Carlsbad’s Christopher Maddox aka the “Crisis Crooner” — Telematics Executive (whatever that means), husband, father, Elvis impersonator, civic booster, sculptor of online parody songs — watched the coronavirus creep through his Chinese business contacts; then …
San Diego fixture James Ian, knows that looks don’t always tell the whole story. He’s been living with a secret challenge his entire life. “When most people see me just standing,” explains the musician/singer/songwriter, “they …
Soft tinkling and clonking sounds, whispered vocals, building with no warning to screaming, ranting, pounding, the vituperation of a mental patient who, left unchecked, might chuck a bottle through a window or soil his own …
“People who aren’t from or living in New York City may not understand the duality of our existence. So many think they want to move here and start an exciting metropolitan life. In one sense …
If you’ve thrown open the window in winter, stuck out your head to behold only whiteness... it still isn’t me He simmers, legs over arm of his chair and I took him first for a …
Now don’t get them wrong — The Districts, Pennsylvania by origin, love San Diego. They just wish certain laws weren’t quite so tight-assed. Singer/guitarist Rob Grote, remembers “playing Soda Bar before we were 21. We …
“We’ve done San Diego several times,” recalls Lee Tesche from the band Algiers, which plays the Casbah March 21. “The first time was with Blood Ponies at the Soda Bar, I believe. This may have …
“If one word sticks in my mind about shows in San Diego, it’s ‘sweat.’ We all get pretty soaked during shows, because we love to get into it. But San Diego is always next-level.” Jonny …
Queensrÿche, who will be 40 years into their prog-metal run by the time you read this, are painfully aware that they’ve got some members from the classic years who aren’t around anymore; and some songs …
An interview with Gary Heffern of the the Penetrators. What are your best, worst, and oddest stories of playing San Diego over the years? The best times were the early days, people don't realize the …
Heffern’s a hugger. “The best times were the early days. People don’t realize the hours of rehearsal and also how many parties and benefits we did… Country Dick Montana and I were on our usual …
Two-piece glam thrashers Fox Medicine only have one San Diego gig to recall. But they made that one memorable. “San Diego has an impressive music community, and for my tastes, it’s a goldmine of nonconformist, …
Poplars line far too long a short walk to the lake Train switching tracks never finishes... world spring run down Anubis, white-eyed in obsidian, glares — pinned to his wall Moon silver the samurai’s hilt …
“One time it took me three hours to get to a gig in San Diego, and I was super late and we played for three people.” Brainstory drummer Eric Hagstrom hopes to improve that figure …
Asked where to draw the line between soul and hip-hop, San Diego’s Kiyoshi is quick to say he doesn’t see any such line. “They are one,” he affirms. “In hip-hop, there is soul. Hip-hop is …
They rock. They roll. They shred. They mangle. But one thing you don’t expect from Thousand Below, your favorite San Diego post-hardcore slamdown quintet, is finding a home for an abandoned baby in Austin, Texas. …
“Last summer, our tour manager had a sleepwalking problem. One mellow night at a hotel in Milan, Italy he got up while everyone was asleep and took a nap — butt naked — in the …
“When we first came to San Diego, we lived in Golden Hill, then on Florida Street in the University Heights area. From there, we moved to a little bungalow on Eads Avenue in La Jolla. …
Asked about favorite haunts when her band, Potty Mouth, comes to San Diego, drummer Victoria Mandanas replies, “The place where the seals are” — leaving unresolved whether she’s talking La Jolla, SeaWorld, or possibly both. …
Most acts with a few tours under their belt have San Diego stories they like to share. But Gracie Lawrence, one of a pair of siblings spearheading the band Lawrence, found she had to gather …
Summer’s last party The boy bounces a pebble off his teeth *** Summer dies humid one new note in the klaxon on the fire engine *** Maid in doorway rocked back on bare heels from …
Chon specialize in guitars that swirl and sway, spidering up and down scales over odd chord changes — an outgrowth of prog often called to as “math rock.” As Chon honcho Mario Camarena confesses, growing …
Cult musician Gary Wilson — beloved by Beck, who once referred to him in a song lyric — has called San Diego home for decades. But the flamboyant fellow, fond of flinging flour onstage while …
You summon that heavy-metal-but-high-ballin’ sound of Deep Purple circa Machine Head, cover it with sweet thick-fug mysterioso, swell up the organ, and top off with a commanding female wailing through astral planes and supreme beings …
David Wilson can explain how his San Diego band, Love Angeles — opening for O-Town on April 25 at the Music Box — came to be. But you’ll need a scorecard. “My friend and I …
A 2014 motorcycle crash left Wayne “The Train” Hancock with a cracked sternum, fractured elbow, punctured left lung, and multiple broken ribs. “Yeah. I survived,” he relates, with a raspy laugh hinting at decades of …
They took their name from an encouragement they shouted to guitarist Betty Cisneros, who sometimes had a little trouble on the downbeat. Go Betty Go were, and are anew, Cisneros plus bassist Michelle Rangel and …
Levi Dean, born in Virginia, late of the Rocky Mountains, late of Nashville, lately seen around University Heights, Normal Heights, and North Park, has had good and bad shows all over the country. “One of …
Singer Dylan Nash and bassist Charlie Anastasis, half of L.A. band Liily, wish to inform you, dear reader, that they’ll answer all of the below interview questions collectively, as a united front. Only one exception. …
The San Diego all-star band Volcano, who release their debut album The Island on February 15, blend the sounds of Fela Kuti, Can, James Brown, and the Allman Brothers. Asked how a bunch of stoners …
Zydeco musician Ruben Moreno admits that, strictly speaking, he doesn’t live anywhere — or at least not for very long. But he proudly counts the Sun Dog City as one of his somewheres. “I live …
Andy Gill’s the guitarist, lyricist, political and cultural commentator, record producer, photographer, and last remaining founder member in Gang of Four, and surely no shrinking violet. But he just about met his match at the …
The Multisensory Aesthetic Experience hasn’t toured in years. But they remember the sweet spots in the lower 48, and how to celebrate them. “San Diego is a uniquely special place for the band,” explains MAE’s …
It might seem strange to fixate on the upside of a condition that turns your life into chaos and just might kill you. But singer/songwriter Veronica May is determined to stay optimistic. “So many upsides,” …
Christopher Hollyday — jazz saxophone prodigy, composer, teacher — wasn’t sure he’d landed in a good jazz town when he moved here in 1996. “I checked the San Diego Reader [for jazz listings]. I listened …
Castle’s video for "Deal Thy Fate," the title tune of their new album, shows them mostly romping under Mojave heat near the band’s pad in Joshua Tree; but it throws in some eerie things materializing …
Playing guitar and bass more-or-less at once, in real time, with only two hands, might strike one as a strenuous proposition. But Kristian Dunn, of instrumental duo El Ten Eleven, makes it work. With a …
I figured Aussie bands would be good for plenty of stories about driving long stretches gig to gig over their home continent. I was disappointed. “Most Australian bands when they tour,” explains Paper Kites singer …
“Candid Americana. Raymond Carver stories played by the Band. The optimism of the Mountain Goats filtered through Stephin Merritt’s worldview. Townes Van Zandt trying to sober up.” That’s Andy Gallagher, late of Columbus, Ohio, diagramming …
We Were Promised Jetpacks, native to Edinburgh, Scotland, took a long time off after 2014’s Unravelling, but thankfully return to musically interrogating the human experience. They arrive at Irenic on October 12, touring behind their …
Lizabeth Yandel's long road to San Diego
Dispatch, founded in the ‘90s, disbanded in the early aughts, and back for more in 2011, takes pride in self-sufficiency as they travel the world without major label money. They bring it to the Cal …
As the oldest son of singer/songwriter/bandleader/mystic/political agitator/polygamist Fela Kuti, Mr. Femi Kuti, now 56, knew from an early age that he had some big shoes to fill. But he toughened up while playing in his …
Sharon Katz travels around the world with her band, the Peace Train, putting on musical events to promote peace and cross-cultural understanding. The South Africans “Transcending Barriers” program, scheduled for July 21, starts at the …
San Diego native Alex Lievanos, 21, sings, writes songs, and plays several instruments. In advance of coming back to SOMA on July 7 (opening for the Grove Collective), he took questions over email. Where in …
San Diego native Danny Green studied classical piano as a child, but flipped over to jazz, built up a base of local fans, and earlier this year released One Day It Will, mating his jazz …
Library sink tableau two pages hardcore porn small sunscreen tube The bride and the groom and a little brown-haired girl sticking out her tongue Fourteen hours waiting for this train hello again, wink the stars …
Born in New York City but raised in Mexico and Brazil, Bebel Gilberto springs from a musical family — her father the bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto, her mother the singer Miúcha — and she’s …