“We figured out we had enough in common to make music we liked,” says Matt Cliff, bassist for indie-pop rockers the Midwinters. “We started playing shows around San Diego and Southern California in 2006. With …

“I go for a groovy vibe,” says singer-percussionist Debora Galan, “mixing old jazz and Latin jazz standards with lounge music, along with whatever surprises I decide to add in.” Born in Madrid, Spain, Galan says …

“The new band name on this record is Shawn Rohlf and the Buskers,” says the now-titular leader of the group formerly known as the 7th Day Buskers. Rohlf founded the band in 1997, playing guitar, …

“I never sang a note until I was 30 and didn’t even think about a music career until my 40s,” says Ronald Hill, aka Happy Ron. Beginning with open mikes and tutorials found in books …

With the latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics placing the national unemployment rate at around 9.5 percent, we asked local performers about their worst jobs ever. Joey Guevara (Lady Dottie and the …

“A neighbor asked us to stop practicing because the bass was hurting her daughter’s face,” says Manic Diffusion guitarist Eliot Bourk. “We practice at our bassist’s house in Barrio Cardiff, right near the I-5 freeway …

“My music is a combination of classical, Latin, and world-music influences,” says guitarist William Wilson, who studied with renowned flamenco guitarist Fred Benedetti while attending SDSU from 1996 to 2001. Wilson says people are often …

Based in University Heights, Normandie Wilson is a self-taught pianist who worked as an accompanist in her small West Virginia town from middle school through high school. “I grew up listening to 1960s music — …

New electronica duo the Eris Sisters will debut tracks from their freshman album DownHEAR at the Club Zu Boat Party IV, which cruises the harbor on August 21. “The title is based on the Downhear …

It’s been around four years since brothers Jayme and Andy Ralph founded their quiet coffeehouse band Writer, and little has changed with the group’s acoustic emo sound. “We play indie rock, with a little Southern …

He’s been recorded by producer Phil Spector, photographed by album-cover icon Mick Rock, and has booked headlining tours through Europe. But Hargobind Hari Singh Khalsa, the local singer-songwriter known as Hargo, rarely performs in his …

“I started out as a producer and songwriter and decided to take center stage by performing my own music,” says Hershel Abram. “I’d describe it as alternative neo-soul pop. I write flirtatious, sexy, feel-good songs …

“I’m a singer-songwriter with alt-country leanings but a punk-rock spirit,” says acoustic troubadour Drew Douglas, aka Grampadrew. “Think John Prine and Neil Young jamming at a sawdust-floor hoedown with Wilco.” The South Park resident cut …

There is a smile on every face and a winner in each race, where the turf meets the surf at Del Mar. “Yeah, that’s me in the new racetrack TV commercial,” says Del Mar singer-songwriter …

“We got some national airplay last month on the new FOX TV cop show The Good Guys,” says Heavy Glow singer-guitarist Jared Mullins. “They used about a ten-second clip of the song ‘Grinning in the …

When Blizzard Entertainment announced its new game Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty would be released July 27, players were left wondering what ever happened to Starcraft: Ghost, originally announced for a 2002 debut but so …

The Secret Seven’s release party for their first album, Turn Your Back to the Sea, takes place Saturday at Brick by Brick. “We’ll be playing the entire record, front to back,” says singer-guitarist Zach Goode, …

“I haven’t played with the Steve Miller Band for 30 years and haven’t spoken to Steve in well over a decade,” says Lake Hodges guitarist Greg Douglass, best known for cowriting and playing on the …

Based in Encinitas and Carlsbad, Chapter 14 was founded in 2003 by singer-guitarist Chad Ackerman (As I Lay Dying, Austrian Death Machine) and bassist-guitarist Tanner Sparks. “People usually tell us that we remind them of …

Guitarist/keyboardist/electronic-manipulator Marcelo Radulovich is a founding member of veteran San Diego group the Playground Slap. Blending punk, jazz, psychedelic, and funk, the band has been extant for 33 years. Radulovich also writes and records solo …

“I have a degree in music from the University of Pittsburgh,” says singer-songwriter John Miller. “I studied jazz vocal...and I was president of the glee club. I know, laugh it up!” Miller arrived in San …

“Two former members of Yes have formed a new band called Yoso, along with the singer from Toto,” reports guitarist Johnny Bruhns of the Yes tribute Roundabout, “and I’ve been asked to join the group!” …

Founded by brothers Joshua and Jeremiah Zimmerman, Silent Comedy specializes in “cabaret rock,” à la theatrical troupes like the Dresden Dolls and San Diego’s Tragic Tantrum Cabaret. With a look right out of a turn-of-the-century …

I grew up in a religion that loved everything I would be taught to disdain in graduate school: America, authority, marriage, motherhood, and divine revelation. My father was a history-reading intellectual who treated me like …

Since 2005, after making more than $1.5 million profit from selling the Singing Serpent Studios property on 17th Street near City College (co-owned with partners), Rafter Roberts has been able to finance his own rhythmic …

Lights On celebrates their debut full-length Here Comes the Ocean with a release party on Saturday, July 3, at the Tin Can Ale House. “We’re doing a vinyl and cassette release only, with a digital …

The four-piece rockabilly band Causing Problems was founded in 2000 by singer/guitarists Andy Killion and Branden Gerbracht. “We both picked up guitar after our old ska band broke up,” says Killion, who also plays clarinet …

“I’m a disabled Navy vet with schizophrenia,” says Jonny B. Russell, who began playing guitar at age 14. “I’m currently taking the medication Abilify, and I’m doing well; I have been stabilized.” Beginning in 1987, …

“Mad Max fan events have been occurring in Australia and Japan since the movies were first released, beginning in the late ’70s,” says Jim Howard of Wasteland Weekend, the apocalypse-themed festival he’s helping to organize. …

“I spent almost 20 years as a dancer,” says Alyssa Jacey, whose high point as a hoofer was her 2003 appearance at Super Bowl XXXVII. “But then, in 2004, I started doing karaoke, mainly as …

“Jail was fun, no big deal,” says Death of Desire singer Morbid of his “four-day weekend” in a downtown lockup. Last month, he and black metal bandmate Dawn Desiree were walking home from a P.B. …

Jesse LaMonaca and the Dime Novels debut their Americana soul album Until the Stars Came Out on Friday, June 4, with a release party at the Marble Room. “Rather than just selling downloads,” says front …

“I’m originally from Philly, but I had moved to Sweden to be with a Swedish girl I met,” says singer-songwriter Jesse LaMonaca. “I lived there for about a year and put a band together and …

“I made a 60-minute video of my original music, set to footage from the original Twilight Zone and subtitled with the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche,” says Grant Clarkson of his jazz-rock DVD Ever So Much …

“We’re leaving San Diego to live in Austin, Texas,” says singer-guitarist Ivan Tamayo of the Attack!!, an electro-dance-punk trio with two guitarists and a drummer. “San Diego just has no love for local music. There …

“More and more music videos qualify as ‘short films,’ worthy of screening at the big worldwide film festivals,” says singer-songwriter Scott West, whose video for his song “Keep It Clean” was one of only ten …

“We are a very modest band and don’t believe too much in putting on stage antics or showboating,” says singer-guitarist Michael Stauffer of post-shoegaze scenesters FMera (“FM era”). “We let the music set the atmosphere …

“Lester Bangs attended Grossmont College from 1966 to 1968,” says English professor Raul Sandelin of the late rock critic for Rolling Stone, Creem, and the Village Voice. “The school is honoring its former alum with …

“At Humphrey’s, they used to make me hide out back behind the Dumpsters because I was too young to be in the bar,” says 19-year-old Josh Gooch, a working blues guitarist since he was a …

“The Reverending Story is designed to explain the strange workings in my past lives,” says North Park resident Reverend Stickman of his musical stage show debuting June 24 at Swedenborg Hall. “The idea behind the …

“We’re a rock band with heavy electronic elements,” says singer-guitarist Ephraim Wecker of San Marcos–based Hello Drama. “Our music is dance-y and energetic, hopefully something you can have fun listening to.” Hello Drama’s track “Here …

“San Diego holds a very special place in my heart,” says Bhakti Yoga devotee Krishna Das, called “the Chant Master of American Yoga” by the New York Times. “I’ve sung at the Seaside Church in …

“Our music sounds like four guys creating something that is greater than the sum of its parts,” says Republic of Letters singer-guitarist Chris Venti. “The songs can be characterized as a combination of melodically driven …

“I’m kinda on rock ’n’ roll probation,” says Davit Buck, of semi-defunct San Diego band the Homeless Sexuals, which at press time was scheduled to reunite its 2005 lineup on April 23 at the Ruby …

“Kim Fowley is seeking groups, solo artists, composers, and lyricists who dream of international stardom,” read the large display ads running in the Reader circa late 1980. Several photos of the man behind jailbait rockers …

Circa Now won the Freedom Sessions band competition in 2008, the same year they were nominated for Best Rock Album at the San Diego Music Awards. Among the opportunities that subsequently opened for the glam-garage …

The Silent Comedy will throw an April 29 shindig at El Dorado to celebrate their new album Common Faults. “Last time we hosted a party there, we surprised everyone with an impromptu acoustic performance,” says …

“Festivals can be real freak shows,” says singer Matt Burke of electro-soul act Vokab Kompany, who just booked Irvine’s Lightning in a Bottle Festival over Memorial Day weekend. “Like, with literal freaks.” He cites as …

Keyboardist Bill Travis is a prog-inclined solo musician from Escondido. His 2009 release Eclectic Collection showcases his trippy and meandering soundcapes, which pulse and drone before exploding into Floydian bombast. Travis’s instrumental track “4 Hands” …

Rock & Roll Rip-Off, the second novel in a San Diego–based rock ’n’ roll mystery trilogy, was released last week. “The first book, Rock & Roll Homicide, introduced Little Italy musician-turned-detective Jason Duffy, investigating the …