Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Razor's Edge

Grandfather Nick Razor, 50, has been fronting a local punk band since 1989.

“We started as Manticore, then I changed the name to G.F.I. It doesn’t stand for anything. It’s just three letters I threw together.”

Razor has released all nine G.F.I. albums himself, including Dichotomy, which was released four months ago. He says he won’t stop making music, in spite of his lack of support.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Lou’s won’t carry my album. When I went in there with my sixth album, Homemade Hardcore, they said it was too tasteless. The cover had a woman in a leotard lying on a mattress. It didn’t show anything, but they said it was too pornographic. Yet, they will carry other albums that have nudity on them because the bands are signed.”

G.F.I.’s website (gfipunk.com) shows two decades of posters. They’ve opened local shows for GBH, Fear, and Social Distortion. Some venues, such as the Spirit Club and the old Soma on Metro Street, no longer exist.

Although G.F.I. gets booked regularly in Orange County and Las Vegas, it’s tougher in their hometown.

“A lot of clubs we’ve never been able to play at. The Casbah, the 710 Club, and the Ken Club won’t answer our calls or return our emails. It bewilders me. In 19 years we’ve never played the Casbah. [Owner] Tim Mays won’t even acknowledge that G.F.I. is alive.”

The possibility of playing ’Canes is even less likely.

“We played there in ’99 with Dr. Know and Gang Green. The whole event went off great, but there was a big problem with bands drinking too much beer. They called me the next day and said too much beer was given out, and I told them they needed to coordinate with their bartenders, that it wasn’t my responsibility.

“They told me I owed them $500. I told them you can’t get blood out of a turnip. They told me I was banned from ’Canes forever and to never show my face there again. I went there, like, three or four years later to see Fishbone and the Untouchables. I wasn’t there more than a half hour when I was escorted out and there were police there waiting for me. They told me if I didn’t leave the premises I would be arrested for trespassing.”

Razor says he will rock until “I drop dead.”

“I’ve grown calluses. I’ve grown a second skin. Why conform now when I’ve been a rebel and a miscreant all my life?”

G.F.I. appears April 19 at the Metaphor Café in Escondido.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Drinking Sudden Death on All Saint’s Day in Quixote’s church-themed interior

Seeking solace, spiritual and otherwise
Next Article

Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island

“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”

Grandfather Nick Razor, 50, has been fronting a local punk band since 1989.

“We started as Manticore, then I changed the name to G.F.I. It doesn’t stand for anything. It’s just three letters I threw together.”

Razor has released all nine G.F.I. albums himself, including Dichotomy, which was released four months ago. He says he won’t stop making music, in spite of his lack of support.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Lou’s won’t carry my album. When I went in there with my sixth album, Homemade Hardcore, they said it was too tasteless. The cover had a woman in a leotard lying on a mattress. It didn’t show anything, but they said it was too pornographic. Yet, they will carry other albums that have nudity on them because the bands are signed.”

G.F.I.’s website (gfipunk.com) shows two decades of posters. They’ve opened local shows for GBH, Fear, and Social Distortion. Some venues, such as the Spirit Club and the old Soma on Metro Street, no longer exist.

Although G.F.I. gets booked regularly in Orange County and Las Vegas, it’s tougher in their hometown.

“A lot of clubs we’ve never been able to play at. The Casbah, the 710 Club, and the Ken Club won’t answer our calls or return our emails. It bewilders me. In 19 years we’ve never played the Casbah. [Owner] Tim Mays won’t even acknowledge that G.F.I. is alive.”

The possibility of playing ’Canes is even less likely.

“We played there in ’99 with Dr. Know and Gang Green. The whole event went off great, but there was a big problem with bands drinking too much beer. They called me the next day and said too much beer was given out, and I told them they needed to coordinate with their bartenders, that it wasn’t my responsibility.

“They told me I owed them $500. I told them you can’t get blood out of a turnip. They told me I was banned from ’Canes forever and to never show my face there again. I went there, like, three or four years later to see Fishbone and the Untouchables. I wasn’t there more than a half hour when I was escorted out and there were police there waiting for me. They told me if I didn’t leave the premises I would be arrested for trespassing.”

Razor says he will rock until “I drop dead.”

“I’ve grown calluses. I’ve grown a second skin. Why conform now when I’ve been a rebel and a miscreant all my life?”

G.F.I. appears April 19 at the Metaphor Café in Escondido.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Next Article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader