The Holyfield, which started providing free studio time to local residents at the now-defunct Thchrch (2185 Logan Avenue), wants to be in Barrio Logan — though it doesn’t always make money. “We charge when we …
September 6, 2017
Articles by Justin O'Connell
The last black man in Barrio Logan?
Forensically curated Jade Shader LP
The Jade Shader’s final album Sea Stacks and Sleestaks was released by Joyful Noise on July 1 — nine years after singer Terrin Durfey (Boilermaker) passed away in 2008 following a long battle with melanoma. …
July 26, 2017
Messages sent on blankets
When blankets are inscribed with messages and flung over bridges in Tijuana, they usually boast a narco-warning directed at rival cartels or authorities. Such narcomantas, as they’re called in spanish, are appearing increasingly throughout Tijuana. …
June 5, 2017
Octagrape still willing to do it in front of people
Octagrape drummer Ely Moyal distilled the band’s spirit, as singer/songwriter Glen Galloway recalls: “We were planning a tour up the coast, and he goes, ‘You know, I just don’t think the juice is worth the …
May 31, 2017
Tijuana’s new public bus system – not great once you leave downtown
Shattered glass. Sandstone rocks. Soiled clothing. Human feces. Exposed electrical cables hanging from ceilings. Trash strewn along the floor. These are generally not the things one imagines when newly built ‘modern transportation’ comes to mind. …
April 27, 2017
Baseball is different in Tijuana
Every pitch is a party at a Toros de Tijuana baseball game. At least that’s the atmosphere the team is trying to create. The Toros compete in Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, an international AAA affiliate …
April 5, 2017
Exasperated by landmines
Exasperation has yet to tour, but guitarist/vocalist Garrett Prange and drummer Dave Mead first played together in 2010. Upon their recent departure from post-punk outfit Ditches after one EP, the two Encinitas natives began playing …
March 1, 2017
Mexican photojournalist recalls Pemex arrest
Gas prices in Mexico have jumped since January 1. Coupled with the decline of the peso, the situation has caused a great deal of unrest throughout Baja California. On the morning of Saturday, January 7, …
January 24, 2017
Jake Loban — from punk to Americana
The first show Jake Loban played as an Americana artist? A dive bar in El Cajon. “There were more prostitutes outside than people inside,” Loban says. A few years later, in February 2016, Loban played …
October 5, 2016