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

Kabbs at a dollar an inch

Local garage band on their Reheated cassette etc.

“We’re all just doing it for fun. If we were doing it just for the money we would have all quit by now." - Image by Lucas Allen
“We’re all just doing it for fun. If we were doing it just for the money we would have all quit by now."

Brian Clinebell, singer with the garage band Kabbs, went to SDSU to study graphic design. His art schooling got him into making ads and T-shirts for Fallen Footwear, Lurkville Skateboards, and DC Shoes. And that action-sports juice helped grease the wheels for a Kabbs mini-tour of New York City last month.

“I do graphic design for all kinds of people. I also did the album artwork for Del Caesar, who are on Reheated Spaghetti, which is a label out of Brooklyn.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

"Golden & Blue"

...by San Diego band the Kabbs

...by San Diego band the Kabbs

Reheated Spaghetti put on a three-day festival in Brooklyn in October to which the Kabbs were invited so they could celebrate the release of their Reheated nine-song cassette album, Really Don’t Know You, and their first seven-inch single. “It’s $7,” Clinebell tells the Reader, “or a dollar an inch.”

Since forming five years ago, the Kabbs have opened for likeminded luminaries Shannon and the Clams, Ty Segall, and Best Coast.

The action-sports connection has helped the Kabbs, but it’s clear that the surf/skate tie-in does not yield the marketing goodness it has in years past when the companies would help fund albums, videos, and tours.

“There’s not as much money floating around,” says singer/guitarist Kyle Whatley. “During the recession, a lot of shoe companies couldn’t maintain paying people as much for their merch.”

“The money has dried up for a lot of brands in that industry to pay for bands,” says Clinebell, who notes that DC Shoes once licensed a Kabbs song for a European skate tour video in 2013.

“The skate industry has kind of gone where the music industry has gone: underground,” says Clinebell. “Now it’s more about small shows and people throwing smaller, two-day events. Everything is more mom-and-pop now.... I remember when classic rock was the rage, Transworld Skateboarding paid $10,000 to license ‘Time of the Season’ by the Zombies for their video segment with [pro skater] Dan Drehobl.

Place

Whistle Stop Bar

2236 Fern Street, San Diego

“We’re all just doing it for fun. If we were doing it just for the money we would have all quit by now. We want to just play good shows, so we try to be selective. We don’t try and play every week. Unless you’re a brand-new band and are trying to get your name out there...I think every band should do that.”

The Kabbs, which includes bassist Ryan Combs and drummer Tyler Ward, appear November 12 with Elephant Stone of Canada at the Whistle Stop.

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Next Article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great
“We’re all just doing it for fun. If we were doing it just for the money we would have all quit by now." - Image by Lucas Allen
“We’re all just doing it for fun. If we were doing it just for the money we would have all quit by now."

Brian Clinebell, singer with the garage band Kabbs, went to SDSU to study graphic design. His art schooling got him into making ads and T-shirts for Fallen Footwear, Lurkville Skateboards, and DC Shoes. And that action-sports juice helped grease the wheels for a Kabbs mini-tour of New York City last month.

“I do graphic design for all kinds of people. I also did the album artwork for Del Caesar, who are on Reheated Spaghetti, which is a label out of Brooklyn.”

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

"Golden & Blue"

...by San Diego band the Kabbs

...by San Diego band the Kabbs

Reheated Spaghetti put on a three-day festival in Brooklyn in October to which the Kabbs were invited so they could celebrate the release of their Reheated nine-song cassette album, Really Don’t Know You, and their first seven-inch single. “It’s $7,” Clinebell tells the Reader, “or a dollar an inch.”

Since forming five years ago, the Kabbs have opened for likeminded luminaries Shannon and the Clams, Ty Segall, and Best Coast.

The action-sports connection has helped the Kabbs, but it’s clear that the surf/skate tie-in does not yield the marketing goodness it has in years past when the companies would help fund albums, videos, and tours.

“There’s not as much money floating around,” says singer/guitarist Kyle Whatley. “During the recession, a lot of shoe companies couldn’t maintain paying people as much for their merch.”

“The money has dried up for a lot of brands in that industry to pay for bands,” says Clinebell, who notes that DC Shoes once licensed a Kabbs song for a European skate tour video in 2013.

“The skate industry has kind of gone where the music industry has gone: underground,” says Clinebell. “Now it’s more about small shows and people throwing smaller, two-day events. Everything is more mom-and-pop now.... I remember when classic rock was the rage, Transworld Skateboarding paid $10,000 to license ‘Time of the Season’ by the Zombies for their video segment with [pro skater] Dan Drehobl.

Place

Whistle Stop Bar

2236 Fern Street, San Diego

“We’re all just doing it for fun. If we were doing it just for the money we would have all quit by now. We want to just play good shows, so we try to be selective. We don’t try and play every week. Unless you’re a brand-new band and are trying to get your name out there...I think every band should do that.”

The Kabbs, which includes bassist Ryan Combs and drummer Tyler Ward, appear November 12 with Elephant Stone of Canada at the Whistle Stop.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

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

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central
Next Article

Operatic Gender Wars

Are there any operas with all-female choruses?
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