For the 16 years, Dicky Demonic has been thrashing it out in North County punk bands with his in-your-face, lefty politics. Demonic has been known to go off on cops, the rich getting richer, and …

“They hired him to improve the morning-show ratings and he ended up bringing them down like a big anchor.” That’s how one employee at a competing modern-rock station described Mike Esparza’s two years at FM …

Jefferson Jay says the open-mic scene that launched Jewel and Jason Mraz is not as vital as it once was. Jay, who started hosting acoustic showcases in 2003, thinks, however, that there is still enough …

Will the March 16 show headlined by local reggae band Stranger be the last show ever at Sound Wave (formerly Canes)? No shows are being booked at the 700-capacity beachfront venue after that date. The …

“I have one friend who straight up told me that if he can’t understand the lyrics he can’t get into our music,” says singer/songwriter/guitarist Pablo Garduno about the fact that some of the lyrics of …

“It was pretty scanty,” says Ras Charles about the turnout at last year’s Tribute to the Reggae Legends show at the Sports Arena. “You could have played football in there.” Charles had a vendors’ booth …

The man who helped 91X regain its mojo, Garrett Capone, is leaving the station to work in artist development with the New York–based Crush Management company, which handles acts such as Train, Wavves, Gym Class …

Ali Nilforshan says he will be taking back 4th&B, the downtown venue he owned from 2003 to 2009. The current owners, Vince and Judy Puma, say that is not going happen. Nilforshan says he sold …

As Declan Halloran sees it, the all-age local band scene is easy to sum up. “The bands that play at Soma are either pop-punk, cookie monster [sreamo], or ska. They pretty much come in one …

The former owner of 4th&B, the 1500-capacity downtown concert venue, says he is in the process of taking the club back from its current owner and that he is suing Live Nation, the concert promoter …

Four years after he launched Hensley’s Flying Elephant, pro skateboarder-turned-accordionist (Flogging Molly) Matt Hensley has sold the music venue he built from scratch. “I had help from friends. We built the entire pub.” The artwork …

Newly appointed Del Mar Fair trustee David Lizerbram says he wants the fairgrounds to host more major music events. That’s just not going to happen, according to promoter Garry Thayer, who organized the Hellbilly Fest …

Bassist Jay Crew says he walked out of reggae band Bad Neighborz last year because lead singer Erik Trogisch was mangling his songs. “Erik screams in the mic. He has no dynamic control. Erik would …

“I was a dark kid,” says Dane Reinhart about why he started screaming death metal at 15. “I lost my dad to cancer [when I was] 9. I wanted to be the frontman so I …

A longtime member of the local music scene has been tapped to help run the Del Mar Fairgrounds. David Lizerbram occasionally sits in with Rio Peligroso when the Americana band plays the Riviera Supper Club. …

Blink-182’s new CD, out September 27, has the harmless title Neighborhoods. But the potty-mouthed pop-punk band from Poway is known for releasing albums referencing enemas and masturbation. The title Take Off Your Pants and Jacket, …

“Boycott 4th&B!!!” That tweet could have come from a disgruntled ex-bouncer or a band that didn’t get drink tickets. It appeared August 21 on the Casbah’s Twitter stream and was gone the next day. The …

“Somebody is going to blink; someone is going to switch to talk.” That’s what one local rock DJ says about the inevitability of one of the four modern-rock stations in town dropping music for news, …

“It’s hard to book other bands to play with us,” said Michael Prince, drummer of gutter-glam band Purple Church. “All we have around here is thrash metal or punk bands. What we’re trying to do …

Since it became a modern-rock station eight years ago, FM 94/9 has carried syndicated alternative-oldies show New Wave Nation on Sunday mornings. Hosted by the raspy-voiced Nina Blackwood, the show is dedicated to ’80s-era punk …

The Vindictive Bitches believe in settling scores. “If you fuck with someone, you get fucked with back,” says singer/guitarist Jesser Jaxx. “We played Mi Pueblo in Tijuana and some guy yelled out, ‘Show us your …

The beach-front music venue that was known for 13 years as Cane’s has ceased operations. The 900-capacity Cane’s hosted Snoop Dogg, Prince, Linkin Park as well as local bands when previous owner Eric Leitstein ran …

Brandon Parkhurst says reading about his substance abuse is what made him finally get clean. “I had lost everything,” says the singer/guitarist of Kut U Up. “I happened to read an article about how Kut …

The five men in a Battle to Fight joke about being Marines who rock. “We can entertain you or we can pick you off at 500 yards,” says Lou, the lead guitarist for the metal-core …

Things looked promising for the third annual San Diego Metal Swap Meet. “The first one [in 2009] was held on my driveway in City Heights,” says organizer Brian Parker about the bizarre bazaar that connects …

Greg Davis formed Blood on the Saddle in 1982. The twang-and-thrash band spearheaded the L.A.-based cowpunk scene that included Tex and the Horseheads, Gun Club, and Rank and File. “It’s safe to say Blood on …

After a 15-year absence, Bill Silva, who started promoting concerts in the ’70s while a student at UCSD and went on to produce shows by Pearl Jam, Madonna, Cher, and Depeche Mode, is back doing …

“When they said my name, there was a chorus of boos. It really hurt my feelings, but I understand it.” Mikey Esparza, the anchor of The Mikey Show on FM 94/9, was reflecting on the …

“Korn got signed out of that club,” recalls Tim Hall about the days he booked bands at Dream Street. “We had them play there, like, 13 times. A bidding war over who got to sign …

For Mark Rasmussen, the ten years he spent publishing the locally based monthly rock magazine No Cover (1997–2007) was ecstasy and agony. “We gave blink-182 their first magazine cover in March ’98. We also gave …

“I would have kicked the shit out of this guy in a debate. He’s a 76-year-old man with no platform.” Ocean Beach surfer/rocker/“extreme capitalist” Richard Aguirre has footage on his website (aguirreforgovernor.com) showing governor-elect Brown …

San Diego native Mark Stuart moved to Austin four years ago for two reasons. “I needed a change. I just had a divorce.” Plus there was that music thing. The singer-songwriter-guitarist was behind country-rock band …

Eric Leitstein spent 13 years building up Canes, the oceanfront venue that brought Prince, Linkin Park, Maroon 5, and Snoop Dogg to Mission Beach. In October of last year, Leitstein was squeezed out when landlord …

Marc “Mookie” Kaczor was escorted out the doors at 91X when he was fired October 15. He’d been on the air there since 2002, when he segued from the Grossmont College radio program to the …

Two different Dead Man’s Parties will play locally just before Halloween. Tickets will go on sale soon for “Johnny Vatos’s Dead Man’s Party featuring former members of Oingo Boingo” October 23 at 4th&B. Six days …

“The band started in 1980, but I didn’t join until February 1981,” says Social Spit singer Cliff Cunningham. “The singer just couldn’t remember the lyrics, so I got in. My first show was at the …

The just-released Bullet is the first new CD for the Screamin YeeHaws in four years. It was recorded at Doubletime and mixed by Jeff Forrest (blink-182, Cattle Decapitation, Deadbolt). The Southern-fried punk band hooked up …

Three longtime North County music venues are silenced. One promises to return. The Calypso Mediterranean Cafe in Leucadia had live music since it opened in 1995. Artists such as Jack Tempchin, Candye Kane, Danny Way, …

Each year Pollstar magazine lists the 200 top-grossing concert headliners. No San Diego–based artists showed up on the 2008 list, but three local bands with multimillion-dollar tours appear on the 2009 list. The reformed blink-182 …

Ritual Torture says playing death metal doesn’t mean they want people to die. “We’re not about violence,” says guitarist Jesse Jensen. But Ritual Torture’s lyrics can get gory and morbid. “Humanity has always been obsessed …

Ad Seg is not just a name for a local four-piece hardcore punk band. It’s short for “administrative segregation” (also known as “the hole”). It’s the isolation area you go to if you’re bad in …

In 1986, Mike Halloran moved to San Diego from Detroit to work at the new “cutting edge” TJ-based rock station 91X. Its DJs had to drive to the Tijuana “bunker on the mountain” studio, which …

A decimated radio business has triggered the fire sale of three radio stations to a former NFL linebacker who an insider says might take one of those stations out of music and into sports. John …

When Swagg was nine years old, the rapper’s father shot his mom and then himself. He’s grown up around gang violence. “I’ve seen people get shot in my street,” he tells me. Born as G. …

When Genghis Con-Job singer-songwriter Frank Drank filmed his part as a Viking in a Capital One commercial, he had to show up an hour early. “Visigoths don’t have tattoos,” says the 6’4”, 290-pound tough guy …

Since Bumbklaatt formed in 2001, two of the members have lived in Chula Vista and two in Tijuana. To play punk rock in TJ, they rented an empty building to put on shows. But there …

Steve Vaus has twice been nominated for Grammys for children’s records released in 2007 and 2008. He wrote the Jerome’s and Barona Casino TV jingles, and he’s done studio work for Willie Nelson, Kim Carnes, …

Beck, the Strokes, and the Pixies have all played UCSD’s 4700-capacity multipurpose RIMAC arena. The school is looking for a concert promoter to take over RIMAC and run it the way Live Nation handles SDSU’s …

Canes is finished. After 13 years, Eric Leitstein, owner of the beachfront venue that hosted artists such as Prince, Linkin Park, Maroon Five, and Snoop Dogg, has been informed that his lease will not be …

Burning of Rome used five impaled pig heads as props during their set at the 2009 San Diego Music Awards. “It’s pretty creepy,” says a fellow performer and one of the night’s award-winners. “I don’t …