Incomplete Neighbor’s debut album, Suspended Electric Coma, hit the streets May 9 featuring ten original pieces of art on the cover and inside the CD sleeve. Each band member painted several canvases which were compiled …
June 10, 2009
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Stories by Michael Hemmingson
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Instant Groove
Hey, Hoochie Mamas
In March of this year, Revolt in Style called the Buzzbombs “San Diego’s Favorite Party Band.” The rockabilly trio is all about having a good time. “Our crowds are always so much fun,” says Johnny …
June 3, 2009
Not the Loudest
In junior high, Kelly Dalton started writing songs and playing in bands and then began gigging, touring, and recording in his teens and 20s. “In the late ’90s I was in a punk band called …
May 27, 2009
Reader writers' favorite drinks and where they drink them
There are times, sometimes in the midst of otherwise polite conversation, when it comes out that I make my living writing for the Reader. The follow-up to this revelation is almost never “Oh, that’s right, …
April 22, 2009
Pearl Harbors at Carlee’s Bar and Grill, Borrego Springs
2 oz. vodka 1 oz. melon liqueur Pineapple juice Maraschino cherry and pineapple for garnish The Pearl Harbor is a “tropical” drink that, I have found, most urban bartenders do not know how to mix. …
April 22, 2009
Less Agro
Solo musician Derek Papa is a nostalgic fellow. “I would like to see those stage guitar holders come back,” he says, “the ones that don’t require a strap, they just suspend in midair. They were …
March 11, 2009
Can't Get Enough Journey
What is it about the ’80s that keeps us looking back? Michael Mahin, guitarist for San Diego–based Neon Nation, an ’80s cover band, has a theory. “Most ’80s music was utterly escapist,” he says. “It’s …
February 11, 2009
San Diego bouncers: 97% nothing, 3% Hell and terror
No Slashed Tires “It’s nothing like Road House, there’s no Patrick Swayzes,” says Ted Washington, who divides his time as a bouncer between Winstons in Ocean Beach and at the Casbah in Middletown. Other bouncers …
January 7, 2009
Nuke the Atoll
Christmas Island was formed in August 2007. “Lucy [Wehrly] and I had already been dating awhile when we decided to play music together and record some songs,” says Brian Island. Brian’s on guitar; Lucy’s on …
December 23, 2008
Darkwave Batcave
Robin Roth can be heard on Rock 105.3 FM Monday through Friday from 10 p.m. to midnight, but she’s best known for the Friday night 11th Hour spot when she plays noncommercial goth and industrial …
November 25, 2008
Eclectic Electric
Matt Resovich is one of those musicians who keeps busy and often commits to many projects at a time. He’s performed with the Black Heart Procession, the Album Leaf, Mung, and Battling Maxo over the …
November 12, 2008
Jet-Set 'J
When asked about her stage name, DJ Miss Lisa says, “I used to be a go-go dancer, and when I was at Taxi in La Jolla [a club popular in the ’90s, gone but not …
October 1, 2008
Friends Like These
The Modlins wear suits and skinny ties and play what they call “oldies-influenced indie-pop.” That may lead you to assume that the band plays obscure cover tunes from the early 1960s, but the Modlins play …
September 24, 2008
Blogging keeps you from being hired and gets you fired
Solana Beach, summer 2002. A job interview. “So you like to post on the Internet a lot,” said the human resources person. “Yeah,” I said. “How do you know?” “Did some online investigating.” The term …
September 3, 2008
Violence up in Baja – especially for journalists
The End of the World A mile east of the Tijuana International Airport is an area police call El Fin del Mundo, the End of the World, where drug-cartel assassins dump their victims. Both Mexican …
August 6, 2008
Donkeys in the Gig Rig
A brief mention in the May issue of Spin provided San Diego band the Donkeys with some national exposure, but the A&R reps at the major labels have not come a-knockin’ just yet. The band …
July 16, 2008
I Was Hoping It Would Come to Fists
March 11, 2008 — It’s past noon at the Round Table Pizza in the Price Center at UCSD, and there are three groups of young men watching European soccer quarterfinals on five different large plasma …
June 25, 2008
Time to Kill
“I know it sounds lame, but I actually did come down here [to San Diego] seven years ago to follow my dreams of grandeur,” says Ambient Bob, bass player for the Vulgar Herd. What was …
June 11, 2008
When the Tattooed Lady Sings
American Idol contestant and San Diegan Carly Smithson was eliminated from the show last week. Yet, sales of her failed 2001 album, Ultimate High, have never been better: last week, Amazon had it ranked at …
April 30, 2008
Haters
“Things are bad enough with the cops and the drug gangs,” a Tijuana emo fan says while drinking beers with friends at the Nelson Hotel bar on the corner of Primera and Revolución. They are …
April 30, 2008
The facts of life for homeless San Diego kids
People Buy You Booze D. is dressed as if he is off to the ComicCon or a Clockwork Orange theme party: boots laced up to his knees, raggedy black and red clothes, an old leather …
April 9, 2008
Fresh Every Time
Young Mass (a.k.a. Fifth Element) is, at age 21, the youngest member of the rap and hip-hop collective Digital Underground. His family moved from Chicago to San Diego when he was 10. At the 2003 …
April 9, 2008
Mystically Influenced
Originally a three-piece band, Merkaba Bandits moved here from Washington D.C. last year and added a fourth member. Their sound is a mixture of contemporary pop and classic rock, heavy on lyrics and vocals. Merkaba …
March 5, 2008
No Rehash
Vegitation is San Diego’s solution to keeping reggae fresh and green. They produce original reggae songs instead of rehashing those Marley tunes that most reggae acts perform at local bars and clubs. Vegitation played for …
February 6, 2008
Barely Legal
The Atoms are a young band, barely old enough to play the bars around town. The members came together at Bonita Vista High School in 2003 with a dream to play music. They have a …
January 23, 2008
Sinatra Speaks
José Sinatra is a good-time party and music man around town, first as front man for the former José Sinatra and Troy Dante Band and now as host of the “O.B.-oke” at Winstons, which draws …
January 9, 2008
Paul Has Contributed the Most
Steven Ybarra is a Texas-born Carlsbad resident who began studying music when he was three. He was the front man for 34Below, which released five CDs and toured nearly every state in the country. After …
December 20, 2007
Jesus Don't Mind
"I had to empty the honey buckets twice a day. That job was worth five bad jobs."
December 6, 2007
Love it Local
"While living in L.A., one of my jobs was talent scouting for child actors and models. It sucked."
November 29, 2007
"I Love an Exotic-Berry Wine Cooler."
Jon Shimmin is a hard-working local drummer with a day job; at night, he's at area clubs behind the skins. He has played in several bands such as the Reaganomics, Junk, and Negative Filter. Sometimes …
November 8, 2007
Sucker for Donuts
John Hermsmeier, a.k.a. Josh Herms, is a local drummer for hire. "I came to San Diego in 1996 to begin my freshman year at Point Loma Nazarene University," he says. "I developed a number of …
October 25, 2007
Invisible Man
'I play for a myriad of artists in a variety of venues," says Brandon "the Sideman" Walters. Walters can be seen all over San Diego -- and up and down the West Coast -- performing …
October 11, 2007
My Little Moog
AntiQuark is a San Diego electronic music duo with an international feel and flair. Ant Dakini is originally from Torino, Italy, and when she is not composing music she works as a marine biologist specializing …
August 30, 2007
San Diego homicides from the first half on 2007
Shocked shoppers see a woman fall to her death from a parking structure at Parkway Plaza in El Cajon. Was she pushed? In Chollas View, a mother loses the second of her two sons to …
Happy Kid
Sacha Boutros attended the University of San Diego on an athletic and academic scholarship. "I played soccer growing up; I learned how from hall-of-famer Jean Willrich." She played soccer semiprofessionally for ten years. Going pro …
August 9, 2007
More San Diego homicides in the first half of 2007
A boy 3-1/2 months old was the youngest homicide victim in San Diego County during the first half of 2007. The oldest was a 75-year-old woman. Both were killed by family members, allegedly, the infant …
Across the Line
Negative Filter is a three-piece hard-rocking band that began playing gigs in Tijuana and music festivals across the state of Baja. They now live in San Diego and rock out stateside. "As for politics, right …
July 26, 2007
Heart in the South
Singer Kitty Baudoin moved to San Diego in the summer of 1994 after spending five years in Hawaii and has lived here since then -- with "many trips home to New Orleans thrown into the …
July 12, 2007
Jewel Has the Floor...
"I know firsthand what it's like to be young and without a roof over my head," Jewel told members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, June 19. She testified at a hearing on "the …
June 28, 2007
Playback
Few bands reunite, especially two decades later. The Playground Slap, originally from Jamul, is now based in Cardiff-by-the-Sea and back in the game. When they first played together, from 1982 to 1988, the Playground Slap …
June 14, 2007
Cruel Mistress
"There's just no substitute for the rush you get from banging on loud guitars and heavy drums."
May 31, 2007