ARTS & EVENTS

Movie Club

Venice Beach rock duo performs at Beyond Baroque

By Kamala Kirk

Venice Beach rock duo Movie Club recently performed for the crowd at Beyond Baroque. The instrumental psych rock band’s music video for their single “Trap Door” off of their EP “Fangtooth” was selected for this year’s Other Venice Film Festival. The music video calls upon the 1950s classic “The Red Balloon” but entirely in reverse, with different colored balloons that match the wildly different locations from the murky shores of Bombay Beach to bizarre art structures that speckle the small desert town by the Salton Sea. Movie Club’s fifth studio record “Fangtooth” was recorded at Fonogenic Studios by Jeff Thompson and mixed by Mark Rains. “Trap Door” features Tim Lefebvre on bass and David Ralicke on flute. The album was mastered by Brian Lucey and was released on Aug. 10. “Here’s to another year of keeping Venice Beach rock ‘n’ roll!” said Jessamyn Violet, drummer for Movie Club and author of the forthcoming novel "Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar."

Movie Club is an instrumental psych rock band that performed at Beyond Baroque. Chris Hall did some live painting during the Other Venice Film Festival.

Don Nardini, Elena Nardini, Luis Tovar and David Holt from the independent film “Lapse” pose for a group photo.

Danny Reys, Reuben De La Casas and Rodney Connors pose for a photo.

Rodney Connors from the short comedy “He Ain’t Up.”

HEALTH & WELLNESS ISSUE

This is the perfect way for your business to reach active consumers who care about healthy living, looking good and staying fit. This issue will focus on a variety of health, wellness, and beauty topics relevant to Westsiders. Don’t miss this chance to kick-off new year business by reaching health-conscious Westsiders!

Materials Due January 20 • Publishes January 26

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Introducing Our New Pawrgonaut Pet Page!

Next issue on Jan. 19. Pics needed by Jan. 13. A space where you can share your funniest, cutest and most adorable pet photos once a month. Just email to KKirk@timespublications.com

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Safe and Sound

Capital Cities rings in New Year with hometown show

Capital Cities’ Sebu Simonian and Ryan Merchant live in Altadena and Venice Beach, respectively.

By Christina Fuoco-Karasinski

Sebu Simonian and Ryan Merchant have played plenty of New Year’s Eve concerts as Capital Cities. Simonian is hoping that this year will rank among the most memorable when Capital Cities plays The Venice West on Saturday, Dec. 31. “They can expect what we typically bring, which is a great show with lots of dance music, celebratory melodies and fun times,” Simonian said. “It’s going to be a New Year’s Eve bash. We’re going to count down and celebrate life.” Best known for their 2011 Top 10 hit “Safe and Sound,” Merchant and Simonian count The Venice West show as a hometown gig. Simonian lives in Altadena, while Merchant resides in Venice Beach. Born in Syria to ArmenianLebanese parents who fled Beirut due to civil war, Simonian graduated from Glendale High School and California State University, Northridge, where he studied music. Simonian loves the area. “I just discovered a cool restaurant called Fox’s on the lake,” Simonian said. “That’s my go-to brunch spot now. Bacchus’ Kitchen on Washington, that’s another great one. Living here is peaceful and serene. It’s good for the kids.” Simonian and Merchant met through Craigslist and quickly started writing jingles. After three years of collaborations, they formed Capital Cities. The band released its debut, self-titled EP in June 2011 via their label, Lazy Hooks. In 2012, the band signed with Capitol Records. Its debut album, “In a Tidal Wave of Mystery,” hit stores in June 2013 and spawned “Safe and Sound.” The song’s video was nominated for the Best Music Video Grammy. They kicked off their first North American tour with Gold Fields in April 2013 at Phoenix’s Crescent Ballroom, and later jaunted with Katy Perry. In the summer of 2018, Capital Cities released “Solarize.” When he’s not with his kids, Simonian is writing material for the third Capital Cities album. He’s also producing and writing for several other projects. “The new material is all over the place, which is how we like it,” Simonian said. “We are always experimenting. Generally, we’re a pop-rock act with a dance orientation. Sometimes, we slow it down. Sometimes, we speed it up. Our main focus is writing good lyrics and melodies that could stand the test of time and could be played on an acoustic guitar. We’re just in the experimental stage at the moment.” The COVID-19 pandemic made Simonian think about his craft. He found solace in the importance of his work. “I think, in general, as an artist, we all got a little bit of a scare from the pandemic,” he said. “It made me personally want to be more productive and put out stuff that had been shelved and sitting in hard drives. “Life is short, and I think the more material you put out as an artist, the better — even if they’re not typical or mainstream. That spurred me to create more and release more music. It also allowed us to be more creative and more productive in the studio. That was a good thing.” One of his side projects is Mended Mind with producer Jonah Walsh. The band will release music in 2023. In addition to that, he is writing vocals for Sarkis Mikael, an electronic dance music artist from LA. “I love dance music, but I also love rock music,” he said. “It’s fun to try all kinds of styles and genres. You can be expressive in different ways."

Capital Cities w/ Spencer Ludwig and Moon Cougar

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31 WHERE: The Venice West, 1717 Lincoln Boulevard, Venice COST: $75 in advance; $100 at the door; 21 and older INFO: thevenicewest.com