Issue 67 (August 30-September 13, 2010) by Submerge Magazine

Dive into Sacramento & its Surrounding Areas august 30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; September 13, 2010

#67

!!!

Say What You Mean

Felipe Esparza Winner of Last Comic Standing

Anthony

Bourdain free

Raw & Bloody

Mariachi El Bronx California Dreaminâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;

tera melos Weird is the New Normal

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

contents

cofounder/ Editor in Chief/Art Director

Melissa Welliver melissa@submergemag.com cofounder/ Advertising Director

Jonathan Carabba jonathan@submergemag.com Advertising sales

Josselin Basaldu

josselin@submergemag.com senior editor

James Barone Contributing editor

Mandy Johnston

Contributing Writers

Joseph Atkins, Robin Bacior, Josselin Basaldu, Corey Bloom, Bocephus Chigger, Liz Franco, Brad Fuhrman, Anthony Giannotti, Blake Gillespie, Vince Girimonte, Ryan L. Prado, Adam Saake distribution

14 Submerge Magazine

2308 J Street, Suite F Sacramento, Calif. 95816

916.441.3803 info@submergemag.com

Vince Girimonte, Monica McStotts printed on recycled paper

www.submergemag.com Follow us on Twitter! @SubmergeMag

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All content is property of Submerge and may not be reproduced without permission. Visit www.submergemag.com to view more material you can’t have. Submerge is both owned and published by Submerge Network. All opinions expressed throughout Submerge are those of the author and do not necessarily mean we all share those opinions. Feel free to take a copy or two for free, but please don’t remove our papers or throw them away. Submerge welcomes letters of all kinds, whether they are full of love or hate. We want to know what is on your mind, so feel free to contact us via snail mail at 2443 Fair Oaks Blvd. #508, Sacramento, Calif. 95825. Or you can e-mail us at info@submergemag.com. Your opinion matters to us, believe it or not, so please feel free to speak your mind and we just might listen. Thanks for reading Submerge!

August 30 – september 13, 2010

04 05 07 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 27 28 30

Dive in

The Optimistic Pessimist The Stream Submerge your senses Felipe Esparza Tera Melos

!!! Mariachi El Bronx Anthony Bourdain Calendar refined tastes Full Belly Farm

Live<<Rewind By Sunlight, Manuok, Summer Darling

the shallow end

to advertise Call or e-mail

(916) 441 - 3803 info@sumbergemag.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

dive in When I was 12 my favorite band was Smashing Pumpkins. At 13, I think I turned to The Beastie Boys. By 14, my inner emo came out and The Cure moved up to No. 1. Sure, sure, I could go on about who ended up being my favorite during what time period, but then it would turn into one of those lists. It’s easier for us to come up with categories or lists so we aren’t forced into having to choose just one favorite, which is understandable. It’s hard to admit having an actual favorite. I mean, beyond mere timing in one’s life, what constitutes something as more favorable than another, anyway? At least when it comes to picking your favorite band, I’d say owning a majority (if not all) of their albums, having a few B-sides on your computer, reading endless interviews, going to shows, buying their DVDs and heck even owning some merch, would constitute them as a favorite. This particular issue of Submerge features !!! (chk-chkchk), a band currently up there on my list. Dare I say—they currently hold my No. 1 spot, and have for a while now. Please check out our interview with !!!’s frontman Nic Offer on page 16 as he speaks with one of our writers about

Melissa welliver melissa@submergemag.com

Issue full of faves member changes and recording in Berlin. Another band we’re featuring this issue, Tera Melos, happens to be one of our co-founder Jonathan Carabba’s all-time favorites. I know, right? Double rainbow! Please read our interview on page 12 with Nathan Latona and Nick Reinhart as they talk about the band’s new era with vocals as well as what the word “weird” means to them. Triple rainbow?! Both of these favorites have strong ties to the Sacramento region and both have new albums coming out! OMG. On the topic of favorites, Submerge contributor Anthony Giannotti mentioned to us that one of his favorite bands will be opening for Primus on Sept. 14. Mariachi El Bronx—a punk band turned mariachi—is a side project of The Bronx. Read our interview with Matt Caughthran of Mariachi El Bronx on page 18, in which he discusses the success of his side project as well as what’s in store in the future for both of the bands. If there’s one good thing about this year’s summer television programming, it would be that NBC’s Last Comic Standing aired its seventh season. After the judges slimmed down several contestants, America voted for their favorite comedian; and on Aug. 9, the actual last comic

now open

noon-10Pm

standing was Felipe Esparza. Please flip to our interview with Esparza on page 12 as he talks about the competition he just won and the Last Comic Standing Tour (that will be stopping through Sacramento on Sept. 9 at The Crest). And last but definitely not least, our front cover story is with Anthony Bourdain! Submerge contributing editor and ultimate foodie, Mandy Johnston, said it best in her feature on page 20: “Truth is, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone even remotely interested in food who doesn’t love—maybe even idolize—the guy.” It took me a while to warm up to him, but then I came to appreciate his snark. It’s nice to watch his show, No Reservations, on the Travel Channel and see someone who is so opinionated. It’s beyond refreshing to not have to watch another polished, boring character like a number of other television hosts. Anthony Bourdain is a great and entertaining source when it comes to learning about food and booze. Check out our interview with Bourdain, then be sure to see him lecture at Sacramento Memorial Auditorium Sept. 17, where he could talk about a number of topics from food to booze and who knows, maybe even Li-Lo. Enjoy issue #67, Melissa-Dubs

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Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

The Optimistic Pessimist Electro-circus Bocephus Chigger bocephus@submergemag.com Human beings are makers. We build things and then we try to improve on them. It is this very inventiveness that anthropologists say separates us from the rest of the beasts… Well, that and our love of porn. Using these skills, we have literally built our world from the ground up—all the way to the relatively minuscule reaches of space. But we, being humans, do not always get it right. Don’t believe me? Perhaps you should pick up the Sky Mall catalog next time you fly, or head to your nearest Sharper Image/Brookstone and prepare to be underwhelmed. Lame gadgetry is only the tip of the iceberg. We’ve got bigger problems. We love us some HD (even if most of us can’t tell the difference). If the box doesn’t say HD on it, you better get that shit out of here. Unfortunately, HD takes up some serious MBs, so DVDs were no longer cutting it. Sony, being the opportunistic geniuses that they are, responded to our thirst for eye-blistering clarity with the Blu-ray disc. After quickly stomping a mud hole in HD DVD’s ass, the world cheered, sorta. It was supposed to be everything we’ve been waiting for, but it’s turning out to be a colossal waste of time. There is just no point to Blu-ray. This is the Internet age. We can stream high-definition video on the Internets, so why create a bazillion more plastic discs to fill the oceans with for a technology that will be obsolete in four years? Great work, Sony! Speaking of shitty movie technologies, 3-D is all the rage now. Every craptastic movie now comes out in two shitacular versions: regular and 3-D(!!!!). This lousy gimmick has been around for years and it has always been a disappointment. Most filmmakers haven’t figured out how to properly implement 3-D. Instead, we get a 2-D movie with the 3-D slapped on top of it. Studio execs and theater owners love it, because they get to charge even more than the $40 it already costs you to take your lady friend to see a flick. It’s also giving

television manufacturers another excuse to charge $2000 bucks for a new television to replace the one you just bought last year. At the end of the day, all we end up with is an empty wallet, motion sickness and a severe migraine. Thanks, movie industry! With movies ruined, thank God we can turn to music to soothe our damaged nerves. To me, music is probably our greatest invention. There is so much variety in music that it would take a lifetime to explore it. And then came a company called Antares and a little product known as Auto-Tune to destroy it. The original idea was to provide a piece of software that could make minor corrections to an otherwise great performance. This, in and of itself, is not so bad, as it would allow an artist to capture the energy they wanted for the song without having to nitpick over minor imperfections. It was a great idea until a geriatric Cher got a hold of it. “Do You Believe” was a true piece of shit, but somehow people found her drowning robot voice catchy enough. Word spread in the music production community; and before we knew it, T-Pain got a hold of it and managed to single-handedly destroy hip-hop music. Now everyone is using it. You might even have an Auto-Tune app on your phone. Shame on you! Despite their flaws, these three inventions continue to grow in popularity. It might seem as if we only have ourselves to blame, until one remembers, the masses are at the mercy of our corporate overlords. The sheer laziness and greed of the corporations behind these inventions is staggering. It’s not that great things aren’t being invented; it’s just that they never see the light of day, because they get buried by crap like Blu-ray. No company wants to sell an invention that actually solves a problem. Where’s the profit in that? They want to take baby steps and squeeze every last drop from our collective tit. Invention used to be about improving the species, not stuffing some asshole’s wallet.

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Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

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Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas N E W S & R E V I E W B U S I N E S S U S E O N LY DESIGNER

ISSUE DATE

08.26.10

ACCT. EXEC.

JRB

The stream

LCD Soundsystem Back from the dead? Ten after two signs record deal

In an awful incident on Aug. 19, nearly 2,000 people looked on as 32-year-old Michael Pickels jumped from a stage roof to his death at a Swell Season concert in Saratoga, Calif. In response to the shocking event, Swell Season has offered to pay for four group grief counseling sessions for audience members who want to attend. In a statement by the band, they decided to keep the show on the road. “We wish to continue to be sensitive to family and friends of this individual and hope that in performing it is not viewed as a selfish act,” the band said. “We have not come to this decision lightly. We continue to have them at the forefront of our minds and hearts.” Bob Dylan agrees that concert ticket prices are out of control. At a recent show in San Francisco, Dylan eliminated advanced ticket purchasing altogether. Fans wishing to see Dylan perform had to show up the day of the concert and pay cash at the door. Attendees could only buy one ticket each and began lining up at noon for the 8 p.m. concert. Dylan’s goal was to erase tickethandling fees, as well as prevent the scalping of tickets for larger sums of money. Dylan is once again stickin’ it to the man, though I might be willing to shell out a fee to save eight hours of my life waiting in line… Let’s be honest. Kanye West was back on Twitter to make big announcements. This week Kanye, who is already planning a November release

SubmergeMag.com

for his next album, tweeted that he will be releasing one song every Friday until Christmas. The song giveaway, which West is calling “G.O.O.D. Fridays,” could include a track from West himself or other members of the artist’s clique, including fellow rapper Jay-Z. “We look at the game completely different now,” West said. “It’s all about the fans.” Last week, ‘Ye used Twitter to set up a collaboration with Bieber-fever. LCD Soundsystem earlier said that they had released their final album, but band leader James Murphy has revealed that they are working on more music together. Due to the spread-out location of each musician, the band is hesitant to jump in with two feet. “We’ll still be making LCD Soundsystem music and stuff,” said Murphy. “We just need to go back and have it be a part of our lives rather than our whole lives.” The band is uninterested in touring full-time but a new album could be in the works. Wyclef Jean for president? In Haiti, he hopes the possibility still exists. Despite Haiti’s electoral commission barring him from running for the country’s presidency, the singer plans to challenge the ruling. Scandal-plagued Jean has been an active supporter of relief efforts in his home country since the devastating January earthquake. Jean vows that he will not stop his campaign despite the rejection. “I cannot surrender now, simply because an obstacle has been set before me,” Jean said

Brad Fuhrman & Jonathan Carabba

in a statement. “Now is the time I must stand up and show Haiti—and the world—that my vision of a nation renewed and redeveloped is a vision for which I am willing to fight.” (B.F.) Sacramento-based band Ten After Two announced recently they signed to Rise Records, joining Sacramento’s Dance Gavin Dance on the Portland, Ore., label’s roster. They also have teamed up with Artery Foundation Artist Management; and rumor has it the young band will enter a studio in Florida soon to begin recording their debut full-length, due out some time in early 2011. Midtown will soon be home to a new record store, Phono Select Records, located at 2312 K Street. Last week I stopped in to pick Dal Basi and Nick Lujan’s brains about the new shop. According to the two, they are aiming for a Sept. 18 opening and they’ll carry new and used vinyl. “The vinyl section holds roughly 6,000 LPs,” said Basi, as well as a select section of CDs and other musicrelated stuff. Of course, you’ll be able to pick up Submerge there, too. “You’re on the approved list,” Basi told me. Thanks, Dal! Keep up with their progress on the shop by connecting with them on Facebook. Also look for the launch of a Phono Select online store coming soon at www.phonoselect.com. (J.C.) Please send all regional news tips to info@submergemag.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

fri, sept 24

wed, sept 15

fri, sept 3

arden park roots • katastro

sat, sept 25

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

trances sell your secrets princess die next stop mars

sat, sept 18

sat, sept 4

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

misery The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

sierra skyline • weston buck adam roth project • scream darling scream The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

thurs, sept 9

paper melody • the american scene

MON, sept 20

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

suN, sept 26

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

my darkest days • black sunshine The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

fri, Oct 1

wed, sept 22

fri, sept 10

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

nightmare in twilight • jack ketch • leviathon The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

tues, oct 19

sat, oct 2

mon, nov 8

city comma state

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

the Muertones The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

thurs, nov 11

Tyler Josiah Hilton Leming

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

sun, oct 24

thurs, oct 7

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

fri, oct 8

wed, oct 27

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

artist vs poet

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

tue, nov 16

wed, oct 13

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

Goatwhore black anvil The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

thurs, nov 18

another daMn disappointMent kaleiding design • lite brite

tues, nov 2

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

thiur, oct 14

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

sun, nov 7

carnifex • armed for the apocalypse

sun, nov 21

Tropicana • 1696 arden way • sacramenTo

The Boardwalk • 9426 GreenBack • oranGevale

ALL SHOWS ALL AGES SubmergeMag.com

Tropicana • 1696 arden way • sacramenTo

The TickeTs availaBle @ dimple records, The BeaT, armadillo(davis), TickeTs.com, musicToday.com, Boardwalkrocks.com and Boardwalk Box office

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Your Senses SEE HEAR TASTE Touch

TASTE

The World’s Largest Tamale

HEAR

Sunshine Estates EP Release When Sunshine Estates’ Aaron Friedman sent Submerge an e-mail in late May, with a couple MP3s off an upcoming EP attached to it, we thought nothing of it. Sure, we downloaded the songs (we try and listen to everything that gets sent our way), but it took us a few days to actually get around to listening to them. When we did, we were pleasantly surprised (and sad we hadn’t listened sooner). Friedman’s music is incredibly infectious! Upon further investigation, it started making a little more sense. Friedman enlisted the help of “producer/co-writer” Colby Wedgeworth (formerly of the pop-rock outfit Bidwell), which may have something to do with the hotness of these tracks. With hook-ridden vocals slammed with memorable melodies, space-y synth lines, live drums mixed beautifully with programmed beats and guitars sprinkled in the mix tastefully, Sunshine Estates has everything it takes to dominate the electro/screamo/pop genre (or whatever kids are calling it these days; think AP Magazine). Catch them live on Sept. 3 at the Boardwalk, where the band will release their new EP that was produced by Thomas Dutton (of Forgive Durden) and mixed by Casey Bates (Chiodos, A Skylit Drive, Pierce the Veil). Head to www.myspace.com/ sunshineestatesmusic and listen to “Molto Bello” and hear what we mean when we say this kid has something going for him.

On Sept. 12, head down to Cesar Chavez Park for KSFM 102.5’s Sixth Annual Tamales Festival. There will be more than a dozen different restaurants onsite, featuring delicious varieties of tamales, tamalemaking demonstrations (at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.), a best tamale competition, live music and of course you can’t forget the margaritas and cervezas. You can even witness the making of the world’s largest tamale; and for a small donation (which goes to Loaves and Fishes), you can taste it, too! Tickets are two for $5 in advance at Food Maxx locations or $5 each on the day of the event. Children 5 years old and under get in free. The festivities kick off at 11 a.m. and will wrap up around 5 p.m.

TOUCH

Vote for FTC’s Mountain Dew Can Design Professional skateboarder Paul Rodriguez and legendary skateboard artist Don Pendleton teamed up and inspired 35 skate shops around the country to design a can for Mountain Dew. Included was San Francisco’s FTC (they also have a shop in downtown Sacramento), who enlisted the help of artist Ferris Plock. What Plock came up with is, in Submerge’s professional opinion, the best of all designs from the 35 shops involved. Don’t just take our word for it; look for yourself. It’s called the “Cyclops Samurai,” and, according to www.greenlabelart.com (Mountain Dew’s website for the contest), is “Seldom seen and rarely photographed. The cyclops samurai are a rare breed. They are constantly thirsty due to the fact that they are always charging on their skateboards. The elusive cyclops samurai drink Mountain Dew because it is the only beverage worthy of touching their sacred taste buds.” Head to the site now and vote for FTCs design, but hurry because voting ends at 2:59 p.m. on Sept. 9.

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

SEE

Free Screening of Iron Man 2 Thanks to our good friends at UNIQUE Programs over at Sacramento State, the blockbuster superhero film Iron Man 2 will screen for free on Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. It’s open to everyone, not just students, so grab some blankets and some popcorn and head to University Union Serna Plaza for a fun, late-summer evening. Check out www.sacstateunique.com for more upcoming events.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

SubmergeMag.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

No Ferrari for Felipe Felipe Esparza tickles

the charity bone Words Adam Saake

Most of the time you get 20 minutes. Maybe. Celebrities are busy people with complicated agendas that their publicists keep moving like a well-oiled machine. This was not the case with this past season’s winner of Last Comic Standing, Felipe Esparza. On the dot, I ran out of questions at the 20-minute mark and began to end our interview. “You could ask me what I’m going to do with the money,” said Esparza, offering me more for us to talk about while also pointing out that I had forgotten to ask an obvious question. Esparza was calling from Los Angeles, where he lives and where Last Comic Standing had been filmed. Esparza beat out Tommy Johnagin and Roy Wood, Jr. in the top three to become season seven’s winner and the lucky recipient of $250,000. It’s easy for me to fantasize about what I’d do with that much money (I’d piss it away on a cellar full of first growth Bordeaux and a safari to Italy to track down Monica Bellucci), but after hearing Esparza tell me a story about Paul Rodriguez’s Ferrari I wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do with it all. “I’m going to donate it,” says Esparza proudly. “Not all of it. Some of it.” One of the charities rehabilitates gang bangers and outcasts and helps them find jobs, another is an alcohol treatment center and the third is really a big middle finger to the World Wide Web of Esparzahaters. “There’s been a lot people talking bad about me on the Internet. Saying, why do I talk like this, ‘I don’t understand his accent,’” says Esparza. “Well I got something for them, too. I’m donating money to a speech impairment school in my neighborhood.” Esparza jokes about being a deadbeat dad, being the last on his block to screw the neighborhood slut and even throws in jokes that are borderline corny. “The guy who wrote the song, ‘The Hokey Pokey’ passed away,” starts Esparza. “During his funeral they couldn’t close his casket because every time they put his left foot in, he put his right foot out.” OK, that’s just plain corny. But something about him and his unique brand of esoteric one-liners won over the judges and the voters during those 10 weeks of competition. When I asked Esparza if winning was a big break, he wasn’t so quick to rattle off movie deals and HBO specials he’s got lined up. He’s still on the grind like a lot of comedians, and what comes next is new territory. “I never made it that far,” jokes Espraza.

Did you have to audition for Last Comic Standing? For Last Comic Standing I had to audition. I didn’t wait in line this year so someone must have put in a good word for me this time. So you’ve auditioned in the past? Yeah, and I sucked. I didn’t see you, because you weren’t on those shows. No, you never noticed me. You touch yourself in this very strange way while you’re on stage. Almost like you’re trying to pinch your own nipple. Is this a weird tick you’ve developed along the way? I think every comedian looks for something to hold on to. Some comedians, they lean on the microphone stand. Some comics sit down and others just stand still. I just walk around. I used to wear big coats, and I always closed it over me and tried to hide, because I was so scared of being on stage. And I was just trying to cover myself up like if I had a cape. And little by little I stopped holding my coat and pushing it over me. Because it looks weird. Then I just forgot about it, and now I pretend to hold a coat or something. It’s a habit I guess, I can’t get rid of it.

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Normally your delivery is very laid-back and the timed structure of the show seems like it might have been a challenge for you. Did you have to adapt? I had to adapt, because I only had two-and-ahalf or three minutes to wrap it up. We had to submit three minutes of material, no more, no less. I tried to go for the strongest jokes. I have a lot of one-liners, so it was hard for me to do a story because I don’t have so many long jokes. The only long joke I have is [whispers], “I want cereal.” That took a big chance, that one and the last joke I did at the finale, “Now I know you can keep a secret.” There was a risk I took. I did those jokes at the end, because if I had done those jokes at the beginning, I probably would have lost my timing. It was hard to come up with fast jokes. Then the audience. The audience would clap at everything that Tommy and I were saying. They will applause break “hello.” I had to time the audience. I would do the setup and they’d laugh at the setup. Whoa, hold on. The joke’s not even there yet. Like, I said this joke; I said, “The restaurant that’s parked in front of my house…” That got a big ass applause break. And then the punch line was, “…got robbed after I paid.” Some of the comics, I don’t know if they were used to the crowd cheering for them so loud. It was bothering their timing a lot. Me, I was just riding the flow. Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Were you writing new material along the way to pepper in with some of the older bits? A lot of the jokes that I said in the beginning of the competition were new bits. Like the one about the new law in Arizona. I say, “That law sounds scary, but if I get deported I’m going to say the same thing I say when I get kicked out of a club. ‘But sir, I was already in there. My friends are all in there. They’re still holding my credit card.’” That was a new joke; it was only like a month old. “I want cereal” was like a year old. Were you always a jackass growing up, or did you make your way into comedy through other channels? Ever since my friend Jackie Escalara invited me over to his house. See, I lived in the housing projects but across the street, not even 100 feet away, was a regular neighborhood. Across the street in a regular house was my friend, Jackie Escalara. He introduced me to Bill Cosby on a little Fisher-Price record player. I listened to that whole bit, about “me and my brother Russell.” The one where Bill Cosby is talking about him and his brother fighting all night. And from then on, I said, man this is funny. I memorized the album. It’s weird how when you’re a kid, when you really love something, you remember it—unlike math and English. You forget that shit when you get home. I wanted to be a comedian from then on. Were there any Latino comedians who influenced your style and that you looked up to? I think I like Paul Rodriguez and George Carlin the best. And Richard Pryor. I think my top three are Paul Rodriguez first, Rodney Dangerfield second and George Carlin third. If those three guys had a baby, it would be me looking like Mitch Hedburg but speaking Spanish.

“I think my top three are Paul Rodriguez first, Rodney Dangerfield second and George Carlin third. If those three guys had a baby, it would be me looking like Mitch Hedburg but speaking Spanish.” – Felipe Esparza I don’t want to think about the three of them having a baby, at all. I know huh? It would be crazy. Drinking wine like George Carlin, riding in a Nova with hubcaps and smoking crack in the back! I love Paul Rodriguez because he has different material all the time, and he’s always talking shit about somebody. It’s hilarious. Like I remember Carlos Mencia was on stage preaching. Like he always does now, preaching about how much money he made. He was saying he made a million dollars. But, when we were in the parking lot—there were a bunch of comedians hanging out in our group, and Paul Rodriguez has a Ferrari man. A Ferrari Testarossa. One with a clear fiberglass and you can see the engine in the back. He revs that shit up! I mean loud! He looks at Carlos Mencia and says, “Hey Carlos, next year maybe you should make three million dollars!” And takes off on Sunset. What are you going to do next? Where are you headed? I want to continue. I’m going to do the 65-city tour first and foremost with the other four comics. Mike Destefano, Mike Hugh, Roy Woods Jr. and Tommy Johnagin. Four of the strongest comics I ever had to compete with in my life, in comedy. I have a movie that I did with Paul Rodriguez called I Am Not Like That No More, and we’re going to shop that around. And also I’m going to be honored by the city of Los Angeles for being a local hero.

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Who did you rescue? Nobody. Are you getting a Purple Heart? [Laughs] You’re the first person to ask me a funny question. That’s funny.

Felipe Esparza will perform at The Crest Theatre on Sept. 9. Tickets start at $25. For more on the show and Felipe Esparza, go to www.felipesworld.com.

SubmergeMag.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

All My Heroes Are Weirdoes Tera Melos makes weird music accessible on Patagonian Rats words Jonathan Carabba

Ask anyone who’s heard Tera Melos’ music and you’ll assuredly hear the words “weird,” “crazy,” or “math-y” somewhere in their attempt to answer the frustrating question, “What do they sound like?” The band’s blend of odd-time signatures, double hand-tapped guitar riffs and spastic non-air-drumable percussion have left many music enthusiasts scratching their heads over the years. The truth is, in order to fully decipher the Roseville-based group’s complicated sound, one must clarify exactly which “era” or “phase” of Tera Melos they are referring to, as the band has gone through a few notable changes. Rewind to 2004, the year of the band’s inception, and you’ll see and hear an entirely different band than you would now (or on Sept. 9 at Sol Collective). Then a four-piece instrumental group with rowdy stage antics (think one-armed cartwheels while holding a guitar, flipping off of amps and hanging from the rafters-type rowdy), Tera Melos has morphed over the years into their current form: a three-piece, still-somewhat-rowdy-on-stage-but-in-a-much-more-mature-way group with vocals. At least that’s what Submerge thought the current lineup was, up until our recent interview with guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Nick Reinhart and bassist Nathan Latona, where they informed us we were wrong. “There have been a lot of phases,” Latona admitted while sipping a ginger ale at Blue Cue on J Street. “But I think it’s kind of cool.” Reinhart added, “To me, it really is like a new band, and I totally embrace the new eras of it.” The two would soon divulge that the current lineup includes Worker Bee’s Evan Jewett in the mix on guitar, vocals and keys and, according to Reinhart, “it sounds full and awesome.” The two agreed that because all of the band’s different eras have been documented on record, it helps keep it “fresh and not a bummer” that they’ve gone through so many changes over the years. “It’s cool that there’s kind of like a lifespan of the band that has already been condensed into six years,” Reinhart said. “Hopefully it will go on for a lot longer.” Their latest effort, Patagonian Rats, is due out Sept. 7 via Sargent House, a Los Angeles-based management and record company. It’s yet another step in a new direction for the band, as it is the first fulllength release from Tera Melos that contains vocals throughout the entire thing. In the following interview, Reinhart and Latona discuss adding vocals and their definition of being weird.

As I was walking to meet up with you guys I was thinking how it’s odd for me to be humming a Tera Melos melody that’s not one of Nick’s guitar riffs. I’m surprised by the vocal performances on the new record. Not that I expected them to be bad, I just didn’t expect them to be such a prominent part. Have you been getting that a lot from friends and fans? Nathan Latona: I’ve actually been kind of surprised at how little has been said about vocals. Nick Reinhart: I think we already kind of warmed people up with it. I’ve seen one or two people saying online, “I wonder if it’s going to have vocals, I hope it doesn’t have vocals,” but like not an overwhelming amount. We pretty much established when we did the Complex Full of Phantoms split with By the End of Tonight that that’s kind of what was going on. So you eased people into it, rather than just dropping it on them like a ton of bricks? NR: Yeah totally. And the humming the vocal melody thing is really cool and hopefully that starts happening with a lot of people. My guitar playing in the past has been very full. I mean, every guitar player would probably say this, but I take it to the extremes of playing an actual rhythmic pattern, like rhythm guitar, with harmony and melodies over the top of it.

I usually cram all of that into one guitar riff. I think it was probably a conscious thing over the last few years where I wanted to leave room for vocal melodies in some of that. So maybe what you were humming in the song “Frozen Zoo,” a couple years ago I would have somehow found a way to make that into a guitar riff. That’s kind of like what Tera Melos was three years ago. Now I’m really interested in that idea of switching it up and leaving room not even for just vocals, but for saxophone or keyboard or whistling, anything. It’s pretty cool to be able to expand upon melodic ideas and not limit them to guitar. When vocals first started making their way into your music, was it a conscious effort, like “let’s do this to expand,” or did it just sort of happen? NR: It was definitely rough starting out with them. If you find a video of us playing, we were still pretty thrashed out. It was kind of like we were starting over, definitely in the vocal department. It was definitely shaky, and now it’s very comfortable and I feel a lot better about it. It was 100 percent a conscious decision; it wasn’t like we were practicing and I was like, “Check this out,” and threw vocals in. It was something we’d talked about for several years, making a record like this that has vocals on it. People ask us, “Why did you want to add vocals?” I don’t

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Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

really know the reason why we wanted to other than we just thought it would sound really cool with our music. One thing I’ve kind of figured out for myself is that when you have a really jacked-up song, or you’re this band that writes really fucked-up, weird music, it’s hard for some people to relate to what is happening musically. It’s mostly tech guys and like people who know weird time signatures that get it. The cool thing about adding vocals to a band like this is that anyone can relate to a vocal melody, no matter what their musical experience is. You can hear a vocal melody and no matter what is happening underneath it, you can kind of follow what’s happening. Who wrote all of the lyrics for Patagonian Rats? NR: I did the lyrics, yeah, and it was definitely insane. I’m super particular about liking something or not liking something; there’s many things I’d come back to either an hour later or a week later and be like, “Man I fucking cannot stand those words.” So that was a big process for me, getting to a point where I’m comfortable with everything that I had to say and, actually, I am. There’s not one thing on there that I like cringe at or say, “Uh, why did I even think of saying that,” so I’m pretty stoked on it myself.

On this record there’s the math-y, progged-out elements that old Tera Melos fans will gobble right up, but there’s also “pop” sensibilities to it. What was the writing/creating process like? Was there a lot of push and pull of how far to go down the rabbit hole of weird, verses the “pop” side of it? NL: I can’t recall at any time during writing being like, “Oh that’s too weird, we’re trying to not be too weird,” or being like, “Oh I don’t know that sounds a little too accessible or pop-y.” I think it goes back to being a natural progression; we’re always going to make music that we find interesting and not dumbed down, but we also wanted to make music that’s not just straight up technical music that can’t get stuck in your head. We wanted to have something you can grab onto. I think that’s where the pop sensibilities came in. We weren’t saying, “Dude, lets pop it up!” If that’s what happens, then that’s cool. To me it was a very natural thing; there wasn’t a lot of push and pull with the weird versus straight. I found it interesting how the press release for Patagonian Rats mentioned something about how, “Occasionally ‘pop’ music has really meant daring music.” It really got me thinking: the term “pop” doesn’t have to mean 808s and Auto-Tune, you know what I’m saying? Patagonian Rats is a

great example of weird, out-there music with pop sensibilities. NR: If it’s true that we’ve kind of helped to push really weird music into a zone where it’s a little more accessible and does have pop sensibilities in it, that would be a really, really cool thing. It’d be really cool if it was like that across the board. That wasn’t a conscious idea; we just wanted to write songs that sounded good, but if that’s what came out of that recording, that’s pretty cool. The word “weird” tends to wiggle its way into most people’s description of your band, be it describing the music, or describing your videos, especially the new one for “The Skin Surf.” Is that whole “weird factor” something you guys are aware of and play into? Or is that really just the way it is with you guys? I feel like some bands are trying to be weird just to be different, but for some reason I really get the feeling you guys are that fucked up in the head. Don’t take that the wrong way. NR: I know that it’s objectively weird, but to me none of those ideas were weird ideas. The idea of like tonguing a crab and pouring shit all over ourselves and doing “weird stuff,” it’s not weird to us; that’s just the kind of stuff we talk about constantly and think about and that’s how we are. So I guess if that’s your idea of weird, then yeah

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we probably are weird. NL: I remember while we were doing things like when Nick was making out with a crab and John [Clardy, drums]and I were using fishing line to make it look like the crab was moving, I was thinking, “People will think this is weird,” but I was like, “Wow this is far out.” When you think about music videos, though, if that’s weird, then I think a lot of music videos are really weird. NR: To me when someone says, “Your band is weird,” I see that as a 100 percent positive thing. If someone thinks our music video is weird, that to me is awesome. Visually yeah, it’s definitely weird to a lot of people. When someone asks me to describe our band, whether it’s a kid that likes us or one of my mom’s friends that’s over visiting, usually the word “weird” is in my description of our band. The only reason I would describe it to someone else as weird is because someone else’s idea of weird is not the same as mine. If the consensus is it’s weird to kiss crabs and pour buckets of random shit all over your Check out the music video head and do all kinds for “The Skin Surf” online of wacky things, I now and see for yourself. Tera Melos will play a hometown think that’s weird to CD release show at Sol a lot of people, but Collective on Sept. 9. For more to us it’s just kind information on the band, visit www.teramelosmusic.com. of fun.

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Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Sound Off! Nic Offer of !!! Talks

about the Weather Words James Barone

Creative people come in all kinds. The creative environment that works for you may not work for me. Maybe you need seclusion, a familiar place, peace and quiet, or maybe you require a Scarface-size mountain of coke and a room full of half-dressed, semi-conscious admirers strewn about the floor to craft your magnum opus. Hey, whatever works, right? For their latest album, New York by way of Sacramento band !!! literally traversed the globe, committing its latest batch of songs to tape. Strange Weather, Isn’t It?, the band’s fourth album, was recorded in New York, Berlin and even right here at the Hangar in Sacramento. Frontman Nic Offer admits that though it may sound exciting this probably isn’t the most economic way to work. “It’s not always the best way to do things, but it’s kind of the way we ended up,” he says. “We’re living in four or five different towns with the majority of people in New York. We can’t just make everyone come to New York, so we pick some place to meet up.” Location-jumping in order to get work done isn’t new for the group. Offer says the band has met up to practice in a variety of different places, such as Seattle, even though no one in the band resides there. Berlin, however far off it may seem from the River City or even the Big Apple, was not an entirely random choice. The band’s now-former bassist Tyler Pope called the German capital home. Even more so, Offer says that the decision to record in Berlin was a creative one. In !!!’s most recent bio, the frontman is quoted as saying “Everyone’s got a Berlin record in them, and I guess we just wanted to see what ours would sound like.” However, in our interview, he mentions that the remark was meant to be taken lightheartedly. “It was really just a joke,” he says. “Anyone can just go there and do it. Everyone’s got a Sacramento record in them, you know?” Jokes aside, Offer explains that recording in Berlin did have a certain draw to it. “There’s just that whole mystique of a Berlin record,” he goes on to say. “It was just an experiment to see what we would make, to see if it would affect the record. It was just an experiment, which I think is important when you’re writing, to just try different things.” If hopping continents to record the album weren’t enough, !!! also underwent a series of lineup changes around the time Strange Weather… was written and recorded. Pope exited while the album was being recorded; meanwhile, John Pugh and Justin Vandervolgen departed before writing began (compounding the tragic death of drummer Jerry Fuchs in November 2009). All of these changes mean a very different !!!, and it shows in the music. In the following interview, Offer talks about his creative process, recording Strange Weather…, hanging out in Berlin and his signature dance move.

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Are you guys into a lot of the Krautrock stuff? When we first started the band, it was right when we were getting into Can, and we heard how they would jam for 14 hours a day in some castle in Germany, and that just seemed completely unreal to us. Now, with the change of technology, we can jam for hours. We couldn’t afford to buy that much tape and hire somebody for that, but now with computers, you can jam as long as you can stay awake and not have to stop it. And there we were in Germany with the opportunity. It was like living the dream, to be there and have nothing else to do but jam. It’s interesting to hear you say that you did a lot of jamming when writing this record, because the album is very tight. There is almost a pop-y feel to it. Did that come out of the jamming process? There are songs on there that are from hourlong jams that we could have [written] a whole other song out of. It’s like we would jam, record it all, then make loops of the best bits, put them next to each other and listen to them together to see where people got the most excited. Lots of things we had to let go come back in later songs down the line or something. It’s a big process of narrowing down that got it down to something so pop. Was there an inclination to make more sprawling songs? When did you feel it going in a tighter direction? It was really a conversation I had with my friend Margo. She was complaining about how our songs were too long and jam-y. At the time, the conversation kind of hurt my feelings a bit, but I just kept hearing her voice in my head as we finished the record. If anything, you just want to make something your friends like. If your friends are listening to it, not just because they’re your friends, but because they like it, then that’s a really high compliment. That’s something we’re always shooting for. We’re shooting to make Margo happy.

So she’s sort of like a member of the band? Yeah, she’s our executive producer. Was that something you were feeling at all—that your songs were too long, and when she said it, it kind of backed up what you were thinking? No, actually, that was the thing. When you get criticism, sometimes it’s like you kind of did already know it and didn’t admit it to yourself. You’ll hear it and say, “Actually, that is kind of right.” When you don’t agree with it, it’s good because it makes you work harder to get your point across. It’s like, “That’s not working for people. This is exciting me. How can I make what excites me work for other people?” It just makes you hone it better. That’s one of the really good things about criticism. My advice to any musician would be to learn how to take criticism and find someone who can criticize you well and that you trust. That’s important too, because some people just talk out of their ass, and you don’t need to listen to them. To have a really good friend who you know you can play something for and they’ll tell you the truth is really helpful as a songwriter. When you were recording out in Berlin, did you spend a lot of time in the clubs? We tried to as much as we could. You have to keep it together and not get too wasted so you can do something worthwhile the next day. We were going out as much as we could, really—or some of us would. Some of us went out more than others.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

Did what you hear in the clubs play into what you were jamming on in the studio? Yeah, for sure. It’s a really good way to work, when you’re working all day, and then you go out to the clubs and hear the kind of things that you were working on and how they’re working live, and how they’re affecting people. It makes you pay attention to things differently.

Did you enjoy having someone outside the group, Eric Broucek, produce this album? Yeah. Sometimes it was a bit difficult, and sometimes it felt like he was a little too outside the group and coming from a different perspective, but listening to the record now, after all the fights are done, I think he did some really good stuff on it.

During the making of this record, you had a few band members leave—two before and one during—how did that affect how you guys worked? It was kind of something we rolled with. It was an unlucky break when Justin left, because he produced the last record. He really played referee between a lot of our fights and really understood us. He was in the band, so he understood where we were coming from and where we needed to be pushed. He had a technical head that a lot of us didn’t, but we just brought in another producer. You try to use what you’re given to work with. We tried to use the advantages of having a fresh producer to get a different sound. That’s all you can do. You make the record from where you’re at instead of lamenting where you were.

Was there combat between you and Eric? Yeah, but there’s push and pull between everyone. It’s like he just becomes a member of the band eventually. He’s just becomes another person to fight with [laughs].

“If you’re letting the record be made, and you’re not criticizing it, and you’re not saying what needs to be said, the things you’re afraid to say to your band mates, they’re going to read in the press anyway, so you might as well say them now. I do believe fighting can be a powerful creative tool.” – Nic Offer, !!!

Is the fighting an important part of your creative process? Uh…yeah. I wish it wasn’t. I don’t want to say that it’s the ultimate creative tool and that all bands should fight each other to make a record, but I think if you can learn from the fighting and learn how to fight better so you’re not hurting each other’s feelings and saying what needs to be said. If you’re letting the record be made, and you’re not criticizing it, and you’re not saying what needs to be said, the things you’re afraid to say to your band mates, they’re going to read in the press anyway, so you might as well say them now. I do believe fighting can be a powerful creative tool.

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Getting ready for this interview, I saw a lot of videos of you on YouTube just losing it on stage. Do you have a go-to dance move? I noticed the one where you have your arms down at your sides and you kind of shimmy, I guess. Yeah, I’ll have a lot of people come up to me after the show and say that they can do my dance, and they’ll bust into that one. That seems to be the one that people have glommed onto the most. People from all over the place, unconnected, would call it “The Penguin.” That works for me. That’s cool.

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Strange Weather, Isn’t It? was released on Aug. 24 and is available in stores and at online retailers. You can catch !!! live at Harlow’s on Sept. 13. Tickets are just $15. Go to www.harlows.com for ticket information.

SubmergeMag.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Mariachi por Vida

The Bronx’s side project brings mariachi to the world Words Anthony Giannotti

Mariachi El Bronx is the mariachi side project of Los Angeles hardcore punk band The Bronx. No you don’t need to reread that. It’s not a typo. The Bronx, which is known for its hard-edged, balls-to-the-wall punk rock, has a traditional-style mariachi side project. It’s not unusual for a band to have side projects: The Green Day guys have Foxboro Hot Tubs, Jack White of The White Stripes has The Dead Weather, and Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie has The Postal Service. However, it is unusual and awesome when a band does a sideways double back flip into a completely different genre for a side project. After having played many acoustic shows as The Bronx, Matt Caughthran, lead singer of both bands, explains how the band was looking for something different, “We always knew [The] Bronx was supposed to be fast, loud and in your face. We never liked playing stripped-down, just

a singer and acoustic guitar. It’s not as fun… We were looking for something creative fun and lighter than full-blown hardcore.” To combat the lackluster acoustic punk format, the band re-worked a few of their songs mariachistyle. From what I gather from the Spanglish conversations I’ve had with Mariachi musicians at Mexican restaurants, mariachi is a regional Mexican music. The lyrics have been influenced by the development of Mexico but mostly the lyrics are a bearing of the heart and soul of the Mexican people. Mariachi bands generally consist of violins, trumpets, an acoustic guitar, a guitarrón (a large acoustic bass), a high-pitched five-string guitar known as a vihuela and sometimes a harp. Musicians dress in silver studded suits known as traje de charro with wide-brimmed hats—a look that is quite the departure from a five-piece punk band. Mariachi El Bronx doesn’t disappoint on any

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

of the aesthetics. They are a full band dressed in full charro gear. Even going as far as including bongo drums, ukulele, accordion, a smaller, higherpitched guitar called requinto, not to mention the standard mariachi instrumentation to get the right Latin flavor to all the songs. After having smashing success playing the rejuvenated songs at a few local L.A. shows, the side project snowballed into its own full-fledged creative outlet. “We just followed the music down the rabbit hole; so to speak. It was a part of us that we didn’t realize was there.” Caughthran says with a great deal of inspiration in his voice. He talks loosely about writing some of the songs on the Mariachi El Bronx album, “It was a natural progression and very liberating. It freed up an entire new creative avenue.” Caughthran’s enthusiasm about the creative process is undeniable. You can feel the excitement

in his tone. He continues to speak about the complex process The Bronx went through reinventing their music by saying, “Some days we wrote two even three songs, lyrics and all. It was one of the funnest albums we’ve recorded, because it went so smooth and easy.”

“We can’t help it. We are Southern California boys,

and we love m a r i a c h i .” – Matt Caughthran, Mariachi El Bronx Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

According to Caughthran, The Bronx never thought anything would actually come of the new project, or that they would record an album—let alone tour the world on its merits. The mention of touring the world brings up an interesting subject. Any Californian knows that mariachi is abundant in this state; and if you’ve ever been to any of the other states that border Mexico, you know they have even larger mariachi scenes. But what about the rest of the country? “We were worried that people outside of California wouldn’t get the music,” Caughthran says. “Especially in Canada and Europe, they don’t have hardly any Latin influences there. But it’s been quite a relief and surprise. People are diggin’ it ‘cause it’s different!” When I ask Caughthran if a mariachi traditionalist has ever been offended that a bunch of white guys were playing mariachi and singing it in English, he artfully sidesteps my question. “I mean, being from Los Angeles and, you know, growing up and surrounded by Mexican culture, it just kind of happened,” he laughs. “We can’t help it. We are Southern California boys, and we love mariachi.” Thankfully for Caughthran and the boys, they have had very positive reception everywhere they have been. “This band has been so great,” he says. “Everyone has been so constructive. We have had so many doors opened that The Bronx would have never been able to do.” The first big door was opened last summer when the boys got to play main support on a stadium tour with The Killers. “Those guys where so great,” he says. “They put us in venues we’d have never been in.” He even has some kind words about Sacramento. “I

remember playing Sacramento on that tour, I think the place is called ARCO? Anyway, that crowd was one of the best on the tour. You could feel the love and support.” They also had the honor of touring Europe and the United Kingdom with the gypsy punks Gogol Bordello. Most interesting, they had the chance to tour with themselves—Mariachi El Bronx opened for The Bronx. Matt says, “That was one of the greatest, most grueling tours we have ever done. Playing twice in a night doesn’t sound that hard but it thoroughly drained us.” Putting forth the energy, let alone the emotion, to play two sets every night for an entire United States and European tour will put the hurt on anyone. “It was very rewarding to see all the people get into two very different types of music at one show,” he says. “The crowds put out the energy that recharged us for the second set.” Mariachi El Bronx has some exciting stuff coming up, including a small California tour with Primus in September, according to Caughthran. After two shows in L.A., they’ll play Sacramento on Sept.14. Matt explains they didn’t want to tour too much this fall, because they are in the process of recording the fourth Bronx album and second Mariachi El Bronx album, with the hope to release them as a double album next spring. With two new albums coming out and as much fan support as any band or bands could ask for, it seems The Bronx has this side project thing figured out pretty well. With their irrefutable lust for music, it’s See Mariachi El Bronx certain we will be in support of Primus at hearing more about the Memorial Auditorium in Sacramento on Sept. Mariachi El Bronx in 14. Tickets are $38 in advance/$40 at the door. the near future. For more info, go to www. sacramentoconventioncenter. com.

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SubmergeMag.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

You’ve Been Bourdained 10 Years After Kitchen Confidential, a (somewhat) softer, gentler Anthony Bourdain emerges

Words Mandy Johnston | Photo courtesy of The Travel Channel

Anthony Bourdain is the very picture of the jaded, over privileged foodie that he used to despise. No really, it says so right here on page 195 of his latest book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook. Truth is, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone even remotely interested in food who doesn’t love—maybe even idolize—the guy. The self-proclaimed “former chef” earned the now well-worn and maybe even up-forretirement title of Bad Boy of Cooking 10 years ago when he dragged into daylight the up‘til-then unspoken (in public, anyway) seedy stories from the back of the house in his bestselling chef’s memoir, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. Bourdain’s hard edge has dulled a bit, due mainly in part to the arrival of his daughter Ariane, now 3 years old. Lest you think he’s gone all soft, however, please reference No Reservations, his Emmy-winning show on the Travel Channel wherein the viewer is still treated to the gritty, behind-the-scenes international culinary escapades with Bourdain’s rolled shirtsleeves, jeans and a series of bleeped out expletives here and there; or even Medium Raw, stuffed to the gills with that hilariously acerbic wit. The book’s chapters delve into both personal reflection and up-to-date food-related queries, ranging from ammonia-treated hamburger to the merits of “Mother of Slow Food” Alice Waters’ near-ascension into foodie sainthood, from his list of culinary heroes and villains to his desire to keep Ariane from the throes of McDonald’s at all costs. These minimanifestos are still peppered with the guffaw-inducing yet unappetizing terms and visuals: “Trying to conjure a descriptive for salad must be like one’s tenth year writing Penthouse Letters, he writes in his bitingly titled chapter, “Alan Richman is a Douchebag.” “The words ‘crunchy,’ ‘zing,’ ‘tart’ and ‘rich’ are as bad as ‘poon,’ ‘cooter,’ ‘cooz’ and ‘snatch’ when rolling across the brain in predictable, dreary procession.” Properly braced to talk food and, ahem, bodily functions, but instead regaled with pontifications on the current affairs of cinema and the idea of adoring baristas as rock stars, Submerge spoke with Bourdain about his upcoming lecture at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, the topic of which not even the speaker will know until he arrives on stage. “It’s going to be like Spinal Tap on tour,” he says. “You know, without the entourage, the equipment, the rest of the band…one night only, in and out.”

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

It seems a lot of the stuff you talk about in your book is so current; how much more, current-event wise, can you get in your talks? Or do you just go off on anything? I’ll go off on anything, I mean if I saw something on TV last night, I might well talk about that. I saw in your bio that you even give team-building talks? Yeah, that was kind of weird for a while. Early on, I was [part of] a speakers’ bureau. And I was invited mostly to do the sort of corporate retreat talk. Shortly after Kitchen Confidential, Harvard Business Review had done an article, a really big article, outlining the takeaway from Kitchen Confidential, sort of extrapolating strategies and tactics for managing. And for me, it was like a vicarious thrill for managers of companies who could never actually institute any of the policies or management strategies that I was able to in the kitchen. I mean if you work for a bank, you can’t fire somebody with no warning and no notice, just for listening to Billy Joel. I used to do that [laughs]. Really? Billy Joel? Yeah, I think enjoying the music of Billy Joel or the Grateful Dead excessively was grounds for dismissal. I just couldn’t work with you. It was problematic. But I think there were those in the business community who got a vicarious kick out

of imagining how great that would be if they could live their life like that or with companies like that. So I did that for a little while, but very quickly the bulk of my speaking engagements came from promoters who book theaters and sell tickets and put me in just to talk about anything, more like a band than the usual lecture circuit. And there’s nothing else on stage with you. Just you and a mic and whatever comes to mind. Yeah. Me, a mic and a local beer. This book seems to mirror your approach to these talks. It almost seems like a bunch of minimanifestos. I half expect you to say, “And another thing!” [Laughs] Yeah, you know, I write like I talk. And in fact, two or three chapters in the book were kind of put together on the road. I wrote them in my head as I was standing on stage, talking to audiences. It’s sort of an immediate way to find out whether a sentence or a paragraph works. You get that immediate feedback from an audience. Is this funny or not? You find out awful quick in front of 2000 people. What was the impetus behind the book? I know some topics arise while you’re giving talks, but there’s other, more personal… Well, Kitchen Confidential is still selling like crazy; it’s been 10 years, it’s still a big book, selling very Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

FELIPE ESPARZA TOMMY JOHNAGIN MYQ KAPLAN MIKE DESTEFANO & ROY WOOD, JR.

WORLD MUSIC & DANCE EXTRAVAGANZA

THE SPANISH GUITAR well all over the world. And my life has changed so much in 10 years, and the restaurant business that I was writing about in Kitchen Confidential has changed so much in 10 years, that I felt it was… I don’t know whether I’d say important, but I wanted to update things. I just thought it was worth saying, “I’m no longer a chef. This is how my life has changed, and also the business I was writing about has changed so much, let’s look at these things.” Talking about change, there’s a genre of the food celebrity on the Food Network, but it almost feels like there’s an undercurrent of another type of food celebrity. The New York Times did a story on butchers becoming the new rock stars. And I’ve worked with baristas who are the super hipster cool cats… [Laughs] Yeah. You know, I don’t know… I certainly like the idea of butchers being empowered in the way that chefs were. I think that’s a good thing. But…at this point, I don’t know. I just don’t know. I’m suspicious as to whether we’re going to start seeing baristarelated programming or whether there’ll be rock star baristas… But let’s hope so! Better a barista as a star of a reality show than Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian, for sure. At least they’re doing something useful. But I don’t know. I think they might be taking that a little seriously. We should be learning that from websites and blogs, rather than the Times’ dining section. It seems that if you’re spending time around food and writing, music tends to be right up there. Do you have a particular music you listen to either when you’re traveling, writing or cooking? For cooking, I like a pre-disco funk. Bobby Womack, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, I love that era. Iggy and the Stooges are still prominently featured on my iPod. Old [Rolling] Stones, some more recent stuff but not that recent. I’m certainly not plugged into new bands at all. I don’t have time. I’m amazed at my friends who stay really current on the latest indie bands and spend a lot of time listening to new music. I envy them that they have the time. For me, there’s still movies and some television shows that I really like that I don’t have time to stay up on. What do you watch when you have time? Mad Men. Treme, I’m very, very excited by. I mean with The Wire, David Simon, I think anything he does is amazing. Breaking Bad I like, though I’ve fallen behind there. I think it’s kind of awesome that movies are so bad now that television to some extent has sort of taken up the slack. They’re telling stories on television of all places and no way would Hollywood allow those stories to be told in films. Try to imagine The Wire in a film or a series of films. It would never happen. Or Breaking Bad. I mean, a high school science teacher turned meth-cooking hero? I think that’s kind of a reason to hope.

SubmergeMag.com

On to your show, No Reservations. This last season just started. We’re ending our sixth season of shooting and will be going out on the road again in the fall and shooting our seventh. Do you pick the locales? Yes. Absolutely. That’s the number-one most important part of the equation of making television for me. I get to choose where we go, and I decide with my production company and with my partners and camera people and editor—I decide how we’re going to tell that story. I have to say, I’m really grateful to my network for letting me do that. I have an unprecedented amount of freedom to tell the stories I want to tell, where I want to tell them and how. I’ve read Cuba is a place you haven’t filmed but that you’d like to. Is there a place you would not like to go, or not like to return? I’m not so happy in Eastern Europe, as it turns out. Central Asia, the ‘Stans, I don’t really have a feel for. I don’t like clean, orderly countries with no social problems. I like hot, messy, passionate countries. I’m sick. I’m a Mediterranean at heart.

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I have to ask, only because I thought it was hilarious. Do you really initiate black propaganda with your daughter when it comes to McDonald’s? [Laughs] Um… maybe I exaggerate a little bit. If it comes to that, I will, though.

MONDAY SEPT 27 CREST THEATRE

FRIDAY FEB 4 CREST THEATRE 1013 K ST · SACRAMENTO, CA 6:30PM DOORS · ALL AGES TICKETS AT TICKETS.COM CHARGE BY PHONE 1-800-225-2277

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“I don’t like clean, orderly countries with no social problems. I like hot, messy, passionate countries.”

– Anthony Bourdain

And I’ve read she’s already got a pretty experienced palate. She’s Italian like her mama. And we spend a lot of time in the town where my wife’s from. I bring them with me to Europe a lot. So it’s not like we’re trying to make her into a little foodie, she’s just growing up around a lot of interesting food choices. You know, she sees her mother and father eating interesting foods, then she’s free to grab stuff off our plates. Now and again, we’re surprised by what she likes. So, Alice Waters would be impressed with how she’s eating? Yeah! They’re a lot alike, actually, Alice and my daughter. She eats only organic Catch Anthony Bourdain at the food, she likes Sacramento Memorial Auditorium Paris, so yeah September 17 at 8 p.m. Tickets she’s got that are $46.50 and $36.50 and can be purchased at the Convention going for her.

Center Box Office, by phone at (916) 808-5181 or (916) 225-2277 or online at www.tickets.com.

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

august 30 – september 13 Also available at www.submergemag.com/calendar

m usic

Ca l en da r

8.30 8.31 Tuesday

Monday

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m. Fox & Goose Open Mic Night, 7:30 p.m. G St Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m. Old Ironsides Strapped for Cash w/ Nuance, 8 p.m. Powerhouse Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m. Press Club Not An Airplane, Matt Salas, Rey Villalobos, 9 p.m. Sol Collective Wavves, Ganglians, G. Green, Produce Produce, 8:30 p.m.

Capitol Garage Open Jazz Session w/ SalmonJoe, 9 p.m.

Press Club Ol Cotton Dreary, This Snake’s Disposition, 9 p.m. Shady Lady Chub City w/ Flower Vato, 10 p.m. T2 Nightclub & Lounge Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m. Fox & Goose Traditional Irish Jam Session, 7 p.m. G St Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m. Harlow’s Solsa, 10 p.m. Marilyn’s Open Mic, 6 p.m.; Gears Turn, Tear Down the Sky, Malcontent, 9 p.m. Old Ironsides Lipstick w/ DJs Shaun Slaghter, Roger Carpio, 9 p.m. Powerhouse Pub DJs Rigatony, Alazzawi, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Kate Gaffney, 5:30 p.m.; Lew Fratis Trio, 9 p.m.

9.01 Wednesday

Arco Arena Slayer, Megadeth, Testament, 7 p.m. Bisla’s Open Mic, 9 p.m. Blackwater Cafe Open Mic, 7 p.m. The Boardwalk The Rise of the Soldiers, Americaz Mostz Haunted, Magik, Claudia’s Ashes, Teeth N Tones, Divided Allegiance, Cylince, 8 p.m.

Club Car The Double Shots, 7:30 p.m. CSUS University Union Serna Plaza Stomacher, 12 p.m. Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m. Fox & Goose Two Leaf Clover, 8 p.m. G St Pub DJ Larry the Flower Vato, 10 p.m. Luigi’s Fun Garden Lower Dens, Wife and Son, Chelsea Wolfe, 8 p.m. Marilyn’s The Preservation, Dirt Nap Band, 9 p.m. Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 9 p.m. Old Ironsides Open Mic w/ host Lare Crawley, 8:30 p.m. Press Club The Secretions, Bastards of Young, Know Your Saints, 9 p.m. Shady Lady Straight, No Chaser w/ CrookOne, 10 p.m.

Torch Club Acoustic Open Mic, 5:30 p.m.; The Return of Jimmy Pailer, 9 p.m.

9.02 thursday

Barcode Nightclub & Lounge DJ Wreck, DJ BTRIXX, 9 p.m. Capitol City Hotel Karaoke, 8:30 p.m. Club Car Songwriters Showcase, 8 p.m. The Coffee Garden Open Mic Night, 8 p.m. Fox & Goose The Bell Boys, Friends and Foes of John Koepp, Jesi Naomi, 8 p.m. G St Pub DJ Somebody, 10 p.m. Golden Bear Shaun Slaughter, 10 p.m. John Natsoulas Gallery (Davis) Instagon, 7 p.m.

Marilyn’s Rockstar Live Band Karaoke, 9 p.m. Mix DJ Ron Reeser, DJ Slick D, DJ Dan Saenz, 9 p.m. On The Y You Be the Rockstar Karaoke w/ Larissa, 8 p.m. Press Club DJ Arnold, 9 p.m. Torch Club X Trio, 5 p.m.; Harley White Jr. feat. Aaron King, 9 p.m. Tre Retox Thursday’s w/ DJ Peeti V, 9 p.m. Vega’s Blues Jam, 7 p.m.

9.03 Friday

Barcode Nightclub & Lounge DJ Eddie Edul, DJ P-Trick, 10 p.m. The Blue Lamp Cool Beans, 9 p.m.

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Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

9.04

The Boardwalk Trances, Sunshine Estates (EP Release), Sell Your Secrets, Next Stop Mars, 7 p.m.

Saturday

Cache Creek Casino Dog N Butterfly, 9 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Old Ghost, A.R.G., Cash Dreed, Notion, DJ Los, 9 p.m.

Capitol Garage Get Down to the Champion Sound w/ DJ ESEF, 10 p.m.

The Boardwalk The Greenlight District, Sierra Skyline, Weston Buck, Adam Roth Project, Scream Darling Scream, 8 p.m.

The Fire Escape Bar and Grill 11th Hour, Support the Rabid, Euponic Quazar, Manic Relapse, 8 p.m. Fox & Goose Doc Holler, Pleasant, Valley Boys, 9 p.m. Golden Bear Crucial Fix w/ CrookOne (Decibel Devils/ Team Sleep), 10 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino Confunkshun, 8 p.m. Cal Expo Sacramento Rhythm and Blues Festival, 12 p.m. Capitol City Hotel Karaoke, 8:30 p.m.

Harlow’s Reminisce (DJ Dna and DJ Charlie Ramos), 10 p.m.

Fox & Goose F. L. O., Chad Wagner, 9 p.m.

Laughs Unlimited Bad Catz, 8 p.m.

Fremont Park Chalk It Up Fest w/ Waldorf Taiko Drummers, Stout Rebellion, Life in 24 Frames, Ricky Berger, Walking Spanish, Exquisite Corps, Sea Of Bees, Maren Parusel, The Kelps, Pets, 10 a.m.

Luigi’s Fun Garden The Common Men, Der Spazm, Dandelion War, 8 p.m. Marilyn’s Whiskey and Stitches, The Stone Ghosts, Jet Black Popes, 9 p.m.

Fusion Yoga Studio Andrew Heringer Band, 8 p.m.

Mix DJ Jus James, 9 p.m. O’Mally’s Irish Pub e2, 9 p.m.

G St Pub DJ Charlie, 10 p.m.

Old Ironsides Crazy Ballhead, Signal The Red, 9 p.m.

Golden Bear Sweaty w/ DJ Whores, 10 p.m.

Press Club DJ Arnold, 9 p.m. Red Hawk Casino Nevada County Regulators, 9:30 p.m. Sophia’s Thai Kitchen The Growlers, Shannon and the Clams, 9:30 p.m. Studio 21 (Rocklin) The Radiance Effect, New Divide, Brave Season, 7 p.m.

Harlow’s Feva in da Funkhouse, 10 p.m. Laughs Unlimited Road Test, 3 p.m.; Corner Pocket, 8 p.m. Marilyn’s Eye of the Architect, In the Silence, Blackstone, Arcane Dimension, 9 p.m.

T2 Nightclub & Lounge DJs & Dancing, 9 p.m. Torch Club Acoustic Trio, 5 p.m.; Kaye Bohler Band, 9 p.m. Townhouse Fuck Fridays w/ DJs Shaun Slaughter, Jon Droll, Roger Carpio, 9 p.m.

Mix Dance Party w/ DJ Larry Rodriguez Naked Lounge Downtown Live Doug Cash, 8:30 p.m. Old Ironsides Darksun Skypilot, Maren Parusel, The Soft Bombs, 9 p.m. Press Club DJ Arnold, 9 p.m. Red Hawk Casino Nevada County Regulators, 9:30 p.m. T2 Nightclub & Lounge DJs & Dancing, 9 p.m.

Torch Club Johnny Knox, 5:30 p.m.; Lara Price (CD Release), 9 p.m. Townhouse Electroc w/ DJs Blackheart, Whores, Mr. Rodgers, 10 p.m.

Press Club The Flower Vato’s Soul Party, 9 p.m.

904 15th Street 443.2797

Between I & J • Downtown Sacramento

Torch Club Blues Jam, 4 p.m.; Stacie Eakes & the Superfreakes, 8 p.m.

9.05 9.06 Sunday

Aura Brunch & Beats w/ DJ Katz, 11 a.m. Barcode Nightclub & Lounge The Asylum w/ DJ Bryan Hawk, KJ Groth, DJ Darkstar, 9 p.m. The Blue Lamp Reggae Bashment w/ DJ Wokstar!, 9:30 p.m. Cache Creek Casino Unauthorized Rolling Stones, 8 p.m. Capitol Garage Karaoke, 10 p.m. Crawdads Dane Drewis, 7 p.m. Distillery Karaoke, 8 p.m. The Fire Escape Bar and Grill Machine City, Self Destroyer, Sex Robots, Wife and Son, 6 p.m. Fremont Park Chalk It Up Fest w/ Exhale, The Shruggs, The Four Eyes, The Foxtails, Autumn Sky, Simpl3jack, Dog Party, Majesty, Silent Comedy, Prieta, 10 a.m.

Crest Theatre Smashing Pumpkins, Bad City, 8 p.m. Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Fremont Park Chalk It Up Fest w/ The Trees, The Hungry, Bright Faces, The Generals, Goodness Gracious Me, Smooot Valley High, Signal The Red, Verbalistic, One Eyed Rhyno, I Scream On Sundae, 10 a.m. G St Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m. Old Ironsides Strapped for Cash w/ Nuance, 8 p.m. Powerhouse Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m.

9.07

Capitol Garage Open Jazz Session w/ SalmonJoe, 9 p.m. Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m

Harlow’s Bachata Lessons, 6 p.m.; Salsa Lessons, 7 p.m.

Old Ironsides Lipstick w/ DJs Shaun Slaghter, Roger Carpio, 9 p.m.

Old Ironsides Silent Comedy, The Kelps, Musical Charis, 9 p.m. On The Y You Be the Rockstar Karaoke w/ Larissa, 8 p.m. Powerhouse Pub Powerhouse of Blues, 3 p.m.; Blues Jam, 7 p.m.

WED

THURS

FRI

Marilyn’s Open Mic, 6 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub DJs Rigatony, Alazzawi, 9 p.m. Press Club The Monoliths, Fish Cat Fish, 9 p.m. T2 Nightclub & Lounge Karaoke, 9 p.m. Torch Club Hans Eberbach, 5:30 p.m.; Lew Fratis Trio, 9 p.m.

SaT

SUn

JiMMy PaiLer 9PM

X trio 5PM

harLey white Jr.

featurinG aaron KinG 9PM

acoustic trio 5PM

Kaye BohLer Band 9PM

Lara Price

cd reLease Party 9PM BLues JaM 4PM

hans eBerBach 5:30PM

WED

THURS

SubmergeMag.com

the return of

TUES

SaT

DJ Wokstar

acoustic oPen Mic 5:30PM

& the suPerfreaKes 8PM

The Blue Lamp 9:30 p.m.

Lew fratis trio 9PM

FRI

9.05

Kate Gaffney 5:30PM

Johnny KnoX 5:30PM

Fox & Goose Traditional Irish Jam Session, 7 p.m. G St Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m.

Mix DJ Billy Lane, 9 p.m.

TUES

Tuesday

Golden Bear Industry Night, 7 p.m.

Laughs Unlimited Four Barrel, 3 p.m.; Retro Active, 8 p.m.

September

Monday

SUn

stacie eaKes

Lew fratis trio 9PM acoustic oPen Mic 5:30PM

GoLden cadiLLacs & the soothers 9PM X trio 5PM teaM in traininG Benefit

harLey white Jr.

featurinG aaron KinG 8PM

acoustic trio 5PM

MicK Martin

& the BLues rocKers 9PM side By side Benefit 2PM

shane dwiGht9PM BLues JaM 4PM

tess honn

cd reLease Party 8PM

torchclub.net Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

ts tickneg monday goi ! fast

smashing pumpkins sept baD ciTy

Crest theatre • 1013 K st. • saCtO • all ages • 8:00pm TickeTs only aT The beaT, cResT TheaTRe box office, evenTbRiTe.com, TickeTs.com

helmeT

bison b.c. • will haven (gRaDy singing)

harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 8:00pm

an evening wiTh

wednesday

sept 8

tHURsday

sept mason Jennings harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 7:30pm 9 aa bonDy[faT possum] sept tUesday

Jbm

harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 9:00pm

satURday

sean hayes [eaRly show] sept harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 7:00pm The memoRials (feaT. Thomas pRiDgen, ex-DRummeR of

The maRs volTa plus membeRs oR goapele, lyRics boRn, eTc)

hoTTub Tea leaf gReen

harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 9:00pm

TRuTh & salvage co.

harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 8:00pm

The Devil makes ThRee w/ coRnmeal

harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 8:00pm

The ReveRenD peyTon’s big Damn banD mighTy Regis

blue lamp • 1400 alhambra blvd. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 9:00pm

Joe sib

(of wax, 22 Jacks, co-owneR of siDe one Dummy RecoRDs) blue lamp • 1400 alhambra blvd. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 9:00pm

phanTogRam Josiah wolf

blue lamp • 1400 alhambra blvd. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 8:00pm

sTReeT Dogs

(feaT. mike mccolgan foRmeR singeR of DRopkick muRphys)

satURday

sept 25 tUesday

sept 28

9.08 9.09 9.10 Wednesday

Bisla’s Open Mic, 9 p.m. Blackwater Cafe Open Mic, 7 p.m. The Boardwalk Adhara, Steel Savior, Smelling Colors, Downefall, 8 p.m. Club Car The Double Shots, 7:30 p.m. CSUS University Union Serna Plaza Nagual, 12 p.m. Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m. Fox & Goose Steve McLane, 8 p.m. G St Pub DJ Larry the Flower Vato, 10 p.m. Harlow’s Helmet, Bison B.C., Will Haven, 8 p.m. Marilyn’s Island of Black and White, Todd Morgan and the Emblems, 9 p.m. Mix DJ Gabe Xavier, 9 p.m. Old Ironsides Open Mic w/ host Lare Crawley, 8:30 p.m. On The Y (waning), Divination of the Damned, In the Silence, 8 p.m. Press Club The Snobs, The Inversions, 9 p.m.

Thursday

FRIDAY

Barcode Nightclub & Lounge DJ Wreck, DJ BTRIXX, 9 p.m.

Barcode Nightclub & Lounge DJ Eddie Edul, DJ P-Trick, 10 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Great Owl (members of Izabella & Mind X), 9 p.m. The Boardwalk Dirt Nasty, Andre Legacy, Beardo, 8 p.m. Capitol City Hotel Karaoke, 8:30 p.m. Club Car Songwriters Showcase, 8 p.m. The Coffee Garden Open Mic Night, 8 p.m.

Fairytale Town Sal Valentino, 2Me, 7 p.m. Fox & Goose Barkin Dog, 8 p.m. G St Pub DJ Somebody, 10 p.m. Golden Bear Shaun Slaughter, 10 p.m. Harlow’s Mason Jennings, 7:30 p.m. Marilyn’s Rockstar Live Band Karaoke, 9 p.m. Mix DJ Ron Reeser, DJ Slick D, DJ Dan Saenz, 9 p.m.

tHURsday

Shady Lady Straight, No Chaser w/ CrookOne, 10 p.m.

On The Y You Be the Rockstar Karaoke w/ Larissa, 8 p.m.

Torch Club Acoustic Open Mic, 5:30 p.m.; Golden Cadillacs, the Soothers, 9 p.m.

Sol Collective Tera Melos (CD Release), Religious Girls, Carson McWhirter, 8:30 p.m.

sept

Press Club DJ Arnold, 9 p.m.

Torch Club X Trio, 5 p.m.; Harley White Jr. feat. Aaron King, 8 p.m.

fRiday

oCt 1

Tre Retox Thursday’s w/ DJ Peeti V, 9 p.m.

The Blue Lamp Luv’n Rockets (Love and Rockets Tribute), INXS-IVE (INXS Tribute), Breaking Glass, 8:30 p.m. The Boardwalk The Dreaded Diamond, Flatlin, Buffalo! Buffalo!, The Kelps, Exhale, 7:30 p.m. Capitol Garage Get Down to the Champion Sound w/ DJ ESEF & Selector KDK, 10 p.m. Fox & Goose Attwater, Chris Twomey, 9 p.m. Golden Bear Crucial Fix w/ CrookOne (Decibel Devils/ Team Sleep), 10 p.m. Harlow’s Ian Ethan, 7:30 p.m.; Junior Kelly, 10 p.m. Marilyn’s Fortress of Attitude, Ol Cotton Dreary, Relic 45, 9 p.m. Mix DJ Jus James, 9 p.m. Press Club DJ Arnold, 9 p.m. Red Hawk Casino Summer of Love, 9:30 p.m. Sophia’s Thai Kitchen The Alkali Flats, West Nile Duo, 10 p.m. T2 Nightclub & Lounge DJs & Dancing, 9 p.m. Torch Club Acoustic Trio, 5 p.m.; Mick Martin & the Blues Rockers, 9 p.m. Townhouse Fuck Fridays w/ DJs Shaun Slaughter, Jon Droll, Roger Carpio, 9 p.m.

Vega’s Blues Jam, 7 p.m.

wednesday

oCt 6

Yagers Tap House and Grill King Hopeton, Simple Creation, 9 p.m.

monday

oCt 11

sUnday

Devils bRigaDe (feaT. maTT fReeman of RanciD) oCt FlatFoot 56 • continental 17

venue (fOrmerly empire)• 1417 r st. • saCtO • all ages • 6:30pm

fRiday RogeR(foRmeR clyne & The peacemakeRs singeR of The RefReshmenTs)

special TasTing of RogeRs’ new bRanD of Tequila harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 9:00pm

kelleR williams

harlOw’s • 2708 J st. • saCtO • 21 & Over • 8:00pm

nov 5

tHURsday

nov 18

abstract entertainment

TickeTs available aT: The beaT (17Th & J sT.), Dimple RecoRDs oR online aT www.evenTbRiTe.com oR www.TickeTs.com TickeTs foR haRlow’s shows also available aT www.haRlows.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

9.06 Smashing Pumpkins Bad City Crest Theatre 8 p.m.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

9.11 Saturday

The Blue Lamp Bamboo Station, 9:30 p.m. The Boardwalk Stepchild, FallRise, Represa, For All Ive Done, Deadset, 8 p.m. Cache Creek Casino Malo, 8 p.m. Capitol City Hotel Karaoke, 8:30 p.m. Distillery Black Mackerel, Murderlicious, Havenside, 10 p.m. The Fire Escape Bar and Grill Lords of Bastard (UK), Crucial Point, 8 p.m. Fox & Goose Kill the Radio Logic, Kooch, Dum Spiro Spero, 9 p.m. G St Pub DJ Charlie, 10 p.m. Golden Bear Sweaty w/ DJ Whores, 10 p.m. Laughs Unlimited Hired Guns, 4 p.m. Marilyn’s Chuck’s 3rd Annual Pirate and Wench Party, 8:30 p.m. Mix Dance Party w/ DJ Larry Rodriguez Press Club DJ Arnold, 9 p.m.

Red Hawk Casino Summer of Love, 9:30 p.m.

Serpent & Seraph, Infectious Waste, 3 p.m.

Running Stream & Larsen Gallery Grand Opening w/ Blvd Park, Musical Charis, 8 p.m.

Cache Creek Casino Pai Pongsatorn, 6 p.m.

Sophia’s Thai Kitchen The Spires, Mist & Mast, Writer, 9:30 p.m. T2 Nightclub & Lounge DJs & Dancing, 9 p.m.

Capitol Garage Karaoke, 10 p.m. Distillery Karaoke, 8 p.m. Golden Bear Industry Night, 7 p.m. Harlow’s Remedies, 7 p.m.

Torch Club Side By Side Benefit, 2 p.m.; Shane Dwight, 9 p.m.

Laughs Unlimited Simple Rhythm, 3 p.m.

Townhouse Electroc w/ DJs Blackheart, Whores, Mr. Rodgers, 10 p.m.

On The Y You Be the Rockstar Karaoke w/ Larissa, 8 p.m.

9.12 Sunday

Barcode Nightclub & Lounge The Asylum w/ DJ Bryan Hawk, KJ Groth, DJ Darkstar, 9 p.m. The Blue Lamp Reggae Bashment w/ DJ Wokstar!, 9:30 p.m. The Boardwalk Randy Valdez Benefit Show: Skinlab, Colma, Trunk, Brutal Groove, Metal Hexx, Deconstruct, Borg 9, Deepwell, Sentinel Beast, Violence in Bloom, Thresh Throne, HAAB, Drone,

Mix DJ Billy Lane, 9 p.m.

Plea For Peace Center (Stockton) Bobby Joe Ebola & The Children MacNuggits, The Secretions, Killdevil, The Snot-Cocks, The Dumbfox, 5 p.m.

9.13 monday

The Blue Lamp The Business (UK), The Hollowpoints, Drastic Actions, 9 p.m. Distillery Karaoke, 9 p.m. Fox & Goose Open Mic Night, 7:30 p.m. G St Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m. Harlow’s !!! (Chk Chk Chk), 9 p.m. Old Ironsides Be Brave Bold Robot, Thrift Store Cowboys, Warren Jackson Hearne, 9 p.m.

9.08 Will Haven Helmet, Bison B.C. Harlow’s 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Karaoke, 9 p.m. Press Club Blvd Park, Musical Charis, 9 p.m.

Powerhouse Pub Powerhouse of Blues, 3 p.m.; Blues Jam, 7 p.m. Press Club The Flower Vato’s Soul Party, 9 p.m.

9.13

Torch Club Blues Jam, 4 p.m.; Tess Honn (CD Release), 8 p.m.

Blvd Park Musical Charis Press Club 9 p.m.

s s e Pr ub Cl The

Mon 8/30 9p $3

2030 P Street • Sacramento

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Every Thurs-Sat DJ Arnold 9p $5 SubmergeMag.com

Music from

Wed 9/8 9p $3

(bakersfield)

Wed 9/1 9p $5

CaMeroN gruMpy & NiCk aragoN. the MoNolithS & fiSh Cat fiSh

(l.a.) Tues 8/31 9p $3

3-2-1 CoMiC! hosted by Noel Dewitt. Comedy by

Every Sunday The Flower Vato’s Soul Party 9p $4

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Capitol Garage Trivia & Movie Night, Mondays, 9:30 p.m. com e dy & m i s c e l l a n eou s Ca l e n da r

Comedy Crest Theatre

R U YO AD 3 E 0 R 8 HE ) 441-3

com . g a gem

(916submer info@

Last Comic Standing Tour w/ Felipe Esparza, Tommy Johnagin, Myq Kaplan, Mike Destefano, Roy Wood Jr., Sept. 9, 6:30 p.m. Laughs Unlimited CF Smackdown Rumble in Sac Town, Sept. 2, 8 p.m. Open Mic Showcase, Sept. 7, 8 p.m. Erik Griffin, Adam Norwest, Sept. 8 - 12, Wednesday, Thursday, 8 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. & 10:30 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m. Luna’s Cafe Keith Lowell Jensen’s Wednesday Night Comedy, Sept. 1 & 8, 8 p.m. Press Club 3-2-1 Comic w/ Cameron Grumpy, Nick Aragon, hosted by Noel Dewitt, Sept. 7, 9 p.m. Punchline Comedy Club

Sept. 8, Improv 1 Continuous, 7 p.m.; Harold Night, 9 p.m. Sept. 9, Sketch Lab, 6 p.m.; Improv 1 Continuous, 7 p.m.; Pakistan Flood Benefit w/ Hasan Minhaj, Keith Lowell Jensen, Sammy Obeid, 9 p.m. Sept. 10, Previously Secret Information w/ Joe Klocek, 8 p.m.; The Dirtiest Comedy Show w/ Hailey Boyle, hosted by Noel Dewitt, 10 p.m. Sept. 11, 3 On 3 Tournament, 8 p.m.; Anti Cooperation League, 9 p.m. Sept. 12, Open Mic Scramble, 7 p.m. Tommy T’s Ellis Rodriguez, Sept. 1, 8 p.m. Michael Mancini, Sept. 2, 8 p.m. Paul Rodriguez, Sept. 3 - 4, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.

Sacramento Comedy Showcase, Sept. 1, 8 p.m.

Del Van Dyke Comedy & Talent Showcase, Sept. 8, 8 p.m.

Joe Derosa, Sept. 2 - 5, Thursday & Sunday, 8 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.

Shawn & Marlon Wayans, Sept. 10 - 12, Friday, Saturday & Sunday, 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.

Edwin San Juan, Sept. 10 12, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. & 10 p.m.; Sunday, 8 p.m. Sacramento Comedy Sportz Mayhem!, every Thursday, 9 p.m. ComedySportz, every Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. Sacramento Comedy Spot Sept. 1, Improv 1 Continuous, 7 p.m.; Harold Night, 9 p.m. Sept. 2, Sketch Lab, 6 p.m.; Improv 1 Continuous, 7 p.m.; In Your Facebook, 9 p.m. Sept. 3, Comedy From the Couch w/ Chazz Hawkins, Carlos Rodriguez, Miles K., hosted by John Ross, 9 p.m.; The Ground Chuck Show, 11 p.m. Sept. 4, Special Sat Night Harold Night, 8 p.m.; Anti Cooperation League, 9 p.m.

Misc. 16th and J Streets Midtown Bazaar, Saturdays, 7 a.m. 20th and K Street Rainbow Festival Street Fair, Sept. 5, 10 a.m. ARCO Arena Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily: Barnum’s Funundrum!, Sept. 9 - 12 Bisla’s Pub Quiz Trivia, Mondays, 7 p.m. Bistro 33 (Davis) Pub Quiz, Mondays, 9 p.m.; Poetry Night, Every 1st Wednesday, 9 p.m. Capitol Avenue (between 20th & 21st) 5th Annual Midtown Community Festival, Sept. 11, 2 p.m.

Cesar Chavez Park 4th Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival, Sept. 5, 12 p.m. KSFM 102.5’s 6th Annual Tamales Festival, Sept. 12, 11 a.m. Crest Theatre Reina Fiestas Patrias Fashion Show, Sept. 10, 7 p.m. Davis Art Center Junk 2 Genius Team Sculpture Competition, Sept. 10, 5:30 p.m. Fox & Goose Pub Quiz, Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Haggin Oaks Golf Complex 86th Annual California State Fair Men’s Amateur Golf Championship, Sept. 4 - 6 It’s All Yoga Free Yoga Class, Fridays, 4:30 p.m. Luna’s Cafe Joe Montoya’s Poetry Unplugged, Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fremont Park 20th Anniversary Chalk It Up Art & Music Festival, Sept. 4 - 6, 10 a.m. Mather Airforce Base California Capital Airshow, Sept. 11 - 12, 9 a.m. Old Sacramento Gold Rush Days, Sept. 3 - 6 Sacramento Art Complex Cars & Cigars Art Premier, Sept. 9, 6 p.m.; 2nd Saturday Art Walk, Sept. 11, 12 p.m. Sacramento Convention Center 47th Annual Greek Food Festival, Sept. 3 - 5, 11 a.m. Sacramento State University Union Serna Plaza Free outdoor screening of Iron Man 2, Sept. 9, 8 p.m. Sol Collective Salsa Dance Classes, Mondays, 7:30 p.m. Space 07 Salon I Left My Heart In Kenya: Second Saturday Benefit Fashion Show, Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m. Townhouse Record Club Movie Night & Lounge, every Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. William Curtis Park Curtis Fest, Sept. 11, 10 a.m.

Sept. 7, Cage Match, 9 p.m.

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

refined tastes

Locally filled belly Full Belly Farm Road 43 • Guinda, Calif. words & Photos Josselin Basaldu

Crossbred stone fruit has been a high for foodies these days. Apriums, tomato plums, necterlums and the like have spurred interest and curiosity in Sacramento. While perusing the produce section of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op last week, I had an eye out for new fruit mixtures like the plumarines I saw a few weeks prior. Although there were no “new” fruits, a large presence of summer produce not yet saturating the farmers market scene prevailed. Long, thin, furry-skinned Armenian cucumber and various melons like Galia, Charentais and Ambrosia were prominently presented. Next to each, a little laminated card explained their local origin from “58 miles” away at Full Belly Farm in the Capay Valley. Much like many an urbanite, relishing farmers market visits as actively connecting to my food source was as close to the farm as I got. The idea of farm forays was too rural for my metropolitan mindset; therefore, I’d never seen where local produce is grown or how it’s processed for shipping the short distance to Sacramento. I had questions like, “What’s special about this farm?” and “Why is our Natural Foods Co-op featuring so much produce from this farm?” Produce manager Kerri Williams cleared some confusion, explaining the Natural Foods Co-op’s organic produce, featured local farms, and relationship with Full Belly Farm. With the largest 100 percent organic produce section in the United States, the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op insures most of its produce is local—within 200 miles, Williams said. At least 80 percent of farms providing produce for Co-op shoppers are within those parameters, she said. Full Belly Farm has held produce realty at

SubmergeMag.com

the Natural Foods Co-op for “at least 25 years.” Certified organic in 1985, this farm was an organic staple at the Natural Foods Co-op for 13 years before the produce section made the switch from conventional to organic, Williams said. Aside from obvious health benefits, my interest in organic produce is barely beyond skindeep. Call me a superficial shopper, but the truefruit smell and appearance of organic produce always attracts me. Since organic produce usually tastes better, fresher, more of earth-grown goodness, I definitely judge produce as I initially do books: by the cover. Speaking of beauty, Williams said aside from featuring most of Full Belly Farm’s crop, “It’s also the most beautiful of area farms.” Fifty-eight miles seemed like a world away and the Capay Valley was a place I’d never heard of. I needed to see this farm for myself and made the produce pilgrimage to Guinda, Calif. As it is busy season for farming, I called and made an appointment to visit. The hour-drive northwest from Midtown was interesting. After passing Woodland and Cache Creek Casino and coasting into the gorgeously narrow Capay Valley, I lost cellular reception minutes before turning right on Road 43 into Full Belly Farm. It was mid-afternoon and the sun was splashing down the steep hills of the valley, pooling over the farm. Co-owner Judith Redmond greeted me as I walked into a thankfully shadowy barn-like structure. Circle-spectacled and wide-smiled, Redmond spoke warmly but informatively with me about various types of produce, while particularly hand-packing fragrant, multi-colored heirloom tomatoes into cushioned cardboard boxes.

To understand said mixed fruits, Redmond explained hybrid and crossbred produce. Produce is hybrid to preserve a specific quality like color, low-fuzz skin, growing capacity in certain agricultural circumstances or shipping, Redmond said. Local farmers grow tons of crossbreeds, and have for decades, practicing on-site agronomy to see what “flourishes in their geographical location.” “Farmers are trying to take back their rightful place as stewards of plant-growing resources,” Redmond said. Saving the items with the most desirable qualities, hybridizing is a seasons-long process. And hybrid produce are the end of the line genetically—their seeds won’t produce more with like characteristics, Redmond explained. Although unpredictable, hybridization and cross-pollination can occur in nature, both agronomy practices can be accomplished in a scientific lab. Farmers can also manually cultivate hybrid produce and facilitate cross-pollination, but the process is expensive, drawn-out and unsuccessful, Redmond said. Full Belly grows hybrid varieties of white sweet corn, slicer tomatoes and yellow watermelon, but Redmond said she also sees occasional cross-pollination in crops like white corn and decorative corn grown in a neighboring area of the farm.

When fruits are crossbred, the process includes taking two similar fruits and crosspolinating them. Stone fruits are often crossbred, Redmond said. Melons seem apt to crossbreeding as well, with honeylopes and Crenshaw melons available among others. Although not specializing in crossbred produce, Full Belly is beyond beautiful with lush, green, cared-for crops receiving all the glory of the sun funneling down upon it. With permission, I walked the grounds freely and smiled as wide as Redmond in reaction to the nourishing colors, fragrances and favorable environmental factors. I saw happy cultivators, quaint structures, par-dried peaches and tomatoes actually drying in the sun and happy cows feasting on heirloom tomatoes (cows like tomatoes, I guess). Summer’s sweet batch of produce has been cheered and devoured for months, but we’re just getting into the thick of it, equating the perfect time to shop, eat and learn about the power of local produce. A great opportunity for a daycation, beautiful drive and farm-visiting experience is coming up on Oct. 2 and 3 for the 23rd annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival at Full Belly Farm. There’ll be workshops, music and food. Farms aren’t just for agricultural buffs and gardening grandmas; foodsavvy urbanites can benefit too.

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

live<< rewind

Sunlight, Shadows and Building Momentum By Sunlight, Manuok, Summer Darling

Thursday, Aug. 26 • Old Ironsides • Sacramento words Joe Atkins • photo Michael Arrieta Seeking absolution in the combined staccato chord work and the soft dynamics of ambiance, singer-songwriter Ben Heywood of Summer Darling forced his internal demons into the lyrical shapes of a self-referential broken past. While layering vocal harmonies behind him, Heather Heywood also provided the bass lines and occasionally played the keys. The second guitar of this four-piece, missing a high E string, added a twang lick that resembled something from Pinback or No Knife, a style of skill and melody that combined with the other instruments to articulate actual chords created through rapid movement. At their best, Summer Darling draws listeners in and then on occasion slams them into a heavy, distorted sound barrier, the sort of resistance that makes us want to stay there longer, knowing the moment won’t last. Accompanied by all the members of By Sunlight, Manuok played main support. Scott Mercado is the solo catalyst of Manuok, deploying a soft voice with a subtle waver that soothes and rolls over steady folk rhythms. He performed in a low hat, heavy beard and widerimmed glasses. In between songs he gave the audience fake band names, puns of post-punk groups and sarcastic double entendres for the names of songs. A jovial performance that contrasted the slowly strummed pieces, fragile and sensitive, the strong effect created by lolling tempos and a whisper like vocal intensity. Each song felt like a secret, where after having opened up an intimacy to the crowd, Mercado compensated by leaping back into a jocular, heavily bearded dude who just wanted to share a drink. Despite these shifts in tone, Manuok was the surprise of the night. By Sunlight finished off the show. The band was centered around clean guitar tones of Robert “Flossy” Cheek and Mike Sparks. The combination of floating guitar licks and

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

the sheltered acoustics of Sparks’ nasal vocal melodies created an interesting feel of compression on each song. Yet, By Sunlight took advantage of other dynamics as well, many songs relying heavily on instrumentation, clocking in at well over five minutes. These longer structures were built up through a punchy rhythm line, drawn out over a slowly building bridge, which created a brooding sense via steady repetition before a lick-surreal loop dispersed everything into the air. The drums were precise, the part-to-part shifts were exact; a split-tempo change and the energy was coupled for a few bars, double time hurdling forward into the pause before the next song. The way Sparks’ voice wavered in “Your Last Song,” descending in defeatist affirmation, “There’s no escape for us,” moving into, “There’s no place for us,” concluding, “There’s no face to us/A center worn to hold a hollow/To house a shadow,” created a conceptual space of non-belonging. As his voice arched in rapid ascent-descent, we found a distortion about our sense of place and time, our experience within music, within our moment—a moment where the grouping together of people is greater than a single relationship, but instead includes all of our social relations. The structures imitate the motions we go through, the circular repetitions we listen to, the ongoing roundabout we cynically believe in. Call it feedback magic. The error here would be to empower Sparks’ lyrical statement as a positive truth when the formal song construction says otherwise. That these important movements can start lyrically, ungrounded and abstract, pick up a driving motion, develop a specific rhythm, enable that rhythm with strength and possibility, is significant. As though they might reify a real house from shadows. You know, by sunlight.

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

SubmergeMag.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

the shallow end The other day, Submerge contributing editor/my personal life coach (it’s not a paying gig) Mandy Johnston had to stomach through yet another one of my woeful diatribes. You know, I have to tell you, being white and somewhat privileged in America just hasn’t been as easy as I’d heard it was going to be. I was bemoaning the death of the American Dream or some such ennui-laden bullshit. But it would appear that the American Dream is alive and well—just look at Antoine Dodson. You should know who he is by now. Last month, his sister Kelly was the victim of sexual assault, perpetrated by “some idiot from out here in the projects,” in Hunstville, Ala. That wasn’t the big news, though. Sadly, rape has become all too commonplace in cities all across the United States. No, the story here was the news clip that reported the incident. In the segment (originally aired on WAFF 48, Huntsville’s NBC affiliate), reporter Elizabeth Gentle questioned the Dodson family about the trying incident the night before. A man—still at large—used a garbage can to climb into Kelly’s window and attempted to rape her. She fended him off, and the altercation caused enough of a ruckus to alert her brother Antoine, 24. The two were able to repel the attacker’s advances, and Kelly and Antoine emerged from the fracas more

Keeping the dream alive

or less unscathed. Still, the incident left everyone involved understandably frazzled. “Emotions were running high,” as the WAFF news anchorman put it. Interviewed at the scene, Antoine took the mic, went on a fantastic tirade and uttered, amongst other things, “Hide your kids, hide your wife, hide your husband, because they’re raping everyone out here.” I’ve seen the video about a billion times, especially if you include the brilliant Auto-Tuned remix version crafted by the Gregory Brothers. I laugh every time. I realize rape is serious. It’s not funny. But it’s so rare you see something real on television. Here was a man who was angry, fed up and extremely charismatic. He didn’t care that the camera was on him. He didn’t have some safe, saccharine, calculated response to the incident. He just chased off a man who broke into his house and tried to rape his sister, and he was righteously pissed. His rattling, strangely poetic response skittered in a million directions and was delivered with such flair, you’d think it had to be scripted. He just had to be prepped by some producer, but he wasn’t. This wasn’t an aside from a famewhore Survivor contestant,

or some contrived Real World confessional. This was the real world. This might have been your back yard. But then there’s the dark side of this. Here we are having a hearty laugh at some underprivileged family’s misfortune. I can see how someone can get satisfaction from snickering at the Real Housewives of Wherever. They had everything handed to them, and they’re still wastes of life. The Dodson family is in the projects of Alabama, worried that another intruder might climb through their window—and maybe the next time they won’t be so lucky. I’m happy it’s Antoine that’s having the last laugh. Once he became an instant celebrity, he did the smart thing. He hired a lawyer, started selling merchandise and set up a website with a PayPal account so people could donate to his family. The Gregory Brothers’ remix of the Dodson news interview made it on to iTunes, and the musicians split the proceeds 50-50 with the family. In the end, Antoine put together enough money to move his family out of the projects, according to an interview with ABC News. So maybe I don’t have to feel so bad about breaking into cackles every time I see Antoine’s

James Barone jb@submergemag.com fiery rant. Or maybe I should? In his Aug. 5 article for News One, writer Claudio E. Cabrera posed the question, “Is Antoine Dodson embarrassing to black people?” His conclusion read as follows: “Too many Blacks care about what other ethnic groups/races think of them. That has to stop. We have to realize that for every Black Antoine Dodson, there are plenty of Whites and Latinos who act just like him.” The closest things I guess I can equate his sentiments to from my own experience are the “characters” on MTV’s Jersey Shore. As an Italian American from Staten Island, N.Y. I think they’re giving all of us a bad name. They’re just perpetuating every stereotype that we’re just a bunch of image-obsessed, gum-smacking, faketanning, brainless douchebags (I do, however, admit that when I chew gum, I sound akin to a cow chewing its cud). Perhaps Antoine Dodson maintains negative stereotypes of African Americans. But at least Antoine can say that he helped stop the rape of his sister and, in so doing, earned enough money to help his family’s situation. For lack of a better word, I’d say he’s a hero. The kids from the Jersey Shore haven’t done shit for humanity, except perhaps drink and tan so much that they’ve rendered themselves sterile. One can hope.

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Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Dive Into Sacramento & Its Surrounding Areas

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SubmergeMag.com

Issue 67 • August 30 – September 13, 2010

Dive into Sacramento & its Surrounding Areas

august 30 – September 13, 2010

#67

Tera Melos !!!

Say What You Mean

Felipe Mariachi Esparza El Bronx Winner of Last Comic Standing California Dreamin’

Weird is the New Normal

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