LittleBook

True Margrit - Jan 29th @ El Rio

2010-01-26T20:56:00.000-08:00

True Margrit @ El Rio w/ The Steelwells & Blair Hansen

Juggler's Progress CD International Release Party with BLAIR HANSEN & THE SHEBANGS!!!!

Host:	True Margrit
Type:	Music/Arts - Concert
Network:	Global

Date:	Friday, January 29, 2010
Time:	9:00pm - 11:55pm
Location:	El Rio
Street:	3158 Mission St
City/Town:	San Francisco, CA
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Description

Come on down to San Francisco's coolest dive and help True Margrit celebrate the International Release of their fab new album, "The Juggler's Progress!"

Special guests include the wonderful Blair Hansen, who is also celebrating her great new record "Real World" and just added- The Shebangs!

(The Steelwells had to cancel but we can't change the name of the event...)

http://www.myspace.com/blairhansen
http://www.myspace.com/truemargrit
http://www.myspace.com/theshebangsband

Bluegrassy folky fun - January 19 @ Grant & Green

2010-01-14T20:35:00.000-08:00

Free Show in North Beach

Type:	Music/Arts - Performance
Network:	Global

Start Time:	Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 8:40am
End Time:	Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 1:40am
Location:	Grant & Green Saloon
Street:	1371 Grant Street
City/Town:	San Francisco, CA
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Description

This will be a wonderful show in the heart of north beach. Bluegrassy folky fun amid the poets. I'll be playing solo electric.
Hope to see you there!

Featuring:

Augustus
www.myspace.com/augustusdevandry

Antonette Goroch
www.myspace.com/antonettekg

Shareef Ali and the Radical Folksonomy
www.myspace.com/shareefalisongwriter

TurbonegrA - February 05 @ The Uptown

2010-01-13T16:52:00.000-08:00

Photo by Hardy Wilson

TurbonegrA @ The Uptown

When:
Friday, February 05, 2010
9:00 PM - 12:00 AM PST

Where:
The Uptown
1928 Telegraph Ave.

Oakland, CA

Hosted by:

TurbonegrA

THE TEMPERMENTALS - February 5th @ Kimo's

2010-01-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

Friday February 5th
pmr presents
COMPTON SF
GET DEAD!
THE TEMPERMENTALS
+ special guests
---
Kimo's Penthouse Lounge
1351 Polk Street, SF • 21+
---
Doors 9:00pm / Show 9:30pm / $5

GIRLBAND REUNION SHOW!!! - February 19 @ Bottom of the Hill

2010-01-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

GIRLBAND REUNION SHOW!!!

Type:	Music/Arts - Concert
Network:	Global

Start Time:	Friday, February 19, 2010 at 9:00pm
End Time:	Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 2:00am
Location:	Bottom of the Hill

Description

That's right peeps! The ladies of GIRLBAND are back!
Line up is :

Here come the Saviors (1st)
Boy in the Bubble
GIRLBAND
Birdmonster

21+

Pirate Cat benefit: This is Radio Clash! - January 22 @ Uptown Nightclub

2010-01-12T20:04:00.000-08:00

Pirate Cat benefit: This is Radio Clash!

all Clash songs performed by The Hooks, Shootin Lucy, Switchblade Riot, Static Thought, Super Cutes

Type:	Music/Arts - Concert
Network:	Global

Start Time:	Friday, January 22, 2010 at 9:00pm
End Time:	Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 2:00am
Location:	Uptown Nightclub
Street:	1928 Telegraph Avenue
City/Town:	Oakland, CA
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Description

$10, 9PM, 21 & over

OLDiES NiGHT - Fri Jan 15 @ the knockout

2010-01-12T19:58:00.000-08:00

OLDiES NiGHT Fri Jan 15th ***!^^^

"the" "dance" "party" "!"

Host:	OLDIES NIGHT
Type:	Party - Club Party
Network:	Global

Start Time:	Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9:30pm
End Time:	Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 2:00am
Location:	The Knockout
Street:	3223 Mission St
City/Town:	San Francisco, CA
	View Map

Description

we r back
BAD, BOLD, & BEAUTIFUL

the DooWOp, Soul, GirlGroup, RocknRoll, RnB DANCE PARTY!
w Dj's
Ivar,
Daniel,
&
Primo
thjis friday jan 15 @ Knockout, 2 bux before 11, $4 after
XOXOXOXOXOXO
-prms

Spawn Atomic - Jan 5 @ Elbo Room

2010-01-05T19:40:00.000-08:00

Spawned in 2008 from the muck and mire of the SF bay, at Toxic beach;
Spawn Atomic gleefully arose to spread their hair raising, spine-numbingly fast horror tracks amongst the living dead of San francisco. Spreading their virus of fun sexy blood infused lyrics of zombies and werewolves, you'll feel the songs start to chew at your arteries, droning you out with evil distorted bass, making you shreik to catchy guitar riffs and brain splattering drums. You'll Walk away with a smile and missing a limb. 100% EVIL!!

Upcoming Shows

Jan 5 2010 8:00P
Elbo Room January Meat Fest Punk rock show with Mental Hygiene & M.C. MeatHook/The Vital Organs San Francisco, California

Jan 9 2010 8:00P
Gilman: Spawn Atomic opening for Plan 9 Berkeley, California

Jan 14 2010 7:00P
The Knockout : Warm your freezing Asses Punk Show with Spawn Atomic Black Dream and The Jibbers San Francisco, California

Jan 22 2010 8:00P
Oakland Metro, Spawn Atomic & Chronic Narcosis & Black Dream & Kneehigh in Dwarves & Solcraft Oakland, California

Jan 31 2010 5:30P
Battle Of The Bands DNA Lounge, San Francisco CA San Francisco, California

Deeper - DuNord for Sat, Jan2 Kimos on Jan 20th

2010-01-02T00:59:00.000-08:00

LittleBook: What's your relationship with Ozzy (Osbourne) been like since he made
you start Deeper?
Deeper: ~It has been an awakening for us. We
are totally confronted with the fact that "we're not worthy, we're not
worthy, we're not worthy!" Like the Ozz-Man, we have sold our
souls for rock and roll.

LB: Do you remember the first time you practiced together as a band? What was it
like?
D: ~yes. Eric was quiet. He scared the heck
out of me (Kristy) and Bob was the easy going facilitator that offered bananas
(We started out in Bob's home studio called the "Blue Womb") it was
like gettin into bed with complete strangers...and then after sweet, sweaty
love making...you part ways hoping they call you … or something like that.

LB: Do you have any brand new songs for your upcoming show?
D: ~absolutely! several: The Information, Smiles, Almond eyes, KissKiss, Jelly Fish, and a few more. I'm proud to say Almond eyes is about my part-Japanese heritage and Eric's not-so-Japanese heritage. Smiles is a pure winner....with awesome soft/loud dynamics with lyrics
about seeking happiness.

LB: Has Kristy quit smoking cigarettes yet?
D: ~Yeah....but after a great show I'll occasionally relapse

LB: Are you still thinking about creating a super being from your pooled DNA?
D: ~now, the guys won't willingly donate
blood....so I'm patiently waiting for the day that we are maybe on tour and they are asleep and I can extract some "juice" from them without their knowing. Then, I will have my way with the most extraordinary creation!
muah ha ha ha....muah ha ha ha (with my pinky at the corner of my cheeky smile)

LB: What do you do at practice when you're not practicing.
D: ~Bob usually will do jumping jacks, Eric will
default to noodling bluegrass, and I'll generally start singing my Sean
Connery song over whatever's going on. We'll occasionally step outside (we rehearse at Secret Studios) and loiter at the entrance of the building to cool off and chat with other "artists".

LB: San Francisco has recently made several changes to accommodate bicycles on city streets, have
these "bike lanes" effected your ability to load in and out of shows
with any less danger?
D: ~no. It has actually improved our
ability to load in/out. It makes it really easy for Eric when he chooses to ride his Schwinn Stingray from Mill Valley with his AMP strapped onto the banana seat. For real, people.

LB: What's up with your New CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
D: ~Deeper EP is on iTunes and available
also at www.kunaki.com ....we recorded it at Shakesound Studios in
Emeryville , CA . We really REALLY need to get our S#!@ together to record a full length album soon. We have great material and enough stuff for a double album (maybe our own "Double Nickels on the Dime") ... but the $$ is TIGHT to do this on our own. Any local labels out there interested in us?
We'd love to talk with you!! Size of label does not matter!

LB: What are you doing next??
D: ~We're waiting for the right bass
player to find us. We are patient, oh yes, patient like a yogi meditating for years in a cave in the Himalayas .
Because our sound is conducive to the lack of low-end, we're not pained without a bassist...although it would give us a thicker edge. AND! it's a matter of presence and energy that the right person has to bring to the plate aside from the chops. If yer gonna make sweet sweaty musical love~I think it's important to be picky-like searching for another lover! xox

Deeper also has a show coming up Dec 22nd at the Hemlock sharing a bill with Jason mKey(from Seattle ), A Mighty russian Winter and Zoo. We're also playing Kimos on Jan 20th with Street Light Suzie (from Austin )and Euphoric Pork.

LB: Weirdest venue in the Bay Area??
D: ~The ReTox...and we LOVE it there! It's
like playin in your dad's basement...decorated with parts from the inside paneling of a 747. And it's dark, grungy, and totally intimate. I'm sure there are weirder places, but we have not been exposed to them all yet.

LB: Have we ever played DuNord before?
D: ~no, but Deeper's THRILLED to the core to get on a Rock bill with Flexx Bronco and (our friends) Lloyd's Garage! We love DuNord and have seen some AWESOME shows there! The vibe and warmth of the room is attractive and location on Market street is pure landmark. We're playing Saturday January 2, and it's our FIRST SHOW of the year!!! We'll see you there!.......on the 20th, we're at Kimo's-which we've played before. We always get GREAT sound there and will be a cool night as well!

LB: Who's the smile-i-est member after a great show??
D: ~definitely me..I'm the most emotionally
outgoing member of Deeper. Bob is 2nd-he always has a different satisfied smile on his face after a show. If we play a great show, Eric will be smiling too, but he tends to be the most critical member of the band when it comes to reviewing our own performance.

LB: What kind of reaction, if any, have you noticed, now that your music is
available on iTunes?
D: ~we've received murmurings
of interest from a few record labels, as well as from the MotherShip.
The Aliens say that our music will be the foundation of the next inter-galactic society and it will save lives, maintain peace, and harmonious existence among Alien Rockers. How f'n cool-aid is that!

Deeper Jan 2 @ Cafe Du Nord & Jan 20 @ Kimos

2009-12-31T16:32:00.000-08:00

Deeper Show

When:
Saturday, January 02, 2010
3:00 AM - 4:00 AM PST

Where:
Cafe DuNord
2170 Market Street
San Francisco, ca 94114

Click here to view the event

We're opening up the night going on at 9:30 SHARP!!! Hope to see you there~ it will be an amazing show for an amazing new year!!

- Deeper

ArnoCorps in USA for 2010!

2009-12-30T16:06:00.000-08:00

Due to impending training and rescue missions to further improve our proportions and symmetry, January may be the only chance to experience ArnoCorps in USA for 2010! Please pass on these important dates! Thanks for being a ballsy goddamn hero! SEE YOU AT THE PARTIES!

Saturday Jan 2, 2010
The Stork Club
2330 Telegraph Ave.
OAKLAND, CA

Wednesday Jan 6, 2010
Radio Room
El Cajon Blvd.
SAN DIEGO, CA

Thursday Jan 7, 2010
Whisky A Go Go
8901 Sunset Blvd
West HOLLYWOOD, CA
** DISCOUNT TICKETS: http://www.arnocorps.com/shows/index.html

Friday Jan 8, 2010
Double Down Saloon
4640 Paradise Rd.
Las VEGAS, NV

Holzfeuer explained the strategy for these shows on Pirate Cat Radio last night! Listen here:
http://www.arnocorps.com/mp3/Holz_NeatNeatNoiseDec
22_09.mp3

Upcoming Shows

2009-12-12T16:27:00.000-08:00

Date

Time

Band

Venue

Location

Cost

12/12/2009	9:00PM	FRACAS	john patricks, alameda, ca	alameda, California	7 bucks
12/13/2009	3:45PM	Jesse Grant	Milk Bar SF	san francisco, California	Free!
12/13/2009	7:00PM	Evets Black	Brainwash	SF, California	Free
12/13/2009	7:00PM	SPAWN ATOMIC	PUNK SHOW at El Rio with The Jibbers and Static Thought	san francisco, California	$5.00
12/15/2009	6:00PM	Neat Neat Noise	HOLIDAY SHOW PRE-BASH: Persephone’s Bees, HeWhoCanNotBeNamed & Blag Jesus	Pirate Cat Radio, California	FREE
12/15/2009	8:00PM	GET DEAD! (NOW ON ITUNES)	Bottom of the Hill with The SORE THUMBS, Super Ego	San Francisco, California	N/A
12/15/2009	9:45PM	ALEX GAHAN	MUCHO AXE @ ELBO ROOM	SAN FRANCISCO, California	TBA
12/16/2009	8:00PM	al Qaeda	Heco’s w/ Winters In Osaka/Al Qaeda/A.C. Way collaboration	Oakland
12/17/2009	8:00PM	Street Justice	Annies Social Club with Officer Down	SF, California	6
12/17/2009	9:00PM	Blisses B	Hotel Utah	San Francisco, California

Date	Time	Band	Venue	Location	Cost
12/18/2009	8:00PM	LUCABRAZZI	LI PO LOUNGE	SAN FRANCISCO, California	$5.00
12/18/2009	8:00PM	al Qaeda	Cafe du Nord w/ Pink Mountain, T.I.T.S., Arrington de Dionyso, Work, & more	San Francisco	FREE
12/18/2009	9:00PM	Kajillion	Kimo’s w/ Sideshow Fiasco	San Francisco, California
12/18/2009	9:00PM	Bare Wires	Paradise Lounge w/ Apache + Pear	San Francisco, California
12/19/2009	8:00PM	EXCUSE THE BLOOD	Stork Club	Oakland, California	$5
12/19/2009	8:00PM	Lilofee	Red Devil Lounge	san francisco, California	TBA
12/19/2009	8:00PM	The Corruptors	Annie’s Social Club, SF with Spittin’ Cobras & It’s Casual	SAN FRANCISCO
12/19/2009	8:00PM	Flexx Bronco	Kelly’s Mission Rock w/ Death Valley High & TBA’S	san francisco, California	??
12/19/2009	9:00PM	death valley high	KELLY’S MISSION ROCK ( SAN FRANCISCO )	San Francisco, California
12/19/2009	10:00PM	Mata León	Bottom of the Hill w/ Stomacher	San Francisco, California	10

Live & Acoustic on Folsom - Dec 16 @ Annie’s Social Club

2009-12-12T13:50:00.000-08:00

Live Acoustic

12/16/2009 8:00 PM at Annie’s Social Club
917 Folsom Street at 5th, San Francisco, California 94107
Cost: 6

Live & Acoustic on Folsom featuring: Chantigs,
Misisipi Rider, Media Male,
and Geneva Pop.

With special guests, DJ Baked NebraSKA and Thee Professor.

Deeper - Dec 22 Hemlock Tavern

2009-12-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

Deeper

12/22/2009 9:00 PM at Hemlock Tavern
1131 Polk Street @ Post, San Francisco, California 94109-5541
Cost: $6

Jason Mkey//The Mighty Russian Winter//Deeper//Zoo(Andy Tisdale)

LittleBook: Have you ever played the Hemlock Before?? What do you like about it??
Deeper: No, but we've seen friends play there and I've personally always liked the intimate feel of the room. We are psyched/jazzed/wound up/jonesing to seriously rock out at the Hemlock.

http://deeper.rwolffe.com/

http://deeper.rwolffe.com/media.php

Space Vacation - Nov 28 @ Annies Social Club w/ HOLY GRAIL, PROFESSOR and STONE VENGEANCE

2009-10-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Space Vacation is Scott Shapiro lead guitar and vocals Jay Shapiro Bass Andy Headrick drums

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

Space Vacation: To get rad. To play Heavy metal the way it should be played!

LB: How did you find each other??

SV: Scott and I are brothers so that's a given. Andy I've known for ages. we me on the road on the east coast. He is the sickest drummer in town. and has the most and best drum flair.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

SV: Making our record before we played a gig.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

SV: We practice at Audiobox studio's in soma. We drink beer!! Lots of beer! What ever is cheap. We smoke weed and drink beer when we are not practicing at the practice space.

LB: What's does being a band mean in 2009?

SV: A sweet way to waste time!

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??

SV: The best would be we are the only one's doing what we do. The worst would be people who don't like to party.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

SV: That we love Heavy Metal and play it the way we want. There are no rules. Lets SHRED!!! Whats next, is making a new record for 2010!

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

SV: Our Self titled first record "SPACE VACATION" is available at AMIE ST music. iTunes and through us spacevacation/myspace.com

We recorded our record at The Atomic Garden studios. Recorded by Jack Shirley.

LB: Was there a local show you remember that inspired you to start a band??

SV: Yea, Andy and I went to see Magic Moments at el Rincon. Scott was about to move into town. So I asked Andy if he wanted to start jammin, and we just went from there. I knew it was time to star something special. Something new that no one in S.F can do or sound like.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

SV: Annies, Thee Parkside, The Knockout

LB: Have you played Annie's Social Club before? What do you like about it?

SV: Yea a bounch of times. Allways a good time. Except our first gig there. Total gear meltdown.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

SV: Andy's the sweatiest and Scott is a close second.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

SV: Try not to get too mangaled thats it and try not to get too mangaled after so we can make it home.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

SV: The toilet. No one cares any more. Why go to a gig when you can watch it on youtube, right????

Live music is so rad!!! I wish more people would get it, ya know....

LB: Do you have any plans to tour?

SV: Yea! we are doing a mini tour of the East coast in December with Natur.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free, do you offer free downloads??

SV: I don't care really. The more people that listen to our songs the better! But on the other hand. We are paying for our recording and pressing out of pocket. So it would be nice to see some sort or return. Its not like someone else or a label is flipping the bill. There is no time to wait for some suit. DO IT YOURSELF! fuck the B.S. PLAY LOUD, FAST, HARD !!! Never give in. Do it the way you want.

Disgust of Us - Nov 6 @ SUB-Mission Art Space - ALL AGES RECORD RELEASE PARTY

2009-10-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

pj: vox/gtr
cheryl: vox/gtr
sam: drums
laura: bass

Answered by Guitarist/Singer Patrick Thomas of Disgust of Us

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

Guitarist/Singer Patrick Thomas of Disgust of Us: We started Disgust of Us for a few reasons. Soul-searching therapy, to spend more time with friends and to have a good excuse for bourbon binges. We also wanted to recognize how horrible we are as people, and try to find some sort of peace with it.

LB: How did you find each other??
PT: We found each other on eHarmony.com and things really started to develop from there.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
PT: Playing a show at the Bistro in Hayward to only our moms, when out of nowhere people from Buffalo Bills showed up and cheered us on to the end of the set. There was also this really drunk guy who kept telling us how good we were from across the street. It was the most psycho-killer flattery we have ever received.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
PT: We practice at Sound Wave Studios in West Oakland. No, not the one that was bought out by Rehearse America, the other one. It’s on Wood St., right off the Grand Ave exit. Yea, it’s hourly but we rent out a storage unit. No, it’s not too bad setting up each time, I like to take advantage off that and contemplate “life, it’s bigger than you and you are not me, the things I will go through, the distance in your eyes.”

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009? What are you looking forward to in 2010?
PT: We have been robbed in 2009. Actually, we were robbed in 2008 as well. I am most looking forward to not being robbed in 2010. Come on Oakland, we can do it.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??
PT: The best thing is we are not from San Francisco, no offense intended, we love the city. The worst thing is we are a band from Oakland, no offense intended, we love Oakland, we’ve just been robbed a lot.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
PT: We are releasing a self-titled record, which can be bought online at disgustofus.com, or you can come to our record release party on Nov. 6th at SUB-Mission Art Space at 2183 Mission St. It’s an all ages show and we throwing a big party on our own. Local legends Pidgeon, who haven’t played live in over a year, and the always brilliant Moggs are performing with us. There will also be art pieces from Carlo Ricafort and others on display.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
PT: It was recorded at Air Raid Studios (myspace.com/oaklandhillsmusic), engineered and co-produced by Paul Thomas. It’s 8 songs on our most delicate details in life. It’s for sale on our website, disgustofus.com, and will be for sale at our record release party on Nov. 6 at SUB-Mission Art Space in the Mission District.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
PT: We have enjoyed many shows, we have enjoyed many bands, yes many, many bands, local bands. Shoutouts to Pidgeon, Moggs, The Paper Sons, Superfinos VTO, Raised By Robots, Generalissimo, Ghost to Atom, and whatever Alan is doing and also whatever Garo is doing.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
PT: I don’t think I could pick a favorite place. It’s more about favorite time, and the times are when the crowd can propel us into new connections with our music. You can a great venue but if it’s not a party or a celebration of some sort, you just come out feeling flat. So whatever venue inspires people to have the most fun and let go of the pretensions. I have not discovered which venue consistently provides that.

LB: Have you played the SUB-Mission Gallery before? What do you like about it?
PT: We have, actually, although at the time it was going by a different name, Balazo. Oh, and we just played an acoustic set at SUB-Mission in September for the organization Dialogues Against Militarism. Please, please go check them out at againstmilitarism.org. The people at SUB-Mission are so friendly, and the space is very nice. You can check out reviews on yelp.com to further investigate why SUB-Mission Art Space is R.A.D.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
PT: Yeah, if you like nips we are your band.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
PT: I am, but not because of sweat mainly due to gas. Wait, did you call me a sweaty pig?

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
PT: NO SEX BEFORE A SHOW, SERIOUSLY STOP FUCKING AROUND. You will lose your chi.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
PT: Live music will probably be the main source of income for bands, where as dead music will be the main source of anal leakage for bands.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free, do you offer free downloads??
PT: Still trying to rob us, huh? Please don’t rob us, we carry knives. Seriously don’t rob us!

ugly winner - Nov 19 @ the stud w/ Postvoid

2009-10-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

Todd Flanagan -bass
Nicolas Lopez -drums
Takashi Makino -guitar/voc

Actionslacks - Nov 18 @ Bottom of the Hill w/Love Is Chemicals and Ex-Boyfriends

2009-10-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

tenured: T. Scanlin, M. Kelly, R. Murray, C. Lindo
emeritus: M. Wijsen, A. Rubin, D. Modie, D. Bailey
adjunct: P. Main, J. Robbins, J. Palmer, A.F. Levy, A. Welch, C. Clune, B. Kaphan, A. Prellwitz

LittleBook: How did you find each other??

(Marty:) My roommate Oden came home with Pillbox, Tim's first band's 7". Compared to a lot of the East Bay bands of the time, I was really impressed with the lyrics, melodies, and guitars. Not long after, I saw his ad for a drummer either at Amoeba in Berkeley or the East Bay Express. He cited bands like Wire, Gang of Four, and Minutemen, so I figured we'd be pretty compatible. Ross and Chuck came around a few years later after we had parted ways with our original bass player (Mark Wijsen) and were also looking for second guitar and vocals. Chuck, who we knew from his band The American Professionals, actually auditioned on bass first, and played a number of shows on bass. Aaron Rubin (Mr. T Experience, Samiam) played bass for a while, then left - like Mark - for career and family reasons. We knew Ross from Amateur Night, his band with Greg Heller. The first time he came down to our practice pad he had all of our songs down pat. We've kept this lineup for the last seven years.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

(Marty:) Recording with J. Robbins.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you're practicing?

(Marty:) We used to practice in Emeryville, drink beer and eat challah that Mark would get from his job as a baker at Semifreddis. When we weren't practicing we would generally bullshit about the Bay Area music scene. Nowadays we practice in our separate corners of America and occasionally meet up in SF. I've switched over to seltzer.

LB: What's does being in a band mean in 2009?

(Marty:) I can't answer that in the general sense, but for me vis-a-vis Actionslacks the meaning has changed quite a bit in 15 years. Early on it connoted certain aspirations to quasi-fame or just trying to find a way to make a living as an artist. Now we've given up grabbing for the "Nirvana brass ring" (as Fluf coined it) and I for one have been having more fun than ever.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??

(Marty:) Best: SF is, to quote the mid-90s KRON tagline, The Best Place on Earth. Worst: We are too rarely these days "a band in San Francisco."

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

(Marty:) We've committed to making and releasing a new batch of songs on an annual basis. This year we released Kids With Guitars and are set to record the follow-up at Tiny Telephone in mid-November. We're playing the Bottom of the Hill on November 18 with Love is Chemicals and Ex-Boyfriends.

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

(Marty:) Kids With Guitars has seven songs and was released digital-only this year. It is available via iTunes, etc. Recorded May 2008 at Tiny Telephone, SF with Aaron Prellwitz. We may bundle Kw/G with this year's EP as a CD release next year. We're also planning a rarities CD to commemorate our 15th anniversary.

LB: Was there a local show you remember that inspired you to start a band??

(Marty:) Early on, I was inspired by Archers of Loaf at the Bottom of the Hill and Jawbox and fIREHOSE separately at Slim's (all circa '93-'94).

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

(Marty:) The Bottom.

LB: Have you played the Bottom of the Hill before? What do you like about it?

(Marty:) The sound, the space, the staff, the food, the beer, the crowd.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

(Marty:) Never, even under the hottest conditions. I have a picture of Chuck taking off his shirt at a photo shoot once, while he was changing out on an Oakland sidewalk. It kind of looks like a Smith's album cover.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

(Marty:) Used to be Tim's feet, but he's gotten that under control.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

(Marty:) There could be a renaissance, as artists rely on touring to make money. Also as listeners tire of their computer speakers/earbuds and hanker for real experience. Pure conjecture, I don't really know. But I've always thought that good live music beats the best recorded music. You just can't replicate the energy, the sound, the power of the moment.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free, do you offer free downloads??

(Marty:) We're OK with it and have offered free downloads. Music wants to be free. But we appreciate it when people who heard of us after freeloading buy stuff later or donate towards our recording costs. Since we don't tour these days we don't have many opportunities to make $ through live shows and merch.

Lilofee - Nov 21 @ El Rio w/ Music for Animals & Nov 27 @ Hemlock

2009-10-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

Kimi-vox
Rob- guitar
Cyrus- bass
Dan - drums
shea- guitar
chris- keys

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Lilofee: Well, originally we didn't mean to start a band. I (Kimi) was visiting from New York,and Rob and I ended up working in the studio for two days straight. After that, I just decided to stay, and after working as a duo for about six months, we recruited our friends to complete the live lineup

LB: How did you find each other??
L: Well, Rob and I had heard about one another for quite some time, a lot of our friends kept bugging us to make music together. One night, at an afterparty, we actually met, and the next day we locked ourselves in a studio for two days, and so began Lilofee.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
L: I think when Rob and I finished our first song together, after 12 hours of being locked in this small studio,walking out into the "real world", at 6AM, and then listening to the song over and over again in Rob's car, and knowing that is was the beginning of something really special.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
L: We practice at our rehearsal studio on Polk and Sutter. The boys usually drink whiskey and beer, and I drink water. When we're not practicing, I'm usually trying to teach myself how to play the drums or working on my interpretive dancing while the boys are smoking outside.

LB: What's does being in a band mean in 2009?
L: Not a whole lot, apparently everyone's doing it.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??
L: Well, its smaller than say New York or LA, so its easier to make connections, play shows,etc...but in the end its just like being a big fish in a small pond...and sometimes its kind of hard to break out from being at that point.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
L: We're recording a two disc second album. Its going to be completely different from the first one, but somehow cohesive to our sound. Our music video for Destroy Me is in post production, and is being released in the next couple of months. We're releasing a single through Origami Records in LA, and we will be releasing our album, The Only Years, before the year is over.And we're playing lots of shows in the next three months, so keep checking our space.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
L: We'll be releasing it in December, probably, until then you can get it by coming to our show and buying it. We recorded and mixed it at our studio in the Tenderloin

LB: Was there a local show you remember that inspired you to start a band??
L: Not a local show...but it is inspiring to go watch an insanely good band just rip it out. We're all really into this band, Leopold and his Fiction, they're probably one of our favorite SF bands.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
L: Mezzanine for the sound and Rickshaw Stop for the vibe

LB: What's this SFxSD thing all about?
L: We kind of just signed on to play it, but I'm going to venture out on a limb here and say its San Diego bands vs San Francisco bands.

LB: Have you played El Rio before? What do you like about it??
L: We, as a band, haven't played El Rio, but I love the outdoor set-up, and the whole vibe of the place is really great. It's definitely one of SF's better dives.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
L: Can't divulge that.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
L: We sacrifice a virgin.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
L: I think as always, live music has many tentacles. I'd like to think that art, fashion and music are starting to intertwine themselves more, that live music will continue to grow aesthetically and sonically. With technology becoming more advanced, and more available to the masses, I think the future holds some pretty amazing possibilities.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
L: A couple of our songs are available for downloads. I think its good to give people a taste of what you sound like. I love downloading new music, and if I think a band is good, then I'll support them by buying the vinyl record or cd, and going to their shows. Free downloads are essential to spreading the music around, but I think people need to remember that the music they love and listen to needs to be supported financially in some way.

Nov 21 2009 8:00P
El Rio w/ Music for Animals san francisco, California
Nov 27 2009 10:00P
Hemlock San francisco, California
Dec 19 2009 8:00P
Red Devil Lounge san francisco, California

Butterfly Bones - Nov 21 @ SFxSD Festival @ El Rio w/ Music for Animals & more

2009-10-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Reese Donohue (guitar/vocals)
Austin Fraser (bass/electronics)
Joe Gray (drums/lasers)
Steven Lance (keys)

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Butterfly Bones: what else is there?

LB: How did you find each other??
BB: joe and i knew each other since middle school. our first real interaction was a fight in front of the lockers. we met austin in our basement, and steve in the classroom.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
BB: Our first tour down to san diego. we were exploring the coast in the short bus, drove highway 1 all the way down listening to a mixtape of jewish party songs. we almost careened off the edge a few times, partied on the beach, ate the world's best burritos, got kicked out of santa cruz by the police at 3am after a handle of rum for being too loud then slept under the stars on another beach, picked up strangers, swam in the pacific ocean under the full moon, and...did i mention ate the world's best burritos?

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at
practice when you’re not practicing?
BB: steve's basement, sizzurp, chop and screw

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??
BB: it's one of the best scenes for electro/disco in america, so that's fucking rad. the worst part is you go on tour and you're not in san francisco anymore.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
BB: we're hibernating right now to come up with a ton of new, improved songs for SFxSD. we all feel like we've grown a lot as musicians in the past few months, especially after tour. right now we're cultivating and are gonna let it loose at SFxSD.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
BB: we just finished our debut ep a month ago. it's called pretty feelings and you can get the cd through our myspace using paypal, or on itunes pretty soon. we recorded in oakland at New, Improved Studios with eli crews. he's engineered a ton of rad bands: deerhoof, why?, xbxrx, restiform bodies, &c

LB: Was there a local show you remember that inspired you to start a band??
BB: not a local show, but i think seeing modest mouse at coney island a million years ago was pretty rad. that taught me the difference between a band and an album. that was pretty rad.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
BB: hmmm. Rickshaw Stop. or Bottom of the Hill.

LB: What's this SFxSD thing all about?
BB: This is a festival with a bunch of like-minded bands. Most of the time we get paired up with shitty punk acts (not garage, that's rad. pop punk shit) or post-rock acts and people leave the show early or come late. at sfxsd, we're playing with some really talented bands that'll make the whole day fucking amazing. it's a show i would go to if i weren't playing, which says a lot.

LB: Have you played El Rio before? What do you like about it?
BB: never.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
BB: yes, every show almost.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
BB: steve obviously, but he smells like musk not sweat.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
BB: beer on both sides. gin&tonics for steve.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
BB: interaction. most people i know don't wanna go to a show and watch tv. they either wanna dance or play along or something to participate. i always get really bored at shows where people wanna stand around and feel sorry for themselves. but that opens up a whole other thing.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer
free downloads??
BB: hell yeah, pass it around. that's why we sent it to blogs. if you look for a minute, you can find the whole cd for free on the internet. that said, we spent all our money on the cd and are hoping we sell enough to make rent next month. we're selling em cheap enough just so we break even, so that's kinda like giving it away for free. but yeah, the more the merrier, give it away if you've got it already and if you don't, it's there if you want it.

COMPLAINTS - Nov 12 @ PARKSIDE w/ Smalltown, Off With Their Heads, Young Offenders

2009-10-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

C.W. - D/V
K.W. - B/V
D.K. - G/V
J.G. - V/G

Parkside, 20 June 2009 (photo by Dan Hoffman)

The Started-its - Nov 3 @ Bottom of the Hill

2009-10-09T16:13:00.001-07:00

Bottom of the Hill 08-06-09 (credit: M. Valdes)

Theo Startedit - drum and vox
George Startedit - bass and vox
Joe Startedit - guitar and vox

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

Joe Startedit: I kept seeing single girls at shows and thinking, "I bet they're looking for a stud like me to sing in a band like The Started-Its!" So far, I've been incorrect, but I have noticed a steady increase in girls asking me if Theo and George are single...

LB: How did you find each other??

Joe: George used to be a lawyer. He was my attorney back in 2008 when I filed a restraining order against a crazy fan of my old band, The Phenomenauts. Theo was THAT crazy fan of The Phenomenauts.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

Joe: We just started The Started-Its not long ago, so with that in mind, and adding the fact that we're usually consistantly drunk, there aren't many moments to be memorable. I will say this, George is a great grape-feeder and Theo can massage feet like nobody's business. Band practice is my happy ending!

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

Joe: We practice as close as possible to a local bar and we rent the space from other SF bands. It seems that we contribute to the space by filling the mini-fridge with as much cheap beer as possible. PBR is quite prevailent. Most down time is spent coming up with BETTER band names than the one we chose... The Slipitins, The Dudeabides, Dookie Shakes, etc.

LB: What's does being a punk band mean in 2009?

Joe: For me, it means the same thing it did when I started playing shows 10 years ago, acting like you don't give a fuck about the things you care most about. It seems like to be punk you have to either be super apathetic or super amped about being destructive. I've always been a fan of amusing yourself before others, Andy Kauffman-style. Nowadays, I just want an excuse to drink more and smile. That might not be punk at all, but I definitely don't give a fuck if I am punk.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??

Joe: The best thing about being in SF is that I can go out, go crazy and find fun pretty much every night and everyone here is down to join me. The worst thing is that I'm getting very little motivation to ever grow up. Overall, I think it's a great environment though because we have the most matured imaginations ever! SFers are the smartest kids in America!

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

Joe: I'd like the people to know that I prefer beer over wine and whiskey over vodka. If you buy me a shot, I might forget your name, but I will love you like a dog whose belly had just been rubbed. We'll have a demo album out soon and we're playing at Bottom of the Hill on November 3rd. Buy me a drink and I'll give you our beer koozie.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

Joe: Our demo CD comes out this winter '09. It was pretty much recorded in Theo's bathroom. I sing best in showers and George plays bass better on the can.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??

Joe: All of the local bands I've loved have broken up. Now that I've finally noticed the trend, I've had to purposely hate the locals I love. I hate BAD FRIENDS.
LB: Favorite venue to Play??

Joe: Most singers really care about how their monitors sound or how convenient the back stage area is... I really don't. I like a place that is laid back but has enough experience to know how to run a venue. The Bottom of the Hill is pretty sweet and honestly SF bars are pretty on top of their shit. The only thing that bothers me is loading in via stairwell, but I can't blame a place for it's floor plan, can i?

LB: Have you played at the Bottom of the Hill before? What do you like about it?

Joe: This is where we had our debut show last month. I like their simplicity and professionalism. I like knowing that I'd only have to step on a few faces to get to the bar and that my friends on the sidelines are the only things between me and the toilet.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

Joe: The first Started-It to remove his shirt at a show will receive a harshly squeezed nipple-twister, guaranteed. With this in mind, only pants are allowed to be stripped!

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

Joe: Definitely not me. I sweat fucking roses.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

Joe: Rituals, traditions and habits are hard to keep when we're so busy drinking booze before, during and after the show... If anything, I'd say giving high fives has proven prominent.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

Joe: ... to kissing, marriage and then babies. If you want people to dance, feed 'em booze and something snappy (salsa or swing). If you want people to mosh, play fast punk/ska/hardcore at an all ages show. If you want people to stand around and nod their heads, play music that makes only yourself happy. I'm hoping live music is heading towards some middle ground, but I'm not psychic.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??

Joe: Yes! I love it! I strongly believe in free musics for all. My favorite bands are the ones that write because they love to write and they put it up for the world to hear. Music for sale is the crap on commercial radio and rarely has it ever been the crap for me. I hate bands that won't admit to being Tshirt salesmen. I will find a way to get your music free because I'm open-minded to how technology works. If you're in it for the money, design a good Tshirt or find someone to sue.

the sweet revenge - Nov 2 @ Kimo’s SF Bar (21+) w/Smokejumper

2009-10-09T16:05:00.000-07:00

Clint Primley - Vocals
Chris Seto - Guitars 1.0/vocals
James Martin - Bass
Erick Caceres - Drums/Vocals
and Gabe Ausiello - Guitar 2.0/vocals
(Gabe is a stand in as we are currently looking for another guitar player.)

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
The Sweet Revenge: To rock the tits off of young girls around the world (is that too much?)

LB: How did you find each other??
TSR: We all worked as testers for Sony in Foster City CA.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

TSR: Doing a full northwest tour, driving back from Portland OR with little to no sleep, taking a shower after 3 days, and then playing a homecoming show at Slims to a crowd of 250+

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

TSR: We practice at RHL in South San Francisco, CA. We drink "life juice" also known as beer. Shoot off fireworks, piss in the bushes, throw beer bottles, band business, beer drinking contests.

LB: What's does being a punk band mean in 2009?

TSR: We wouldn't know. We're probably the least punk rock punk band around ;)
To us it means everything DIY and having a close tight knit group of friends who all look out for each other.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco?? TSR: The scene in SF is full of elitists pricks. There actually is no scene. Unless you're a electro pop band, then you can be on the radio.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

TSR: Hmm...we're as real as it gets. 4 nerds who came together and wrote what they thought punk rock should sound like. We're different. We've recorded a full length and will be pushing that with touring and all sorts of shit.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

TSR: We have an EP called "Sleeping Cities" recorded at House of Faith and mixed by Aex Newport. You can get that here:
http://thesweetrevenge.bigcartel.com

Our full length "Creatures Of Routine" will be out in Jan. 2010 and was recorded at Compound Recordings with Joe Clements (ex-Fury-66) and mixed by Alex Newport.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??

TSR: Favorite local band = Air Show Disaster. memorable show = Success Fest 09 in Seattle WA any show we've played at Bottom of the Hill and Slims

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

TSR: Slims hands down. But that's a rarity. So Thee Parkside, Annie's Social Club

LB: Have you played at Kimo's before? What do you like about it?

TSR: We have. It's been awhile but we love the small basement feel of the venue.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

TSR: Uh, yes?

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

TSR: JAMES

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

TSR: hmm...no actual rituals. We're boring. We wake up, pack up, eat garbage, and play.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

TSR: Who knows. With all the ABC ordinances going around in SF hopefully not to the shitter.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??

TSR: Right now, downloading our music for free is awesome. We will be offering our full length for free before the end of the year. We will be releasing it digitally and then a full physical release in Jan. In late march/april we will be releasing a limited run of it on vinyl.

United Defiance - Nov 14 @ pissed off petes

2009-10-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

Noless- Guitar/Vocals

Joe- Drums

Dave- Bass/Vocals

Rich- Guitar/Vocals

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
United Defiance: We started United Defiance in june of 05' and it all just flowed so well together and we all became best friend, with equal goals.

LB: How did you find each other??
UD: Noless and rich knew each other through friends and rich and dave knew each other from other friends and dave and joe have been best friends since grade school....
so it all just kinda came together.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
UD: We practice in martinez in a machine shop where we practice drinking coors lite, water,jamison and non- carborated diet coke.....don't ask.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
UD: No one seems to like going to shows anymore, all the bands are in competition with each other, and they play there set and go sit in the parking lot with lawn chairs, instead of watching the other bands. its jus not like it used to be were all the bands supported each other and it was like one big music family..

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in Martinez??
UD: Its cool cause its right by the water and within 10 miles of most of the local venues.
the worst part is all the scenesters in bands, the ones that dont watch the other bands but expect to be put on the better bills and how everyone owns them something with paying dues.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
UD: United Defiance is currently getting ready to release our long awaited full lenth, do a couple small tours and get to know everyone that we can.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
UD: The cd will be released on itunes and mp3 site first. then we will be releasing the cd about a month later. but will be available through amazon.com.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
UD: We all have different syles we like. but we have been lucky to share the stage with some awesome bands: The Excuse, Taint, Rivals, Bullet 66, X.R.P.M, TSACivil War Rust, z.o.c, Kick Rocks, and many more, so its kinda hard to pick a favorite. our favorite show would have to be with D.I in concord, they were just really cool guys and the night just had a really good vibe.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
UD: Well we have not played alot of venues we try to book but some promoters are hard to get to. our favorite would have to be the red hat in concord or 924 gilman st, but they are 2 different styles of venues but both alt of fun.

LB: Have you played Pissed off Peet's before? What do you like about it?
UD: No this will be our first time playing pop's

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
UD: Well 2 of us indulge in alot of alchohol, but other than that not really

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
UD: Unfortunately down hill, kids would rather watch videos on you tube and twitter and all that shit, i sure do miss the good ole days when you would go to a random show and the place is just packed cause it was a show and it was the thing to do. not so much anymore.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
UD: As of right now you can find our downloads for free on garageband.com, it does not bother us. the more the marrier.

Scranton - Oct 10 @ El Rio & Oct 16 @ Pissed Off Pete’s

2009-10-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

First film day of "Jenny" video shoot. photo by Jane Tyska

Margaret Scranton (guitar) Wendy Russell (vocals) Jane Tyska (bass guitar) and Steven (drums)

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

Margaret: I set out to be a songwriter and needed a group. My heroes, such as Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen and David Gilmour were in rock bands, so I thought I should do that.

LB: How did you find each other??

Margaret: I've spent 20 years playing in bands in the Bay Area and this group came together through friends, family and fellow musicians.

Jane: I'm from the East Coast and I've been playing for 20 years also and had the fortune of meeting Margaret through a drummer I met at a jam night. We're also both photographers and enjoy sharing both artistic pursuits. I feel really fortunate to be in this band.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

Margaret: Playing on the huge stage in front of City Hall in the Battle of the Bands at this year's Pride celebration.

Jane: Ditto with the Pride show, great wall of sound! Also the "She Riffs" show we played at the Red Devil Lounge with Gretchen Menn of Sticks & Stones, Shelley Doty, Dolorata and Groovy Judy. It was a awesome celebration of Bay Area female lead guitarists.

LB: Where do you practice?

Jane: My garage. Classic right? The neighbors fortunately love us.

Margaret: Yeah, I'm old school.

LB: What do you drink at practice?

Margaret: Sierra Nevada or Sierra Nevada, it depends on my mood.

Jane: She's the boss.

Wendy: (our singer) I'm a rebel and drink Guiness.

LB: What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

Margaret: Talk.

Jane: Listen to Margaret talk.

Wendy: Listen to Margaret talk.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?

Margaret: The global competition. The internet makes it easier for us to be out there but we could be lost in an ocean of countless artists.

Jane: Some people's short attention span and inability to recognize the depths in art.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??

Margaret: The best thing is I get to sleep in my own bed and the worst is that I'm not on tour.

Jane: The best and worse thing is having a friend base while trying to build a fan base.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

Margaret: We write songs to inspire the soul and we plan on doing a new recording and release next year.

Jane: Margaret's really modest, but she just had a nice little write-up in the November issue of Guitar Player magazine. We're planning another "She Riffs" show in early 2010 and are making our way to L.A. again soon. We'll also be playing a bunch of shows in the Bay Area.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

Jane: Margaret's "Born Ready" CD is distributed through Tunecore and Snocap (dubious, we're checking them out!) and also ITunes and CDBaby.

Margaret: We recorded with Tim Ryan at 7th Circle Studios in Oakland, CA. Tim perfected the N-72 microphone pre-amp that you can find on www.seventhcircleaudio.com

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??

Jane: Margaret's side project the Hormones, a kick-ass all-girl Ramones tribute band. You guessed it, she's Johnny. Also, Sticks & Stones and Zepparella, featuring the amazing Gretchen Menn on lead guitar. I also love Luvhed. There are so many talented musicians in the area, I can't even begin to name a fraction of the ones I enjoy.

Margaret: My favorite local band is Wire Graffiti featuring Katherine Sawyer on vocals. Katherine sang on "Maggie's Butterfly" on my "Born Ready" CD. My most memorable show was seeing Van Halen at the Cow Palace at 1982. That was the moment I decided to become a guitar player.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

Margaret: Slims or Jane's garage. I'm old school, remember?

Jane: Red Devil Lounge or the Uptown in Oakland. In lieu of that, my garage.

LB: Have you played El Rio before?

Margaret: Yes, many times.

Jane:Not yet, looking forward to it and helping out Rocket Dog Rescue. Woof!

LB: What do you like about it?

Margaret: Love the Patio!

Jane:Don't know yet, get back to me after Oct. 10th!

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a
show or at practice?

Margaret: No.

Jane:Only in my garage.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig?

Jane: It depends on how you define smelly.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

Margaret: Pre-show, like to grab a cheeseburger or chicken burrito. Post-show, ice-cold Sierra Nevada and re-apply my Chapstick. I think Sierra should sponsor Scranton.

Jane:Love to protein up on pre-show sushi. Post-show a couple of beers and yoga with Margaret the instructor.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading?

Margaret: Right into the back pocket of our youth.

Jane: Hopefully in our newly digital world it will have a resurgence complete with smell and sweat.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads?

Margaret: No one sets out to work for free, but I do understand the need for promotion.

Jane: It's just about the same as the analog way of giving out free CDs for promotion which all fledgling bands do.

LittleBook - October 2009

2009-10-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

How To

History

Death Valley High - October 8th @ Cafe Du Nord

2009-09-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

04.15.09 - Voodoo Lounge - SJ

reyka osburn (vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming)
adam bannister (drums, programming)
chris sanders (guitar, vocals)
huffy hafera (bass, vocals)

LittleBook:Why did you start a band??

Death Valley High: For the love of music, the addiction of performing and the need to let off steam. When you're that enthused, it's natural to want to make music and show it off at any possible opportunity.

LB: How did you find each other??

DVH: Reyka had finished the first record "The Similarities of the Loveless and the Undead" and wanted to start playing it out. We were all friends and had shared stages in various different bands. Some of us had even played together in different projects so... we really came together by "Natural Selection"!

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

DVH: The Disney-rated answer? Turning non-believers into believers. Wouldn't Walt be proud? The NC17 answer will have to wait be exposed on NC17 DVD - if THAT ever happens!

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

DVH: We practice at Secret. We drink non-alcoholic AND alcoholic beverages. Sometimes ridiculously cheap BOOZE. Depends on how PRODUCTIVE we want to be. When we're not practicing we're either tellin jokes, talkin HELLS of shit or PLOTTIN, while Huffy plays his iPod.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?

DVH: Keeping track of a GAZILLION websites we're using...

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??

DVH: Best thing: LIVING in San Francisco. Worst thing: ABC trying to take all of our VENUES away!

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

DVH: We're releasing a new record, "Doom, In Full Bloom". We're incredibly excited about it. We plan to follow up with a tour and an EP almost immediately.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

DVH: You can find the first cd at cdbaby.com or at our shows. Or, you can download it from iTunes... We recorded the drums at the Hangar in Sacramento. The rest was recorded in a house converted studio in LA.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??

DVH: Fave local band may be The Dwarves. Them or Neurosis. Though, we're currently loving on Name... and our record release stagemates King Loses Crown & Thrill of it All.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

DVH: We might have to say House of Blues cuz you get treated SO WELL... but that's not SF. We'd probably say Bimbo's if we'd ever played there! Bottom of the Hill has great monitors as does Elbo Room.

LB: Have you played The Cafe Du Nord before? What do you like about it?

DVH: We've never played Du Nord before. The interior of that place is SO INVITING. It's a classy bar that supports deviant bohemianism! What's not to like?

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

DVH: Never onstage! Only to change OUT of a sweaty shirt for a dry shirt!

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

DVH: Reyka RARELY washes his clothes for fear of abnormal discoloring. He's a safe bet.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

DVH: Orange Sauce at La Vic's in San Jose. BUT, chanting "THE POWER OF SATAN" normally breaks the stiffness if the alcohol isn't already pouring.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

DVH: It's the future of music. There is SO much music now and everyone can record great little songs with a click of a mouse. The real challenge is to entertain people live and DIRECT. Musicians stand to find a bigger audience if the songs they've recorded can be interpreted live and grasp people. DJ producers fit into that category as well.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free, do you offer free downloads??

DVH: We've offered free downloads before. Giving downloads for free is cool if there's an end-user who is interested in MORE from the band and who will ACTIVELY participate. It sure doesn't hurt. Especially, if your music is like CRACK!

Death Valley High (Album Release Show)
The Thrill of it All
King Loses Crown
djs Omar (Popscene/Sixxteen) and Ben Abstrakt (RadBoyz)
also burlesque by HoneyImaHome

October 8th, 2009
Cafe Du Nord - 2174 Market St. San Francisco
21 and Over
$10
9pm
First 25 through the door get a free copy of the new album

Suck It! - Oct 17 @ thee parkside

2009-09-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

Suck It! is X, Aria, Munzter, AltallicA

Suck-It is playing thee Parkside on september 26th 2009 as well

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Suck It!: To have more sex.

LB: How did you find each other??
SI: Drinking at the Skate-park.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
SI: When Munz Joined.

LB: Where do you practice?
SI: Turk & Taylor in the ghetto a whiff of crack always sets the tone for some killer rock n roll.

LB: What do you drink at practice?
SI: beer, water, mostly.

LB: What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
SI: Bicker and complain.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
SI: Dealing with everybody else.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??
SI: Everything and nothing.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
SI: We are here to kick some ass, We will be recording soon.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
SI: Work in Progress.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
SI: Skuzz was cool and Depressor ruled.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
SI: Who ever lets us play.

LB: Have you played Thee Parkside before? What do you like about it?
SI: Yes. Its a cool spot, and the workers are killer peeps.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
SI: Occasionally Aria, to light her nipples on fire.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
SI: We are sponsored by Right Guard so there is none of that monkey business.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
SI: Cold Coors in a can and a super chicken Burrito, hold the sour cream.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
SI: Live music is going to remain on the same solid path as it has been on for a long time now. As long as there is someone that has a dream and an idea, there will be live music.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
SI: If we put the shit out for free its cool, but if not they are gonna take it any way, it cant be stopped, there is more important shit than that, that does not get taken care of.

al Qaeda - Oct 16 @ Bleakhaus

2009-09-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

AQ at the Che Cafe 8/19/09 pictured l-r: Gabe Serbian, Scott AQ, Bramdon Relf, Rob Crow, Mike Watt, Eric AQ, Erin AQ Photo by Chuck Pegot

Scott, Eric, Erin & Tom

Upcoming Shows ( view all )
Oct 16 2009 10:00P
Bleakhaus 2419 Mission St w/ Actuary & Sissisters San Francisco
Oct 18 2009 8:00P
Nor Cal Noisefest collab set w/ A.C. Way Sacramento
Oct 29 2009 9:00P
Sutro Bath Ruins Point Lobos Avenue & Merrie Way, w/ Acre, Brandon Nickell & Maleficia San Francisco

TRICLOPS! - Oct 12 @ The Independent

2009-09-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

CHRISTIAN - guitar

LARRY - bass

PHIL - drums

JOHNNY - vocals

Baysic Wonder - Oct 11 @ DNA Lounge

2009-09-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

J. Wonder, A.J. Slay, and Dead Boi Trey

The Trifles - Oct 10 @ Cafe Royale

2009-09-20T13:17:00.000-07:00

Linda Robertson (Cotton Candy, El Radio Fantastique) - vocals. Rob Reich (Lord Loves a Working Man, Gaucho, etc) - guitar. David Gantz (Japonize Elephants) - bass. Jason Slota - (Aphrodesia) - drums. And we simply must mention Ms Claire Mack - wardrobe wizardess of magical inspiration: the creamy convolutions, the ripe fruity harvest, the deep wet feel of custard, it's there thanks to Claire!

Rockfight - Oct 7 @ Thee Parkside

2009-09-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

BAND LINEUP:
John Collins: Lead Vox
Justin King: Guitar/Vox
Rob Britt: Bass/Vox
Kent Matson: Drums

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

Kent: To play hard and fast punk/hardcore and play shows

LB: How did you find each other??

Justin: Kent and I had been playing together for over a year and then we found John to play bass but we couldn't find a good singer. Rob found us through
craigslist, but by chance had played with John before in Public Safety (Sonoma County), so he took over the bass duties with John moving to vocals

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

Kent: John breaking his tooth on his mic at a show and then putting it in the kick drum (which the next day he found in the drum and took to the dentist)

John: or maybe seeing Tony Hawk at a taco shop in Carlsbad. It’s a toss up.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at
practice when you’re not practicing?

Rob: In a room (not big enough) in a warehouse in SF where the lights
go out for 20min every practice. PBR.

John: When we're not playing we're making fun of Kent for updating his facebook status.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco ??

John: Best – a few great venues like Thee Parkside, Bottom of the Hill and plenty of good touring bands coming through. Worst – not at lot of all ages venues.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

Rob: In the immediate future we have a show with No Use For A Name and the Perfect Machines on Oct 7th @ Thee Parkside and then w/ a bunch of other bands at the Hotel Utah on Nov 21. We are also continuing to work on our album, “Ready, Fire, Aim” which is almost finished and hope to have that done soon.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

John: Right now we are finishing up our CD. We recorded it with Scott Llamas at PopSmear studios in San Rafael . When it is finished it'll be available at our
shows, but for now we are giving away free demos of the album which has 3 songs, just to help get our music out to the public.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??

Rob: I think we all agree that La Plebe is one of the best local bands right now. As for memorable shows, John and I both saw Sick of it All at the Bottom of the Hill for
their live album some years back and also Joe Strummer at the Filmore and his free show at Amoeba Records were incredible.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

Justin: Thee Parkside and Bottom Of the Hill. They're both smaller in size, have good sound and staff, and the outside patio is clutch. It's better to play small places that are full rather than big venues that feel empty even if there are 200 people.

LB: Have you played thee Parkside before? What do you like about it?

John: Yeah, we've played there a couple times. The best thing about it is it is small and intimate and you don't have to be The Rolling Stones to fill up the room. The back/outside areas are nice to have, too.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

Rob: John did at our first show, but since then he sworn not to do it anymore... at least until he has a Bowflex body.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

ALL: John

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

Rob: A few drinks to warm up before a show and several more after.

John: I take in mass amounts nasal spray to clear my sinus... i'm pretty sure i'm getting a little high off because i use so much.

Kent and Justin: Burritos

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free, do you offer free
downloads??

Rob: We encourage it. We want to get our music to as many people as possible. If nobody gets to hear your music, making it is pretty pointless. Hopefully that will get more people out to our shows and open up other opportunities for us to play with really good bands. Playing live and to as many people as possible is the best part of being in a band. If it wasn't for that we would just be 4 guys who pay money for a room to play to each other.

John: We’ve got no delusions about making any money.

upcoming shows
Oct 7th @ Thee Parkside with No Use For A Name and Perfect Machines
Nov 21st @ Hotel Utah with Perfect Machines and 3 other bands.

The Nerv - Oct 3 @ Bender’s

2009-09-20T12:38:00.000-07:00

Flux Anything-Bass in your face!

Christopher Can't Bowl- Git'r

Miss~Anthrope- Vox

Chain Martinez- guitar,

Clitty Bob Powers - Drums

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

The Nerv: We started this band to get out our aggression and release the pressure in our skulls.

LB: How did you find each other??
TN: We collided in an atomic explosion of energy drinks, bicycles, and combat boots.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

TN: The time the cops got called three times because Chris and Shayne were fist fighting and totally drunk. Then they kissed and made up.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

TN: We practice in SF at a private downtown studio and we drink baby goat blood at practice and when we're not practicing we fight over the baby goat blood. Clitty Bob usually bogarts it.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?

TN: The economy sucks were broke ass musicians sucka!

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??

TN: The best thing about being a band in SF is that the SFPD has not busted any of our renegade shows. ( Yet! )

LB: What’s up with your Lp where can I get it, where did you record it??

TN: Our first full length vinyl LP( THE NOW CRISIS ) is finished. We recorded Analog with Lemon De George @ Crib Nebula and Yosh! @ Faultline Studios. Our record release party is Sat.Oct. 3rd w/ inferno of joy. This show is at Bender's this will be our first time there.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??

TN: Our favorite local bands are My Parade, the yes go's, and inferno of joy.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

TN: Our favorite places to play are Annie's Social Club, Thee Parkside, and Kimo's.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

TN: At the convergence of the ultimate circle pit we shall grace the spectators with our nudity.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

TN: The baby goat.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

TN: Lip syncing and choreographed wardrobe malfunctions.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??

TN: We don't mind pirates or vikings downloading our shit. If you are not a violent seafarer you can buy our record at our shows which comes with a free mp3 download card.

September 2009

2009-08-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

How To

History

The Solid - Sep 16 @ Elbo Room

2009-08-24T21:56:00.000-07:00

Brian Hagman, Justin Caucutt, Greg Randolph, Clementine

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

Clementine: I play in a Led Zeppelin band, and woke up one day and realized it was ridiculous that I wasn’t using that education by playing drums in an original project. Justin is a drummer who started playing guitar 4 years ago, so he was looking for his first band as axe-handler.

LB: How did you find each other??

Clementine: I heard Justin’s riffs on his website and knew we’d fit well musically. Greg played in Greenhouse Effect, so we knew of his playing and knew he’d have similar tastes. Justin knew Brian from time living in Denver, and we lucked out that he was open to adding another project to his life in addition to Black Lamb.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

Clementine: We’ve been together for less than a year, and have played three shows so far. Woo Hoo! The moments are all memorable so far.

LB: Where do you practice?

San Francisco.

LB: What do you drink at practice?

Clementine: We generally don’t drink much at practice until Brian (singer) comes into town to rehearse, and then it’s a non-stop party. It’s vodka for Greg, and pretty much anything Justin and Brian can get their hands on (Pabst Blue Ribbon, Natty Ice). I don’t get to drink before I play, so I always try to catch up after a rehearsal or show. I like hard stuff.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

Brian Hagman: It's a tie between Clementine and I. ;)

Clementine: Yep, we get the sweatiest for sure. But I think I’d reword it: The sweatiest member after a smelly gig.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

Greg Randolph: Alcohol, sinsemilla - Hail Jah!

Hagman: I plead the 5th, on the grounds that I not incriminate myself.

Clementine: I’m game for any indulgences. And have been the last man standing at the end of the night. Typical drummer.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?

Clementine: Like anything, there’s just more competition than there was in 1969. But I think the life of a musician has always been a not-so-easy road.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco?

Clementine: Cheap Mexican food.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

Clementine: We’re going to be doing a four-day tour up to Oregon in September, starting with the Elbo Room show on September 16.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

Clementine: Our debut 5-song EP, Arrivals and Departures, was recorded at GetReel Productions with the great Robert Preston. It was released in July 2009, and you can get it here: www.thesolidrocks.com and here: www.myspace.com/thesolidrocks.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

Clementine: My favorite in SF is Bottom of the Hill. Looking forward to bringing The Solid there soon.

LB: Have you played The Elbo Room before?

Clementine: The Solid has not, I have.

LB: What do you like about it?

Clementine: Matt is a great engineer and gets the place sounding great. I think it’s a cool room for heavy rock.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

Clementine: Thankfully, no.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

Clementine: I think it’s become more and more important in the culture, as people get more and more insulated in their lives. It’s a great way to get away from the screen and get another kind of power boost. I think it’s a great time for music all around. The only people who think the music industry sucks right now are the bigwigs who made money taking advantage of musicians.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free, do you offer free downloads??

Clementine: At this point, if people download our music for free and it makes them want to come to a show and rock out with us, it’s all good.

CLEMENTINE
www.clemthegreat.com
www.zepparella.com
www.myspace.com/zepparella
www.myspace.com/francisbakin
www.myspace.com/thesolidrocks

Street Justice - Sep 15 @ Knockout with Get Dead and Rat Damage

2009-08-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

Double Tim, Quincy, Susie, Ko, and Jeff

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Street Justice: We were a crack commando unit imprisoned for crimes we did not commit. We promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the San Francisco Underground. Today, still wanted by the government, we survive by singing the song of true pure justice. If you can find them, and nobody else can help, you can hire Street Justice.

LB: How did you find each other??
SJ: Casual Encounters on Craigslist.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
SJ: Our first published interview in a real music magazine.

LB: Where do you practice?
SJ: In The Basement/Holding Cell.

LB: What do you drink at practice?
SJ: Water mostly.

LB: What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
SJ: Argue mostly.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
SJ: Having to be around each other. The same thing as has always been tough about bands. Like that saying, "too many cooks ruin the soup."

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??
SJ: Best is that there are plenty of awesome shows. Worst is that nobody goes and if they do they don't really get very stoked.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
SJ: Trying to play a lot of cool shows with bands we like and go some awesome places. Like Montana or the South Pacific. We're looking for an amphibious van right now.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
SJ: Step one is to find/build a time machine. Step two is to travel to the not-so-distant future. Step Three is to find one of us or go to one of the record stores that will agree to sell our crap and Step Four is to buy it. We're recording with Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios in Oakland. It should be ready in a month or two.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
SJ: We are the best local band, and we don't play shows that aren't memorable.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
SJ: The Knockout.

LB: Have you played The Knockout before?
SJ: I think we may have but I doubt it was very memorable.

LB: What do you like about it?
SJ: It's very close to The Basement/Holding Cell.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
SJ: NO STOP ASKING

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
SJ: The dead rapist in the trunk.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
SJ: Tim likes virgin sacrifice and the rest of us do Yoga.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
SJ: Gettin' worse all the time, exceptin' for when we play shows. Techno and electronic music are ruining the planet.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
SJ: Music should be free.

Confessions Of A Corn Silo - Sep 12 @ 3:00P El Rio (afternoon set)

2009-08-24T21:38:00.000-07:00

Matt Reischling (vox-guitars-keys), Ricardo 'Tato' Pacheco (drums), Daniel Spree (bass) + when I'm lucky: Mike Locke (live & some in-house electric guitar) & Greg Lucas (back-up vox)

The Hooks - Sep 12 @ EL RIO’S

2009-08-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

Keith Hook - Guitar, Vocals
Ronan Hook - Guitar, Vocals
Colin Delaney - Drums

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
The Hooks: Kurt Cobain

LB: How did you find each other??
TH: Although the details are a little vague now. I was introduced to Ronan by my mother when she brought him home fron the maternity ward. Colin's cousin Eddie gave us Colin's phone number when we lived in Ireland, so we called him up on arrival and things went from there. Colin introduced us to our wonderful new bass player Chet.
What's your most memorable moment as a band??

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
TH: We practice where the tourists have a look of astonishment on their faces.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
TH: There is no clear way forward. I think the bands around have to pioneer new territory.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??
TH: Best: People. Worst: Bills

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
TH: I'd like them to find out for themselves at The Uptown on Friday September 11th.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
TH: Our old EP is on Itunes, CD Baby, Amoeba, the other usual outlets.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
TH: The Filthy Thieven' Bastards with Spider Stacey of The Pogues at The Hemlock. Our most memorable moment as a band!It was playing a headlining show in the civic center infront of the city hall very liberating and a great st.patricks 2008...

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
TH: Depends, Slims, El Rio, Bottom of The Hill, GAMH, Thee Parkside, The Crepe Place, etc., etc.

LB: Have you played EL Rio before? What do you like about it?
TH: Many times. Frank Gallagher (the sound engineer) and his dodgy Irish accent. Fook dem sez I.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
TH: No.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
TH: Very hard to quantify, ounces or millilitres?

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
TH: Nothing before, everything after.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
TH: More people will start to come out of hibernation as the economy gets better.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
TH: A lot less strongly than Lars Ulrich, but I think the basis of his point is correct that musicians need to get paid for their work.

In Desperation - Sep 9 @ Submission Art Space

2009-08-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

John
Daniel
Jared
Ryan
Joey

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

In Desperation: To spread the word of our army we are building. Join us.

LB: How did you find each other??

ID: We have been friends through music for a while. Starting a band just made sense.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

ID: Probably just being on tour and all the anxiety and excitement that goes with that. A certain show in Spokane comes to mind on St. Patrick's day. Hopefully there will be a lot more to come.

LB: Where do you practice?

ID: We have a rehearsal space in Sacramento run by a bunch of sandal wearing hippies that smoke weed all the time. A real professional place.

LB: What do you drink at practice?

ID: I sing, so I usually drink water. Sometimes coffee.

LB: What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

ID: Skateboard around the spot. Talk about shows, make fun of the nu-metal bands that we share space with.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?

ID: The internet. Its a blessing and a curse. Everyone can start a band, hype it up, get record deals, and seem big. But there is bands that exist outside of the internet. We use it for certain things, but its not our main hookup for anything. There is so many bands that it makes it harder to book shows and tours. Everyone is in competition with everyone else for dates and venues. Its weird. Quit being nerds.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in California??

ID: Worst thing is this state is huge and makes it hard to play out of state,because there are so many places to play here. You get stuck. Our next tour is mainly CA shows. Best thing? Someday it might break off and fall into the sea.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

ID: We have a tour of the west coast in September. A 7 inch coming out also on Heart In Hand Records.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

ID: We have two 7 inch records. No cds. But you can get them from us at a show or we have an online store too. The newer record should be available shortly.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show?? Favorite venue to Play??

ID: Dance for Destruction is a good local band from here that our friends of ours. The best venue in Sacramento right now is the Java Lounge or a house we have here.

LB: Have you played The Submission Art Space before?

ID: I played there one time with a different band, but In Desperation has not played there yet. September 9th we do though.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

ID: Haha, no.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

ID: Someone might get their feelings hurt. An EX member was definitely the smelliest.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

ID: Cigarettes for a couple people probably. Pizza is always good after a show. General anxiety is a pre show ritual for sure

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

ID: I'm not sure exactly, but hopefully in a less safe direction. Security, guarantees, and your "draw" are something we dont care about.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??

ID: As long as they download and then come out to a show if they are into it, that's cool.
We are not Metallica, I'm not going to cause a big fuss about it.

Vagabondage - 9/4 Kinda, Sorta (but not really) Unplugged 2263 Mission St.

2009-08-22T12:47:00.001-07:00

Vagabondage @ 515 Orchard Street - photo by Katrina James 2008
Emchy (Squeezies), John Flaw (Mouth noises)

Foxtail Somersault - Sep 4 @ Red Devil Lounge

2009-08-21T11:39:00.000-07:00

Becky Uline - Vocals

Elizabeth Anderson - Vocals

Seiken Nakama - Guitars

James Spadaro - Guitars

Brian Anderson - Bass

Mark Loftin - Drums

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

Seik- I had been out of the music scene for a long time, when a friend wanted to put together a band for a party he was throwing, just the taste of performing again, albeit a crowd of 30 or so, rekindled my interest in music.

LB: How did you find each other??

Seik - James and Mark, through the band morningspy, Becky, Elizabeth, and Brian through craigslist.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

Seik - Performing at Lollapalooza 08

Brian – and breaking down repeatedly on the way to and from it.

LB: Where do you practice?

Seik - Francisco Studios, near City College.

James - Francisco Studios, sitting on each other's laps.

LB: What do you drink at practice?

Seik - a diet cola

Beth- Whatever washes down the Cheez-Its from the vending machine

Becky - Tea. Or what is left of it after in inevitably spill it multiple times. Goes really well with cheez-its.

LB: What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

Seik - Fiddling with pedal or amp settings

Beth- Becky and I are usually trying to turn up our vocals when the boys aren't watching

Brian – I tend to annoy the living crap out of everyone else by playing TV show themes

Becky - Admire the beauty of the carpet in our rehearsal space. That and make faces at Beth.

Mark - Watch in amusement as all this chaos unfolds in front of me...

James - Practicing my dance moves and watching beth and becky tweak out on each other.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?

Seik - I think the current state of the economy is affecting venues, the turnouts for live acts seem lower now, and keeping a strong draw is challenge.

Becky - Getting exposure in a sea of amazing talent floating around out there in the vast world of the internets can be difficult. There are so many vehicles today to promote your music, it can be challenging to keep everything updated and interesting. At the same time, it's amazing to have the kind of reach that's possible. It's super cool to login and realize that people in Finland and Japan are listening and enjoying your music. But it's always best to have the local love, and to have people come out to your shows.

James - Dating

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in San Francisco??

Seik - Best, the SF scene is small enough that most of us all seem to know each other, there's a very nice sense of community I feel great to be a part of.. Worst - I think live music here in SF is not as popular as clubs with DJs.

Brian – I agree with Seik, but I also want to mention how irritating it is to try to find a parking spot for our gigs.

James - There are a lot of good bands in San Francisco, which is good and bad. There's even more people in San Francisco who want to be in bands, which is invariably bad.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

Seik -We're finishing up on our 2nd EP, should be out shortly.

Brian – I think we’ll continue to get better and better as we work out some of the challenges behind crafting some of the aspects of our sound live.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

Seik - Fathom can be purchased via our website, CD Baby, ITunes, Amazon, etc.. We recorded the drums @ Francisco Studios, the rest at my home studio

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??

Seik - I don’t have 1 favorite local band, but several. Astral, Tomihira, Halcyon High, Minipop,Loquat, LSD and the Search for God, Stripmall architecture

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

Seik - Great American Music Hall

James - Mezzanine

LB: Have you played The Red Devil Lounge before? What do you like it?

Seik - yes, a couple of times, they have some nice lighting on stage and a fog machine

James - The Red Devil Lounge is great, there's always new faces because of the foot traffic in that hood.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

Beth- Although it hasn't happened yet, it's not entirely unlikely that James would strip down on stage- he seems to like attention

James - Why waste time taking anything off when it's so much easier to show up with nothing but a pair of black socks on?

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

Beth- Does our van count as a member?

James - We're a pretty tidy crew, but I once toured with a guy who showered 3 times in 11 days.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

Seik - a shot of patron after a good show

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

Seik - Tough question, I really don’t know, I'm more focused on performing the best we can, and creating music.

Brian – I’m not so sure I’ve noticed any decline or increase in live show attendance. I would like to see more of an active curiosity here in SF regarding our local bands, and I’d like to think that the rising popularity of some internet sites might help facilitate that… just things that make it easier to stumble upon a band you might not have heard of otherwise, and then to become aware that they’re playing near you.

Becky - I think people will always want to go and see live music. It's such a different experience than listening to a recorded version. And like Brian said, it's super cool that you can check out bands online that are in town and hear what they are like before checking out shows. I've been going to a lot more shows over the years because of music I've come across online..

James - I think it's going to be interesting over the next few years as traditional means of revenue start to vaporize....ie...CD sales. I think musicians will have to rely on revenue from live shows more than they have in the past. Hopefully, this will push musicians to be more focused on performance.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??

Seik - I don’t mind if people download our songs for free, but if they really dig it, please buy our CDs. We don’t offer free downloads, but we've been included in a few compilations that were available for free.

Becky - Yes, buy our CDs pretty please, they're a really good deal!

James - I don't really care too much, all I know is that Pandora rules! I think it's funny that the people who get busted for downloading songs illegally are usually downloading really bad music. You never hear about people getting busted for downloading anything good, it's always some mainstream stuff the you can buy at your local Wal-Mart

Robots of Fury - Sep 3 @ Bottom of the Hill

2009-08-21T11:31:00.000-07:00

Valerie - guitar/vocals

Logan - Drums

Jamie - lead guitar

Amir - Bass

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

Robots of Fury: The band began as a project focused on experimentation with distortion and effects that could compliment solid songwriting. We also wanted to incorporate more artistic/creative elements into the imagery and persona of our band.

LB: How did you find each other??

ROF: We met through mutual friends and via the interwebs.

LB: Where do you practice?

ROF: We practice at Soundwave in Oakland.

LB: What do you drink at practice?

ROF: We drink beer of various origins at practice.

LB: What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

ROF: When we're not practicing at practice we sit around and stare at each other.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

ROF: A memorable moment I can reference would be after our show at Blakes on Telegraph this past June. It was our second show with all the current members of the band and we just nailed the set. After the show we had quite a few people come up to us wanting to buy merch. There was an excitement in the way these people approached us that implied we had made an impact on them. It was neat.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?

ROF: I think the hardest thing about being in a band in 2009 is pressure to package the band with some sort of image. We don’t make attempts at coming across in a contrived fashion that might make us more marketable.

LB: What's the best / worst thing about being a band in the Bay Area??

ROF: The Bay Area has many interesting groups of people and I think that gives bands more options to appeal to one of those groups. There is a certain appreciation for creativity and diversity here that does not exist in many other areas. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a certain “bandwagon” mentality that hinders people from discovering new bands on their own.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

ROF: We have evolved into a band that is pioneering a distinctive genre of music. “New grunge” as we have been called could spread in the same way that plaid shirts have become fashionable again. We plan to record new material and release our next EP in 2010.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

ROF: “Reverse in Reverse” is available both digitally and physically. Go to itunes, Amazon mp3, Napster or Rhapsody for digital copies. For a physical copy of the album, please consult our webstore: http://www.robotsoffury.com/store.html

LB: Favorite local band?

ROF: Scene of Action

LB: Favorite venues to play?

ROF: The Uptown, Annie’s Social Club, Blakes

LB: Have you played The Bottom of the Hill before??

ROF: We have not played Bottom of the Hill before.

Ornithology - Sep 1 @ Blondies

2009-08-20T22:58:00.001-07:00

raquel=drums
eli=guitar

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Ornithology: bum people out

LB: How did you find each other??
O: crummy jobs

LB: Where do you practice?
O: carpeted flavored room

LB: What do you drink at practice?
O: water

LB: What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
O: carpet fumes

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
O: being old

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??
O: we dont know we are new and our old bands were in other cities!

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
O: we like pizza and old cats

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
O: fuck it. tapes!

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
O: dadfag

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
O: thrillhouse(?) or some kids living room

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
O: no

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
O: pizzaburritonachfrenchfrysandwichtacowaffle

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
O: we have no idea, but down the toilet if sf is any indication.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free ,
O: their loss

LB: Do you offer free downloads
O: cassette tapes.

aug 26 parkside -casyandbrian/badfreinds/dadfag
sept 1 blondies -dadfag
sept 11 santarosa -pinsoflight/gibbs/triclops

Juanita and the Rabbit - aug. 8th at thee parkside.

2009-07-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

Brett - Fender Mark VI bass, vox & Elizabeth - Drums, vox

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
B: Never really had a choice.. just had to be done!! started my first band when I was 10, which was vocals and snare drum... been through about 20 bands since then; and this has been the first one that's been able to tour!!
E: I was interested in trying something new..I had been working as a clothing designer for years and was sick of it...
being in a band with my already best friend husband is the best work I have ever been a part of.

LB: How did you find each other??
B: We met at burning man in 1999, eloped 53 days later. don't judge...
E: Also I might mention, at a fire pit (of course) sharing a Hornitos Tequilla bottle as the sun rose.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
B: Driving over the bay bridge for our first national tour...
E: Viewing a spotlight video of us, that ran on a Seattle Music podcast/blog ..we were on a crappy hotel wifi connection and had to wait while it kept rendering..but it was our first unsolicited pr..and it was super exciting.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
B: We practice in our home.. aka mini-crib 12' x 20': half band-room, half dorm-room. the band room is pretty damn small. so when we're in there...we practice and sweat! then we get the hell out.
Juanita and the Rabbit: Sometimes beers, but we often practice earlier like 11AM... so coffee/tea and weed might be involved.
E: I was hot on margaritas for awhile

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
B: Well, it was gas prices; but they've come down from the $5 a gallon we payed last summer!! but really, just paying bills in general.
E: All of our hardwork will be lost when the world ends in 2012..never know!

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??
JTR: The weather. kidding, but seriously you leave s.f. in summer and it gets seriously hot around most of the u.s.!!! We thought about retreating to the trees somewhere, but we'd miss our huge community we're a part of. There are tons of great venues to play, and awesome bands to play with!! plus our friends rule.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
JTR: Well, we're getting ready to head out in Aug. for another national tour to promote our most recent cd release...also, we're going to start work on a new video with our good friend and director lily amirpour in los angeles.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
JTR: We just released our 2nd recording "out of the grave:alive in the fire"; recorded by tim green at louder studios. It's available ITUNES, amazon, cdbaby and occassional free song downloads.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
JTR: So many great local bands. but for sure bigbluewhale, and disastroid are some of our favorite people!!
E: Memorable show: last year at the parkside after brett had worked a random 14 hour day then played a gig, we went on last and to say the least, we were hammered. Brett's shirt came off and it all got crazy!

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
JTR: In S.F.- the Elbo room. but, Alex's bar in Long Beach, the Ruby Room in San Diego, and Check Point Charlie's in New Orleans are all pretty tops!!

LB: Have you played the El Rio before? What do you like it?
JTR: Never played the el rio. but love the back patio.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
JTR: As mentioned before..at thee parkside, my shirt was removed...
E: We've been know to do a little scantily clad practice here and there. its hot in there!!

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
B: me..(brett)

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
JTR: Pre- beer, and a jack and coke.
Post- a kiss
Post Post late night drunk- string cheese and chips

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
B: Hopefully, smaller, more intimate venues!!
E: I'm thinking private house parties and clubs inside airports.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
JTR: Well, I'm always conscious that when something is given for free, people don't value it as much as when they buy it.. but yes, we'll give away a free download on bascene.com and ocassionaly on our myspace and other music blog sites.

August 2009

2009-07-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

DALTON - Aug. 4th @ Thee Knockout

2009-07-26T13:37:00.001-07:00

Steve Dog - Vocals
Melanie "Mansalughter" Sharkwater - Bass/Vocals
Shelby Cobras - Guitar/Vocals
Enrique Del Tigre - Drums

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Dalton: I wanted to write a rock opera about Patrick Swayze defending the Earth from an alien invasion using nothing but Tai Chi and his righteous dance moves, and I needed a backing band and some killer tunes. And, you know, marketability. But two out of three’s cool.

LB: How did you find each other??
D: I found our guitarist Shelby flipping steaks at a greasy diner in San Jose. As soon as I saw him, I could tell he was a dude whose guitar solos made grown men weep. I was like, “Let’s make some fucking history bro,” and he was like, “Solid.” Then we bumped fists. We recruited our bassist Melanie from a rogue female biker gang, and there’s a sordid story behind it that I can’t recount in print, suffice to say that many heads were broken that day, as were many hearts. Our singer Steve Dog is actually a wizard from the future who is searching through time for his lost magical powers—but honestly, that’s pretty obvious to anyone who meets him.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
D: Every moment in Dalton is priceless and irreplaceable, but if I had to pick just one, I’d say Budokan ‘88. Epic doesn’t even come close to describing it. A close second would be the time on Headbanger’s Ball when Steve Dog chugged that bottle of Beam and punched Ricky Rachtman in the face.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
D: We have a serious band drinking problem. We kill several cases of beer at every practice, and usually a bottle of vodka too. We actually practice in Shelby’s basement just to hide our shame. About a year ago, all the other bands we know had a band intervention and convinced us to check into band rehab. We got sober and discovered band Buddhism, and for awhile we were, like, totally transcendental. But then we started drinking again at this party this one night, and one thing led to another, and pretty soon we were “practicing” in the basement again. It’s shameful, I know.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
D: First off, let me say that you should ignore everything that Erik has written so far. He is a pathological liar with mommy issues and a drinking problem. That being said, I guess the hardest thing about being in a band in this particular day and age would be all the d-bags one has to deal with on a regular basis. I mean, if I were playing in a band in, say, the 70's or 80's (hell, even the 90's), I would totally be hanging out with a bunch of mustachioed, hairy-chested, Camaro-driving uber-Bros. But here in 2009, I get stuck with a bunch of new school posers who dig Autotune and Phil Collins. All the real Bros died out a long time ago. It's sad.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??
D: The burritos.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
D: Considering legal ramifications and "age of consent" laws, the less you know about Dalton the better. What I CAN say is that we're recording our first full-length VERY soon, and it will be the best thing you've ever heard. Also, we're all getting together to watch "Mortal Kombat" on VHS tomorrow night after practice, if anyone wants to stop by.

LB: what’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
D: You should NOT get our CD, it was recorded by the band in our basement practice space and it totally sucks. Wait for the full-length. But if you MUST have it, come buy one at a show. Better yet, save your money and download it for FREE over at Cosmic Hearse (http://www.cosmichearse.blogspot.com/). Just type "dalton" into the search bar. There's a link on our Myspace page, too (www.myspace.com/daltontheband). But I'd advise against it.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
D: The Corruptors, Cobretti, Orb of Confusion, Fat Bottom Girls, The Ramoneskis, The Meat Sluts, Walken, Tres Hombres XXX, Officer Down, and Warriors of the Snake Pit are all awesome SF bands that everyone should check out. But the best band in the Bay Area (BY FAR) is this death metal band called CRETACEOUS that plays brutal fucking songs about dinosaurs. They are AMAZING. Seriously.
As far as memorable shows go, I don't really remember any.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
D: Annie's is great but Bender's lets the bands drink for free all night. So Bender's.

LB: Have you played The Knockout before? What do you like it?
D: My other band has played there a couple times. But Tuesday's show will be the proverbial popping of Dalton's Knockout cherry. I think what I like best about The Knockout is its proximity to Taqueria Cancun. EPIC fucking quesadillas, bro. HELLA tasty.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
D: Only our pants.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
D: Melanie's boyfriend, Mike.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
D: Pre-show: Cough syrup and Whip-its.
Post-show: Oxycontin and Vitamin Water.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
D: That's a tough question. But a fair one. Live music is alive and thriving, as always. Despite the economic downturn and rising admission costs, there will always be demand for entertainment. People need that means of escape from everyday life, that chance to cut loose. So until people learn to spend their money on more worthwhile investments (like tacos or Pogs), the live music scene will carry on as strong as ever. People are pretty dumb.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
D: Like I said before, we offer our songs for free download. No sweat. We are 100% in favor of free art. All music should be free.
Until we get a record deal. Then it's no longer OK.

ArnoCorps - Aug 23 @ Thee Parkside -End of Tour Party w/A Band Of Orcs, Untapped Fury and Dagobah!!! GO!!!

2009-07-25T12:15:00.000-07:00

Current lineup:
Holzfeuer, vocals
Vielmehr Klampfe, guitar
Inzo der Barrakuda, guitar
Gellend Adler, drums
Karl Dichtschnur, bass
Toten Adler, bass (on hiatus)

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

ArnoCorps: ArnoCorps was formed with the ballsy goal of restoring integrity to the ancient heroic tales of the Austrian mountain communities. Many of these tales were bastardized and exploited in Hollywood blockbuster movies. Let me tell you, my great grandmother must be spinning in her alpine grave every time somebody watches these movies like Terminator, Total Recall and Commando. These stories were meant to be told through word of mouth and music! Come on! With this heroic lore, hearing it through ArnoCorps music, we enable people to feel the Pump, for crowds to unite in ballsy defiance and to become goddamn heroes and sheroes out there, it's goddamn fantastic, let me tell you! Alright!

LB: How did you find each other??

AC: Shortly before being exiled from Austria, my last lineup were all thought to be killed in a plane crash, so I came to the Bay Area and held auditions for a new, even more heroic ArnoCorps. Barrakuda our guitarist, that goddamn stud showed up with a miniature amp strapped across his chest, guitar in his hands and a dirty shovel on his back, along with a bag of skulls. Fantastic. We met Vielmehr Klampfe, our other ballsy guitarist, when he showed up naked at ArnoHQ later in 2003 and said he was from the future and was here now to protect us. What's going on? He played for us all these fantastic songs we hadn't even written yet, so we had to believe him, right? Exactly. We met our ballsy and heroic drummer Gellend Adler when he escaped from the slave-driving strudel makers in Austria who were forcing him to push the gigantic Wheel of Pain around and around to grind the finest grains and wheats to make award-winning strudels. His older brother, Toten, has played with us from 2000 until this year and now he is on hiatus to begin raising his new daughter. He's living with her up in seclusion in a log cabin, feeding wild deer and all this kinds of things. We were recently reunited with my old bass player from Austria, Karl Dichtschnur, who this whole time we thought was dead from that plane crash! Now he's back after 11 years being imprisoned in a basement and it's fantastic! This is huge, right there.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??

AC: How do you pick just one? Let me tell you, one of my personal favorite moments was 4th of July last summer. It was the first night of our second UK Tour. We had a rowdy crowd in London, England at the legendary Dublin Castle venue, many couldn't even get in, it was over-sold and had so much crazy energy. We got an encore after our set, so we came back out and did a cover of the Hulk Hogan entrance theme, "Real American". Can you imagine what it's like to convince a sold out crowd of Brits to sing along in unison to the chorus "I am a real American, fight for the rights of every man!", on the 4th of July, American Independence Day, in London, England? Ha ha! I challenge any other band in the world to try that one without getting killed! We have respect for our crowds and we unite with them in ballsy defiance, so we can get away with these kinds of shenanigans, right there. The UK is like our home away from home.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?

AC: We practice at Soundwave Studios in Oakland, right there. Of course, we're drinking beer and other fantastic beverages, just like we do when we work out. We rock in a very disciplined way, though. No screwing around. We're paying by the hour, so if we're not rocking, we're using the facilities to get a pump in other ways, just doing exercises and lifting heavy things, doing repetitions, all this.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?

AC: For ArnoCorps specifically, it's been dealing with Toten's leave of absence this year, but Karl coming back has made that a much easier transition. Karl is the guy who first inspired Toten to rock the way he does, so it will be a special treat for the crowd to see this legend in person.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??

AC: Let me tell you, for ArnoCorps, the best thing has been getting voted the Best Local Band last year in the SF Weekly Reader's Poll! ALRIGHT!! Thank you San Frantastic!!! That was a huge honor and a big surprise because we didn't even know we were in the running! Let me tell you, this is a great place for bands to pursue their craft. The venues here are fantastic and the people here love live music. The City is very supportive of bands that strive to do something original. If you aren't just repeating things that have been done already and show a lot of sincerity in your approach, it doesn't take long to earn respect. We love San Frantastic and are proud to represent the Bay Area when we tour other countries. Despite our Austrian roots, this is our home, right here.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??

AC: We've just released The Ballsy EP and it is without a doubt the most fantastic, ballsiest recording we've ever put out. Listen to The Ballsy EP and you cannot help but feel good about yourself, it really helps motivate people to take on the world, to accomplish their goals, to get out there and take some names. We're getting out there to support this release by doing a Ballsy West Coast Tour, kicking it off at Gilman Street in Berkeley on August 14, then heading to Hollywood, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle and all the way up to Victoria, BC and then back home to San Frantastic for a crazy party at Thee Parkside.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??

AC: Right now The Ballsy EP is available for digital download on iTunes and Amazon, but the physical release will be available in any record shops this August. We've just signed with Vulcan Sky Records, which is run by Thor the legendary rock warrior and former bodybuilding champion. We recorded at Popsmear Studios in San Rafael with the Scott Llamas, the great. Our previous CD, "The Greatest Band Of All Time" is available at interpunk.com or iTunes.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??

AC: We've probably performed more with Count Dante & The Black Dragon Fighting Society than any other band, but there are too many fantastic local bands to even begin to mention. Most memorable show was our first time headlining Slim's, last summer. It was a sold out crowd, playing with Thor, Stone Vengeance and The Gun & Doll Show. People are still talking about that show. We had fans that came long distances to be there, from LA, Portland, and even Texas!

LB: Favorite venue to Play??

AC: That's a tough one. We love a wide range of venues. From the Stork Club to Great American Music Hall and everything in between. Bottom of the Hill, Annie's Social Club, Gilman Street. Any venue in Belfast, Northern Ireland is a guaranteed party for ArnoCorps. We can't wait to go back there.

LB: Have you played Thee Parkside before? What do you like about it?

AC: Exactly, we have played Thee Parkside a few times before, but it's been a few years, now. We chose Thee Parkside for our end-of-tour party coming up Sunday August 23rd because of the heroic atmosphere, there. It's going to be the most fun at any show this year, in San Frantastic, we guarantee!

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??

AC: I think only Gellend Adler, our fantastic drummer does takes his shirt off at shows or practice. For a long time he was the Undisputed Inter-gender Wet T-shirt Champion of the World, so he had a lot to be proud of, right there. Any chance to show his pectoral symmetry, he's there. Guitarist Barrakuda goes sleeveless a lot of times to show off his ballsy ArnoCorps tattoo emblazoned on his arm, too. The rest of us are good about leavign the uniform on, we don't want to distract from our message with our fantastic physiques, right?

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??

AC: Come on, none of are smelly, we all smell like roses! Big, sweaty, muscular, testosterone-driven ballsy Austro-Californian roses, right there.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??

AC: Exactly, let me tell you. Before each show, we enjoy smoking fantastic stogies out front of the venue, out there with the goddamn heroes and sheroes who came to see us rock. We also drink Red Heat, which is a mix of a Russion drink with an Austrian drink, vodka with Red Bull. We also like to drink many kinds of beers and sometimes a fantastic protein shake to enhance the muscle-building properties of our music and performances. As many know, every morning before an audio assault we start the day right by eating green berets for breakfast.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??

AC: When ArnoCorps first came to California in 2000, we were seen as very strange for having uniforms, having the smoke machine, the chopper sound over the PA, the jungle trees, interacting with the audience and all this focus on our stage performance being something people would remember. But now, lots more bands are putting more thought into presentation and thinking about how to best show the audience a good time and I think that's fantastic. If people just wanted to hear the songs, they could stay home and listen to a CD, right? Live music is about escapism, leaving the worries of the world behind and immersing yourself in the music and experience of the live performance. That has always been important to ArnoCorps even when it was not considered "cool" by other bands, so we think it's great that this approach is gaining acceptance even in the underground. ArnoCorps is always ahead of the curve, right there.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??

AC: Before we got signed to any labels, we offered all of our songs for free download, for many years. We think it's fantastic! But when a label puts money into the band and they aren't getting the rewards we are, you know, of feeling the pump backstage, in the crowd, up on stage, come on, it's like an orgasm for us! But the label, they don't get that, so I don't blame them for not wanting to give away free downloads. They put money into getting the CDs manufactured and promoting the band and all this, so they need to make sure they can sell downloads along with CDs and all this. We still have a couple of free download available on arnocorps.com, though. I know there are torrent sites that have our album for illegal download and one of them had over 35,000 downloads of our last album, but we just see that and think, hey, people are feeling the pump from our music, how can we complain? I think in terms of illegal downloads ArnoCorps has gone platinum! Hey, as long as they come out to the live action adventure audio assaults, right? GO!!!

OHAPOLLO - Aug 7 @ SUBMISSION Balazo

2009-07-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

chris - vocals

richard - drums

matt - guitar

max - bass

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
OHAPOLLO: well, Chris and Matt were in some bad hardcore band around 2005 both playing guitar. We broke up, and recruited our good friend max and Ryan to start a new project. Long story short, we sucked, played a lot of local show, kicked out Ryan our drummer, got our good friend Richard to play drum and "officially" started this band. We all found some common ground between our wacky music tastes and kept pushing it for 2 years, because we love playing music, and we have no lives.

LB: How did you find each other??
O: We more or less have gone to school together since middle school, halfway through high school we all realized we drifted to similar ideals, the rest just fit together in the following years.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
O: Either the first show we played with Richard, where we had practiced 5 songs with him 2 days before, and played a packed house show in San Jose. The show was crazy, people were jumping all over us like it was a home town show, but we had never played there before. That was awesome, Or the first time we played a hometown show after about 3 months of recording and out of town shows, and more then half the crowd knew our lyrics, that's pretty memorable when you hear the crowd louder then the music.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
O: We practice in our practice studio in Santa Rosa that we built in one of our garages. Its kind of small and gets really hot and messy, but serves its purpose and has a couch. We mostly drink water with crushed ice, pretty boring to be honest, but like i said, it gets hot and we gotta stay hydrated! we argue about transitions, take a lot of smoke breaks, sometimes write rap songs. mostly practice though, we usually live in different cities so when we are practicing we try to stay focused.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
O: Venues are hard to come by, and seems like the DIY scene is more centralized to who you know and who is willing to help you. so we are caught in the middle and have a hard time booking shows or getting help out of the north bay. But we can't complain, nothing is really hard about being in a band, its supposed to be fun, and we intend to make it that way.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??
O: Not much, we are relatively new to SF, and most of us still live in between cities. That makes it hard to make as many connections as we would like. The diversity of the city is wonderful though, we just hope that we can become fully immersed and accepted into it.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
O: We have a lot going on with us actually, we are writing a new album, Chris is on guitar and vocals now, allowing for a lot of new options musically. We constantly want to reinvent ourselves until we have a sound that we are totally happy with, we always keep some roots intact, but the moods and content was due for an overhaul. Other then that, we would like to meet everyone who is interested in us, or not interested in us, we love making new friends and getting insight into everyone's lifestyles and opinions.

LB: what’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it?? O: Its old, but you can download our most recent effort here! http://www.mediafire.com/?ezmkmiy15xt Seriously do it. We recorded with our really good friend Jeff at the Lions Den Studio in Sacramento. he is rad and super cool. everyone should probably record with him.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
O: We really love a lot going on in the north bay right now, i think there are so many good bands coming out of everywhere. Collectively we couldn't pick any one local band to be honest. Everyone doing anything should keep it up, unless you are playing metal, then you should probably stop.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
O: There was this house in Petaluma called the Church house. we played there 2 times a month for about a half a year until they had to stop having shows. it was so small and personal, and we got to get drunk after playing everytime. so that wasn't too bad either.

LB: Have you played the Submission Gallery before? What do you like it?
O: We haven't, but are really looking forward too it. we've been to a few shows there and they were all awesome. just the kind of vibe we like when playing!

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
O: haha, at practice we do because it gets so hot. i don't think we ever have at shows, max is almost a male model though so we may see a change at upcoming shows.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
O: Chris, he is dirty already for the most part, after shows it can only get worse.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
O: Nothing before a show that will make you shit your pants. Anything after a show that will get us intoxicated. except Matt, he likes Del Taco.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
O: Probably Youtube streamed concerts. No real shows, thats the only logical step to take right? Oh god i hope not.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
O: Like we said before, just do it. we are all for it,

Zach Hash Group - Aug 13 & 27 @ Blondies-540 Valencia

2009-07-15T19:55:00.000-07:00

Michael Abraham-Guitar, Mitch Marcus-Tenor and Alto Saxophone, Piano and Nord Electro, Jarrett Cherner-Piano and Nord Electro, Viv Savage-Organ, Keyboards and Piano, George Ban-Weiss-Bass, Sylvain Carton-Alto and Baritone Saxophone, Bass, Scott Thompson, Eugene Warren, Eric Vogler, Josh Lippi-Basses, Alex Calatayud-Brazilian Percussion-Pandiero and Timba

LittleBook: When did you start a band?? Zach Hash Group: I first started this group when I was 25.

LB: How did you find each other?? ZHG: We all met at different venues around the mission district.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band?? ZHG: The most memorable moment as a band is playing each others original music

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009? ZHG: the hardest thing about being in a band in 2009 is the limited amount of venues to play. DJ's have taken over and the economy has packed a punch.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next?? ZHG: Were working on some new material for later this year.

LB: Have you played Blondies-540 Valencia before? What do you like it? ZHG: We have played Blondies several times over the years.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading?? ZHG: Live music will always survive through the changing times.

Kwisþ - Aug 25 @ Brutal Sound Effects Festival

2009-07-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

8/25/2009 8:00 PM at Brutal Sound Effects Festival
2700 16th St, San Francisco, California 94103
Cost: $3

Walter Funk
Lenny Bove
They both play strange instruments, electronics and otherwise.

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Kwisp: Passion of music, desire to spread our sonic weirdness, and make use of strange electronics and instruments. Also a strong dislike of much of today’s popular music, so instead of complaining, why not change things?

LB: How did you find each other??
K: We met playing in Cork Marcheschi’s band, Fifty Foot Hose. They're an experimental electronic rock band, who started over 30 years ago in San Francisco, way ahead of their time. They're an amazing local underground legend, a very early example of rock bands utilizing live electronics.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
K: So many great moments, but at recent show we were slated to come on at exactly midnight on Easter morning, at an event where everyone were dressed like rabbits. There were multiple stages, the act before our set was a DJ who was playing typical dance music. So we came on, did our slowed down twisted elf-cat Polynesian chorus song, freaked the hell out of them, and they ran away like crybabies, all dressed like rabbits, the exact second Easter began. The cool thing was, lots of other people came in after that, we played for two hours straight, and it was an awesome gig. There was just that wacky transition.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
K: We practice at our secret location. We drink Bhang Lassi. When not practicing music, Walter works on Hologlyphic movies, and Lenny works on paintings, sculptures, and Tesla Coils.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
K: It's a mixed bag, some things have always been hard, some things are better now, some were better in the past. Hard to define.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??
K: Lots of diverse bands to play with and great audiences who appreciate unique music.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
K: Our music is very esoteric and diverse. We are playing the International Ambient Industrial Music Festival in San Francisco early fall. A few new CDs on the way, one is a collaboration with Daevid Allen from the amazing band Gong.

LB: what’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
K: There are two CDs out now and also some comp tracks out there. The two CDs are called Teriyaki Vest Odyssey and Altered States of Alien Kwisp. The first one you can get on CD Baby and the Alien Kwisp CD you can get from the Gong website.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
K: We love so many types of music, rock, Gamelan, electronic weirdness, free jazz, and Tantric Appalachian Pygmy music.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
K: No Favorites, so many great places.

LB: Have you played El Rincon before? What do you like it?
K: No, but Kwisp has played Noise Pancakes several times, which is kind of related to Brutal Sound Effects Festival. Walter also did a Brutal SFX Festival with his Hologlyphic Video Art.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
K: We are Pufferfish, and do our appropriate ritual, listening to Puff the Magic Dragon backwards.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
K: Multiple directions, there will be more stale plastic lip synch music out there as technology progress, but hopefully more live acts with actually perform their music again. So many performances these days are canned, we are trying to move away from all that canned crap, but still use cool technology to make live music.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
K: We have tracks that people can download. There is also stuff for sale, while we'd like to get support as artists as we can continue to create more music, we don't want to police the internet or invade people's privacy.

TARTUFI - Aug 23 @ The Bay Bridged and Whiz Bang Fabrics Present: The Second Annual Rock Make Street Festival, Treat St. Between 17th and 18th

2009-07-14T23:43:00.000-07:00

Roof of Hal Samples Space, Dallas. Filing video for Mourning's Wake" Photo by Roderick Peña

Tartufi is Lynne Angel and Brian Gorman.

LittleBook: Why did you start a band?? Lynne: I have been playing in bands since I was a kid. It just seemed like the obvious thing to do after moving to SF.
Brian: Why do fat people get fat? They do what they love... or what they love does them... or maybe they have issues with expressing their love. We started a band to avoid the inevitable onset of childhood diabetes.

LB: How did you find each other??
Lynne: Brian and I met at a show and kept on running into each other. At one point he told me he had just become a taxi driver and I thought "this man is BING BONNNG - I must play music with him".
Brian: It was like one of those old Reeses Peanut Butter Cup commercials- the "you put your peanut butter in my chocolate" ones. We were both working in different projects and doing well but not really with anything too significant, and then we met and blaaaamo!!!! We were a salty sweet treat that would be shaped like eggs at Easter and Christmas trees at Chanukah, and still be just as good. No, better.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
Lynne: Why .... I do believe next week will become our most memorable.
Brian: There was that time that Lynne needed a kidney and I happened to be a perfect donor match. Of course I offered up my big bean without hesitation. Lynne protested though and we stayed up for hours discussing life, family, love of friends, art, and how our choices shape our life's direction. We cried. The sun came up and we had just decided we would share a "band kidney", when Lynne's doctor called. Turns out she was just gassy.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
Lynne: At Secret Studios in SF. We drink coffee, tea, water or soda pop. When we are not practicing we are trying to exorcise the demons that live in our gear, re-arrange our rig, or do some cable re-routing job that takes 4 hours only to discover that it was a bad idea, feedback does indeed hurt like a mother, and that we had best put everything back the way it was lest the demons get angrier.
Brian: We practice in a perfect dark box in San Francisco. We drink coffee, tea, soda (diet for Lynne), or water. We don't drink or fuck around at practice, it's all music and business and usually great fun.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
Lynne: Living in a city that is so very expensive.
Brian: Our bosses at Tartufi Inc. have yet to offer a compassionate health insurance program for their employees. We are considering a strike.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco?? Lynne: The scene here is AMAZING and this city has been very kind to us in terms of support and affection. There are a TON of incredible bands coming out of the Bay Area and the art scene in general is consistently inspiring. I love it here.....bad.
Brian: There are a million bands and great musicians here. To stand out you really have to work for it, and to stick around for more than a single album cycle you have to work even harder. I like the push that the city gives in that respect, it sets the stage for a cultural meritocracy.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next?? Lynne: That we travel heavy but it is for good reason. We are about to tour the UK supporting Marnie Stern and play the Super Sonic festival in Birmingham.
Brian: There are just two of us and yes, we are married, brother and sister, with child, and afraid of heights and depression (as well as snakes), but we love fireworks and popcorn. Next up we have a UK Tour, and when we return we are co-organizers of the Rock Make Street Festival in SF (w/ The Bay Bridged, Whiz Bang Fabrics, and Noise Pop). We run a rock music school for kids ages 4-7 called Saturday Morning Rock Out! (w/ local celebrity Paco Romane) and we'll be starting a new session on August 1. We will be booking a few big, all day festival type things around the Bay Area in the fall, planning on a EU tour in October and November, and will spend the last days 2009 finishing writing our next album.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it?? Lynne: You can get Nests of Waves and Wire at your local independent record store, Amazon.com, Itunes and at shows. We recorded it with Tim Green at The Hangar in Sacramento and Louder Studios in SF.
Brian: Looks like Amazon is your best bet currently. We recorded it at The Hanger in Sacramento and at Tim Green's Louder Studios in SF.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
Lynne: Low Red Land. Our triple release with them at Slims was rad.
Brian: Low Red Land.... I just heard some piano parts for their upcoming acoustic recording project- holy crap this is going to be good

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
Lynne: Bottom of the Hill is great, as is The Independent, The Rickshaw and Slims. I work at El Rio and therefore think - nay - KNOW that it is one of the best places to play in the city. The bands get treated VERY well there and the sound is great.....so what if the stage is a lil wobbly? Who needs sure footing?
Brian: The V.A.C. in Garden City / Boise Idaho. The Milestone in Charlotte, North Carolina. Space in Dallas Texas. The Oriental in Denver, Colorado

LB: Have you played Treat st. before? What do you like about it?
Lynne: Yes - we co-organize the festival with The Bay Bridged, Whiz Bang Fabrics, and Noise Pop - and played it last year. It was super fun, a huge success and one of the only chances you will get to see so many rad artists and musicians FOR FREE in this city. Rock Make is an outdoor music and craft festival that runs along Treat St between 17th and 18th. It is on Sunday, August 23rd. It starts at 11:00 am, is all ages, and again, admission is FREE! Bands this year include: Tartufi, Low Red Land, Geographer, Two Sheds, The Ferocious Few and many more! See www.rockmake.com for details!
Brian: We organized and played Rock Make last year. It's awesome to play an outdoor, all-ages, free show in SF on a street that we cleaned human feces, needles, and used condoms from hours earlier. We cleaned this street and now we will fill it with your faces that we will rip from your skulls with our fancy rock music, skin-from-face-prying-device that we brought especially for this occasion.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
Lynne: Ummm no, not anymore.
Brian: Years ago when we first started touring I tried that bullshit. In all honesty I was trying to avoid doing laundry while on the road, but when I see photos of me I look just like every other skinny, rocker douche bag, who should stay clothed at all times in public. Now I go for a run before our shows, sweat through the shirt, play a show, sweat through it again, and then wrap Lynne's post-show sandwich in my twice soaked shirt. Sweat is the fresher keeper.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
Lynne: Me in the feet, Bri in the armpits. A tie.
Brian: I just raised my hand and then put it down after offending myself with my own odor. Guilty as charged.....wait we didn't play a show today. Now this is really embarrassing. Um...., Lynne stinks.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
Lynne: Post show beer for sure.
Brian: Sometimes late at night as we stop for gas between Somewhere, U.S.A. and Somewhere-Else, U.S.A., Lynne will come to the van will a twelve pack of beer and a big orange bag of deliciousness. After a good show, there is nothing like listening to a great album and sharing a bag of Cheetos and some beers before going to sleep at a rest area.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
Lynne: Right on over to the UK y'all!
Brian: Probably for the stage, just around showtime.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
Lynne: We do not offer free downloads - there are many many MANY chances for people to get songs for free these days. We understand it is a reality but appreciate when people purchase our music legally as it does directly support us as working musicians.
Brian: I think we expect people to copy, share, and download our stuff, it's part of our culture now. Artists still need to make a living though, so we prefer the paid option. Dear readers if you can't afford our album I am sure we could work something out along the old barter system rules. I could use a tennis racket and Lynne is always easily swayed by fireworks (big ones though, don't even try to pass any of those rinky-dink, legal in California crap off on her). That's right America, let's make a deal.

--
:: T A R T U F I ::
www.tartufirock.net
www.facebook.com/tartufisongs
www.myspace.com/tartufi

The Graves Brothers Deluxe - Aug 6 @ The Knockout

2009-07-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

STOO ODOM - vocals, bass (upright & electric)
WILLY THE MAILMAN - guitar, horns, megamouth
MARCO VILLALOBOS - drums, vocals
BAP PAWIFTNI/ ALLISON LOVEJOY/ SEAN GREAVES/ JAI YOUNG KIM - keys

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
The Graves Brothers Deluxe: Monsters from the Id.

LB: How did you find each other??
TGBD: Pleasant but not snuggly.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
TGBD: Spain post-9/11? Whale meat in a Buddhist temple? Day of the Dead in Mexico?

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
TGBD: Beast of Baden Studios, South San Francisco. Coffee, oolong tea, whisky, tequila, vodka, beer. Talk about how we hate practicing.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
TGBD: Our heads.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??
TGBD: It impresses foreigners.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
TGBD: New album coming out, Deep South tour in September, and 2010 will be a very good year indeed.

LB: What’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
TGBD: The new CD will be available in stores and on-line. Recorded w/ Geza X and Paul Roessler at Satellite Park in L.A.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
TGBD: Any time Karla LaVey books us.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
TGBD: Great American Music Club. Wait, we haven't played there yet.

LB: Have you played the Knoockout before? What do you like it?
TGBD: Yes! DX is one cool-ass Godzilla lover.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
TGBD: not that I've noticed.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
TGBD: me, I hope.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
TGBD: GOOD ramen in Japan. Molluscs anywhere really.

commissure - Aug 7 @ Submission Art Gallery & Aug 13th @ Annies Social Club

2009-07-14T11:57:00.001-07:00

carlos - guitar,melodica
gonz - guitar, drums
henry - drums, guitar
ryo - bass

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Commissure: we started the band to play with our friends again, since some of us have played together in past projects. we also wanted to make music that means something to us & can fit our lives at any time, not just music to fit a specific mood.

LB: How did you find each other??
Carlos: gonz & i played in a band before called horchata face, i played bass & he played drums. when that ended, i had already made some small guitar samples for commissure & asked gonz to help me out with an extra guitar. we played together for a few years then asked my brother henry to join us on drums. a few months later we found our bassist ryo through craigslist

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
C: our most memorable moment would be recording our first album, stars could care less, and the cd release show we had for that. it was awesome to see many of our friends & fans supporting us & the other bands that played that night.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
C: we practice at RHL studios in south san francisco. at practice, you can usually find us with some beer or we'll just have water or soda with us. when we take breaks, we usually have a smoke & sit on the couch outside & talk about life. or we'll go outside & skate for a while.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
C: sometimes the hardest thing would be setting up a show - there might be bands we wanna play with but can't. that or having to work around school/work schedules but so far it hasn't been too hard.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco??
C: there's a lot of venues to play at & the people that come to shows are all open to check out music.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
C: we just wanna make music that reflects us & what we are about. music you can listen to whenever whether happy, sad, angry, drunk, stoned, sober, skateboarding...whatever..life music. we have shows coming up around san francisco & the bay area. and we are also planning AMIGO FEST - a show with many of our close friends who are in other bands. a night where we can all get along & play all different styles of music & have fun.

LB: what’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
C: our CD is still pretty new & you can pick it up from one of us at a show for right now, but we are also working on getting mail-order down. we recorded it at the atomic garden studios in palo alto, ca. it was a great experience & jack shirley (the guy we worked with) is fun to work with & really nice

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
C: some of our favorite local bands are the dandelion war, unchained, room for a ghost & ordstro. they always put on a good show.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
C: so far it's been the balazo/submission gallery..great staff, sweet neighborhood (carlos & henry live nearby), and the crowds are fun.

LB: Have you played the SUBMISSION, El Rio or Annies before? What do you like it?
C: submission is rad always. we are playing both el rio & annie's in august for our first time so we'll see how that goes.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
C: it hasn't been hot enough in the city yet to take off our shirts

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
C: based off one of our sweatiest shows, it was at the retox lounge & at the end henry was smelling like a beast!

LB: Favorite pre / post show food, indulgence or ritual??
C: before a show some of us might have a tall can or smoke a cigarette or a blunt

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
C: it's getting bigger, a lot of house shows are popping up and shows are happening more often than listed in the papers. bands like ferocious few are taking it to the streets or the parks & playing free shows. it's a good thing.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
C: it's cool. everyone does it. we don't offer any free downloads at the moment, but it's not like friends trade mp3s or whatever. maybe we will

LittleBook July 2009

2009-06-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

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July 2009

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Murray the Thief - Jul 4 @ El Rio

2009-06-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

Dave Phillips - Guitar
Noah Heldfond - Bass/Vocals
Mat Heagerty - Vocals/Guitar
David Walker - Drums

LittleBook: Why did you start a band?? Murray the Thief: We missed playing punk rock!

LB: How did you find each other?? MTT: Duck Butter (Dave) and Noah played together in Company Car and talked about starting a side project. At the time Dave also played in Ninja Panther with David (our drummer), so we stole him and called up Mat who had once auditioned for Ninja Panther to see if he wanted to play. He did. Then Duck Butter and David quit Ninja Panther and we started Murray The Thief. We are basically a band of pilfered musicians.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??- MTT: Throwing bottles off a roof at douchebags in the Marina while Duck Butter was house sitting.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing? MTT: We practice in downtown SF. We drink PBR and/or Tecate. David is a pretty incredible dancer so when we aren’t practicing we usually make him entertain us with a jig. We also like to stand outside and tell people going to the Supper Club that through our studio door IS the Supper Club.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009? MTT: It’s hard to find good bands to play with.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco? MTT: You might get to play with Maldroid.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next?? MTT: Next two things are recording and touring.

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it?? MTT: We’re in the middle of fine tuning all our songs before recording. Not sure where we’re gonna do it yet but we’ve got some good ideas. Ideally I’d like to have Willie Samuels from Nutone Studios do it.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show?? MTT: There’s too many good shows that I’ve seen to name just one but most recently we saw Propagandhi again at Slims. Those guys are just fucking awesome all around. So good I almost forgot they were Canadian!

LB: Favorite venue to Play?? MTT: Bottom of the Hill. Hands Down.

LB: Have you played the El Rio before? What do you like it? MTT: No, we haven’t actually played at El Rio before. But Mat works there so we do a lot of drinking there.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice?? MTT: We all have pretty bad Psoriasis on our nipples and it makes us self conscious. So…no.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig?? MTT: Duck Butter. The cheese under his fat rolls can get pretty gamey.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual?? MTT: Beer

LB: Where do you think live music is heading?? MTT: Live music isn’t going anywhere. The Dj’s can try to take over but real musicians will always be appreciated.
LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads?? MTT: Let ‘em have ‘em.

DEAD PANIC - Jul 5 @ Castro House Show/Party

2009-06-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

BRYCE-VOCALS

RHEA-BASS

KELLY-GUITAR

CHRIS-GUITAR

BLAKE-DRUMS

LittleBook: When did you start a band??
Dead Panic: Dead Panic was started in december 2008.

LB: How did you find each other??
DP: All of us besides blake used to play in a band called "the repulsed" in San Diego a few years ago. we all ended up moving to SF, and eventually started a band. I (bryce) met blake in one of my classes at sfsu. he told me he played drums, so i asked him to come check out a practice...and wah la!

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
DP: hahaha. On our way down to Santa Barbara for our first tour, we stopped in this little town to gas up and do some skating. We ended up staying there for a while drinking warm beers and chasing this wild chicken that seemed to be hanging out by the gas station...we never caught that thing haha

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
DP: we practice at francisco studios at turk and taylor in the tenderloin. its a pretty cool spot. we drink whatever is the cheapest 12 pack beer at the liquor store on the corner. either PBR or bud, or sometimes we hit up the vending machine at the space. when we're not practicing, we skate in the hallways, listen to music, maybe grab a cigarette. but yeah, we honestly don't hang out too much at the space after practice unless we have friends stopping by.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
DP: I'd say getting time off work to play gigs. fuckin economy man.......

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco?
DP: The amount of people who are down with a wide variety of music. we're all from san diego, and more people there are not as open minded.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
DP: Right now we're working on writing new songs for our first album which is going to be a split with another band. (that band TBA). its gonna be pretty awesome, so watch out for it. also, more shows..and eventually taking over the world.

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
DP: Our cd is just a 3 song demo. it was home recorded on a really basic set-up. if anyone wants a copy, send us your address and we'll send you one free of charge. or you can download the songs for free on our myspace page.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
DP: The bronx at rickshaw stop this past year. those guys bring it every time, and I've never been let down by their performances. this one comes to mind because it was the first show that all of our band members went to together. its was pretty cute, we all held hands and stuff.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
DP: Honestly, anything all ages. Submission art space is number one on the list! There are not enough of these places that actually book local bands.

LB: Have you played at this castro house party before? What do you like it?
DP: haha no we haven't. house shows are the best though, people tend to get a little wild. and dead panic likes wild.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
DP: hahaha. not really. actually, I don't think that anyone ever has. kind of over done maybe? plus, I'm not sure we're the best looking people naked.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
DP: Rhea for sure. haha no. or maybe blake. yeah blake is definitely. but that's pretty damn manly! so who cares!?

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
DP: Chris likes his red bulls. the rest of us like beers. but thats a given for most bands I guess. oh, and california burritos if we can get them. for those who don't know what a cali-burrito is...it's a carne asada burrito, with french fries inside of it. its a san diego tradition. oh, and it can't be wrapped in foil, because thats just crazy.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
DP: To a venue near you! haha seriously though, clubs seem to be always shutting down. it seems like the majority of people dont like loud music after 10pm, and like to complain until music permits are revoked. weird. plus, with high rent and insurance costs, club owners have trouble making money. damn, we need a mass surge of underground house shows. all in all though, live music may become few and far in between.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
DP: To a certain extent, yes. free downloads are cool, and not cool. bands need to at least break even on recording costs. I'm honestly torn on this issue. but yeah, we offer free downloads for our demo cd.

RadioStar SF - Jul 29 @ Kimo’s

2009-06-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Jay Skyler - Guitar
Skarkrow - bass
Cameron Landers - Drums & Backing Vocals

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
RadioStar SF: Jay Skyler (Lead Vocals & Lead Guitar): I think
everybody has something to say in life. And there are
certain things that can really only be expressed with a
distorted guitar, at high volume, through a wall of
4x12’s, playing with a killer band. There’s
nothing else I’d want to do with my life.

Cameron Landers (Drums & Backing Vocals): I've wanted
to start a rock band ever since I was 10 years old and my
best friend's big brother had a rock band out in their
garage. I told my parents, “I already know what I'm going
to be when I grow up!"

LB: How did you find each other??
Cameron: Jay and I have been working together since May 2002 going through at least 13 different bass players along the way! We first met when our two previous bands played a show together back in Oct 2001. Due to irreconcilable differences with his band members Jay ended up leaving the band immediately after the show.

Not long after I was let go from the Tribal Goth band that I was playing
in for playing too loudly and replaced by a drum machine. Two weeks later after
I was let go one of my bandmates contacted me to let me
know that Jay was looking to try out members for his band
and would I be interested? Well I responded immediately,
went in to audition and the chemistry between Jay and I
meshed immediately...therefore I was hired right on the
spot!

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
Cameron: Going up to Medford, Oregon to play a show and
being both played and interviewed on a major radio station.

Jay: The night we got banned from Alameda was pretty
memorable, but I’ll agree with Cam on this one.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What
do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
Jay: We practice in the basement of an old San Francisco
whorehouse.

Cameron: Better known as Francisco Studios in San
Francisco. I always have my 64 oz 7-11 double gulp of either
Sunkist or Barqs Root Beer...need loads of caffeine while
I'm pounding my skins! When not practicing we're usually
sitting around talking smack.

Jay: I like grape soda. We’re partial to the dumb
flavors. We save the booze for afterwards. Better to
go out and get drunk with beautiful women then to get drunk
in a sweaty rehearsal studio with a bunch of dudes.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
Jay: Cash, plain and simple. It’s harder nowadays
to hustle up $1500 bucks in venture capital to fund my crazy schemes, like our skateboard company.

Cameron: We’ve paid off our investors with a profit
every time though. People have always loved our
merchandise.
Jay: We basically make what we like with the
understanding that we’re really not that different from
anyone else.

LB: What’s the best thing about playing in SF?
Cameron: Playing in a town where people have more of an
appreciation for artists, originality and just being from a
major city.

Jay: Free drinks, hot women, a tradition of mind blowing
rock n roll, and if you skate, the hills just rule. Well
going down anyways. Going up them blows.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are
you doing next??
Jay: We turn it up, we tear it up. We are not hobbyists. We
are the real deal. We play every dive bar like its Madison
Square Garden or the Cow Palace. Come see us and rock the
fuck out. We have a damned good time.

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it, where did you
record it??
Cameron: You can find both our CD's on CD Baby and iTunes.
The links to both of those are on both our website which is
www.radiostarsf.com and on our MySpace page at
www.myspace.com/radiostar. We recorded it at House of Faith
Studios in Oakland with Bart Thurber and mastered it at
Armin Hammer Studios in San Francisco where major bands like
Creedence Clearwater Revival were mastered.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
Cameron: I'd say that our most memorable gig would have to
be Davidson's Distillery in Reno. Our favorite local band
would probably be Ring Children.

Jay: Ring Children’s definitely one of my favorites. Lots
of great bands in S.F.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
Cameron: My favorite venues where we've had the most fun
have been The Eagle, Thee Parkside, The DNA and Davidson's
Distillery.

Jay: Had a great time at The Knockout last Wednesday as
well. Great sound guy too.

LB: Have you played at Kimo's before, what do you like about it?
Cameron: We played Kimo's all the time when we were starting out. Playing there was always a lot of fun, always a lively crowd!

Jay: Our first show was actually at Kimo’s. Kimo’s is rock n roll to the core.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show
or at practice??
Jay: We feel that’s the drummer’s exclusive privilege.

Cameron: I always take my shirt off at both being that I'm
the drummer I sweat the most!

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
Cam: Self explanatory!!!

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
Cameron: Pre: McDonald’s loads of caffeine and warming up
on the drums before going out and playing live. Post: Beer,
beer, and more beer!
Jay: I don’t eat anything particular before or after a
show. But a couple of shots of Old Granddad can hit the spot
before a set. I’m pretty notorious, however, for
stupid dive bar guitar tricks like drinking a bottle of
whiskey with my right hand and continuing to solo with just
my left hand.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
Cameron: I feel that eventually independent bands are going
to get bigger through the internet than bands already signed
to a major label. Smaller venues are drawing larger crowds
due to the bad economy.
Jay: Yeah, mainstream corporate rock is out of ideas and
out of excuses.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for
free, do you offer free downloads??
Cameron: No we do not, this is how we feed ourselves and
pay for our recordings. It always seemed weird that people
could just download band's music for free. However if our
fans want our music so badly that they're willing to go
through the hassle of trying to steal it from us then our
props go out to them!
Jay: Yeah, the truly bad ass would steal it from the
Corporate Megastore. 99% of people won’t listen to a free
CD. Bottom line, people think something is worth
exactly what they pay for it. If they pay $10 bucks for it,
they’ll play it over and over again.
But you can always listen to a bunch of our stuff for free
on www.Radiostarsf.com, and www.myspace.com/radiostar.
Plus I see bootlegs of our performances pop up on you tube
as well, if you want to do a little hunting. There’s
something very cool yet profoundly disturbing about a
RadioStar SF show bootlegged on cheap cell phone.

Unko Atama - Jul 11 @ 2 pm HOT ROD SHOW!! @ THEE PARKSIDE

2009-06-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

George Hanna - Vocals/Bass
Yuji Kasuya- Guitar/Vocals
Steve Mason-Drums/smoke

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Unko Atama: We started (as many punk bands did) out of boredom and we wanted something to do. We were all friends, we all played in other bands before, and we all liked the same kind of stuff so we started writing songs together.

LB: How did you find each other??
UA: About 5 years ago I met Yuji, and former members Marcus and Darren at a show. They were playing in a band called Overdrive A.D. We all hit off right away. We met our current drummer Steve Mason when he tried out for the band after Marcus and Darren quit a couple of years ago.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
UA: One of our most memorable moments was when we were invited to perform on a television show called "Creepy Kofy Movie Time" on KOFY TV. It was exciting for us because they had all of this cool horror movie stuff at the TV studio like the masks from the movie "Killer Klowns from Outer Space". We are all pretty big movie geeks so we had fun. They also had tons of free beer which we were also excited about.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
UA: We practice at Soundwave studios in Oakland. Being the primitive creatures that we are, Unko Atama usually like to quench our thirst on a cheap beer of some kind. PBR and Tecate are a couple of favorites and we also like the occasional whiskey drink. When we are not practicing we are usually drinking and smoking and talking about stupid shit.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
UA: The hardest thing about being in a band in 2009 is being broke all the time. A couple of us our currently unemployed and being in a band aint cheap. This economy really sucks ass right now and it gets hard to pay for band shit let alone non band shit.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco?
UA: San Francisco and Oakland have a lot of good bands a venues. We are proud to be a part of a good scene.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
UA: Despite all of our mental problems we are a hard working band that love to play and have fun. We are geeks for 70's punk rock and want to give people that experience. Next we plan to do some more recording. Our friend Danny Dee has a little studio called Gimme Danger, we did our last EP with him and plan to add onto that. We are also working on a Ramones cover band with Danny which has been fun since we worship the Ramones.

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it??
UA: As of right now, our CD can be obtained at our shows. We don't have any label or anything so we do everything ourselves. We make our own CDs and shirts and we sell them cheap at our shows so come and get em'.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
UA: A memorable show that we played was at the Elbo Room in SF with the Vibrators on 4/20/09. We are huge fans of theirs and it was awesome to play with them. They were really cool guys.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
UA: We like to play at Annie's Social Club, Knockout, and El Rio in SF, Stork Club in Oakland. There are other places we like as well.

LB: Have you played at the Thee Parkside before, what do you like about it?
UA: We've played there a bunch o' times, thats another place we like. All the times we've played there they've treated us well. The food is also good and we like the patio. Boom, who books shows there, is good friend of ours.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
UA: Haha. Not often

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
UA: We all tend to be pretty smelly after a nice sweaty gig. Our drummer Steve is bald and he actually steams after we play. You can see the smoke rise right off his head.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
UA: We usually go for pizza or Japanese food. We also love Mexican food, when we are in the Mission area its a must.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
UA: Stupid scenes and trends will come and go but live music will always be around. People will always wanna be entertained no matter how bad things are or how advanced technology gets, people will always wanna see live music and Unko Atama will be there.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
UA: Unko Atama downloads stuff for free all the time. We don't offer free downloads of our stuff but we don't really care if people download it. We've noticed most people want the CD anyway. I think people like something they can hold in their hands and look at. Speaking of which, I just wanna add that our guitar, Yuji Kasuya, does most of our art and fliers. He makes the best punk fliers in town so if anyone needs art, fliers, ect. you might wanna check him out at myspace.com/ugposter. See you all soon!

NiHiLiST CUNT! - Jul 1 @ SUBMISSION

2009-06-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

Becca Berk - Vocals
Dice Suicide - Drummer
Ryan Sucks - Bass
David HAPLESS - Guitar/Vocals

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Nihilist CUNT: to play shit that’s fast and to the point for the A.D.D generation.

LB: How did you find each other??
NC: Rebecca was looking for a drummer for a band she was putting together. She asked victor if he would play drums. One random day Rebecca ran into victor and Ryan. They told her they were about to go record their new band called Nihilist Cunt. They mentioned they needed a singer and asked Rebecca to do vocals. Half an hour later nihilist cunt recorded their first song with Rebecca as a singer. It did not end here. There were drummer issues along the way so to make a long story short we met Liz (aka dice) while playing a show at her venue dreamland. Later on she found out we needed a new drummer and we began practice a few days later.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
NC: So far with our current line up it would have to be playing at the red hot compound in Oakland. We were playing on a roof two stories above everyone looking over 880.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
NC: Dreamland in Hayward. it depends on the day what we drink. its a combo of whiskey, warm beer and caffeine. when were not practicing we smoke weed.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
NC: It not the 90’s anymore?

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in MARTINEZ??
NC: Don’t know because-I think I just farted-were the only punk band in Martinez YET!!!

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next?? NC: We’re hoping on making a new recording and putting it on a CD and possibly a 7 inch. Trying to go on tour if shit works out. So give us help with shows you F’in C’s

LB: what’s up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??’
NC: You can get our CD at our shows or buy it at dreamland in Hayward.
we recorded it at expressions college for free at 2 am on Rebecca’s 18th birthday.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
Ryan: Teenage Harlets last show at Annie’s social club.
David : Mormons on bicycles, Anal Mucus, Teenage Harlets, Dcoi, Hapless.
Dice : Plan 9, Zombie Holocaust. Gutwrench, Good Neighbor Policy
Rebecca : Instant Asshole, Born Dead, Deadfall, Zero Bullshit.

LB: Favorite venue to Play?? NC: Ramen because its burnt.

LB: Have you played the SUBMISSION before? What do you like it?
NC: Nope. our first is july 1st

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
NC: Not yet. our old drummer stripped down to his underwear at a show.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
NC: RYAN is always SMELLY

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
NC: Beer or liquor. or a protein bar for David. smoking weed until we realized we couldn’t pull it together high.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
NC: For music in mainstream it is in the shitter. as far as punk goes, right now there are some decent new bands coming around. touring bands are nice too!

Run Amok - Jul 19 @ DNA Lounge

2009-06-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Max Curry - Drums

Damien Blair - Bass, Vocals

Matt Morales - Vocals, Guitar

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??
Run Amok: For me, the main reason was that I had a lot of songs in my head that I truly believed people would enjoy and I wanted to get them out.

LB: How did you find each other??
RA: (Drummer) Max Curry and I are both comedians so we actually met on the open mic stand-up circuit, believe it or not. He was playing a child-size drumkit in a comedy duo and I noticed he actually knew how to play. Damien came later after Max and I were in a band called the Hacks for a couple of years. He was recommended by a friend who was, big suprise, a fellow comedian.

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
RA: Right now I think recording our last demo really sticks out. We had a great time doing it and it came out just how we wanted it to. Not a lot of people know that that doesn't happen very often.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
RA: We practice at a rehearsal studio in South San Francisco. The drinks are pretty tame - water for me and Max and Gatorade for Damien. None of us are big drinkers and I actually don't drink at all. Most of my lyrics are about prior substance abuse, actually. When we practice we don't do much else other than shoot the shit for a second. Once we're in that room its time to either get our old songs down or write some new stuff. No screwing around.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
RA: I don't think there is a new type of rock around the corner that's ready to take hold. There's this whole new-wave revival going on which is great if you've got a slew of analog keyboards but if you're just looking to play hard rock nobody seems to care right now.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next??
RA: All people need to know about Run Amok is that we're an uncompromising hard rock band with real lyrics and zero image. What's next? Wish I knew for sure!

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
RA: CD is available at all of our shows or you can listen to it right on our myspace. We recorded it in San Jose with the help of engineer Steve Murr (murrmanproductions). Check his stuff out, its incredible. He really know how to bring out the intensity of a variety of different types of music.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
RA: Favorite local band has to be Von Iva. Those chicks rock.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
RA: Thee Parkside, hands down.

LB: Have you played at the DNA Lounge before, what do you like about it?
RA: Haven't played there before but we can't wait. That's a great club and has a cool vibe.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
RA: Max took his shirt off at one show. Photos of his man breasts kept that from happening again.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
RA: Not to pick on Max but I'll have to nominate him. I've never taken a whiff but he plays the drums so hard that he leaves the stages completely drenched.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
RA: We always seem to find a Mexican place before a gig, which seems like a bad idea. Jumping around with a stomach full of carnitas is dangerous.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
RA: hopefully to more smaller venues. I love local music and while arena shows can be cool, I think the lagging economy will bring folks out to some cheaper places thus exposing them to new talent.

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
RA: Hey, if you're listening to the music and enjoying it that's all that matters to us right now. We appreciate it if you buy the CD but money isn't our goal right now. So please download, share with a friend, then come out to a show and support live local music!

NEUROTRASH - Jul 4 @ Red Devil Lounge & Jul 19 @ DNA Lounge

2009-06-10T08:49:00.000-07:00

NEUROTRASH is:

Prince Albert (Chris)
- LEAD
Frank Dialog (Sean)
- PULSE
Mr Normal (Mark)
- BEAT

LittleBook: Why did you start a band??

NEUROTRASH: manifest destiny-- The three of us rip so much that it was only a matter of time...

LB: How did you find each other??
N: The stars just line up on rare occasions; like strangers on a train or clowns on a bus

LB: What's your most memorable moment as a band??
N: Let's see, just last night. The Music should transcend itself continually, or you need to find some other band mates. You hit a level where everything clicks, and that's what you keep striving for every time you pick up an instrument, whether someone is watching you or not.
One of us might call it an epiphany and consider it a Mozart/Chi moment, the other will point to the “God Blanket” of the later and call it a Nietzsche moment. It usually ends in a draw, but all that energy goes into the music - that's where it comes together.

LB: Where do you practice? What do you drink at practice? What do you do at practice when you’re not practicing?
N: We have a space near the dog patch I (Chris) share with another band I'm in, Lucabrazzi, and the drummer's house. We split time because Mr. Normal fills in for Lucabrazzi and Roxy (bass from Lucabrazzi) fills in for Neurotrash. It's a big incestuous pool. When we’re not practicing, we go home. We don’t waste ANY time. That’s for shitty bands, except when we drink beer.

LB: What's the hardest thing about being a band in 2009?
N: Marketing and promotion. Other than that, there is never anything hard about being a Musician... Music makes all the pain subside.

LB: What's the best thing about being a band in San Francisco?
N: Everybody wants a piece! Any band that wants to whine about it should just leave!

LB: What's up with your CD where can I get it, where did you record it??
N: We have a cd available on CD BABY, LALA, and on ITUNES, AMAZON, V-CAST, ECT.... We have merch at the shows , too.

LB: Favorite local Band or a memorable show??
N: The Bay has a great local music scene and favorites vary from show to show. Lucabrazzi, Yes Go's, Inferno of Joy and United Defiance. They’re all great people and we book with them.

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
N: Any place that has a good crowd that is there to see real live music in the raw. We have fun wherever we end up, because it's not where we play. We feed off of what we do together as a band. We rip- you will dig us.

LB: Favorite pre / post show; food, indulgence or ritual??
N: Ask each other for directions. dollar Mc cheese burgers

LB: How do you feel about people downloading your songs for free , do you offer free downloads??
N: I'm sorry, but if you're really my friend, don't you want to help me eat tonight!
One reason to offer free downloads is to spread the sound with the hope that it translates into future possibilities to play music for your career. I (Chris) love what I do by day as a teacher, but I pick up my guitar for five minutes and any negative mood washes away.

LB: What do you want people to know about your band, what are you doing next?
N: We're NEUROTRASH: We Rip, you'll dig us. We are polite and friendly, we pass out free earplugs at our shows, and we get our shit off the stage faster than any band on record - alive (or dead). Come out and see us even if you have to rearrange your life plans to make it happen. We are the best band live, even though we suck at promoting. People are always saying, "Wow, who the hell is this?" and then we do everything in our power to make ourselves invisible. Not on purpose. We just have a really hard time kissing ass, and we do think we're special (but in a cool way; approachable - not assholish). Most creative marketing ploy? Bass player combed the Haight for homeless, gave them a CD, and told them he would give them $10 every time he came across them playing it in the hood...

LB: Favorite venue to Play??
N: That's too hard - too many. We have fun wherever we end up, because it's not where we play. We feed off of what we do together as a band. We rip wherever, whenever...

LB: Have you played at the Red Devil Lounge or the DNA Lounge before? Do you have a thing about lounges?
N: We have played the Red Devil a few times acoustically and full on. SFTV Unplugged has been very receptive to our music, so we’ve done a lot of shows under that guise. This question sounds like public radio... they ask watered-down questions that would cause the interviewee to answer like the reporter just asked something truly insightful. The fact that Red was a jazz club 10 years ago is as irrelevant as the question. We kill wherever we are asked to play.

LB: Do any of the members ever take their shirts off at a show or at practice??
N: There is no necessity to disrobe, because the music speaks for itself.

LB: Who's the smelliest member after a sweaty gig??
N: (Prince Albert) I have no sense of smell, so I could really give a fuck.

LB: Where do you think live music is heading??
N: As long as there are human beings there will be a need for those human beings to be entertained. Before recordings and people who thought they were so cool for hitting a couple notes and wearing the right clothes was this mode of expression that was easy to recall because it had a hook, a rhyme.

http://www.blogger.com/www.NEUROTRASH.net

LittleBook

True Margrit - Jan 29th @ El Rio

True Margrit @ El Rio w/ The Steelwells & Blair Hansen

Description

Bluegrassy folky fun - January 19 @ Grant & Green

Free Show in North Beach

Description

TurbonegrA - February 05 @ The Uptown

TurbonegrA @ The Uptown

Oakland, CA

Hosted by:

THE TEMPERMENTALS - February 5th @ Kimo's

GIRLBAND REUNION SHOW!!! - February 19 @ Bottom of the Hill

GIRLBAND REUNION SHOW!!!

Description

Pirate Cat benefit: This is Radio Clash! - January 22 @ Uptown Nightclub

Pirate Cat benefit: This is Radio Clash!

Description

OLDiES NiGHT - Fri Jan 15 @ the knockout

OLDiES NiGHT Fri Jan 15th ***!^^^

Description

Spawn Atomic - Jan 5 @ Elbo Room

Deeper - DuNord for Sat, Jan2 Kimos on Jan 20th

Deeper Jan 2 @ Cafe Du Nord & Jan 20 @ Kimos

ArnoCorps in USA for 2010!

Upcoming Shows

Live & Acoustic on Folsom - Dec 16 @ Annie’s Social Club

Deeper - Dec 22 Hemlock Tavern

Space Vacation - Nov 28 @ Annies Social Club w/ HOLY GRAIL, PROFESSOR and STONE VENGEANCE

Disgust of Us - Nov 6 @ SUB-Mission Art Space - ALL AGES RECORD RELEASE PARTY

ugly winner - Nov 19 @ the stud w/ Postvoid

Actionslacks - Nov 18 @ Bottom of the Hill w/Love Is Chemicals and Ex-Boyfriends

Lilofee - Nov 21 @ El Rio w/ Music for Animals & Nov 27 @ Hemlock

Butterfly Bones - Nov 21 @ SFxSD Festival @ El Rio w/ Music for Animals & more

COMPLAINTS - Nov 12 @ PARKSIDE w/ Smalltown, Off With Their Heads, Young Offenders

The Started-its - Nov 3 @ Bottom of the Hill

the sweet revenge - Nov 2 @ Kimo’s SF Bar (21+) w/Smokejumper

United Defiance - Nov 14 @ pissed off petes

Scranton - Oct 10 @ El Rio & Oct 16 @ Pissed Off Pete’s

LittleBook - October 2009

Death Valley High - October 8th @ Cafe Du Nord

Suck It! - Oct 17 @ thee parkside

al Qaeda - Oct 16 @ Bleakhaus

TRICLOPS! - Oct 12 @ The Independent

Baysic Wonder - Oct 11 @ DNA Lounge

The Trifles - Oct 10 @ Cafe Royale

Rockfight - Oct 7 @ Thee Parkside

The Nerv - Oct 3 @ Bender’s

September 2009

The Solid - Sep 16 @ Elbo Room

Street Justice - Sep 15 @ Knockout with Get Dead and Rat Damage

Confessions Of A Corn Silo - Sep 12 @ 3:00P El Rio (afternoon set)

The Hooks - Sep 12 @ EL RIO’S

In Desperation - Sep 9 @ Submission Art Space

Vagabondage - 9/4 Kinda, Sorta (but not really) Unplugged 2263 Mission St.

Foxtail Somersault - Sep 4 @ Red Devil Lounge

Robots of Fury - Sep 3 @ Bottom of the Hill

Ornithology - Sep 1 @ Blondies

Juanita and the Rabbit - aug. 8th at thee parkside.

August 2009

DALTON - Aug. 4th @ Thee Knockout

ArnoCorps - Aug 23 @ Thee Parkside -End of Tour Party w/A Band Of Orcs, Untapped Fury and Dagobah!!! GO!!!

OHAPOLLO - Aug 7 @ SUBMISSION Balazo

Zach Hash Group - Aug 13 & 27 @ Blondies-540 Valencia

Kwisþ - Aug 25 @ Brutal Sound Effects Festival

TARTUFI - Aug 23 @ The Bay Bridged and Whiz Bang Fabrics Present: The Second Annual Rock Make Street Festival, Treat St. Between 17th and 18th

The Graves Brothers Deluxe - Aug 6 @ The Knockout

commissure - Aug 7 @ Submission Art Gallery & Aug 13th @ Annies Social Club

LittleBook July 2009

Murray the Thief ￼- Jul 4 @ El Rio

DEAD PANIC - Jul 5 @ Castro House Show/Party

RadioStar SF - Jul 29 @ Kimo’s

Unko Atama - Jul 11 @ 2 pm HOT ROD SHOW!! @ THEE PARKSIDE

NiHiLiST CUNT! - Jul 1 @ SUBMISSION

Run Amok - Jul 19 @ DNA Lounge

NEUROTRASH - Jul 4 @ Red Devil Lounge & Jul 19 @ DNA Lounge

Murray the Thief - Jul 4 @ El Rio