. The guy was eventually caught and as the song says, “… but the evidence was against them / And the town, they all, hanged them high! Hanged them high!” Here’s another weird fact I learned from this song: Sacramento practiced hanging all the way up until 1915. Ew!

The band’s songs are pure rock ‘n’ roll, with a dash of blues and a hint of Americana. Throughout the EP, the banjo somehow steals the show. To be completely honest, I never thought I would say that; but listening to the lyrics paired with the banjo in the blues context just worked so well. Peter has more of a straight-forward voice and is an audible lyricist. You can definitely hear his roots as an emo/punk rock musician.

There are decades of music experience among the five members of The Ghost Town Rebellion. Each of the guys are in at least one other band. Bassist Sean Navin says, “The band got together so seamlessly and almost effortlessly. When this particular lineup got together, we didn’t miss a beat and were playing shows within a matter of days.”

The mutual affection is also noteworthy in this group; imagine a band where everyone looks up to each other. The only negative event was in Reno a few months back, when Peter broke the hearts of his fellow bandmates by not helping them build a fort in their hotel room after a show.

“We moved the two queen-sized beds together so we could even sleep puppy-dog style after! We were ready to use the linen to build the sickest fort ever. Shawn ended up going downstairs and sleeping in the van,” says Forcione while eyeing Peter with disappointment. Other than the comical and disheartening fort incident of early 2015, the band is a true brotherhood of history and musical admiration.

Ghost Town Rebellion: Volume 1, is the first in a series of three being released in the coming months. The releases will continue to chronicle Sacramento history and channel the band’s rock roots into the effort.

“Musically, they’re gonna be different from each other, but the same lyrically,” says Peter about the other two EPs in the series.

Musically, the band has been developing a more bluesy and swampy sound that will be apparent with the use of more instruments like the slide guitar and the trumpet in the next releases. They will also mix up vocal varieties, with Justin Forcione and Darrell Hukill stepping in to front songs.

“The reason why we chose a three-part EP is because we want to stay excited and focused on sections of the music,” says Peter, “We will be telling more stories about the city and the West Coast. We have 160-plus years of inspiration!”

You can catch The Ghost Town Rebellion at the very fitting and historical Old Ironsides on Aug. 14, 2015, for their EP release. It’s Ladies Night, so all you queens get in for free! To make things even better, the first 100 people will get the EP for free. You can also check out The Ghost Town Rebellion at Theatre DeVille in Vacaville on Aug. 28 (with Lonely Kings and MDSO). Tickets are $8 and can be purchased at Devillevacaville.com.

Summer Space Camp

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whether you’re on the grid or in the ‘burbs, the greater Sacramento area doesn’t lack in the “things to do on New Year’s Eve” category. Just check out this list of 15 ways to ring in 2015! We’ve got everything from rock shows with metal bands, to stand-up shows with the best local comics, to dance parties with big-name DJs and everything in between. Happy New Year’s, y’all, and remember to please be safe (and smart) out there!

1) Head bang till midnight at the “Sac of Stars” show at Boardwalk featuring Korean Fire Drill, Clockwork Hero, ForNever, Graveshadow and about a dozen other locals! Doors at 7 p.m., no cover charge, 21-and-over, free champagne toast.

2) Dance the night away with a huge balloon drop and confetti galore at District 30 with sounds by Well Groomed. $25 cover charge, party starts at 9 p.m., free champagne toast.

3) Dress your best for a party to remember at Park Ultra Lounge with DJ Peeti V. Watch the ball drop on their LED Wall, get free party favors and enjoy a free champagne toast at midnight. $40 presale, $50 at the doors, event starts at 8 p.m.

4) Enjoy New Year’s Eve in the foothills with slide guitar master Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings at Main Stage Theater in Grass Valley! Tickets start at $40 for general admission, show starts at 9 p.m.

5) Bundle up for TBD Fest’s massive outdoor block party at 20th and K streets in Midtown featuring world class DJ and major-festival-level headliner A-Trak! Also performing is Gigamesh, Oliver, Nick Catchdubs, Sister Crayon, CHLLNGR and more! 21-and-over, multiple ticket levels available (general admission starts at $45), Tbdnye.com for details.

6) Love music from the ‘80s and ‘90s? Head to Harlow’s to kick it with cover band extraordinaire Lovefool! Doors open at 9 p.m., $20 cover, 21-and-over.

7) Take the Historic Folsom District by storm this New Year’s with a super-fun dance party at Powerhouse Pub featuring local cover band Take Out! Doors open at 9 p.m., 21-and-over. Bonus: stop into Samuel Horne’s Tavern before the show to check out their amazing beer list!

8) Get down with some mainstream mashups from DJ Rigatony at Starlite’s NYE Celebration! Two floors, pool table and the kitchen will be open until 10 p.m. Guest hosts Lori Love and Miss Lisa. $5 cover, 9 p.m., free champagne toast at midnight.

9) If you want to see some absolutely massive headliners and are not afraid of a little snow and possible sub-zero temps, definitely consider heading to South Lake Tahoe for SnowGlobe, which runs Dec. 29 to 31! Acts like Disclosure, Skrillex, Porter Robinson, Atmosphere, Phantogram and about a million others will keep you warm with their dance-heavy sets! Single day tickets are $99.

10) Why not mix some gambling with your NYE party at Thunder Valley Casino? Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is performing (7:30 p.m. in Pano Hall, $47.75), and there is also a grand opening celebration for their new nightclub, Illusions, where DJ Thomas will spin jams all night (9 p.m., $50).

11) If you’re looking for something different this New Year’s, check out Punchline’s “2014’s Last Laughs” comedy show! Two shows, one at 7:30 p.m. with local faves Ngaio Bealum, Ray Molina, John Ross and more. The late show (10 p.m.) will have Johnny Taylor, Keith Lowell Jensen, DJ Mervin and others, as well as a DJ playing dance music and a free champagne toast at midnight. 18-and-over, $25.40 for early show, $31.80 for late show, Punchlinesac.com.

12) Not into DJs, electronic dance music and/or indie bands? More of a country guy or gal? Ain’t no shame! Grab your boots and cowboy hat and head to Goldfield Trading Post for a “yee-haw” New Year’s with the excellent Brodie Stewart Band! The party starts at 9 p.m., and there is no cover charge, 21-and-over only.

13) Three of the best local party throwers (DJ Larry Rodriguez, MC Ham and DJ Wokstar) are getting together at Fox and Goose to spin some soul, funk, reggae, disco and more! Smoke, lasers, party favors, the whole nine. Cover is only $10, party starts at 9 p.m.

14) The annual Lipstick Presents NYE at Old Ironsides features a live performance from Sunmonks this year, plus DJs Shaun Slaughter, Roger Carpio and Adam Jay. Complimentary champagne toast, midnight ball drop, tons of giveaways. $8 tickets available in advance at Cuffs Urban Apparel.

15) Enjoy a small, intimate gathering in Davis when the rootsy-yet-dancey local group Mumbo Gumbo rocks a NYE bash to remember at the Odd Fellows Hall. Limited to only 225 tickets! Check out Mumbogumbo.com for more info on where to snag those limited tickets.

Want even more New Year’s Eve options? Check out our calendar section here!

Sunmonks and the Organic Evolution of Sound

The day after Halloween carries with it the reputation for temple-crushing recollections of a costumed evening prior spent howling at the moon. Burning the midnight oil. Chasing the dragon. Whatever your bag may be. When I catch up with Sacramento’s Sunmonks, it’s as if this were some distant reality unlikely to affect them, rather than the possibly rough-hewn phoner I’d partway anticipated. After all, we’re talking about a band here. It’s not as if musicians don’t hold their own reputations for debauchery even without the benefit of an annual excuse.

The fact that Geoffrey CK (vocalist, guitarist) and Alexandra Steele (vocals) were unaffected, uninvolved and ostensibly clear-eyed as we spoke Nov. 1, 2014, over what may have been a PA system/speakerphone hybrid at an unidentified house speaks more astutely to the nature of their music than you might think. Centered as they are around mitigating the dependencies of contemporary approaches of songwriting, Sunmonks’ tendency to side-step the familiar has become a strong-rooted foundation on the relatively new group.

“We’ve written a lot of songs that we haven’t recorded and that will never be recorded and that we wouldn’t be able to remember,” explains CK. “We’ve written a lot of songs we won’t perform, that are kind of dead. So in one sense, we’ve been a band for a long time, or at least a duo for a long time. But we just did it because it was part of life. Now we’re making our whole life music instead of having music be part of life.”

CK and Steele met in 2005, as they report, both immersed in a tight musical community in and around bucolic Auburn, California.

“We didn’t really care that the other of us played music,” says CK. “We just became friends and hung out a lot. I would write songs and play in bands and she would be around. Sometimes a band I would be in session with or playing live with would have a part they’d want sung and because she was there she would sing it. People liked it, so we started to play together.”

It wasn’t until around 2012 that CK and Steele settled on the direction they wanted to move toward as a musical entity, together. Prior to that, the duo wrote songs and sang together without any intentional path. Utilizing the admittedly modern benefits and staggered, textural whimsy of a loop station, CK began crafting songs like building blocks, creating demos by stacking parts over acoustic guitar and adventurous melodies and harmonies between himself and Steele. The formative wellspring of what would become the Sunmonks sound and ethos—so innately anti-modern—was stemmed from incorporating very modern technology.

This fact is important to the story of Sunmonks. Their debut EP In a Desert of Plenty—released Oct. 28, 2014, via Crossbill Records—explores themes, rhythms and melodies culled from myriad primal influences. Eschewing the parameters of what CK describes as a “paint-by-numbers” approach to songwriting, Sunmonks’ compositions are put through rigorous litmus tests by the band—now also including Julian Loy and Dave Middleton on drums and bass, respectively—unspoken though they may be.

“There’s no wrong way to make music,” begins CK. “But in terms of how much fun you’re having or how much you want to surprise yourself, I think it’s a lot more fun for us to play with people and even to start writing with people than recording yourself as a person on a computer.”

“Geoff still makes demos [with a loop station],” clarifies Middleton, “but he’s a great writer and arranger, so they come fully formed. A lot of music is written with loops in modern times, but one of the unique advantages from taking a looped composition and laying it out organically is you get these unique moments of chaos or these little human things that wouldn’t otherwise happen. I feel like that’s where we’re at now.”

For CK, citing inspirations like David Byrne and Fela Kuti (some symbiosis of the two may approximate the percussive-heavy, tribal pop R&B mish-mash of Sunmonks’ oeuvre) instigates the internal conversation he has regarding what the purpose or relevancy or resonance a particular song might have prior to even being shared with anyone else.

“It’s a more religious experience instead of a more scientific experience,” says CK. “That’s something that really excites me about music in general: some deeply profound or magical, primitive thing.

“People who write using plug-ins or gridded beats or things like that, I don’t know that they necessarily intend on having a religious experience while they write. Oftentimes it’s sort of feeling their way through it. It’s like, ‘this is super dark, so I like it,’ or ‘this is intense, so I like it.’ Then a listener hears that and they have a religious experience. Which I guess is the point anyway. But with me it has to start that way or else the song doesn’t survive the point where I can even show it to anybody else.”

On Desert of Plenty, the EP’s four songs play from most recent song written, to oldest song written, alluding to the recording’s nomadic snapshots, as this collection of songs was written and recorded over long periods of time and in mostly different locations. In an attempt to include some sonic congruency, the four songs were mixed together at Panoramic House studios in Stinson Beach by the band’s producer—and Tape Op publisher—John Baccigaluppi.

Special attention was given to eliminating the use of cymbals, as Afro-beat progressions bubble and bloom throughout the title track. Elsewhere, on the outstanding tune “The Deaf,” Sunmonks’ affinity for superb horn arrangements, densely layered textures and feel-good romps ripe for dance-alongs is made plain. Geoffrey and Alexandra’s voices weave together in primeval harmonies, expounding ancient melodies that create bridges between the organic inspirations they covet and the contemporary crutches they’re all but beholden to. To wit, the band says Desert of Plenty is a record of where they’ve been, with their upcoming 2015 LP aiming at where they are now.

The fantastic “Golden Words” ushers in yet another dynamic for Geoffrey and Alexandra’s quiver of songcraft, with fissures of funk cascading over sultry R&B melodies. Still, overused genre classifications do little to discern the lively vibe of Sunmonks’ sound. Those aural observations, as we’ve learned, are triggered by the energies dispersed during the composing of the songs.

“The Sunmonks stuff has to be instantly recognizable as Sunmonks stuff,” explains CK. “It just is Sunmonks stuff or it isn’t Sunmonks stuff. We tend to know that from the beginning of the song, when it starts to appear. When we get to the barking stages, and we’re barking at each other.

“Something stuck with me a while ago where someone was talking about arranging, and they were talking about there being certain rules for using brass, or certain rules for using guitar and a rule for Sunmonks is using [the instrument] not how it’s supposed to be used. Or at least trying to. The anecdote was described as everything being a drum. To not necessarily treat a guitar as Jimi Hendrix would have treated it or as Django Reinhardt would have treated it, but to treat it like Ginger Baker maybe would have treated it.”

Sunmonks vinyl release show for their debut EP, In a Desert of Plenty, is on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2014, at LowBrau (1050 20th Street). They will also perform at Old Ironsides (1901 10th Street) as part of Lipstick’s annual New Years Eve party on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014. For more info, visit Sunmonks.com

Local singer/songwriter William Mylar first stepped on a stage to entertain fellow Sacramentans at the ripe age of 13. He just recently turned 60-years-young and is still doing the damn thing! We’re not too good at math, but that’s a really long time to be jammin’ out tunes for people to enjoy! He has performed all around the globe and has recorded for radio, television and on a number of albums. Mylar’s long-running weekly, unrehearsed, free-form jam sesh called Hippie Hour Fridays recently moved from Old Ironsides to Starlite Lounge. The shows are free for all ages, start at 5:30 p.m. every Friday and feature Mylar playing all sorts of different genres with a variety of frequent guests lending their musical talents here and there. Even after all these years and having performed with some of the biggest talents in the business, sharing his compositions all over the world, for Mylar the best part about his musical journey has been gigging right here in his hometown of Sacramento. “Whether I’m performing on the streets of Old Sacramento or in one of the many great venues we have,” Mylar wrote in a recent press release, “I can always find a place to play and sing my music. I look forward to performing for you all, as long as body and mind allow.” Check out Mylarville.com for all of Mylar’s upcoming show dates.

Everyone loves a good themed live rock show. You know, where a bunch of local bands come together for a night to pay tribute to iconic artists like Dylan, Elvis, Radiohead and others of the sort. Sometimes you’ll see funny and creative variations like Sacramento’s popular annual Dead Rockstars Show. If you go in with an open mind, these themed shows are usually a great time; and, if you’re lucky, you’ll see some surprisingly good local takes on classic songs. Next up on the list is Old Ironsides’ Mick Jagger Birthday Show on Saturday, July 26, 2014, at 9 p.m. (Jagger was born July 26, 1943). A variety of talented local artists like Sex Rat, Orange Scene, Spirit of St. Louis, Jem and Scout, Swahili Passion, William Mylar with Heath Williamson and a few others have signed on to cover your favorite Rolling Stones songs. Cover charge is just $7 and Old I is a bar, so it’s obviously 21-plus. Let’s see which local artists really got moves like Jagger!

Just when you think Sacramento’s local music scene can’t get any better, it does. Once An Empire promotes the dedication, originality and fluidity prevalent in most Sacramento bands, but there’s something about their music that makes them distinctive from the rest. Maybe it’s the alluring assemblage between their bad-ass front woman and (incredibly talented) male instrumentalists? Maybe it’s the way their harmonies flirt with their molten rhythms? Or the after-shock of each song, in that, you can’t help but to enjoyably sustain the chorus in your head. You can listen to their songs at OnceAnEmpire.com and decide for yourself, or better yet, support them at their Nov. 29, 2013 album release show at Old Ironsides. Their initial impression presents influences of Burden of a Day, Paramore and, surprisingly, The Antlers (mostly the echo effects in their album Hospice), but as you continue to listen you realize the originality and artful complexity behind their songs. The album release show starts at 9 p.m., with a cover of $6 and is 21-and-over. Also performing will be local indie group Amour Band as well as touring bands Blood Party and Hessler.

Halloween can be surprisingly overwhelming. With so many things to do, where exactly do you fit in? We have a solution to your existential celebration struggles. Courtesy of Fun Monkey Entertainment, the 10th Annual Halloween Hootennanny Festival has returned to Old Ironsides with an even more impressive lineup than the last. The schedule includes The Rocketz, Nickel Slots, Rebel Punk, DJ Cakes, Aloha From Hell, The Pendletons, The Vintage Vandals, DJ Vinyl Avenger, Cash Prophets (Johnny Cash Tribute Band), The White Barons, The Hormones (female Ramones Tribute Band) and DJ Rockin’ Riga Tony. What better way to venture out of your musical realms than on the day celebrating distorted social chaos? Musical styles range from psychobilly to rockabilly, classic punk to Americana, and spooky DJs to idiosyncratic tribute bands. All nights include access to Papa Dale’s Drivin’ Diner truck and Black Orchid Accessories. Thursday night features a Bloody Wet T-shirt contest presented by Trash Film Orgy, a Zombie Pinup Contest on Friday, and Luscious Ladies’ Dead Disney Costume Contest on Saturday. Cover fees and other information can be found on the 10th Annual Halloween Hootenanny Festival Facebook event page, but the experience is one to be seen for yourself!

The Knockoffs and their place in Sacramento’s punk rock history

Country licks with a traditional punk-rock style. Twenty years of street cred earned within the ever-fluctuating Sacramento music scene. Not to mention the immeasurable amount of respect from bands such as 7Seconds, the Groovie Ghoulies, festival organizers and promoters alike. That old school, independent, do-it-yourself mentality all in the spirit of punk rock is still essential for members of The Knockoffs after all this time.

The days when flyers were handed out at shows and littered the walls of bedrooms instead of sidewalks. The times before the Internet was a main tool of promotion, when actual footwork and word of mouth were the standard codes of conduct for bands. These forgotten practices continue to resonate for these four men and after a three-year pause, they’re back and ready to play as loud as they can at this year’s second annual Punch and Pie Fest on Aug. 24, 2013 at Old Ironsides.

“They’re kind of like the elder statesmen of our community. I think that they’re a really important part of Sacramento’s punk rock history. They have been around for 20 years and they have been a great influence on the punk rock community,” says Punch and Pie Fest organizer and Bastards of Young bassist Sean Hills. “I have a lot of respect for them, and I think they are a great example of how to be in a band for that long without killing each other. They’ve been doing it right.”

It’s a roundtable meeting of sorts within the living room of vocalist and guitar player Tom Hutchison, or as his mates like to call him, “Little Tom.” On this Sunday afternoon Danny Secretion, Tom Amberson (aka “Big Tom”) and Bobby Jordan gather around a coffee table, television muted, to speak with Submerge about their love for punk rock music, keeping the scene healthy by ways of encouraging young talent and laughing so hard during practices until their muscles ache and eyes water.

“It’s like we’re in the eighth grade and someone’s parents are gone,” says bassist Jordan of the band’s camaraderie. “It’s one of the fibers of my life.”

Forming in the early ’90s, The Knockoffs have had their fair share of lineup changes. At times, certain members would even jump from guitar to bass and then back to guitar just to keep the process moving. Eventually, the guys found what worked and ultimately solidified their lineup.

Each person comes with their own unique set of experiences or outlooks complete with a list of either a second or third punk rock band they’re also heavily involved in. Like Secretions’ longtime run with The Moans, The Shitty Ramones and The Secretions; or Bobby Jordan doubling up with The Mr. T Experience. Hell, Amberson credits The Knockoffs giving him the opportunity to sit behind the drum kit and learn a completely new instrument by simply joining the ranks. All of these elements are finished with a traditional punk and rock ’n’ roll-style of vocals with just the right amount of gruff, thanks to Hutchison, especially heard within the playful lyrics during songs such as “You Make Me Sit Funny” from The Knockoffs’ second full-length album Sell the Move.

Yet, after all the changes, instrument shuffles and years tacked behind them, their chemistry works. And their time spent performing and practicing as The Knockoffs means more to each member than just another punk rock band they’re a part of. In the end, all members say they genuinely enjoy one another and have witnessed each go through life changes ranging from marriage to welcoming Jordan’s new baby girl to the family.

“Having a baby has made me want to do this even more,” says Jordan. “I want music to be around her while some people retreat in music with babies and families.”

Encouraging music within a younger audience is a duty each member of the band adopts with no questions asked; to them it’s necessary to keep the tight-knit punk rock community healthy. Both Secretion and Jordan recall bands like 7Seconds and the Groovie Ghoulies mentoring them, by means of showing them the unspoken codes of ethics, respect and even honesty when it comes to door money.

“We were really lucky that we had those bands take us under their wing,” remembers Secretion. “The thing that I notice is that the older bands kind of groom the younger ones. When you see bands like Mad Judy or Abandoned Generation, these kids are too young to even get into the shows we’re playing, but seeing them and the younger generation of punk rock, I know it’s going to be OK in Sacramento.”

These four men remember performing shows at Old Ironsides 20 years ago for five bucks. Fast forward a couple decades later and the guys are still playing shows at that price—and happily, which Jordan says is a testament to The Knockoffs, genuine love for the music alone. And they aren’t planning on closing their guitar cases or retiring their drum sticks ever—they’re all here to stay.

“We’re like an old, wore out, stinky pair of shoes,” jokes Jordan, sitting next to Hutchison and directly sending the rest of the guys into laughter.

“I’m looking forward to just playing my guitar as loud as possible and looking over my left shoulder and seeing these guys play their asses off,” says Secretion. “That’s going to mean so much. You ain’t seen the last of us.”

Photo by Allyson Seconds

Punch and Pie Fest 2 will heat up Sacramento Aug. 21–25, 2013 at The Press Club, Old Ironsides, Midtown Barfly and Luigi’s Fungarden. The Knockoffs will perform at Old Ironsides on Aug. 24, 2013 with Dr. Frank, Bright Faces and Arts and Leisure. For a full Punch and Pie Fest schedule, go to Punchandpiefest.com or go to Facebook.com/punchandpieproductions.

Hardcore Progenitors Shai Hulud Are as Pissed-Off As Ever

There was a period of my early 20s when Shai Hulud’s second album, That Within Blood Ill-Tempered (a particularly scathing hardcore-metal hybrid in which the opening seconds of the first song features a brood of super-pissed guys screaming “Rest assured! This is sincere! This is true!”), was jammed in my CD alarm clock, set to 4:15 a.m. every weekday morning. Literally, jammed; the thing was broken, so I kind of didn’t have a choice but to listen to at least part of the album every single day.

Fox was all too full of information when he spoke with Submerge in anticipation of Shai Hulud’s Sacramento gig at Old Ironsides July 27, 2013. Here’s how it went down.

Reach Beyond the Sun is your fourth studio album; the band has endured a lot of lineup changes over the years. How do you feel that affects, if at all, creative consistency within the band?
I don’t think that the content has ever lost sight. Since the beginning, I was the one writing most of the songs. That’s not to say that other people involved haven’t contributed, because I would say that everybody that’s ever been in the band has contributed to every album we were working on at the time. I love collaboration and I love to bounce my ideas off someone and have somebody change them.

I think there’s a very strong thread of consistency throughout the music. Especially with the lyrics, because I’ve been the primary lyric writer since our first singer, Damien Moyal. When he joined, he wrote all the lyrics, and once we mutually parted with him, there was no one writing. I said I’d do it, I guess. I didn’t even know if there was anything I really wanted to say. It was kind of cool that I found out that I did. Not that I have anything worthwhile to say, but I found out that I have a lot to say.

It’s cool that it seems like it’s not a parameterbased project; that it’s malleable and you’re willing to fold things in and out.
Yeah it’s definitely malleable, and we always expand our parameters. I think we’ve done that on every album. Reach Beyond the Sun is probably our most emotional and pushes some boundaries into even hard rock. When I was in high school, Metallica was never played on the radio, now it is. “A Human Failing” I could see, maybe when things get a little more extreme on the radio 15 years from now, getting played on the radio. That’s definitely an extension of parameter for us, because we’ve never done that straight-forward of a song with really catchy parts in a rock structure. That said, I don’t think anyone’s ever gonna hear the next Shai Hulud album and say, “Are you kidding? That’s Shai Hulud?!” The flavors are expanded, but not to the point where we’d distort our original core.

You started with you not knowing if you had anything to say, and lo and behold you did. How has that grown for you over the last almost 20 years?
Geez, don’t say that number ever again… Just kidding. I would say the first thing that comes to mind is that now I won’t put anything to paper if it doesn’t mean anything. I developed into having something to say and trying to make a point, but I remember when I first started writing lyrics, as much as I hate to admit it, I could go back and find some lyrics from the Hearts Once Nourished…era and I don’t really know what the hell I was saying. I don’t know that there was really any type of point. I was just kind of putting incendiary words together and hoping that it meant something to someone. They weren’t stupid, but I didn’t think they had the big meaning.

On the new LP, you’d planned on reigning in the aggressiveness and technical aspects from Misanthropy Pure, right? What was the reasoning behind that?
I guess the goal with Misanthropy Pure was we wanted to write the heaviest, angriest, most pissed-off Shai Hulud album that we could. And making it angry had a lot to do with us speeding it up, making it heavier, making it trickier and making it less predictable. Because when something is less predictable, it comes off as chaotic. It was kind of like when Al Gore said in An Inconvenient Truth [paraphrasing] , “If you were to throw a frog into boiling water, the frog’s gonna scream and kick and jump out. But if you put a frog in water and slowly increased the temperature, the frog doesn’t really know.” That’s kind of what happened; we were so immersed in the water of Misanthropy Pure that the songs that started out as being very much like Shai Hulud songs now went, “Hey, what if we changed this part?” OK, sounds great. We’re in the water as it’s boiling, so we don’t even notice the difference. We didn’t realize that we’d taken it to the level that we did. Ultimately I think it’s our most brutal album, but it definitely lacks emotion, which is Shai Hulud’s strongest attribute, in my opinion. That’s what we’ve always gone for, and we lost sight of that. Chad noted that, [bassist Matt] Fletcher noted that, even I noted that after I took a step back with this album.

Can you talk a bit about how the dynamic of yourself, Chad and Fletcher manifested itself during the recording and writing of the new album? Since you’ve had that history together, what was it like to revisit that chemistry?
Chad didn’t come into the full picture until we went into pre-production. Although sometimes, I would send him complete songs and he’d say, “Let’s expand this…” or, “Oh, I like this line, we definitely need to repeat that line.” He’d send over his lines. On a side note, that’s the interesting part about working with a producer. A producer, as far as I’m concerned, can be anybody. It’s just somebody with an opinion. It’s a matter of whose opinion you want to let in. That’s what we let Chad do, for sure. I hadn’t hung out with Chad for years at that point. I had no idea what it would be like working with him again. When we were last in a studio, he was a young kid and he didn’t know what the hell he was doing. So we told him, “do this, do that” and he was 15, so he did what he was told. Now he’s a 32-year-old man…and he’s got opinions and he knows what he wants to do, and when he likes something. Even though I expected that, I never experienced it before. We argued like a family, and there were times when we very much disagreed and it was frustrating, but that’s happened between everybody. We went through it pretty smoothly and the dynamic of our personalities gelled so well that the result was the product that we had both hoped for.

His voice just mashes on the record. It’s an awesome thing for New Found Glory fans, for Chad Gilbert fans and definitely for people who have followed Shai Hulud for whatever amount of time. To hear Chad return is a pretty exciting thing. It worked out better than I anticipated.

Shai Hulud plays Old Ironsides Saturday, July 27, 2013. Opening is Early Graves, Summit and Soma Ras. For more information, please visit Theoldironsides.com.