Out ‘n' about in the City of Angels with Blurt's roving shutterbug (9-23 thru 10-5)

By Scott Dudelson

Dave Gonzales (of Hacienda Brothers / Paladins) - Live at the Mint (www.themintla.com) - 9/23

Banyon (featuring Stephen Perkins of Janes Addiction, Dan Shulman of Garbage, Willie Waldman, Tim Kobza, and Norton Wisdom - Live at the Mint (www.themintla.com) - 9/25

Greg Dulli - Live at The Roxy Theatre (www.theroxyonsunset.com) - 9/27 (a benefit for Scott Ford, bass player of Twilight Singers)

Steve O (of Jackass) -  Live at The Roxy Theatre (www.theroxyonsunset.com) - 9/27 (a benefit for Scott Ford, bass player of Twilight Singers)

Peter Frampton - Live at The Mint (www.themintla.com) - (sitting in with Back Door Slam) - 9/30

Loney Dear - Live at Troubadour (www.troubadour.com) - 9/30

Albert Lee - Live at the Canyon Club (www.canyonclub.net) - 10/3 (a benefit for Richie Hayward, Drummer of Little Feat)

Coco Montoya - Live at Canyon Club (www.canyonclub.net) - 10/3 (a benefit for Richie Hayward, Drummer of Little Feat)

Jackson Browne - Live at Canyon Club (www.canyonclub.net) - 10/3 (a benefit for Richie Hayward, Drummer of Little Feat)

Ray Manzarek (feat: Brett Scallions of Fuel on vocals), Robby Krieger, the Doors - Live at Club Nokia (www.clubnokia.com) - 10/5

***

Scott Dudelson is a music journalist and concert photographer based in Los Angeles.  Scott is also the Chief Operating Officer of Prodege, LLC, the company behind www.swagbucks.com.

Where have all of the heroes gone?

News broke yesterday that the GOP had launched a new site that lists (among other things) 16 Heroes  who represented the currently de-fanged Republican party through history. Among them: Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, and... Jackie Robinson? The former Dodger who, in the 1960s, along with Jim Brown and Muhammad Ali (née Cassius Clay) single-handedly brought the issue of race to the forefront of the intersection of sports and culture? Oh, please.
 
Talk about revisionism. This smacks of a party so completely lacking in power, substance, and direction that it's hoping to tap into America's love of all things baseball and apple pie, and that maybe, just maybe, it can swing a few more minority votes by claiming a revered African-American as one of its own. As if the GOP's cynical appointment of Maryland Republican Michael Steele-the current GOP mouthpiece- wasn't bad enough...
 
Not that the GOP didn't do its homework. Sort of. Robinson definitely had a one-time fondness for conservative and then-future Vice President Nelson Rockefeller when he ran for the New York governor's office-Robinson even helped him on the campaign trail. But whether he agreed with the man ideologically is a matter of debate, especially after seeing Robinson's autobiography I Never Had It Made, where the Hall of Famer states:
 
"Every chance I got while I was campaigning, I said plainly what I thought of the right-wing Republicans and the harm they were doing. I felt the GOP was a minority party in term of numbers of registered voters and could not win unless they updated their social philosophy and sponsored candidates and principles to attract the young, the black, and the independent voter. By and large, Republicans had ignored blacks and sometimes handpicked a few servile leaders in the black community to be their token ‘niggers.' How would I sound trying to go all out to sell Republicans to black people? They're not buying. They know better."
 
They do know better. And this not-so-thinly-veiled attempt at winning over a few more minority votes come next election cycle shouldn't go unnoticed. It exposes the Republican Party for what it's become (and NOT what it's always been): extremist, fear-mongering, powerless, and woefully out of touch.
 
Now, if only one of today's sports figures--whether conservative or liberal--would go out on a limb like Robinson and his '60s brethren to put their career on the line for their own ideological outlook. In the last decade, a few have, mostly after announcing their retirement like (ahem) Charles Barkley. But in general, today's athletes seem to lack the interest-and the inclination-to want to press the status quo. Is it apathy? Greed? Perhaps. But in many ways, even under a liberal Obama administration, there's just as much at stake today as there was in 1964 when Robinson was so outspoken in his opposition of Republican shit-stirrer Barry Goldwater.
 
While yesterday's GOP announcement is painfully transparent, I'd give anything to hear a notable athlete's stance on something political or social. Humor me for a second and just imagine what it'd do for America's undecided if ESPN gave airtime to Tom Brady to ruminate on the current state of U.S. corporate imperialism. Or Venus Williams debate the merits of school vouchers. What about Floyd Mayweather weighing in on the current health care crisis? Or Kobe Bryant waxing philosophical on our role in Afghanistan, Iraq and the rest of the Middle East? Hell, at this point, I'd welcome it if they just debated something other than how they "put points on the board." Let's not let the GOP-or any party-co-op history's, um, game-changing personalities for their own political agenda. Unless, of course, it's the truth.

No. 3: Wig, flipped

By Bryan Reed

It's interesting how a small deviation from what we expect can make such a huge impact in the way we respond to something. It's what makes difficult music difficult in the first place, and why it takes an adventurous listener to even approach experimental music.

My expectations were rattled recently when the self-titled debut from Philadelphia's Seabrook Power Plant (pictured above) arrived in my mailbox. I was previously unaware of the band, led by jazz guitarist/banjoist Brandon Seabrook, but they share a publicist with Asheville, N.C. skronk-rock trio Ahleuchatistas, and I guess he thought (correctly) if I liked one, I'd like the other. The album explodes from the start with "Peter Dennis Blanford Townshend" (in homage to The Who guitarist), in which any expectations about how Brandon Seabrook might be wielding his banjo are upended as soon as the instruments percussive flair begins to resemble a Dave Lombardo blast.

The way the trio uses the banjo's percussive attack in its math-metal fueled cuts (the album was recorded by Colin Marston of Dysrhythmia and Krallice, so it's got its loud rock bona fides) is at once novel and effective. On the transcendent "Ho Chi Minh Trial," Seabrook's banjo is an instrument of surprising melodic acuity, evoking Eastern melodic structures, even as its frantic percussiveness drives the song like there's a machine gun shooting at its feet.

Brandon's brother, Jared Seabrook, drums with finesse and power (notably on the chiming doom of "Doomsday Shroud," where his plodding punctuations split the haze of electric guitar and bass, pushing the song forward behind Brandon Seabrook's hypnotic, repetitive riffs).

Bassist Tom Blancart drives the melody, answering Brandon Seabrook on the jazzabilly "Base Load Plant Theme," alternately echoing Brandon Seabrook's riffs, or pulsing ahead of Jared Seabrook's backbeat.

That there could exist a trio of musicians playing a mix of frantic punk, tech-metal and jazz-skronk is hardly surprising, though. And after listening a few times, the banjo's timbre is less novel, though no less effective. What really defies expectations is the consistency with which the three players' talents are congealed here.

That's also what made listening to Eight Bells, the latest from longstanding heavy-psych outfit SubArachnoid Space exciting for me. This album was my introduction to the band, through cursory research reveals an almost 15-year career with releases on labels including Relapse, and, for Eight Bells, Crucial Blast.

Led by guitarist Melynda Jackson, SubArachnoid Space has, apparently, been a shape-shifting creature, constantly rotating its roster. But on this record, the shapes that shift are mostly textural, as the band's spacey tracks move fluidly through different melodic passages and layered drones.

But what surpasses expectations, isn't that the band touches on psychedelic rock, drone, noise and post-hardcore, but that it envelops it influences and coalesces as something new and exciting. Perhaps it's the ever-shifting line-up that contributes to the fresh, extemporaneous feeling I hear in Eight Bells, or perhaps it's a well-honed professionalism masquerading as startled discovery. It doesn't matter. The record's front-to-back good, and that will always be a welcome, but unexpected attribute.

Also in rotation: Ahleuchatistas - Of The Body Prone (Tzadik); Lightning Bolt - Earthly Pleasures (Load); Psyched To Die - Year One (Dirtnap); Horseback - MILH IHVH (Turgid Animal); Baroness - Blue Record (Relapse); Converge - Axe To Fall (Epitaph); Pelican - What We All Come To Need (Southern Lord); White Mice - Ganjahovahdose (20 Buck Spin); Skeletonwitch - Breathe The Fire (Prosthetic)

***

Bryan Reed is from North Carolina and, despite his best efforts, he still hasn't grown out of the racket that irritated his friends and family in high school, and continues to irritate them in the present. Stalker-types should know that they can follow Bryan on Twitter @subparrockstar.

[Photo of Seabrook Power Plant by Peter Gannushkin]

Twenty years together in a band is pretty damn impressive.  Twenty years together for a punk band is a fucking miracle.

For two decades now, the guys in Simi Valley-based punk band Strung Out have been churning out record after record of politically-tinged melodic punk rock, spiked with a bit of hardcore.  Strung Out is also one of the few punk bands that happen to find itself in the record collection of black-shirt clad metal kids as well.   Having just released Agents of the Underground, their seventh album, the band is about to gas up the bus and heard out on tour.
 
Frontman Jason Cruz was kind enough to talk to Blurt this week about keeping the band together, Hank William Sr. and Scandinavian hookers. 

Congratulations on 20 years. Ever have any idea when you were starting the band that you'd be around this long?
Fat Mike once told me it takes about 10 years to "make it" at whatever you set out to do... Hmmm have I made it yet? If I have where the fuck am I and somebody please save me!

Why do you think you guys have been able to make it for so long when so many other punk bands break up after just a few years?
Because they're pussies and they never really wanted rock up their ass in the first place, that's why. If you are doing this, you really have to get a shitty little job to sustain yourself for a bit. Sell your girlfriend and the dog and get to it!

Got to admit, I'm impressed that the band has done so well with little airplay and no absolutely no help from MTV and the like. Why do you think your music resonates so well with people?
I believe it's because we look so damn goofy and un-cool. I mean who will believe a word the gorgeous kid with Motley Crue hairdo says anyway?

 Is there a theme to the songs on Agents of the Underground, your new record?
The theme would have to be of loss and the certainty of re-birth. Loss is a fact of life we seem to be so afraid of and to confront that fact is not always an easy thing to do. The things you do not let go will be ripped away type thing.

Do you still get approached by younger bands who mention that they grew up with your music? Is that ever weird?
Yes (and) it's weird and I may not have a fat sack sittin' in a fat car parked in my fat pad but I gots respect and to me that'll sink ships any day brotha.

So over the past 20 years, did the band ever come close to splitting up?
Twelve times! Each time had to do with a Scandinavian hooker we all loved at one time or another. She played us and left us for the boys in Avenged Sevenfold ...Good luck boys!

Any regrets with the band?
I don't really regret a single thing with this band; it all happened for one reason or another and led me here. I am healthy, I am strong, and I love the new record. Shit like that don't last so I'm going with it.

In two decade, obviously, you've hit some major milestones. As a band, is there anything else you want to be able to accomplish?   
Big fat royalty checks when I'm seventy?


 

The last couple of years, I've been off meat, generally. If it's bloody, it's out. I know, kind of weenie. Believe me, I have tried. But unless it's stringy, in a pattie, in casing or bacon, no go.

But our friends have been raving about this local meaterie, Fleisher's. It's the next town over, about a 30 minute drive. High-end stuff, all organic. So we finally go on Saturday and at first, I'm a little wary. The vibe is well... all-meat, all-the-time. A hand-painted sign above a cabinet full of spices commands "Rub Your Meat." Five points for bawdy humor. Although, I steer far away from the ribeye and steak section, which, I know, if that's your thing, these babies are like the gleaming rubies of Meatville. But when in Rome....

About 10 of us were waiting around for 15-20 minutes while the clerk took what seemed like forever helping the guy in front of us (he'd never heard of kielbasa!). More and more people were piling in. Call me impatient [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

The Ettes Present Their Touring-Band Food Tips: How would you feel about bathing in some baked beans? You'd feel really good about it, that's how you'd feel...

By Coco Hames

Part of the justification for living in a van -- with three other people and one-to-two dogs, constantly driving around the country, not doing laundry or sleeping -- is 1) we get to play rock shows, and 2) we get to eat exciting, awesome regional treats! 

The best Chinese food in the country is in New York, though Poni and Jem assure me the New York Chinese diaspora has created a good pocket of Chinese food in south Florida.  New York DOES have the best pizza (and bagels, they say it's the water), and do not even try to engage me comparing Chicago deep dish with New York pizza: there is no comparison.  Like what you like but don't compare apples to oranges; they ain't the same fruit.  Same goes for California-style fancy pants thin crust gourmet pizza with figs and prosciutto; give me a break.  That is delicious but it's not the same species as a wonderful, perfect, regular old slice of New York cheese pizza.  You may only compare pizza slices within New York City and Brooklyn.  Thanks. 

We get cheese steaks in Philly, and most people will tell you (if you ask them whether Pat's or Gino's is the best) whichever has the shortest line at the time you go is your best bet.  That's good advice.  Philly cheese steaks are hard to mess up, long as they gots the gooey cheese and onions ("whiz with") and you also should use the granular hot sauce and chuck on some chilies!  Also I hear Tony Luke's is good.  But Italian beef in Chicago is a whole new world.  Get it dipped (in au jus) and with peppers (spicy or sweet, it's up to you) and you cannot go wrong. 

Seafood is always best nearest its home, and we've had memorably killer seafood in Rhode Island, California, Louisiana, South Carolina, Maine and Florida.  I'm partial to Floridian seafood, especially the kind you can get at J.B.'s Fish Camp in New Smyrna.  You sit outside (it doesn't matter how hot it is, you're on the intercoastal) and drink cheap beer and eat oysters they harvest on the side of the dock and watch dolphins cavort in the water. 

Nashville has meat-and-threes, which means a meat (roast beef?) and three sides (mac and cheese, collard greens, black eyed peas, green beans, mashed potatoes, etc.) but I usually get a meat-and-one because my eyes are way bigger than my stomach.  And you get you some sweet tea.  At Arnold's. 

In St. Louis they have a special creepy pizza, which we call the ketchup gravy pizza, but evidently they mean to make it like that and we're supposed to like it, and we kind of always do.  Johnny likes ribs (who doesn't?) but the rest of the Ettes are divided on their favorite barbeque style.  Poni and I prefer North Carolina barbeque, in which you will find a vinegar-based bbq sauce (other common ingredients often include ketchup, onion powder, garlic, and sometimes grape soda!) but Jem likes Memphis-style, specifically Payne's (suggested to us by Greg Cartwright) where you will find coleslaw on the sandwich and no decipherable sauce, which purists insist puts emphasis where it belongs: on the meat. 

Green chiles (they're not hot) in Arizona and New Mexico find their way into everything, and even though clever Trader Joe's sells them canned now, you can't beat them fresh.  All the chiles down around them parts, mmmm.  The Mexican diaspora in this country over the last ten years or so is indeed extensive, and so, so welcome.  Mexican food is so good.  You would assume Boise has potatoes, but how would you feel about local potato vodka and a potato burrito?  You'd feel really good about it, that's how you'd feel.  In your mouth. Texas is #1 for breakfast tacos and its own style of barbeque, but Austin just wins all around for best city in general, food included. 

We used to be very serious about the best Mexican food being in LA (not, as you might think, in El Paso, a city that is a stone's throw from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico) though San Francisco's taquerias (not the same thing as a Mexican restaurant) are pretty much the bomb.  Seattle has a real gift for rock-and-roll diner food (Hattie Hat's), as does Atlanta (the Earl).  Every city needs a rock-and-roll diner. 

A rock-and-roll diner is a place that typically features a highly tattooed kitchen and wait staff, and should be run by an ex-touring musician or skater.  The decor is casual and kitschy, there should be skulls and motorcycle stuff everywhere, there should be good local beer on draft, and the food should be structured as American comfort food (burgers, tater tots, meatloaf, fried chicken, etc.) but done in an inspired new (and usually more healthful) way.  More of these!  Everywhere! 

I'm obviously not mentioning everywhere we've ever gone or want to go (and eat), I'm just excited that we're headed to Wisconsin and Poni and I are looking for cheese, and Jem says he heard of a good local beer, yessssss!

***

Blurt "co-co-editor" Coco Hames fronts The Ettes - Hames on guitar, Jem Cohen on bass and Poni Silver on drums - whose album Look At Life Again Soon and EP, Danger Is, were released by Take Root. Their new Greg Cartwright-produced album Do You Want Power arrived in stores Sept. 29, and you bet we've got a big feature on the band in our new print issue. Check out the band's MySpace page for music and tour dates.

Steve Cropper, Pop Staples, Albert King are Jammed Together.

By Carl Hanni

Here's another good one from the never-ending list of worthy records that never really got their due.

Jammed Together is a Stax Records all-star throw-down loaded with with heavy hitters; a loose, relaxed mutual appreciation society of giants enjoying each other's chops. This practically lost burner from 1969 fronts three of Stax's hottest pickers (Steve Cropper, Albert King and Pop Staples) with an air-tight backing band and a shifting line-up of A-list in-house producers. Various combinations of Al Bell, Issac Hayes, Al Jackson, David Porter, Booker T Jones, Terry Manning, Homer Banks and others all take turns group producing, a guaranteed head-turner for discerning crate diggers and analog devotees looking for a warm, vinyl fix.

Three vocal numbers - one each from the three principals - are trumped by seven instrumentals, where the real sparks fly. Albert King, for one, seldom sounded better. His unbelievably agile, sweet but stinging leads propel "Big Bird," "Trashy Dog" "Opus De Soul," "Homer's Theme" and "Knock On Wood" into soul-blues nirvana. Steve Cropper is, of course, as steady as they come, tastefully blasting away on the same tracks and putting a real fire under King's mighty feet. But Pop Staples and his patented tremolo and vibrato-laden guitar may be the unexpected ringer and perfect foil for these other two giants; his laid-back, shimmering style has just the spongy flex that these tracks need to achieve maximum lift-off.

None of this would be nearly as essential if their rhythm section wasn't as ready to rock and soul as they were, but the unnamed players split the difference between rocking soul and rocking blues, and Jammed Together comes down on the soul side of the equation. They may be unnamed but they sure sound familiar; anyone want to bet that's Al Jackson Jr. and Duck Dunn, brother MG's, on at least some if not all of the tracks?

There's real joy and a sense of playfulness in these warm, dynamic grooves, produced by a fraternity of players and producers with a rich shared history and absolutely nothing to prove. Jammed Together beats the super-star-jam curse hands down and really doesn't care if you know about it or not. And there-in lies much of the appeal: Jammed Together is simultaneously humble and thrown together, and supremely well crafted and full of bravado. Kind of like Stax Records itself.

You can leave comments below or e-mail them to me directly at modmedia@theriver.com. 

Carl Hanni is a music writer, music publicist, disc jockey and vinyl archivist living in Tucson, AZ. He  hosts the vinyl-only Scratchy Record Show every Tuesday night at the Red Room in downtown Tucson, and spins records wherever and whenever he can. He believes that in a better (all analog) world all records would be released on vinyl, but takes good music from wherever he finds it--even on CD. His feature piece on legendary bass player/record producer Harvey Brooks was recently published in Goldmine.

Following in the Outlandos tradition of Letters from the Road, our guest post this week comes from Skip Matheny of my new fave band Roman Candle:

Dear Fanny,

I saw your band/show last night. Thanks for putting me on the list and asking for advice, critiques, etc.... I'm not sure what to tell you exactly. You all were great. In fact, I imagine you will be very popular, and maybe better --- very quickly. I don't have a critique in the world about your show or aesthetic. You all seem to have nailed that down pretty well. However I might say the same thing to you I usually tell any writer, including myself, which is: think in terms of "songs" and listen to a fair amount music made before the year you were born.

Off the bat, that might seem like a nostalgic thing to suggest. It's not. It's about finding and learning about good art. Your band's songs are great but if you want to make records for the next 10 or 15 years, artistically speaking, you will likely find more substance in songs than in guitar tones. I think there's a lot to be learned by realizing you are a writer in a long tradition that stretches back before your own time, even (way) back before recorded sound --- and the "thread" or the common thing through all of that tradition is the form of the song. It's an interesting and mysterious thing, and it repays the attention you give it.

If you go listen to any of the records that came out last Tuesday and then listen to, for example, Joni Mitchell,"The Gallery" or David Bowie, "Life on Mars," or Stevie Wonder, "Do I Love Her?" you'll probably hear some similarities (verses, choruses, 3 minutes long). In contrast to the new records which, for the most part, are a bit vacuous [...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.

Damn! BYO Records turns 25

Pete Wentz wasn't even wearing eyeliner when brothers Shawn and Mark Stern decided to start BYO (Better Youth Organization) Records 25 years ago. The label, which put out releases by Youth Brigade - the Brothers Stern's own punk band - went on to put out seminal punk releases from bands like Leatherface and 7 Seconds.

To quote the band, BYO was founded as "part political movement, part business venture that began as a way to organize punks to take positive action to help sustain their scene and their way of life."

To commemorate their 25th anniversary - not bad considering how many other labels have come and gone during that time - BYO is putting out a 31-song box set, featuring a who's who of American punk rock. Groups like Bad Religion, Dropkick Murphys, NOFX, Anti-Flag and the Bouncing Souls all took turns covering BYO bands. The set also comes with the documentary Let Them Know, which looks at the influence of the label through interviews with Ian MacKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat, founder of Dischord Records), Fat Mike (NOFX, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes, founder of Fat Wreck Chords) and Steve Soto (Adolescents, Manic Hispanic), among others.

Shawn Stern, in the middle of a Youth Brigade tour, took some time recently to answer questions about the label, the band and punk rockin' as a 40-something.

Are you surprised that the label is still up and running 25 years later?
I'm surprised that we were able to put out one record, let alone nearly 120! When we started I never thought I'd be playing music in my 30's let alone my 40's and approaching 50. For us to last this long is kind of amazing to us and we feel extremely lucky.

So how do you think you've able to keep it going for so long when so many others have folded?
Pure luck! (laughs) Well, I think we just put out good music that we like and people seem to respond well. We never did this to make money; we never had any business plan or really any plan at all. We put out records ‘cause we had a band and we put out other bands' records ‘cause we liked the band, the music and what they had to say. I guess we're doing something right, otherwise we wouldn't have survived.

Do you think its easier running a business with your brothers or ultimately harder?
My brothers and I are all very close, so I think it's really easy to work together. I mean we've been doing it all our lives, so it's pretty natural. We can argue - and we do - but we don't take it personally, we just go eat lunch or go have a drink after.

Ever get into any Kinks style fist fights over the band or the label?
Nah, our punching each other out ended in our teens. Screaming arguments once in awhile that we usually end up laughing about is the extent of it.

Have you always had a defining principle or set of principles that BYO was founded on?
Well, like I said, we never had a plan we just did things as they came up. The principles have always been those that our parents and grandparents instilled in us as kids, think for yourself, life is about learning and giving back, helping people. From that we devised our own ideals about what punk rock is to us, that one should question everything and decide for yourself what makes sense. Don't be a sheep, don't follow anyone. I was heavily influenced in my senior year in high school by an existential lit class I took. I read Dostoyevsky, Kierkegaard, Sartre and Camus and the next semester I had an entire class on Herman Hesse. They all had a profound effect, but Albert Camus' "The Stranger" and the "Myth Of Sysiphus" were almost life changing for me. I think those ideals will always stick with me.

What was always the deciding factor in putting out a band's music?
We put out bands that we like as people, whose music we like and believe in and we feel we can help them. There's lots of bands that we like and would like to work with over the years but for one reason or another it just didn't work out.

Do you get a sense of enjoyment of watching major labels falter and grasp to stay relevant?
Hmm, I'm not really someone that takes pleasure in other people's failure. I don't really worry about other labels, it's not something I can control or be a part of. But I'm not gonna lose sleep over the fact that a multi-national corporation leaves the music business, because in my view they only look at music as nothing more than a way to make money and I think that is not good for anyone. So the more of them that leave music, the better it is for music and all of us.

Was it difficult deciding who would be on the album that comes with the box set? More important, was there a fight between bands to cover "California is Sinking"?
We just asked all the bands we like and they all said sure. Now getting them to actually get in the studio and record, well that's another story. Everyone is busy, when they are recording a new record they are concentrating on that and putting together a cover sometimes isn't at the top of their list of things to do. Picking songs was up to the band, there were a few that wanted to do a certain song but someone had already picked it, but there were no "fights." Worked out really well I think. Well, I guess everyone can listen to the record and decide for themselves, but it's a pretty amazing record.

A lot of folks cite you guys as influences in starting their own labels. Did you really have anyone to emulate or learn from when you were starting BYO records?
No, there were very few labels at the time doing punk rock on the level we did it when we started. Slash and Dangerhouse were about it in L.A. but we just sort of figured it out on our own. Ask questions, call around, talk to the guys at the pressing plant about how to do things ‘cause they had been in the record business for years and they knew the basics. A lot of it was just logic, go around to stores and ask them to take the record. That was our early distribution.

Why did the band ultimately decide to call it quits?
Adam had left the band to go back to school in '84, we got Bob Gnarly in the band and changed the name to The Brigade and our sound got a little more "poppy" I guess you could say. The punk scene was dying, the hair bands were taking over the sunset strip and we were burnt so we just decided it wasn't fun anymore.

So was it an easy decision to get the band back together and tour?
Yeah, we were all playing music again in different bands. I had a band, That's It and my brothers had all started the band Royal Crown Revue and met up on tour in Germany. People had been asking about Youth Brigade on both our tours, so we talked about doing a "reunion" and I said if we wrote new songs and make a record then I would do it. We all agreed, it was pretty easy and we've been going strong ever since.

Did you find that you missed playing together?
I think we found that we had fun playing together. Mark (Stern) and Adam (Stern) and our other brother Jamie were all playing together for a few years in Royal Crown Revue and having fun. That's the bottom line, it has to be fun. Otherwise what's the point!?

Was it surreal participating in the documentary?

No, not surreal. We put it together but we tried to not involve ourselves too much in the planning. We wanted to let the film makers make the movie, not us. We told them people they should talk to and gave them a chronological line of what/how things happened, but we let them put it together. I think they did an amazing job.

Listening to the interviews, were you surprised at how influential the band was to so many?
I'm flattered. I don't know if I'm so much surprised ‘cause I think there was only a handful of bands in the punk scene that have lasted all these years and odds are they have lasted because people like the music and that's ‘gonna influence bands that are coming after.

Any chance you'll revive the BYO split series?
Oh it isn't dead, just been on hiatus. The box set was such a huge undertaking, the biggest project we've ever done, so it took up nearly three years of our time. We've had quite a few bands interested, just haven't managed to work it out. But we will hopefully soon.

You know the drill but indulge me for a little reminder here....

We know, for example, that fans prize souvenirs --- a tactile take-away that reminds you of the feeling you have when listening to music. It's kind of like what we're doing with The Daily Dose --- further enhancing the "sensory experience" with rock 'n roll wine and cheese picks so as to emphasize "more than music." Certainly, a recommendation isn't exactly "tactile," but it does bring us closer, drawing upon multiple aesthetic experiences and uniting them in one place. So, perhaps upon purchasing the wine or cheese of the day, upon tasting them, you'll conjure up the associated songs, thereby giving the taste an added, well, taste.

All of that, the long way of saying: multiple aesthetic experiences rule the day. And things that you associate with music are likely the same things other people (who like the same music as you) might be curious about. It's a Tribes-thing.

Hence, this month's semi-random compendium:

1. Dunder Tchotchkes

Perhaps one for everyone you know this Christmas? Plus they have action figures, star mugs (sans Jim and Dwight), Office Clue... it was really hard for me to not buy one of everything. And it's totally overpriced. I don't care.[...]

A Triple-A radio programming veteran, Kate has served as Music Director of the Loft at XM, Midday Host at WYEP, Evening Host at both WNCS and WUIN, as well as Content Supervisor for Pump Audio. Currently, she's the CEO of Outlandos Music, a new-music discovery service for grown-ups. Kate has been nationally recognized for her ardent presentation of music and her ability to champion talented, compelling artists.