When I was a kid, back in the ‘80s and on into the ‘90s, the movies I saturated myself with tended to utilize the tried-and-true plot device of the odd couple. Whether I was watching The Adventures of Milo and Otis, E.T., Who Framed Roger Rabbit or The Fox and the Hound, the theme was always the same: opposites attract. This formula, while cliché at times, has a tendency to warm those heart cockles.
In the case of Sacramento-based project Cemetery Sun—who, according to the band’s bio, draw Influence from alternative rock, pop and R&B—key members Josh Doty, singer and songwriter, and Elliot Polokoff, guitarist and producer, fit the profile of an odd pair.
While both Doty and Polokoff have similar backgrounds as fans growing up in the local Sacramento music scene—despite Polokoff growing up in Walnut Creek—their paths to joining forces vastly differ. Whereas Doty experienced national recognition and success while still putting the finishing touches on his high school diploma, Polokoff was chipping away at a tech career, landing jobs at Google and Twitter in their marketing departments.
However, their mutual love of music and admiration for each other’s individual talent became the deciding factor in joining forces. At the time when Polokoff first became aware of Doty, he was spending his time working behind the scenes at a recording studio.
“I was producing a lot of bands working at The Panda Studios in Fremont, which is a pretty well-known studio,” recalls Polokoff. “I was looking for new bands to record and dabbling in my own material, and Josh’s name came across my radar … The short version [of how we met] I like to tell people is that I first recorded them and they had so much energy and we vibed together and I realized I wanted to join a band with Josh.”
According to his LinkedIn account, Polokoff boasts a B.A. in economics from U.C. Davis, was a Financial Advice intern for Merrill Lynch, and eventually found his way to marketing positions for Google and currently works as an Account Manager of Mid-Market Sales for Twitter.
Needless to say, the man keeps busy.
“I differ from the other guys [in the band] in that I had a different background,” says Polokoff. “Not only was I really into music, but I was really passionate about technology. So, aside from being in a band with Josh and pursuing Cemetery Sun, I also work in the tech field and work with great companies like Google and Twitter, and that definitely helps big time with us, because we are able to use a lot of the marketing knowledge that I have learned working for companies like that, and actually use that for our band.”
Doty, on the other hand, assumed the role of the teenage superstar. Unfortunately, the moment the band Ten After Two experienced during Doty’s tenure didn’t last, despite seeming poised to break into that oh-so-lucrative screamo/emo/metalcore music genre the teens just couldn’t seem to get enough of at the time. Armed with the skinniest of jeans, hairstyles reminiscent of a Mötley Crüe/Flock of Seagulls lovechild and enough eyeliner to … well, you get the picture. Doty sees the experience as having been educational.
“I fell flat on my face is what happened,” laughs Doty, “I think that’s the best way to describe it. Ten After Two was a ‘buzz band.’ Don’t get me wrong, a very talented group of guys, and luckily some of them are still making music, and hopefully they’ll be coming up here shortly. But that experience of being in high school, playing ‘battle of the bands’ type things, and then all of a sudden our song is getting a lot of publicity on fucking Myspace—I can’t believe I’m saying that. People were looking at us on there and blowing us up. Artery Foundation in Sacramento got a hold of us, and we were finishing up an EP. We were selling out shows everywhere, which was pretty unexpected; they ended up pitching us to Rise Records. I thought that was the best thing ever at 17, 18 years old. I was like, ‘holy shit’ … It was a mad ego boost for kids who did not need it. And then Rise was completely different than I thought.
“I thought once you sign, you had made it, you know? That’s the lie I feel is sold to so many artists, especially being younger,” Doty continues. “Looking back on that now, I take a completely different approach. I like the mindset of doing it yourself a lot more, and if I hadn’t gone through Ten After Two, and gone through the struggles we went through and quitting the band like I did because we were financially unstable, we were kids. I just couldn’t handle it; I just wasn’t ready to handle it. So, if hadn’t had gone through all of that, then I wouldn’t be able to handle what we are going through right now.”
While Doty, as well as the other members of the band—Austen Butler (drums) and Jesse Mancillas (lead guitar)—each play key roles in Cemetery Sun, it’s hard not to recognize the X factor that is Elliot Polokoff. Whether it is his role as a producer, his contributions as a guitarist, or simply his expertise in marketing slipping through and helping the group reach a larger audience, he brings a lot to the project. Most of all, it is hard not to be impressed that he does that all while balancing a completely separate career in technology. Most of us would struggle to succeed in just one of those things.
“I think it takes a certain type of personality to do both, and it’s not for everyone,” Polokoff explains. “I say that pretty firmly, in that I’ll be doing work and doing assignments during the day, and then I’ll get a call from our management or I will get a call from our PR agency, and I will have to step out and take the call and it’s just about being able to separate your mind and switch to different things. But if you are as passionate about music and you’re as passionate about Cemetery Sun as I am, there is no reason that it won’t keep working the way it has.”
An East Bay resident growing up, Polokoff feels right at home amidst a group of locals, building a local scene while perfecting their sound and preparing to take the next step to reaching a much larger audience over the next few years. The reason for this may have something to do with where he spent much of his teenage years.
“I grew up in Walnut Creek, but believe it or not I have been a part of the Sacramento music scene for well over—man, this is going to make me sound old—between six and eight years,” Polokoff says. “When I was in high school, even in late middle school, I started going out to places like the Roseville Underground to check out bands like A Skylit Drive when they first started playing local shows, and Dance Gavin Dance … During that wave of the hard rock and screamo and emo scene in the mid-2000s, the Sacramento music scene just exploded. It was way better than anything we had up here (in Walnut Creek), it was better than San Francisco.”
Polokoff sees a rising tide on its way to town, and it seems he’s waxed his board and donned his wetsuit, ready to paddle out and ride when the time is right.
“The way I view it is, [Sacramento is] going through multiple ebbs and flows,” Polokoff explains. “I would say that right now is a period of really cool transition where people have been inundated with the metal sound … people are starting to look for something else. I think that’s why we, and a couple of other bands who like us, are a little bit different have been able to thrive in the last year, because we have been able to have luck with fans who are people that are ready for something new.”
If you’re ready for something new, check out Cemetery Sun at The Boardwalk in Orangevale on Sept. 5, 2015 for their EP release show. Also performing will be Once an Empire, If You Leave, Lost Things, A Foreign Affair and Altessa. Tickets are $10. Check out Theboardwalkpresents.com for more info. This is an all-ages show.
I stumbled across the new-ish local band Privileges in a rather unlikely place: Craigslist. While perusing the musicians board looking for like-minded people to get together to jam with, I noticed a post about a group looking for a vocalist. Intrigued (although I’m no vocalist), I clicked on it, followed another link to hear some of their tunes and was immediately hooked on their funky, spaced-out instrumental jams. Right away I recognized their drummer Omar Gonzalez-Barajas, as I’ve been a fan of his for years (he’s played with some of my other local faves like Sister Crayon, DLRN, and Cove). The group is currently rounded out with the uber talented guitarist Tyler Simmons and keyboard wizard Zach Hake. “Privileges inhabits the space between Tyler’s psychedelic and progressive guitars, Zach’s classically borne key riffs, and Omar’s funk and hip-hop influenced drums,” the band writes in their brief bio. They go on to self describe their sound as “smooth, danceable, impactful” and I couldn’t agree more. The group reminds me one of my all-time favorite instrumental groups (that you’ve likely never heard of but should listed to right away) called The Redneck Manifesto. Despite their post to Craigslist looking for a singer, it appears for the moment at least that Privileges is continuing on as an instrumental group (and I secretly hope they stay that way), having already released their five-track debut EP Common Language online at Privilegesband.bandcamp.com (start with the seven-plus-minute jazzy tune “We Two Time / Into the Fire,” it’s so good). Privileges have a release show lined up at Shine Cafe on Friday, Aug. 21 and they’ll be joined by Doctor Now, a new group fronted by Garrett Wildgust of The Old Screen Door and Ideateam, as well as the local psychedelic indie rock band Lucid Popsicle. The show starts at 8 p.m., cover is just $6 and all ages are welcome. Shine is located at 1400 E Street in downtown Sacramento. Learn more about the band at Facebook.com/privilegesband
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.
Alive and Well
Earlier this year, Gene Simmons of KISS proclaimed, “Rock is dead,” and a massive backlash ensued. Because of the headlines that failed to address the context of his quote, Simmons was consequently vilified by the media.
On many levels, however, he was completely correct. Bands growing up during these times are getting virtually killed by file sharing and the like, and the model for new acts to grow has been eroded.
Sacramento’s Some Fear None, however, have led the charge locally and in neighboring cities to prove Simmons and the many naysayers here dead wrong. Through hard work, perseverance and a lot of sweat and tears, they have shown other striving local acts that a great band can come together and rise above. Furthermore, they are proof positive that people will pay to hear and see quality music when it’s done with heart and gusto.
For the uninitiated, Some Fear None is a hard rock band featuring Nathan Giguiere (vocals/guitar), Charles Carrasco (guitar), Jason Weisker (drums), and Gina Salatino (bass/guitar). And while the current lineup took several years to find its stride, the band is now firing on all cylinders and making one of the most ambitious moves a local band can take: headlining the 900-capacity Ace of Spades.
While the band’s influences are far reaching—they love everything from Deftones to Foo Fighters, Far to Alice in Chains, Tool to Soundgarden, Tremonti to Helmet—their sound is definitely radio-friendly, harmony-driven hard rock fare that would work well in rotation on 98 Rock or any like-minded station across the United States.
Unlike the thousands of Sacramento bands who play far too often, Some Fear None practice the “less is more” mentality and know how to properly set up a local show for maximum effect. As evidenced at their selection of support slots for national acts and, of course, their own headlining shows, their live shows are major events.
Frontman Nathan Giguiere took some time out of his busy schedule to shed some light on the band’s new release To Live and to Die and their pending CD release show on Aug. 1, 2015.
How did you come to join the band? I had never heard your name previous to joining Some Fear None.
What’s interesting about me is that I really had no part of the music scene or industry before joining the band. I didn’t even have any music to send them for the audition. I simply said, “Look, I want to do this and, at the very least, trying out for the band is something that is very important to me.” The band advertised on Craigslist for a singer, and I went there to see what was going on in the scene and to be basically be a fly on the wall so I could learn the ins and outs of being with other guys in a band setting. I replied to their return message letting them know that writing was my strong suit and to send me three songs, and I will provide the vocals and lyrics. I guess it worked because here I am. I had no training formally but I sang in my church choir my entire life beforehand.
So when did the band Some Fear None come to fruition?
Some Fear None was originally formed in 2010 and played five or six shows. I auditioned in the summer of 2011 after the band had broken up since the bassist and second guitarist had just left. They called me back for what I thought was my second audition and then told me they were breaking up. “We want to be straight with you, we have no band and would love to play with you. If you’re in, all we need to do is find a space, find a bassist and guitarist.” I told them I could play guitar and we immediately started auditioning bassists and eventually found Sean Navine; who played around four shows but soon left due to personal issues. After we parted ways, we decided to let Gina, my sister-in-law and guitar tech, get a shot. She was friends with me for years and was actually a guitarist that knew how to play bass and became even better over time. She’s a monster player and ended up joining the band after filling in for a couple of shows. After she bought her own bass rig, it was obvious she was serious. She joined in November 2011 and has been here since.
What was the band called before that?
Snapdraggin. It had two of the members, Chuck and Jason, from Some Fear None. They previously had a singer that didn’t work out for whatever reason. I simply said I didn’t want to hear what he’s done before since I had my own ideas and needed to prove myself. Snapdraggin, believe it or not, was close to being signed but they had a massive falling out which I would rather not go into.
Exactly how long did To Live and to Die take to write and record?
It basically took two years. We released Break Fold and Elevate, our first CD in May [2013] and did a CD release show. 98 Rock put us on Local Licks and that eventually helped us land a slot on the Sac Town Rocks show in June 2014 at the Capitol Mall with Tesla and Oleander. We played third of five on the local band stage and had a great response. The new single is called “Wave,” and we’re pushing that right now.
So you’ve been basically living and dying promoting the shit out of this show at Ace of Spades. Why such a big room and why not The Boardwalk or another smaller venue?
First off, I need to mention that Eric Rushing [Ace of Spades talent buyer] gave us our big break. What I most respect about him is that he has trusted me ever since we started working together. A couple of years ago Eric said, “You put a good lineup together, and we’ll do it” without really thinking twice. On May 4, 2013, we headlined Ace of Spades and drew over 700 people and definitely proved ourselves worthy of the room. Of course, now we have a new album and the pressure is even greater. However, we’ve been pushing this show for a bit. I work well on deadline and so does my band. Once you have a CD release show on the books, it makes everyone work to get the artwork done, the music produced, and have the show properly promoted.
Is everybody involved in the songwriting process these days or have you taken over?
Yeah, everybody contributes, and it’s definitely a group effort. Of course, I write all my own lyrics and tell the stories but the initial songwriting comes from who brings the riffs or songs in. I’ve made a point to remove myself and write lyrics alone after the music is pretty much done. Every lyric I write is the result of how the music makes me feel and is usually about an experience that I’ve personally had. I use the song as the backdrop.
We’ve been rather deliberate with the songs we chose for the new record. When we play live these days as well, we have dropped all the earlier songs in the band but one song called “Exit Wound,” which was reworked for greater effect.
Why use an expensive well known name like Howie Weinberg to master your album?
Only a year ago I recognized that as amazing as we’d like to think we are, there are a million other bands thinking the same. The only thing separating us from the others was what we put into the album to make it better. We had a band meeting and talked about where the band was at. We then signed a short-term management company contract to have someone help connect us with the right people. The Inner Light Agency suggested Howie and he did our album for only $200 a track. We had no relationships outside of here and had always been the red-headed stepchild in the Sacramento scene that had to earn everything. Simply put, we are the guys who have done our dirty work and it’s been a long, hard road to get where we are.
What are some of your favorite markets to play these days and why?
We have tried to trade shows with other bands in other markets, but they have always failed us and not delivered a return show. It’s so much work to set up a trade, and we don’t have the time nor energy to track down bands who owe us a show favor. We need to work on getting out of town. We religiously rehearse two times a week and for every one show in town we play three out of town. With the release of our sophomore album To Live and to Die, we have set our sights on the West Coast and expanding into new markets. These are places where our fanbase is small but notable but there are requests growing to play cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Spokane, Portland and more. In 2016 we will be focused on the promotion of the new album by heading out on several mini-tours in support of it.
Do you have some outtakes that will be released on a later EP?
We recorded 14 songs. Eventually, the plan is to release a single for one of the extras called “Driver” that will have an accompanying video. The new album has 12 songs.
Is your end goal to get a record deal or is the band simply concentrating on building a fanbase?
A little of both. We’ve had a couple of indie label offers but my end goal is not to be signed. We’re not desperate to find anyone yet. We are constantly looking to diversify our portfolio and get ourselves seen by as many people as possible. The moment of musical euphoria is just as important to the audience member as it is to us and music is our vehicle to help deliver it.
See Some Fear None celebrate their new CD To Live and Die on Saturday, Aug. 1, 2015, at Ace Of Spades in Sacramento. Also on the bill are Black Map, Sages, Control and Heat of Damage. Tickets are $12 in advance and can be purchased at Aceofspadessac.com. For more info on Some Fear None, visit Facebook.com/somefearnone.
This Band Walks Into a Bar …
So, two fat guys, a Mexican and a Japanese girl start a band…
What’s the punch line you ask? Dead Dads.
“Yeah, Dead Dads is the punch line,” Tony Silva of the Sacramento pop-punk band Dead Dads explains of their Facebook page’s band description. “It’s kind of like that NOFX album, White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean.”
“I think the three of the guys in the band are pretty immature and Lys is mature,” lead singer and guitarist Cory Wiegert jokes.
All jokes aside, if you’ve been around the Sacramento music scene long enough you know that bands are not just bands—they’re bands, within bands, within bands…well, you get it. A guitarist may moonlight in another band as its bassist, or a drummer may trade in his sticks for a guitar strap—Multi-instrumentalists are commonplace in this town.
Such is the case for the members of Dead Dads: its frontman, Wiegert, also plays guitar and sings backup vocals in the local bluesy rock band the Peace Killers, while Lys Mayo on the drums, guitarist Tony Silva and bassist Joe McKinney, also known as Joe Friday (yes, inspired by the character on the TV show Dragnet) also lend their skills to other musical outfits around Sacramento.
While the band also describes its brand of musical stylings on its Facebook page as “stoner pop-punk,” Dead Dads’ music is a fun romp in the world of pop-punk—you know, the cousin to punk, a fusion of fast punk beats and blaring guitar riffs with pop-y melodies and arrangements.
“When we first started, we didn’t want to just call ourselves pop-punk because we were mixing all of these kind of weird riffs and such, and so we started saying stoner pop-punk,” Silva explains. “I think it is a good way to describe us—I mean really we’re a pop-punk band. We take a lot of influence from the Bay Area pop-punk bands.”
The quartet began simply as a band of friends—going to shows and hanging out around the Sacramento music scene. What started off as something fun to occupy their time quickly grew into a full-fledged band.
“Our first show was in November 2011, and we had our first practice, probably, late September/early October 2011,” Silva explains.
“We didn’t practice very long before we started playing shows,” Wiegert chuckles.
“Our first show was for one of Danny Secretion’s cancer benefit shows,” McKinney explains. “And it was at this venue that was also an art gallery in Midtown—which I guess wasn’t a totally legit venue, it didn’t have the proper permits or anything. The name of the venue was a venue called, Digitalis, the show was going well and we were probably the fourth out of five bands [on the bill] and right as we were finishing up our last song the people at the venue working there came and said, ‘Hey, you guys got to stop…cops!’”
While the police may have busted up the renegade show, the band forged on and their efforts transformed from just playing music and having fun into a serious musical endeavor—ultimately materializing into their first EP, simply titled Ben.
“Once we did our first recording it started to get a bit more serious,” Wiegert explains. “It really was just to play local shows as first; we hoped we could do more than that. We’re just now starting to venture out of town, but there wasn’t a particular goal in mind. We found a small label to put out our album and I guess that was somewhat of a goal.”
Huddled around a cell phone in the back of Wiegert’s dark blue Dodge Caravan in the parking lot of their practice space (House of Hits Recording Studios in Del Paso Heights, near the Marconi-Arden Arcade light rail station and next to the 7-Up factory), the quartet spoke to Submerge about their early influences, the driving force behind their sound, the dynamics of the band’s creative process and their latest album Space Camp.
“I was a band geek starting in fourth grade, I played trumpet and all that stuff and then I heard Green Day and saw [the movie] School of Rock and I decided I wanted to play drums, and that was that,” Mayo says.
“Not many of the people my age like the music I like, and the specific music I had in my head that I wanted to play, which was some sort of pop-punk that was reminiscent of the old Bay Area pop-punk bands,” Wiegert, the elder statesman of the band, explains. “And we all smoke a lot of pot and get weird, so it just really worked out that way.”
And while you typically don’t see many females in town wailing away behind the drum kit, Mayo is quick to dismiss the idea that being a woman in a band with three dudes is anything remarkable.
“I don’t think it’s any different than having a group of four guys or anything like that,” Mayo says, elaborating on the guy-girl dynamic in the band. “They’re just my three best friends, so we inspire each other, we drive each other nuts, we write good music, we write some bad music, it’s not that much different than [any other band out there] … I’m in a band with girls as well, [and] to me I don’t think gender plays a huge role in the dynamic.”
The band’s second EP, released earlier this year, was recorded by a mainstay in the local music scene—Patrick Hills, who is also a musician in the punk band Bastards of Young. However, it wasn’t something that the group banged out in a couple of weeks—quite the contrary, whenever the band and Hills had any free time they chipped away at bringing the 10-song record to life.
“We started recording it, I think, at the end of the 2013 and we didn’t actually finish recording ’til probably around the summer of 2014,” Wiegert explains. “And then it took a long time for us to find somebody to put it out and everything. But we recorded it with a guy named Pat Hills at his place called Earth Tone studio in Rocklin. It was a long process; finally just in the last few months we were able to put it out.”
And yes, for all of you movie buffs out there, the inspiration for the album’s title did, in part, come from the teen flick Space Camp as well as a bit of mix-up with the lyrics during the recording process.
“What happened was, we were listening to Cory record his vocals for one song and one of the lines I thought he [sang that] he was going to space camp, and I just kept singing it over and over again and then yeah [it just stuck],” McKinney explains.
“Also, I missed seeing movies where people went to space camp. It is a total ’80s/early ’90s thing,” Wiegert continues. “When I was a kid I always thought it sounded so cool.”
The artwork for the cover, a collection of ethereal jellyfish on a black and gray space-like background, was brought to life by a friend whose artistic vision spoke to the foursome.
“We had a few different ideas…but a friend of ours Jessica Vosburg drew up the cover and then I colored it just using Photoshop and such—she did a sketch of it in black and white and we colorized it,” Wiegert explains.
“She drew that probably early 2014—it was probably one of the first album cover ideas we had and we tried about 30 other things and that was the one we always came back to, so two years later we liked it and chose it,” Mayo continues.
So, a jellyfish walks into space camp…OK, bad joke, but check out Dead Dads at their upcoming show and get weird!
For more info, checkout Deaddads.bandcamp.com or their Facebook page.
Another one bites the dust.
We hate to say it, but in case you haven’t already heard, the short-lived Midtown music venue Witch Room is set to close its doors for good at the end of December. If you’re keeping track (we sure are!) this is the fourth Sacramento venue to shut down in the last year. First Luigi’s Slice and Fungarden, then Marilyn’s on K, then Assembly Music Hall, now Witch Room. In a statement released by Witch Room co-founder Olivia Coelho, she said, “The simple fact is that we were not able to sustain enough revenue to cover our expenses and provide compensation to the founders that was sufficient to justify our efforts.” She went on to point out that they knew what they were doing (read: “fostering creativity”) was risky and difficult, but that they wanted to give it a good 10-month shot to see what happened. She also pointed out that she and Witch Room’s co-founders all “expect to maintain our intense interest in the cultural life of this city that we love, and hope to contribute to it in the future.”
It was rumored that Eric Rushing and Bret Bair, owners of Ace of Spades and Goldfield, had shown interest in purchasing Witch Room and keeping it a live music venue, but when we hit them up Rushing told us that they “walked away from the deal.” (More on Rushing and Bair’s attempts to purchase a new venue will be in our next issue!)
While we are incredibly sad to see Witch Room close (we’ve been to more than a few awesome shows there this year and have done quite a bit of editorial coverage on artists performing there), we are also excited to see that they will be going out in style with a super-rad two-day local music free-for-all (literally, it’s free) called “Sac Go Home Fest” on Saturday, Dec. 27, 2014 and Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014. Organizer Drew Walker (also Witch Room’s beloved sound guy and talented local musician) told Submerge that Sac Go Home Fest is “purely for the community,” and that “it’s gonna be all locals who were down to play for free to celebrate the place!” As of press time Walker had confirmed 20-plus solid locals for the weekend-long shindig. On Saturday, you’ve got bands such as Pregnant, Lite Brite, PETS, Removed, Carson McWhirter/Nick Reinhart Duo, Cove, Honyock, Musical Charis and a couple others. On Sunday, Walker has lined up Doofy Doo (his own project), along with Fine Steps, Appetite, Dad?, Dog Party, The Kelps, Squidz, an open jam with Instagon and much more. “Come help the WR staff, friends, fans and haters celebrate both the life and death of Sac’s coolest shortest lived venue,” Walker wrote on the event’s Facebook page. “Buy all of our beer and make us an offer on the refrigerators too. And then, Sacramento, go home.”
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
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.
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.
Jesse Zenitram comes back from the brink and, along with bandmate Zack Kampf, releases Color the Sound’s debut album
Most musicians will tell you there is something beautifully cathartic about finally putting their music (or any art for that matter) “out there.” Whether the recording process was painstakingly stressful, or remarkably easy, just knowing that their efforts have come to fruition can be refreshing.
However, when the process is not only stressful or drawn out, but the life experienced during the process nearly kills them, the release is downright therapeutic, if not a literal spiritual release. When it comes to the tale of Jesse Zenitram, leader of the Sacramento-based project Color the Sound, this is precisely the case.
Zenitram and his other regular bandmate, drummer Zack Kampf, first formed Color the Sound in 2009. From the very beginning of the project, Color the Sound—a blend of electronica and live instrumentation—was just as much a visual project as it was about the auditory experience.
“The visual aspect of the show was always a priority,” Zenitram explains. “The name reflects that. There’s a saying ‘I’ll believe it when I see it,’ but when do you ever see music? I think the evolution of music is in a multi-sensory experience. There is one side of the spectrum where we can have 3D projection mapping and at the other end, you can get up there with an acoustic and turn the lights off and connect with that. The shade and the light can accomplish the same thing.”
The band went on to produce several online demos, according to their bio, and began developing their live show and local following. They began to receive positive feedback from respected music industry personalities such as Eddy Schreyer (A Perfect Circle) and Rob Hoffman (Michael Jackson, Christina Aguilera), as well as opening for national acts such as AWOLnation, Capital Cities, Blackalicious, Oleander and Middle Class Rut. They had even begun recording their debut album with Grammy award winning composer Bill Pearson. It seemed as if they were headed for big things.
Yet, they were in actuality headed for a gigantic speed bump. According to a press release from the band’s publicist, “On the brink of Color the Sound’s nationwide debut, frontman Jesse Zenitram spiraled out of control. Heartbreak fed his depression, and depression fueled his addictions. After a long battle that nearly claimed his life, fate intervened. While he was determined to destroy himself, others were determined to keep him and his music alive.”
“To be perfectly honest, I felt like I was falling asleep,” says Zenitram. “Then I felt electricity running through my body and started convulsing, having a seizure. I couldn’t do anything but experience it. I lost control of my body. My vision slowly faded to black and I saw the ubiquitous tunnel of light. Except…instead of going into it, I was watching it get smaller and smaller, I was falling away from it and I had no control.
“My life really did flash before me, and it did not seem fulfilled.”
Zenitram’s bandmate Kampf, who has a master’s degree in social work, suggested Zenitram move in with him, and get the help he needed.
“I think the greatest hindrance of any creative person is our self-destructive nature,” says Kampf. “That has manifested itself in various ways for us personally and as a band. I think Jesse’s greatest asset is his openness to learning. I think mine is my determination to kick my own ass.”
Color the Sound is back now from the six-month hiatus that nearly destroyed both the band and its key member. Their debut album, poignantly coined Affection: Affliction, is finally ready to be released.
“I spent two years, every free moment writing and rewriting it. I had a very specific concept that I needed to see come to light,” Zenitram says of the album. “I wanted to convey a relationship from beginning to end. Not just the story but the feeling, the trials, tribulations, affections and afflictions.
“I write from a conceptual place,” he continues. “My songs take form and I try to stay out of the way. I pick up on a certain vibe or feeling and begin to explore it with different timbres. A melody in my head might sound terrible on guitar but great on harpsichord. When I started Color the Sound, it was only intended to be a studio project to get out all my ideas. I started getting offers to play, and so I began considering how I could do it live. A lot of my songs have tons of layers, many different instruments. It would take a lot of people on stage to pull it off.”
Both Zenitram and Color the Sound have given themselves a second chance, in both life and in music. They look to return to the trenches and reclaim their place in the Sacramento music scene and beyond.
“Something impressed upon me a need to be here, to just keep going,” says Zenitram. “I’ve never been afraid of death, and I still am not. I am afraid of not living life to the fullest. When you are forced to step back and examine your life as if it was over, you make some cold hard realizations about yourself you normally choose to ignore.”
As for whether or not finally seeing Affection: Affliction hit the streets, Zenitram is somewhat relived. “I haven’t thought about that much, but yes releasing it finally (and by virtue of giving it away for free or with donation) should be a weight off of me,” Zenitram admits. “Musically, I have been looking forward for a long time now, so in practice, I’ve already moved on. But I am extremely proud of what I was able to create out of that experience.”
While Zenitram is willing to talk about his experiences dealing with addiction and depression, he stresses the importance to recognize he didn’t reach recovery alone: “I have a beautiful circle of friends that support me and have made being back in Sacramento a joy. It’s impossible to do alone, and that’s what I was. But, probably for the best, because I was destructive and being around me wasn’t helping anyone. I’ve gone through a lot of changes personally and musically. My goal is to lift people’s spirits with music now, rather than simply talk about myself or troubles. I’m not the kind of person that thinks things happen for a reason. I think we ascribe reasons to things that happen. Either way, music is really the only place, thing or substance I’ve ever found that silences everything. For that reason I am compelled to devote myself to it and to those that need it.”
If you missed Color the Sound’s release show for Affection: Affliction on Oct. 19, 2014 at Kupros, you can catch them at Marilyn’s on Oct. 23, 2014.
More than just a coffee shop and café, Shine (located in the Mansion Flats neighborhood at 1400 E Street) has steadily been carving out its own niche in the local music and arts scenes for the last couple years, consistently hosting a variety of all-ages shows featuring both local and touring bands as well as hanging local artists’ work on their walls. They also host comedy shows, poetry readings, the list goes on. It’s the type of place that helps drive the city’s thriving arts and entertainment scenes forward, so you can imagine our concern when we heard from someone on the street recently that Shine had been sold to new owners. “We hope they keep up the love for local art and music,” we told ourselves. Turns out, after a little research and connecting with one of the new owners, 35-year-old Amanda Lawrence, we’ve got nothing to worry about. “Shine remains committed to supporting local art and music,” Lawrence recently told Submerge. “Each month we feature a new visual artist, each Tuesday is Jazz Jam Night, the second and fourth Wednesdays are Poetry Night and Fridays and Saturdays still feature bands.” She even went on to explain that they hope to further expand the genres that they bring in. “We are looking forward to drawing in more culturally diverse music and performances, such as bossa nova and Latin jazz, as well as African dance troops.” Lawrence, who moved to Sacramento from Portland in October, co-owns Shine with her older brother Lance (43) and their friend Tyson Wells (38). “This is our first venture into business ownership, but we each bring varying skills and knowledge from experience working in the coffee and restaurant world,” she said. “We bought Shine because it was overflowing with potential to be a part of the burgeoning ‘eat and drink local’ movement, as well as to serve the Mansion Flats neighborhood as its anchor coffee shop by day and a nice little place to get a drink and catch a show at night.” Since taking over in late November, the crew has added some nice personal touches to the space, including building and installing an awesome new stage for performers that features a background constructed with reclaimed barn wood and funky lighting features. They also upgraded the menu and are now serving Temple Coffee. Their official “grand opening” party will be on Friday, Jan. 10 and will feature live music from As Yet Untitled, Sicfus and POG. That show will be just $5 and will kick off at 8 p.m. As always, all ages are welcome. To learn more about the new Shine and to view their calendar of upcoming events, visit Shinesac.com. To Shine’s old owner, Rena Davonne, we’ll miss seeing you and your awesome, cheery daughter every time we drop off a stack of mags! To the new owners, welcome to the neighborhood and thanks for keeping up the local music and art love!
